5.5 weeks old
I can’t believe Ava is 5.5 weeks
old! In the big picture, time has flown
by, but at times (like when she’s screaming for an unknown reason or I’m
starting hour 48 with no more than 30 minutes of sleep) it has seemed to drag
on forever.. Mainly it flies though.
Ava has had another great pediatrician appointment
since I last wrote. At 3 weeks she went
back for a general check. She had gained
over a pound in those 16 days! She was
also taller now at 20.25in.. Luckily we
didn’t have to wait as long this time.
We go back in 2.5 weeks for her 2 month shots. I am really NOT looking forward to that
appointment!
It is
amazing how quickly Ava is growing and changing! She's definitely filled out more, and she has Ben's dandelion hair, which I think is absolutely adorable! One of her favorite 'activities' is when Ben moves her legs and makes the running motion saying "run, run, run, run, and jump!" She also loves to be held at any time and bounced around the house.
Our dogs have really adjusted well to her. Moose loves to sniff her, and Hulu loves to sit by her because that's where all the attention is (and Hulu craves attention since she is no longer the favorite).
Ava's big
milestones for the first 5 weeks include:
- She can now focus for a decent amount of time on an object (and faces) which is a vast improvement from only weeks ago when her eyes seemed to rarely be looking in the same direction.
- She also tries to communicate with her “jungle friends” by making short half cry/half grunt noises.
- She is able to lift her head while on her tummy and turn in both directions, and if I put her elbows under her body, she can lift her head to a 45degree angle!
- She is going to be in her first commercial (of many) for a PSA Ben's making at work.
- And my personal favorite milestone of the month: Ava is smiling at us now! Not just smiles in passing, but actually looking at us and appropriately smiling when we are talking to/playing with her. It is so exciting to see her first real interactions with us (other than crying!).
As far as
sleep goes, we haven’t started any set routine for a ‘bedtime’, so she still
has her days and nights very mixed up.
Also, some days she will sleep all day and only be awake a short time
between naps, and other days, she will want to be awake most of the day with
very short naps. There hasn’t been much
of a pattern to it so far. It seems like
we will have a day or two that are similar, then she will totally change up on
us. I want to start doing more of a
routine each day (eat, play, sleep), but I don’t want to assign any times to
things or restrict eating in anyway (as Babywise- one of the more popular books
on infant sleep- suggests).
Overall,
things are going really well! Looking
back at delivery and those first few days, I don’t think I realized how in
danger she was at the time. Praise the
Lord she is doing so well and developing right on track!
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| Ava's One Month Picture |
