The Reluctant Baby Whisperer

Okay. I just have to give credit where credit is due. Honestly, I think I'm pretty good with babies. I babysat my first newborn when I was about 13 years old. I once walked a friend's screaming newborn for hours, with the poor little one suffering from an ear ache. I learned to soothe Makela when she was driving us all insane with undiagnosed reflux during her first few weeks of life.

But Joe -- he's just amazing. We had tried swaddling Charlotte a couple of times in the last few weeks, but she increasingly fought it, somehow getting her arms free and wiggling out of the receiving blankets. She also has spit out all of the pacifiers we've tried, not wanting to suck on anything other than our pinkies and my breasts. We'd given up, figuring she just didn't like either of these soothing techniques.

However, Charlotte has been pretty fussy the last couple of nights, and she refused to be put down all last night and was ONLY quiet when she was being held. It made for a long night. So tonight, Joe decided to take matters into his own hands. I was in the bathroom, and when I came out, he was finishing up the swaddling and promptly inserted a pacifier into Charlotte's mouth. He swaddled the way he did with Makela -- tight and cozy. Charlotte's arms were pinned to her sides, forcing her to focus all of her frustration on that passy. She fought it for a good while, and we did take her out to make sure her diaper was clean (it wasn't). After reswaddling and reinserting the passy, she quickly calmed down. Granted, she's exhausted after fussing all evening and resisting this forced relaxation, but it WORKED. We may have a few more nights of adjustment as she gets used to her new bedtime routine, but it's a good sign that she's currently sound asleep in the bassinet next to our bed.

Joe won't admit it, but he IS a baby whisperer. He's an only child. He's never done any babysitting, other than for Makela. But he's a natural, and I for one am impressed. One more reason to fall in love with him just a little bit more today....

First Smile

Okay, so it wasn't completely under her control, but it also wasn't a smile in her sleep. Charlotte gave me a huge, beaming smile today as I was talking to her. Now if she could just do it all the time....

The Little One Said, "Roll Over, Roll Over"

Unbelievable. Charlotte rolled over on to her tummy today. She's only 20 days old today! And I thought Makela rolled over early....

According to BabyCenter.com, babies normally roll from tummy to back first, around two to three months of age. Supposedly flipping from from back to front requires stronger neck and arm muscles, so that doesn't usually happen until five or six months of age. Hmmmmmm....

But, given that Charlotte has been lifting her head up since the day she was born (as did her big sister), I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. She's a strong little one.

Smart Cookie

Okay, just have to brag/share two things from today's adventures. First, Makela just read the word "oxygen" in a new book about sharks she just got for Christmas. WITHOUT any help. Joe and I don't have any idea how she knew that one, but she read it!

The other thing is her question of the day: "Mommy, how was the earth built?" Yes, I gave her a quick discourse on the Big Bang theory and planetary formation, as best I could while driving on the freeway and in semi-preschooler terms....

Big Sister Material

Today was the day we finally told Makela that she is going to be a big sister. First, she danced around the living room, singing a tune of "Yay! I'm going to have a baby brother or baby sister! Yippee!" Then she proclaimed, "I'll be able to help you feed the baby. And change its diapers. And all SORTS of stuff!"

And of course Makela has told everyone we've seen today, "Guess WHAT?!? My mommy has a BABY in her TUMMY!"

And tonight, my heart just melted. I'd tucked Makela into bed, and just a few minutes later, she came out to tell me this: "Mommy? I have a new routine I want to do now. Every night, I'm going to kiss your tummy, right where the baby is. That way it will know that I love it."

Silly Song

I'm writing this as I listen to Makela sing in her bed. She's got one of her music class song books open in front of her, and she just finished her rendition of "Rock a Bye Baby." Now she's kept the tune and altered the words, as follows:

Mommy is so sweet
She gives me hugs
She gives me kisses
She likes to give me lots of things
But not Tylenol

I laughed right out loud at that one. She heard me, of course. But it's true -- lately, Makela has been the queen of delay tactics at bedtime. One of her recent ploys is to claim that her throat hurts and that she absolutely needs Tylenol. Yeah, I'm not buying it, cutie pie. Nice try.

A Rule to Live By

I really need to get on here and blog more than I do. These days, it's hard to find the balance between writing, scrapbooking and being otherwise creative -- all while being a full-time mom to Makela, a part-time fundraiser with Angel Faces AND a volunteer regional officer for Delta Gamma. Whew! I'm busy, but it IS fun.

So in the interest of keeping it (relatively) short and sweet, here's a funny story from last Friday (Feb. 27th). We were walking back to the car at Nobel Park, after having great fun on the tire swing. Makela took off her fleece and started pretending to be a bumblebee, with the sleeve as her "stinger." She was buzzing and then started pretending to sting me, saying "STING! STING! STING!" Every time she did this, I would say "Ow!" It didn't take long for Makela to lose herself to the giggles.

When we got to the parking lot, Makela automatically reached up to hold my hand (my training is paying off!). She let out another "STING!" with her left hand and "stung" me, which of course resulted in my immediate response of "Ow!"

Without even pausing, Makela looked up at me and stated in a voice of complete reason and deadpan humor: "Mommy, NEVER hold on to a bumblebee's hand."