18 Weeks

Emma you are 18 weeks old!

(on August 31)

hook 'em horns! this is in honor of the first week of football. in fact, you're actually making the sign for "ball"!

This week:

~you got your first "happy" at daycare! Since the first day you went you were only getting "content". It made me feel much better that you were being your cute, happy self at daycare.

~however, you also had your last day of daycare this week, on the 31st. Just when you were getting better you had to stop, but now you're home with me. So am I really upset? Nope! I know your teachers will miss you though and I'm so grateful for the care and love that they gave you.

~we found your ticklish spots! I found that your neck is ticklish and Daddy found that your rib and thighs are ticklish. It's our new favorite thing to do because we love to hear you laugh!

~you held your bottle for the first time! (And only time so far!) I started to give it to you and you just grabbed it like a big girl! You did it with the short Avent bottle when there was only about 2 ounces in there, so it was pretty easy. When I use the tall bottles or glass ones you just put your hands around the top.

~you've developed a left hand fascination. You noticed your hands awhile back, but this week you've taken it to a new level. You don't suck on your fingers anymore but now you will randomly hold out your left hand and just stare at it. You'll move your fingers ever so slightly. You only do it for a couple of seconds each time, but it's pretty funny to watch. Sometimes you look like you're doing the "ET phone home" scene. (one day you'll get to see that movie, if you haven't already!)

~you had your 4 month check up on the 30th. So remember when I said earlier that I didn't think you were 15 pounds? Yeah I was totally wrong! You weigh 15.2 pounds and are 24.5 inches! That means you gained 2 pounds in one month, because at 3 months when I weighed you, you were only around 13 pounds. I think it had to do with the way I started feeding you when I went back to work. Anyways, you're still healthy as can be! You got 2 shots and an oral vaccine. You cried when she stuck you each time and turned bright red, but I had a bottle ready and you calmed down very quickly. The doc didn't even mention starting cereal until I asked him. He just said that if you didn't seem to need it then don't worry about it. I had already planned on waiting until 5 months to try cereal, so we'll see. You're starting to follow the food when we eat, but you're still doing great with nursing and sleeping, so I'm in no rush. I'm so happy that you're healthy, but sad at how fast you're growing!

~you have been the sunshine in all our days!