Lucy is doing so many new things in the past two weeks. So many, in fact, that I am going to bullet point them and be thankful I had the energy and space to record any of this.
- Rolling from front to back and back to front, although getting off of her belly is frustrating and she is on autopilot from back to front. She rolled once this past Saturday while I was blowing my nose and neither of us saw it. Stinker. This is all she did on Sunday and she hasn't stopped since. She attempts to roll onto her belly when I am getting ready to nurse her in bed, on the changing table, on the floor, in the car seat, in the bouncy chair and on the grass. It is astounding to watch her increase exponentially over night.
- Most nights LuLu is skipping her typical midnight nursing and sleeping for one 3-6 hour stretch. This is blowing my bodies expectations away and I am feeling more tired than ever, which just seems crazy. She is rarely startling when put down in her bed and it seems like startling was never even a topic of concern at our house. I am glad I never forced her into skipping a feeding. I have NO IDEA what that would even look like. She is more and more often soothed back to sleep if she wakes up and will accept denial of suckling, but if she is persistent I give it to her.
- Inspired by a friend and fellow mom I have started using one sign with Lucy. I am using the cow's milk sign versus the human milk sign because it seems like it will be an easier hand motion. It may be a little early for this, but I simply show her the sign and say "milk, do you want milk?" a few times and then immediately offer her my breast. She has already started grabbing at my hand when I do this, although this could just be a fluke. Anything that increases communication feels worth the effort to me.
- Showing interest in food by watching it travel from our hands to our mouths and reaching for it. She latched and sucked on a strawberry and tried mashed avocado today (which she threw up an hour later). I was holding out until after our move to California for whole foods, but she is showing so much interest that Jim convinced me to go with my gut. We are going to take it slow, but watch the adorable video of strawberry sucking below for a little enjoyment.
- Recently she has gotten really into face exploration. As in, wonder what the inside of mommy's nose feels like and what will daddy do if I rip hair out of his head? It is almost as if she is learning our faces. She moves her gaze back and forth from our eyes to our mouths as we talk and has really enjoyed mimicking games. She loves to breath in and make a high pitched sound, but this takes some extra work and concentration for her. When she echoes my voice, though, she thinks she has conquered the world. To accompany face exploration she has started to take an interest in peek-a-boo. You have to reveal yourself quickly, though, or she is already on to the next interest.
- Monday was the first day she chose toys over being in my arms. This was sad for me, but shows independence and confidence, which is most of the point of holding her and spending so much intentional time with her up to this point. She is really into her Whoozit, her Whater Whoozit and her Oball. Her grip is getting stronger and more intentional. Only a week ago she needed things like that she could easily grasp. Now she is able to hold the body of some stuffed toys and grab for them from "far away" when she is on her belly. If only she could hold onto them when she is being picked up or rolling over life would be perfect.
- Winter has finally moved on with its bad self and we are in the full swing of spring. Lucy seems unaffected by grass and enjoys exploring the ground as much as she does everything else that is new, which is everything, even if it is the 9000th time she has seen it (as in the couch and the sleepy shirt I have been wearing every night for about 4 months). We have been holding her up to tree branches with flowers and leaves and she even picked a few leaves off a tree today with Jim. She LOVES to be outside and favors the warm breeze over any inside space. This bodes well for our upcoming cross-country trip.
- In lesser news, she is on a definite left breast strike and it is freaking me out, which apparently makes things worse. Tomorrow starts a left side pumping marathon and some relaxation techniques. Once this child has her mind made up there is no stopping her.
- Luey is on a fairly predictable, flexible schedule. She is waking up earlier and we are definitely getting room darkening curtains when we get to Berkeley. She is still taking about 4 naps a day, or going to be around 7:00 if the evening nap is missed/boycotted and the she woke up on the later side. I am sure things will change lickety-split, but for now this makes meeting her needs that much easier. I am, once again, thankful that we didn't listen to pressure to force her into a schedule. I am grateful to have had all of this time with her to meet her where she is at and give her the time she needs to figure things out.
- Bottles are going much more smoothly and I am no longer worried about her eating at child care when I start school. She doesn't love a bottle, but she actually reaches for it and recognizes that it gives her food. Another week or two and I bet she will be able to hold it up on her own. It is actually pretty cute to see her do this, especially since this is time she shares with Jim. She has had less than a dozen bottles in her life, but I am enormously thankful that it is going smoothly for the most part. Another thing that she wasn't ready for when we first tried at 3 months and that she is doing great with on her own time. Had I gone back to work I think her our lives would be have been much more stressful and totally not worth it.
- Our darling girl was really starting to feel the stress of the decision to move. She went to bed late and work up at 5:30 a.m. two days in a row. Jim and I had to check ourselves, examine how he and I have been communicating (mostly snippy and short) and change some things around. I have stopped obsessing about packing and he has been spending more time with the two of us (it helps that he recently got laid off and is home every day.) This time has now turned in to a joyful time that the three of us get to spend together with some extra excitement and lots of moving parts going in a million directions. She is teaching me/us to be present in every moment and not to take life too seriously. Just like the startling reflex, this too shall pass and I want to look back on this time fondly. It is unlikely we will ever get months of time all together ever again and there is so much to miss, even if you are just blowing your nose.
