Baby Echo,
I'm at a coffee shop, across from your daycare, with my laptop, working. My mind is with you, hoping you are distracted by fun, and not missing mama. Yesterday it was our first warm-up day. We went in at 8am. I stayed with you until 9:45, and then left for 15 minutes. When I came back, you were playing in the yard. At 10am we headed home together.
Today we went in at 8:30. You did paint work with the other kids, and then cried for mama. I picked you up. We played with your doll Susan, and a girl brought us a book to read. Another boy joined us, and brought us another book when we were done. They were interested in the story too. I left at 9:10. You cried, looked at me and cried deep. I waved, I kissed, and said I'll be back soon, smiling, about to cry myself. The teacher took you in her arms as I waited outside the door until you stopped. I looked in from a distance, making sure you don't see me. The teacher nodded that you were all right.
So here I am, across the street, waiting for 10:30. Can't wait to hold you and comfort you, cover your little face in kisses. When we get home, after a short while, your nanny Faith will take over. Late afternoon, you'll be mine. Next week, the warm-up will continue, little by little, you'll stay longer each day, until August.
Love you so much.
Mommy
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Monday, July 13, 2015
One-year specs and other developments
My baby Echo,
It's nearly a month since you turned one. I wish we could celebrate the day again. Watching you poke the giant cake with your finger again and again, and lick it, oblivious to norms, is priceless. In your future birthdays, you will be conscious of the day, but I think you will still poke the irresistible cake for a few more years. Your sister still does it.
Your specs from your 1-year doctor's checkup, with delay:
Height: 30.5 inches (77.5 cm)
Weight: 8.6 Kg
Head circumference: 17.13 inches
90th percentile height, 35-40th percentile weight.
You're tall and slim, but you eat like an older kid. You still have only six teeth.
Echo, give me a kiss" I say. "Mmma" you say, smacking your lips.
When I leave, nonna holds you by the window, so we can wave good bye. I blow kisses at you, and cross my arms on my chest into a hug, to say "I love you." Now you blow kisses too. Yesterday when I came home, you blew a kiss, and crossed your arms for "I love you" just like I do.
I forgot to mention that I bought you new shoes, as soon as you started walking. You try to pull the velcro open, and stretch your foot so I put them on you. Here they are:
Nonna got you very cute ones a couple of months prior, white, with yellow accents, but by the time you started walking, your feet grew.
You love the tomatoes that grow in our garden. You point at them "a! a! a!" asking me to pick some for you. When I weed in the yard, or pick lettuce, you pull onto whatever plant near by, imitating my actions, and show me your hands, holding the torn greens, with the satisfaction of camaraderie.
You are crazy about handbags. You know where the bags are in my closet. You point at them "ba! ba!" and pull one out of the drawer.You put the handle on your arm, take things in and out, and walk around. Zoe had the same obsession.
You know how to say "More" in sign language. It took you only one effort to learn. And now you use it with pride. You also know the sign for drink, and when I show you your sippy cup with water, you say "Wa! Wa!" When I say "cow milk" you say "mooo."
We celebrated Zoe's 5th birthday with her friends on Saturday. A pool party with real baby bunnies. She'll turn 5 in two days. This year, the gift bags for the guests also included a gift from you. Like she did with Zoe, nonna prepared Confetti to celebrate your birth. Decorative bags filled with almond shaped chocolates, and a card, with your name and your date of birth. I put one in your memory box, so you can see it when you get older. On your birthday, we gave them to our close friends, and on Zoe's birthday, we put one in each gift bag. Here is a picture of the confetti we gave to close friends, along with the one we gave at Zoe's birthday party. This is very important, because it is one of the little gestures that you matter and that you are special to us.
Zoe wished we had a coo coo clock! Nonna told nonno to bring one along from Italy. And he did. First few weeks, the family gathered around it every time the bird was about to coo coo. Zoe asked to be lifted so she could see the bird up close, chirping with her bubbly talk until she saw the bird. You pointed at the clock "ah! "ah!" your big eyes on my face, as if you wanted me to know something very important is about to happen. We lifted you both, and we all waited. The window opened, and the bird coo cooed. We all got excited. The scene repeated hourly in the evenings when we were all at home. Now we are calmer about it, but still wish to see the bird. Zoe runs from her room with the first coo coo, and gets disappointed if she misses it. So papa recorded the coo coo, for you girls to watch whenever you want.
