Growing Up.

The past two nights Elizabeth has fallen asleep between 10 and 11 and slept until FIVE AM. Straight through, no eating, no fussing. And then she'll eat and go straight back to sleep for another hour or two. It is unbelievable. I mean, she's always been a pretty good sleeper at night (usually doing a 4-5 hour stretch, which for a baby of her age is "sleeping through the night") but this is extraordinary, and waking up at 5 is so much nicer than feeling like my day basically starts at 3am. I can only imagine that we are finishing a growth spurt, and hence she is catching up on her z's. It also makes the incredible fussiness and non-stop desire to eat of the past week or so seem more sensible. Such a tricky baby!

Even better than that is the fact that she has been a more sociable little human being during her evening hours the past few nights. We've had friends and family over for dinner and unlike normal, when she basically screams from 5-10pm (unless she is actively eating, or by some miracle has fallen asleep for a few minutes) she's been mostly happy and content to be in people's arms. I mean, you have to keep walking with her and bouncing her, but at least she's not screaming at the top of her lungs as though she's been murdered. It's such a relief, and she's so much more fun to be around. As Tim said last night, we're actually getting to see her smile at night. And oh, those smiles are so cute. This morning, in between meals, she smiled at me and cooed for a solid 45 minutes. I thought my heart was going to explode. She's 8 weeks old now, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that she's growing up and pulling out of her fussiness, as her little digestive and nervous systems start getting used to being out in the big bad world. I know it's probably only temporary, and within days she'll hit another growth spurt and be back to acting like a miserable little cuss, but until then, I will just soak up all of the smiles and of course, the sleep.

Today is Auntie Becca's last day. We are spending it watching musicals! Yesterday she made a ton of easy to freeze entrees for Tim and I to use in the weeks to come. Yes, she is an absolutely amazing friend. I am going to be bereft when I have to drop her at the airport tonight. She also made a baked ziti and so mom, dad and Sara came over after horseback riding to join us. Ellie actually sat on Grams' knee for most of dinner, just staring at us and longingly wishing that she could eat solid food.

Here are my three favorite girls in the kitchen. Ellie was giving us QUITE the spiel, waving her little hands around and chatting. I think she was trying to sell us some real estate.

She is also working on focusing her little eyeballs and making eye contact. Which sometimes leads to cross eyes. It's sort of hilarious looking (Becca said she looks like a cartoon character trying to focus on a fly that landed on the end of her nose) but also weirds me out. She's a funny little one.