Milestones and Memories: Week 28-32!

October 9-November 12, 2011

Bb,
You have grown and changed so much in the past month and a half! You sit up for long stretches at a time unassisted, you smile with a scrunched up nose, you talk and sing and babble. You have become very clear in your communication and desires.  You kiss and snuggle us fiercely.  You have claimed my iPhone as your own (for chewing, taking your own picture, and talking with Dada) . Some of my favorite you-things: You and Legobrother love on each other so hard.  He makes faces and funny sounds and smiles at you and you absolutely BEAM.  He won't go to sleep unless the two of you have a gentle head bonk, and Blue-eyed Brother has taken up the practice as well.  You absolutely love wine glasses and like to watch the liquid slosh and move and with the more sugary wines, you follow the legs as they trickle down the side of the glass.  You love to feel the glass on your gums, too (no wine! only glass!).  You appear to be a wine lover in the making (give it another 20.5 years or so, ok? Dad and I have already discussed that we will teach you to have an incredibly advanced palette, so that you will turn up your nose at the booze your young friends may have readily available!) We co-sleep, and your favorite way to snuggle at night is with your face towards mine,  a leg thrown up over my side, and a little sleep-smile on your face.

You have some favorite toys including Murray the orangishpink lamb-thing (it's creepy, you LOVE him!),  Lucy the pup, Sophie the giraffe, your "Baby's first pocketbook and cellphone" from Jordan, Dad's iPad, the ABC music maker, rings, and the Mozart Magic Cube from Rossi.  You're now bouncing up and down in your musical jumper and it absolutely delights you.  If you are hanging out in it, playing with all of the bells and whistles, and Dad or I come up to you and jump, jump, jump - you do too!

We've been up to a lot! When you were 28 weeks old (10/14), I took you to your first Kirtan while the boys all had movie night together.  Mark Nanni from The Now performed (drums, voice, percussion) and you sang and cooed and looked around with the brightest eyes.  It was so special spending that time with you, snuggling and singing words and songs that have such meaning.   The following week, OmBoys Juice and Smoothie Cafe opened, right by the yoga studio, and we were some of their first customers.  (The Pink and Perky is my very favorite drink.) We went on our own, and we also brought Dad for a lunch date. 

You turned thirty weeks old on the 23rd of October. This was also the weekend that Sri Dharma Mittra came to CNY Yoga.  On Saturday, I attended the Satsang, and on Sunday morning we began our longest ever time apart (about 4.5 hours!). For a little bit of that time, you had your first ever babysitter (Mer!) with neither Mom nor Dad around (Dad was at SYO. Mer reported that you were delightful).  On Sunday, Sri Dharma taught at the Genesee Grande, in the ballroom, and it was incredible.  Meditation, Pranayama, Asana, Lecture... it is hard to write about, because I am still reflecting on all of those lessons learned (or visited) in a time span of less than 24 hours. I asked Lorie if you could accompany me to the psychic development lecture in the afternoon, and she welcomed you freely.  You were a doll, and wanted to coo and sing to the friends all around.  I did not want anyone's meditation to be disturbed, so I nursed you and we listened from a distance.  I think you felt all of the amazing energy in the room.   I left that weekend so inspired and feeling so a part of the CNY-Yoga Center family.  I felt warm with receptiveness, compassion, love and light, doing right because right must be done, and knowing that all in our life is as it is meant to be.  (As I am writing this, it is over a month later, and I can't overstate the impact this weekend had on me. I think hindsight is necessary to pinpoint turning points in one's life, but I think that this was a turning point)  My eating habits have changed, my outlook on life is magnified,  I am loving harder than I have ever loved before.  I am so glad you were there with me that for afternoon.  Perhaps you're on a very early start towards the path of enlightenment. 

