Every New Day...

She's changing so much. I just saw a picture of her at one day old and her face is so different now. She's had her very first cold this week, and she's been much more fussy, but I've found extra patience. Where from, I'm not sure. Hope it stays around even after she's better. I never knew I was so selfish before I had an entire little life completely dependent on me. I love her so much now. :)

She's been rolling over more often. I have to watch her even more closely. Especially after falling off the couch and hitting her head, what a night! We went to the ER and they said she was fine, but it still hurt me that it happened. My little one was so scared and screamed so loud, because she had never been hurt before. Poor thing.

She's also laughing, learning peek a boo, biting things (teething? not sure.), following me with her eyes like I'm the most important person in the world, and starting to taste new foods. She hasn't really ingested much of the new solids, but I've had fun learning to make them, and she likes to lick 'em. I love the faces she makes.

Oh, and she's all of a sudden started making the B and M sounds. She's so interesting to listen to. It just clicked over night, and in the morning, instead of ahhhaaaahhhaahaaaaaaaaah, it was BabaaBBbbbaaaBaaaBaaaBaBaBAaaaah. Love it! It gives new meaning to calling God "Abba, Father!"

<3 Carla

When I was Small...

I tried my hand at making rice cereal today. It's about a month and one week before Emma will be starting solids, but I wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing before I was actually feeding it to her.

It was a pretty easy thing to do.
1/4 cup of rice (I used brown) yields 2 cups cooked cereal. You just obliterate it in a food processor dry, boil it in 1 cup of water for 10 mins (stirring constantly) and then cool it and add 2-3 oz of milk to thin it down. Baby only needs a few onces, but you can freeze it in an ice cube tray which is great!

That being said, I am torn nowadays between excitement about her growing up and wanting her to stay tiny. I have a love/hate relationship with her dependence on me. I really want her to grow out of pinching me, throwing up on me, and screaming when she needs me. I really want to dress her up in new outfits and look forward to new phases of her life. However, I love being able to carry her. I love it when she smiles at me while I nurse her. I love the newness of the things that are new now.

I guess I can't really do anything about it but write and take pictures. Lots of pictures...

Hello,

You are asleep upstairs in your nursery in the woodland friends swing we bought for you. I miss you, but you need a nap, so I'll talk to you on here.

When you are older I'm sure you will wonder why it is we call you "bug". We've taken to calling you "Emma-bug" from the very beginning I think. I started calling you "Boogie-bug" when you started to get the wiggles. I'm not sure exactly what prompted it. I might have been your tiny body with those big beautiful eyes you got from your Daddy. I think it may have also been that you look like a little caterpillar when we swaddle you, because you are a long little baby and you won't allow us to swaddle your legs, just your arms. Anyway, you are our little "bug" and we love you very much!

~Mommy

Dear Emma,

I love talking with you. You are nine-almost-ten weeks old and you can't say much but "ah" and the occasional "ee", but you say them with such variation it's amazing. Your "ah" sounds different whether you are trying to get my attention, hollering at a toy, or excited in mid conversation. Pretty much all this week, I have laid you on my tummy on in my lap and we've just said "ah" and "ee" back and forth at each other. I of course add in things like "Emm-mah!" in the hopes that you will learn your name. I also say "I love you" and describe what you are doing to you. You just eat it up!

<3 Mommy

Dear Emma,

Yesterday I laid you down on your playmat. You were much more interested in the toys hanging over your head than you used to be. You set your gaze on a bright red rattle and wiggled a bit. Two weeks ago I started reaching your hand out for you so you could touch it. I guess you put two and two together, because you started swatting at it really hard and finally got it. I shouted "Yay!" and clapped my hands for you. Which made you smile really big. You kept trying over and over to do it again and got it a few more times. In between the times you were successful you hollered at it with your little baby squeaks. "Ah! Ahhh!" I don't know what you were saying, but I think you were having a great time. Now you think you can reach out and touch anything you see. You are trying to reach the lamp across the room and my purple shirt sleeve in front of you. Mommy is getting smacked by your tiny little arms quite a bit, but it's adorable.

Today, you realized you have feet. You were sitting on my lap and making noises with me, when you looked down and all of a sudden, there they were! You made a face like you had never seen such things before and stared at them for a few minutes with that face, while I wished I had a camera to take your picture.

Now you are trying to swat at your feet. I'm sure you will reach them eventually.

I love you.

~Mommy