Baby Laughter

 

There is nothing in the world so precious as the laughter of my 7-week-old baby. Luckily for me, Acacia is quickly becoming a happy and playful little girl, and I get to hear those adorable laughs every day. She first started laughing in her sleep only days after being born, and recently she's begun to laugh at funny faces, booped noses, kissed cheeks, and some events that are mysterious to me yet apparently hilarious in the baby world.

Booping Acacia's nose became even more exciting for her when I started intermittently booping my own nose, and then leading her tiny fist to boop first Mommy's nose, then (most exciting of all!) her own. The first time I did this her eyes opened wide with amazement for a moment, then she started laughing and waving her fist for more. So cute!

Cheek kissing has also become a game. I'll lean over her, make a big "O" face (raised eyebrows, wide eyes, open mouth), and then lean in for a big smack on one of her cheeks. She's begun to anticipate the kiss when I make the "O" face now, so I'll pause at that point and she'll get all excited -- grinning, sucking in her breath, turning her head a little to one side so her cheek is toward me, and looking at me out of the corners of her smile-squinted eyes. It's the most adorable face! When I lean in and kiss her cheek, she grins even bigger and tosses her head and squeals with laughter. Sometimes as I lean in, she'll turn her head at the last minute so I kiss her lips instead of her cheek -- tricky girl! I could play this game with Acacia all day.

I feel so lucky to have such a special little girl in my life. It's wonderful getting to know her as more of her growing personality emerges. I'm looking forward to spending the rest of my life getting to know her better... but I can wait for that. Right now, I'm happy to listen to her baby laughter.

A Day in the Life of a Newborn

Acacia continues to enchant us with her amazing cuteness, as we try to settle into at least a semblance of routine. Dave is back at work, leaving the house in the pitch black that is 5:30am and returning in the pitch black that is 5:30pm -- welcome to Alaska in November! Acacia and I, having been up half the night nursing, try to sleep in a while longer (or at least, we lay in bed nursing and pretending we're not awake yet). Tired as I am, seeing Acacia grin and giggle around a mouthful of breast with milk dripping down her chin makes it all worthwhile!

We spend the day mostly in the nursing chair, since my sweet little milk monster is hungry every hour or two. Between meals she sleeps -- unless I try to put her in her cradle, in which case she wakes and is hungry again. For about a total of two hours each day, Acacia is awake and not busy eating (or having her diaper changed). She spends this time just looking around, sometimes from her cradle and sometimes from my arms as we walk around the house or try to get a couple chores done (laundry is a daily occurrence now, as everything near us ends up wet and smelling like milk). She can be fascinated by the smallest thing -- a shadow on the wall, a lamp above her, an interesting pattern, a window -- and stare intently for minutes on end before blinking and shaking her head as if to wake herself. I wonder what she's thinking about...

Invariably, as soon as Dave gets home from work and I set dinner on the table, Acacia wakes from a nap and wants to be held or nursed. I'm getting quite good at eating with one hand. She usually spends the early evening awake and looking around, then drifts off in my arms with an after-dinner snack and spends the rest of the evening napping while Dave and I watch a movie or read or spend time on our computers. She wakes up just in time to nurse back to sleep for bed... for a couple hours. And the cycle begins again.

Life with a newborn can be frustrating at times and is definitely tiring, but it is also beautiful, wonderful, and miraculous. I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Acacia's Three-Week Birthday!

Three weeks ago today, on October 22nd at 3:50 in the morning, Acacia was born into the world. It seems like no time at all - she's still so tiny and helpless and brand new - and yet I can barely imagine what life must have been like without her. Acacia has managed, in three short weeks, to make herself an irreplaceable, indispensable, immensely important part of our lives. And she's been a busy little girl during those first three weeks! Besides the whole ordeal of being born, Acacia has:

~ entertained visitors in the hospital and at home

~ had her first sponge bath, sink bath, and big tub bath (with Mommy!)

~ been pestered constantly by the paparazzi (mostly Mommy and Grammy)

~ learned to nurse beautifully, even in her sleep

~ outgrown all her "Newborn"-sized clothes

~ been to her first doctor appointment

~ been on her first long car ride (taking Grammy to the airport in Anchorage)

~ been on her first grocery shopping trip

~ learned to follow Mommy's finger with her eyes

~ used a computer for the first time (with a little help from Daddy!)

~ learned to scare Mommy by throwing up out her nose

~ spent hours on end calmly looking around and taking in the sights

~ been completely adorable when she grins and laughs in her sleep

~ been completely lovable every minute of every day.

Bringing Home Baby

I knew, logically, that having a baby would change my life. Now that Acacia is home with Dave and me, I'm beginning to realize just how completely she's changed it already, and will continue to change it in the years ahead. What I didn't anticipate was how much having a baby would change me.

Somehow I must still be the same person who went into the hospital a pregnant woman and came back out a mother. Yet all the little things that seemed important to that pregnant woman feel worlds away now, and the new mother in me can't focus on anything other than the beautiful, wonderful, tiny, fragile, sweet little angel who sleeps and nurses and sleeps again... and occasionally stares at my face with her lovely dark eyes as though memorizing it, while completely mesmerizing me.

The moment I first held her, I loved her more truly and deeply than I could ever have imagined possible, and I know without a doubt that I would do anything for this amazing little person who depends on her daddy and me so completely. When she laughs in her sleep, my heart soars; when she cries, my heart breaks; when she finishes nursing only to cuddle closer to me with a tiny sigh of contentment, my heart overflows and my world is complete.