Grow Baby Brains Grow!

Sasha is back on a night shift schedule with me. She's been back to cosleeping with me again for a week now and I'm actually getting 8-hour sleep days again! I missed her so much. I think the best thing about co-sleeping with her is the feeling that I get an extra 8 hours a day with her. It makes up for the hours I lost by working full time. (In comparison with my older daughter. It felt like she was raised by babysitters, which was so depressing.)

Again I feel as though the baby I have today has grown leaps and bounds from the baby she was last week. She seems to be undergoing a rapid burst of brain development.

Today, Sasha played peek-a-boo with us and it was much fun. We've done peek-a-boo plenty of times with her before but it just didn't seem to sink in. She would usually just stare at the spot she last saw us at and wait for us to reappear. Today, I could see the gears turning in her head and the "A-Ha!" moment as she grabbed the blanket off my head if I didn't take it off fast enough. She officially understands object permanence!
She's been sticking her tongue out at me. She's been practicing her B's and P-sounds. She keeps trying to make the mouth-popping sound like Cassie makes. She copies some of the noises we make at her.
Jon says that tonight she crawled herself into her green bouncy chair several times. When he helped to position her after she crawled in, she pulled the center flap up, then grabbed the connector tabs and tried to put them in. She was very excitable and wouldn't eat much. "she got me real good a bit ago," Jon said. "Forearm across my throat, flat on my back, with her drooling and yelling directly in my ear.. while I was trapped between the couch/Ikea chair/green chair/TV stand. She was going for the 'kill' .. two killer rabbit teeth to my ear."
The biggest tell that she is really going through some rapid brain development is the sudden need for extra sleep. It's like she learns something new, gets sleepy, and has to go to sleep to process all this new information. She is almost newborn-like with her need for naps yesterday and today.

In the gross motor skill department, I am undecided whether she is going to walk first or crawl. She is close to being able to crawl..but she is also just beginning to start "cruising"...the term for when babies walk around by holding on to tables, chairs, etc. We still take her for many walks around the house each day by letting her hang on to our hands. She loves doing that. Anyways, there was one incident this weekend where Sasha was standing and holding onto the living room chair. Jon walked past her and she stared after him. Well she decided she wanted to follow him so she carefully balanced herself, let go of the chair with one hand, and tried to take a step away. She really was going to try to walk after him but I stepped in and grabbed her little hand. I wonder how she would have done if I didn't interfere. Most likely she would have fallen on her little butt, which really pisses her off. And we don't want that, but sometimes I have to remember to sit back and let her learn.