It sounds silly to say but my daughter is starting to turn into her own little person.  

She spent so long as an ideal, a long list of ‘what ifs’ that to see her in person and watch her develop is continuously amazing to me.  She’s not just a bump or a due date or even a heartbeat anymore.  In fact, she’s no longer even just an infant that doesn’t do much more than sleep, eat, cry and poo (granted, I was pretty fascinated by that stage t0o).  She’s starting to develop personality traits and habits all uniquely hers.  It’s a fascinating thing to watch and for those of you who can’t… I thought I’d share a bit:

She’s a seriously happy baby with an extraordinary  smile.  I’ve never seen such a PURE expression of joy before.  No self-consciousness or agenda just unadulterated happiness.  Which is even more amazing when you add in the fact that she smiles pretty much all the time. 

She shows every sign of being a morning person.  Not an early riser (thank God) but her eyes pop open each morning at 9 and she’s instantly alert, smiling and ready to take on a new day.

She loves being read to.  She tracks the illustrations of the book with her eyes as we change the pages or she intently watches the face of the person who is reading.  She has also recently begun to show an interest in helping change (and perhaps even taste) the pages.

She loves water.  She kicks, splashes, giggles and plays in the bath.  She smiles and snuggles with mommy in the shower.  She’s a little less enthusiastic in the pool, but she still seems completely comfortable and calm.

She plays with her hair when she’s sleepy.  I don’t know why but it makes my heart melt every time.  It’s the cutest little habit ever.

She’s a little nudist.  She smiles like a Cheshire Cat as we remove layers of clothing to change her diaper or get her ready for a bath.

She takes everything in.  Seriously, that child is very curious about the world around her and how things in it work.  She’s always watching and you can see the gears in her head turning as she makes connections.  For example, a few weeks ago she watched Jason open his mouth and stick out his neck to receive a bite of cheesecake I was eating.  She now does that every time she sees me eat, even though she’s got another month to go before she gets to start solids.

She’s so laid back.  Which regularly confounds me, knowing how type A, neurotic and down-right control freakish her parents can be.  But Marcail seems genuinely content with pretty much everything.  For example, she CAN roll over, both ways I think, since every now and again she switches positions when no on is watching, but she’s so content with wherever we put her down that she shows no inclination to move on any regular basis. 

She’s the apple of both mine and Jason’s eyes.  One thing that was always consistent when we envisioned what our baby might be like, in the long three years it took us to conceive, was that we knew we’d love him/her/them.  But I don’t think either one of us was prepared for how all-consuming and amazing that love would be…

love,
Crystal