Oh, hello there!
Someone had her 20-week-birthday yesterday!
Emily is so active and rolls around so much when we lay her down on her back that it's becoming increasingly difficult to get any good weekly photos of her! I think I took between 20-30 shots of her yesterday and this was one of the only ones where she is looking at the camera and her body isn't contorted into a half-roll. ;) She's such a cutie pie.
I realllllly don't want to jinx myself, but I *think* that she may finally be exiting the 4 month wakeful period. The past 3 nights, she's slept much better, falling asleep around 8pm and waking up between 1-2am and then again at 6am to eat. It feels like a vacation compared to the days a couple weeks ago where she was up EVERY. SIXTY. MINUTES.
Starting this week, Emily also has been sleeping in the bassinet of her pack-n-play full-time. I used to put her down in the Rock n Play for the first part of the night because she slept better in it, but she got very squirmy and kept trying to roll over in it the past week or so. Then, just in the past few days she figured out how to push herself up on her legs with her feet pressed against the bottom of the seat, so we haven't been using it the past few days. It is the cutest thing though.... as soon as I lay her down on her back in the bassinet she immediately rolls onto her side, and then half the time immediately rolls onto her tummy. She initially has a bit of a hard time getting comfy on her tummy, trying to stick her butt up into the air but not quite knowing yet how to tuck her knees underneath her. With a little help or pat on the back though, she settles in and then has been sleeping pretty well on her side or tummy. Of course I was a nervous wreck the first few nights she was doing it, checking on her to make sure her face wasn't planted into the mattress every time I heard her move around. But she's been sleeping a lot better now, which is a relief. Once we get back into a regular sleep routine, we'll try to tackle sleeping in her crib!
Emily has gotten very introspective this week. Perhaps it's part of her current "wonder week" mental leap, but it's been adorable to see her awake yet calm, just looking out at the world, either in her stroller or sitting with me at home, with an expression on her face like she's thinking. She's typically so active and easily excited that it was a little jarring at first to see her just sitting still in the stroller during a walk. I think her brain is just processing even more information, and she is learning to focus more on objects instead of squirming around non-stop all the time. I've noticed she also jumps or flinches every time Shep or I sneeze or blow our nose. I'm not sure why she is more sensitive to this now than she used to be.... perhaps she's just more in tune with her hearing? She also has been audibly laughing a bit more, which is just the most beautiful sound to my ears.
Another new habit Emily developed this week is tucking her bottom lip into her mouth. Though her face looks ADORABLE when she does this, I wish she'd stop because the skin above her chin is getting all chapped from being sucked on. I've been applying a tiny bit of lanolin ointment to it which I think has helped.... hopefully this is just a passing phase though.
Emily has been doing pretty well with teething after an initial rough start, but it seems to be getting a little worse again. She has been biting down on my finger HARD, poor thing. For an infant, she's surprisingly adept at grabbing my finger and navigating it directly into her little mouth. And not in a gentle haphazard way either, no siree.... She does it with purpose and with strength!!! She's also been a little more fussy than normal because of the teething I think, because I notice her getting fussy or clingy she is trying to shove her hands or any other close object into her mouth passionately. Her toys don't stand a chance -- they all get covered in drool numerous times a day. ;)
Exhibit A:
That flower didn't stand a chance.
She has tried biting down on me while feeding a couple times too, which hurt like heck. When she did this I just unlatched her and said "no" while making eye contact. Hopefully she learns that it is not funny to bite mommy while eating before the teeth come in!