We're still working on reducing your nursing sessions. As a first step, I eliminated one pumping session, and replaced it with cow milk. But in return, you added a physical nursing session to the schedule. Weekends are great for reducing boob milk intake. We are out and about most of the day. You are easily distracted by your surroundings, and you can't concentrate for a duration of a full nursing session. But come evenings, you make up for the lost time. You still get up every night between 3:30 and 5:30 to nurse. I don't known if you really want to nurse or just need mama love. What if I refused to nurse, and held you tight instead? Will you be ok with that? I could try, but I'm inclined to think I'll fail, because you know how to access your milk supply and you are plenty strong to pull the shirt away. And it's so hard as a mom to say no to something that you want from me that only I can give. When you were younger, I thought it would be easy to ween you. With Zoe it was a tragedy, but you seemed so much more chilled about it. As you grew older your attitude changed. I;m very happy that I can provide something that means so much to you. But here we are, past the one year mark, and you are eating so well. Fly, little girl, be free. You don't need my boob anymore. I love you. We need a vacation full of fun that last longer than a weekend, to get your mind off your milk stores.
Love,
Mommy.
It's nearly a month since you turned one. I wish we could celebrate the day again. Watching you poke the giant cake with your finger again and again, and lick it, oblivious to norms, is priceless. In your future birthdays, you will be conscious of the day, but I think you will still poke the irresistible cake for a few more years. Your sister still does it.
Your specs from your 1-year doctor's checkup, with delay:
Height: 30.5 inches (77.5 cm)
Weight: 8.6 Kg
Head circumference: 17.13 inches
90th percentile height, 35-40th percentile weight.
You're tall and slim, but you eat like an older kid. You still have only six teeth.
Echo, give me a kiss" I say. "Mmma" you say, smacking your lips.
When I leave, nonna holds you by the window, so we can wave good bye. I blow kisses at you, and cross my arms on my chest into a hug, to say "I love you." Now you blow kisses too. Yesterday when I came home, you blew a kiss, and crossed your arms for "I love you" just like I do.
I forgot to mention that I bought you new shoes, as soon as you started walking. You try to pull the velcro open, and stretch your foot so I put them on you. Here they are:
Nonna got you very cute ones a couple of months prior, white, with yellow accents, but by the time you started walking, your feet grew.
You love the tomatoes that grow in our garden. You point at them "a! a! a!" asking me to pick some for you. When I weed in the yard, or pick lettuce, you pull onto whatever plant near by, imitating my actions, and show me your hands, holding the torn greens, with the satisfaction of camaraderie.
You are crazy about handbags. You know where the bags are in my closet. You point at them "ba! ba!" and pull one out of the drawer.You put the handle on your arm, take things in and out, and walk around. Zoe had the same obsession.
You know how to say "More" in sign language. It took you only one effort to learn. And now you use it with pride. You also know the sign for drink, and when I show you your sippy cup with water, you say "Wa! Wa!" When I say "cow milk" you say "mooo."
We celebrated Zoe's 5th birthday with her friends on Saturday. A pool party with real baby bunnies. She'll turn 5 in two days. This year, the gift bags for the guests also included a gift from you. Like she did with Zoe, nonna prepared Confetti to celebrate your birth. Decorative bags filled with almond shaped chocolates, and a card, with your name and your date of birth. I put one in your memory box, so you can see it when you get older. On your birthday, we gave them to our close friends, and on Zoe's birthday, we put one in each gift bag. Here is a picture of the confetti we gave to close friends, along with the one we gave at Zoe's birthday party. This is very important, because it is one of the little gestures that you matter and that you are special to us.
Zoe wished we had a coo coo clock! Nonna told nonno to bring one along from Italy. And he did. First few weeks, the family gathered around it every time the bird was about to coo coo. Zoe asked to be lifted so she could see the bird up close, chirping with her bubbly talk until she saw the bird. You pointed at the clock "ah! "ah!" your big eyes on my face, as if you wanted me to know something very important is about to happen. We lifted you both, and we all waited. The window opened, and the bird coo cooed. We all got excited. The scene repeated hourly in the evenings when we were all at home. Now we are calmer about it, but still wish to see the bird. Zoe runs from her room with the first coo coo, and gets disappointed if she misses it. So papa recorded the coo coo, for you girls to watch whenever you want.
We're still working on reducing your nursing sessions. As a first step, I eliminated one pumping session, and replaced it with cow milk. But in return, you added a physical nursing session to the schedule. Weekends are great for reducing boob milk intake. We are out and about most of the day. You are easily distracted by your surroundings, and you can't concentrate for a duration of a full nursing session. But come evenings, you make up for the lost time. You still get up every night between 3:30 and 5:30 to nurse. I don't known if you really want to nurse or just need mama love. What if I refused to nurse, and held you tight instead? Will you be ok with that? I could try, but I'm inclined to think I'll fail, because you know how to access your milk supply and you are plenty strong to pull the shirt away. And it's so hard as a mom to say no to something that you want from me that only I can give. When you were younger, I thought it would be easy to ween you. With Zoe it was a tragedy, but you seemed so much more chilled about it. As you grew older your attitude changed. I;m very happy that I can provide something that means so much to you. But here we are, past the one year mark, and you are eating so well. Fly, little girl, be free. You don't need my boob anymore. I love you. We need a vacation full of fun that last longer than a weekend, to get your mind off your milk stores.
Love,
Mommy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)