18 Weeks

These pictures sum up this week pretty well: everything in the mouth! Ella's gotten really good at picking up stuff and anything she gets her hands on goes straight to the face. The bunny is her favorite thing to chew on, but occasionally she'll give the bear a nibble too. The bear must taste or feel different because she makes a funny face when she chews on it. Our fingers and hers are also a favorite. She's always got something in her mouth if she's awake and even in her sleep sometimes.

She's enjoying her exersaucer a lot more. She's definitely not as anxious or overwhelmed when we put her in it. She turns a little in the chair and bounces some. Mostly she just plays with whatever toys happen to be in front of her. She's getting the hang of it. She smiles and wiggles and squeals most of the time she's in it. Apparently our cat Jack thinks her dangling feet are his toys. She'll jump and squeal all the sudden and I'll look underneath and Jack will wrapped around one of her feet.

She's becoming a very chatty little thing, even around people besides Mommy and Daddy. She "talks" a lot these days. She hasn't really added any new sounds, just practising the old ones, a lot. She doesn't blow bubbles as much, but she still makes lots of raspberries. She's discovered my hair lately. She'll reach up and grab it while we're playing and give it a good yank and of course, try to put it in her mouth. When I'm rocking her before she goes to sleep, a lot of times she'll reach up with one hand and twirl my hair. I much prefer that to the yanking.

This week has been a lot better than last. For the most part, she's sleeping much better. Sunday and yesterday were especially nice. Today has been a little rocky and Jeff's out of town, so of course, that makes everything more difficult. She had her four month check-up on Tuesday. Dr. Sweet said her behavior is pretty normal at this point, that she's just "expressing her opinion". Apparently her opinion is that naps are for suckers. She says she very socially advanced for her age (I'm sure she says that to all the babies!) and that she's probably having some separation anxiety. She said we just need to keep doing what we're doing.

Her stats from the check-up are: weight 15lbs 3oz, 89%; length 25in, 85%. Still a big girl, but slowing down a little. However, I'm pretty sure she's having a growth spurt right now, she's been eating a lot lately. Everything else was good, no problems. She's hitting all her developmental milestones appropriately. I didn't have a million questions this visit, so it was pretty quick.