A Great Week!

This past week was a really good one. On Monday I decided to get Lilly in to a "routine". She had gotten used to falling asleep immediately after nursing. This wasn't a problem when she'd go back to sleep for 1+ hours, but when she started napping for 20 min. and then waking up, I knew we had to change something. Plus, she was still wanting to eat EVERY 2 hours. A baby her age should be able to go 3 hours, unless they're going through a growth spurt. I really think that she got used to eating every time she got her diaper changed and that was a mess! So instead of letting her fall asleep immediately after nursing, I keep her awake for 1 - 1.5 hours and then she naps for 1 - 1.5 hours. She usually lets you know when she's tired and is ready for a nap. Keeping her awake is still a bit of work, but she's getting better. I can tell a difference in her already. She's happier and more alert when she's awake now. She is still fighting her sleep, but that's really the only time she's fussy...unless she's hungry.

I don't know if it's her routine, the fact that she's getting older, or a combination of both but she has been sleeping SO WELL this week. The last 2 nights she has only woken once in the middle of the night to nurse. Last night she slept from 9pm - 3am...yes, 6 hours in a row! She went back down again until 6:30 and then woke for the day at 8am. We are feeling very refreshed this week with sleep. I hope it continues and she is sleeping through the night soon!

Lilly has also really started to show her personality. She is smiling all the time. It melts my heart when I go into her nursery and get a smile first thing in the morning. Actually, anytime she smiles at me my heart melts. She's also realizing she has a voice. She coos and "talks" to us. We tell each other "stories" while she lays on her changing table. I can't wait for her to laugh. When she smiles, you can see that she wants to laugh but no noise will come out. I can't wait for that day!

On Wednesday we had a play date with Aja and Holder. It was nice to catch up with Aja and see Holder. He is so cute and getting so big! Lilly behaved for the most part until we went on a walk and she started fussing because she was tired. Later that night we took dinner over to our friends Joe and Laura that we met in our childbirth class. They just had their little girl Teagan 2 weeks ago. She is so adorable! It's hard to remember Lilly being that small. Granted, Lilly weighed at birth what Teagan weighs now at 2 weeks. When I held her I felt like I was picking up a feather compared to Lilly. She is so sweet.

Today my friend Mindy came over for lunch. Mindy is 17 weeks pregnant so we chatted about pregnancy and baby registries. Then Grama Pat brought her friend Elaine over to meet Lilly. Lilly was sleeping when they got here, but woke up so Elaine could see her awake. Granted, she was fussing because she didn't nap for as long as she usually does and was hungry. Hopefully next time Elaine sees Lilly she'll be all smiles :) Elaine got Lilly a fun toy that I think we'll be able to start using soon. It's a soft elephant with little tabs and a cute little mouse that you pull and then it retracts back under the elephant.

Tomorrow we're off to Ocala so Lilly can meet her Momo. Today was my grandma's birthday, so we're going over there tomorrow. She hasn't gotten to meet Lilly yet. Plus, my mom's going too and we're going to take a 4 generation photo...I'm excited for that!