It's been a while...

I thought I'd do a teeny update while Petra is nursing.

Even though she has proven for weeks and weeks that she can sleep >8h straight, I've trained her & my breasts to need a 5am nursing session. It seems to be helping a lot I terms of me not getting plugged ducts or painful morning engorgement. She'll be 12 weeks old tomorrow!

The biggest news lately is that she's grasping toys and getting them into her mouth! She's still charmingly hamfisted but she seems to be able to see her own potential power now. The glint in her eye when she spies something and then grabs it is precious.

The other big deal is that she is officially teething. There were a few toothless though painful chomps of my nipple a few days ago and I've had to become more mindful during her nursing sessions. More eye contact, stroking her head, etc, to keep her focused. I'm tempted to buy a silicone teething necklace but I'm wrestling with the fact that it's such a modern thing and that mothers before me didn't need/use them. Seriously though - she really does seem to want or need to hang on to something while nursing so maybe that shouldn't be my hair ...

She's also become a maniac for chewing on my finger once in a while. It's not a 24/7 urge yet but it's really intense when it does flare up. after she fell asleep last night I dug out the wooden teethers I bought her before she was born. (one is shaped and laser etched like an iPhone and the other is a silhouette of the breastfeeding-friendly icon) I also whipped up a couple cloth teethers from some hemp fabric and some wool sweater stuffing. They're damp and in the freezer now.

Here's a photo of her experimenting with Sophie. It's also a photo of me multitasking as I was on my way to dig in my storage unit to assess the cloth diaper situation in storage.


Sophie the Giraffe is ok but the nose doesn't seem to meet her chompability needs.

And the last big deal item to mention before I sign off is that she fell asleep last night for the first time ever when not in my arms! I had been rocking & bouncing her and she seemed wired instead of getting sleepier so I laid her on her play mat and went to grab a snack. In the time it took me to make a sandwich she had played and then fallen soundly asleep!
It was awesome.