Week Eighteen

Twenty days from now I will be going back to work full time and may not be able to keep up with the weekly posts. But I am committed to get through at least week 20! I want to document all of the cute things she does and how she seems to learn something new every day!

About Alexandra: Alexandra is such a happy baby and loves talking! Her smiles are so big and just melt our hearts! Daddy says that her smile could melt butter and I am inclined to agree. She loves looking at and touching people's faces. She will grab at a chin or nose and caress a cheek. She finds it fascinating when I eat something or drink from my water bottle. Everything goes in her mouth!

She loves her new Sophie the Giraffe. She chews on her and seems very happy putting every part of it in her mouth! Her hands have always been strong and she is getting so good at grasping objects. She frequently holds things with both hands.

We stopped swaddling her for bed this week because she was more interested in grabbing at her blanket and putting it in her mouth so the swaddle only last a few minutes. She now has a sleep sack made of the same cotton muslin as the swaddle blankets. We will still use them for naps, but not night time sleeping.

What's New: Alexandra rolled over....once. I was working on my computer and she was right behind me playing on her quilt. I told her that we needed to do some tummy time that day. I went back to the computer to answer an email from Dave. I then turned around and she was on her tummy! She could not figure out how to roll back though and has not done it since! She is getting so much better at tummy time though. Here is a picture:

We introduced her to the Bumbo Seat which allows her to sit all by herself. We had tried it out once before, but now we are using it daily. She seems to like it a lot! Next up we are going to set up her high chair so she can sit with us at the dinner table!

We have been giving her diluted apple juice, but also tried diluted white grape juice this week. She loves that as well! We are excited to try her first real food this coming week: applesauce. We will try to record her reaction on the video camera.

Photos: Here she is at 18 weeks:

And some fun photos: She loves her monkey and she helped daddy sort the mail on Thursday while sitting in her new Bumbo seat! Scoll down to the next entry for an extra post today: The Many Faces of Alexandra!