My Little Bright Spot

I believe I've let that "In Memoriam" post ring long enough. Yes, we're still mourning our loss, but I want to throw open the curtains of this blog, and let the sun shine in. Let's all take a deep, cleansing breath and turn our attention to the little Jennie-Come-Lately who has filled with love yet another chamber of the family heart.

Ah, Mae.

What would you like to know?

The standard question is always, "Is she sleeping through the night?"--and people have a tendency to ask this question as though they already know the answer. You know, because she's five months old now, and everybody knows that babies sleep through the night by about three months. Right? Well, no. I could go into more detail, but this is a post about how great our baby is--not about the ways in which she frustrates us!

Here's what I will miss when she starts sleeping through the night, in her own crib. The warm and hushed twilight nursing sessions, sometimes with Arlo also snoring softly beside me... the soft murmurs of her contentedness as she nurses, my own drowsiness as I drift in and out of sleep... and the sense that I am providing perfectly for her needs, and that I am fulfilling my own womanly/motherly destiny in my own perfect way. I will even miss the times (though they sometimes infuriate me now) when she awakens next to me to coo and babble and blow raspberries at me and stick her tiny little fingers up my nose and entice me to play with her INSTEAD OF SLEEPING AT THE UNGODLY HOUR OF THREE A.M..

Yep, I'll miss that, some day.

Macy also has the busiest feet I have ever seen on an infant. True to her in-the-womb personality, this little gal is constantly on the move. We absolutely must keep her leather Robeez on at all times, or her socks are goners. From the day she was born (nay, the day she grew legs), Mae has been kicking. Her feet (especially when bare, should we let the piggies escape from their cotton prisons) are some of her favorite toys... and without question my favorite thing on earth to kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss. Or maybe it's the center-of-the-universe swirl of hair on the back of her fuzzy little head. Let's call it a draw--but I do love this baby from the top of her head to her chubby pink toes.

If her active legs are an indication that she'll be an early walker (added to the fact that she's already an avid roller, both from front-to-back and now back-to-front), then her vocal prowess may predict that she'll be an early talker, too. In addition to her favorite, well-practiced banshee shriek, Macy also makes use of a wide range of hums, whimpers, whines, howls, hiccups, raspberries, coos, giggles, and sighs to communicate with us her every thought and emotion. In fact, if I leave her playing on the floor or in her exersaucer a room away from me, I feel the need to check on her if she's quiet.

In spite of all this activity, though, I think she's kind of a mellow, sweet gal. True, she is more high-maintenance than Arlo was at her age (thank you, Arlo, for sleeping through the night by 3 months like good babies do!), but she's very social and cuddly and affectionate. Yes, she prefers to have your attention at all times--but when you give it to her, you are rewarded with an easy smile (accented by irresistible dimples, yay!), a wide range of giggles (the most hilarious ones reserved only for Arlo's antics, mind you), and yes, kicks, kicks, kicks.

Mae's six-month medical check-up is just a couple of weeks away. How the time flies. If you haven't seen her lately, please come visit us before she's all grown up!