Month 5: Goals and Accomplishments for Boo Boo

Today Boo Boo turned 5 months old! Getting so big so fast! My friend just had her second child this week, and going to visit the adorable tiny newborn really opened my eyes how fast these babies do indeed grow!

What has Boo Boo accomplished in month 4?

• He starts to grab at a toy if you put it in front of him.  (I hold a toy out for him throughout his awake play times and take his hand to show his how to grab. I also take his hands and let him feel things so that he learns through touch.)   **Goal of mine**
• He recognizes the word "bottle" or "ba ba", also "nap time" or "ni ni". I think he recognizes "mama" but I am not 100% sure on this. (I say the words as I am doing things. I talk to him all day whenever he is awake.)   **Not a goal of mine**
• He sits really good in his bumbo chair and I would say has almost complete head control as I started to do the hip hold! (he loves it by the way).......(I would put him in his bumbo a couple minutes until his head got tired. I would also sit him up on the couch and on my lap.)   **Goal of mine**
• Sits good with support and loves to stand (with support of course)...........(I worked daily on him and always changed his positions so he got use to different things. I would go from standing for a minute to sitting with a toy, to laying on back for kicking, etc. He gets better every day.)   **Goal of mine**
• doing so much better with tummy time!! Holding that head up good and can roll from tummy to back. (I slowly built up his time on his tummy and he cried about it less and less. I now can get a decent tummy time before he starts to cry. I try to put him on his tummy at least twice a day or more.)   **Goal of mine**
• Bringing his legs up and trying to eat his feet. (Doing this to help with gas, now it has become a game and I see him doing it almost everytime he lays on his back. I encourage him by playing with his feet and bringing his foot to his mouth for him to enjoy.)    **Not a goal of mine**

What I think Boo Boo can accomplish in month 5:

• Eat with a spoon and realize it is for food. (I just started with oatmeal and he is starting to get the picture of it.)
• Roll from back to tummy. (He is almost ready for the tuck and roll as I call it. He brings his legs up to his knees and goes up to his side.)
• Sits unsupported on his own. (He sits pretty good with support and can go a second here or there when you let go, but ends up face plants.)
• Grabs at a toy on his own. (He will grab it if you put it in his face and encourage it, but will just otherwise just look at it.)
• Says Da Da and Ba Ba. (He can say Mama and hi and sometimes I think he says Ni Ni when its bedtime. He's an early talker, it runs in hubbys family I guess.)
• Start learning baby sign language. (I just started it this week, and I am not into habit of it yet. Just starting out with mama, daddy, and milk for now.)
• Laugh more often. (He loves to giggle, but a great laugh is very hard to come by for Boo Boo.)
• Sleep all of the night in his crib and only waking up once. (He wakes up a couple times and he always needs that closure and comfort of mama and I have to kick hubby out of bed and make my bed safe for Boo Boo and he sleeps on my arm for half of the night.)
• Naps in the crib. (He thinks his crib is nighttime bed and will only nap on mama's lap or in the car seat.)
• Enjoy his exersaucer for more than 10 minutes. (He likes it about 10 minutes and than wants out. I would like to do dishes, etc while he plays. Even just 20 minutes would be great!)

My realistic goals for Month 5 :

• Eat with his spoon. I don't think it will take him that much longer to get the hang of it. In fact, just last night he started to open his mouth, so we already have progress. I think by month 6 he will have started some solids (besides oatmeal) and will start enjoying baby foods.
• Roll from back to tummy. He already gets up to his side. If I just keep working and encouraging him to do so, I think that within a month he can accomplish this! Than the rolling across the room can begin!
• I think that by the end of the month I can have him doing pretty good on unsupported sitting, but I will take it slow and at his pace.
• I think he will be more into his toys in a month and will at least start to grab towards them. I will continue to show him and put them within his reaches and slowly make him work towards them.
• I think he may learn to say a new word or two, I will continue to talk with him and help him form his words. If he says something, great, if not, just keep talking. No biggie. 
• I think I can do all night in the crib, even if it means no sleep for me. Even if he wakes up, I will keep putting him there and not let him cry it out either. I at least hope to have great progress in a month.

Overall, I hope Boo Boo becomes a little more independent as in wanting to try new things and learn to enjoy his toys and moving around. I hope he learns to sit on his own very soon. I hope that in Month 6 he will be sleeping great in his crib and sitting and starting to maybe army crawl as well as being able to roll both ways. I also hope he really learns to enjoy tummy time very soon and starts to want to be put on his tummy more often. I hope that he learns new words and signs and starts to go into his convertible car seat.

Month 5 here we go!!! :)

My View on Goals and Milestones...

So you have this new baby and all of a sudden you are responsible for another human being. How overwhelming!!! Taking Boo Boo home I was in tears! Half of it was being so emotionally happy to finally have my bundle of joy to enjoy, the other half was me being terrified! What in the world was I going to do with this newborn baby? Will I be able to feed him enough, will I be able to comfort him, and will I be able to take care of his every need? Most importantly: will I be good enough to make sure he grows happy, healthy, and grow up to be a responsible and smart adult? The pressure is on! And for me I felt like it started out right away! That every step and milestone was so important. Luckily, with some time I learned that it wasn't so important when Boo Boo learned how to roll and that he was already saying "hi" at 11 weeks. Man, that was too stressful anyways and boy did I NOT need that!

