Letter to Becca: Eight Months

Wow kiddo, I'm really behind on writing monthly letters to you--my last one was at five months! This is probably one-part exhaustion and one-part denial that you're actually eight months old already. It still feels like you should be a newborn, even though the truth of the matter is that you're rapidly approaching toddler stage instead.
At this point, you're about two weeks away from the nine month mark, and just in the last few days, you've really been busy. Over the past weekend, you had two teeth pop through (bringing the total to three), you have been going crazy with "talking", and you took your first few steps, for a popsicle (of course). I thought that Lizzy walked super early, but here you are, trumping her by about a month. Terrifying. But I'm also actually looking forward to the walking, because for a little while at least, it will slow you down! You crawl like a spider monkey, and are SUPER fast. You've also started figuring out how to climb things (including stairs), which accounts for the bruise near your eye in this month's photos.
Lately, you've been either FULL of smiles, or a whining and crying mess. You typically want to be held (by me, only) for most of the day. We've all started calling you a koala because you just cling to my side all the time. You LOVE your big sister so much, and still just light up whenever she walks into the room. Lizzy is a very strong personality, and I was worried for awhile that she'd always dominate the room and leave you in the shadows...but the more I watch, the more I see that you'll be just fine. You already don't hesitate to scream at her if she does something that you don't like (such as picking you up), and sometimes I even watch you get this glimmer in your eye and then reach out and pull her hair. Needless to say, gentle is a big theme this month. Dare I say it, but sleep is also *finally* improving a little bit this month, which is a huge relief. For the most part, you've been napping once per day, though I'm still working on getting you into the crib instead of in my arms. And you've only been waking up once a night! And now I need to go find some wood to knock on. Sweet girl, we love you so much and we can't wait to see what the next month holds!
Love Forever and For Always,
Mom

Letter to Becca: 5 months

Dear Becca,

I'm totally in denial that you are almost six months old. As far as I'm concerned, you were born yesterday. It sure does feel like it sometimes! But clearly, you weren't born yesterday. In fact, just last Wednesday, you started crawling. And then yesterday, you started this:

I had to include this last one, even though it's blurry, because it just so perfectly captured this little mischevious gleam that you get in your eye whenever you decide to try and stand. I really would like to push you over, because I'm totally not ready for this to be happening. Heck, I thought your sister was a ridiculously early mover, and she didn't even start to crawl until well after six months. So frankly, the fact that you are already crawling AND also trying to stand? Kinda terrifies me!

During the day, you are usually one of the sweetest, happiest babies I know. You love playing peek-a-boo, being tickled, and doing anything with your sister (you love her so much!). You've been babbling a ton, and even do this sort of "humming" while you're nursing. You are quick to smile and laugh, which I have to admit is a huge blessing, because it kinda off-sets the rough nights we've had around here lately. Sweet girl, you just do not sleep at night. As a general rule, you don't sleep between midnight and 5am ish. I might get a 30 minute stretch here or there, but not typically any more than that. The tough thing is that when you're up in the middle of the night, sometimes NOTHING will calm you down. Not being held/rocked/shushed/patted, etc. You just cry. For about an hour. Then I get you calm enough to sleep, and you sleep for about a half hour, and then we start the cycle all over.

It's especially rough because I'm usually the one who is up with you, and I'm not sure that your dad really understands just how sleep deprived I am right now. When you're not the one in the trenches, it can be easy to forget that sleep deprivation affects everything else and basically makes you feel like you cannot function in any aspect of life. I've felt pretty overwhelmed and maxed out for a couple weeks now, and I'm not sure how much longer I can handle not sleeping coupled with someone in our family having something scheduled every night of the week and just being go-go-go all the time. When Lizzy was a baby, I still felt like I could (mostly) keep up with our crazy busy schedule, because even if she wasn't sleeping at night, I could still sleep whenever she decided to during the day. This time around, with having a toddler, that's just not an option. Something has to give, and soon. Because I almost completely lost my cool and had a complete meltdown last night when your grandpa asked your dad to cover something for him on a Friday night later next month.  I wanted to yell NO NO NO NO NO. As far as I'm concerned, no one is allowed to do anything else. At all. I don't care how small. Because we were maxed out 25 small things ago. NO NO NO NO NO. But I digress.

So. It's been a kind of rough adjustment and couple of months for me, but somehow that roughness still doesn't even really begin to touch the sweet moments with you sweet girl--the smiles, and the giggles, and the open mouthed slobbery kisses.

Love you forever and for always, no matter what.
Mom

Letter to Becca: 3 & 4 Months

Dear Becca,

You've reached this strange point in infancy where I can't believe that you're already four months, and I also can't believe that you're only four months all at the same time. I'd meant to write your three month letter sooner, and then the weeks flew by with hardly a moment to breathe, and here we are at four months already. It took longer to lapse into combined month letters for Lizzy, but here we are already with you.

So, the last few months, you've really grown into a little person with a little personality and little preferences.You're quick to smile and laugh. When you're excited (especially when you know you're about to get to nurse), you kick your little legs like crazy. You also love books, which we're all completely thrilled about.

