Señorita Clementina,
Today you are three months old.
You are also up and at 'em! with a vengeance.
That particular phrase, with a vengeance means in an extreme or intense manner. I'll say. The extremity of your behavior is due to the fact that you awoke at 4:30 am. This is absolutely not appreciated in the least by your father and me. By.The.Way. The intensity is, well, astounding. There is absolutely no question whatsoever that you are AWAKE.
I am fairly certain that I foreshadowed this early morning activity by gasp! preparing the coffee pot last night. I thought that I was just going to have an easier time of it at oh, say 7:00...but you'll show me to expect anything from someone who is still only zero.
Today you are three months old.
You are also up and at 'em! with a vengeance.
That particular phrase, with a vengeance means in an extreme or intense manner. I'll say. The extremity of your behavior is due to the fact that you awoke at 4:30 am. This is absolutely not appreciated in the least by your father and me. By.The.Way. The intensity is, well, astounding. There is absolutely no question whatsoever that you are AWAKE.
I am fairly certain that I foreshadowed this early morning activity by gasp! preparing the coffee pot last night. I thought that I was just going to have an easier time of it at oh, say 7:00...but you'll show me to expect anything from someone who is still only zero.
Lookee - over there! Surely you are talking about someone other than me!
Good thing we cleared up the fact that I am Running on Fumes already.
To be fair, I will point out that the night before you slept from 10:40 pm until 6:20 am. That, I must say, was greatly appreciated by yours truly. When you did finally get up, you ate like you were expiring right there on the spot and then we went into the living room to do this:
You are so very happy in the morning. You smile at me, talk to me, and even pose for photos. I remember when the camera was a thing of intrigue. It wasn't even a whole month ago that the camera elicited looks from you like this:
To be fair, I will point out that the night before you slept from 10:40 pm until 6:20 am. That, I must say, was greatly appreciated by yours truly. When you did finally get up, you ate like you were expiring right there on the spot and then we went into the living room to do this:
You are so very happy in the morning. You smile at me, talk to me, and even pose for photos. I remember when the camera was a thing of intrigue. It wasn't even a whole month ago that the camera elicited looks from you like this:
What is that thing and what has it done with my mother?!?
In fact, that photograph is from the very beginning of August, almost exactly one month ago. How you have changed in that short month. As you will very soon discover, I am a photo-happy person. I take a lot of them and you shall be one of my favorite subjects. I am so very glad of that because otherwise I wouldn't even see the changes you go through in such a short amount of time. It surprises me when I look back through the photos that I have taken and realize how different you are already. You are definitely a growing girl!
You have become incredibly long this month. This makes things interesting when attempting to feed you in the rocking chair since you also love to kick your feet. If you are sleepy-eating at night, this is no big thing, but when you are awake, watch out! You'll push your feet on the arm of the chair and pop right off of me. Oh, how offended you are then. How dare I take away the food! When you are expiring!
The challenges of motherhood that no one bothers to mention...
Your length has also made soothing you somewhat challenging. Or it did there for a while. You remember, back when you still had eyes for your pacifier? Oh, how the great have fallen. Supporting your body and legs while holding your pacifier in required three arms. Neither of us are so blessed, and Cooper is not much help no matter how much he'd like to be. We had a few days of extreme malcontent due to your length and our lack of extremities.
Nowadays, that paci? It has been banished. It sits forlornly, forgotten, somewhere in our bedroom. Yup, somewhere. I used to know where that thing was at all times. I kept it with me, in fact. Now? Well, you much prefer to attempt this:
There are times when you manage to get that thumb in there just right and away you go. Other times, you are just playing around with it, chewing it, poking it with your tongue. Occasionally you just get a couple of fingers in there. Whenever that happens, you make a face like we fed you something yucky and spit them out.
Then there are the times when you get the thumb in the mouth and a finger in your nose at the same time.
Show-off.
It was a tad bit uncomfortable for you the first time since you were trying to shove your thumb as far into your mouth as possible...which resulted in your finger going up, up, up. Touching your brain must not have been on the agenda, because you pulled them both out and looked at me like I had done something to you.
