Wooby Versus Wooby

We've got a ton of toys in the house, but up until the last week or so, Grace hasn't had much interest in playing with any of them.  That's perfectly normal of course.  Like most babies, Grace has spent her first three months discovering herself and the world around her while receiving plenty of entertainment from her goofy parents.  I guess that Carrie, me and the house are getting to be old hat for our little girl though, because lately she's started interacting with her woobys.

Grace's Favorites Power Rankings - Week 7

A quick rundown of Grace's 10 favorite things.  Individual people are excluded, though that would make for a fun and deeply contentious post.

1. Feedings - Bottles are king in Gracie's universe, holding down the top spot in undisputed fashion.
2. Ceiling Fans - As her vision improves, Grace is learning to focus on shapes and colors.  So far, her favorite visual discovery are the fans, since she's looking up when she's being held and they make for a sharp contrast against the ceiling.  I'm afraid that when we finally turn one on, we're going to break her brain.
3. Kitchen Faucet - Even though she can't figure out what it is or where it's coming from, the sound of running water hitting the sink is the best way to soothe an apoplectic Gracie.  Combined with the kitchen ceiling fan, it's a killer calming combination.

Sleeping in her mommy bed.

4. Sleeping on People - People beds good, real beds bad. 
5. Baths - The fastest riser in the Power Rankings, Grace has enjoyed her spa days in the baby tub much more than the horrors of sponge baths on the changing mat.
6. Binky - She'd rather be sucking her thumb, but since she usually keeps her hands balled into fists Grace settles happily enough for the binky, especially if it means Carrie and I need to stay close by to keep giving it back to her whenever she spits it out.
7. Bugs - Not real bugs thankfully, but the cartoon bugs in her playset and her musical bumblebee.  And who could blame her, the bee is definitely makes better music than bands like Nickelback.

8. Silly Voices - A red hot up-and-comer, silly voices have scored big over the past few days, getting big smiles and a laugh or two out of Gracie.  On the downside, mommy and daddy's embrace of baby talk likely marks the end of our time as people that can function in an adult conversation.  Oh well, we had a good run.
9. Getting Burped - Getting burped is still getting held, so Grace is down with it, but it's not getting fed or getting to sleep, so she's increasingly quick and skilled at wiggling her way into a more desirable position.
10. Baby Swing - How the mighty have fallen.  After two weeks, the baby swing looked like a long-term panacea, often putting Grace to sleep in less than a minute.  Now though, four times out of five she begs out immediately after getting strapped in.  Baby swing is going to have a tough time staying in the rankings by the next update.

Grace TV

Carrie and I love watching Gracie sleep, to the point of obsession.  As part of our nightly routine, we hook our video monitor up to the television and watch her doze in serene peace until we pass out ourselves, which we affectionately refer to as turning on Grace TV  [Note to expecting parents, the Mobicam wireless video monitor is all sorts of awesome].  Tonight, our baby watching took a meta turn. 

Grace has been pretty restless the last few evenings, staying up from around 7 pm until nearly midnight.  We've tried the usual feeding, changing, attention, rocking, swaddling and, out of desperation, the pacifier (a post for another time), but none of that has helped to settle her down.  The next step was toys, and there we found a solution.

We put a light-up, fish tank replicating, lullaby playing music box/baby TV (great gift Grandpa Mulligan!) in her bed, which instantly got Grace's complete attention.  Within seconds, she had a beaming smile, which is pretty much the first time she's smiled specifically at something that's making her happy, other than passing gas.

I know this because my wife and I were both standing over our daughter, watching her watch her own version of Grace TV.  Her happiness was mirrored in our faces for the next 10 minutes, as we silently looked on until she, just like us, peacefully fell asleep to her favorite show.

A much better show than NCIS.