Milestones

Her first time rolling over was probably sometime last week, when I placed her on her playmat and walked away to wash some dishes.  I asked Ethan to keep an eye on Emma and after a few minutes, Ethan called out and told me Emma had rolled over and out of her playmat!

Since then, she has shown keen interest in trying to roll over but it wasn’t until August 7th (the day our new set of wheels arrived), that Emma finally *officially* DID IT!

And as if to prove that she could do it all on her own, she kept flipping and rolling over, again and again and again.  She would extend one hand to her back when she’s on her tummy though, so sometimes she finds it difficult to support herself.  For now, she is only turning to her right, and yes, this would mean busier days ahead for me, as I have to constantly help her either roll back or pick her up and place her back on her back (only to have her roll over again!)

Today, she started to prop herself up on her elbows after she’d rolled over!  Great job, Emma! 🙂

A fascinating fact I realized is that I can actually remember the actual dates my kids hit their rollover milestone:

• Ethan first rolled over on July 9 2006, the day of the World Cup Final between France and Italy in Berlin.
• Hannah first rolled over on July 17 2009, the day we left San Jose, CA.
• Emma first rolled over on August 7 2013, the day we got our new car.

Scrap Credits
Love Encounter Sketches Cover QP of Oscraps from Kitty Designs 

Emma turned 4 months just a few days ago.  Before we left the States, we took her to her pediatrician to have her early 4-month well child checkup.  So the weight and height measurements below are taken at about 2 weeks before she actually hit 4 months.

Weight

13.12 lbs (5.95 kilos): 42.77 percentile

Height/Length

25 in (63.5 cm): 88.09 percentile (She’s a tall baby!)

Motor Skills

• Emma is able to hold her head up much longer when on her tummy now.  Her neck muscles are getting stronger!
• Drooling a LOT!
• Loves to suck on anything in sight.  Lately her favorite “items” are her own fists, and our fingers (when we are holding her).
• Kicks a lot and likes to flap and move her arms around.
• Loves to stick her tongue out, prompting her siblings to *report* her behaviour. “Mommy, Emma’s sticking her tongue out.  That’s not very nice now, is it?
• She might be growing too long for her 0-6 months sleeping sack, I’d reckon.  She is now able to rotate her body around her crib, even though she is in the sleeping sack!  Time to upgrade her to the 6-12 months sack! 🙂
• Her favorite “pose” is grabbing onto her toes (and looking adorable while doing so).  She can also be sometimes seen tasting her toes!

Communication and Social Skills

• Still cooing and a lot and making many non-verbal expressions.  Most of the expressions really remind us of Ethan was he was a little baby.
• When she cries, it sometimes sounds like she is sounding the syllable “ma”….could she be calling “Mommy” soon? *hopeful*
• Long gone are the days when we complained that she doesn’t smile, for nowadays she is a really smiley baby.
• Looks at us intently with those deep-set brown eyes.  Most of the time, she loves it when we sing to her, for instance songs like Old McDonald’s and action songs like “If You’re Happy and You Know It”.
• Is contented just to have Mommy hold her, not even for feeding.  Just holding her and doing nothing will soothe and calm her.  She will get agitated if she sometimes does not see me, or if someone holds her instead.
• A little ticklish.
• Since we returned home to Penang, she has been disliking the car rides and going out, preferring instead to stay in the comfort and security of home.  She would cry her heart out, determined to have us pick her up or to have us bring her back home.

Others

•  Her sleep pattern is getting more consistent now.  She is used to the night time routine we’ve set out for her, so she falls asleep pretty easily after her shower in the evenings.
• We’re still working on moisturizing her skin and getting rid of the rough patches.  She is still scratching herself quite a bit, so we need to ensure her nails are short and trimmed all the time.

Food and Feeding

She is 100% on Mommy’s milk.  Showing a keen interest in food, or so we think.  When we eat our meals, she will make quite a fuss, so at times I will need to breastfeed her while eating.  Hope the introduction to solid foods will be a smooth-sailing one!

Scrap Credits
Shades of Grey kit from Xcenedra Designs
Grrrrr Collaboration from Emma
HoldEmUps from Tara Dunstan

Weight

12 lbs 3 oz (5.52 kilos) as of May 29 2013.  She’ll be seeing her pediatrician for an early 4-month visit this coming Monday.

Height/Length

I don’t have her exact height/length yet but she is definitely growing taller!  I can tell based on the fact that her 0-3 month sized sleep ‘n plays are getting tighter!

Motor Skills

• Emma loves to coo at us and has even started “blowing raspberries”!
• Emma likes to try to sit up, exercising her abdominal muscles.  When we lay her down at an angle, supported by pillows, she would try to pull her head up.
• She kicks, squirms, wiggles and stretches a lot.
• Her neck muscles are getting stronger by the day, and during tummy time, she would try to lift her head.
• She loves to look at herself in the mirror when she is taking her bath.  I prop her bathtub on the sink and it’s beside the mirror.

Communication and Social Skills

• Emma is quite sociable, and will smile when we talk to her, but only when she is in a good mood.  Most of the time, this happens in the mornings.  She does get irritable at times, when she’s hungry or tired…but don’t we all?
• Her eyes will follow me wherever I go.
• She knows how to get our attention when she senses someone is nearby, and when she is done crying, she will sometimes sob silently.
• Emma is a very responsive baby, and we can have endless conversations with her.  It would look as though she is conversing with us in her own special way.

Others

• We’re still working on getting her to sleep through the night.  She has done it a couple of times before, but it is still inconsistent, especially when she is going through her growth spurts.
• She has discovered her fist recently, and sometimes we would see her soothe herself to sleep by sucking on her fist.  Ethan calls it the “fist ice cream” or “fist milk”. 🙂
• Her skin condition has vastly improved, but we are still applying some light creams and balms to help soothe her skin.  Her cradle cap has also improved tremendously.

Food and Feeding

She is 100% on Mommy’s milk.

Scrap Credits
Birthday Minikit from Verena Designs
Fuzzy Felt Alpha from Misschifis
Treasured button from Debra Anderson Designs 

Weight

11 lbs 7 oz (5.188 kilos).  She is in the 50.28 percentile on the weight for age chart, having gained about 2 kilos since birth.

Height/Length

23.25″ (59.1 cm).  She’s a rather long baby, don’t you reckon?  It’s probably because Emma stretches so much! 🙂

Motor Skills

• She’s gaining more strength in her neck, and can hold her head upright for longer periods when on her tummy now.
• She sometimes likes to suck on her fist.
• She likes to move her gaze towards objects which are red.

• Emma seems to want to *communicate* with us, and she does so by cooing at us in response to what we say to her.  Her cooing is always right on cue and it’s endearing to communicate with her that way.
• She has started smiling!  She’s mostly her “smiliest” in the mornings and also she appears to smile more when Daddy is talking to her.  She’s also showing great affection for Ethan and Hannah: all they need to do is smile at her and she will smile back.  Harder for Mommy to make her smile though…hmmmph..no fair!

Others

• Emma is still being treated for Seborrhoeic Dermatitis, which looks a little like eczema on certain parts of her body, especially on her limbs.  We’re hoping it will clear up soon.
• Still unable to fully sleep through the night, but thankfully there were a few nights where she has slept 4 hours straight!  Let’s hope she keeps it up and prolong those sleeping hours.

Food and Feeding
She is 100% on Mommy’s milk.