Giggles, Grabbing, & Grapes

Iyla Grace was 15 weeks old Monday. And on Sunday (the 24th)- I heard my first little giggle from her! It was late afternoon just after she nursed. I was talking & singing to her when the giggles came... 2 short little bursts that floored me! I haven't heard any since, but you better bet I am making a fool of myself trying to illicit more from her. Super exciting.

Dressing her up makes ME giggle!

Iyla is also really working hard on learning about her hands. She's been doing a new move lately where she reaches both arms straight above her head and crosses her arms- staring hard the entire time at her hands. It appears this is a rudimentary form of grabbing- the action of crossing her arms helps to 'grab' objects in front of her. She's been busy practicing this new skill on her play mat:

Hands always in her mouth

We awoke Tuesday to the heat having gone out, likely due to the insanely high winds Austin was experiencing. As such, Iyla got to stay in her warm jammies for the first part of the day, and proved to be an excellent human heating pad! We snuggled all morning long until the AC/heating company came and got us up and running again.

Telling her baby doll about Pajama Day! She also did the cross arm grab on that poor unsuspecting doll, pulling it into her mouth.

Iyla is still drooling like CRAZY, especially when she is concentrating on something. I've put a bib on her a few times, but it seems to get in the way of her cross arm action so usually gets removed quickly.

Nap time on Mama with an over sized bib

I've been trying to cook a bit more at home (BC and I eat out a lot) and made a few new recipes this week. Monday night I made chicken wraps, prepared with almond butter, apples, & grapes- then rolled in lettuce leaves. Tuesday I snacked on the leftovers all afternoon. After an idyllic day with Iyla where she was all smiles & happy happy joy- she went into an intense screaming fit around 6pm (right after nursing), obviously having a lot of tummy pain. It broke my heart! She had been letting out a lot of gas all day long, and apparently it caught up to her. I quickly gave her some gripe water, and hoped a bath might further soothe her belly. After the bath she got into her pajamas and when I tried to nurse her, she screamed and refused to eat. That has never happened before- and my heart broke all over again. 

Being a nursing mama, when things like this happen I find myself instantly cataloging what I've eaten in the last 12 hours. The ONLY thing I could come up with that was different than normal were the grapes in the chicken wrap. I never eat grapes, so my best educated guess were that these were the culprit. No more grapes for me! NOT worth it to see my little one in so much pain.

Happily that little lady slept so well last night- even with having skipped her evening meal. She woke to nurse at 1:30 &  4:45 before getting up for the day at 7. She went to sleep easily after each nursing, and was all smiles again this morning. 

If there is one thing I have learned through this motherhood journey, it's that babies are tough- much tougher than I am.  Upward and onward we go... here's hoping for more giggles soon!