Monster Tooth,
Five months ago today, you became an outside baby and somehow, a very little you made the very big world a better place. I had no idea how much you would change my life in these past five months. Because of you, I am able to experience the joys of motherhood. Because of you, I am lucky enough to have a better understanding of love.
This month has been all about exploring and developing for you. Cam, it is so neat to watch you grow. Right around four months, there is a developmental growth spurt that babies are said to go through called Wonder Week 19. There is no doubt about it, you hit this developmental milestone on the day you turned four months old. It was like a light switch turned on in your head. The way you interacted with us and the way you interacted with the world around you changed dramatically. It wasn’t like you weren’t smart before. You were! But you started to understand and experience the world so much more this month! Cameron, you are an amazing little thing. Your ability to learn and grow is simply stunning and I am so lucky to watch the miracle that is you develop!
Your Daddy has started to call you Monster Tooth (someday I’ll have to remember to tell you about how you got all your nicknames). You see, you didn’t just get your first tooth this month. You got your first and second tooth! It wasn’t easy (for you or for me), but you are such a trooper. I am so proud of you for getting through this.
I know that you’re a baby, and so when you are in pain because your little sharp teeth are poking through your tender little gums, you feel like the whole world is crashing down around you. And I wish I can make it better. You’ll get older and your teeth will all grow in, but life won’t be perfect after that. Oh baby, part of me wishes that I could guarantee you an easy life. But life isn’t easy. You will have more times when you feel like your world is crashing in on you. But you, my dear child, you are promised something that I hope you will always hold tight to:
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.
- Hold head steady, even when upright: check
- On stomach, raise chest, supported by arms: check
- Pay attention to an object as small as a raisin: check (I think… we’ve never really specifically tried this)
- Squeal in delight: Absolutely check!
- Reach for an object: check
- Smile spontaneously: check (and *swoon*)
- Smile back when you smile: check (I love you too!)
- Grasp a rattle held to backs or tips of fingers: check
- Keep head level with body when pulled to sitting: check
75% of babies will be able to do this:
- Roll over (one way): check
- Bear some weight on legs: check
- Say “ah-goo” or similar vowel-consonant combinations: check
- Razz: check!
- Turn in the direction of a voice: check
Roughly 50% of babies can do this:
- Sit without support: We’re working on this. He can sit with minimal help but he certainly can’t be left sitting alone.
And only 25% of babies can do this:
- Pull up to standing position from sitting: Not on his own, he can’t
- Stand holding on to someone or something: check
- Object if you try to take a toy away: check (my baby knows what he wants!)
- Work to get a toy out of reach: check
- Pass an object from one hand to other: check
- Look for dropped object: check
- Rake with fingers a tiny object and pick it up in fist: We haven’t really tried this.
- Babbly, combining vowels and consonants such as ga-ga-ga, ba-ba-ba, ma-ma-ma, da-da-da: Not really. He has made some of these sounds but very rarely.
