This weekend, at about 3.5 weeks, Lena had some exciting accomplishments. My hands-down favorite is she began giving us genuine smiles - definitely not to be confused with gas! If you're holding her and she's content with a full belly she'll stare at your face. If you give her a big smile and talk in a silly or sweet voice, she'll give you a big toothless grin. It makes your heart happy. Since she was born, I've been asking Mike "do you think she loves me or do you think she just sees me as her food source?" When she smiles at me, I know the answer to that question. I took the picture below at 2:30 am after a feeding (explains the poor quality).
The other notable accomplishment is that she's spending a lot more time entertaining herself and actually falling asleep on her own. Before she was born, we set up a Pack 'N play with the bassinet insert assuming that would be her temporary crib for the first month. She did not like to sleep in it. She would fall asleep all cuddly and swaddled in your arms and the moment you out her in it she would wake up crying. I wondered if it was too drafty for her, since it was under the window. So, I swapped it with the smaller Pack 'N Play cradle I scored (in brand new condition for $30!) at a garage sale and moved it away from the window. She took one successful nap in it and then decided it was not for her. By now I was really exhausted. The only time I'd get any sleep was when I'd lay on my back on the couch, and wrap her in my arms in my chest. I never purposefully fell asleep this way. I'd wake up two hours later, simultaneously relieved to have gotten some rest and terrified that it was with her sleeping on me. Despite sleeping like a corpse my entire life, I had visions of me rolling over onto her or her rolling off and suffocating into a pillow or the mattress (Baby Care classes use SIDS threats to scare the cosleeping out of you). Even though I really like the feeling if sleeping with her, I knew I was too paranoid to make it a habit. Then, one if my friends, whose daughter is about five weeks older than Lena, told me about the Fisher Price Rock 'N Cradle. It has been a godsend.
We used that original Pack N Play for tummy time and she's starting to have more interest in things in there. It's fun to see her gain more and more interest.
No comments:
Post a Comment