Baby E is 19 Weeks old

Baby E is now 19 weeks old. He is continuing to change and develop each week.

This week he has started dribbling for the first time. Baby E has had teeth growing in his gums for several weeks now, and has been putting everything and anything into his mouth to chew on. So far this has been without dribble ... until now. Baby E has the ability to soak any toy or item of clothing he puts into his mouth within minutes. He particularly loves sucking on his Giraffes ears or horns, and makes both these and the head very soggy.

Baby E has discovered a new noise. He has started whining, in a pathetic eeeh eeeeh high pitched stylee. At first I thought this was a sign that he was being clingy, and wanting his Mummy, however it appears that he uses this language when he is tired. It gives me another sign that he needs a nap along with rubbing his eyes, scratching his head, and showing signs of general unsettled behaviour.

We have now turned the pushchair to forward facing. Baby E used a form of communication known as screaming to tell me that he was no longer happy in his pushchair. After a few walks where he chose to scream at the top of his voice ... only to stop screaming as soon as I picked him up. There was obviously nothing wrong with him so there was only one thing to do. I decided to turn the seat around so Baby E could see the road ahead. This was particularly difficult when holding a wriggling baby on the side of the road as it required two hands minimum. I was relieved to find it worked, and Baby E is back to his normal happy self when we go out for walks. The weather has been particularly warm for this time of year, so we have enjoyed some long walks in the sunshine. Baby E is very good and happy to let me smother him in Nivea Childrens factor 40 suncream, he tries to eat most of it, but at least I know he is protected against sunburn.

Baby E has settled in well to his day naps in his crib. We have established a little routine, where I ask him if he needs to have a little sleep or night nights. We change his nappy, put on his growbag, have cuddles for a few minutes, Baby E lie down in his crib with his womb music and lamp on dim settling. I then turn on his lights and sound machine, and he settles to sleep while watching the display. He is normally asleep within two plays of the lights and sound. If he has trouble settling I pick him up and give him more cuddles to help him go to sleep. He seems very happy with this routine and gives a little smile when I put him in his crib.

Baby E has started to instigate game playing. He loves to play Boo! and will often pick up his muslin and place it over his face. He then gives a quiet giggle and kicks his legs. We start saying "where's Baby E, Where's Baby E" and he will remove the muslin for us to say "Boo!" at which he laughs. If he wants to play again, he just places the muslin over his face again. This is fantastic, and very entertaining.