First Laugh

Dear Lila,

Novelist James M. Barrie (he of Peter Pan fame) once said, "When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into a thousand pieces and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies." It's a nice quote, and a fitting one. After I nursed you earlier this morning, you fell asleep and had what must have been a really funny dream because you laughed your very first laugh. It was such a cute little chuckle and I must say, pretty magical.

Love,

Mom

Girl Talk

Dear Lila,

In five years, you and I will be talking about what you are learning in kindergarten. In 13 years, you might be telling me about a boy in your class who is so cute and so smart and you like him a lot and maybe he likes you back because he smiled at you during study hall and you want to text him (will people still be texting each other in the future, or will we have discovered a way to transmit messages directly into each other's brains?) but aren't sure if you should because maybe you should wait and not send him the text but just talk to him the next time you see him in the hallway (god, I hope text messaging, Google Talk and such haven't completely taken over in the future and that people still speak to each other face-to-face).

In 16 years, you'll get your driver's license and we'll be discussing how you need to be extremely careful out on the roads because New York drivers are seriously cray-cray. In 20 years, you'll call me to tell me about how your college exams are going and to ask me to mail you a batch of my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies because you have a 20-page paper due and you're going to need my cookies to get through it. And in 30 years, maybe we'll be talking about your own little baby girl.

Of course, I don't know if we'll actually have all or none of these conversations. But I do know that I love the conversations that we have been having recently, now that you are starting to coo and vocalize more. Your parts of our conversations are mostly just "unhs" and "ah-goos" but I find them pretty riveting all the same!

Love,
Mom

Baby Hugs

Dear Lila,

I loved your newborn stage, when everything about you was sooooo teeny tiny. You were so small that I could cradle you with one arm. But now, you are a size that is so perfectly huggable, and that is pretty awesome, too!

Love,
Mom

My Apologies

Dear Lila,

You have been a part of our family for two months now and it has been an incredible two months. But I know that you're probably still getting adjusted to me, Daddy and your brother and our craziness and there are a few things I'd like to apologize for:

-I'm sorry your brother is so noisy. He is and always has been a super active and energetic boy and he likes to shout. And run around. And bang his toys against the walls. And shout some more. You will enjoy these things about him once you are big enough to shout, run around and bang toys against the walls with him but for now, I know he makes it really hard for you to sleep during the day. I'm working on trying to get him to use his quiet voice more, if not just for your sake but also for mine!

-I'm sorry I accidentally cut your finger and made you bleed while I was trimming your nails the other day. You only cried for a few seconds so I don't think it hurt you that much, but it definitely hurt me. As a mom, it's awful when your kid gets hurt but it's even more awful when you're the cause of it.

-I am sorry that I'm still a bit clumsy when it comes to dressing you and thank you for your patience when I try for several sweaty minutes to stuff your floppy arms into tight sleeves. I'll get better!

-I'm sorry there aren't as many photos or videos of you as there are of your brother when he was your age. Since your brother was my only child when he was born, I only had to focus on him and thus had the time to snap dozens and dozens of photos of him every day from every conceivable angle. Now that I have two kids, every day is a constant juggling act to make sure you and your brother are both fed/bathed/tended to when you each need to be fed/bathed/tended to. So please know that when you're older and see several photo albums devoted to your brother and only half the amount devoted to you, it's because I didn't have as much time to take photos of you, not because I didn't think you were as photogenic (which you totally are, as evidenced below!)

-I'm sorry I write so many posts about your poop. I understand that you (and many readers of this blog) may not want to read about your baby bowel movements so often but you pretty much only eat, sleep, pee and poop at this age so many times, poop stories are all I've got!

Love,
Mom

Yet Another Poop Post

Dear Lila,

Seriously, please please please stop pooping in the tub every time I give you a bath. Mommy no like!

Love,
Mom

Poopy Bath

Dear Lila,

This is how your bath went last night:

-I undressed you and put you in your baby bathtub.

-You immediately pooped a major poop in the tub.

-I gagged.

-I screamed for Daddy to come to the bathroom.

-I scooped your poop-covered body up, wrapped you in a towel (there goes my good towel) and held you while Daddy washed out your poop-filled tub.

-I gagged some more.

-The towel you were wrapped in suddenly got very wet. You had peed so now I was holding a pee- and poop-covered baby. 

-Daddy finished washing your tub and refilled it with water.

-I started to unwrap you from your towel when--BOOM!--you released another big poop into the towel. 

Least fun bath ever.

Love,

Mom

Sugar Overload

Dear Lila,

During the 13 years that Daddy and I have been together, we've never really celebrated Valentine's Day. We do sweet things for each other all of the time (just the other day, Daddy helped me carry the heavy basket of clean laundry up from the basement without me even having to ask him to--and yes, after so many years together, that is the kind of thing that gets my heart going!), so we don't do the fancy restaurant reservations, the dozen roses, the schmaltzy cards. We do, however, indulge in V-Day chocolates and desserts because if there's an excuse to eat massive amounts of sugar, you take it!

This year, though, Daddy went a bit overboard. He went to this great bakery near our house and brought home slices of red velvet cake, chocolate mousse cake, Oreo cheesecake AND carrot cake cheesecake AND a cup of banana pudding. Because this year, Daddy apparently wanted to turn Valentine's Day into Make Mommy Diabetic Day. Oof.

Love,
Mom