Chatty Lady

21 Weeks Today!!!

Look at that face. I mean come on. I know she's mine and I know that all parents think their baby is the cutest baby in the world, but I think I'm the first person for whom that's actually a true fact. I'm not usually the kind of person to say such things (I leave the bragging to my dad) but I just can't get over this child and her pure light and laughter. Don't get me wrong, she knows how to cry. In fact, over the past week or so, she has adopted a cry that is almost superhuman in its strength and decibel level. She does not like to be tired and she does not like to go much more than two hours without eating and will let you know in no uncertain terms. It's almost as if she's saying, come on now, did you really think you could a baby as cute as me with all the laughter and the flirting and incandescent smiles and not have a few moments of unearthly crying?

As planned, she is now sleeping in her crib all night. Now that doesn't mean she's actually sleeping in her crib all night. It just means that physically she is there, cooing, crying, rolling over etc. and sometimes sleeping. Gavin and I can't quite figure out what to do because she's not very happy when she's swaddled these days and usually wriggles out, but if we don't swaddle her, she invariably ends up on her tummy, with one arm stuck underneath staring into the green light of the monitor as if to say, "Hello?! Can I get some help here?"

At her four month check up, the pediatrician said to me, "You know she's big right?" I burst into tears because my guilty brain translated that into, "You know your baby's fat, right? She's fat because you stopped breastfeeding her and formula-fed babies statistically have much less lean muscle mass than babies who are exclusively breastfed." What she really meant was that she's big everywhere, not fat, but tall and large-headed and in the 90th percentile for everything. And it's not because of the formula.

So I can remember: I love it when she tries to nibble my cheeks when I give her kisses. I love it when she holds one of my fingers when she's feeding. I love how when Tallulah, Gavin or I speak and she's not looking at us she whips her head around in the direction of our voices, and smiles. I love the way she stares out the window at the world going by from her car seat. I love that the only person she really belly laughs at is her sister.

Buddha Bath Belly

Before you all start making fun of my beautiful baby and her belly--this was post bottle and she gets scrunched up in the bath. I just wanted to document the contented stance she assumes when in the bath. She could be screaming the house down, but as soon as I place her in her blue heaven she calms down immediately.

Cheeeeeewwwwwwwwww!