Is it me, or is the 5th of each month coming around faster and faster as each month passes? I find myself with only two stickers in Mara's package of month stickers that Emily brought for her when we were still in the hospital. I remember looking at the thick stack of stickers thinking that so much time would elapse between holding this sweet (very tiny) baby in my arms, and starting to look at her as a toddler. Knowing that she is the last Dugan makes all of these monthly milestones even sweeter for me, and I am so thankful for the perspective that I have gained with Joshua and Lauren not to wish these sleepless nights, tired arms, and waning patience away. Time is already going by so fast, and I know that wishing the tough stuff away also wishes the amazing, precious, priceless memories away with it. That's not to say that I'm not exhausted, because I surely am. But I try to keep it all in perspective, and find the good in the extra snuggle time I'm getting with Mara each night between the hours of.......oh......midnight and 5 am......those seem to be her difficult hours. Every. Single. Night. Perspective, though. Lord, keep giving me perspective. With a side of caffeine.
Our sweet girl turned 10 months old yesterday. So I thought in honor of her big milestone, I would offer 10 little known facts about Mara that I will one day look back on and cherish the reminder.
10. She adores (ADORES) her big brother and sister. And I believe the feeling is mutual. Joshua loves that she lights up when he enters the room. And Lauren tells me at least twice a day that she loves our baby "so much" and thinks she is the cutest baby ever. I just adore watching Mara's face as she is watching Joshua and Lauren playing together. Often she breaks out into full belly giggles that are too precious to even explain.
9. She is currently weighing somewhere in the neighborhood of 17 lb. The way she's eating lately, I wouldn't expect that weight gain will be an issue for her from this point forward. I'm so happy to see her healthy and thriving after worrying about her growth in the beginning.
8. Speaking of eating, Mara is really enjoying the exploration of table food. You should have seen her face light up when I gave her a lick of the icing I was eating in my mom's whoopie pies over the weekend. If she could have formed the words, I believe she would have been saying, "Now hold on just one second. You mean to tell me I have been eating baby oatmeal and pureed vegetables while you guys have been eating THIS?" She has recently enjoyed things like pizza crust, my mom's pot pie (yum!), macaroni and cheese, pancakes (her recent favorite) and pieces of cut up vegetables that we are eating. I am hoping that my days of purchasing Gerber purees are quickly coming to a close.
7. Call me a rebel, but I have broken a serious parenting rule with Mara in her crib. Laying her down flat on her back has been an issue for her for some reason. She hates it, and immediately wakes up when her head hits the crib. So one night, I transferred her from my arms to the crib while still in the Boppy pillow I had used to nurse her. And voila, she didn't awaken. She now sleeps on that pillow nightly for the one two hour stretch of sleep that she gets in her crib (if I'm lucky).
6. She loves the theme song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, as well as Hot Dog....just like her brother did. I cannot count how many times we used to watch the video of those songs on our computer when Joshua was little. Mara seems a bit obsessed as well. She loves to "dance" along, and when she's sitting on the floor and hears it come on, she bounces up and down on her bottom the whole time the song plays. It is precious.
5. She has tons and tons of baby toys and plays with literally none of them. Her toys of choice are anything that belongs to Josh and Lauren or anything that belongs in one of my cupboards or drawers that cannot be configured with a baby lock. It's great fun. I'm thinking that if we bought her a new set of pots and pans for Christmas she would be thrilled.
4. Mara loves to hear me sing. Her most favorite song right now is "Way Up High in the Cherry Tree". I can usually calm her down when she is feeling scroochy after her tub by singing this song. She smiles really big and starts to wave her arms as soon as I start singing it, and usually is perfectly calm and starting into my eyes by the time I finish it.
3. On the topic of music, Mara can be instantly calmed by the Selah CD's that are in my car. She particularly likes Volume I of their Greatest Hits CD. By the time the piano accompaniment comes in on Be Still My Soul, she is normally perfectly calm and starting to drift off to sleep. Travel with her has gotten increasingly easier as she has gotten older, but figuring out that Selah is what she likes to listen to has made it even better. And trust me, I don't mind singing along to Selah anytime.
2. Unlike her brother and sister, Mara has not determined a strong affection for a lovey like Josh and Lauren did very early on. It's possible it still might develop (and I honestly hope that it does). Right now, I believe I am Mara's security object, which explains our middle of the night rendezvous lately. I swore after my experience of Lauren being so overly attached to me between 1 year and 18 months old that I would never let that happen again. So I have either royally screwed something up, or this is just the natural order of things. I am honestly not fighting it as much this time, just figuring that "it is what it is" and trying to enjoy it. I keep figuring that when she's about 14 and can't stand the sight of me, I will have these months to recall in my memory.
1. I am completely, totally, 100% in love with this little girl. Her personality is developing into a great mixture of Joshua and Lauren--- some persistence like Joshua, with some spunk like Lauren. A whole lot of sweetness with a little bit of self-assuredness to balance it out. I consider it an absolute blessing to get a front row seat in watching her grow. What a gift she is.
Happy 10 months, Mara!
Sacked out at Nana and Pap's this weekend. I couldn't stop staring at her.
And, enjoying a piece of pizza crust. She worked at that thing for the better part of 20 minutes. Poor girl needs some teeth!
1 comment:
Neither Nadia or Ian had a lovey at her age, but they both do now. So maybe she will as well. I have to say I think you're a GREAT mom. I love your attitude of enjoying even the harder moments (ex. being up most of the night). You're right that this too shall pass oh too quickly. As for breaking a sleeping "rule," for Ian I had a Nap Nanny, which enabled him to sleep safely on something in the crib. My guess is that at her size it's not unsafe for her to be on the boppy. I think that warning is for wee ones (such as Oliver).
I too have broken a rule this time that I never broke the first two times. I have let Oliver sleep on his belly. The nurses had him on his belly because he was happier that way and also his 02 saturation levels were much better. He was in the NICU for 4 weeks. When I brought him home I kept putting him on his belly because he was attached to the apnea monitor so if he stopped breathing due to SIDS, we would know immediately by the alarm. He went off the monitor 1 day after he turned 10 weeks old. I was so torn because I could tell that he slept MUCH better on his belly, but of course I know you're supposed to put them on their backs, and I always put Nadia and Ian on their backs. Well within 2 days of him going off the monitor he kept rolling from back to belly and belly to back. There was a point when Nadia was much older that I'd put her in her crib on her back and find her later on her belly. I called the Ped and he said if she is rolling to her belly in the crib, don't worry about it. So based on that conversation from 3+ years ago, I am telling myself it's okay that I'm putting Oliver down on his belly - something I never did with the other two.
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