Happy baby times

Sleep seems to be better this week. It seems that no matter what time Maren goes to bed, she wakes up at the same time. Tonight she was definitely ready for bed at 5:30 PM, and was last night as well. Both nights we had her sleeping by about 6 PM, and even that seems to be pushing it – she seems overtired and cries as we get ready for bed every night. But she has been waking up pretty consistently at 5 AM or 5:30 AM, so going to bed early just means getting more sleep. Today she magically napped in her crib for about an hour, which is the longest she has slept on her own, ever. I have heard from other moms that their babies eventually started taking longer naps after a long period of short naps, so maybe this is a sign of change. In any case, she seems more rested, and has been a happy baby this week.

She has been going through a period of rapid motor development. She is getting closer and closer to being able to sit on her own, and keeps working at trying to move forward, though she still only pushes herself backward :-) The most notable change is that she consistently reaches and grabs things and puts them in her mouth. She is definitely getting ready to start eating solid food, which we plan to start next weekend on her six-month birthday.

Things are generally going well, and we continue to be very happy and positive. There are times when I am anxious about things but this tends to pass, and most of the day every day we are just happy to have our little bug in our lives.

I couldn't resist posting one more jolly jumper video. I think this one is worth watching :-)