Seriously. Eleven.

I think Owlet gained a pound overnight on Tuesday. Suddenly she’s super heavy, and has filled out. I swear she wasn’t like that on Monday. (No idea what her actual weight is, but I’m willing to bet it’s about a half-pound more than her last weigh-in two weeks ago.) And she’s fitting her 0-3 mos sleepers perfectly, from shoulders to toes, no extra room. It’s obviously time to start sorting through the 3-6 mos box.

It’s like someone flipped a switch this past week. Daytime sleep is starting to settle down. I can get at least two naps of varying length out of her per day, either in the mei tei (which reminds me, we still don’t have a picture of that in action) or the swing, or, if I am very lucky, the basket in her crib. Her nursing has suddenly changed and become much more efficient, thank goodness. She’s better at being on her own in the swing for a bit, or in her basket looking up at the new pompom bug mobile we made for her, while I make bread or switch laundry. We put her in a bounce chair with dangly toys for the first time this week, and it was a great success. And oh, the smiles we’re getting! Dinner is such a social time for her; sometimes we can get away with putting her in the swing next to the table while we eat like we used to, but increasingly she wants to be up at the table in someone’s lap to watch everyone eat.

Owlet’s beginning to converse — not just random noise, but trading dialogue. It’s fun, especially when she smiles. What’s freaky is that she’s got this one “awl!” sound she makes. She did it on the changing table one day a couple of weeks ago, under her owl mobile, and I said, “Yes, owls,” and went on chatting to her. She makes it mostly while looking at that mobile, and it’s either coincidence or random repetition of the sounds we make when we point them out to her, but it really sound like she’s saying “owl” and it amuses us. She said “awl” to HRH last week, so he carried her into her room and put her on the changing table. She made a pleased little squawk and lay quite happily there for about ten minutes, watching the owls on the mobile move in the air. Spooky.

Sidebar: Why did we make our two mobiles? Well, I am less than thrilled with about 99% of commercial mobiles. They’re outlandishly expensive, not very attractive, have music that drive me nuts, and worst of all, most of them have dangly things designed to be looked at from the parents’ point of view. All the baby sees are bottoms or tummies of the critters. We’ve threaded the bugs upside down and the owls on an angle, so the baby sees the tops and faces. (I won’t say no if we find our missing simple-quiet-and-charming, no-longer-obtainable Peter Rabbit mobile, though.) And on top of all that, it involved the family in doing something creative to share with her. Not that anyone in this family needs help coming up with creative, crafty things!

Also noted: Everyone talks to babies when you’re out shopping. Everyone.

This past weekend Sparky and I were off at cello and HRH had Owlet alone, who was rapidly losing patience in the last half-hour before we got back. She saw a photo of me on the fridge and involuntarily lifted her arms towards it. HRH held her there for a bit while she stared at it, then tried to carry her off to look at other things but she fussed, so he took her back. I think we’ll print out large photos of her family members and put them in a binder or something for her to look at.

Finally, the poor girl is starting her first cold. Lots of sneezes, and snuffly noises when she nurses at night. They can’t grow up in bubbles, after all.

Pictures!

Happy baby:

And here’s another carseat/handknits picture for comparison: