Wedding and acupuncture

Dear Pea,
You seem to have inherited your spirit grandmother's personality.  You LOVE an adventure and you LOVE being social.  Last weekend we flew to Cincinnati to celebrate the impending marriage of some very special friends. Usually you are no fan of riding in the car, but the cab to the airport was different.  You knew it was different and you happily sat in your car seat all the way to the airport.  Once at the airport, you greeted fellow passengers, flirted with the TSA agents and passed security with flying colors.  You were a trooper the entire flight, smiling at everyone on board, then settling in for a nap that lasted from take off to landing. 

We bring ear plugs for our fellow passengers, just in case, but no one takes us up on them.  And for the flight out, there was no need: the only peeping you did was happy babbling.

Everything that day was fine with you and fun for you.  You were very happy in the hotel room, at the celebration, at breakfast the next morning, in the rental car...you love an adventure.  You cried a little bit on the flight home because you weren't happy sitting down, but once I was able to walk around the cabin, you settled right down and fell asleep.

 Ready for a party!!

Once we got home to NYC, however, you had had enough.  You did not want to be in the car on the way home and you fought your nap even though you were exhausted, finally falling asleep at 3:30pm and sleeping pretty much until Monday morning at 6am. 

Monday (yesterday) you were pretty zonked, too. You took all of your regular naps, but extended them out at least 30 minutes.  In the afternoon, I took you for your first acupuncture appointment.  You enjoyed this, too!  I learned how to give you gua sha, how to massage your back when you get another fever, what points to tap when you start teething and how to treat tummy ills.  You were patient with us poking and prodding you and thoroughly enjoyed eating the gua sha tools and Legos.

Next up: eating real food! It's coming soon, Sweet Pea! You have nibbled apples, bananas and peaches and now it's time for real food: eggs, beef and roe.  YUM!

First fever

Dear Pea,
You got sick this week! It was so sad. Uncle Rossy was actually the one who noticed your fever; it's been so humid lately that we've been sweating together most days, but Uncle Ross patted your head and said "she feels warm."  Out came the thermometer which you weren't too psyched to have under your arm.  I'm not sure it worked correctly, but we did get a reading of 99.5. I called Dr. T, who told me it's normal to get a fever with a cold and that if it went above 101, to make an appointment.  You had the fever on and off for about 24 hours, but it never seemed to climb and you never seemed too terribly uncomfortable.  Again, I breathed a sigh of relief that no one suggested medication to lower your temperature.  We know that fevers serve a purpose and your body has wisdom that should be respected most of the time.

The average cold lasts a week.  You are almost all the way better.  You started sneezing on Monday, got the fever on Tuesday and today, Saturday, all that is left is some crustiness by your nose.  I can't remember if it's Chinese medicine, or Western medicine, or Mother Wisdom that says that fevers and colds appear during times of developmental spurts. Whatever the source, it's true for you.  You are sitting up now, unassisted, while grabbing at toys in front of you.  You are scooting more quickly on your belly, traveling in reverse almost anytime you are on the floor.  You rolled over from your back to your belly Thursday and again a couple more times yesterday. You have discovered the higher end of your vocal range and enjoy screaming and shrieking when the moment feels right, which is almost always.  You intentionally grab what you want, transfer hands like it's nothing and direct everything into your mouth.  That handmade mobile that it took you two months to notice?  Yesterday you grabbed one of the hearts, plucked it off it's fishing line and put it in your mouth before I even realized what had happened.  You are growing in leaps and bounds, in comprehension and mobility.  The cold seemed to launch your forward.  And it was such a nice way for Daddy and me to practice having you be sick-nothing serious, you weren't too miserable and we now know we can handle a fever and a cranky Pea. And we know the pediatrician calls back FAST.

Daddy's girl

Dear Pea,
Last night you wouldn't let your daddy go to sleep.  You kept pulling at his shirt and babbling in his ear.  It got to be later and later, and still you were mesmerized with him. He kept trying to sleep, but you were so engaging and so cute that he ended up staying up with you until you settled down enough to go to sleep.  You say da! and dada a lot these days, but not to him, yet.  But I know it's coming soon. I keep saying Dada is your first word, but Daddy waves it off, knowing you haven't really connected it yet. 

When Daddy comes home from work, your face lights up. He has a special game that as far as I can tell involves simply poking you all over that you think is HILARIOUS. When I poke you, you'll sometimes give me a consolatory smile, but you love this game with Daddy.  Though you will laugh when I tickle you, so I've got that going for me, which is nice. It's been a very sweet evolution, this special Daddy appreciation.  A few weeks ago, you would cry when he held you.  This is far better.

