Wonder Week 55

Here we go again…

Around about the fifty-fifth week (plus or minus – meaning that it can start anytime between the 49th to 53rd week), comes the eighth and final wonder week that a baby goes in his first year of life.  This final wonder week is known as the world of programs.  During the last wonder week, baby learned about sequences which simply refers to events that follow a certain pattern or objects that fit together in a certain way.  In this wonder week, baby will learn the meaning of more activities that may not follow a particular sequence, for instance, doing the laundry, having lunch or tidying up.  This wonder week usually lasts about 4-5 weeks although it can be as short as 3 weeks and last as long as 6 weeks.  During this period, baby will be quicker to cry than usual, more cranky, temperamental and unmanageable.  At times, it may seem as though they want to be around Mummy all day long.  Indeed, this certainly sounds like Gavin now!

How do you know when WW55 is coming around:

• Baby may cling to Mummy’s clothes to stop her from leaving or he may want to be carried all the time.  Sometimes, they just keep coming back from “Mummy refill”, where all they seem to need is some brief contact with Mummy before they are off again.  Yeah, I had noticed that – Gavin will be crawling around and suddenly, he’ll come back to me and sit on my lap but before I can do anything, he’ll be off again.  I was a little puzzled at first, uncertain of what exactly he wanted.
• Baby will be shier with strangers, this includes their own family members.  Well, that explains why Gavin suddenly doesn’t want Daddy to carry him around when we go shopping (he normally only wants Daddy to carry him).  That also explains why he has recently been turning Ah Mah away (when Ah Mah has been one of his favourite people).  It will also explain why he hasn’t wanted Aunt HL to carry him either (so HL – no need to take offense, now you know why…)
• Baby will want close physical contact as much as possible.  The only person who is allowed to leave is baby.  That explains why Gavin seems to get upset even when I put him down on the floor recently.  Previously, getting down onto the floor seemed to be the only thing he wanted to do, so naturally, it came as a surprise to me to discover he didn’t want me to put him down.
• Baby may want to be entertained all day long.  Hmmm… yeah, I’d say sometimes.  That might also explain why he only seems content to sit in the high chair when the TV is on…
• Baby may be jealous.  Indeed, it seemed like that was a period when he appeared to have gotten over his jealousy so it came as a bit of a surprise that Gavin started getting jealous again.  The jealousy may be displayed as positive (by acting sweet or cuddly in an exaggerated way) or negative (by being cranky, mischievous or determined to hurt themselves).
• Baby may be moody.  He can be happy, then sad, then angry with no apparent reason for the change in his moods.  Yup, this has definitely been Gavin over the last couple of weeks.  He can start crying for reasons no one can determine.
• Baby may sleep poorly.  Gavin refuses to sleep even when he is so tired.  It has been harder to get him to sleep.  He’s also been waking up at night (for instance last night to poop) and he wakes up earlier than normal.  Gavin used to do twelve hours a night.  Now I’ll be lucky if he gets ten!
• Baby may daydream – where they sit and appear to stare out into nothingness.  Well, I can’t say that Gavin has been doing this – unless he needs to pee or poop, which I’m sure isn’t counted.
• Baby may lose his appetite.  “Many little ones are fussy eaters.  Their mothers always find this troubling and irritating.”  In my case, the rest of the family finds this troubling, while I find it irritating.  “A child who is still being breastfed usually wants the breast more often, not because he really wants to nurse, but so he can stay close to his mother.”  I suppose between this and Gavin’s poor sleeping ability, it is no wonder I haven’t had any time to myself in the evenings after Gavin goes to bed.
• Baby may act unusually sweet.  Baby may come up to Mummy for to cuddle for a few moments before going off again.  Yeah, Gavin’s even taken up kissing me – a lovely, wet, sloppy kiss, but adorable nonetheless.
• Baby may reach for a cuddly object more often.  Erm… this has never been Gavin.  He normally throws his soft toys aside with little regard.  Then again, he did hug Whiffer…  I did think it quite unusual at the time that I saw it.
• Baby may be more mischievous – this usually done to get your attention especially when you are too busy to attend to him.  Even my in laws have noticed that Gavin displays selective hearing whenever they tell him “no”.
• Baby may have more temper tantrums, “he may go berserk as soon as he fails to get his way.  You may even see a tantrum that comes out of nowhere, perhaps because he is anticipating that you may not allow him to do or have what is on his mind.”  Good grief – this sounds EXACTLY like Gavin at the moment!