So, she has started smiling, but not really for the camera. She smiles for me. And Pip and Moriarty. But it’s highly social so if I try to put a camera in the mix she just gets distracted and stops smiling. We got one candid side pic, but more will come with time.
I’m having a very different maternity leave experience. I am still high strung and a bit crazy, but I really struggled being home with Moriarty. I was very emotionally reactive to his needs, and felt trapped and bored. I loved him to pieces and he was quite charming, I felt overwhelmed. I was anxious to go back to work weeks before I did. I was clearly not cut out to be a stay at home mom. I expected I would feel that way again and prepared for it. I’m taking a couple weeks off longer this time but was really worried about how I’d feel. And I feel awesome. Not perfect, but just sitting around holding her while she sleeps is great. Playing on the floor is fun. I don’t miss work, at all really. It’s kinda mind blowing. I was scheduled to have 3 more weeks home and have actually extended to the full 12 week FMLA option. I am a very different person than I was 4 years ago. I’m a better mom. I’m more patient. It’s a stark contrast for me and Pip, in a good way.
I read that to help babies understand day/night (and therefore sleep at night!), it’s helpful to take them into natural light in the mornings. So, every morning, Lorelei and I (and often Moriarty) go take a walk in the yard or sit out on the back porch and look at the trees and listen to the birds. We spend a lot of time on the back porch. In fact, we are as I write. The yard is full of humming birds, bunnies, and now that the apple tree is fruiting, deer. This morning a baby deer come to eat apples on the porch. BABY DEER! We’ve been able to have dinner outside most days and really enjoy the property. A baby red-tailed hawk fell from its nest and was treated by a local wildlife group. The nest is on our property so they did a hawk release on our roof. The next day I saw momma and baby hawk screeching at each other. I call this our Disney Forrest. The kids get to grow up here!
Moriarty is an amazing big brother. When he hears her start to fuss he’ll talk to her in Motherese and say “it’s ok Lo-re-LEI, you’re ok”. He pronounces Lorelei with clear syllabic distinction and emphasis on the last syllable. If she’s fussy in her bouncy chair he’ll come up and bounce it for her. When he had a cold (again) I wouldn’t let him touch or kiss her so now that he’s healthy he is happily washing his hands then holding her little hands and asking to kiss her head a lot. So cute. I’m so excited to watch as their relationship grows.
I could write several blogs of just hysterical stuff Moriarty says, but I’ll stick to two. First, endearing. I sewed him and me matching pants (that I used to only wear as PJs but now don’t care and wear them often) One day I had on mine but he didn’t have on his, and I said darn, we could have been twinsies. His response, “we still are, we have the same nose”. Something about this just warmed my heart. My little piece of myself. The second thing to relay was more... philosophical. The other night I asked him where Pip was. He replied, “I don’t know where he is. He knows where he is.” I hope Uncle Don is proud.
Author’s correction: it was brought to my attention that Pam Johnson (Pip’s mom) did indeed have some red in her hair when she was younger. Gladly, no erroneous accusations of infidelity arose from my error.