Smiling And Emerging Adaptive Skills

Your baby is 11 weeks old today – he is almost three months old!  You may be seeing a lot of changes on the outside, but there are developments on the inside, too.  If your baby is colic, hopefully he has started to grow out of it as many babies do by the time they turn three months old.   Again, all babies are different and the time when colic will go away differ for each baby. 

You have heard your baby coo and chuckle and he has probably been smiling sporadically for a while.  Isn’t it great to see your child smile?  When my children first smiled at me, it made my heart leap and I smiled so big and gave them a million kisses.  It’s something about your child’s first smile that makes a parent feel such a strong connection with their baby. The first smile also indicates that their baby really sees them.  Another development you may have noticed is that your baby is paying attention to people’s voices.  It’s your voice and your partner’s voice that he is most interested in, so just like tummy time, I can’t stress how important it is to communicate with your baby.  When you talk or sing to him and watch how he responds with his eyes.

You will also notice developments in your baby’s adaptive skills.  For example, you have already seen him exhibiting avoidance reactions and now you’re seeing him take in and adapt to his environment by looking and you may even see him start to turn away from his environment. Your baby’s ability to self-soothe is also becoming apparent as he may be intentionally sucking his thumb or fingers for comfort.

Three months is coming up soon and many new developments for your baby!