This month, at five weeks, Augusta started to smile. Sometimes it's in her sleep or when she hears a lot of laughter around her, but then it turned into intentional smiles when you talk to her happily. She loves to smile at Kylie and even at Farrah when she's singing and dancing to her. So sweet. By the end of her second month, she smiles a lot and often, especially when she first wakes up from naps or in the evening when she is awake the most and for the longest period of time. She is also beginning to use her legs a little when you hold her up and stand her on her feet on your lap. Her hair has so much volume when it is first washed and it has lightened a little in color to a dark to medium brown.
She still clinches her fists a lot, and wiggles her toes all the time. She is started to coo a little and vocalize some. She rarely cries and patiently lays wherever she is laid down, waiting for the next person to come and pick her up or talk to her.
Farrah loves to help dress her and hold her, give her a paci or "wobble" her (bounce her). She is a little rough so we have to be right there watching her and reminding her to be gentle, but we can't tell Farrah that she can't help because it breaks her little spirit. Augusta seems to like the attention and handles it so well.
She is filling out. She still sleeps in the Velcro swaddle with both arms out. She nurses around 9:00 or 10:00 at night and then sleeps for 4-6 hours until she wakes up to nurse. Then she gets back on her 2 1/2 to 3 hour feeding schedule. Around 6:00 or 7:00 in the morning, she starts grunting and the only way to quiet her is to lay her next to me and she sleeps so well until I'm ready to wake up.
I have less than a month before I have to go back to work, so a little ahead we will start waking up early and getting Farrah a midday nap so we will be ready when August arrives.
At six weeks, I switched out Augusta's newborn clothes for 0-3 month clothes. She also started letting out a singe cackle laugh when she smiles really big. It's so sweet.
At seven weeks, some more family members got to meet Augusta when we went to Cousin Hadley's baby shower. We also went to see a pediatric dermatologist to get her birthmark checked out. During this week, Augusta spent time away from Mommy and Daddy for the first time when Keane and I went to eat for our 4 year anniversary.
We went to a restaurant called The Silly Goose in the town Augusta, Missouri, for namesake purposes obviously. Nana and Papa McCoy watched both Farrah and Augusta for several hours. We took all of Farrah's Peppa Pig toys so she was all set, and Augusta drank pumped milk from a bottle with no problem and slept almost the rest of the time.
Augusta also got to experience her first holiday. For the Fourth of July, my extended family had decided to take a year off from our regular celebration so while Keane worked on the farm, I took all the kids to the Laddonia parade and then in the evening we went back to Laddonia to enjoy their fireworks show, which was quite impressive for a small town. Augusta slept through it and Farrah loved it as long as she was wearing noise-cancelling headphones.
We then spent three nights in a hotel during Kaden's ball team World Series. Augusta was so good the whole time, for both the long car rides, throughout the games and meals and nights. We are blessed.
Although I learned about things like breech babies and Nursemaid's elbow with Farrah, I am learning about some different things with Augusta. Things such as a sacral dimple and hemangiomas. We learned that the birthmark on her right arm is a "medium" congenital melanocytic nevus, caused by extra pigment in the skin, that should be safe and normal and has less than 2% chance of becoming melanoma. We are to keep an eye on any changes although her dermatologist expects it to darken even more and fill in. There are laser treatments being studied that may be an option for her in the future as far as removal. Currently, surgeons can remove it in sections when she is old enough for anesthesia, but we aren't planning on doing that for her. I've also experienced D-MER and am going to bring up torticollis at Augusta's next appointment because she seems to always hold her head to her right and back.
Parenthood means always learning and adjusting and doing our very best. Our little caboose sure adds to the joy in our busy lives!
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