poor body language skills

Although I am pretty good at translating baby speak into sentences I can understand, I am not necessarily so good at interpreting baby body language. This picture is what Charli thought of my skills in that area. Why do I say this? This week I figured out why she sometimes gets fussy, and doesn't nap well during the day. I finally realized that she's TIRED when she burrows her head into your shoulder. Why it took me so long, I don't know, but now I can do something before she actually gets fussy. And I think the reason she didn't sleep well during the day before, unless she was on a person, was because she was COLD. Duh. I started covering her up properly for her naps, and now she sleeps for maybe 45 minutes at a time. If she had just told me all this verbally, I could have learned these things faster. Unfortunately, all of these signals are made in silence... This picture is one of her signs that she might, possibly maybe, be HUNGRY (well, ok, we have been able to recognize this one for a while). It is also an indicator that apparently her mouth grows faster than her fist, since she used to only be able to fit 4 fingers in her mouth at once.

It seems like Charli has done a lot of growing during this travel week. Starting from the airport, when I thought she had pretty much mastered the head control thing, she has also started to reach for things (very tentatively, not very accurately, and only after thinking about it for a long time), and also to turn her head towards sounds. She can see across the room now, too. However, everyone comments on how little she blinks, and how intently she stares at things. I hope this is not an indication of any developmental problems! I also stuck her on the produce scale at the Safeway. I don't know how accurate it was, since she wiggled around and it made the needle swing, but I think she weighs around 11 1/2 pounds.

Last, here's something for Grandpa Jerry - it must be in the genes. Go ahead, ram your face into this as hard as you can!