During this Thirtieth week of your life, you also sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time, you started to scooooootch backwards on the floor, and you had Maddie visit as a Mother's helper while I taught lessons.  Legobrother was diagnosed with Pneumonia and Dr. P said you needed to be far apart from oneanother.  Both of you hated that.  This also marked the first time that you really noticed the boys leaving when it was time for them to go back to their Mother's house.  You cried (I mean: CRIED) and it broke Dada's and my heart.  I think it will only get harder with time.  On Saturday, your Dada conducted the Faure Requiem at the OnCenter as the Buglisi Dance Company danced.  It was amazing, Bellabean.  You will be so proud of him in your lifetime.  He is amazing, beautiful to watch, and such a gifted artist and musician.

For Halloween, you were a bunny.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  Adorable (in my totally biased Mama opinion) ! Blue-eyed Brother was a gangster, and Legoboy was Captain America!  You make quite the threesome.  We went to your brothers' Halloween parade at school, attended parent teacher conferences, had an appointment with Susan (our midwife), and then you helped me pass out candy to Trick-or-Treaters!  Dad traveled to Wisconsin for a gig, and the ladies ruled the house.  The pups and we snuggled tons while he was away, and Friday, we met up with Karen for a windy but wonderful walk at OLP.  Saturday, you had your second trip to Icihiban, where we celebrated Legobrother's 8th birthday.  You loved watching the flames and seat-side cooking. 

Legobrother turned eight on the same day you marked 32 weeks on the 'outside'.  We had a great big breakfast for LB, and then the day moved quickly with an SYO concert for Dad, CW rehearsal for Mom, and your first Daylight savings (so not a big deal for you because instead of waking up at noon, you woke up at 11! Nightowl baby ftw!) You helped me run lots of errands this week (Farmer's co-op, Wegmans, post office, voting, vets for the pups checkup, etc.), and you're getting to be a pro at the new carseat (I wish my seat in the car was as comfy!)

On Wednesday (11/9/11) you performed with your first quartet.  Blue-eyed Brother was practicing 'Cello, and I asked him if I could join on flute.  Well, when I play flute, Lucie howls/sings/screams, and you thought that all the sounds were quite hilarious, so you joined in and SANG with us! The four of us played/howled/sang to the Banana Boat song until BEB and I could not play because we were laughing so hard.  I SO wish we had video of that moment. 

Every moment with you is a gift, a jewel, a perfect package.  My heart aches at your smiles, breaks with your tears, and absolutely melts at your giggles. I love you endlessly and completely and with every fiber of my being.

Our Hospital Packing List

When I learned that I was pregnant, I began reading and reading and reading... I read every pregnancy, labor, and birthing book, magazine, blog, and message board that I could get my hands on.  I knew that I wanted to be as well-prepared and well-informed as possible.  I love sharing my knowledge with others (I can't help wanting to teach, it's who I am at the center of my being, no matter the subject) and so some of my posts will be full of information that helped me along our path and things I wish had been in one place when I was researching.  Future posts will include: mama/birth blogs I follow, mama/birth books I read, cloth diapering suggestions, what AP means to us in all of its different forms, how yoga and hypnobirthing make such a great pair - please let me know if you have requests! I have already had some wonderful correspondence with experienced mama friends and great friends who have become pregnant over the past 6-12 months and I have honed some of these posts from letters, facebook messages, emails, and conversations with these lovely mamas and mamas-to-be.  Thank you LJ, AC, TH, AE, KH, JR, BPM, SA, SN, HS and lots of other mamas for wonderful mama chats that helped me develop these posts.

Our Hospital Packing List

I grew up participating in an organization called Pony Club, and the group focused on helping kids become great equestrians, but also even more on being an excellent partner with your horse, taking the best care of them, and valuing horsemanship over all else. Well, my Mom and Dad still cry "pony club!" whenever they see me plan, organize, and pack anything, as packing up a horse for an event, rally, or pony club event taught me to be more than thorough.  (I once overpacked luggage for a trip.  It was over the 50 pound limit.  By thirty pounds.  Oops!) The hospital list? Totally Pony Club. 

Here's what we packed - if you are thinking of putting together your own list, I hope this helps!

