The little girl laughed to see such fun...

...and the dish ran away with the spoon.

We can only hope that such simple things will continue to entertain our little girl as she grows.

Happy Halloween?

This was our first attempt at taking pictures of our little pumpkin for halloween.  Obviously it didn't exactly go as planned (welcome to the life of a baby photographer).

But with patience & some creative thinking, we persevered & a couple days later came up with a keeper...

...and another.  Happy Halloween!

 

To Suck, or Not To Suck

My baby likes to suck.  The damage she has done to 'the girls' is evidence.  Right from the beginning she would elicit reactions from the nurses, other moms & lactation consultants whenever I nursed her, they would say "she's a little piggy," or "wow listen to her suck."  Yup I am one of the lucky ones.

Up until now I have hesitated to give her a soother, I'm not totally sure why, perhaps in fear that she might change her approach to my breast (?) or that we become totally dependant on this little device & will never ever be able to wean her off of it...imagine what the other kids will say, oh the teasing she'll take...or that her teeth will grow in all crooked...OK so maybe I am being a little overprotective, is that the word?  Paranoid?  I've adapted to this mother role quite nicely haven't I?

We recently discovered the power of the suck, how it will help put the baby to sleep in 5 minutes & all this time we have been holding, swinging, bouncing her for 10, 15, 20 minutes at a time only to put her down, have her wake up again & start over again.  But we were faced with another dilemna with the sucking strategy (pre-soother): aside from being attached to the kid, you can only let the baby suck on your finger for so long before you loose all circulation.  If baby is not asleep by the time you have to pull your wrinkly finger out of her mouth you must pick her up & hold, swing, bounce her for another 20 minutes & the finger sucking efforts were a waste of time & now you have a sore finger (it is true that Rodd feels much sympathy for my nipples after letting her suck on his finger.  

And because my baby likes to suck I have come to the conclusion that she will inevitably end up with a soother (I am sure there are ways around this, but then I suspect everything else will be in her mouth instead).  So at her sixth week, during a very fussy episode, we introduced the soother, & vowed it would be only used as a last resort so my baby does not become addicted to this thing.  At first she stuck her toungue our & made a sour face, as to say "what the heck is this & why are you putting it in my mouth," followed by a repeated act, but charmingly, she took it on the third attempt.  After discovering that this rubbery thing is not so bad, Scarlett took to sucking, even chomping on her beloved soother.  The last couple days have been a learning process, not to suck too hard so that the soother goes shooting out of her mouth.  She has since has learned to keep it in her mouth for periods of time, that is of course after many efforts by mom & dad to pick it up, wash it off & put it back in her mouth (& again, we become parents, as this is the beginning of picking up after our baby girl).  Today she fell asleep with it & when I tried to take it out, she resisted with all her sleepy might, revealing a big ring around her mouth.  

Now my sucking fears have subsided & I have decided that perhaps this soother thing isn't so bad.  She seems to like it. & until she figures out how to wail that ear piercing wail with a soother in her mouth, I guess I like it too.  

I've been told some babies like to suck.  Mine is one of them.

On Becoming a Mom, AKA "Momming"

As someone who often has difficulty adapting to life changes, I was surprised how easy it was to switch to mother mode with no previous experience.  The transition to was not an effortful adjustment, as I had anticipated, but an automatic shift in thinking.  

The moment Scarlett entered this world my whole perspective on my life changed & it was no longer all about me.  Suddenly many of my wants & what I thought were needs, disappeared & my child's needs prevailed.  My pre-baby personal wish list was quite lengthy I am pretty sure, but recently when my husband tried to send me on a shopping trip one day as a little break, I didn't go because I could not think of anything I wanted to buy for myself.

