17 Weeks

Eleanor is 17 weeks old today!

I spoke too soon about her newfound love of the stroller. Last week she loved it, this week…not so much. She’s okay for the first 20 minutes or so, and then she cries and cries.

Aside from the stroller situation, this has been an exciting week! Eleanor has learned that she is capable of making loud sounds, and has turned into a little chatter box. Almost every waking minute she is babbling away, and her baby talk has become a lot more complex than those beginning goo sounds. It’s so cute. It reminds me of how the only negative comment my early schoolteachers said about me was that I was a bit too talkative.

She has discovered her first little game. She puts her mouth against my skin, usually on my shoulder or hands, and blows raspberries and hums. It’s so fun to see her doing something that she figured out all on her own.

She has really mastered her hands. She is able to reach out and grab at whatever she wants and bring it to her mouth. She usually wants my hair or the food I’m trying to eat. She’s also getting pretty good at sucking her thumb. She’s been enjoying playing with the toys on her play gym, and I ordered her a jumperoo that should arrive today. I think she’ll really like being able to play with toys and sit upright.

She’s been working on her rolling. She did it once a few weeks ago, but it was a fluke. Yesterday she did it several times and it seemed much more deliberate. The first time she did it she looked a bit shocked, and the second time she gave a big smile. She doesn’t seem to remember her new skill today though.

Boy is she a mamma’s girl these days. She’ll tolerate daddy holding her, but only as long as she can still see me. I’ve been brainstorming ways to help her learn to like him again. So far we’ve been waiting a little while after he gets home before he tries to hold her so she doesn’t feel like the second she sees him it means that I am going away, daddy baby wearing, and all staying together throughout our evening activities. Any other suggestions would be welcome, but my gut is telling me this is just a phase we’re going to have to ride out.