Wonder Weeks Leap 3: Wonder Week 12 Smooth Transitions

William definitely became more fussy right when the wonder weeks chart (from the app) predicted.

It was obvious that he was in his third leap…also known as wonder week 12, or leap 3.

This leap was even more subtle than leap 2, however, with regards to the skills he learned and exhibited.

The fussiness was the only real telltale sign that he was in leap 3…

The Third Wonder Week

Leap 3, or wonder week 12, is known as “The World of Smooth Transitions”.

One of the more obvious skills learned during this leap, is a smoothness of your baby’s movements.

Baby’s have very jerky movements up until this leap of smooth transitions.

In addition to physical smoothness, your baby will experiment with his voice and make “smooth transitions” with sounds.

Wonder Weeks Chart

Pages 94 and 95 in The Wonder Weeks book outlines a checklist of new skills that your baby might be learning. For more detailed information, check out the book! Here is our experience with each of the skills:

Body Control

• Barely needs support to keep his head upright.
  • This is true unless we put him in a sitting position. Suddenly he can’t seem to hold his head up! LOL But when I am holding him he does a great job with his head control.
• He moves his head from side to side in a smooth manner.
• His eyes follow objects in a smooth fashion.
• More lively and energetic.
  • He’s definitely more engaged and moving around a ton! His tongue, arms and legs never stop moving!
• Easily rolls from belly to back when he’s up on his arms. He can also roll from back to belly when holding onto our fingers.
• Can easily get to a sitting position while holding onto our fingers.
• He has great standing legs and very occasionally goes from sitting to standing while holding our fingers for support.
• There are 4 big things with the “body” skills that William did NOT accomplish this leap. Check out the book for the full list of what is possible this leap!

Get the Wonder Weeks Book on Amazon:

Hand Control

• Does not grab for objects yet.
• Does not shake rattles.
• Does not study or play with our hands.
• Does not touch our faces.
• In addition to all of the above that he DIDN’T do, there are still 4 big things with the “hand control” skills that William did NOT accomplish this leap. Check out the book for the full list of what is possible this leap!

Get the Wonder Weeks Book on Amazon:

Listening and Talking

• Discovered shrieking and gurgling for sure. He’s playing with his sounds more.
• He’s doing lots of sounds such as “ah, eh, ma”.
• He definitely uses these sounds to “chat” and has little conversations.
• There are even more things with the “listening and talking” skills that William did NOT accomplish this leap. Check out the book for the full list of what is possible this leap!

Get the Wonder Weeks Book on Amazon:

Looking and Seeing

• William is not studying his hands, feet, our faces, clothing, etc. He is engaged and looking at us, but isn’t focused on the details yet.

Other Skills

• He definitely expresses enjoyment when watching my facial expressions, and listening to me talk. He waits for responses and then responds back. He smiles when I smile.
• He uses different behavior with different people. He’s the most talkative with me, and the most fascinated with Caroline.
• Hasn’t expressed boredom… he’s usually pretty darn content!

Get the Wonder Weeks Book on Amazon:

Signs and Fussiness

“Your baby will probably sleep less well now. Many babies wake several times a night demanding to be fed. Other babies wake up very early in the morning. Still other babies refuse to take naps during the day. For many families, the normal routine has turned into absolute chaos…”

The Wonder Weeks (van de Rijt and Plooij), page 87

If there is one thing that happened during this leap, it was that William’s naps went south.

He is waking every 45 minutes. The dreaded 45 minute intruder has arrived, and it doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.

He’s only waking once at night now, and doing great. For him, his naps are disrupted.

He usually goes down for his nap fairly easily, but then doesn’t stay asleep long.

After he wakes, I am constantly going in and helping him get back to sleep. I pat his chest, or bounce the mattress.

He usually goes back to sleep, but doesn’t stay asleep long.

I am in and out multiple times until the end of his nap.

Often, I have to give him a pacifier to help keep him asleep.

It’s a phase that happened with Caroline as well, so I know it will pass.

In the meantime it is hard. But, I know it is worth putting in the effort now and that keeping him in his crib for the duration of his naps will pay off later.

As for skills learned… I’m surprised really that he checked off so many boxes above. He doesn’t seem to have had many changes during this leap.

Clearly he hasn’t focused on his hand control at all or the looking and seeing portion of the chart LOL!

He’s a super quiet, chill baby. He’s not doing much.

I worry sometimes that it’s because I don’t get to spend as much time focused on him, like I did with Caroline.

During his wake time, I am often dealing with making a meal, or something Caroline needs. He just doesn’t get as much of me as I’d like.

Then I worry, too that he’s not progressing due to his preemie status, although I’ve never believed he’d be behind because of it.

It’s possible, however.

So, we’ll keep an eye on things and see how he progresses through the next leaps.

He might just be a quiet, chill baby that is content to go slowly through these skills.

He might be taking it all in, so when he does do the skills mentioned above, he’ll have already mastered them through observation.

Who knows!

All I know is this little guy is smiling more and chatting more, and I just LOVE the time that I do get with him. I just wish it was more!