We're back

We had a fantastic trip to Rochester this past weekend (I'll post pictures soon, I promise). Molly slept for most of the drive in both directions, which was fantastic! On the way home yesterday she was so silly at the first rest stop that I could hardly get her to eat. She was mesmerized by a ceiling fan.

Now that we're back, I'm going to work on her naps. Last Thursday, right before the trip, I had a breakthrough and finally got her to sleep for more than 45 minutes at a time. The problem was that she was falling into a deep sleep while nursing, then I would carry her to the crib. We had gotten to the point where that was the only way she would fall asleep. After consulting numerous sleep books (Weissbluth, Pantley, even the dreaded Ferber), I got the idea to nurse her only until she is MOSTLY asleep, then to put her in the crib drowsy but awake so she can fall asleep on her own. This is very basic sleep advice that I've known about for a long time, but it's not as easy as it sounds. If she's awake when I put her in the crib, then I walk away, she complains. Ordinarily I would pick her up.

She was so overtired last week, though, and I was so sure she was ready for a nap that I let her squawk for a few minutes. Then, like magic, she was silent and slept for two hours! We did this all day Friday and she took several nice, long naps. It even worked, sort of, on our trip. Molly took a solid nap in Lucy's crib and in the crib at Oma's house.

I'm having a hard time getting back in the routine this morning, though. I've lost my sense for when she's truly tired and when she's not, so it's hard to tell when to leave her in the crib and when to pick her up. Plus, I'm enjoying having the baby all to myself again so all I want to do is snuggle her. I've been letting her sleep on the Boppy in my lap.

Other new developments:
This weekend Molly started (occasionally) grasping toys and holding onto them. Before she would only hold a toy if you pried her fingers open and put it in her hand. She has also gotten really interested in putting things in her mouth, and she does this by leaning toward things with her mouth open. This was particularly funny when she went for the little stuffed monkey my mom gave her, which has a slightly open mouth, which she aggressively french kissed.

Molly has also developed a lovely loud high-pitched squeal. Sometimes it's an angry squeal, sometimes it's happy. I think she likes hearing her loud voice. It's cute ... so far ...