10 weeks

We've really noticed several major changes in Little Planet as she passed through her 10th week last week. For example...

• She can stay in her bouncy chair, rocker, under her activity mat or propped up on the bed for longer periods of time, playing with us or simply watching us as we go about our daily activities.
• She can spend longer on her tummy without crying. It helps if we arrange toys around her to attract and hold her attention.
  
• She's really enjoying watching people chat amongst themselves now and does not always need to be engaged with us. Sometimes up to 15 minutes or more.
• She's communicating with us more with her babbling, cooing and gurgling, and for longer periods of time again.
• She's much more interested in picture books - looking at the pages as we read from them.
• She's fascinated by sounds and really hones in on them.
• She's awake alot more, especially during the morning.
• She's bringing up her own burps (unless she's very sleepy) when we hold her in a sit up position during feeds.
• As she's more alert and inquisitive, she moans when we lie her down in her pram as she can't see the world around her. The trouble we have is that she's still a little too tiny to have placed in the pushchair in a more upright position without slumping down, but we will keep trying as we suspect being able to look around her will make her happier.

We generally use her room for daytime naps, our room for her long night sleep and the living room for playing in (in our library area at the back, photo above).

As for me, motherhood is still a little too routine for my liking, and I am still dreaming of returning to work, but it's getting less daunting as I get to know and then anticipate her needs and actions, and it's getting a little more interesting as she grows more alert and agile. The absolute worst part of motherhood is hearing her cry, but even then I am learning not to get too stressed about that as it's something babies simply do!