You seem to prefer to spend time on your stomach (opposed to your back), and in the last two months, you've really mastered rolling. Aside from an occasional stuck shoulder, you can generally roll however you want-- which is usually off the blanket that I've laid you on. In fact, just last weekend, you rolled yourself right into the kitchen! Over the last couple of days, you've also started scooting, and like to try to pull yourself onto all fours, though you don't stay that way for very long. Sometimes you can tripod sit unassisted, sometimes you just topple over.

Over the course of the past few months, you've also started waking very frequently at night. I'll admit, I'd kind of forgotten about the 4 month wakeful, and how hard it is--just like with your sister, we got a teaser of a few nights of REAL sleep, which just makes the transition to waking every hour or two again even more brutal. About a week ago, after a particularly rough couple of nights sleep-wise, your sister asked if she could watch Dora and hold you before bed. I was bone tired, and so I let her...and I couldn't believe my eyes, but you fell right asleep on Lizzy's lap! One interesting difference between you and Lizzy--you really love to have something snuggly up against your face while you're falling sleep, be it stuffed animal or blanket. Lizzy was not that way at all! She wouldn't even hold any of the stuffed animals that people gave us--it was only when SHE picked out a stuffed animal herself at the store that she started to like one, and she became fiercely attached to "Baa-Baa"! So far, as long as it is soft, you love it, and haven't formed an attachment to any one over the other--it'll be interesting to see if you do as you get older.

Let's see...what else? You seem like you're teething, but teeth haven't actually popped through, so who knows. Also, you've actually tasted "real" food. With Lizzy, I was kind of obsessed about waiting until 6 months until we let her try anything. Since then, I've kind of come to realize that every kid is different, and the "rules" may or may not apply. Lately, you've been really interested in trying to grab food off our plates at meals, and so when you grabbed for some banana, I let you try some. Sometimes you're interested in trying food and sometimes you're not. I'm not sure why, but with Lizzy I think I thought that once we "went there" with solids, that we had to jump to solids as a form of nutrition. With you, you're definitely still breastfeeding as the main form of nutrition, and occasionally tasting a bite or two of food when you seem interested. And I'm okay with that.

We've also been babywearing you a bit more than we wore your sister, which I think is pretty typical for second kiddos. Your dad even wore you for the first time over the weekend, and true to form, he went all out on his first attempt at it, wearing you while we walked a 5k! I've gotta say, there's something pretty hot about a dad wearing a baby. Ahem. You probably did not need to know that. But it's true. And I hope that someday you're lucky enough to have a husband who is just as great as your dad.

 
Love you a bushel and a peck,
Mom

Letter to Becca: Two Months

Becca,

You are smiling! And laughing! This month, you really started interacting with us, and it is just so much fun to watch you grin when your dad gets home from work, or watch you track your sister as she runs around the room. I sort of feel like you went from a newborn to a four month old (and I think you look a lot like your sister did at about that age)--you're already trying your hand at tripod sitting and rolling over. I think we may have another early walker on our hands. 

 We went to the doctor this month, and you weigh 12 pounds! I don't remember when Lizzy hit that point, but I feel like it was MUCH later, like maybe 7 or 8 months! I'm thankful that you've been much more interested in nursing than your sister is. There are still some days (and nights!) that you want to eat every hour, but for the most part, we've settled into a more predicable 3-4 hour schedule.

You are a total snuggle bug, sweet girl. You really would prefer to be hold 24/7, and especially for naps. We've been babywearing a lot more than I ever wore Lizzy at this point, and are still figuring out which sort of carrier works best for you and me. 

Love you a bushel and a peck (and a hug around your neck), 

Mom

Letter to Becca: One Month

Becca,

This morning, as you were sleeping on my chest, I was looking back at the letter than I wrote your sister when she was a month old, and I think if there's one thing I was struck by, it was how much of Lizzy's personality was already on display at only one month old! 

 {LOVE how the quilt my mom made for Becca turned out!}

So, that brought me to think of you, and speculate what you'll be like in a few years based on your personality now--and I think that for the most part, you'll be a quiet observer. You're a pretty calm baby for the most part. You're very alert, just like Lizzy was, but while she would kick her legs like crazy and let out these little baby shrieks, you prefer just to quietly study everything. That said, you also aren't afraid to let us know if there's something that you really don't like...for example, if I try to put a knit hat on you? You are ticked, and you let me know!

Just like Lizzy, you're constantly lifting your head up and pushing up on your arms to see what's going on. You still love to eat, and are a champion nurser. We took you to the pediatrician this past weekend for the terrible baby acne you've got going on (poor thing!), and you already weigh 10 pounds 2 ounces! Lizzy was only 12 pounds at seven months, so this is a bit of uncharted territory for me, but happily so! It's so nice to have a baby who will actually breastfeed without fighting every single session.

We all love you more than we could say, but your big sister is still especially enamored with you, and basically wants to be touching you 24 hours a day. Lizzy is a great big sister to you, always reading you books and giving you kisses. While taking some photos of you this past weekend, I snapped two that aren't technically "good" photos, but I couldn't bear to delete them because I felt like they probably perfectly captured what life is like for you at this point!

 On Sunday, you were baptized, which your sister was absolutely thrilled about--she has been asking us when you were going to be baptized for weeks. After church, we took our first photo as a family of four--I can't believe we hadn't taken one sooner! In some ways, I can hardly believe you're a month old already...and in other ways, it feels like you've been with us forever! Can't imagine life without you sweet girl!

Love you forever and for always,
Mom