Last night my Willow slept through the entire night without a single peep. I feel renewed and almost like I've weathered part of the parenting storm that washes away so many others for so much longer. Even if she is a total bear tonight and is up and down a million times I will think positively about this morning and how there will be more and more mornings like it coming up just around the corner. The impossible has become possible. I know she can do it, and that thought fills me with happiness.
So far, this age is my absolute favorite. I know that will change as she develops and we discover other new ages that come with exciting advancements, but for the moment, three months is the cat's pajamas. It's not all roses and sunshine, but I'm old enough now to realize that nothing ever is. The teething fairy has stopped by and left us with a bucket of drool and an uncontrollable urge to chew, chew, chew! Fingers are a favorite - mine, hers, Ryan's... it doesn't really matter who the fingers belong to, what's important is the texture. We've tried to move her to toys and teething rings, but obviously we have yet to understand that fingers are the only way to go which she has made quite clear by effectively tossing each and every other item we've attempted to get her interested in to the side and grabbing again for FINGERS! We've soldiered on with some sparingly used baby Tylenol and quite a bit of walking the floors of our house while swaying/bouncing/calming and assuring her that this feeling won't last forever.
She has also made great strides in mobility and is able to turn on her side in both directions and will most likely be rolling over easily before too long. I can feel how strong she is getting and our forays into tummy time have started to go much better and have been building up her increasingly stronger neck muscles. I'm incredibly proud, especially considering that "tummy time" for many weeks was basically a giant failure that went a little something like this:
1. Place baby on her back on a flat, blanketed surface.
2. Turn her over onto her stomach and prop her up slightly on her elbows.
3. Listen to baby scream while she face-plants into the floor.
We did not have the most auspicious start, but these recent weeks have brought on a new, vigorous baby that has a lot more patience for new experiences. Of course, I am extremely grateful because I love watching her improve and I have the pleasure these days of seeing that almost every day. It's pretty much the best thing ever.
To add even further positivity to our world, Willow has become a bucketful of smiles lately, too. She even has ventured close to giving us a laugh a few times. She is especially enamored with her Daddy these days, and he gets a big smile almost every time he looks her direction. And I don't have to be too jealous because I also get a good number of big gummy smiles each day. I'll admit that I will definitely miss her toothless grin when those teeth start coming in. It's just so cute.
So all in all, I really feel quite optimistic these days about our life. Having a baby has been a pretty stressful experience for some of the early days, but it is so encouraging to reach this point where you suddenly feel like it truly is possible! You can live with this little person every day for the rest of their young lives and then continue to worry about them every day for the rest of yours. It's overwhelming for sure and I found it a bit hard to handle at first. But, for the very first time since giving birth I can honestly see not only how we will be able to manage parenting Willow, but also how it might be possible to have another one one of these days. I know, I never thought I'd say it either - but, Gasp! I actually think there's a remote possibility I'd do it again someday. Just maybe.
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