New sounds

Madeline has had a difficult time sleeping the past two nights. She seems to have trouble staying asleep and falling back asleep. Needless to say, no one has been getting too much rest in these parts. This morning Madeline started babbling at 5 am (but this was an improvement over the fussing that seemed to occur every hour prior to that). Despite the fact that she must have been sleep deprived, she was a happy girl this morning.

I'm reading the book the Wonder Weeks about infant development, which talks about how increased fussiness and decreased sleep are often associated with new developmental milestones (there are 10 specific milestones discussed in the book; one occurs around week 19, and she's right around there now). This definitely seems to be the case for Madeline. I feel like she was a whole new model of baby today!

For instance, she is suddenly much more interested in her reflection (before, she looked at the "other" baby somewhat sheepishly; now she tries to touch her). She also seems much more interested in Petey and Nory (our cats) and will follow their movements with her eyes and head. She enjoys petting them when she gets a chance.

She was really into holding her feet again today. But the biggest development has been her increasing repertoire of sounds. She was babbling and chatting up a storm today! And she used many sounds that I hadn't heard before (especially variations in pitch). I'll have to try to catalog them. Max tried to take some movies, but she seems to clam up when the video camera is out (I think she's trying to figure out what we're doing). Here's a short clip of some of her sounds:

In general, she seems more observant and aware of the world. I often see her staring at things--just trying to figure them out. She also tries to interact with everything she can get her hands on (this is especially apparent at dinner). I am so fascinated by all her new skills!

I hope the sleep "regression" is over for this milestone. She seems to be sleeping more soundly now than she did the beginning of the last two nights.