Packed for Mama:
Hospitals scare me.  I don't like the smell or feeling or equipment or fear in the air.  90% of me wanted a homebirth, but the 10% that felt comforted by the hospital birth (and the feelings of Handsome Husband) made our decision.  (If I had another baby, home it would be, I think, but that's for another discussion!) Anyway, I wanted to create an atmosphere that was as comfortable and home-like as possible.

• toiletries: lip balm, hair ties, lotion/face lotion, brush, shampoo/shower gel, makeup (it's nice to be able to spiff up for visitors, pictures), deodorant
• socks, slippers, flip flops
• undies, nursing bra(s), day/days after outfit and going home outfit (think comfy yoga clothes, you'll probably look and feel and be your 5 mo. pregnant size)
• boppy, own pillow and colored pillowcase (colored pillowcase so your pillow doesn't get confused with hospital pillows)
• mints and snacks (granola bars, little candies)
• phone charger
• toilet paper (hospital tp is awful and it is nice to have comfort!)
• soft home towel in a color other than white (see tp explanation and colored pillowcase explanation)
• nightgowns/robe (never wore the hospital stuff, didn't ruin either, was SO grateful for the robe after as I was absolutely FREEZING and couldn't warm up for anything)
• camera/video camera/chargers/cord to hook to laptop

I packed two bags - one for stuff I wanted during labor and one for after.  We arrived to my birthing suite with only the stuff I needed right away, so that it did not feel like we were moving in, and if they had sent us packing (I knew they wouldn't) we wouldn't have had to drag everything out.  Also, I knew labor, delivery, and recovery would be in one suite, and then we would move to another wing - we waited until the move to get the "after" stuff. 

Brought but didn't use:
Keep in mind, I arrived at the hospital at 6pm on Saturday, Isabella was born at 1:58am on Sunday, and we were home by Monday early afternoon.  If I had a longer labor and recovery, or if I had a section, I am sure I would have been at the hospital longer, and required a different list.

• journal, glasses, magazines, music (I thought I would need entertainment, but my phone was enough and I was laboring quietly with HH, snuggling my baby, or sleeping!! No time or real need for entertainment)
• pump
• pads (used the hospital ones)
• birth plan (had discussed it with my providers ahead of time, and felt so much conviction and no pressure from them to vary - I never brought it out.)
• many of the snacks/crystal light/tea - the hospital kept decent food coming (super accommodating to veg requests)
• id/insurance card
• bathing suit for water labor (modesty was SO gone by the point I was in the tub!)

Packed for Bellabean: 

• 2 diapers
• baby blanket
• receiving blanket
• going home outfit with hat
• change of clothing sizes in case she was a super-peanut or mega-monster

 The only things we used for her were the going home outfit and blanket for the car ride! Everything else was hospital provided for the stay (receiving blanket, bulb aspirator, diapers, blankets, clothes)

Packed for HH:

• comfy clothes for the stay
• bathing suit
• night clothes
• toiletries
• laptop
• magazines
• phone/laptop cords

Packed in the Car:

• car seat, fully installed
• garbage bags and towels (just in case we had a highway delivery!)

I felt really prepared with the "stuff" we had packed and ready, and I am comforted by preparation.  Hope this list helps someone someday! Mamas, is there anything you would add? 

Babysigning!

Bellabean has become so expressive over the past few weeks.  She just started to wave "Hello!" and it seems like it would be an easy progression to start using our hands to communicate in other ways as well.  HH and I both intuitively sign to her as it is (we're both conductors, what would you expect!), so I started to look into Baby Sign Language.  I love the idea! I found a fantastic website (clear explanations, beautiful videos, baby-tailored) called My Smart Hands.  She uses ASL, but explains how modifications can help little hands.   At this point, I am practicing incorporating the signs into our daily conversations and it feels very natural.  Here are the first few words we're using:

Family:
Mama
Dada
Baby
Brother
Doggy 

Needs:
I Love You
Hungry
Thirsty
Milk
Change Diaper
Snuggles/Hugs
Tired
Hurt

As we progress, and the family/needs words become ingrained and natural, I am going to try to incorporate these next words, too! 

