Miss D, 3 Months

3 Months today! A few things about this sweet little missy this month:

• She had her first long road trip (twelve hours each way to Tucson to see Great-Grandma Long for Thanksgiving) and she was and EXCELLENT little traveler. She slept a lot, saved her blowouts for times when we weren't in the car, fell asleep in my arms when we were visiting relatives, and generally was a very pleasant little companion. CB did great as well, and I think it was nice for them to have each other in the back seat this time. 
• She has finally overcome her hatred of baths, and now generally seems to like them (or at least not scream through them).
• She had her first giggle a few days ago when I was holding her on my lap while we watched Muppet Christmas Carol. I was blowing zerbits with my lips and tickling her, and we got a little chortle out of her. She's also given one to Daddy and to my mom, but they're still pretty hard to earn. 
• She completely lights up when she's been just chilling on her own and one of us comes over to talk to her. She loves looking at a smiling face and almost always rewards us with a smile now. 
• Unlike CB, who was pretty much sleeping 10 hours at a stretch by now and had a pretty firm schedule, Miss D is still waking up to nurse around 4 am, and then she sometimes gets a little offended when I try to kick her back out of the bed to the cold and lonely pack and play. However, she's still rather easy at night, so I can't complain about her being slightly less magical at sleeping at night than CB was, especially since it's probably partially because I haven't pushed much of a schedule at all during the day yet. She's much easier about just sleeping whenever than CB was, so I'm just going with it as long as I can. This time around I know that there will probably be several periods of sleep training/retraining, etc. and I can't bring myself to get too worked up about it this early when she's been such a peach. 
• Just a few days after she turned two months, she shocked us all by rolling over from her tummy to her back, and then doing it over and over again. CB was nearly 4 months old before she attempted it at all, and was over four months old by the time she mastered it, so it was crazy to have my two month old do it so easily. Of course, she'd already not been getting too much tummy time, and now she barely gets any because she just flips right over when I put her there. 
• She still likes a pacifier, which I'm enjoying. 
• She adores and is adored by her sister, who loves coming and talking to her and giving her pony rides (with Daddy holding Miss D on her back while CB neighs on all fours). When we asked CB what was special to her, she said, "D is special to me!" And when Christmas presents started appearing under the tree, first CB found on of hers, and then she found on and said, "This one for D!" She is always so concerned that her baby sister be involved and included (except for the times when she wants her to be put down so that Mommy or Daddy can play with her - which are natural.) I'm grateful for the level of love that already exists between them. Miss D loves to have CB come and talk to her and make faces at her, and she watches her all the time. I just know they're going to be the cutest little partners in crime. 
• She seems much calmer to me than CB ever was. She's certainly less of a spitter and less refluxy, but just generally she seems more chill and less intense - but certainly no less sweet. 

I just love this little girl. She's a pleasure to have around. 

Miss D, 2 Month

Miss D had her shots early on the morning of her 2 month birthday, and since CB came down with a cold the day before and Miss D felt yucky and slept for most of the day, we didn't worry about pictures until today. 

A few things about Miss D at 2 months:

• As of her 2 month appointment, she was 11 pounds 8.5 oz and 24 inches long, so she's 70th percentile for weight and a whopping 96th for height. Looks like the tradition of having long Long girls continues. 
• Last night she slept from 11 until 6, and then went back to sleep for a couple more hours. She might be less consistent than CB was at this age for sleeping, but she always goes back to sleep right after she nurses and usually sleeps at least 5-7 hours at a time at night. 
• Is still quite sleepy during the day - more sleepy than I remember CB being. On the one hand this is really nice, because it's given CB more time to adjust. On the other hand, I feel like I still don't know her very well because she sleeps a LOT. She has been starting to smile at us for the last month, but I have to work harder for her smiles than I did for CB.
• She was blessed on Nov. 2, and she was beautiful and slept most of the way through the blessing itself, which meant she was nice and quiet for it. :) All of her cousins came and we didn't see CB through all of sacrament meeting because she was playing with them, so we just got to snuggle Miss D and enjoy the day. 
• She loves driving in the car (or at least falls asleep or calmly looks around whenever we drive) and going for walks in our sit and stand stroller. 
• She has specific bounces that she likes from both me and Eric, and there are times that they are almost magical. 
• She likes a pacifier more than I remember CB liking on at this age, so maybe I'll get a pacifier baby this time.
• She loves attention from her sister as long as it doesn't involve being crushed or clawed by her (which sometimes happens even though the intentions are always loving. 

