The twenty-fifth week

Our hunch was right - Madeline is sprouting teeth. At this point all they amount to is a couple of bulges on her lower gum, but one of them is becoming more visible after breaking through a few days ago. (You can barely see it in the picture above - it's exceedingly difficult to photograph an active baby's sprouting tooth!)

Surprisingly, Madeline seems to be handling things well. We haven't experienced the drama that's normally associated with teething. It's true that she has many more teeth to go, but so far, so good.

In fact, Madeline has been an all-around great baby this week. She's been napping well and is energetic and happy during playtime. We had another laughing spell on Thursday, where Madeline would laugh at the least provocation from us. She laughed so much that she made herself spit up.

One thing I've noticed is that she seems happiest when all three of us are together. She'll smile and laugh when it's just her and me, but when we're all playing together or even just in the same room, Madeline is likely to laugh and talk more. Could it be that she finds comfort in all of us being together? Since her parents are happier around each other, does Madeline pick up on that feeling of happiness and security?

Another note from this week is Madeline's tummy sleeping. Yesterday she rolled onto her tummy in her crib for the first time. In fact, she did it three times that day, but was awake and energetic each time. This morning I found her asleep on her tummy for the first time. Of course, this makes her parents fret - since before she was born we've been bombarded with the admonition that she should always sleep on her back. But, aside from checking on her during the night and turning her back over, there's not much we can do.