More
All Done/Finished
Music
Again 
Bath
Car
Full
Gentle
Grandma
Grandpa
Yes
No

Have you signed with your little ones? What words and signs were most important to you?  Are there any that you still use as they are older? "I love you" is certainly a mainstay of our family communication, even between HH and me (and the boys, and the girl, and the grandparents, and the dogs!!)

Milestones and Memories: Weeks 25-27

Dear Bellabean,

The fall has been so very beautiful.  I love crunching on the leaves with you in my arms, snuggling up, dressing you in cutecutecute fall clothes and showing you the new sights, sounds, and smells of the new season.  I can't wait to take you pumpkin and apple picking! Here's what we've been up to. 

Week 25: September 18-24
We had a great week together.  Tuesday, I went into school for the first time this school year to help out with Percussion Ensemble.  It was nice to be with my school kids, but I just couldn't wait to be home with you! (Ok, I may have teared up in the car a little bit. Or a lot. <3) When you are a little older, and can wear hearing protection, I will bring you to night rehearsals!

During this week, SU made the move to the ACC.  I am definitely not embracing this! You have many SU outfits, and none of them are emblazoned with Big East logos, so we're still fashionably current.

Thursday, you ate solid food for the very first time! What a step! For your first food, you wore a bib from Auntie Erin that says "Treble Maker" (Adorable!).  We mushed up Avocado and put it on your tray.  You played, and painted, and nommed, and gummed, played with your spoon, and even ate a little! LB sidled up to your high chair and showed you how he ate with a spoon five or six times.  Honest-to-goodness, you took the little spoon and put it right into your mouth with a big bit of avocado! You made the most hilarious face, looked at me like "Um, Mom? This is SO not Mamamilk", but then smiled big because we all cheered!  We're doing a combination of Baby-led Weaning (which is not about stopping nursing, but about starting solids) and home made baby food!

On Friday, we had a lunch date with Karen at the Coppertop, and you were so sweet!

Week 26: September 25-October 1
6 months!
On Monday, I left for Lorie's 5:30 yoga class, and just as I pulled in to park at the Studio, I got a call from Dada.  He was breathless, and at first I was worried that something was the matter, but then I realized he sounded really happy! "You will never believe me, but she just said DADA!!!" Oh my goodness, Bellabean, he was completely and totally ecstatic.  From that night on you've been Dadadadadadaing up a storm!

When we visited Natalie, Lauren, and Pat over the summer, Lauren recommended the book Baby Love for making your food.  The book came in on Monday, we food shopped on Tuesday, and we cooked and prepared your first months of food on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday! It was a blast! No jars for you, little one! Most of the time I was cooking and prepping, I wore you on my back in the Ergo (omg. I linked to a new color that makes my heart flutter! Repeat after me: We don't need a new one only because of the color, We don't need a new one....).  I have never cooked with so much love.  We hand picked every ingredient, cooked together, and marveled at the beautiful colors, textures, and tastes.  At the end of our first cooking experience we had frozen cubes of Carrot, Peas, Apple-Butternut Squash, Pomegranate-Pear.

Friday, we attended our first Music Together class, taught by my friend Steph, whom I met at prenatal yoga.  You love her daughter Amelia, and you knew each other before you were born! You love the Jumping, Jumping song, My Paddle, and the Train Song. We play the CD in the car and before naps and have rewritten almost every song to be Bella-centric.

Auntie Emily came to visit on Saturday! She snuggled with you, we hung out and chatted, went to dinner at Grimaldi's Luna Park with Handsome Dada, and cooked a big breakfast together.  It was a short visit, but so sweet!


Week 27: October 2-8
This last week was wonderful.  The leaves are starting to fall and they really changed towards the end of the week.  You love to have me hold you out on the back deck while you watch the puppies play and the leaves flutter to the ground.

