Fox update
Jun. 18th, 2017 04:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rushthatspeaksFox has just turned eight months old.
They are mobile. Oh, so, so mobile. They move very, very fast. Also, they went straight from crawling to working extremely hard at being vertical. Behaviors we have observed include standing on their own for a couple of seconds without holding onto anything, standing indefinitely while holding on with one hand, cruising (holding onto a crib or other edge and walking along it), and-- and this shocked me-- holding onto the crib edge and jumping up and down. They can also move from seated to squatting to standing or vice versa, easily, usually while holding on with one hand. They are clearly going to be walking pretty soon. Apparently the youngest baby documented walking was six months old, so this is early but not ludicrous. It seems that usually babies take some time to settle into crawling and make sure they've gotten good at it before focusing effort on walking this way? Not Fox. Fox wants to be UP.
We have had our first major trip with the baby, which involved driving from Boston to the D.C. area, spending a week with B., and driving back. Fox was pretty much fine with all the driving and a little weirded out by the new place-- it took a couple of days for them to be able to nap there, for instance. At B.'s, they developed a very specific 'chasing-the-cat' noise, as B.'s place has many long straightaways and lines-of-sight where they could just take off after the kitty. (Our place does not.) They had no hope of catching her, and the kitty is already putting up with a Pomeranian and an elderly Border Collie, so she seemed thoroughly resigned. We appreciated her patience a great deal.
New behaviors: within the past week Fox has started getting upset when someone they know leaves the room. Leaving the room is Just Not Allowed. We try to explain to them where we are going, what we are doing, and when we expect to be back, but it is too early for this to help much.
Fox has started sitting for stretches of up to twenty minutes at a time with a single board book, turning the pages, looking at and poking the illustrations, and chewing on the corners. It is adorable. They also crawl under their bouncy seat with a pile of books every so often.
We have only just started solid food, because they got a nasty cold at the wrong time and we didn't want to try introducing solids while they were on an intrusive and aggravating nebulized-medicine-through-a-mask treatment. Rice cereal gave them significant stomach upset, which is peculiar; oat cereal and unsweetened applesauce seem to go down better, although Fox's reaction to solid food is shock, betrayal, and confusion no matter what the food is. They're at the stage where they'll eagerly watch us eating and put small pieces of food in their mouth, but once it's there the switch flips to NO NO NO NO NO. Hopefully this will change soon, as the doctor says that at this height and weight (two feet four inches, eighteen pounds) they simply cannot get all their necessary nutrition from formula.
I've seen evidence of the babble syllabary broadening, and about two days ago they learned how to flap their lips with a finger and say 'Phhhhpppth'. If they do this in your direction, you are supposed to do it back, and one can have very long conversations this way. We are also getting more communication along the lines of holding arms up to be picked up (or not; if we ask 'do you want to be picked up?' and don't get arms up we don't pick them up, since gesturing for yes is now consistent enough that that works), and we're getting things like pats on the face that are clearly affectionate. B.'s new partner T. taught Fox how to kiss people on the cheek and it seems to have actually stuck.
They are learning how to use their voice generally, and I have askedgaudior on several occasions if they are aware that they gave birth to a pterodactyl. The pterodactyl screech is loud and unmistakable.
They are still focused on people more than on anything else, and need to at least say hello to everyone in the room before even considering the presence of objects. Pets get about the same amount of interest as humans, and about the same degree of gentleness, which is usually gentle enough that they can pet pets without them fleeing for the hills-- at least for a while.
Overall, an exceptionally happy, outgoing, cheerful sort of baby, who is obviously working very hard at understanding and interacting with the world. I think things are going pretty well.
They are mobile. Oh, so, so mobile. They move very, very fast. Also, they went straight from crawling to working extremely hard at being vertical. Behaviors we have observed include standing on their own for a couple of seconds without holding onto anything, standing indefinitely while holding on with one hand, cruising (holding onto a crib or other edge and walking along it), and-- and this shocked me-- holding onto the crib edge and jumping up and down. They can also move from seated to squatting to standing or vice versa, easily, usually while holding on with one hand. They are clearly going to be walking pretty soon. Apparently the youngest baby documented walking was six months old, so this is early but not ludicrous. It seems that usually babies take some time to settle into crawling and make sure they've gotten good at it before focusing effort on walking this way? Not Fox. Fox wants to be UP.
We have had our first major trip with the baby, which involved driving from Boston to the D.C. area, spending a week with B., and driving back. Fox was pretty much fine with all the driving and a little weirded out by the new place-- it took a couple of days for them to be able to nap there, for instance. At B.'s, they developed a very specific 'chasing-the-cat' noise, as B.'s place has many long straightaways and lines-of-sight where they could just take off after the kitty. (Our place does not.) They had no hope of catching her, and the kitty is already putting up with a Pomeranian and an elderly Border Collie, so she seemed thoroughly resigned. We appreciated her patience a great deal.
New behaviors: within the past week Fox has started getting upset when someone they know leaves the room. Leaving the room is Just Not Allowed. We try to explain to them where we are going, what we are doing, and when we expect to be back, but it is too early for this to help much.
Fox has started sitting for stretches of up to twenty minutes at a time with a single board book, turning the pages, looking at and poking the illustrations, and chewing on the corners. It is adorable. They also crawl under their bouncy seat with a pile of books every so often.
We have only just started solid food, because they got a nasty cold at the wrong time and we didn't want to try introducing solids while they were on an intrusive and aggravating nebulized-medicine-through-a-mask treatment. Rice cereal gave them significant stomach upset, which is peculiar; oat cereal and unsweetened applesauce seem to go down better, although Fox's reaction to solid food is shock, betrayal, and confusion no matter what the food is. They're at the stage where they'll eagerly watch us eating and put small pieces of food in their mouth, but once it's there the switch flips to NO NO NO NO NO. Hopefully this will change soon, as the doctor says that at this height and weight (two feet four inches, eighteen pounds) they simply cannot get all their necessary nutrition from formula.
