This past weekend we went to a carnival at our friends’ little boy’s school. There were acrobats and other performers there, and this woman was doing tricks with some hula hoops. I thought it was pretty neat.
Just a little reminder to keep some whimsy in your life!
I can’t believe that three months have gone by since Áine was born. As you can see, I have not been to this space for quite a while, and it’s because she is certainly keeping me busy!
Our days are filled with little activities, little crises, little triumphs. From four weeks through twelve weeks, it was pretty rough. She was inconsolable a lot, and things that used to work to calm her down didn’t really work anymore. She has days where she literally won’t let us set her down for longer than fifteen minutes. That makes for a tiring, back-aching day. But then some days she’ll sack out in her crib and take a three hour nap. She doesn’t really have a schedule yet, which is the hardest thing. I would love to be able to have an idea of when and for how long she’s going to sleep. For example, last night she slept for twelve – count ‘em – TWELVE hours, from 8pm-8am with only a couple very brief wakeups. I am under no illusion that this is going to be a regular thing anytime soon, but man was it sweet.
The past week she has really seemed to turn a corner with her mood. For the most part, when she is awake, she is smiling and laughing and wanting to play. She’s very alert and loves to face outward in the Baby Bjorn so she can take in the sights. She loves songs and thinks that blowing raspberries is the funnest thing ever. She has become very chatty and makes lots of “talking” noises. I tell her that I could listen to her talk all day long, that I love the sound of her little voice. She loves her baths, and does very good “splashy-splashy”, where she kicks her legs in the water and drenches whoever happens to be standing next to her tub. She loves napping with us in the afternoons, and in the early mornings if she wakes up around 6am or so, I pull her into bed with us and she’ll fall back asleep between us for another hour.
I love those times, when all three of us are just waking up and she sees us and smiles big and coos her good morning greetings. THAT is what I was wanting all that time Hawk and I were trying to get pregnant, that feeling of being a family. Since she was born, I’ve been reflecting on the three+ years it took to get here, and as hard as my two miscarriages were, if they hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have Áine. I wouldn’t get to be her mom, to see her with Hawk, to be falling in love with him all over again because of the man he is as a father. Sure, I might have another child, but Áine is the one we were meant to have. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