You had your Six month appointment on Monday with Dr. Purnima! You are 19.12lbs and 27.5 inches long! You're now so long that you are wearing new 12 month clothes.  Speaking of clothes, we sent a love-care-package to Jackie V and baby VB this week with clothes that were passed down from Bryanna and her daughter Charlotte, that came from a Crouse Mama (Betsy MH) before her! Jackie and Tom have now dubbed the Crouse Mamas' Club as the 'Sisterhood of the Traveling Onsie'.  I LOVE it! 

We have been introducing foods slowly, and you love the Pomegranate-Pear and Avocado-Bananas, really like the Butternut-Apple (especially with a little banana added) and well, you actually gagged, and made moves similar to those of a hairball-coughing-up cat when we tried the peas.  Perhaps we will try adding some banana to those also! You certainly have a flair for the dramatic and let us know that peas weren't your idea of deliciousness! Unfortunately, for you, I have heard that it takes 14 tries to learn to like something, so we won't give up!

Well, Wednesday you said your first looking-at-Mama "Mama!"  I swear my heart skipped a beat and you better believe I cried!! You are now saying Mama and mamamamamama! and it nearly makes my heart explode every. single. time.

Also on Wednesday, Steve Jobs, past CEO and founder of Apple computers died.  I think that he is one of the most brilliant artists and entrepreneurs to create and innovate during my lifetime, and I will be interested to see how you will learn about him in your life.

I wore you in the Ergo at Wegmans for the first time! You are SO good in your carseat, and seem to enjoy the vantage point, but I usually put you IN the cart rather than on top of it.  Throughout my pregnancy, I read a number of articles about babies getting hurt (some fatally) by falling from being perched on top of a shopping cart.  We had a big bit of shopping to do, and I did not think everything would fit comfortably in the cart with you in it too, so on my back you went! You were great and the best part of the trip was when a four year old boy saw you, grabbed his Mom's arm, and started yelling "Mommy, Mommy! There is a BABY IN A BACKPACK! You don't see that every day! Mommy! A backpack baby!!!!" You dutifully grinned back at him with all of your might!

Grandma and Grandpa arrived on Saturday for their birthday celebration visit! BEB and LB made cards, and you signed a card from the family with a beautiful handprint.  We went to Riley's for dinner and had a great end to the week.  

I adore you, Bellabean.  I love you every moment of your day, and I hope you feel the love your Dad, brothers, puppysisters, Grandparents, other loved ones, and I feel for you.  I hope that feeling lasts for your whole life! <3

Milestones and Memories! Weeks 21-24 - The End of Summer

Baby girl! you're now 6 months old!!! 

The end of Summer and beginning of Fall:

Week 21: August 21-27
The end of summer was full of incredible (and scary!) weather! On the 21st (Sunday), there was a Tornado Watch that turned into a Tornado Warning.  You, Dad, Puppies, and I watched the news and they said that the weather situation was going to come down Rt. 31 and go right over our house, so we battened down the hatches (closed all the shades, took down the outdoor umbrella, put chairs near the house) and had a Tornado party in our basement.  We camped out with computers and phones, a plush blanket, and waited for the warning to end. You entertained us by doing "Happy Baby" and chewing your toes, all while smiling. All safe, phew! On Tuesday we had an earthquake! Dad felt it, but the rest of us had no idea.  The end of the week was full of Hurricane Irene, and making sure we were ready for the rain, but more importantly, that Grandma and Grandpa and all of our other loved ones out east would be safe.   A hurricane, tornado, and earthquake all in one week!
On Friday night, we had a 2.5 hour family dance party that included a totally fantastic (in my humble opinion) playlist (Beatles, Tower of Power, Buddy Rich, music from Rent, Queen, Bill Chase, Bela Fleck, RHCP, DMB, Beyonce, & Chicago, among others) and encompassed cooking, eating, and cleaning up dinner, dancing, and rocking out on piano, bongos, electric guitar, and voice with Handsome Husband, Blue-Eyed Brother, Legobrother, you, and the pups.

