Milestones, pt VI

Justin turned 4 months old yesterday, which means it's time for the next babycenter.com milestone check.

4 months
• Smiles, laughs
• Can bear weight on legs
• Coos when you talk to him

(1) seems like he's been smiling forever, but he is just starting to consistently make noises that resemble a laugh (2) for sure, he's got legs like a tank (3) I'd say he's a little past cooing... and he does it whether you talk to him or not!

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5 months
• Distinguishes between bold colors
• Plays with his hands and feet

(1) Seems to do so based on what catches his attention, but of course we can't know for sure, (2) Started this a couple of weeks ago. He says his feet taste like chicken.

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6 months
• Turns toward sounds and voices
• Imitates sounds
• Rolls over in both directions

(1) Yes, (2) No, and (3) No. The turning towards sounds is totally cool... but even cooler is that he seems to be getting familiar with his name. Say Justin and his head will swivel more so than with any other word. I guess it helps that he's hearing it twice as often now that 2 outta 3 kids in daycare are named Justin. As for "imitates sounds", I don't think he's there yet... but the coincidence of his "words" sounding like what you just said seems to be slightly increasing every day. It also amazes me how much he studies your eyes and mouth when you talk to him. It's like he's really trying to pick up the pattern.

Other than those milestones, he is still working towards standing and sitting. The two newest "toys" we bought last week should help towards both of those goals. He's not too fond of the Bumbo, but he'll tolerate it if you hang out with him. For the most part, the problem is that (just like with everything else) he tries to stand up in it rather than stay seated. On the other hand, he seems to be having a blast with the Baby Einsteen Jumper. The sunflower teether on there is his new best friend, and the range of movement it allows is really forcing hiim to learn to stabilize / balance on his own way more than his walker was (which he hasn't used in weeks).

The two "Emerging Skills" listed for 4 months (i.e., "1/2 of kids can do") are grasping toys, and rolling over from tummy to back. As I mentioned before, he is grasping pretty much EVERYTHING. It started two weeks ago while my parents where here when he grabbed the hanging keys on the activity mat and wouldn't let go (that was a first). And at this point, I'd wish you good luck if you were trying to unravel his monster grip from anything he gets a hold of.

On the other hand, rolling over from tummy to back does not seem to interest him at all. But then again, I've definitely stunk lately when it comes to giving him consistent tummy time. We'll have to put that back in his busy schedule somehow... I'll see if we can squeeze it in somewhere betweem his bath time, photo shoots, movie roles and interviews. Hey, the boy is a superstar. What can I say?


No autographs please.

Justin practicing his "no comment" face for the press

Inside Out

We took Justin to the beach for the second time. It was a little chilly, but he had a lot of fun. He said it was a lot brighter and way more spacious than he remembered from his first trip to the beach. After another look at the photos from his first trip there, I'd imagine that he was right.

Justin's Crew

Here are some photos from Justin's first week of childcare at Sharita's ("Mrs. Rita's") house. In all, the week went great and it seemed like Justin enjoyed himself while spending time with his new buddies. From youngest to oldest, the clan consisted of Aurora (6 weeks), Justin Alexander aka Baby Justin (3 months), Big Justin (11 months), and DJ (23 months). Aurora was only hanging out with them while her childcare provider was on vacation, so usually it will be just the three boys.

As you can see from the fourth photo, Justin has switched his hobby from blanket wrestling to feet grabbing. That's pretty much all he wanted to do over the past week. V says I cheated on this one since I've been trying to give him his feet for about a month now. But of course it wasn't until I left him alone and forgot about the feet thing that he started to show interest and began perpetually swiping at his limbs. It started with the knees on Monday, and it seemed like he got stronger and more flexible each day. By Wednesday he was grabbing his toes consistently, and by Friday (unfortunately I missed it but) V witnessed what was probably the first dip of a toe in his mouth. With all the constant grunts, strain and struggle it was pretty comical how hard he had been working all week to get one of his feet in his month. If nothing else, he was determined! So now that he has accomplished his goal and knows what they taste like, we'll have to wait and see if his interest wanes or not (I doubt it).










Watching DJ and Big Justin motor around still hasn't inspired him to crawl yet, but he is enjoying his tummy time way more than usual and is also propping himself up higher than before. It also seems like the consistency of a daycare schedule has improved his sleeping patterns. Granted, he stopped waking up for a middle-of-the-night (i.e., around 2am) feeding at least a month ago (yes!)... but he's never been this accurate. He's asleep for the night by 8pm as usual, and sometimes as early as 6 or 7. But this past week he was unbelievably precise about waking up for his AM feeding at 4:30AM on the dot. I told V that I think we should check underneath his bed... "I think the boy has an alarm clock in there." He is still getting his 8-hours-plus, but the weekend has thrown him off a bit. We'll see what happens once Monday rolls back around.

In other news, Justin's teething process is becoming more obvious. Still everything goes to the mouth, and now he has started biting down on the nipple of his bottle to try soothing the pain. The only thing that has struck us as odd throughout this whole process is that it seems like his BACK teeth are the ones that are coming in. The gums there are white, and if given a finger to chew on, this is the only area where he likes to smash down for comfort. Of course it would be absolutely bizarre and against all logic for his back choppers to surface first. But as I told V, nothing surprises me with this boy. He's so unusual that it would almost make sense if his wisdom teeth came in first.