Full of Joy...

I've been trying to memorize so many moments lately. My little babe, my last born, is growing up literally right before my eyes. I am a much wiser mama than I was with my first or even second born. I know now not to long for the latest milestone and rush through a stage because it just goes so fast. As I remove the clothes she has already outgrown from her dresser and separate them out for donations, hand-me-downs, and consignment I cling that much harder to the fleeting moments. Here is my growing list in no particular order:



- The feel of her soft, chubby cheeks. I love to put her cheeks next to mine, especially during bed time when we snuggle before she drifts off to sleep. It's heavenly.
- Her baby smell - kind of mix between t-gel (for her cradle cap), Eucerin cream (for her eczema), and her own little scent. Each of my babies always had a unique smell that I cannot put into words. I will say Baby's scent is closest to T's than her sister's.
- Her chubby, soft baby feet that seem to want to grab everything these days. Yes, she's at that awesome stage of trying to grab and touch with her feet. Love it! Love baby feet.

- Her wonderful, wide, grin. It's like she smiles with her whole body.
- Spitting - she just learned to make bubbles and raspberry sounds. We've started to need bibs because of this.
- Add to her spitting the grunting (not just BM grunting), she grunts for attention. It's quite deep like her big brother's used to be.
- Laughter - belly, grunting laughter especially when she knows I lost focus and became distracted by her smiles and charm. I sometimes get this in the middle of the night when I am not successful in getting her back to sleep and she knows she has won when I stay up with her and try to keep her quiet for everyone else.
- Love of the shower - we put her recliner bath seat in the shower (we have a HUGE shower) and face one of the heads onto her abdomen and she sits there soaking up the water while I take my shower using the other head. Instant happiness even if she is starving or tired or both.
- How very much love and affection she gets from all of us and those in our lives and around us. She is one of the most loved babies ever. Even her sitter comments that her husband will come home for lunch to eat with the family on days she has the baby just so he can hold her. I've even noticed her Grandma N holding her more than she ever held the other kids. Maybe it's because she is the last grandchild or maybe it's just because she is so beloved. (Grandma N also has great-grandchildren the same age so she gets plenty of baby snuggles but I think there is something to being "last".)

- The sparkle in her eyes when she sees me. I am still her most favorite person.
- How great the big kids are at entertaining her when I need a few extra minutes to finish something up and she has had it with the bouncie seat.
- How excited she gets to see her toys now, especially her books.
- Her baby Mohawk or "Baby Hawk" as we call it and her. I think she will eventually transition to "Lady Hawk". Her sister has always been referred to as "Princess" but she is not referred to as this in the least. As much as I try to flatten her hair down, it stands right back up. Her dad and I actually really love it.

- The cloth diapers. We have lots of different kinds but we've recently found how much we love good 'ole fashioned prefolds and covers. Stuffing diapers was taking way too long. These are just so easy to use and care for. It has cut our laundry time down for sure. Folks always ask us how cloth diapering is going. It's totally not a big deal at all. It's habit now. I have not yet rediscovered my joy for cloth wipes, though.


As I said, it's a growing list and I am sure I will add to it. For now, we're just soaking her up. I'm a little sad she is my last baby but honestly I am quite at peace with it. I've had great birth experiences, great pregnancy experiences, and continuing to enjoy the baby experience. I feel honored and blessed to have the children I do. Our lives are so full - full of love and joy (and laundry, too), but mostly full of joy.