Monaloca

When Melina heard Nalani had her three-month birthday today, she wanted to give her a present to open and cake with candles to blow out. (She would do the opening and blowing out, of course, being the three-YEAR-old!) We didn’t celebrate in such grand style, but have been celebrating the small moments for the past week or two, when our baby girl seemed to fully wake up to the world.

She now smiles incessantly when watching someone else’s face (it’s her favorite passtime) and loves to talk to us, make razzing sounds, and blow bubbles. Just today under her play gym she seemed to notice for the first time that she could bat at something with her own fists. I don’t think she gets the intention yet, but it was fun to watch her notice cause-and-effect right before her eyes.

Nalani has had full neck control for a week or two now, and she’s started rolling to her side from either her belly or her back – but hasn’t made it all the way over in either direction quite yet. She’s started rejecting mama’s sling and even facing inward in the Baby Bjorn unless she’s ready for a nap. She loves facing outward, though, and has started taking in the rustling leaves and passing world as we go on daily walks with her stroller.

She sleeps “through the night” consistently by the technical definition of five straight hours. But sometimes those hours are from 7:30pm to 12:30am. More often she’ll sleep til 2am, and sometimes all the way til 4 or 5am without waking. Looking forward to that becoming the norm.

My favorite Nalani development of the last month is her absolute insistence on telling us when she’s ready for jammies, swaddle, milk, and bed each night. She literally requests bedtime with her squawks around 7pm, so consistently we have to laugh. While I hate to compare, it’s a sharp contrast to Melina, who eases into each night (or more recently, fights bedtime til she’s good and wound down). I don’t think we’re going to be able to push Nalani with evenings out and about the way we’ve been able to push Melina. But on the plus side I’m guessing we’ll know exactly what she needs, and when.

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