I've seen evidence of the babble syllabary broadening, and about two days ago they learned how to flap their lips with a finger and say 'Phhhhpppth'. If they do this in your direction, you are supposed to do it back, and one can have very long conversations this way. We are also getting more communication along the lines of holding arms up to be picked up (or not; if we ask 'do you want to be picked up?' and don't get arms up we don't pick them up, since gesturing for yes is now consistent enough that that works), and we're getting things like pats on the face that are clearly affectionate. B.'s new partner T. taught Fox how to kiss people on the cheek and it seems to have actually stuck.
They are learning how to use their voice generally, and I have asked
gaudior on several occasions if they are aware that they gave birth to a pterodactyl. The pterodactyl screech is loud and unmistakable. They are still focused on people more than on anything else, and need to at least say hello to everyone in the room before even considering the presence of objects. Pets get about the same amount of interest as humans, and about the same degree of gentleness, which is usually gentle enough that they can pet pets without them fleeing for the hills-- at least for a while.
Overall, an exceptionally happy, outgoing, cheerful sort of baby, who is obviously working very hard at understanding and interacting with the world. I think things are going pretty well.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-18 09:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-18 10:15 pm (UTC)I also had a habit of saying that I'd be right back or over in the kitchen for a moment, each time I left direct sight, and then announcing my return. Pretty sure it's not too early for recognition of the sounds, generally speaking, and I'm glad you're doing it (not in a validate-me-belatedly way but a I-truly-think-it-helps one!). It models/encourages the idea of verbal communication upon unusual events.
One of Reason's former "classmates" was interested in standing and jumping at Fox's current age. Reason, three months older, was startled into trying it one day in mimicry. So, thanks, tiny former classmate, for inspiring my kid to get off her butt.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-18 11:07 pm (UTC)Another notable new skill: rummaging in cardboard boxes while standing, sometimes holding the edge with one hand, sometimes using both hands plunged into the box as a balance. They do that with their library box; their toy box is lighter, so they just tip that over and excavate whatever doesn't cascade. They don't seem to confuse the techniques.
They track objects. They were loving their alphabet pop-up book a little too passionately, and tearing the more delicate excrescences, so I reluctantly put it back in the library. Fox promptly pulled themself up and retrieved it. Hey, I wasn't done with that.
Yesterday afternoon they did four of those intense reading sessions in four hours.
The jumping is astonishing.
Nine
no subject
Date: 2017-06-18 11:42 pm (UTC)Just remember as you continue onward towards solid food, Cheerios go on the floor, not in the mouth, except maybe to dampen them first. You know, for artistic variety.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-19 12:59 am (UTC)You have an excellent baby.
(Belatedly waves hi as you go by in DC.)
no subject
Date: 2017-06-19 02:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-19 03:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-19 05:28 am (UTC)Kit doesn't have another friend who likes reading; I would love to give the two of them a pile of books and see what happens. Trading? Recommending? Reading together? Reading alone together?
Food-related advice follows; feel free to disregard if advice is not wanted.
If you haven't done common-allergen exposures because of that cold (which sounds awful!), now's the time, especially with a kid who's showing signs of being a picky eater and thus won't self-expose to whatever allergens are on your plate. I have probably already suggested this but am suggesting it again because received wisdom of "wait until your kid is a year old for allergen exposure" has not caught up to the latest research showing that exposure at six to eight months is best for preventing later allergies. Just a little taste will suffice to inform the immune system that peanuts, dairy, etc. are not doom. We made a lot of smoothies/muddles with formula and gave Kit a spoonful or smeared it on their lips or tongue, since they likewise had no interest in solid food at allergen-exposure age. It wasn't the most fun, but we got it done. If you don't have a family history of food allergies, you don't have to do the cautious "one at a time, wait three days" thing we did.
Your pediatrician's concern sounds... maybe a little too concerned. At eight months, Kit was almost exactly that size, and was getting at most a four-ounce jar of fruit/veg/chicken mush a day on top of the Honest Co. formula (which I highly recommend, even though it doesn't have added DHA; fortunately Kit loves the gross orange-flavored fish oil that is supplemental DHA and happily sucks it out of the medication syringe). I'm sure you are not starving your child.
Fox sounds like a very independent child with good motor skills, so perhaps self-feeding from a squeezy packet would be of interest for them. Kit took to the squeezy packets at 11 months with an air of "why didn't you tell me about these sooner?" and now gets almost all their calories that way. They come in a bazillion flavors and some are impressively nutritious as well as tasty-smelling. If the protein-supplemented ones didn't all have whey protein I'd seriously consider eating them myself.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-19 05:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-19 06:33 am (UTC)They can now communicate at the level of a cat! This is a great thing.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-19 12:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-19 03:47 pm (UTC)Yes, it sounds like things are going pretty well.
no subject
Date: 2017-06-19 10:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-19 11:38 pm (UTC)I think I read that separation anxiety and self-mobility tend to develop around the same time - not sure whether that's coincidence or "Eek, I've suddenly noticed people keep abandoning me, must learn how to chase them!"
no subject
Date: 2017-06-20 12:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-20 01:24 pm (UTC)Mind you, at this precise moment, they are resisting napping, with great determination and persistence. :P
no subject
Date: 2017-06-20 11:44 pm (UTC)Nine
no subject
Date: 2017-06-21 11:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-07-01 01:48 am (UTC)