Monday, April 7, 2008

Milestone Monday

It is so exciting to watch your little one achieve different milestones. I must admit I have a tendency to worry that Eliza is behind- but I usually push those fears aside knowing that each child is different and develops at his/her own rate. I found this list of milestone at iVillage and decided to see which ones Eliza has reached.

Keeps head level when pulled to sitting position


I checked and her head still lags back a bit. I am sure it will get stronger before too long.

Makes some vowel-consonant sounds



A fellow mommy texted me the other night about this milestone. Apparently her friend's baby has been saying ba and da since 4 1./2 months. However, my friend's baby and Eliza have not really started making these noises. She was wondering if she should be concerned. I think as teacher we tend to over analyze our baby's development. We know too much! My advice was to her was to relax. I told her I honestly try not to worry about these things because each baby is so very different.





Sits by self with minimal support


Eliza just achieved this milestone this week. I was very surprised that after having almost no floor time due to her hospital stay she came back the a vengeance. She is sitting and playing just like a big girl. haha. I am awe of her new found skill. Timber!


Opens mouth for spoon.

We just started with solids again. YAY! Eliza opens her mouth big and wide for her oatmeal. She also opens up wide when mommy is eating.

Reaches for and grabs objects

Eliza grabs for everything- especially my hair. It is so important at this time to keep potentially dangerous items out of reach. i. e. hot coffee, utensils, anything sharp

Rolls over and back

My peanut does roll both ways. However, sometimes she rolls onto her tummy and gets fuming mad. She doesn't seem to want to roll back- but she doesn't want to be on her tummy either.




Drinks from a cup with help

We have not given her a cup yet. I didn't even know you could do that this early. Any thoughts?


*Yesterday, Pete was holding a cup and she opened her mouth and tried to drink from it. I guess she was imitating mommy and daddy.


Can hold bottle

Does a bear bottle count?

This is the clincher. I don't know if my PRINCESS will ever hold her own bottle. She seems more than content playing with her feet, ears, or hair while I give her the bottle. That is her relaxing time I think. We try to let her hold it for a few second but she lets go.

Copies some facial expressions

She doesn't seem to copy any other facial expressions besides smiling. I try to get her to stick her tongue out but haven't had much luck.

Makes two-syllable sounds

Does squealing like a pig and screaming like a banshee count?

Which milestones have your little ones reached over the past few weeks?

10 comments:

Dana said...

Eliza is so bright and gifted!! And the cutest!! I just love those cute cheeks!!

I'm sure she is right on with all of the other babies her age... My friend from school has a baby that is 6 months old and she can barly sit up... I wouldn't worry... She is still so little!!

Tracy said...

Wow I can't beleive you are at this stage already! Don't worry if Eliza doesn't seem to be right on track with some things. I remember with Madison things were either all or nothing. She went from not sitting up to sitting, crawling and coasting all in 1 1/2 months! We also thought she would never talk. Turns out she was just waiting to speak in complete, constant sentences. Oh and the cup thing . . . we introduced it at around 6 months, usually at dinner with a little juice. It took a little while for her to get used to the different way she had to suck and she was more interested in chewing on the handles but she eventually got the hang of it. If she is already opening her mouth when you and Pete take a drink it is probably a good sign that she is ready to give a sippy cup a try.

Future Mom (Heather) said...

As we all know, I have seen a lot of babies...and Eliza is perfectly normal developmentally. (I would say perfect in general but I am a little biased haha.) You can tell when she is blabbering all those crazy noises at you, she is trying to communicate and what she is doing is definitely preparing her for talking very soon...

When she starts moving around you will wish she would just sit still, and when she starts talking all the time you will think about all the quiet you used to have :)

Pam said...

She is beautiful, happy, and healthy. She sounds just perfectly normal to me. Now....can you remind me of that after Riley has his one year check up and I have to hang my head in shame as I tell the doctor- no,he does not walk and he also is not saying words (unless ball for everything counts). I think you said it just right - because we are teachers we over analyze it and worry about a problem. I need to remind myself of what you said- they all get there in their own time.

Lori said...

ok first off let me tell you that you hit the nail on the head with this comment "I think as teacher we tend to over analyze our baby's development. We know too much!"

I do it all the time... we want our little one's to be on track... no we want our little ones to be ahead of the game. yet at the same time we know that each will develop at his/her own pace.

Don't fret she is doing fine! you have a happy, healthy little girl who is developing right on track

Melanie said...

I used to obsess about Hailey meeting all the developmental milestones on time. I would read books and make myself worried sick if she wasn't doing something she was "supposed" to be doing. I used to be a teacher too, so I agree that teachers tend to over analyze. I think Eliza sounds completely normal and I wouldn't be worrying. Of course, you're a mommy so you will worry anyways :)

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Anonymous said...

I love milestones! There's your cute shoes again in the sitting up pic. I think she could try to start drinking from a cup. Maybe just try every few days. Kaelin saw us drinking from water bottles and tried it and she did pretty good. She still always wants water when she sees us drinking from the bottles!

365 Mommy said...

Hey Danielle! I've been reading your blog since you posted about it on Babyzone back when you first started it. I figured I'd finally comment.

Sounds like our girls are about the same on milestones. I've tried a sippy cup and Emma's not interested in anything other than just chewing on the spout like a toy. She also doesn't imitate facial expressions - she only laughs at me when I make a face for her to imitate.

Every child reaches milestones at a different rate and I think Eliza is doing just fine! She's an adorable (and oh so fashionable) little girl! I love reading all about her.

Mel said...

How old is your baby, 6 months? She is cute and sounds like she is doing great.

Milestones frustrate me. I think they are just so different depending on different kids, and different times, and different...whatever.

For example, my baby rolled both ways just days (maybe a week or two) after birth so I was all thinking I had this super-child or something :) but now at 9.5 months he is not crawling yet. Who knows?

But every time I bring something up to the doctor that it says on websites or on books is a milestone to watch for at that age, he says they don't consider it a problem until, like, 3 months later.

Anonymous said...

"Does squealing like a pig and screaming like a banshee count?"

LOL i love her squeals!