In developmental news, this past week has seen you sitting up unassisted for longer stretches of time-sometimes a minute or two before toppling over or, more recently, sort of falling forward and ending up in the crawling position.  You are never happy to find yourself in that position, but it's sure exciting to watch you get there.  You are also doing a sort of a scoot or rotation or something.  I can't quite tell how exactly you're moving, but you are.  This morning I put you down on your activity mat for some tummy time and you ended up with your entire body off of the mat.  It wasn't a crawl, it was more of a push and pull motion with both your arms and legs.  You will also sometimes start with your head pointing north and wind up with it pointing south.  It appears effortless, save for your constant chatter when you do this.  You roll over from your belly to your back very occasionally, maybe once a week or so.  

You chatter a TON, lots of dadadas, but other sounds, too.  Almost all the consonants and definitely the vowels.  The family lore is that I started speaking at 6 months: bye bye, mama and dada used in the correct context.  You may be on track for that, we'll see.  No pressure, little Pea-we're still simply awe inspired that you're here at all and don't really care who's schedule you're on except your own.  (Though I admit I am a little obsessed with having you crawl before you walk as this is said to foster right brain/left brain communication and be beneficial for proprioception.)

The other thing last week brought was MANY socializing opportunities  I am trading personal training with another mama and you had fun with her little one while we exercised-you were very interested in her ear, but not willing to let go of your foot to check it out closer.

We had a little happy hour party with some other mamas and us grown ups decided it would be fun to put you all on the couch to take a picture. You loved this: all five mamas waving and yelling peek a boo and and trying to get all the babies to look one direction.  Most of the other babes were a bit confused or bewildered, but you took it in stride. Yes, that's you on the far left, smiling at all of us crazy mamas.

And finally, your Uncle Rossy is here visiting.  He invented a game with you where he brings you closer and farther away from the big mirror, which you love.  He also brought a ukelele and plays it for you. You love this, too! You grab the strings and try to eat it if he's close enough and sit mesmerized if he's across the room.  

Five months old

Dear Pea,
Today marks the beginning of your sixth month on the outside.  In the world.  You have really adjusted beautifully, enjoying interacting with people, delighting in this world.  You are eager to touch things, to taste things, to explore your surroundings.  You are a social butterfly and a wicked flirt.  You know when it's time to put on the cute baby show and you can certainly work a room.  This morning we had brunch with your cousins and friends and you were all smiles almost the whole time.  And not just smiles-huge grins, funny faces and overall cute antics.  You tried to eat the menu, then settled on my sunglasses

As you can see, you like to take big bites

You worked that restaurant for an hour and a half, fretting only briefly when you were passed around soon after arrival. As soon as we left, you had an epic meltdown.  Epic.  It took a long time to settle you back down-I think you were tired before brunch, but were having such a lovely time that you shelved it until all eyes weren't on you anymore.  As hard as it is to watch you meltdown, Daddy and I couldn't help chuckling to ourselves that you are such a social butterfly.  And of course you recovered and are now napping happily.

The photo above is from your first ever photo shoot, which took place in Prospect Park two days ago.  A very good friend of ours (who's daughter I hope will be your friend for a long time to come) is a wonderful photographer and generously volunteered to take some pictures of you.  He is touching up the ones we like best, but we have a whole host of fabulous shots of you just being your 5 month-old self.  I will post some more when we get them back. In the meantime, here's a video of what happens almost every time you get a diaper change.

 

I can't believe it's been five months.  I can't believe how much you've grown and matured and become yourself. You teach us so much every day and we are so fortunate to get to spend so much time with you.

love love love, 

Mama

Technologically advanced peek a boo

Dear Pea,
Last night we had a breakthrough.  You chat with my dad almost every night over FaceTime, often trying to get into the screen, but we really didn't know if you were totally aware that he was talking to you and reacting to you.  Oh, boy, are you. Last night he played peek a boo with you.  It was amazing:

My dad: Peek a boo!

You:

My dad: Peek a boo!

You:

My dad: Peek a boo!

You: 

 

Clearly, you realize that the iPad is interacting with you and had a grand time with your grandpa.  Though if you look at him, me and you, it's hard to say who's having more fun.   Sweet Pea, you have a deep throaty laugh.  It's infectious and contagious and it brings us so so much joy.  Having a happy baby to laugh with is beyond words.  Every smile, laugh and discovery fills my heart to more than it can hold.