Smitten by Sally

 

My baby is almost five months old, and the time has gone by too quickly.  I am completely and utterly obsessed--so smitten.  Sometimes I feel guilty that I haven't done a very good job of recording the first few months of her life; but then I remember that I have done a good job of savoring them.  And which is more important?  I'd say the savoring.

I think I have matured as a mother, and this second time around, I'm more aware of how quickly the time goes.  It makes me less frustrated with the hard stages (now I know that they won't last forever), and it makes me more in love with the perfect stages (because they won't last forever either!).  She is constantly growing and changing--so much so that it's crazy to look back and think about what a difference even a month makes in her physical development and the development of her personality.  Oh how I love her.

So here's a quick recap of Sally in the last 4.5 months:

The first eight weeks:  Sally was a very quiet and calm newborn.  She slept so much that it almost concerned me.  She even slept super long stretches at night, and the only signal that she gave me when she was hungry was that she vigorously sucked on her fingers.  I would wake up to that sound instead of to the sound of her crying.  In fact, she rarely cried--occasionally she would have a fussy hour in the evenings before bed, but nothing crazy.  During those months, I loved to rock and nap with her.  Bliss.

Months 2-3: Sally started to get spunkier as she came out of her newborn phase.  She was still a super sweet baby but had some fussy periods most days and became a lot more vocal when she was hungry--no more sucking on fingers, now it was full-on shrieking!

She still slept like a champ at this phase, even giving me some 10-12 hour nights (before you get too jealous, let me add that she doesn't do this anymore).  Since I thought the late-night feedings were dwindling (ha!), I really cherished them.  She was just so sleepy, snuggly, and teeny--and her little head fit under my chin, her warm body curled up against my chest.  I would rock her for a few extra minutes in the night, even after she was done eating.  Can you blame me??

She loved her Bumbo and would sit in it on the counter and watch me while I cooked or while the family ate dinner.  (She sometimes even fell asleep in it!)  We often said she was "supervising" the family.  She has always seemed like a quiet and thoughtful observer to me--alert and interested--wanting to watch us, look around the room, and take in her surroundings.

One day I surprised Ryan when he walked in from work by setting Sal in her Bumbo on the laundry room floor with a little "Welcome Home!" sign.  Seriously, best surprise ever.

 

During this period, she became the queen of "raspberries" and sometimes blew them constantly for like 30 minute stretches, cracking up the entire family.  Often this was a sign that she was getting hungry or tired--so cute.

She started consistently giving big open-mouthed grins around two months and laughed for the first time shortly thereafter.  She is more of a good-natured chuckler than a hearty laugher.  I think it fits her low-key personality.  If you tickle her, she gives you a big grin and a little chuckle, but I've yet to hear her really lose it in a fit of giggles.

She is so happy first thing in the morning, which is the best.  Getting her out of her crib is my favorite thing.  I will hear her cooing or fussing over the monitor, and I will go into her room and see her doing her "ab exercises" (she raises her legs up and down for some reason), and I will say in the most ridiculous mommy-voice ever, "Good morning, Sweetheart!" and she will immediately grin at me with her mega-watt smile.  Melts my heart every time!

Months 4-5: Sally has suddenly become quite the wiggler.  She is so curious and always arching her back to look around.  She won't stay in the Bumbo anymore because she just wiggles around and twists right out of it.  She loves to be held and rocked facing out, so she can see what's going on, and she rarely falls asleep in my arms anymore--just too busy!  I've also found that she gets distracted while drinking her bottle if people are around or if I am talking on the phone or watching something--doesn't she seem young for that?  She has a hard time focusing on her food and just keeps whipping her head around to find where the noises are coming from.

A few weeks ago, she started grabbing her feet whenever I put her on her back (which is just about the cutest thing ever), and her newest thing is rolling onto her stomach as soon as I put her down.  She's been able to roll for a while now, but all of the sudden she is really into it.  She often gets stuck on her stomach and gets super mad, which makes naps a little harder. Overall, her nighttime sleep is not nearly as good as it was when she was younger, but I still can't complain.  She's up about twice a night but goes right back to sleep as soon as she eats.

I'd still say she is a quiet baby--not a lot of babbling or cooing, but a definite awareness of her family and her surroundings.   It's hard to know what is her age and what is her emerging personality, but I won't be surprised if she has a temperament similar to her father's someday: sweet, quiet, thoughtful, calm.  She reminds me of him in that she can only take so much chaos, and she sometimes gets overwhelmed and needs to be taken into another room to rock and calm down (Ryan definitely needs his alone time to recharge)...

This desire for calm is a bit of a challenge with an extremely extroverted older brother who adores her and gets in her face constantly--I think she is slightly terrified of him (perhaps for good reason).  I can't wait until they can play together!  I think she will willingly follow him around and will no doubt idolize him.  She is one blessed little girl to have such a fun, protective older brother.  He constantly tells people who are holding her, "You can't be aggressive with her!" "Make sure you are being gentle!"  Hmmm...I wonder if he hears that from his mother a million times a day?  We actually had a special family night devoted to trying to teach Noah to be gentler in his affection toward Baby Sally.  We put a diaper on Daryl, his favorite stuffed dog, and we practiced loving on Daryl very quietly and gently.

I wish I could say this activity revolutionized Noah's treatment of his baby sister, but it made absolutely no difference.  Noah is as crazy and hyper as ever.  Good thing she loves him just the way he is...and so do we!

Sally loves to be held and expects attention from her adoring family, which can be hard when I am trying to get anything accomplished during the day (though, honestly, since having Baby #2, I've somewhat given up on getting much accomplished--in some ways, it's made stay-at-home motherhood more enjoyable for me, as I've just embraced the chaos and decided to enjoy my kids instead of obsessing over my to-do list).  She is also fussy in the car because she would prefer to be held or entertained.  When we are at home, she will lie contentedly on the floor or in her play gym for a few minutes, but she prefers to be cuddled and interacted with, which is fine--she's too cute to ignore anyway!

And when Daddy is home, she's almost always in his arms.  Those two are peas in a pod.  Ryan savors his time with her as much as I do.  Lucky girl to have him as a daddy.

Overall, I'd say Sally is an easy baby.  She's not quite as angelic as she was as a newborn, but I didn't expect her to stay that docile forever--I want her to have a little spunk and to make her needs known! She doesn't ask for much; give this girl a dry diaper, a fairly consistent nap schedule, and a warm bottle (she's a snob now and refuses to take room-temperature bottles), and she will be happy.  Deny her those things, and she's likely to completely lose it for a few minutes.  But as soon as you get her what she needs, she calms down again and is as sweet as can be.

Have I mentioned that I adore her??  Truly, I cannot get enough.  I kiss her chubby "bulldog" cheeks all day long and smoosh her soft, squishy little body.  She is still a peanut (13 lbs or about 10th percentile for her age), but she is "skinny fat," as we like to call her.  She definitely has some chub and rolls on that tiny little body--perfect.  

I love when she holds onto my finger while I'm rocking her or feeding her a bottle or looks into my eyes and gives me a big grin.  Pretty much nothing makes me happier.

I love this Baby Girl--so much.  The last four months have been some of the happiest of my life.  I am doubly blessed to have two perfect children to call mine...Noah and Sally, my tiny little people...my miracle babies.

Life is so good.