21 weeks

Audia's 21 weeks old this week. She has become so much more interested in and aware of her surroundings in the past couple of weeks. Part of this, I think, has to do with being able to see a lot farther (her eyesight is almost completely developed at this point, according to webmd.com), and part of it has to do with her maturing to a point where she is really trying to understand and figure out what everything is and does. Because of this, she is able to entertain herself for longer and longer periods. On the flip side of this coin, she is figuring out how to communicate more effectively with us, and has started to "complain"(read: shriek at the top of her lungs) much more intensely when she is bored or uncomfortable.

It's no secret at this point that we've adopted attachment parenting (a good description of attachment parenting can be found here: http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/T130300.asp ) as our parenting style. We never set out to subscribe to any particular parenting style, rather have tried different things and followed what feels most natural for us. I realize that in some aspects, this has the potential to set us up for more gradual transitions to independence as she gets older, but I am really ok with this. And, I am also sure that she will suprise us in some areas by deciding on her own that she's ready to do this that or the other thing on her own. We have been cosleeping at least half the night every night for a couple of weeks now and have all been getting much more sleep as a result. I've also noticed that Audia has been a lot more relaxed and happy during the day since we started this. Plus, there is nothing better than waking up to my precious girl nuzzling and smiling up at me. Snuggle time in the morning with my hubby and daughter is my favorite part of the day.

In other news, Audia's "real" hair is definitely coming in. She has this longer tuft up on the top of her head where she didn't really lose her hair at all, and the rest has finally made itself noticable. She will not be a blondie like her daddy was as a kid; it's definitely a light to medium brown. and, based on the longer hair up top, it looks pretty straight, which makes mommy very happy. I was dreading learning how to tame curly hair. It may have a slight wave to it; it's too early to tell. But it definitely won't be super curly.

Her favorite toy these days is her feet. And her socks. She regularly pulls off her sock and chews on it. I call her my little sock eater. And, when she's gotten both of her socks off and thoroughly soaked them, she starts sucking on her toes. (see photos below) She's always making me laugh :-)

On a non-baby note, I am 99.9% sure I broke my left pinkie toe yesterday. Sharp, throbbing pain and totally black and blue :-( Those pack-n-play legs jump out at you when you least expect them to.....