Kate has figured out a new sound: blowing raspberries. It is so cute! She doesn’t stick her tongue out, just blows bubbles… generally around her fingers, which she has stuffed in her mouth 90% of the time. She was blowing raspberries when I put her down for a nap – if she’s not tired enough she likes to spend time talking to her crib and the window, and today it was raspberries. Then when Den was home she sat on his lap and they echoed each others raspberries back and forth. Too funny!

Also in the past week she learned how to do a belly laugh!! Finally!! She’s been “on the verge” of the belly laugh for literally months… she’s been making a “heh heh” sound since she started smiling. But that laugh just wouldn’t come out! Last week I was kissing and tickling her and there it was!! I spend a good part of my day kissing her cheeks saying “num num num!!” in order to get her to giggle at me.

She still loves (loves!) the exersaucer she’s been getting cranky sooner than before. Today Denis figured it out: she no longer wanted the pillow stuffed behind her (which we did because she was so tiny when she started using it, we didn’t want her throwing herself backwards and hitting her head!). She’s now tall enough that her head won’t hit the back of the seat and apparently she wants the freedom to lean as she wants to. I constantly find it so funny how she very clearly communicates when she’s ready to do something.

Like the sleep thing. She still sleeps cuddled with me for much of the night, but I now know why she’s getting frustrated at times. I really paid attention to what she was doing while she was squawking (very tiredly, I might add). She was facing me, belly-to-belly, and she kept throwing herself backwards. I sat up and she fell asleep with her arms over her head. It’s my weight that’s the problem – when I’m right beside her the bed dips a little towards me so she is being forced to face me. So if she wants to sleep sprawled out on her back it’s far more difficult for her. So when she’s in those moods I move her to her crib, which is now side-carred right beside me, and she happily sleeps with both arms up over her head like she used to as a little newborn. So adorable!

I’ve noticed this week that her feeding sessions have actually spaced out a lot compared to what they used to, especially when we’re out and about. She does tend to nurse a lot still, but they’re very very quick comfort feeds before a nap or when she’s upset about something. She likes to nurse long enough to get the milk flowing and then stop. Yeah, that’s fun, milk dribbling everywhere while she flings herself backwards and babbles. But a few times a day she does a long, good feed, always in the morning and at night, then a few other times a day. And when we’re out? I’ve noticed I’m starting to have leaking problems again, because she’s too distracted to really lay down and eat! Hours will go by and I get all engorged, I’ll put her to the breast and she just nibbles and looks around. Meanwhile I’m spending my time trying not to think about nursing… because if I do, or if she starts crying, or if she touches my boob, hello letdown! I had just stopped wearing breast pads all the time, and now I have to start doing it again. Once we get home I lay down with her and she does a nice long nursing session. Although for her “long” is still less than 5 minutes. I often wish it was longer! But she’s a very fast eater, and when she’s done she gets mad that there’s still milk and just wants her paci. Sigh.

She is right on the verge of rolling over back-to-front. She can roll over front to back, but it still seems to be a random occurrence, she hasn’t quite figured out that she can do it on demand. But when she’s on the floor playing she spends a great deal of time arching her back, reaching over her head, and rolling onto her side. She’s so so close to making that last little bit, but so far her arm has been in the way and she doesn’t push it. She just ends up wiggling and spinning around. I realized the other day when watching her that we are going to need to baby-proof our house very very soon. Yikes! Our house was baby-proofed back when Zoe was a puppy (in 2005) but every year the dogs get older the lazier we get… they’ve stopped chewing on cords, furniture, random objects. Now I’m looking at the ratsnest of wires under my desk and thinking, “Oh shit.”

And finally, I am wicked excited because next saturday I made appointments for two things I haven’t done since Kate was born: a massage, and a haircut! I booked them back to back so I get a few hours to myself and will hopefully come home feeling recharged. Not that Kate really wears me out much, but I admit I am feeling quite frumpy and sore lately. I started going back to my chiro 3 weeks ago and oh my god how much I needed it. I put it off for 3 months because Kate wouldn’t let me put her down, period, and I had no clue how what to do with her while I got an adjustment. But finally she started being okay on a blanket on the floor, so that’s what I do now. She kicks and stares around the room while I’m on the table. I am, as my chiro put it, “very crunchy.” My back is SO tight it is absolutely ridiculous. I have a feeling the one-hour massage is only going to scratch the surface… but oh will I enjoy it.