(no subject)

[rivka]

Sweet Jesus, what a night. And now this morning's nap appears to be on very thin ice indeed. What a joy and a blessing motherhood is.

No, seriously, it is. I'm sure it is. As I will now proceed to remind myself by posting a developmental update, because the alternative would probably involve crying or writing Alex out of my will. (People ask how I can manage to post in my LJ, what with the baby and all. My question is, how could I manage if I didn't post? I'd be a candidate for the loony bin if it were just me and Alex all day all the time.)

It's amazing how rapidly cognitive development unfolds. Alex is only seven and a half weeks old, but she's already so much more capable and strong and interactive than she was even a couple of weeks ago. I remember how awed I was when she first locked her gaze on my face and really seemed to see me. Now she tracks moving objects. I watch as I change her diaper. She gazes intently at one of the teddy bears as her mobile rotates overhead, and moves her eyes and head smoothly to watch it pass from left to right. Then she looks back over to the left to pick up another bear and follow its track. She's also started to visually lock on to interesting objects from wherever she is in the room - for example, she'll watch the bedroom ceiling fan from her bouncy seat, or the changing station, or the bed. The different distances and angles don't hinder her.

There's a whole new world of toys and games, now. She adores the stuffed birds curlygrrl gave her, which make ornithologically-correct birdcalls when squeezed. Alex can't squeeze them, but she likes it when I do, and she likes when I brush the fuzzy topfeathers of the galah against her face and neck. Just the appearance of the lorakeet can make her laugh, even before she hears its call. The other favorite toy is a stuffed turtle with a soft mirror on one side and some dangling rattles/grabby bits below. Alex loves to look in the mirror, and she's starting to show more interest in handling and grabbing what she sees.

We play this game: I smile at Alex and stick my tongue out. She grins back at me. I stick my tongue out again, and she grins again. After a couple of rounds, she sticks her tongue out too, and then we both grin like crazy and stick our tongues out at each other.

She's started to be able to hit things on purpose. This amazes me. There was always plenty of arm flailing, and sometimes she hit things by accident - but now she flails purposefully, bashing her fist into the rattle that hangs from her turtle toy, or the swinging globe with the bell in it that hangs from her bouncy seat. She's not so good at reach-and-grab, but she flails like a champ.

She wants to walk. No, actually, she wants to mountain climb. When I hold her upright, she works her little legs in ceaseless climbing/stepping motions, pushing each foot alternately against my stomach, hard. Her arms wave in synch. I call this move "scaling Mount Mama." When I lay her down on her tummy, she makes crawling motions with her arms and legs. She doesn't appear to have read the developmental milestones calendar. Either that, or she sees no reason to mess around with some piddly "hold head up"/"roll over" stuff when there are heights to be scaled. Excelsior!

She's making more vocalizations, including, sometimes, a happy and excited "Ah!" Mostly she still hums and grunts. We're starting to have more "conversations," where her end of the interaction is kept up by eye contact, smiles, and random noises. She's starting to pay more attention to singing, which is fun for us. We do a lot of dancing and singing in the sling.

She doesn't hate as many things as she used to. She's much more tolerant of having her clothes or her diaper changed. She can be distracted from hateful activities by speech or moving toys. Last night when she was being absolutely repellently awful, changing her out of her adorably butch denim overalls into a nightgown at bedtime didn't make it any worse. (Believe me, it didn't used to be that way.)

And she's still very sweet...



...sometimes.

Comments

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

Thank god for the internets, dispelling maternal isolation! I'm sorry The Mountaineer is having a cranky night/day.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

if you need to fedex her to someone for a week, just let me know. i can accept deliveries here at work. ;)

[saoba.livejournal.com]

I honestly didn't realize how often I said "That's it, kid, you're out of the will' until my then not quite 3 year old son told his younger sister she was "ou' ob da will" in an uncanny imitation of my own resigned delivery.

Such things tickle me greatly. Even more so was hearing my grandson tell his baby sister 'You are so outa the will'. Of such tiny steps is tradition born.

[txanne.livejournal.com]

OMG those overalls slay me!!

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, thank the gods for LJ (and the internet in general) - it totally saved my sanity and my soul during the first month or so!

Very cute, though, even if she's driving you crazy....

[morning-glory.livejournal.com]

Have you read Mother Shock: Loving Every (Other) Minute of It by Andrea Buchanan yet? This book saved my sanity when my LB was this age (she's now a year old). It's a wonderfully warm and witty look at the concept of motherhood in our culture, and affirms that it's ok not to be enamored of the little tykes every single moment of every single day.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

It's funny you should ask. I read it while I was pregnant, and just this morning I hauled it out again.

Why are you surprised?

[(Anonymous)]

Rivka, you are one of the most intelligent, sensitive, and articulate persons I've ever had the privilege to encounter. Nonetheless, you've apparently been at least somewhile surprised by how difficult it is to care for a tiny baby. If I'm correct about your being surprised, I'd love for you to comment on why.

[jmhm.livejournal.com]

and still with the baby wrists and the baby feet and the baby ankles.

I have to remind myself about four year olds sometimes when faced with baby wrists and baby feet and baby ankles.

[porcinea.livejournal.com]

I'd bet she'd really like the game where you tie one of her feet to the mobile with a long ribbon. When she kicks, whee! goes the mobile.

"White House Nannies"

[(Anonymous)]

Quote from review of new book White House Nannies:

[Author Barbara Kline] stayed home for her first months with Matt and realized it was making her nuts. "The miracle of motherhood," she writes, "is that more of us don't run away from home."

Re: Why are you surprised?

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Um. Who are you, please?

Re: "White House Nannies"

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, but dreaming about it is so nice . . . can you imagine a whole weekend with no kids interrupting your sleep? Heaven!

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

I've been re-reading this too. It's very different now than when I was pregnant. :)

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Yeah it is! I keep alternately laughing out loud and tearing up. I found it absorbing when I was pregnant, but now I'm incredibly emotionally involved in it.