Rodd & I have become less sensitive & more tolerable to each other's moods (OK, so mostly my moods), I supposed because we are tuned into our child's moods instead.  This becomes a new sport that neither of us have tried before & we make quite the team.  Learning new coping skills from one another & catering to  one another's needs (in relation to baby of course). When one of us has had enough we don't even have to look at each other, the other just knows its time to take over.  We've worked together to find out what baby is asking for & look for each other's approval when it comes to even the simplest decisions, like what should Scarlett wear today?

Things that were optional before no longer become optional.  For example, I don't crank the music up (& sing along at the top of my lungs) when we drive places anymore, with respect to the kid of course.  In fact I don't even have the desire to do that anymore.  Also, had it not been in the best interest of the baby, no way would I still be breastfeeding.  Putting up with the cringing pain during late night feedings seemed my only option, a non-negotiable sacrifice for my baby.  Before I would have hesitated to go to Shoppers to pick up whatever it was we were out of, & put it off.  But now its obvious, if baby needs it we will go get it, & will get it now before baby gets hungry again.

I can no longer think of myself without thinking of myself in relation to my daughter.  Now this little portable child of mine goes wherever I go & vice versa.  At this point I cannot be (& have not been) away from her for longer than a couple hours. The realization that she is here for good sunk in pretty quickly & I have had no reservations about it. Although it was not very long ago, I have a hard time picturing what it was like prior to baby, & find it hard to believe that at one time this little human being was no more that a question mark.

Life has changed, a new life has changed us, and although it has been an adjustment, I am proud to say I have found it so much more natural & instinctive than initially anticipated.  I love the new us & wouldn't change a thing.

S - Scarlett Smiles in her Sleep

Click on the image to see it in full size

My First Baby's First First

I have a little athlete in the making.  I know what you are thinking: "Isn't that a little presumptuous at this stage?  Such high expectations for your one month old!" Well before you make any judgements, hear me out.

I don't mean to brag - actually, yes I do...isn't that what moms are supposed to do?

Picture this: half a dozen grown women (many of them mothers themselves) gawking over coos & smiles & kicks (after all its not every day that you get to be around a one month old).  Little Scarlett performing, looking back at all the nice ladies & soaking up all the attention.  One of the ladies, obviously impressed by Scarlett's athlete-like movements, decides to see what this young baby will do if they put her on her belly.  Scarlett grunts & kicks & the next thing we know, she is on her back!  The room goes into an uproar, one of the ladies hugs me & everyone celebrates this incredible first.  

I must admit I am a bit skeptical at first, thinking this is coincidence & am more entertained by everyone's reaction than my own child (after all I get to be around her every day).  So they pick her up & put her on her belly again.  Scarlett kicks & grunts & rolls over again!  And again!  My friends are so excited to have witnessed this baby book moment, & so early.  They keep telling me that babies this young don't do that.  And I now realize that I really do have a Wonder Baby.  She has done this impossible feat 4 times since.

I can look back at the series of events that have led to this historical baby moment & it sort of makes sense.  Hours of kicking & punching in the womb to leg presses with dad on the couch (baby belly down on Dad's chest, her feet pushing against Dad's hands,  army crawling up Dad's chest) while watching Sports Center.  & thus Wonder Baby is created.

So what does this mean for the future?  We risk the likelihood of a child that crawls & walks early, getting into all sorts of trouble before we are ready.  I've seen an 8 month old that could run, getting into everything in sight & not quite grasping the concept of "No."  Perhaps this is the sacrifice we must make & I realize that raising a Wonder Baby may not be so easy after all.

Please sit back & enjoy Scarlett's bigscreen debut:

Surprise!

Scarlett & I were blessed with a surprise baby shower put on by my very awesome splurge club on Saturday.  Books & good food & games, we had a great time.  Scarlett was an absolute angel, loving the attention & not one fussy moment.  I think maybe I should record this in her baby book as her first act of rebellion in an attempt to prove her mom wrong (see previous post on crying).  

Thanks Ladies, we are so lucky to have you in our lives!  Check out the sweet diaper cake!