As of October 8, 2017 Kymani Lyrique is 4 months old (actual)! Can you believe it? So, how is our former 30 week gestation preemie doing? Kymani's adjusted age (the age she would be had she not been born early) is two months. So, is she more in line with that or with her actual age?
What Has Kymani Been Doing?
Kymani is really becoming quite a character. She's generally a quiet baby, but she often has these bursts of happy speech and laughter that are very loud. If Kymani cries, she is either hungry, needs a diaper, teething, or is gassy. But she really isn't very fussy at all.
She's growing like a weed and is already wearing mostly 6 month clothing. It seems lately she's in a new size every couple weeks.
Nova has become quite interesting to Kymani lately. She tries to get her all the time. If you put Kymani on her tummy for tummy time, she will pull herself toward things. She hasn't quite gotten most of them yet, but she is determined and has occasionally gotten toys or a person. It depends on how close the object is, as she can usually move several inches at a time.
Kymani loves to laugh. In fact, Kymani was cracking the heck up at me on the way home from the walk to the store today. I don't know what I was doing that was so funny but she was just smiling away at me and then when I smiled back, she just kept laughing and laughing. Perhaps I'm not funny, just funny looking.
She's growing like a weed and is already wearing mostly 6 month clothing. It seems lately she's in a new size every couple weeks.
Nova has become quite interesting to Kymani lately. She tries to get her all the time. If you put Kymani on her tummy for tummy time, she will pull herself toward things. She hasn't quite gotten most of them yet, but she is determined and has occasionally gotten toys or a person. It depends on how close the object is, as she can usually move several inches at a time.
Kymani loves to laugh. In fact, Kymani was cracking the heck up at me on the way home from the walk to the store today. I don't know what I was doing that was so funny but she was just smiling away at me and then when I smiled back, she just kept laughing and laughing. Perhaps I'm not funny, just funny looking.
Kymani's Recent Milestones
Kymani has been playing with toys more actively. She has been grabbing at them for a while. But now she is even more interested. She especially loves mirrors and toys that are multicolored. She can hold them tightly, move them around, and will let them go when she is no longer interested.
Speaking of holding, she's been partially holding her own bottle and when her teeth hurt, she will purposefully bite her fist or pull mommy or daddy's finger as a biting object. She has a few teething toys that she will use with assistance.
Kymani loves tummy time and can no longer use certain smaller infant beds or mobiles because she is rolling over both ways (tummy to back and also from her back to tummy) and she is also doing something else awesome!
Kymani has now started to sit. She pulls herself up and then goes back down, kind of like a sit-up. During this, she has periods of time where she pulls herself all the way into a seated position and stays for long periods of time (anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes at a time). The very first time she did this, Nova was her motivation. She really wanted to get her sister, Nova. So she sat up and was reaching toward her.
As mentioned above, she also scoots toward people and items during tummy time. She can lift her head in this position, hold herself up with her elbows, and move her head in all directions.
She babbles a ton and has been saying something that sounds like "hey" when she wants attention. We think she is actually saying hey because she does it deliberately and has been doing so for a long time. We are counting this as her first word, unless it's proven otherwise. Nova actually did the same thing at around two months, which is when Kymani started doing it. So it's definitely possible.
Kymani is extremely cuddly and absolutely loves attention from her family. She definitely has preferences for specific people at specific times. If she hears someone's voice that she wants and that person doesn't get her, she gets a little upset and will pout about it until she has that person. Then, she goes back to smiling. If we call her by her name or by one of her nicknames, Mon-Mon or Mani (pronounced Mah-Nee) she will look and sometimes smile.
She loves hearing most music and especially when we sing a silly song that Nathan made up for her. Opposite of Nova, she seems to have a dislike for particular genres and only want to hear certain ones. Nova has favorites, but likes them all. Whereas, Kymani will actually cry if you play certain music.
When comparing Kymani's milestones with data from the CDC, we learned that Kymani is on track and maybe even ahead. She has met and surpassed all the 2 month and 4 month milestones and has met a lot of 6 month milestones too. We didn't look further ahead than that and her doctor may have some extra ones not listed there. She hasn't yet been to her scheduled 4 month appointment.
Keep in mind that all babies do things at their own pace. So, this does not say Kymani is "better" than another baby. It really just will give us and her doctors an idea of how well she is thriving. We will find out more the next time she goes to the doctor, such as more milestone info, a new weight and height, and so on. So far, there are no warning signs. Kymani is definitely appearing to be on track for a preemie baby and seems to actually be following the pattern of a term baby. Time will tell, but so far, she doesn't appear to be affected developmentally by being born so early.
Speaking of holding, she's been partially holding her own bottle and when her teeth hurt, she will purposefully bite her fist or pull mommy or daddy's finger as a biting object. She has a few teething toys that she will use with assistance.
Kymani loves tummy time and can no longer use certain smaller infant beds or mobiles because she is rolling over both ways (tummy to back and also from her back to tummy) and she is also doing something else awesome!
Kymani has now started to sit. She pulls herself up and then goes back down, kind of like a sit-up. During this, she has periods of time where she pulls herself all the way into a seated position and stays for long periods of time (anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes at a time). The very first time she did this, Nova was her motivation. She really wanted to get her sister, Nova. So she sat up and was reaching toward her.
As mentioned above, she also scoots toward people and items during tummy time. She can lift her head in this position, hold herself up with her elbows, and move her head in all directions.
She babbles a ton and has been saying something that sounds like "hey" when she wants attention. We think she is actually saying hey because she does it deliberately and has been doing so for a long time. We are counting this as her first word, unless it's proven otherwise. Nova actually did the same thing at around two months, which is when Kymani started doing it. So it's definitely possible.
Kymani is extremely cuddly and absolutely loves attention from her family. She definitely has preferences for specific people at specific times. If she hears someone's voice that she wants and that person doesn't get her, she gets a little upset and will pout about it until she has that person. Then, she goes back to smiling. If we call her by her name or by one of her nicknames, Mon-Mon or Mani (pronounced Mah-Nee) she will look and sometimes smile.
She loves hearing most music and especially when we sing a silly song that Nathan made up for her. Opposite of Nova, she seems to have a dislike for particular genres and only want to hear certain ones. Nova has favorites, but likes them all. Whereas, Kymani will actually cry if you play certain music.
When comparing Kymani's milestones with data from the CDC, we learned that Kymani is on track and maybe even ahead. She has met and surpassed all the 2 month and 4 month milestones and has met a lot of 6 month milestones too. We didn't look further ahead than that and her doctor may have some extra ones not listed there. She hasn't yet been to her scheduled 4 month appointment.
Keep in mind that all babies do things at their own pace. So, this does not say Kymani is "better" than another baby. It really just will give us and her doctors an idea of how well she is thriving. We will find out more the next time she goes to the doctor, such as more milestone info, a new weight and height, and so on. So far, there are no warning signs. Kymani is definitely appearing to be on track for a preemie baby and seems to actually be following the pattern of a term baby. Time will tell, but so far, she doesn't appear to be affected developmentally by being born so early.