Beginning to laugh

We've been waiting for Ena to start to laugh. Over the past couple of weeks she has started to squeal but hasn't quite perfected the sound. It's delightful to hear but happens only sporadically at the moment. Many of the baby websites mark learning to laugh as a 4 month old milestone. I have been expecting her to start making laugh-like noises but had so far been out of luck. Until today. Twice today I heard her make a distinctly laugh-like sound. I had a wet cloth and was washing her hands. As she held on to the cloth I tugged it away from her and she produced quite a nice little laugh in surprise. I hope she makes one again soon!

Learning to squeal

Ena is 17 weeks old now. About a week ago she began to change her sleeping pattern and is now waking up one or two times a night again. We are not sure what is happening. It may be that she has begun to teethe. It may just be that she has changed what she wants. The first few nights of this new pattern she made a lot of whimpering noises while sleeping and woke up every couple of hours. The last two nights have been better - less whimpering and longer stretches of sleep - but we are getting exhausted. I hope that things continue to improve.

On to more exciting developments now, Ena has begun to learn to squeal. A few nights ago she started to get more vocal. She is really focusing on our mouths when we speak and has tried to move her mouth and tongue in deliberate ways to make sounds. She has managed to make a few squeals of enjoyment during this process and today seems to be getting the hang of intentionally making them. I am looking forward to this development.