Azra's fifth week

This is Azra's fifth week. Her first month has passed. Soon according to Turkish people she will have passed the important 40 day period. According to many Turkish people during this time a baby shouldn't be taken outside. I guess if you look at it from a medical point of view this is about the immune system. So this last week has still been the period of green poo and gas production. They say that the gas problem will go by 6-8 weeks or maybe 4 months- I guess that is a short time in terms of a life but it seems like ages at this moment when you are dealing with a crying, writhing baby! We bought some natural medicine- a gripe water- last week that seems to work but it does have essential oils in it and I am not sure how good that is for a 5 week old baby so what we have started now is a traditional Turkish remedy of nutmeg in milk and giving that to her. You grate about a quarter of a teaspoon of nutmeg (people just say biraz- meaning some!) into a little milk and then let it stand for 20 minutes. I have been expressing some milk and then mix that with the nutmeg, filtering it and then use it within 24 hours. Apparently research has shown that breastmilk can be safely stored in the fridge for up to 8 days without any problems. into I started this 24 hours ago. She hasn't had any major gas problems yesterday or today but maybe that is just luck! And she is even swallowing the mixture without spitting too much out! We have discovered that her favourite position is on her front, not only when sleeping during the day but also when being carried. She swings her head around looking to her right and to her left (well I don't know if she is really looking at something or not) but she is certainly working to strengthen her neck muscles! Apparently gassy babies love being on their front because of the pressure. Anything to make her more comfortable! We also massage her tummy and do yoga movements to dispel the gas. They work but not 100% and not all the time.
This week has also been the week of the gummy smiles. She must be recognising either me or can understand the expressions on my face and is mimicking them. That seems to me to be pretty amazing for a 33 day old baby. Once it was before breastfeeding but the other times it was just in response when I was talking to her and smiling at her. She is also recognising her name. Sometimes I say Azra when she is feeding and she comes out of her slumber and continues sucking. As for Husnu though he calls her 'beautiful girl' (guzel kizim) or just 'my daughter' (kizim), that probably won't help her recognise her name!
Over the past 4 weeks I have seen that Azra moves in and out of states very quickly, sleep wakefulness, active alert, fussy etc. Dr Terry Brazelton the famous American pediatrician says that that shows that she will be an intense and active person. Well I would say that has also been fairly well proven by Azra herself in her first month of life!
We had her 1 month check up as well thus week. She has gained more weight than average- 1kg. She is now 4.1kg and 56cm long, I guess I can't say tall seeing she isn't yet upright!
My mum crocheted some great shoes for Azra and sent them from Australia. You can see them on her feet in the photo. Actually she made 17 pairs which I thought was a little exaggerated until I put them on Azra and she had them off in a couple of minutes, I guess 17 pairs is just in case.... maybe I'll add a photo of some of the shoes here... By the way I just discovered that nutmeg has possible cumulative effects which might be toxic and that it is also an hallucinogenic. Maybe not good for continuous use for a small baby..... I will have to go back to the gripe water or to herbal tea!