Wonder Week 12

I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on this baby business stuff.  I've had four and each one has been a completely different experience; each came with their own challenges.  I'm still trying to figure out when Ashton Kutcher is going to hop out  of my pantry and tell me I'm being punked, and hand me my real screaming, projectile vomitting baby. Ev is ah-mazing.  So super amazingly easy.  Last week that was not the case at all.  Cue Ashton Kutcher scene.

I had a friend on facebook mention in a status update that she thought her daughter was going through a Wonder Week.  Before even replying to her, I had to google Wonder Week.  Fourth kid and I had no flippin' clue what the hell a Wonder Week was.  Never heard of it.  So, I guess there is a book that breaks down a baby's fussy periods into Wonder Weeks or developmental growth periods.

Ev was about five weeks old at the time, and had been unusually fussy.  Typically we would point to these moments and say growth spurt and shrug our shoulders.  This Wonder Week stuff was making sense though.  It seemed to me that Ev was going through Wonder Week 5 at that time.

I won't lie.  I still haven't read the book, but I continually go back to the blog that I orginally found the information Who's That Mom.  I know I mentioned in my post about refinishing furniture, that Everlee was extremely fussy after the girls returned to school.  She turned 12 weeks the day that she turned into a turd.  After referencing the Wonder Weeks chart, this is what weeks 12 consists of:

Wonder Week 12 Developmental Milestone The World of Smooth Transitions: Baby's movements become less jerky; She is able to perceive more nuances in her senses Behavior May be quieter than usual; Sleeps poorly; Is clingy; Decreased appetite Activities Focus on sounds; Help baby grab/reach for objects; Help her feel different textures/fabrics

In our case she wasn't quieter than usual.  Well, I guess you could say she was in a sense.  She wasn't cooing as much, but she was screaming constantly when she wan't sleeping or eating.  Actually, her sleep wasn't bad and her appetite never decreased, but let's talk about how she's changed since she quit screaming.  She's making new sounds.  I left her laying on her playmat for visual stimulation the other day, and she started making these new cooing sounds.  She's definitely making more "yelling" sounds now instead of outright crying.  I can tell the difference between her crying and her complaining at this point.  She also seems to be able to tell the difference between our faces.  She obviously knows my face, but she reacts differently to each one of her sisters.  She has a favorite.  I'll keep that my secret.

Her motor skills are the shining star of improvements for this Wonder Week.  She's batting at her toys with a purpose, trying to grab for them.  She's purposely attempting to shove her fist in her mouth to suck on her fingers, all the while going cross eyed trying to watch her fist go in her mouth.  She's grabbing at her ears, and pulling her hair while she nurses.  And the cutest thing that she's started is placing the bottoms of her feet together and rubbing them back and forth when she's sitting in her chair.

It's only been a few days since I started noticing these changes.  It's amazing to be conscious of the small developments she's making as she grows now that I've familiarized myself with the Wonder Weeks theory.  Now to work on getting her to take her pacifier again.  I refuse to have another blanket sucker.  One blanket sucker is enough for any family.