Sophie's diaries: 12 weeks +

while being burped after a feed

I thought I'd just put up two updates for the record:

1. Sleep

We've finally established a bedtime routine. Hurray!

Ben and I tuck princess into bed at 10 o'clock or so nowadays - latest by 11pm. I am so glad and thankful that our persistence has paid off. It doesn't take Sophie long to fall asleep; she'd sleep for about 5-6 hours (she slept 8 hours yesterday night) before waking up for a feed, and then another 3-4 hours before her morning feed.

Sophie has her own pre-sleep rituals, it seems. She stretches, wriggles and hyper-extends her neck to one side (with the pacifier in her mouth) before she settles into REM mode... and a more reasonable sleep position. Sometimes, she would let out some happy, contented coos while performing the rituals. And smile.

Aww. Too cute.

However, there are also days when she skips the rituals and conks out within a few pats on her chest, an arm or a leg. A gracious phenomenon on the days when I am too tired.

Because she sleeps through the night, she now wakes up for longer hours during the day. It can be a challenge for me to find ways to keep her from boredom and the resulting crankiness. I am constantly moving her from room to room so that she gets fresh scenery, fresh surfaces to play (and fall asleep) on and fresh encounters with the familiar (toys, etc)... oh, as well as to avoid over-stimulation. I guess, it's a good time to start using those alphabet flash-cards a friend passed down to us.

2. Physical abilities

Sophie is able to sit up supported, with her head well-balanced upon her shoulders. She loves it when we prop her upright against cushions left, right, center. She'd be contented to lean back, suck her fingers (fist, actually) and watch the world pass by. Speaking of her fingers, she can now unclench her fists when we tell her to "open".

She is also able to roll over by herself - from supine to prone. However, as she is unable to roll back from prone to supine, she would shout out in terror and cry for help after a while on her tummy - and we would have to come quickly to her aid.  

We are very thankful that she is growing so well. Praise God.