Month Three

Hey Babydoll,

We've hit the end of the first quarter, and I just have to say, I'm not late because if February had enough days, today would be the 29th. I have a feeling I'll be pointing that out every year.

You have blossomed into such a charming young thing this month. You were already smiling when we went into it, but now you'll smile at perfect strangers and people just can't get enough of your dimple and your laugh. It still sort of sounds like you are coughing, but you'll also blow raspberries while you're smiling, or blow spit-bubbles while you do the goo-goo thing. Your favorite person is Boogie, or course, and just seeing her across the room makes your face light up. But you are also fascinated by the fan, and staring at it (and stopping crying to stare harder) must be a trick you picked up from Jaden.

Oh, but the raspberries are so cute, and you do it when you are falling asleep too, and start blowing spit bubbles when you get too tired, so that no matter where we put you, there is a drool spot on your jammies right under your neck. Actually, you drool a lot more than I expected. I asked the doc if you could be teething, but he said no, so I guess you just salivate a lot. When we hold you with your belly on our forearms, the little crook on the inside of our elbows always end up dripping wet.

Okay, so you aren't a huge fan of tummy-time, and it's probably my fault because we don't do it much. I'd rather put you propped up on the boppy pillow in front of a mirror so that you blow raspberries to that cute stranger who is staring at you. You can already bear weight on your legs, and I'm terrified you'll be walking before your sister. Even 11 months was not long enough for her to take a first step, and I'm sure she'll be right there egging you on to start even earlier. But you can stand when we hold your hands, you can hold you head up and steady, and you can do little baby push-ups, though sometimes I think your head weighs too much because your legs kick around in the air when you do it, like you're trying to get some traction but your body is an off-balance see-saw.

We've been out and about more, and you're actually starting to not hate the car so much. For a while there you just screamed the whole time you were in your car seat, but now I have a good 10 minutes before you start, and you fall asleep pretty quickly. I think developmentally you're getting used to this big, cold, loud world, because you're taking a binkie too, and your sleep is getting much more regular. You are a very even-tempered child, easy to figure out what's wrong most of the time, and the only time you get super-agitated is when you want to sleep, and I've figured out that for the most part either popping you in the sling or taking you outside will knock you out.

Sleep has been wonderful for us both lately, your 5-6 hour stretch makes me the happiest mom on the block, and you wake up ready to play. My wish for you this month Sweetpea, is that you keep the knowledge of what recharges you, whether its being out in nature or listening to music, and you make sure that you always take time for yourself no matter what. I'm still learning the long, hard lesson that I can't take care of anyone unless I'm taking care of myself first, and I hope you can sidestep the suffering it took me to learn that, and be a self-care pro.

I don't even want to sit up here writing this, because I know you are downstairs waiting for me, so I'll end for now and just remind you that I am so blessed to have you in my life.

I love you,
Mama