On Saturday, you and I had a girls' sleepover in the house that consisted of an early bedtime, lots of snuggles, nursing, and sleeping (Does life get better?) The boys had a sleepover outside in their summer project treehouse (for the first time!). Don't worry, the boys didn't rough it too much - they had streaming wi-fi movies in the tree house (Star Wars, of course), blankets, pirate flags, pillows, and snacks galore, and there was a fire blazing right outside in the fire pit!
During this week, you also started sitting up unassisted for the first time, using a wooden and wire track toy from your cousins: Autumn and Adam.

Week 22: August 28-September 3
Dad went back to work this week and we started figuring out our daily routine together.  You slept in a bit every day, we went on walks, we cleaned and cooked, and made some trips in to my schools.  We also visited Liz and Addison to return my borrowed maternity clothes and pick up some toys and a bumbo; Addison held you and you two snuggled!

Week 23: September 4-10
BEB and LB went back to school this week - 4th and 2nd grade! This was the first September in 25 years (more, if you count pre-school!) that I did not start school, too.  Best. September. Ever! (Now, don't get me wrong, I love my job BUT. This is WAY more fun!) We had a dinner date with Andy, Carrie, and Henry at the start of the week, and at the end of the week, you attended your first brother soccer games!

Week 24: September 11-17
Sunday was Dad's first rehearsal of the new Syracuse Youth Orchestra.  The date of your birth will always be linked in my mind with the start of the end of the SSO/SSYO and then the start of this new endeavor, so it felt really special to watch Dad get this first rehearsal off the ground.  It was also the tenth anniversary of September 11, which you will learn about as you get older.  It will be interesting to see how you read about it and learn about it in your lifetime.  
Monday, you pushed all the way up onto your hands, with straight arms, for the very first time!

This week, according to a paper in BEB's school-work folder, he had to make a list of household line segments. His list: String, pencils, cords, straws, and... Bellabean's drool. Ah, brotherly love! 
We got brave this week and started taking our walks through Radisson with the puppies! You peeked over the edge of your stroller to watch them for almost the whole first walk.  So cute! 
Grandma and Grandpa came to visit and brought Grandma's amazing painting that hangs above our piano in the music room.  I actually missed you a little bit because they snuggled you so thoroughly.

You're just starting to stir from your nap, so I will sign off for now.  Love you SO much Bellabean. 

Memories and Milestones: Weeks 19 & 20

Week 19: (8/7-8/13)
Another big week! We started this week with Rachel and Braden's wedding.  It was beautiful, and you got to wear your orange wedding tutu (because everyone has to have an orange wedding tutu, of course).  Monday was the Summer Festival Orchestra concert and you and your fantastic rehearsal/concert companion, Lauren, made the program.  The program listed all of the instruments and performers, and at the bottom was "Bellaphone" with Lauren H. noted as Bellaphonist.  Well, the funny thing was, all of these professional career musicians were in the crowd and many approached your Dad having looked up the Bellaphone on their iPhones, thinking perhaps that there was an instrument new to them.  Dad just held you up in the air and smiled, saying: "Bellaphone." Priceless! We had a great time going out with the Bill and Maggie after.   

orange wedding tutu

This week, you were a smiling machine, giving your best sweet eyes and smiles to everyone.  You splashed in the tub for the first time, and really went at it! You started grabbing and dragging objects, and even grabbed Cow from over your head and pulled him onto your tummy.  When you are happy you kick your legs and wave your arms.  This week you laughed, out loud, at my hair bouncing (I lean over you and bounce my hair over my head) and also at the puppies barking at each other.  We think that you might be a singer (soprano, obv.).  The other day, you were singing to Dada, and he sang back to you.  You would sing a little longer, so he responded by singing a little longer.  Finally, you took a giant breath and saaaaaaaaaaang! Well, he did it back and you BURST into tears! Absolutely, baby-gut-wrenching-to-your-toes inconsolable bawling.  He out diva-ed you and you didn't like it one little bit.

We had dinner at Julie's with friends and you were a doll.  The owner, waitstaff, and various customers came to visit you because you were so sweet! We also had a visit with James W. and his Grandma and I had my first-ever Reiki session with Karen M.