Your Guga was here for two weeks at the beginning of the month. Oh, how you enjoyed that. You really began "talking" with her. She would hold you and speak to you about your day and you would just tell her all sorts of things. We have no idea what, exactly, but boy did you talk.
Last month I mentioned that you know your sounds come from your mouth and if I touch it you'll talk. Well, the connection you have made is even stronger this month since you are more likely to talk if you have something in your mouth. In go the hands, out come sounds. The sounds are increasing in variety, frequency, and sometimes volume. Your favorite is still "ooohhhh". It always makes you smile.
Your Aunt and Uncle, M&M are visiting this weekend. We are hoping that we will get to watch some Hokie football with them. One thing is or certain: you are ready to cheer.
I believe that you will love your Aunt's hair and voice because you love looking at long hair and she has a great singing voice - I am sure we can convince her to sing you something. Maybe you'll join in. I think that you will love looking at your Uncle because, unless things have changed, he has facial hair. Oohhhh, Ahhhh, facial hair. I can't wait to see your face when you meet them. It will probably look something like this:
This is the face you make whenever you are thinking. I have heard that you get it from me. You do it every time you encounter something or someone new. Your Guga and I took you out to my former workplace while she was here and this is how you chose to greet everyone. Then you fell asleep. As babies are wont to do.
The good news is that for all the times that you are oh so serious, there are also the times that you are happy. In fact, this month you have been learning to laugh. You have somewhat mastered the cough, and you are working on laughing. It all started with a game of patty-cake:
I know I mentioned that you are happy with sucking on your hands, but it is so much more than that. This month you discovered them. We hit your hands together for patty-cake and something clicked. You knew that those were your hands and holy smokes they were touching each other! When you "laugh" you lift your head back a bit, your eyes get big and you look up and away. Your mouth opens really wide and there's this pause while you process your happiness and excitement. Then, finally, out comes a cough-y but joyful sound.
Ever since that day, you've been using your hands to explore. Mostly you explore one hand with the other, even when eating, which I must say is interesting. You also, as I mentioned, explore your mouth. We can now place a toy or rattle in your hand and you'll hold onto it for a while. You know that when you move your hand, the object makes noise, and that makes you happy.
A few other things you've learned to do this month include holding yourself up and looking around during tummy-time. You've demonstrated your ability to flop yourself over onto your side when I place you on your belly. You are also fully capable of rolling onto your side from your back while sleeping, so I imagine rolling over is on your agenda in the near future.
In the last two days you've really discovered the mobile on your swing. It is an aquarium swing that has a globe that lights up with water and fish in it. Around the globe is the mobile with four fish that go 'round and 'round. Although you've shown interest in it before, yesterday and today you expressed delight. Almost laughing delight.
I love to watch you discover new things. You express excitement and joy when doing so. You go from slight frustration at an attempt to happiness with success and it is fabulous to watch. I enjoy it when you explore your voice. Your expressions are as varied as the sounds you make. One of my favorite is the one you make when you are getting a little sleepy. There is such a fine line between the sleepy stage and the I need sleep NOW stage, but while you are there, you are precious. It is just one of the many things I love about being your Mom.
Love,
Mom
You have become incredibly long this month. This makes things interesting when attempting to feed you in the rocking chair since you also love to kick your feet. If you are sleepy-eating at night, this is no big thing, but when you are awake, watch out! You'll push your feet on the arm of the chair and pop right off of me. Oh, how offended you are then. How dare I take away the food! When you are expiring!
The challenges of motherhood that no one bothers to mention...
Your length has also made soothing you somewhat challenging. Or it did there for a while. You remember, back when you still had eyes for your pacifier? Oh, how the great have fallen. Supporting your body and legs while holding your pacifier in required three arms. Neither of us are so blessed, and Cooper is not much help no matter how much he'd like to be. We had a few days of extreme malcontent due to your length and our lack of extremities.
