Baby Updates during COVID-19

"Penelope has really taken a curve in her independence, she likes to self feed mainly all meals. She has recently tried Steak/Yogurt/Pickles/Mom’s chocolate chip cookies and LOVES them all! She is not a picky eater thankfully! Penelope sleeps through the night most nights, if she does wake, it is usually for her soother. Last night she hit a new record and slept from 7PM to 9AM!!! Penelope enjoys baths, swinging on the playset, walking in her walker, walks around the park and town, playing with big sister and her fur siblings (Dyson and Zora). Penelope can say “Da-Da, Muma, Lila, bubba, yes, and other babble words that haven’t quite made sense yet. But she sure enjoys babbling away just like her big sister! She has taken an interest in making silly noises with her tongue. Penelope's favourite songs are Silent Night and Hallelujah. She still has no interest in crawling or rolling, but she has recently learned she can push herself backwards on the floor. At her last doctor’s visit (a week ago) she was weighing 17 1/2 lbs! No new teeth for Penny, still only has the bottom two. She does not currently have a favourite toy, she has lately taken an interest for TV remotes and phones…YIKES!”

Here's a message from M's Mom to their class - "Here are some new things M can do: he loves reading, cruising, dancing and chomping with his 6 teeth! Miss you! Stay safe :)"

Baby Leilani's Mom updated her classroom. Leilani is 9 months and has five teeth. A master of the army crawl now, which means walking isn't far off. And she loves all sorts of new foods - like: yams, prunes, eggs, yogurt, fruit... she's a big eater.

From Annie's Mom, Sinead:

"Baby Annie hasn't noticed what is going on in the world, thank goodness! She is absolutely loving all the attention from her big sisters and having Mummy at home again. Annie has got so big and her own wee individual personality is really starting to show. She thinks she is the boss already!

I have attached some photos of Annie "helping" her sisters with their school work. She now loves to stand all the time, not quite walking yet, but it shouldn't be long. I have added a photo to show how exhausting it can be to be a teacher!"

"Mackenzie lays on her belly and flaps her arms and kicks her legs, she moves backwards. She sits up and reaches for most things. Sometimes she reaches so far that she ends up on her belly. While she's sitting, she kicks her legs around and turns on her bum.
She goes to bed around 7:30pm and will wake up at 10:30pm, 12:30am, 5am, and then up for the day around 7:30am.
She had 2 teeth on the bottom, in the middle, that are starting to peak though.
We still sing hallelujah and twinkle twinkle. She really likes playing with her Fisher price barn toy with a horse, cow, sheep, and chicken. We also have an activity cube she enjoys playing with. She can take the blocks out of the compartment.
She is enjoying new foods, cooked carrot and mashed potato, cereal (like oatmeal) cheerios, cheese. She smiles a lot at her brother and is always trying to get his toys. She sits in the big bath tub now.
Neither of my kids go to school but normally we attend play group so Gunner (3 year old brother) can play with his friends. We do miss our friends and visiting our family. We have done a lot of crafts and play in the backyard when it's nice outside.
Mackenzie giggles all the time at her brother and she's trying to clap her hands. Her arms do the movement but her hands are in fists. She's trying to talk, she squeaks and makes funny sounds."
How do they respond if you sing their Roots of Empathy welcome song?
"She gets a big smile and then I sing it to her brother, instead of saying 'baby Mackenzie' I sing 'big brother Gunner' and he really likes it too."

Baby Ibrahim’s mother Laura sent a video to tell everyone in his grade 4/5 class that he is now an expert crawler. He tries to stand on everything he can, from the sofa, to Mom’s legs, to chairs, even on toys. Ibrahim is now trying to open the kitchen drawers. And recently he to say, “uh oh!” The last time his class saw him he only had two teeth. Now he has seven! Mom reports he loves trying new foods, so he’s going to need those teeth. And he likes to blow kisses.

Here is a message sent by Baby Parker's Roots of Empathy Instructor:
Hope everyone is doing well! I would love to share information about our little teacher!?
This is Parker. He is our tiny teacher at Lake Avenue school in Hamilton, Ontario. His mom sent pictures and updates about his milestones to our kindergarten class .

"Bath is one of Parker’s favourite activities. He could spend all day playing in the water if we let him. Music is a big part in Parker’s life. He is drawn to all instruments and bangs many different things to make noise. If you remember he really liked to sing and that hasn’t changed at all.

He enjoys discovering and exploring and is very happy baby to play independently. Before school break Parker went to a baby Picasso class and did some finger painting and very much enjoyed making a mess. There was also a sensory bin with corn meal and farm animals and he was very disgusted with the texture of the corn meal ‘sand’.

Parker still continues to enjoy all food offered to him. Currently his favourite is strawberry slices. He did have one which he finally made a sour face to. Parker also enjoys smoothies and has learned how to drink from a straw."

An update, from Mom Courtney:

"Eight-month-old Baby Rowan was paired with a Jk/Sk class at Eglinton Junior Public School, and has changed quite a bit since she was last in the classroom. She has started to cruise along furniture, she is eating more solids such a bran muffins, avocado and cottage cheese. She loves to hold the bottle by herself when she drinks her milk, and she has lots of new favourites in her life. As you can see in the pictures I have attached, she is loving blueberries at meal time, she has started to learn how her new toy works because she now tries to hit the "nails" with her "hammer". Finally, she loves when daddy reads her new book "Quantum Physics for Babies" with her.

Baby Maeve is from Washington state. The Roots of Empathy Instructor sent a message to her students to say that they’re looking forward to a chance to get back in the classroom and that she would send more photos of their Baby Maeve. “Please know our baby is at home with their family and doing very well.”

"Baby Isla has a special message for her friends in her grade 2 class in Miramichi, New Brunswick.
She misses seeing all of your smiling faces and hopes you’re all enjoying your special time off with your family ? Isla has been keeping busy! She has 7 teeth now. She can stand and walk along furniture, she can wave ?? (she loves to wave to her grandparents over FaceTime), and she’s getting lots of fresh air with stroller walks around the neighbourhood! She’s eating all the same foods her mom and dad eat now (just cut into smaller pieces) and loves to look at books and play with her cat and dog!!
She can’t wait to see you all again soon!"

Here's an update from Nico's parents:
"Nico started rolling front to back about 3 weeks ago. He has not figured out how to go the other way yet. He's been eating lots of solids and is thankfully not a picky eater, but has to be in the right mood otherwise he will not eat a single bite. He much prefers things he can grab onto so he can feed himself rather than being spoon fed. Fanciest food so far has been shrimp risotto. He knows how to pull things out of other things (i.e. a toy out of a box), but doesn't know how to put it back in...or at least it doesn't occur to him to try it. And he's fascinated by our cat, Epo."

Here's an update from Arden's Mom:
"Hello! Thank you for reaching out about Arden's development! We are definitely missing all of our friends in our class at West Highlands School in Amherst, NS!
Arden has made so many developments since she saw her friends last. She can now roll back to front/front to back, and is even trying to crawl and scoot on her bum a bit! She gets quite frustrated as she is still learning and this is hard work for a baby, so we encourage her with our words and actions, but also give her a break when it is too difficult.
She likes to babble but doesn't really say any words yet. Her favorite game is to scream at the top of her lungs to her older sister, until her older sister screams back. She loves it! It can get quite loud in our house!
The kids always ask about what she can eat, and I'm happy to say that Arden eats pretty much everything and loves food! She has two teeth on the bottom and loves to use them to chew on things.
She loves interacting with people and our two dogs, going for walks in her stroller, music, and seeing herself in the mirror!