Shelly Anna snores. She's a noisy sleeper, she breathes loud and makes little sighing noises and then she snores some more. I asked the doctor about this and her response was... when she gets a little older and she has a neck she won't snore so much. When she has a neck??? Actually, she doesn't really have a neck, she's got so much cushioning all around to keep her protected that the doctor's right - she has no neck and that's probably affecting her breathing. She is a really noisy baby, between the breathing and burps and... Well, you all know what I'm talking about. She's not very lady-like and makes no secret of everything that's going on in her digestive system! I love her round tummy, her round and soft arms and legs, those tiny little toes and fingers and maybe my favorite part of her is her little button nose that she got from her dad and shares with her brother.
Mom and Dad had her overnight last night and though it was hard for me to leave her for the first time since she was born, I really enjoyed the quiet time with David, and sleeping next to him instead of getting crowded out by kids between us. And it was in a way really liberating to find out that she did well, she slept through the night without needing to be fed and didn't wake up every five minutes just because I wasn't there next to her. Sometimes people will say to me, "Just wait until its time to send them to kindergarden," and then I think to myself, "Why are you trying to torture me?" I know its going to be hard, just like leaving Archer for the first time and leaving Shelly for the first time were both hard. But I also know that its what's best for all of us - I need to let go and know that they'll be well taken care of, and they need to learn to trust other people to take care of them. It makes me feel really good that Archer feels as at home at my parents' house as at our own house, and that's because he spends lots of time there with and without me. It gives me a lot of confidence and anticipation for the next few years when Shelly will learn that she can feel at home there too.
She is getting so much more active now, she is awake a lot more and babbling more than ever. She gets excited whenever someone looks at her and talks to her, she kicks her legs and smiles, her bright eyes light up and everyone who sees her can't help but smile too. She's waving her arms around more and getting better at grabbing things within reach and then bringing them to her mouth - her favorite thing to grab is the fingers of whoever is holding her, and then she tries to chew on those fingers. I have a feeling that she might have a tooth or two soon and I'm a little bit worried about that.
Mom and Dad had her overnight last night and though it was hard for me to leave her for the first time since she was born, I really enjoyed the quiet time with David, and sleeping next to him instead of getting crowded out by kids between us. And it was in a way really liberating to find out that she did well, she slept through the night without needing to be fed and didn't wake up every five minutes just because I wasn't there next to her. Sometimes people will say to me, "Just wait until its time to send them to kindergarden," and then I think to myself, "Why are you trying to torture me?" I know its going to be hard, just like leaving Archer for the first time and leaving Shelly for the first time were both hard. But I also know that its what's best for all of us - I need to let go and know that they'll be well taken care of, and they need to learn to trust other people to take care of them. It makes me feel really good that Archer feels as at home at my parents' house as at our own house, and that's because he spends lots of time there with and without me. It gives me a lot of confidence and anticipation for the next few years when Shelly will learn that she can feel at home there too.
3 comments:
I don't think 'torture' is quite the right word. It's more likely that it means that people are just remembering how each new growth or achievement of a child means something left behind or a chapter closed for a parent. They don't get any easier whether it's the child's first night away from Mom, going to kindergarten, confirmation, 8th grade graduation and here was a big one for us... your first born goes off to college. Mom and I goth suffered some trauma on that one. But fortunately, there always seems to be a new chapter beginning with a new adventure or challenge to deal with.
I don't know if I'm right on with this one, but we have a tendancy to just celebrate the 'firsts' in our lives. We celebrate the first smile, the first step, the first day of school...but do we ever celebrate the lasts? Think about it, if you knew it was going to be the last time Archer did his cute sneeze thing he did as a baby, would you have listened a little more closely? Or if it was going to be the last time that Archer was going to mimic everything you say in the tone you speak to him, would you capture or remember it a different way? Or what about the last time we hear a story from a relative that means so much to them. Or what if our day with the family this past Sunday (opening the pool) was the last time we ever do that...would you have laughed more or taken more pictures to capture the moment? I think we have a tendancy to only really remember the firsts, but lets not forget the lasts in life...because sometimes when life goes by just a little too fast, we forget the important times as a family, that could possibly have been the 'lasts' that we so easily pass by. As a new season begins in our lives, take time to celebrate and slow down to enjoy the 'lasts' of the previous season.
Denise, I think you're right about the first versus the lasts. I think we always look forward to the firsts because we need to have things to keep us going forward, looking forward, motivated to go through the daily grind knowing that some new adventure is ahead of us. But its important to look back also, to the things we've experienced in the past. I think that's why people spend so much time and money on things like scrapbooks, photography, video taping every major event (and the minor ones too) - because we want to hoard those memories and never loose them in our constant quest to look forward. We want to be able to look back and know that there's something there that we built on to bring us to where we are now.
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