Nowadays, that paci? It has been banished. It sits forlornly, forgotten, somewhere in our bedroom. Yup, somewhere. I used to know where that thing was at all times. I kept it with me, in fact. Now? Well, you much prefer to attempt this:
There are times when you manage to get that thumb in there just right and away you go. Other times, you are just playing around with it, chewing it, poking it with your tongue. Occasionally you just get a couple of fingers in there. Whenever that happens, you make a face like we fed you something yucky and spit them out.
Then there are the times when you get the thumb in the mouth and a finger in your nose at the same time.
Show-off.
It was a tad bit uncomfortable for you the first time since you were trying to shove your thumb as far into your mouth as possible...which resulted in your finger going up, up, up. Touching your brain must not have been on the agenda, because you pulled them both out and looked at me like I had done something to you.
Your Guga was here for two weeks at the beginning of the month. Oh, how you enjoyed that. You really began "talking" with her. She would hold you and speak to you about your day and you would just tell her all sorts of things. We have no idea what, exactly, but boy did you talk.
Last month I mentioned that you know your sounds come from your mouth and if I touch it you'll talk. Well, the connection you have made is even stronger this month since you are more likely to talk if you have something in your mouth. In go the hands, out come sounds. The sounds are increasing in variety, frequency, and sometimes volume. Your favorite is still "ooohhhh". It always makes you smile.
Your Aunt and Uncle, M&M are visiting this weekend. We are hoping that we will get to watch some Hokie football with them. One thing is or certain: you are ready to cheer.
I believe that you will love your Aunt's hair and voice because you love looking at long hair and she has a great singing voice - I am sure we can convince her to sing you something. Maybe you'll join in. I think that you will love looking at your Uncle because, unless things have changed, he has facial hair. Oohhhh, Ahhhh, facial hair. I can't wait to see your face when you meet them. It will probably look something like this:
This is the face you make whenever you are thinking. I have heard that you get it from me. You do it every time you encounter something or someone new. Your Guga and I took you out to my former workplace while she was here and this is how you chose to greet everyone. Then you fell asleep. As babies are wont to do.
The good news is that for all the times that you are oh so serious, there are also the times that you are happy. In fact, this month you have been learning to laugh. You have somewhat mastered the cough, and you are working on laughing. It all started with a game of patty-cake:
I know I mentioned that you are happy with sucking on your hands, but it is so much more than that. This month you discovered them. We hit your hands together for patty-cake and something clicked. You knew that those were your hands and holy smokes they were touching each other! When you "laugh" you lift your head back a bit, your eyes get big and you look up and away. Your mouth opens really wide and there's this pause while you process your happiness and excitement. Then, finally, out comes a cough-y but joyful sound.
Ever since that day, you've been using your hands to explore. Mostly you explore one hand with the other, even when eating, which I must say is interesting. You also, as I mentioned, explore your mouth. We can now place a toy or rattle in your hand and you'll hold onto it for a while. You know that when you move your hand, the object makes noise, and that makes you happy.
A few other things you've learned to do this month include holding yourself up and looking around during tummy-time. You've demonstrated your ability to flop yourself over onto your side when I place you on your belly. You are also fully capable of rolling onto your side from your back while sleeping, so I imagine rolling over is on your agenda in the near future.
In the last two days you've really discovered the mobile on your swing. It is an aquarium swing that has a globe that lights up with water and fish in it. Around the globe is the mobile with four fish that go 'round and 'round. Although you've shown interest in it before, yesterday and today you expressed delight. Almost laughing delight.
I love to watch you discover new things. You express excitement and joy when doing so. You go from slight frustration at an attempt to happiness with success and it is fabulous to watch. I enjoy it when you explore your voice. Your expressions are as varied as the sounds you make. One of my favorite is the one you make when you are getting a little sleepy. There is such a fine line between the sleepy stage and the I need sleep NOW stage, but while you are there, you are precious. It is just one of the many things I love about being your Mom.
Love,
Mom
