another month has come and gone

 "I look at my daughter's open and shining face. In her mind there are no old jobs, old hurts, or old grudges. No gossip or fretting. Not the debris of dashed hopes or unrealized plans. Nothing hounding her. Nothing to prove. No list on the refrigerator. There is just immediacy, honesty, and perfection. Somehow she trusts that everything she needs will be provided here and now. If I could muster just a tiny bit of her colossal faith that everything is, and will be, okay, I could live differently." 

-from Momma Zen by Karen Maezen Miller

+ The voice! Every day she uses her voice a little more and a little more creatively. There are sing-song-y qualities, chatter sounds, yelps for attention, and giggles that'll stop your heart. On sleepy or quiet days I miss her little sounds. On mornings when all she wants is to hang out, giggle and chat, I can't imagine time spent in any better way than with this awesome, tiny person.

+ About once a week, baby turns mystically into a fountain. Mid-feed she'll pull off, tilt her head back, and before I can recognize the signs, I hear recently ingested breast milk splashing on the floor and soaking all nearby clothing and upholstery. She's a pretty matter of fact and low key kiddo, so she takes it in stride and doesn't even cry a peep.

+ Last Monday, June 30, we had a busy afternoon and evening. 8PM rolled around and our sweet girl had not been given a lick of time in the arms of her daddy. While she nursed she caught his eye. He walked away, she stopped eating and started crying. He came back and she calmed down. He left and she lost it. Back in his arms, she cooed and smiled, looking directly into his eyes. Suddenly we realized- she missed Jake. Until that moment, Jake confessed, he didn't know if she knew him or recognized his voice. Since then, there has been no denying it- she loves her daddy and if she doesn't get her time with him, she feels the loss.

+ Twice in 8 weeks, baby has shown off her powerful digestive system whilst I was changing her. The first time was in the wee hours of the morning. Her legs were lifted for a wiping when #2 was suddenly pelting the face of her Vermont teddy bear 4 feet away in a basket. Several weeks later, on the rushed morning of my cousin's fiance's wedding shower, the wall and baseboard trim just to the left of the aforementioned teddy got acquainted with the mustard liquid too. Hilarious? Yes. Messy and sloppy and utterly surprising? Absolutely. Did I ever think I'd clean newborn poo off the face of a teddy bear with wet wipes at 2AM? No, I did not see that one coming.

+ On multiple occasions in the last week, this little babe has slept right through her middle-of-the-night feeding. The difference between a 3 hour stretch of sleep and a 6 hour stretch? Exponential. And then last night, on her last night before she was suddenly 2 months old, she slept for a whopping 8 hours. In all honesty, I foresee missing our midnight moments if she outgrows them all together. I cherish the bleary-eyed cuddles. I'm hoping she still wants them too, just occasionally at least.