So far I have written posts giving developmental updates on Laurel when she was three, five, and seven weeks old. Today she is nine weeks old, and I guess I've got a trend going here, so I'll continue it! (I think this makes 43 things so far.)* Laurel has begun to startle herself awake when she lies on her back. Strangely, she didn't startle this much as a tiny newborn. (There were even a few reflexes that Isaac demonstrated, like the chin quiver, that I never saw in Laurel.) Even when she doesn't wake herself up with the startling, I can hear her arms repeatedly flinging out against the taut mesh sides of the co-sleeper, and it keeps me awake. It makes a sound like a drum.
* When she's not flinging out her arms in her sleep, she's trying to cram her fist in her mouth. This also keeps me awake, because not only are there vigorous slurping noises coming from the bassinet, she regularly (and loudly) gags herself. It's hard to sleep through that. Also, she has very poor hand control, coupled with no awareness that her hands belong to her, so sometimes instead of getting her fist in her mouth she accidentally assaults her poor face with it. It's not unusual to see her gripping her own ear in her fist, and it's clear that she has no idea that she's the one who is pulling on it, nor any idea how to make it stop. More alarmingly, sometimes she looks like she's about to gouge out her own eye.
* You'd think a pacifier would solve her need to suck, but you'd be wrong. We've tried two different types, and she rejects them both. She will suck a few times if you hold it for her, but if you let go, she pushes it out with her tongue. (Isaac did this too.) And you can't insert it too deeply -- I actually made her throw up in her bed one night by pushing the pacifier too far into her mouth. I did it two nights in a row, in fact. I'm a slow learner.
* Because Isaac had such a hard time sleeping, we swaddled him in the Miracle Blanket starting at about three days of age (and up until he was seven months old!). However, because Laurel has been a good sleeper, we had never tried swaddling her. (Well, to keep her from kicking her blankets off at night we wrap her torso and legs firmly in a cotton flannel blanket, like a burrito, but we leave her arms free.) However, because of her increased startling I finally tried the Miracle Blanket for the last two nights.
* The result of her being properly swaddled? Each night she slept for seven hours straight! That's longer than Isaac does now (he still wakes up once in the middle of the night and joins us in the master bed). And what's more, both nights I set her down awake in the bassinet and she fell asleep on her own. Isaac, as we all know, never did that at all. Did you hear me say seven hours? At nine weeks old? My mind is totally blown.
* She is, unfortunately, still going to bed for the night rather on the late side. Midnight or 12:30 a.m. is typical. Prior to that she's alert and demanding for a few hours, although luckily she's happy to alternate nursing and being held, so I spend my evening sitting in a comfortable chair in the nursery. I've been doing a lot of late-night reading and surfing the Internet. When we finally go into my darkened bedroom, she fusses for a while before she gets ready to sleep, but she never really cries. Craig seems to sleep through it pretty well, as does Isaac when he ends up in our bed.
* Laurel had her very first ride in a stroller yesterday. Up until now she has always been carried close to us in one of our various slings or soft carriers, but we were going to spend the morning at a children's science museum and I knew there wouldn't be much opportunity for me to sit down. I didn't relish the idea of toting ten-plus pounds for several hours. I brought the sling just in case, because Isaac never liked the stroller, but to my surprise Laurel did not mind riding in it at all. (I guess I will eventually realize that the two kids like different things.)
* Something else completely new to me: Laurel sleeps in a stroller. Even when it's parked! She snoozed through the museum yesterday, and it was so convenient (and easy on my back) that instead of putting her in the mei tai when Isaac wanted to play outside today, I tried the stroller again. I had to push it around the yard for a few minutes until she fell asleep, but then she stayed asleep for an entire hour while Isaac and I played (and I pruned a Japanese maple).
* Isaac has decided that Laurel has a favorite nursery rhyme,"To Market, To Market," which he likes me to sing while I bounce her on my knee. He also likes to lie in my spot in my bed, right next to the co-sleeper, and proclaim, "We're Moo-mas together!" (This is his pet name for me as a Mama who takes care of a little baby; despite the sound of it, I don't think it has anything to do with cows or lactation.) He also enjoys snuggling with Laurel and stroking her soft hair (which is getting long on top, although it's thinning on the sides).
* Despite these sweet caretaking impulses, he has showed his first signs of jealousy: a friend was cooing over Laurel at the museum yesterday, and Isaac grabbed the stroller's sunshade and pulled it down, blocking her from view. Also, whenever I get the camera to take a picture of Laurel, Isaac claims he wants pictures taken of himself as well, once even saying, "Why is Laurel first?" (Unfortunately when I do turn the camera on him, he hides his face.)
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