Four Month Milestones

Today we hit the four month mark. Four months! According to "Baby's First Year, week by week," there are a few things Baby should be able to do by now. She should be making swimming motions and wind up moving herself around in the crib or floor (oh, yes. I put her on the floor facing one direction, and she can rotate herself all the way around.), can distinguish between smells (not sure how to check that one), can hold object between index and second fingers (I think so. She grasps stuff, anyway), has longer responsive periods (yup. I can finally take the time to wash my hair when I take a shower!), is interested in making new sounds (all the time!), and may interrupt feedings with play (she will sometimes stop to smile up at me, and even talk with me, then go back to eating).

My "What to Expect the First Year" book says Baby should be able to laugh out loud (it's hilarious when she does this. She squeaks when she laughs!), follow an object from one side to the other (yes, she can do this), and lift her head 90 degrees when on her stomach (yes, we can do this too).

Then the book goes into probablies. According to the book, she probably can hold head steady when upright (we haven't had a bobblehead in a while), roll over (I'll write more about this one later), and squeal in delight (I'm gonna equate this one to laughing, so yes).

Next are the possiblies. Babies at this age can possibly turn in the direction of a voice (she can do this, she just likes to ignore me most of the time. Foreshadowing of teenage years?), say ah-goo or other vowel-consonant combinations (yes, she's been doing that for a while. I talked about that in a previous blog).

Finally are the maybes. Babies may be able to bear weight on legs when held upright (the doctor was surprised when she did this at her two month checkup, so yes), sit without support (uh, no- that's what the Bumbo is for), and object if you take away a toy (she's not too into toys. She's more of a people person, so I don't know if this applies yet.)

It sounds like she is just where she should be, which makes me a happy momma. We will find out more when we go to her checkup this week.

Disclaimer: I started reading the What to Expect book and a few things sounded a little fishy (i.e. telling me to put the baby to sleep on her tummy), so I looked at the copyright date. It was published in 1989. I think it's a little outdated, so I don't really put too much faith in it.