Baby Loves Tissue Paper

Dear Little Princess,

I underestimated how much you fell in love with wrapping at Christmas. As I discovered today, you now LOVE to rip tissue paper.  At dinner tonight, I secured you in your high chair, put your bib on, and then when to the refrigerator to get your dinner (a jar of sweet potatoes). Notice that my back was turned for maybe 5 seconds there. When I returned to your high chair, in those 5 seconds, you had torn your bib off and were eagerly yanking it between your hands. I realized after awhile that the plastic on the back of the bib makes a similar sound to the ripping of tissue paper, and that you were throwing your arms apart while holding onto the bib like you were trying to rip it. Fortunately, I had some tissue paper handy and gave it to you (watching like a hawk of course to make sure none of it got close to your mouth). You happily yanked and tore and RIPPED that paper!  I'm proud of you for your coordination, though I'm also slightly worried that maybe this means you have frustrations you are taking out on that paper!  I took some of the tissue and made confetti, which greatly amused you to watch the little confetti pieces fall.

This isn't the first time you have shown some impressive coordination. About a week or two ago you successfully turned off (and on) the waterfall soother on your crib. I had asked you maybe a month ago, "How do you turn it off?" and you grasped at the button, not quite able to hit it (though I'm still impressed that you apparently understood and answered the question!). I had thought, though, that maybe it was a fluke that you had grasped at the button after I asked you how to turn it off. Well, ever since then you became determined to turn it off yourself. The first time you did push that button yourself, you beamed and turned to me with a full grin, completely satisfied that you could do it yourself.  After mastering turning on and off the waterfall soother, you are now trying to turn on and off other things too, like the swing! Daddy says you are his little engineer. Grandpa calls you Cyber Baby because of all the Skype video calling we do as a family. As for me?  I secretly think of you as my little genius. Yes, a genius for ripping paper and pushing buttons. :-)  Moms are so proud of the smallest things!

Love,

Mom 

Baby's First Christmas!

Dear Princess,

It was a pleasure having you with us this Christmas!  We took you to the family parties in your Santa suit and you were a HUGE hit. Everyone wanted to hold and look at you.  You got tons of toys and clothes (all of which Mom is very grateful for!).  Your new favorite toys are the stuffed animals that sing and a toy that has pop-up smile faces. Mom's favorite new toy is the playpen. I can finally put you down and let you play freely with your toys! You aren't quite crawling or sitting up all by yourself, but you are on the cusp... you can sit with a little support for long periods (or by yourself for about 5 seconds before flopping onto your belly). You can't crawl but you can scoot a bit from side to side reaching for toys.

You almost unwrapped a present while we were at Michelle's house on Christmas Eve. I poked a hole in the wrapping paper and you slowly pulled at it, fascinated with the colorful paper (but not really noticing the toy inside). Next Christmas, when you can really shred the paper to get those toys, will be even more fun!

Love,

Mom

Baby's First No!

Dear Little Princess,

Last Sunday (6 days ago), you were in jumparoo happily bouncing and banging the toys. I came over and asked if you would like a snack. You looked at me and retorted, "No!"  Your dad and I both jumped, shocked, because that's not something you had ever said before. Then we laughed, and I picked you up and carried you over to dad, at which point you started fussing and reaching for me like you really were hungry. So I don't think you knew what you said when you said no. You're probably just imitating some kid from daycare. Still, it was really funny!

In the past day or so, you've started babbling dada. Again..it's really cute, but I don't think you know what you are saying yet!

Love,

Mom

Baby's 1st Thanksgiving

Dear Princess,

We had your first Thanksgiving!  Your Great-Grandma S wanted to meet you, so she came to town with your Great-Aunt and Great-Uncle. With Grandma S and Aunt B also in attendance, it was quite a celebration! 

One special moment was when we took a 4 generations photo -- Great Grandma, Grandma, Mom, and you!

For Thanksgiving, you had your first real baby food (besides rice cereal), organic sweet peas out of the jar.  At your first taste, Grandma S heard you say, "Mmmm."  However, I must have started you on carrots and sweet potatoes too quickly afterwards because now you spit out those nasty peas. That or your daddy has been talking to you about vegetables. :-)

