Month 5 Update - C

Dear C,

Oh baby girl, this has been quite a month...  you quit sleeping... well, you'd sleep... but only in 2 hour increments.  It's been mentally and physically exhausting. 

But just in time, you seem to be emerging from the wasteland of sleeplessness.  Ok, well, it's been one night with only one waking, but that's enough to give a tired mother hope. 

But you know?   I'm trying to take it slow this time around in babyhood.  I know that these sleepless nights are going to pass soon.  And while my whole physical being will cry out in thanks when that day comes, there's a pretty considerable part of me that is going to miss the quiet of night where I can tuck your head under my chin and breathe in that essence of baby that still floats around your head.  I'll miss your contented sighs and full body limpness that come from a full baby belly.  I'll miss your frantic scramble to get your hands in your mouth after I lay you in your bed.  I'll even miss that squawk of total indignation if I dare leave the room before you're completely settled. 

But I'll get to trade that stuff in for some pretty awesome stages in your babyhood.  Like hearing your laughter.  I truly think you're the most ticklish baby that ever was born.  Even approaching you with my "tickle fingers" elicits a grin and the lightest touch can send you into a deep throaty laugh that's so uniquely you. 

And then there's your newfound curiosity.  You're rolling easily from back to front and definitely prefer being on your belly to check out the world around you.  Specifically, to check out your sister.  Already, she pretty much hung the moon in your eyes.  You'll track her from one end of the room to the other and crack a grin just by seeing her walk into the room.  I hope you always look up to her and she always gives you reason to do that. 

You LOVE being carried.  It works out pretty well since I pretty much adore having you next to me.  Thanks to a generous friend, we were lent a sling that you've started to live in.  From birth, you've enjoyed being "worn" by me, but with this sling, you seem to be the most content, able to look at the world from your perch while still having the security of me nearby. 

When you're not in the sling, you love rolling around the floor trying to find things to eat.  I'm in SO much trouble when it comes time for you to crawl. You eat everything.  Every.Thing.  The other day, I was holding you in the kitchen with you facing outwards and you strained forward until you were bent at the waist.  You actually managed to wrap both little hands around the top of the kitchen chair and shove the corner in your mouth.  I would have imagined that this would have hurt but instead of being the cranky kid that I had been holding, you were suddenly happy as a clam.  Sadly, I couldn't stay there all day, to your dismay.

You're a tough cookie.  Shots don't make you cry, (or at least not for more than a second or three).  Toy shopping carts on the run (driven by your sister) make you mad, but you don't stay upset for long.  You can cling onto my shirt for dear life when you want to.  And you're perpetually smacking me while nursing.  I think I have bruises.  Tough, I say.

 I'm officially over the moon about you, kiddo.  I never thought that I could love another kid as much as I love your sister.  But it's as if your very existence made my heart overflow with more love for you both than I ever thought possible.


Love,


Mama


(And oh how I'm counting down the days to hear that word come out of your mouth)