B is for Babies

Erica recently learned to roll over from back to front (towards her left, same side as Mikaela did), at about 5 months of age. I wonder if the fact she was born at 36 weeks, 6 days (approximately 3 weeks before my EDD) will mean that she'll be 3 weeks behind on hitting these early milestones. I've heard that the development of premature babies can be affected by how premature they are, but if it's only a few weeks, does it make a difference? Or does it have to be at least a month? Not that I'm concerned with how late she may get there, I'm just curious if it would affect it.

She learned to smile and laugh at about the same age as Mikaela did, she was a bit more wobbly-headed for longer but doing fine now. We're working on her sitting muscles and she's learned to stay upright by supporting herself with her hands, but falls over frequently. I look forward to when she can sit, maybe she'll be able to entertain herself more. Mikaela helps out a bit, but it's mostly me trying to keep Erica occupied and not bored and therefore upset.

Erica has been sleeping through the night (average of 9+ hours) for a while but recently took to waking after a couple hours for a feed. Since she's been feeding more frequently throughout the day, I wonder if that's a sign of a growth spurt. Or maybe teething? Hard to say, but she's been grabbing at things to stick in her mouth more, too, though that could be just improved co-ordination. She's also been more grumpy during the afternoon and night but in general clingy during the day, so it sucks to be the only adult around all day. But she's healthy and happy, so who am I to complain? Oh yeah, just a tired mother.

I seem to know lots of people who are pregnant recently (7 at last count). So excited for them but I don't envy the ones who already have one young child - lots of sleepless nights on the horizon! Not that they won't have them anyway if it's their first child. =) Sometimes I think about what it would be like to be expecting a 3rd baby - I think I would go crazy at this point in time. We'd need to have a few things happen beforehand, like buying a bigger house and a bigger car. Not going to happen in the near future unless we win the lottery. =Þ But maybe two kids are enough, even if I didn't have one of each. Not sure I could handle 3 on my own! I do kinda want a boy, though... But not anytime soon! =Þ