Just because . . .

. . . she looks so adorable in both of these photos.

What a difference a month makes

Abigail has an activity mat that plays music and has little stuffed animals that are suspended over her head. I haven't put her on it in almost a month because she usually starts to cry within 10 minutes of laying on it. Then on Friday I decided to put her on it and see what she'd do. She loved it! She laid there for an hour until I had to move her so that we could go pick up Chad at school. It was such a different experience for her than it had been. Now she is much more aware of her environment. She was enjoying the music and I could see her get disappointed when I had to turn it off. Also, her eyes are able to focus in on the little animals and she enjoys it when I take them down and touch them to her hand. Also, the little elephant has ears that make a crinkle sound when you touch them. I put it near her hand so that when she hit it she would hear the crinkle sound. I think there were points at which she might have realized that it was her making the sound happen. It was really neat to play with her and see how much has changed for her in the last month.

Abigail at Bathtime

We have started a ritual with Abigail in which every night she takes a bath with me while Chad pours water over her. She loves it. She seems to get really calm when we bring her upstairs and she hears the water running. Then she just lounges in the tub and the warm water seems to relax her. After tubtime is over Chad takes her into her room and puts her into a onesie that I have picked out for her. Then he swaddles her and says goodnight. Then she and I sit in her chair and I feed her and hold her until she falls asleep and can be put into her crib. It is just such a nice way to end the day with her. In this picture she is waiting on her changing pad while the tub fills up.

After struggling with a little tummy trouble, Abbie is doing much better. We have been taking her to the chiropractor who has been massaging the muscles in her back and diaphragm. Also, Mommy has been watching her diet - drinking camomile tea four times a day, eliminating garlic, and cutting down on spicy foods and dairy. All of these changes have made for a much happier baby. She is so content and loves to just lay around and kick. Also we were able to weigh her last night and she is up to 8 pounds, 4 ounces now - a 10 ounce gain in 13 days. Perhaps not surprising given that she still likes to eat every hour or so. Above is a picture of one of her now plentiful happy moments.