Music

It seems we have a tiny prodigy on our hands.  Wonder Baby is proficient at the piano and the imaginary cello.

P.S. She looks so adorably bald from more than two feet away.

Other P.S. I maintain my belief that she looks like a baby elf in the second picture.

To Whom it May Concern

Occasionally I check out my blog stats and am a little blown away by them.

People in very far away countries have read my blog.

Hello, strangers.  Please don't be creepy.

Much love,

Me

Happy babies and Fathers' Day

It's now 3:35 AM on Saturday, and I am entertaining dehydrated leg muscles...basically.  They feel a lot like pregnant legs and are affecting my ability to sleep.  Pickle juice and water usually help in a pinch, so here I sit with a tiny jar of pickle relish from the fridge and a baby spoon.  Not my favorite way to spend this time of morning.  

Coconut water works better than pickle juice.  I wish I had some.

I took brownies to the ward picnic last night, and they were all eaten! Granted I only made one batch, and there were at least 1.2 million people there, but it still felt good to see an empty plate =)

Mom babysat Emma for me yesterday so that I could go to a baby shower, and when I returned to her I found her crying in her Grandma's arms.  I said "Hi" to get her attention and see how she would react: She tried to keep crying, but then she kind of smiled mid-frown, and then she hid her face like she was embarrassed to have been caught smiling while crying.  It was probably the cutest thing ever.  And among the "realest" of emotional feelings I've seen her express.  She's always so happy to have me back, and I love it.  I don't love that she refuses all food and drink in my absence, however =)

She is still typically a very happy baby, and is pretty content to chill.  I love that she loves me.  I think she's warming up to Darren more these days as well.  Mom got to witness her waking from a long nap last week.  She doesn't cry for me to come, she simply calls for me with a loud, "AHH!" every ten seconds or so.  Ignored long enough, it turns into crying, but I love love love that she isn't fussy about it. 

We finished Alias this week, and I am in mourning.  I didn't realize I was so attached to the show.  I've been actively considering naming a daughter "Sydney" in honor of Sydney Bristow. I'm not crazy about it though, so I'm sure it will get bumped when my sadness goes away.

If this doesn't bespeak total relaxation, I'm not sure what does:

Also, I don't want to brag, but I feel like I rocked it.  I'm pretty terrible at remembering what people want when it comes time to give them gifts, so I usually end up wandering the stores aimlessly until my mind convinces me that they are just dying to own a copy of some obscure 60s movie.  Several weeks ago Darren rambled on about how much he wanted a cookie jar--something he has done multiple times since before we were even married.  For the first time, probably ever, the secretary in my mind woke up and wrote down in huge letters, "COOKIE JAR FOR FATHER'S DAY. DO NOT FORGET.".  I made it my mission to find the perfect cookie jar, partly because I wanted to find the perfect one, and partly because I knew that if it consumed my thoughts, I would not forget. =) ...I couldn't find any that I liked for the right prices online, so Emma and I stopped by the antique shops, and I found just the right one about halfway through the first store.  I found several that I almost settled for, but Emma's guardian angel was sick of watching me fret and finally gave my shoulders a good spin, and the perfect one was directly behind me, on a bottom shelf, hovering in shadows.  The lady selling goods in that section of the store happened to be standing nearby and offered me a deal, so I took it.  Darren was very excited to find a "fully loaded" cookie jar on his kitchen counter! We are both in love with it.  

It will hold just under 4 dozen baked chocolate chip cookies or two packages of Oreos. Yum!

4 months old!

It's been 4 months since her birth! WOW!

She. is. so. cute.

Her personality is beginning to show, and I love it.  It makes her seem more human, and we love to pick out the bits and pieces of that personality that we think we get credit for.

We also like to accuse each other of passing on less than desirable character traits.  Either way, she is definitely our kid!

Acquired skills and such:

• Giggling.  *Swoon*
• Her mouth is large enough to consume a small animal when she smiles.
• Floating (with our help) in the pool
• Deliberately touching my face while nursing 
• Deliberately touching Darren's face when receiving the bottle
• "Talking".  Make no mistake about it, the girl knows what her voice was intended for.
• She seems to take an interest in music.  I'm in a small Relief Society choir, and she sat on my lap like a champ for the majority of yesterday's practice.  She was totally chill with it without being bored.  The singing was fascinating for her (she watched Aunt Ruthie's face and her sheet music a lot!).  We also played the piano last night while she was fussy (Daddy sang and I played), and she calmed down.  He held her at the piano most of the time, and she was totally chill. Musician? I say yes!
• She toots a lot. Like a man. And believe you me, they smell terrible! (incidentally, I'm pretty sure she gets that from her dad...mommy never has gas... ;-) )
• She is becoming more comfortable being held by other people, which is nice
• Flipping from her tummy to her back while sleeping
• She has started reaching for things, though not very consistently and almost nonexistent accuracy.  It is pretty cute
• Focus. She observes more than any other baby I know (granted, I've never watched any other baby with quite the same interest).  She is always watching people around us, follows everything with her eyes and whole head, and is even getting better at looking the right direction when I call her name from a place where she can't see me without turning her head a lot. 

What was my life like before she was born? (besides a lot less spitty and significantly more free...).  But I mean, seriously.  She IS my life.  

I can't believe I'm saying this, but we were watching an episode of Star Trek recently in which Tuvok was giving parenting advice.  One statement stuck out to me: "Expect paradox". 

That about sums up my take on motherhood.  I love it, even when it is awful.  (nothing quite like a screaming baby, among other things, to make you use words like that to describe something that is also so beautiful).

And just so you know, Darren is likely to say something dumb like, "You're so hot when you quote Star Trek," after reading this.  

My husband is a dweeb.

Anyway, here's a little bonus happiness from yesterday after church:

Grandpa asked if he could hold her, and as soon as he had her snuggled close in a sleeping hug he closed his eyes and said, "Ooh, that's it...", like he was savoring that moment.  I'm so glad she gets to know my grandparents.  I need them to live forever.

The burp rag on his shoulder is a nice touch.  =)