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Wednesday, May 8, 2013

wonder week




Ever heard of a wonder week? yeah, me niether! that is, until i started googling things like "why is my 4 month old not sleeping through the night?" / "my good sleeping baby stopped" / or "4 month old waking started waking after sleeping through the night"

google results..."wonder week 19" / "4 month sleep regression"

turns out this is common.  here is the quick version, i'll summarize since i have now read LOTS on the wonder weeks.  babies go through certain periods where their development is increasing more than normal.  they learn a whole lot in a short amount of time (the wonder week or weeks) and then they return to a normal stable growth rate.  so why would this cause them to stop sleeping through the night? they are hungry! why are they hungry? because they are learning so much, that learning trumps eating during the day.  they are distracted, they are curious, and they forget to finish eating...therefore leaving them hungry at night. 

i can vouch for this...it happened...to us.  every night for over a week now, i have gotten up to feed c.  now i'm not trying to be all "woe is me", i'm just stating facts.  she slept through the night, every night for at least 2-3 months, then she starts waking up every night. obviously i'm going to turn to my trusted learning tool (google) to figure this out. 

here is a chart i found online...there are several wonder weeks in the first years of life.  week 19 is actually the fourth. those little storm clouds are the "peak" of the developmental leap.  our "storm cloud", if you will, occurred at 18 weeks.

this is nothing more than a public service announcement for those with youngins' or those who may have them soon.  it fascinated me.  and i can also vouch for the fact that C is learning more right now than she has yet...she is hitting milestones FAST...and she is distracted....and it's awesome.  I guess i'm more than ok to get up at 4 am every morning to feed her if she keeps learning like she has been. 

some funny things i should write down or i may forget:
  • she has started laughing a rigsby, almost every single time she sees him (i guess i think he is funny too). 
  • she grabs your finger now and puts it where she wants it (her mouth mostly)
  • she has started vocalizing with different voice tones, her newest a loud "ACK" sound, half laugh/half scream that she does quite frequently
  • she holds onto her feet or calves when you change her diaper...maybe she thinks she is helping
  • the face she makes when she is intent on grabbing something that is not directly above her head...like my phone sitting on the table....it is a look of complete focus: mouth open, eyes wide...and then she is so proud when she gets it.
look at that concentrating face...she loves him.  he was even laying on her legs
press on wonder week...she just keeps getting cooler!!
"i got this mom, just keep on with your cooking...i'll just chill up here on the counter"
for all you bumbo judgemental folks: she was buckled in and never got out of my arms reach, but she was on the kitchen counter

all she needed was a shoe box to start bouncing


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