Lorelei has impressive head/neck strength. She also loves tummy time so it’s not shocking that she is on the early side for her next developmental milestone, rolling over! With the caveat of course that she has to be on uneven ground. Conveniently we have a yard with no flat space. Today during outdoor tummy time she rolled over front-to-back 3 times. She’s so big and strong and smiley. She gets more fun every day. Except for her deep hatred of eating. I don’t think it’s an early sign of an eating disorder, but damn kid. She seems to be very sensitive to gas, wet diapers, and milk temperature while eating. Very sensitive. The first ¼ to ½ of the feeding goes great, then a gas bubble (or 5) get trapped and she begs for the bottle then screams once she starts eating. Not every feeding, but several times a day. We’re considering changing formulas (for the 4th time). Then in addition to the gas she’ll pee 2-3x during the feeding and if the milk gets cold over those 45 min we have to heat it up again to have any luck. After a week of this horror I discovered she loves eating in her bouncy chair. So now my back is torqued but she’s eating. MUAHAHAH.
I’ve been having some thoughts around Lorelei being a girl that surprise me. If you aren’t paying attention, we’re a very gender fluid family. When I was pregnant with Moriarty I thought he’d be a girl, but wasn’t, and I had gender disappointment for about a day then was thrilled we were having a son. We dressed him in a wide spectrum of colors and didn’t keep his gender at the forefront of our thinking. When I was pregnant again I kinda hoped we’d have another boy. I thought we were doing great with Moriarty, but then we found out she’s a girl and I was just as happy. I wasn’t thinking much beyond the baby years yet in terms of her being a girl. Now the kids looked nearly identical at first so I kept seeing him when I looked at her. Which was frustrating. What I realized last month was that when I dress her in pink AKA ”girl” colors, I see her instead of the memory of Moriarty. WHAT IS GOING ON??? This feels like some betrayal of feminism.
In addition to the clothing color oddness, I’ve realized I’m imagining her growing up much more vividly than I did with Moriarty. I don’t know what being an 8 or 12 year old boy feels like. And though intellectually I know every kid is different and has a unique experience, I see her in her future in ways I just hadn’t before. I wonder if this is just part of missing Mom. Seeing my daughter growing up in my head and singing with me and moving through the world as the best of me without so much baggage weighing her down. But as herself.
Other news, Moriarty spent a few days camping with Papa Kent and Grammy Pammy. And Lorelei is really smiley when she wakes up. See the myriad of pictures.