The Leap of Categories

My feelings toward leaps are twofold. First, I love that my daughter is learning new skills and that her brain is growing. On the flip side, being the "Type A" that I am ::read: control freak:: I hate what these leaps do to our daily routine. I also don't like the fact that these leaps are seemingly scary and confusing to my baby, who definitely shows it with much fussing instead of being her happy self.

I am obsessed with getting enough love sleep. If I don't get enough sleep, I like to whine to everyone who is around me will take a nap. I am SO happy we have a baby who sleeps 12 hours at night. SO happy! We worked very hard with Baby Wise from Day 1, just like the book talks about, to get her to sleep through the night. That was, in fact, our main goal for picking Baby Wise as a parenting book at first. We now feel that the –Wise books have a lot of "wise" information in them for rearing a tot and plan to read some more of them. Anyway, my point is that I'm glad we worked hard, and I'm glad it worked.

When Zooey goes through a leap, sleep is the last thing she wants to do. Seriously. That and eat. This time, the leap seems to be coinciding with a growth spurt, so the eating thing isn't an issue, but she's been waking up between 5:00-6:00 in the morning and not sleeping well for her naps. At first I thought it was because she had a cold, but it was a short cold that's almost gone, and the early waking is still happening. Throw the fact that she's learned to sit up independently ::Hooray!!:: and we have a completely messed up routine.

So, once again, we're employing CIO. Once again, I must change my perspective to being happy that Zooey's learning a new skill and waiting for about 2 weeks for her to get back to normal. Vent over. This leap is actually kind of exciting! It's called the Leap of Categories. Around week 37, babies begin to comprehend that everything has a category and practicing new skills. This applies to everything they learn about, for example, a spotted horse and a brown horse are both horses or Moto and Snowball are both cats or (most excitingly) Zooey, Mommy and Daddy are all people. The book states that some scientists believe this is the age where real intelligence begins. The world of categories helps baby interact on a new level with the people around her. I'm extra excited that she's sitting now, because good toys for this wonder week are blocks of different shapes and sizes, picture books, stacking toys and toys/household items that are in the same category. We have some of these, and I've been waiting to use them until she could hold herself up and play with it in front of her. It's a lot of fun to see her growing into the little person she will become.

I think it will be interesting when I have another child to look back on these wonder weeks and see if I feel the same way with the next one or if some of the stress will be gone, because I will have two kids to focus on. Time will tell…

Here's a chart of the leaps. I found it on the Wonder Weeks website. I'm not too sure about that super freaky picture in the bottom righthand corner, but nothing I can do about that. http://www.thewonderweeks.com/images/stories/Book/WW_info_chart.pdf

Another Developmental Leap

Does your mind ever get "stuck" in time? Let me explain. Time moves SOOO fast, especially with a baby, and for the last month I've been thinking Zooey was in her 21st week. I know she's actually in her 25th week, but it's like my brain got stuck not wanting to believe she's almost 6 months - 6 months - old! Anyway, a couple of things triggered my brain to actually look at my calendar and see how many weeks she is: she's been waking up at night, around 10:00-11:00, crying, she's been staring into space all the time pondering the universe, she cries when I walk away from her, she hasn't been very hungry with solids or nursing. Well, DUH!, she's smack-dab in the middle of a developmental leap. The 26 week leap is the leap of relationships. The book says that everything babies know about their world will change during this leap (which lasts anywhere from 1-5 weeks, the average being 4, and peaks at week 26 then ends). They learn mommy or daddy can walk away, and as far as baby knows, they've gone to China. They learn that everything has a relationship with something else: things can be inside, on top of, outside, beneath other things. They learn that there is always distance between them and mommy, which can be very frightening. After the leap, they will start showing the new skills they've been learning: physical, emotional, stacking, playing, etc. This leap is a little different in that most babies have another mini-fussy period around week 29 as separation anxiety peaks. After the leap, like always, there will be a "sunny" period between weeks 30-35 when baby will be extra happy and show the progress of learning all the new skills they've picked up. Until the next leap somewhere around week 37.