Everyone always tells you that babies do things at different stages, blah, blah blah. And you find yourself telling other moms that as well when they come to you with worries of their own babies milestones. But, when it comes to YOUR baby, you find yourself with worry when they don't smile at about a month, and don't roll over about 3 months, etc, etc. Yet people keep telling you that all babies are different, and yet it remains to go in one ear and out the other. Obviously YOUR baby should be doing these things and the worrying begins when other moms on facebook brag about their babies doing these things. (as they should, as I do the same ;p )

But ever since Boo Boo turned about 4 months old, I took a different spin on things and got a different way of looking at the big picture. I now look at everything in a month by month span and focus on what I want Boo Boo to hopefully achieve in that month, and if he doesn't achieve it, I add it to the next months goals.  Now obviously if months go by and something isn't being done, I need to re look at it and maybe get the doctors views. If she is okay, than I move on and keep trying.  Hopefully this works well for us and keeps my stress down a bit. I use to always get mad at myself for not getting a good amount of tummy time in the day, I felt he was so behind in all that. Now if he goes a day without I don't freak as much. He will get there on his time. He will crawl when he is ready. It is like a tape recorder in my brain that I always have to press play. Look at his goals Mama JoJo. Look at his goals!!

So yes, every month I will have a list of goals and milestones I hope Boo Boo accomplishes and what he has accomplished in the last month.  These goals may coincide with what the book tells me they should be, but overall I will base it off what I think Boo Boo can do himself. Yes, I will still be looking at facebook and babycenter communities to what other babies his age are doing because I think it is good to know the averages (great to help make reasonable goals as well) and of course I love hearing about how other babies are doing! Also, I love to see how other moms accomplish what their babies are doing and to get great advice on doing things! What a great tool the internet is for us moms! Although I may add that sometimes the internet can be a foe. It doesn't help when you have so many babies to compare to, and it makes it harder to stick with your goals and your own time line for your baby.  You just have to keep yourself in check and don't be afraid to use the valuable resources at hand and take what other babies are doing to help guide you and not to worry or stress you. (yes, easier said than done my friend, easier said than done!).  Focus on your baby and your monthly goals. That is my plan. I think it is helping me greatly so far!

Here is how I will set up my month to month goals, etc. :

• First off, I will list everything Boo Boo has accomplished in the last month and if it was on my last months goals or not. I will write how I helped him or if he did it on his own. I will write my feelings and emotions for his accomplishments. 
• Than I will write what I think he CAN accomplish in the next month and my goals to help him succeed in those. 
• After that I will write out my realistic goals I think Boo Boo will do in that month and try to keep it as reasonable as possible and my reasoning for choosing these goals.
• Lastly, I will write up a summary on how I hope the month will go and to take a quick glance on what I hope for the next month to be and what I hope his near future milestones and accomplishments are.

I will make time to do this every month. I feel this is important for me and Boo Boo. It shouldn't take too long and I can write/type while he naps or is playing with daddy, etc.

I think it will be great to look back and see what Boo Boo has done every month! It will help me understand him better and to see his strengths and weaknesses. When he gets older(probably at a year old), I will probably go to a bi-yearly goal as he really won't need it monthly. A friend of mine (Weird24Seven) gave me this great idea of yearly goals on the birthday which I think is a GREAT idea by the way! Totally doing that one with Boo Boo! 

I also hope for Boo Boo to look back one day and enjoy looking at what he did when he was a baby/toddler. My mom lost my baby book and sometimes I wish I knew what I did as a baby! Specially now being a mom for some reason I would love to compare mine with Boo Boos. Again, this falls under all babies do everything different, but come on! We all fall into this trap at certain points, I think it is programmed into us!

I will tell myself again: all babies do everything at different stages,
All babies do everything at different stages, all babies do everything at different stages,
All babies do everything at different stages, all babies do everything at different stages!!!
Maybe shouting it will work? ALL BABIES DO EVERYTHING AT DIFFERENT STAGES!!!

Nope, still wondering what other 5 month old babies are doing and why Boo Boo is or isn't doing the same... Now, if you are one of those moms who are lax about these things, good for you! I inspire to be like you! I do try, taking it a day at a time. Oh no, why isn't my Boo Boo grabbing at his toys yet? I see pictures of babies that are 3 months or 4 months playing with toys, but Boo Boo is just starting into this! Again, I need to re focus and look at my goals here! ALL BABIES DO EVERYTHING AT DIFFERENT STAGES. Grabbing is just something Boo Boo doesn't always want to do. But boy is he one observer and is so alert!! (I think finding something positive always helps reassure that Boo Boo is indeed doing great.)

One day this will stick. ;)  Hopefully my new month by month take on it will help me out. So try it if you are like me or most moms out there! Even if you only start out every couple months, or bi-yearly, or even yearly on their birthdays. Give it a try! I think that you and your child(ren) will enjoy it and grow from it!