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.
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.
