8 week summary

Alex is 8 weeks old tomorrow! Here is a recent summary of her:

-She has started smiling at us in response to different things. Yesterday, I was laughing with her, and she burst into the biggest, sweetest smile. So I laughed again, and she did it again. It was adorable! And she is making baby sounds and coos when we talk to her, trying to "talk" back.

-She loves her baby gym and her swing. She has started staring at the mobile above the swing with fascination. And she loves to stare up above at ceiling fans or lights. What a cost-effective form of entertainment!
-She has become (for the most part) a happy baby again! With all of her little tummy ailments, (reflux and dairy allergies) it has been a bit of a struggle to keep her feeling well. I have cut out dairy from my diet (so she doesn't get it from me via breastfeeding) and we have her on a lactose-free hypoallergenic formula for when we supplement. We also give her a baby antacid twice a day. She hates the taste of the formula, and frankly, I don't blame her. I tasted it, and it's absolutely disgusting! But I have found that she will take it as long as it's warm. It's so sad when I give her the bottle and she pushes it out with her tongue (while making the angriest of faces) and turns her head toward my chest, as if to say, "Give me the good stuff, Mommy!" :( I wish I didn't have to supplement, but I don't make enough milk for her, so it's not an option. But even though she hates the taste, the medicine and formula have done wonders for her temperament!

-She has grown eyebrows! (Haha!) This might be a strange observation, but hey, it's worth mentioning! When she was born, she was a little bald above the eyes, and we just recently noticed that she is starting to grow them in. ;)
-She is sleeping so well at night. Most nights she will go to sleep at 8 pm, wake up to feed at 3 a.m. (for about 15 minutes) and then go back to sleep until 7 or 8 a.m. We have had a few nights in the past week where she has even slept the entire 11 or 12 hours! Even if she keeps waking up once a night, I will still feel so lucky. I know a lot of parents with much older babies who are still waking up several times a night. During the day, she takes about 5 naps. Usually her first morning nap is about 2 hours long, and the others are 45 minutes to an hour. What a good sleeper we have!

-She is on a determined mission to find her thumb lately. She sucks at the side of her hand, but the only problem is when she makes a fist, she keeps her thumb hidden in it. So then she gets really frustrated because she can't get to it. I've tried to help her out, but she will have none of it!
What a wonderful 8 weeks it has been. We can't imagine life without Alex now!