We love you Miss D. Keep being the snuggly, calm, sweet baby you are. 

Miss D, 1 Month

Oh sweet baby. Your first month was so very much different than your sister's. I feel like the month has flown by and I still barely know you. There are a couple of factors at work here. 

• I spent the first week or so of your life recovering from your intense arrival. My recovery has been more painful than it was with CB's, and your daddy has had to pick up a lot more of the work than he did with your sister. I'm pretty sure he's changed about 75% of your diapers so far. 
• You seem to me to be much sleepier than CB was, and even if that's just because I've forgotten, I feel like I've made much less of an effort to make sure you start conforming to some kind of schedule than I did with her. (Re: C-section recovery + toddler in the house). You pretty easily drift into your naps and have slept a LOT (probably in part because I was on lots of painkillers at first, but maybe not, since I didn't see a huge decrease after I went off them). In any case, I have been intensely grateful that you have been an easy baby so far, because I needed it. 
• Last Monday, the intense stomach pain I had during the last couple of months of my pregnancy with you (you know, the pain that was supposed to be cured when they delivered you because they decided it was HELLP syndrome all along) came back, and your dad and I took you with us to the ER while CB slept at home. They finally did an ultrasound on my gallbladder after absolutely everyone had speculated that it could be a problem, and wonder of wonders, it was full of gallstones. I went on a very strict diet (not fun for your nursing self) and scheduled surgery for Monday the 6th. And then later that day I tried to eat crackers and had another horrendous attack, plus I'd been throwing up Cream of Wheat for two days, so Thursday morning I went in for surgery and you and CB went to Mama and Papa's house. I didn't get to pump for you like I'd hoped, and the outpatient surgery that was supposed to have us home by about noon turned into a two day affair due to a gallstone in my bile duct, so you got to be in formula for a couple of days. Thank goodness you took a bottle willingly and went back to breastfeeding readily when we all got back home (although it wreaked havoc on your digestion for a day or two). So for at least half of your short life I've been recovering from a surgery, and thankfully, you've been a sleepy sweetie about the whole thing. 
• Your sister takes up a lot of my attention right now. She's a real force of nature at the moment, and she really loves you but really wants lots of attention as well. It's been interesting trying to figure out the balance, and I'm sure I'll struggle with that in the coming months. She always wants to hold you and is very concerned when you cry, but as soon as you are awake and not crying she says, "BABY HAPPY NOW??" and giggles and kisses on you. Whenever she wants to go and play in another room, she'll tell me to come on, but she also always tells you to come too. I hope you two will be best friends. 

One thing I know about you Miss D - as long as you are warm and snuggly, you are pretty easy. You don't like being naked or being bathed, and I think it's just that you don't like being cold and exposed. Put you in a warm sleeper or swaddle you and you are a pretty happy camper. You're a good little sleeper and easily go back to sleep at night while you nurse (plus you usually only wake up about twice, bless your heart). Like your sister, you are starting to lose your hair, but I'm pretty sure it will be coming back by next month, so never fear. (Side note: you have an umbilical hernia, so the one big difference in the way you look at this age verses the way CB looked is that you still have your outie.)

See? This is what happens when we first unwrapped you, especially because you weren't wearing pants.

We've been a little distracted during this first month of your life, but your little spirit in our home is so comforting. When we were in the ER last week and I was feeling upset, your dad asked if I wanted to hold you, because he knows that sitting and snuggling you is so wonderful and calming. We're so glad you're here, and I hope that this month we'll be able to enjoy you without all of this fuss about me getting cut open over and over again! Thanks for being an ideal baby for this crazy month. You sure are loved. 

Love, 

Mommy