Dear Anna,
You are a month old today. I thought time flew by with your big sister, but this time it’s going even faster, if that’s possible. And at the same time, I’m having a hard time remembering what life was like before you joined us. We’ve all been spending the past month figuring out how to be a family of four, but somewhere along the line it just happened, and now it’s our new “normal”. (I can’t really have you thinking that you joined a truly normal family. You didn’t. We do our best, though.)
It’s been a busy month – you’ve been out and about much more than Carolyn was at this point, because I’d go stark raving mad if I had to stay home and watch one more kids’ show. (Honestly, I think your sister might have gone stark raving mad too!) So at eight days old we took you to church, the next day we hosted playgroup, a day later we all went to the mall, and the very next day I faced my fear of taking two kids out by myself and the three of us went to the library and the farmer’s market. We haven’t looked back since.
Once again, I’ve given in to the need for every last minute of sleep I can get at night, so you are spending the vast majority of the night tucked in between me and your daddy. Your sister survived it, and as long as she doesn’t squish you when she crawls in along with us on occasion you will too – don’t worry, I’ll make sure you don’t get squished, though a bigger bed might be a good investment… Since you sleep about three hours in our bed in between wakings vs. only an hour and a half in the bassinet, this is a no-brainer. You occasionally even sleep for almost four hours. This makes for a happy (although still a bit sleep-deprived) mommy. So, thanks.
I don’t know if you’re just way too mellow for your own good, or I’m way more relaxed about things this time, but you really are the easiest baby ever. (And that’s saying something, because Carolyn was also a really easy baby too.) You sleep, you nurse, you fill up diapers, you get visibly bigger every day, and occasionally you do really cute things like chuckle in your sleep or wave your fists around and accidentally punch your sister in the nose. I won’t say that you never cry, but you honestly don’t cry more than five minutes out of an entire day. You have this funny habit of keeping your big toes pointing straight up – unless you’re asleep, and then they’re just as relaxed as the rest of your toes. I don’t know what it means, but I’m taking it as a sign of your superior intelligence.
Just for the record, your hair is not highlighted (despite the blond natural highlights) or hennaed (despite the occasional glimpse of a reddish tint). I’ve been accused of doing one or the other or both, and I don’t want you thinking when you see the pictures when you’re older that I’d do any such thing. :) Oh, and your eyes are pretty much purely gray. I’m going to guess they’ll turn brown like Carolyn’s, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
In the past few days, you’ve really started waking up and noticing the world around you. And that comes along with cute little baby cooing and gooing, and the most beautiful smiles ever. And when you’re sleeping, I get to snuggle your warm little body and drink in your perfect little dimpled hands and the delicate artist-brush eyelashes. If I could just make one wish, it would be to freeze these moments in my memory to savor for all time.
Love, Mommy