Knowing about these developmental leaps makes the fussy times with Zooey easier for me. Since I am following a schedule with her and am pretty type A, it could be easy for me to go into a frenzy when the schedule isn't working the way I want it too; however, knowing about the leaps makes me more relaxed. I know she's learning something new, and in this case it can be frightening, so I want to be there for her. I know that as long as I stay as consistent as I can that leaps only last a certain amount of time and soon we'll be able to get back on track. Plus, it is really fun to watch for her new skills and applaud them when they finally show up.

I also know there is another pretty big growth spurt around 6 months, so rather than worrying about my milk supply or if something is wrong, I know I can nurse her at night, put her back down and the growth spurt will end soon enough, as well.

I will admit, when I have to get up at 5am for BSF on Saturday morning, it makes for a rough night when Zooey wakes up twice and I'm up for an hour each time (I don't know how you working mommas do it - props to you!). However, as a dear friend wrote on her blog, and I'm paraphrasing, God uses these sweet, quiet moments to bond me to my little girl, and when I take on that perspective rather than one of irritation about being up in the middle of the night, I am able to cherish the moment, cuddle up to her, talk to God and go back to bed feeling relaxed.

Holy Developmental Leap, Batman!

I love to read others' parenting stories and adventures on the interwebs, and I also enjoy following certain blogs. I have found much good advice, funny anecdotes and relatable stories. About a month ago I purchased a book which I had read several mommies rave about, and of course, I love to read and gain as much good wisdome as I can. It's called "The Wonder Weeks: Eight predictable, age-linked leaps in your babies development characterized by the three C's (Crying, Cranky, Clingy), a change...and the new development of skills." I bought the book after Zooey had already gone through two leaps, the first "wonder weeks," at ages 5 and 8 weeks, and I wish I had purchased it sooner. Looking back at those ages, she was super fussy, and there were times nothing seemed to comfort her. I ended up carrying her around or wearing her in the Moby to get her to calm or nap many days. I just chalked it up to gas or to a growth spurt or the witching hour. I'm glad I have it for this leap, labeled in the book as the longest leap, sometimes lasting up to 6 weeks! I don't think her leap will last that long, but it's starting, and thanks to this book I have understanding of why she's being more fussy and what's going on in that little brain of hers. For most babies, this leap starts around 14-16 weeks and lasts through their 19th week. Zooey turned 16 weeks old on Monday. Starting Sunday night, she's been fussy and crying when I put her down for bedtime - she never does this (well, at home anyway). She's also been less interested in eating the last few days, instead prefering to stop and smile or look around. When I put her down for her independent playtime, she squaks madly or whines until I come pick her up. She stops and just stares into space or looks at something; she isn't smiling or laughing as much, it's as if she's just simply taking everything in and pondering over it. This would also probably explain the obsession with her hands. I think one of the new skills she's trying to master is bringing objects to her mouth (including getting her finger/thumb). She's started to do really well during tummy time, pushing herself up and holding herself up, looking around for quite awhile. She'll go from being smiley to crying and back again. All these things, the book explains, are signs of a major developmental leap. Zooey is learning new skills: physical, vocal, cognitive. By the end of this "leap" she will notice transitions in her day more, her movements will be more fluid, her babbling more organized. It's really pretty amazing all the changes that will take place. I am finding that the knowledge of these leaps is making it easier for me to "deal" (for lack of a better word) with her fussiness and cliginess. I understand this time what's going on that is making her fuss like this, and thanks to the suggestions in the book, I have a better idea of how to comfort her and also encourage her newfound skills and knowlege to blossom. I'm less uptight about her crying and am more empathetic. I am really trying to put myself in her shoes. I imagine what her brain is going through is similar to studying new information all day in class and getting brain overload. This makes people crabby! Or if I had to learn a new skill, like when I rode my bike in clipless pedals and kept falling over - it was tough and very frustrating. But once the learning ends, we have the knowledge and have good control over the skill, we are much happier people. The next few weeks will probably be rough, but then Zooey will be more confident and be her bright, sunshine-y self once again.