New this month...
This month was all about sleep! Or lack there of! Within a day or two of me posting that she had learned to roll, she became an expert. Unfortunately, she learned how to roll in the swaddle. I thankfully peeked in on her during a nap and she had rolled onto her stomach, but because she her arms were swaddled she couldn't hold her face out of the bed! She looked like a little beached whale, flopping around. So we had to go cold turkey on the swaddling. We spent the rest of the month relearning how to fall asleep and how to stay asleep. Swaddled, I could lay her down wide awake but now I had to go back to rocking her to sleep and laying her down out cold. And I had to go in every time she woke up and rock her again. Slowly but surely she figured it out. She's now to the spot that I can lay her down calm and drowsy, but awake and she'll go to sleep fairly easily. Sometimes she has to "fuss it out" and when she turns angry I just need to go in and reposition a binkie and she's good. She still has a few obstacles to overcome. First, it turns out she's a side/belly sleeper. Problem is that when she's on her belly, she scoots backwards...away from her blankie and binkie. Secondly, she prefers side sleeping I think. Problem is she doesn't know how to roll from front to back still. So once she's fully on her belly she's stuck. And that kinda ticks her off sometimes. Thirdly, she likes to take the binkie out but when drowsy, lacks the skills to put it back in and most of the time, she can't find it to even try to put it back in. But we are making progress and she is sleeping pretty well through Austin's bedtime routine of kicking the sheets, banging on the wall and talking to himself.
She's working her way towards crawling. I think we still have a while before she's fully mobile, but she's taking the steps towards getting there. Specifically, she's doing a bunch of rocking on her hands and knees. She will occasionally even push herself into a full push up position - on hands and feet. She does a ton of scooting backwards still. For someone that can't move forward, she sure gets around! Still scooting into (and getting stuck under) furniture, but she seems to have a little more purpose with the direction she goes.
I love watching her toy play advance! She's now in the "shake the crap" out of it stage. No fancy toys needed. Just a few linky-rings and she's a happy camper. That is until she whacks herself in the face with one. But that will entertain her for a long time. When she plays with her real toys, she's really trying to figure out how they work. She loves her bouncer/activity center. She's not much of a bouncer, but occasionally she'll get it going. She just loves to play with all the hanging toys. And of course, all of Austin's toys and puzzle pieces are much more appealing than any of her own toys. Austin is not a good sharer yet. He'll happily bring her toys to her, but does not like it if she even scoots to close to his. She'll even occasionally try to steal toys from his hands. That does not go over well at all! I figure she's just getting a jump start on the whole "Annoying Little Sister" gig.
She's following in her brother's footsteps as a miniature sized kleptomaniac. Little Miss Grabby Hands! We already have to really watch what's within her reach, because it will instantly get stuffed in her mouth, crumpled or chucked on the floor.
McKenna has a ton of hair! I'm amazed by how quickly it's growing. It's mostly on top, which gives her some good faux hawk potential. It's a gorgeous strawberry blond color still. So much more red, though, than I would have ever imagined.
We've officially started solids, in that she's getting them once a day for lunch. She is still not a fan. She's not anti-food but she is very far from an enthusiastic baby bird. I can usually squeak in about an ounce or so before she starts pursing her lips. I've tried all varieties of food and temperatures and we've tried it when she's hungry, but with very little success. The only time she was somewhat eager, she was overdue to nurse, but even then she didn't eat much. I keep telling her what I tell Austin - To be a Crowley, you gotta like food! Hopefully she'll catch on soon, cuz I'm looking forward to getting to make all sorts of yummy stuff for her. The other bummer is that her tummy isn't quite on board yet either. So we're trying only plums until things start moving along a little better.
I graduated her to the medium girl (you know...not little girl, not big girl =P) bath tub - an inflatable duck bathtub. She loves it! Splashes around a little but mostly likes the tub itself. Austin adores it and drags it out of the bathroom constantly to be used as his Quack Quack Boat.
McKenna is officially a paid actress. Kinda. She got paid to be one, even though she never got the chance to be one! She got a gig on Desperate Housewives but the other baby that got booked did really well in all the scenes and they didn't end up needing McKenna.
She's ticklish! Thighs and ribs mostly. She gives out the best giggles when tickled too!
She learned a few more sounds this month. Definitely becoming more vocal! She still mostly only "talks" when she's getting tired. She gives you fair warning. The starts off with some gentle raspberries/horse sounds, then some talking, then some shrieking and then eventually makes it to crying. She will tighten her fists and whole body and give this weird little screech/shriek thing. It's not in a mad way, but more of a hyper way. She also learned how to make kissing noises, which is so cute!
