Thumb sucker!

11 weeks old today!

Well, this week we are seeing some things that Elliott is getting better at as well as things he is starting to enjoy more. As you can see from the picture below, Elliott has become quite proficient at sucking his thumb. He has done this before but the past 2 days he has been much more able to put his thumb in his mouth whenever he wants to rather than it happening by chance! He really likes it and, I'm sure, thinks he's pretty clever to be able to do it all by himself. The only problem is he isn't coordinated enough yet to control his other fingers while he's sucking his thumb - quite often ends up gauging his eye with his other fingers! He also makes himself gag sometimes by putting his thumb in his mouth too far!

He is also starting to 'regard' his hands - every now and then over the past 2 days he has seemed to notice them as if they weren't there before. He can hold a rattle, but only if we put it in his hands, and he doesn't yet really take much notice of it. He certainly doesn't seem to realise he is holding it (in fact he just hits himself in the head with it as he tries to suck his thumb!).

Today he had a really big laugh while we were playing ... he likes it when you pretend to laugh really BIG! We have also been playing the harmonica quite a bit together. He really likes it, although I'm sure he wishes I knew how to play more than "Oh, When the Saints" and "Pop Goes the Weezel". Hopefully Elliott will want to learn to play an instrument himself one day. Perhaps the trumpet!

Today we also tried out the baby papoose the other way around (with Elliott facing outwards). I think he likes it much better than facing inwards and he is pretty good now at holding his head up. I think he could probably manage 1/2 hour in it like that. When he has tummy time (which he doesn't like very much at the moment) he really lifts his head high and keeps it there for a while. It looks as though he's even starting to push up a bit on his elbows! We also had a bath together tonight ... the last few times we have done this I have put him on my chest while lying down and he has just about drowned himself trying to get a feed!

Tomorrow Elliott has an appointment at the John Hunter to have an Ultrasound done on his hip - at his 8 week check up the GP thought his hip was a little clicky, so she thought he should have it checked, just in case.

Finally, just a quick word about the feeding (always on our minds!). It is still better than a couple of weeks ago but Elliott still seems to have 'off' days. I guess adults have days where they aren't as hungry as others, so perhaps babies do too? Generally, it's all okay though. I suppose we still just need to try and get used to the whole unpredictability of raising a child - it's still taking some getting used to! (It does sound strange saying "...raising a child..."!! I can't believe we're doing it!). Anyway, I'll be very interested to see how Elliott is growing at our next clinic check up (next week, I think).