So much has happened in the last several weeks. McKamy continues to surprise and amaze us with how quickly she’s developing.
Kamy and I stopped by the pharmacy this afternoon to pick up a prescription. While waiting for it to be filled, we got to visiting with the pharmacists and sales ladies. They were all so impressed that she was only three months old — not five or six months like they were guessing.
It is so much fun to watch Kamy interact with other people and all the smiles she brings to their faces! I know I can count on smiling while I’m out with her — everyone loves little Miss McKamy! We get so many compliments and comments about how aware she is and focused on what’s going on around her. And she definitely can be a little flirt and smile, coo, and talk to other people. Add in the comments about how pretty she is and what a beautiful shade of blue her eyes are, and strangers are smitten. I can’t say I blame them either, I’m pretty partial to her too!
Beautiful baby girl:
Here are the most recent developments:
Kamy’s gotten so good at controlling her head, supporting and balancing her upper torso, and standing up. She really has come a long way on muscle control and her motor skills. Now we are practicing doing sit-ups by pulling up on her arms and raising her into a sitting position. She’s learned how to bend her elbows to make it easier to sit up and she’ll also lift her legs up off the floor so she can bend at the waist. Balance continues to be a work in progress as she is learning how to support herself with minimal help from me. We’ll prop her up on the corner of the couch so she can look around and practice sitting up unassisted. I’ve also started to work with her on using her arms and hands for grabbing onto things to help her balance. Instead of only holding her at her waist or under her arms, I’ll hold on to her hands while she’s standing up and help her learn to balance by pulling on her arms to counteract her swaying. We’re not quite there yet, but I see it coming soon!
Working on balance at our swim class:
She’s officially found her fingers and will now intentionally bring her hands up to her mouth and suck on her fingers. She hasn’t confined herself to just her thumb either — her favorite fingers to suck on seems to be a combination of her pointer and middle fingers … sometimes adding the ring finger for good measure!
Thumb:
Pointer finger:
In tandem with sucking on her fingers, I think our little girl is starting to teethe. Instead of just gumming and sucking on our hands and fingers when she puts them in her mouth, she’ll actually bite down fairly forcefully. It’s definitely not painful yet, but I’m on the fence about discouraging this practice already … I don’t want her to develop bad habits. In the same vein, she really doesn’t understand what she’s doing now so I don’t think I’ll do anything more about it other than keep my fingers out of her mouth. There aren’t any teeth yet, but you can start to see the little raised sections of her gums where they’ll one day arrive.
McKamy will also intentionally grab onto an item she sees. She’ll also grab on to anything that touches her hand in passing — shirts, fabric, my hair, or toys. Once she’s got it in her hand, it takes a bit of persistence to get her to release it from her grasp. I’ve gotten used to asking McKamy “Can I have my hair back?” My hair is getting relegated to a pony tail more and more frequently. I also have a dedicated “car seat toy” — a flower shaped plastic ring that I give to her to hold while we’re in the car. Most of the time she’ll hold onto it the entire car trip and will amuse herself by sucking and chewing on it.
What do you see McKamy?:
As of this week, McKamy has added a full pound! Last Tuesday she weighed in at 11.3 pounds … about the same as she’s been for the last few weeks. I’ve been telling everyone that she’s been going through a growth spurt, but we’re just now seeing the results. Today she weighed in at 12.2 pounds! What a difference a week makes. Grandpops made a comment Saturday night while holding her that she gets heavy now! Those 12 pounds don’t necessarily seem like a lot at first, but while hauling her around it adds up! Add in her car seat and I know my biceps are getting stronger from carrying her in and out of the car several times a day.
Messing around with Daddy this evening:
