In the last few weeks Ivy has pulled some 4 (and even a few 5) hour stretches during the night (that is, from the start of one feeding to the start of another) which has been a welcome relief. Note though that that doesnt mean she was sleeping that entire time! Nighttimes have for the most part been better, although the last 3 or 4 nights she has kept us up quite a bit (which is disappointing because it feels like we're backtracking).
Daytime sleeping usually goes fairly well (although there are definitely days she gets overtired and cant sleep)... but alot of the time she needs to be held to sleep, which, while so sweet, is rather inconvenient! It is amazing how dead asleep she can be when you hold her, but as soon as you put her down in the bassinet, she wakes up instantly and is not happy!
I know one issue that makes things difficult is probably the fact that we put her to sleep on her back and she sleeps so much better on her stomach... but due to the dangers of SIDS, on her back she goes.
Her weird animal noises continue... she especially likes to do them in the middle of the night in her sleep. Quite interesting to wake up to a zoo full of noises. And one of her noises sounds like she's laughing (she's not), but that is also a little freaky to wake up to!
I've started trying to read to her every day (or so) even though she has no interest in the books! She does love her play gym with the cross bars over it - it has toys hanging from it, one which makes music. I'll lay her on her back and let her gaze up at everything. Sometimes her hands and feet will touch/kick the toys, but I know it's not on purpose (seems like I read hand/eye coordination doesn't kick in until 4 months?). I also prop her up on the boppy (nursing) pillow to give her some "tummy time". So far I don't think she's gotten a bald spot on the back of her head from sleeping on her back all the time.
Her favorite thing is the bouncy seat... as long as the vibrator is turned on and you sit/stand there and manually bounce it yourself. Dont dare stop bouncing it, even if it looks like she's asleep!
Her head and neck muscles are getting much stronger, and she is getting alot better at holding her head up. It's really fun to watch her grow. She is definitely bigger. We wont find out how much she weighs for another month, though. She also can follow the sound of a voice now, and (if she's in the mood) will turn her head towards you.
Ivy took her first trip to her Nene and Papa's house (my parents) on Father's Day. She did very well (it is only a 20 minute drive out there) and didn't pull their cats' tails or anything (guess that will come later!). She gave her daddy a nice father's day present by having an explosive diaper on the changing table - got on everything but him!
Speaking of diaper changes, one of the times we get the best eye contact and facial expressions is on the changing table - especially during the middle of the night. It is the cutest thing - we will unswaddle her, and her arms and legs burst out and begin moving like crazy, and she gets the biggest, widest eyes and a hint of a grin as if to say "I'm freeeeeee!" (She loves being swaddled, really). We figure this is her reward to us for doing the un-fun job of changing her diaper!
We've been doing photoshoots every so often, trying to take the perfect picture for a birth announcement, but so far haven't found the right one. Doesn't help that we're novices at photography and our camera, which we thought was great when we bought it, is not very sophisticated. Here's some of the pictures we've taken:
