Amazing human trick.

It’s funny how having a baby gets you thinking about things. Have you ever wondered how you learned to perform simple human actions, such as talking, walking, and laughing? Watching Emma grow has been such a mind boggling experience. We have seen her go from floppy and helpless to being able to lift up her head. Who knew holding your head up was such a difficult task to accomplish??? She can also track objects with her eyes- yes, she can look at things and follow them around with her eyes. Genius!

The coolest of her human tricks happened today for the first time. I was getting dressed and Ian was changing Emma in her room. “Hey Denisse! Come here! Have you ever seen Emma do this?” I walked into the room to see Ian make the silliest face I have ever seen. This silliness had a purpose- to get a response from his daughter. To my surprise, Emma laughed! It was not just a smile (she’s been doing that for weeks.) It was a laugh with a “hahahah” chuckle. My eyes filled with tears as I saw my baby laugh for the first time. “Make her do it again,” I said. And she did. It was so great. Ian thought we should let her rest. After all, we didn’t want to wear her out from laughing too much.
We are currently working on another human skill with Emma. She is able to lay on her tummy for longer periods of time, but she has not realized that she can use her arms to hold herself up. She somehow manages to support her entire body with all her weight on her tummy. I’ve tried to push on her hands to show her that her arms do, indeed, work. We will continue to work on this one… she’ll get it soon. Until then, we can enjoy her newfound laughter…

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Magic.

Ok, so we went to visit the grandparents for Easter, and this was the plan… Emma was going to sleep in her own room, in her own crib the night that we came home (Sunday.) It would be perfect since her sleeping cycle was going to be messed up anyway. Sunday night, however, we decided otherwise. She joined us for what was to be her last night in Mom and Pop’s room. Monday was the big day. Here is how it happened..

We gave Emma a bath (which was special since she only gets one about twice a week,) gave her a bottle (which was ALSO special because she will not take a bottle for her life,) and swaddled her from the arms down. We left her arms out so she could suck on her hands since she will also NOT take a pacifier. We were ready to endure the long hours of crying since it would be “for her own good.”  As we were singing her a song and saying her prayers I thought to myself, “This will never work.” What happened next was magic. She looked around her crib and decided it was a pretty groovy place to be.  She put her left hand in her mouth and used her right hand to keep it in place while she sucked herself to sleep. AND that was it. No crying- just sucking. The next thing we knew, she was off in Dreamland, not to be seen again until 8 am the following morning. This is how it went the first night. Luckily, she is a smart girl and remembered what she should do the next few nights.  It has been amazing sleep for Mom since.  Sleep never felt so good.  It’s time to put the bassinet away for the next baby. Emma’s officially kicked out of our room…