Grace's first development update

Our little Grace officially turns 7 weeks today.

This morning, I took Grace out for her official 6-8 week check-up with the child health nurse. It was gratifying to see how all my precious milk has been doing her good. She's definitely a solid sized baby, sitting above average on the weight and height charts.

The early weeks were initially hard as she has been a very hungry baby and also needed a lot of help settling to sleep. I had to either rock or hold her constantly and often even nurse her to sleep (which I know a lot of people say is against the 'rules').

However, I think she's finally settling into a good daily pattern and rhythm. And earlier this week, we finally broke through the 2-3-hour mark and she slept through close to 7 hours one night. Phew!

So what is little Grace like?

Well, she's a very contented little baby (once she's had her milk) and can sit happily in her rocker observing all the activity around her. And there is definitely plenty of activity happening whenever her big brother is around.

She loves having lots of cuddles and being carried, and enjoys being rocked and held. Sometimes even only wants to stay asleep that way for her entire nap.

She has started making little coos and gurgles, which is really cute. She also makes a lot of grunting sounds (I sometimes call her a little piglet because of that) when she's trying to communicate something and also when she is transitioning sleep cycles. Other than that she hardly ever cries except when she's hungry or tired.

She's also a very strong baby. She was already starting to hold her neck up for seconds at a time since she was around 2-3 weeks old. She has also started pushing her legs downward to try and 'stand up' whenever we hold her upright on our lap. She's also very good at tummy time and is happy to stay on her tummy for up to 3-4 minutes at a time.

And the best thing everyone loves? Her smiles!