Project Baby: Month 2

From birth, Ju has been a rather upsized baby, as I had probably remarked on other occasions.  Like all parents, we are fascinated by his stages of development and sometimes concerned if he didn't seem to be doing something "expected" of his age. I guess at less than 8 weeks old, one cannot realistically expect him to conform to any standards since all babies grow and develop at different paces. Even so, I couldn't help comparing! I was particularly concerned about his eyesight and attention span (given Dan's ultra short one).  Here is his progress at week 8:

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Attention

There is no problem with Ju's eyesight since he could squint at direct sunlight or bright lighting as early as the first week. He just couldn't focus on me or anything within a few inches of him even at week 6. Opinions (both "professional" and laypeople) online about when a baby could see ranged from a ridiculous 3 days old to 3 months. Some people seem to imagine that their baby can track them from across the room at 3 weeks, lunacy. Anyway, Ju's paediatrician thinks his sight is normal, he could focus for 1 or 2 seconds at the last check (4 weeks). At week 8, Ju has become a lot more focused on people close to him, especially if we are speaking directly at him. When I caught his attention and moved my head to the left and right, his eyes seemed to be able to track my movement.  He liked to be held in the sitting position since turning a month old as he could see a lot more, so we bought him a rocker. He's always looking this way and that, so even if he couldn't focus on anything for longer than 2 seconds, there is plenty to occupy him everywhere.

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Communication

Ju has been smiling since his first week, but I figured it was more a reflex than reaction to the world. He would smile while nursing and often, sleeping. Between week 6 and 7 he seemed to smile in response to me as you can see from the photo. He still smiles at no one in particular, especially while staring at some unknown point in the distance, but he definitely smiles when we talk to him these days. 

He also started gurgling and doing baby talk, like ah-goo, ah-grrrr, haiii, and a range of squeals and sighs. Yesterday I put him on his rocker and read a couple of books to him (the Bears by the Berensteins) and he was delightfully baby-talking back to me.  It could be he was super awake then and felt like communicating but he sure seemed to like my voice. 

Ju has never been much of a howler, so his cries are always only motivated by 1) hunger, 2) need for burping and 3) need for sleep although the last two are more whining than crying. Ju's body movements are more telling of what he wants than his vocalisations. For example, rubbing his eyes and swatting at his face are signs of tiredness, along with yawning of course. When he is pooping or needs to poop he scrunges up his face, makes pushing noises and lifts both legs high up like he is really pushing crap out.

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Feeding & Sleeping

Ju used to feed every 3 hours until week 4 or 5 when he switched to 2 hourly feeds. It was hell at first, but I am used to it now althought it makes me feel like I am doing nothing but feeding. The upside is he is sleeping 5 to 6 hours after his last feed at 9pm. Last night he managed to go almost 7 hours.  He is still on mixed feed -- bottle and boobs -- though we give him formula at night to hasten the whole exercise. From the very beginning Ju got formula because of his weight (4.3kg) so we stuck with it. Plus I didn't have enough breastmilk to satisfy him. Even now it's impossible to completely breastfeed him unless I express the stuff into a bottle. He takes up to 120ml (4 ounces) per feed which is quite normal for a baby his  size (6kg). Ju is very impatient when he's hungry but he chokes when the milk "lets down" and so when he lets go of the nipple, he gets a faceful of milk when it sprays him. This enrages him even more but it's hilarious. I always have a burp-cloth in hand in addition to his bib.

He naps a lot less in the day and has longer periods of awake which he spends kicking around with his arms and legs and baby-talking in his better moods. I still try to get him on a sleep-eat-wake routine although this is more dictated by Ju than me. He sleeps rather well, does not need help falling asleep as I refrain from carrying him too much or rocking him to sleep. Usually when we get his cue that he's tired, we put him down either on his spot on the sofa or in his cot and cover him with a blanket. The blanket trick is perfect as it signals to him that it's time to sleep. No problems at night either as he falls right back to sleep after his feed. I do not speak to him at all during his night feed and keep the lights as dim as possible to maintain him in a sleepy mode.  He poos every day although the frequency is less than the first 2 to 3 weeks, averaging about 3-4 poops a day.

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Physical development

Ju has always been an active baby, using his arms and legs enthusiastically when he is awake.  At week 4 he could hold his head upright for a second or two when being burped over the shoulder.  We give him tummy-time too, although he responds much better on our tummies than on the floor. He can lift his head up for quite a few seconds in this position. His neck is still not strong enough to support his head all the time although this week his much stronger and loves being held upright over the shoulder. He swings his head around so much (to see this and that) we have to keep a hand on his neck all the time.



This week he started to put his fist to his mouth, he likes to lick his finger or thumb, sometimes both fists at the same time.  He also started grasping at cloth, probably inadvertently. He has been pulling at his hair since birth. He is still not as sociable as his friend, Dion (below), aged 4 months, as he can't focus very well yet. Dion's vision and attention is much more developed and he can stare intently at Ju and smile at me when I speak to him.

Ju used to dislike being in the car when it was stationary, he would cry until I sped up to 60km/h. He would usually fall asleep pretty quickly after that.  Now he is quite content to be strapped in and stays awake, looking out the window.

Our next PD appointment is on Wednesday, when Ju will get his vaccinations. Poor guy, we are giving him 2 jabs (the 6-in-1 and Pneumococal) and an oral vaccine (Rotavirus). His BCG (against tubercolosis) jab on his butt has swelled to a red welt the size of a 10 cent coin but it doesn't seem to bother him. He developed a very dry, flaky scalp  few days ago which seems like cradle cap. It's gross as it looks like dandruff. I've been using some baby oil on it but it hasn't worked. We'll see what his doctor says.

At 8 weeks, Ju is over 6 kg and 58 cm long.