Emma: 14 and 15 Weeks

14 Weeks (12/6/11)

I feel like Emma has transitioned from little baby sleeping away in her seat to little person who is completely 100% interactive. She's begun to turn her head toward familiar voices and really likes to be a part of the party (i.e. wants to be in the same room and at face level with all the action). Some friends loaned us their play mat and I was shocked to see Emma reach out and grab the toys hanging above her. Man, time flies with baby number two! I feel like she shouldn't know how to do that yet but I suppose she is 3 1/2 months already.

In addition to grabbing toys, she also has discovered her fingers. Sometimes she'll just watch them move around but most of the time she likes to suck on them. We're trying to give her the binky in trade (since you can throw away pacifiers but you can't throw away the hand!) but she usually just grabs the binky from her mouth. Sometimes if we're lucky, she'll put it back in and chew on it.

Emma is totally sporting an ever-growing bald spot in the back. :( I'm pretty sure she'll end up with a mohawk and a mullet before long. I'm really going to miss her hair! It's the talk of the town. Seriously. I walk through the grocery store and hear people whispering "Look at that baby's hair!" all the time. I'll be so sad when I stop hearing that. It's her trademark!

Two nights ago, Emma slept from 10:15 PM to 8:30 AM and I'm pretty sure she only woke because Isla was crying!!! Needless to say, we seem to have already fallen into a pretty nice sleep routine already (praise the Lord!) I'd like to take credit for it but I doubt I deserve all of it. Either I knew better this time what sort of routine to work toward or we have a fairly easy baby. I'd like to say it's a combo of both. Emma usually is asleep in the evening between 8 and 9 PM and wakes in the early AM for one feed (somewhere between 3 and 6 usually). Then she sleeps until 8 or 8:30 and goes down again ~9:30 or 10 AM (usually when I'm running). Her morning nap is usually only 45 minutes or 1 hour but then she often has one longer nap (sometimes 3 hours if I'm lucky!) in the afternoon. She usually wakes a couple of times for a binky or a quick snuggle so it's not consecutive but I'll take it! She often wakes up before she's truly rested and then is fussy and falls back asleep in my arms. I have been successful at getting her to fall asleep on her own once swaddled. She usually takes a half hour cat nap around dinner time and then the cycle repeats.  

I think I am finally ready to put Emma in the nursery at church in the New Year. I'd been holding off because I didn't want her to get sick before our vacation (she had her 2nd cold last week). And because I'm a little more protective of her after our little scare. We're reached the point where I have to step out so much that I miss a good majority of the service so I think it's time. It'll be good for her. And me. 

We had her 2 month appointment at 3 months of age (for scheduling reasons) and she weighed 12 pounds, 12 1/2 ounces (a drop to 75%ile so she is now on the charts) and she was 23 1/2 inches long (50-75%ile). Her doctor wasn't necessarily worried but cautioned that she didn't want her dropping any further and so encouraged me to make sure my milk supply is ok by pumping daily. Given that she's wearing 6 month clothes already, I'm not too worried but I have increased my pumping. :)

15 Weeks (12/13/11)

I just love to put Emma in front of the mirror. She almost instantly starts smiling and laughing at her reflection--it's great entertainment for all.

She continues to be a challenging bottle feeder. We're using the Tommee Tippee but she doesn't love it, probably partially due to the fact that we aren't doing it enough! Guess we need to go on more dates (I hate "wasting" pumped milk when I'm home!)

Some other little facts we've learned about Emma:
-She loves to be swaddled. TIGHTLY. If the others in the room aren't gasping in shock, you probably aren't doing it tight enough.
-She likes to be held horizontally and have her butt patted. Sometimes she's fights the position when she's really tired but if you snuggle her tightly, it's a losing battle and she gives in. She does not like to be held vertically over the shoulder.
-If she starts screaming bloody murder (which she surprisingly does do), she is likely overtired and not hungry.
-She takes upwards of ~6-7 ounces per feeding when eating from a bottle (for the record, Isla NEVER took that much in the entire year she received bottles!)
-I'll close with this one: pink is her color!! Graham and I have both noticed that her looks have changed over the past couple weeks. We feel like she's cranked up the cuteness factor and her adorableness increases exponentially when she's wearing pink.