By now, your little one can recognize mama and daddy, and will start to notice when you're not around or when you show up. Now that your baby is starting to work on sitting up, you're probably having fun watching them grab for anything within the range of their little arms. Mamas at this stage may start to be getting a little conscious about how far along their baby is compared to others around the same age, but just keep in mind that every child is going to hit those milestones at different times.
This week, you are probably dealing with something that every mama on the block has felt at some point since having her baby; is my little one developing at the right pace? The truth is, the development of every child is going to be different. You can't expect your child to hit those same milestones as other kids at the same time as them. When you hear that another babe the same age is sitting up on his own, or is sleeping through the night with only 1 or 2 nightly feedings, you may start to panic and think your baby is delayed. Well, keep your cool, and don't stress, mama. Your little one will hit those milestones when he is ready, and you'll wonder why you were ever worried. You can always bring up your concerns to your child's pediatrician, too. If they feel like your child is behind developmentally, they'll be able to give you some genuine steps to take.
While your baby has already been able to recognize your voice since before birth, and your face since almost day one, she's now able to recognize when you're not around, and will probably get excited when you walk into the room (or sometimes pitifully sad when you leave the room). You can see her listening and processing when you're talking or reading to her. You'll start to see that she waits for you to finish talking, and then she might coo and babble with her response. It's borderline the cutest thing you'll ever experience. If you are a bilingual home, your baby will start to benefit from hearing both languages in the home, and will actually learn to understand and respond to both languages once they start talking. Baby's little mind is working hard, so surround her with stimulating music, toys, and pictures to help her hearing, vision, and hand-eye coordination develop.
Your baby can't eat solids yet, but feel free to let her experiment with the way different foods smell! You can take different spices and put them under her nose. Catch her reactions on camera; you may get a few you want to remember!
