John's steps to becoming the little cheeky lad he is (Baby Stages in general)

Member Name: chele2002

Product:	Baby Stages in general
Date:	29/10/01 (171 review reads)
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Baby stages! Now there’s a subject that I am sure many people would love to share with the whole world, me included. That was why I created a web site some time ago for that purpose and for our son John to look at in the future, go awww at, or even blush at the thought of the cute stages he went through. Well that was the idea, until Homestead did away with many of it services and decided to ask for payment if you site was more than 3 pages, mines I lost count after 10 pages. Not being the worlds best at HTML, I have now decided to add a chart of our son’s growth stages here on Dooyoo to share with my friends on here, and all who happen to read it.

Sticky messy stage
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You thought I would be talking about the stage that little ones go through when they are into everything they should, well sorry to disappoint you but that will come in good time. I am talking about the little bundle of joy that is covered in all sorts of weird and wonderful slime when they are born.

It doesn’t really matter about all the pain or the mess, they are here, they are safe and they are the future.

Through out pregnancy, labour and birth they are dependant on you. They have been protected, fed, watered and loved whilst inside you and now they depend on you to provide the same. Every little life the same, they may not look the same, act the same but each tiny individual needs the same basic requirements to help them grow into young adults and perhaps grown into parents themselves.

When John was born he made our family complete, you see Charlotte and Liam were from a previous relationship and although Chris look upon Charlotte and Liam as his own and is a great father for them, something was needed to complete our family and strengthen the bond we have all developed between us.

The birth was pretty painless; all went well and out John popped into this world and into our lives. This tin
y baby was created out of love and has given all the family so much love.

A tiny little cry came, a cry for a desire to be nourished and loved. You see that is the only way a baby can tell you what he or she wants. Sometimes they can be very demanding and at times all of our children have been. Satisfying a baby’s needs can be tiring, emotionally and physically draining but the rewards are far greater. Feeding a baby for the first time of its life is a magical experience whether it is bottle or breast, and applies to both, either mother or father. John was at times very demanding come feed time as many babies are at this stage. All I can say is that it doesn’t last forever, even though it seems it will, trust me.

Babies are just so cuddly when they are newborn, they give you this overwhelming desire to hold them, hug them, bond with them and never let go. A newborn baby’s features are its foundations for what time would allow then to look like as they grow. It is from day one that there history is mapped out for the future, for the love and attention that you provide does shape the way they appear within their attitudes to life and to others.

Although they still have a lot to learn and do not have their full senses, they can pick up on moods and atmospheres around them. If you are miserable then your child will be, so a bit of advice is to seek help and identify what has caused your unhappiness to help you move forward to a happy environment for all. We have always talked out problems and asked for help when needed, perhaps that is why our children have grown into happy children, who provide us with enormous amounts of love.

Newborn babies may appear to be boring after all, they just seem to sleep, eat and poo. Have you ever watched a newborn baby sleep? It is fantastic to watch every little flinch, windy smile as they sleep, and to wonder if they are dreaming and what they dream if they do. I can tell you it i
s far from boring, quite the opposite, it is fantastic, interesting and intriguing.

I promise to sleep more that 3 hours this time, folks!!
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Like I said sleepless nights and high demands for feeds will not last forever. For most of our children they were going through the night by 6 weeks old. John was a star (still is), he was 3 weeks old when he was happy and content to go the night without the need of a few extra ounces to help him. I have never known such a happy and content baby, well that was until Rebekah was born, yes a carbon copy of her brother in many ways with the obvious difference of gender. It is also at a few weeks old that many start to follow moving shapes around and watch their hands (may sound boring to us but to baby’s I guess it is interesting).

Look mummy, daddy, I got character
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At around 3 months old, most parents will start to notice that their baby’s character starts to shine through as they develop their own personalities and unique identities. John was no exception, and it was from around this age that I knew, we all knew that he would be a little clown, getting into everything in the near future but getting away with it, yes he had a smile that would melt you. At this age John started to smile more often, the kind of smile you know is not wind. He became more playful, more interesting in what was going on around him and more absorbed in what he was occupied with (usually my hair, ouch!). Many may also notice that along with their new characters, your baby would probably start to make many strange but interesting and damm right cute sounds, John was a bit of a cutie with the many sounds, and even though I never knew what he was trying to say and often sounded from another country I am sure he knew what he meant, after all this is the start to no end of the vocal delights.

Lets
sit up, no flop over!
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From around 5 months onwards, John entered a whole new dimension to being a baby and started to display a bit of independence. By now he was holding his bottle, he was well before but now he could hold it with confidence and when it was full (well that’s one less job to do). Apart from that he was starting to try and sit up, which at the start was not the most easy task to perform, and no matter how many times he would flop, backwards, forwards or sideways he would never give up, as his frustrations would get the better of him and quitting was not going to happen. It was then at about 7 months old, that he was quite the sturdy little lad sat there, all quiet, happy and content.

Ouch, ouch!! But do I really need teeth mummy?
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With our first daughter Charlotte, she was cursed with the dreaded teeth at the age of 3 and half months old, but for John it was till 7 and half months old that his made an appearance. We never thought he was going to get them but when he did we were quite amazed that they never seemed to bother him even though 2 teeth decided to pop up at the same time. Maybe the first 2 teeth were to give us a false sense of security because the majority of the rest were very stressful to all around him. It was some comfort to him and to us that he was now becoming more mobile, which did help to keep him occupied and gave him something to focus on other than those nasty pearly whites. Yes he had found a new and exciting way of getting to the stereo, to fondle with all those interesting buttons, in the shape of, if I roll over I can get over the other side of the room where it’s more interesting and forbidden for my little fingers.

Oh yes now your talking doggy style!
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8 months old and John discovers that he does have hands and knees, but best of all disc
overs what he can do with them. Yes he has now mastered how to get up on all fours, just like a doggy, if only he can figure out how to move both his front and back simultaneously then he’s cracked it. You see for many when they venture into crawling, they tend to forget to move their hand when moving forward with their knees, to end up with the odd cut lips and battered nose. John was forever, it seemed, forgetting to co-ordinate his rear, with his front. But then once he did get it mastered I needed the help of a few extra sets of eyes, mainly in the back of my head. He was nearly 9 months old when he mastered it and boy did he pick up speed. I found it to be fun, very fun, we used to play a game (still do some times) of lets see if mummy can catch me, but mummy has to be on all fours too!! (Great fun for me, but if anyone seen mummy, they would think that she has flipped!).

Walkies anyone?
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John, I would have to admit was a little behind the average for walking, but then why have these averages, each child will do what they want to do when they feel confident and comfortable, and after all each child is unique. Despite the fact that he did try to take between 1 and 3 steps, he was 15 months old when he found the confidence to walk, with out the need of diving to the nearest chair or table. This stage has to be one of the biggest steps to a toddler and for parent, it is such a big achievement for all, but unfortunately does sometimes become a competition to push a child before or just after their 1st birthday.



My footnotes
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Each and every step that a baby learns is important and what is not really important is when they choose to do them. No baby is ever the same, even in the case of twins, as my sister has now found out. Each baby does have its own little identities and will master life’s milestones in their own time. John has been slow with many things, but I will never ev
er class him below average, because the way he is, the was he does things and the time he chooses to do these things are up to him and will always be. If everyone did, looked, thinks, dresses, does etc the same then this world will be a boring place and for a start would only have a single sex gender, just think how dull that would be! Just let them be their own little person, and don’t ever compare, you will see all the rewards that a little person can give and all they ask in return is a little love, support and patience.

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