Love,

Mom

Top 10 Things I've Learned Since Becoming a Mom

My Dear Little Princess,
You have taught me several things since you've arrived 5 months ago! Among them...
1. You have an innate and perfect sense of timing. For example, you will be calm during a car ride right up until we pull up to the microphone at Chick-fil-a to place an order. Then you will SCREAM like we are never going to let you out of that darn car seat. I have no idea what the poor waitress taking the order must think of us, but I swear you calm down again once we leave the parking lot.
2. Speaking of car rides, if you are in the car long enough, you will poop. It's like you are bored, so well, nothing better to do than poop. This has lead to several diaper explosions. And the third thing you've given me the opportunity to learn...
3. How to remove poop stains for clothing. My secret is Dreft Stain Remover. I douse the stain with Dreft before tossing the garment in the laundry. Seriously, don't hold back...SOAK that stain. Then I wash the clothes in cold water (despite what the package says) since warm water seems to set anything that didn't immediately come out. Once the first wash is done, I inspect each item to make sure the stain really has disappeared. If not, douse and repeat washing until it is gone. That is a critical step. Otherwise, the dryer will bake in the lovely shade of poop yellow. Finally, dry the clothes on delicate because baby clothes seem to be made from the thinnest cotton possible. Seriously, I had to throw out 3 onesies because they molded after being damp for a couple of days. That's never happened to me with my adult clothing.
4. Speaking of clothing, I was planning to still wear my maternity clothes after having you. (I wasn't naive enough to think that my body would go right back to pre-pregnancy size after giving birth). However, much to my chagrin, most of the maternity clothes looked absurd without the baby belly. Which is how I learned that pregnancy-related expenses never stop. See exhibit A, the new post-maternity wardrobe.
5. I've learned never to leave the house without toys. I've been complimented on what a good baby you are. At this age, though, I don't think it's about discipline. It's just making sure that are you fed, napped, and have a steady stream of things to keep you entertained. (Oh, look! Your baby links! Once you toss the links aside... Oh look! Your book! and so on).
6. Bottle warmers do not work. I really wish someone had told me this before I bought one. The best thing to warm a bottle is to microwave a coffee mug full of water for a minute or so, then just hold the bottle in the warm water for about a minute. (Of course, I'm careful not to let you near the hot water and I test the bottle before giving it).
7. Baby baths suck. I hate them. You hate them. The one bath tub that we have in the house is mostly blocked by the toilet, so we bought an infant tub that sits over the kitchen sink. This works out relatively well, though I am scared to death that either you or the tub might slip overboard. Therefore, Dad has the job of holding you in a sitting position during the bath time so that I can quickly rub you with you soap and then spray you down. Still, you hate getting any water in your face (which is difficult considering your mass of hair that needs washing). And I usually err on the side of the water being too cold, so you can't wait to get into that little hooded towel at the end. Still, baths are great for getting rid of diaper rash. For you, when it comes to diaper rash, the trick is to use a high-quality, cloth-like diaper. Then, for each change, you need a wipe and then to be dried (I dab you dry with a tissue or a clean washcloth). This is followed by A&D ointment and powder. The final trick for getting rid of diaper rash? Frequent changes, even at night. Which leads to the next lesson learned.
8. Sleep is the most precious commodity ever. I love you, dear, but I will be really grateful when you can go more than 3 hours at night without needing to be fed. I have tried to start you on rice cereal 3 times now (which will supposedly help with the need for frequent feedings), but each time you didn't poop for two days. Then when you finally did have a bm, it was really loose. This leads me to believe that you are not quite yet ready for solids foods. Well, you aren't quite 6 months yet either. We'll give it a few more weeks. (Sorry to obsess over your bodily functions, dear. This must be something that Moms just can't help. I wasn't allowed to take you home from the hospital until you proved that you could properly dirty a diaper, so somehow each dirty diaper is a proud reminder to me of how healthy you are).
9. I've learned what a Mother's Room is. It's basically a lit closet with a chair, small table, and an electrical outlet that allows me to pump at work while you are at daycare. It's been fantastic that my employer allows this. I bought a hands-free style pump (Medela Freestyle) that allows me to keep working on my laptop while also being a cow.
10. Jokes about feeling like a cow aside, I truly feel like being a parent really is the most overwhelmingly wonderful thing that can happen to a person. I look at you, baby, and see my past, my present, my future. With you in my arms I see everything good about myself and everything I wish I could change or do better. Having you is scary, exciting, and amazing. And I'm sure that this only the beginning of what I'm going to learn!
Love,
Mom

Baby Rolls Over!

Dear Princess,
On Tuesday, November 7, you rolled over for the first time! You were lying on your stomach on your Fisher-Price Kick and Crawl, reaching for the tags on the end of mat. Your right arm was tucked under your body, so to grab the tags you had to move your left arm diagonally across your body to get to the tags over to the right. This set you off balance enough that all the sudden you just flipped onto your back! You scrunched up your face to cry, but were too shocked to wail.
Your fascination with tags fascinates me. You stretch to grab the tags on your Kick and Crawl, your Jumparoo, and the clips that hold the Waterfall Soother onto your crib. These are things that I don't see any more because I've learned to filter them out from conscious thought. Not you -- everything is new and exciting!
Love,
Mom

First Laugh!

Dear Princess,

I was taking a nap on the bed this afternoon when Daddy brought you in and plopped you down beside me.  You smiled and ran your fingers over my face, gurgling sounds like "goo" and "zee." When I repeated what you said out loud, I realized you were trying to say, "It's good to see you!"

I then sat you on my chest and pretended to eat your fingers because this made you almost laugh yesterday.... you gave a "heh" sound and grinned. But you weren't very entertained by the finger-eating today because you were more interested in the dogs, who had climbed onto the bed as well. I turned you around so that you could see the dogs and Bailey came over and sniffed your fingers, then licked your hand. You erupted into full laughter! I guess the doggie kiss tickled you. I can't wait to her your laugh again.

Love,

Mom