We traveled to CT again this week to see Grandma and Grandpa, and also to travel to the Cape for Eric and Kate's wedding!  As I was packing (8/11), you were in your crib (it is side-carred to our bed) and had your first flip over! You went from back to tummy! Then I put you back and you did it again! SO cool.

On our way to CT you slept the entire time and never cried, we chilled with Grandma and Grandpa, and Auntie Barbara Jean, Uncle Bill, Uncle Doug and Linda came over for a lovely picnic.

Our trip to the Cape was wonderful.  You met KatieRay, Yoni & Elena, Mike & Anna, saw Lauren, Pat, and Natalie again, and, of course, met the couple of the weekend: Eric & Kate, and Eric's daughter, Bailey. (KatieRay reads this blog, and was hoping that I would someday write about my birthing experience with you.  Mostly because she hopes I thought of her lots during the process, which I think is hilarious.  I never, in my life, thought I would hear KatieRay say that she hoped I thought of her in Labor. Funny thing is, now when I think of labor, I think of KatieRay.  Well done, Katie!) We saw a gorgeous sunset on the beach, dined with friends, lazed in the sand with Elena, shopped in Orleans, and you were a rockstar the whole time.  While I was at the wedding, you were at The Lobster Claw, and you and Dad were so cute that you earned him a free rootbeer float! Nicely done!

Our beach night - Auntie Katie's in the middle :-)

Week 20: (8/14-8/20)
This was get-into-the-swing-of-schoolyear-week for Dad, and prep-school-stuff-for-my-sub-week for me. We were slow on the activities and events, but you really got great with your hands and had a number of firsts! You passed a coaster and some of your toys back and forth between hands for the first time. You began squealing with laughter at tummy kisses, and you sat up, unassisted, for about 20 seconds at a time! You also found your feet with your hands and have been doing happy baby ever since.  Right now you are showing left hand preferences (like Mama!) but your right hand always catches up quickly.

Midweek, Erin and Kim came over, and we had a wonderful visit (with some excitement!!!!) and they came bearing a thirtieth birthday present! It is a gorgeous Tiffany frame with a picture of you and me and behind that picture, a photo of Erin, Kim, and me.  The frame sits on my office desk so that I can see you when I am working. What a beautiful present! At the end of this week, we had the Jones family over for dinner, and as I was getting dressed you were doing tummy time, though, not for long! You had your very first tummy to back flip! You looked shocked and thrilled all at once.

Bellabean, before I met you, people explained to me that loving your baby was different than any other love. I believed them, but I could not possibly understand.  I love your father as much as love is possible, I love my dear friends, I love my family, I love and have loved the furry family in my life, but loving you is like suddenly realizing that there are more senses than the five you've always known, or realizing you can now see in dimensions other than the three in front of you.  This love is new and bold and life-changing and all-encompassing and different and wonderful. I love you until the end of the numbers.   

Lovebursts and babykisses

My college roommate, Katieah, and I often used the word loveburst.  We defined loveburst as one of those moments when you feel so much love and emotion and happiness that it actually feels as if your heart wells up and nearly explodes out of your chest.  You are usually left with a silly expression on your face, and possibly even some happy-tears.

New cause of lovebursts:

Bellabean has started giving baby kisses.  Until these started, I didn't know they were a thing with lil' ones. This is how her baby kisses happen... She:

•  looks at you
•  looks at you like she wants to eat you (lovingly, of course)
•  gives a big smile
•  puts up her tiny hands to your face
•  squeezes the daylights out of your cheeks/neck/eyesockets
•  pulls your cheeks/neck/eyesockets towards her with all of her might while leaning in and planting the wettest, open mouthed, tongue lolling kiss on the side of your face or tip of your nose 
•  holds on for dear life
•  often sings or smiles, or laughs all while kissing on you

Although there is occasionally some discomfort (baby nails in the eyesockets, yes?) it is one of the sweetest things I have ever experienced.  When she kisses on my nose, I will kiss back and usually get her chin.  This makes her laugh big ole' baby belly laughs and leaves us both in a pile of giggling girl.

What are your favorite loveburst moments?