Kate had a good night’s sleep last night!! I think the cold is finally almost gone, there was no snorting or coughing. A couple of times she did wake up crying, though – a bad dream or gum pain? She was asleep, too – just needed to nurse for 5 seconds to comfort herself and she continued sleeping.

Today was my first day back at work! I’m only working one day a week at a non-profit so it’s not such a big deal. The people who stepped in while I was gone were handling everything just fine so I just kept putting off my return – I originally was going to go back after 12 weeks. Kate is now 21 weeks old! Finally I hit a point where the thought of being away from her for a day wasn’t terrifying to me, and I was starting to look for something more to do in my day. (A typical “accomplished” day involves buying groceries and doing the laundry!) I have been going out for a couple hours at a time here and there, ever since my boobs have decided they aren’t going to explode when I do so – I think Kate is eating less often now. So really it was an easy transition and I happily escaped out the door after putting Kate down for a nap.

The most fantastic thing was walking in the door to find Kate asleep on Den’s chest. She of course woke up as soon as I did so, but Den immediately told me how great his day was. What a huge relief! She napped on him twice and was happy and bubbly all day. I’m so so happy that he got to experience happy Kate! Watching her during the day is certainly a very different creature from watching her in the evening, when she’s tired, clingy, and prone to meltdowns. Apparently today they played on the floor for a long time, she sat on his lap and they had long conversations, she laughed hysterically at his arm and shirtsleeve (he said she was absolutely fascinated and kept laughing and grabbing at him!) and just generally amused each other. So happy!!

Her naps the last couple of days have been 30 minutes long, no matter if it’s in arms, nursed down, or rocked and put down – but she’s going longer between naps than usual, staying happy and content. It’s kind of weird, but I just have to shrug and figure it’s just a phase.

I mentioned how I nurse her to sleep, but I didn’t add that I don’t think this is something I’m going to change! I certainly don’t regret doing it for the last 5 months. It makes everything so easy. I do have to catch her when she’s sleepy and ready for a nap, but there is no wind-down needed, no routine. I don’t have to worry if the dogs startle her or the husband winds her up with toys right before a nap. Whenever she shows me that she’s ready to sleep I whisk her off to the bedroom, cuddle her, nurse her, and bam she’s out and I can go do whatever. Obviously Den is developing his own method of getting her to sleep, one that involves rocking and swaying and shushing – and the paci, of course. If she doesn’t have mama she needs the paci. It was hard on Den for a few weeks while she was in transition, she definitely gave him some hellish evenings. But judging by the fact that he’s now having a much easier time of it and hasn’t really changed what he was doing, well, I’m thinking it was just that 4 month regression.

We are both pretty certain she is teething, though her gums aren’t inflamed and I don’t see or feel any white spots down there. There were those weird nights of crying while sleeping and now she’s started chomping on everything. Before she was putting things in her mouth simply because she could. Now she’s grabbing at things insistently to shove into her mouth. She grabbed my hand today and she was really crunching on my knuckle! I pulled out the one teething toy we have and realized I need to go buy more! For right now she really loves chewing on her burp cloths. Must feel good.