dear maggie girl,
you are three months old and right in the middle of your 12 week/three month growth spurt. i'm writing this a few days early, but you are most assuredly no longer a newborn. it's hard to believe that's true, since it seems only yesterday that you were born, but you have reached the stage where you would much rather look at the world than do just about anything else. i'm so excited by that--you are learning, every minute, and i know it. it's daunting, too, baby girl--i have to make sure to teach you as you look and to help you learn as you see. i also have to make sure to set a good example, and i'm not sure watching psych all day is doing that. but we're trying. watching you take in the world is awesome.
you have done so many new things this month! you were teasing us with rolling over, but you've done it! multiple times! we were at your grandma and grandpa lamkin's house when you did it two times for reals, and it took my breath away. front to back, like it was no big deal--once in one direction and once in the other. you had such an audience, and you seemed to love that. i think you might be a people person, maggie. i've thought that for a while, because you love faces and people and interaction more than any toy, but in that moment, my heart told me that you might be a performer at heart.
you've been talking more and more. in fact, today, i left you in your pack and play for a while, hoping you would finally go to sleep, but you just moved around and wiggled and talked. it was sort of awesome to watch, except that you should have been sleeping. i think you're just so excited about all that you're seeing that you find wonder even in the pastel green edging of your little pack and play bassinette. i like that about you. you seem to be entertained and content by most anything. i was that way too, and so was your daddy--so it makes sense that you are too.
you're starting to act like you want to sit up too. i often have you on my legs, in a reclining position, facing me. now, you start to do these little baby crunches and pull yourself up to a sitting position. when i sit you up from laying, your head control is so much better--your head often follows your shoulders rather than falling back, the exception being when you are tired. you like to sit up when you are propped up or on our laps. you do really well reading books like that, and you seem to get really annoyed, especially when we're trying to soothe you to sleep, to not be facing the world. your daddy discovered this about you first--i just thought you were being cranky--and he's right. you want to jump into life and not miss a thing. yesterday, when we were playing on your play mat, you turned to your side. in fact, you seemed to be trying to roll from back to front. when i helped you roll onto your tummy, you got this look on your face like that's exactly what you wanted to do. i don't think it will be long before you're doing both regularly--and heaven help us when that's true! a mobile maggie will be quite the sight.
you are gaining weight and height so quickly! awe just finished a growth spurt at the beginning of this month, and we're ending it with another. you're out of size 1 diapers now and have been for several weeks. i knew it was time when you were leaking more than ever--you never do that unless you're too small for your diapers. i thought size 2s were too big at first, but it's become quite apparent that they're just right. :) your cute 0-3 month onesies are now too small too. you can still fit into them, but they look a little bit absurd now, with plunging necklines and bulging snaps. it's time for me to weed them out of your drawers and replace them with the bigger things we've gotten for you. i guess we'll pack them away for either a sibling or for when you have a doll that you'd like to dress. that was daddy's idea too. :) i think you've gained at least a pound and a half this month--or at least that's what the scale says when we unscientifically weight you. you've definitely gained at least an inch or an inch and a half. that's extraordinary--i can only imagine what your brain's been doing.
even though they're doing amazing things for you, growth spurts aren't my favorite thing, baby girl, and this one that we're in right now seems to be a doozy. yesterday, you ate 31 ounces! that's a new personal record for you. i know it's a growth spurt for sure because you woke up last night in the middle of the night starving and you ate 5 ounces like it was no big deal. extraordinary. you're fighting sleep during the day SO hard and will only sleep if you're on mommy or daddy. i hate that, not because i dislike having you with me (so far from the truth--i actually really love it), but because i want you to learn to sleep in your bed. but i guess we'll do that in good time, and probably not when you seem to need us so much. you need your sleep, and i'll take it any way i can get it. sometimes i have to stop myself from trying to make you bigger than you are. you're so advanced, and you seem so much bigger than you are, that i have to remember that you're still little and there's plenty of time for things like nap training. i have a feeling you'll find your way. you've found your way with almost everything else.
you're growing to like your toys. in fact, it seems like this week you've grown to like your toys even more. yesterday, when you were playing on your mat, you seemed to really like the chimey hanging toy that you used to be annoyed by. you continue to really like your giraffe with the hanging legs, and today you grabbed your teething giraffe and seemed to snuggle it. you held on to it for a while--that was amazing! i'm thinking that you're going to like loving on toys, like your teething giraffe sophie, but i think you're going to like sticking everything in your mouth first. you are a drool monster right now, which is sort of adorable, and you stick everything in your mouth. i'll find you eating your shirt, your hands, your toys, your spit rag--most anything you can put near your mouth goes into your mouth. i am feeling like it's nearly time to babyproof this house. that's going to be such a task.
you are so much fun, maggie girl, even when you're a pill. on days when you are cranky and fighting sleep, you still save a smile for the changing table. it helps, dear girl, and i'm so grateful for it. it helps me to know that my sweet baby girl, so content and good natured, is still in there. it helps me to know that this is all part of the process and we're going to make it. it helps me to know we're doing something right.
another cool thing has developed over the past few days: when we give you your bottle, you wrap your little hands around it, and i swear you know what it is (or at least what good things come from it). i never thought that would happen so early! but it seems to be fairly consistent, so that's exciting. a funny thing happened this afternoon--i was eating some frozen yogurt in front of you and you were totally enraptured. i could swear the look on your face said "can i have some?" i'm sure you were just trying to figure out what it was and what i was doing, since most of the time you're asleep for dinner time, but it was funny. i know it won't be long before you actually are wanting some of our table food, and that will be an amazing day. for now, though, i showed you what the spoon was and the bowl was and told you what i was doing. that's probably enough for you. i need to remember to do that more. i loved the look in your eyes--pure learning. extraordinary.
i can't WAIT until you're sitting up and we can play. i know i shouldn't wish for the future. i know i should just enjoy every moment of this time--and i am--but i just think you are the most adorable kid and as your personality comes out a little more every day, i can't wait to be able to teach you cool things like how awesome plastic bowls and wooden spoons are to bang on things with and how cool blocks can be and the wonders of the playground. i can't wait to be able to help you learn to communicate and to start to learn even more of your language. i can't wait to see who you become.
so far, you're an awesome kid. so far, you are a joy--and i know that's just going to exponentially increase as i get to know you even better. i was thinking today that i have learned your language pretty well--i know when you're hungry, i know when you're tired, i know when you need to play because you're bored--and that it's hard to translate that for anyone else except daddy. but i also know that you're coming to a time when you're going to get introduced to socializing. i'm excited for that--for babysitters and for play groups and for interaction with strangers at random stores--because i think, like the woman you're named for, you are going to be naturally gifted at loving people.
you're already really good at loving us. thanks for that, maggie girl. keep growing. keep developing. keep becoming who you are. daddy and i promise to try to listen really hard to what you're telling us and to try to figure out what you like so that we can help your world to be the best and most fun and engaging that it can be. we'll make mistakes, for sure--but we'll never stop trying. i promise.
we love you so much. every night, i look at you sleeping and kiss your beautiful head and thank Heavenly Father that He has blessed us with such a beautiful girl. thank you for making me a mommy and for teaching me, ever so patiently, how to be one.
love,
mommy.
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