It's getting better and better. Newborns are all sweet and tender, but are mostly blobs that cry a lot and I think I prefer some positive reinforcement in the form of gummy smiles and gasping baby laughs. Although I would prefer for Marjorie return to her nighttime sleep schedule when she was a newborn as opposed to the nasty business she's torturing us with presently.
Marjorie:
-finally rolled over! She can roll from her back to her tummy on her right side. The problem now is that she still dislikes tummy time (not as badly as before) and thus once she ends up on her tummy, she's happy for a few minutes and then begins screaming. I've heard this is the motivation some babies need to be able to kick around and roll themselves back, but not Marjorie. No, this girl, she is a little Eeyore like her mommy and g-daddy. She cries in anguish to herself while trying to suck her thumb for comfort and refusing to let her head touch the ground for a little rest.
-as noted above, she tolerates tummy time much better now. She's been known to last even 10 minutes! She most enjoys it when she's propped up on the boppy on the bed while I do my make up and sing to her.
-looooves singing. If she is screaming bloody murder, singing will almost always get her to calm down. Or if she's starting to get that gleam of "I'm gonna get real annoyed soon" in her eye, if I start singing, I can usually prevent the meltdown. I need to buff up on more songs. Current favorites are "Do-Re-Mi," "Row Your Boat," "Moses Supposes," and "Patty Cake."
-grabs her toes frequently. She will chew those suckers as long as they are not covered by a sock. She did this before rolling over. It has made diaper changes more convenient in some ways and more difficult in others.
-has decided that sleeping is for the birds. She was such a good night sleeper (never a good napper really). I would get at least one 5-8 hour chunk and then a 3 hour chunk. It was good. Now sometimes she's up every 2 hours and usually every 3 hours. Lately she's been doing a little better. Sleeping until 3am for the first chunk but then up at 5 to eat and then up at 6 for the day. Dan's been taking her out front at 6 and letting her hang out in the front room while he gets ready so I can get a little more sleep. Then he brings her back to me when he leaves at around 7. It's been okay.
-naps are definitely easier to get her to take, but she doens't stay down long. On average her naps last 30-45 minutes and every once in a while 1-1.5 hrs. Those are really nice.
-starting to work on consonant sounds. Dadadadadada and mamamamamama and babababababa are all favorites. Sometimes practicing those sounds makes taking naps a little difficult.
Mommy:
-wishes she could get a little more sleep. There are a lot of naps during Marjorie's first nap.
-enjoying being home with Marjorie and enjoying going back to LDS Family Services. I've only gone twice but it's been nice to get out alone and to use my grown up brain.
-has learned how important it is for both mommy and baby to get out every day. Everyone is happier after we've gone on our first walk.
These were taken a few days after she turned 5 months (we were apple picking and getting photos taken on the actual day) and she was starting to get sick so lots of quiet faces.
The next three are Marjorie's three most frequent faces.
That's our girl!
