Baby F

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Update on the Littlest Child

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I haven’t done an update in so long, I don’t think I can fit all 3 kids in the same post. So we’ll start with the most recent addition to the family. F is coming up on her 2nd birthday at the end of the summer, and is full on toddler.

Independent and full of opinions, she’s quick to tantrum but also super sweet and cuddly. She loves to be carried around and to lie with her head flopped on your shoulder. She’s constantly studying the world around and figuring out what our processes are and where things go. If you leave a door open or forget to put something away, she’ll be the one following behind you putting clothes in the hamper.

I think she’s hopefully almost over her biting phase. I haven’t had to sign an incident report at daycare in weeks, although she did bite me while I was trying to get her in the car seat a few days ago. That’s become our recent struggle. I’ve been through it with the other two, so I know it will be temporary, but whoa does it give me a workout every day. That little minion is strong!

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ONE YEAR

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Even though this is our third first birthday, it’s still just as much of an accomplishment each time. We did it. We survived the year! And I’m always just as shocked about how quickly it went by. How are you one already?

Your year feels split in half - the first half you were the easiest little squish baby who just came along wherever we went. The second half, aka the mobile half, is when things got a little crazy. You became strongly opinionated and LOUD. You aren’t talking but you still blow us lots of raspberries, give very wet kisses and screetch often. You’re constantly moving and climbing and exploring and trying hard to become a full on toddler. You love eating chicken nuggets and pasta and drinking from a sippy cup just like a big kid.

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Walking

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This baby has been determined to learn how to walk so she can keep up with her older siblings. It’s been pretty fun watching her figure it out, even if progress seemed slow at times. She went days between her first and second set of steps, but finally we’re at a point where she can confidently walk across a room. I’d say she still crawls at least 50% of the time, but when you put her down, she’s more likely to stay standing than not.

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Eleven Months

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Of course because I mentioned how much I loved your gummy smile last month, you immediately popped out two bottom teeth - officially becoming the youngest child in this family to get a tooth! Maybe that’s what was messing with your sleep last month? It’s definitely gotten better - you still hate being put to bed, but then you fall asleep quickly and are back to sleeping through the night.

This month you have definitely decided what you want, and anytime you don’t get it you start immediately crying, fold in half, and put your forehead on the ground until someone comes to comfort you. Specifically you want to be held, but doing something interesting, or you want to be down on the ground playing, but with me or Tom less than 3 inches away.

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Ten Months

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I’m not sure if it’s too much to say, but this might be your hardest month yet. You hit a sleep regression HARD, at the same time separation anxiety peaked. Suddenly you’re fighting sleep, you’re screaming, and one night you were up from 9pm until midnight. It wasn’t fun. We’ve mostly moved passed that, but you’re still not as “easy” as you were a month ago. You want to be walking, but you can’t yet. You want to explore but you also don’t want to be out of our arms. And you cry at daycare drop off now. So it’s been a rough month. We’ll get through it, of course.

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Nine Months

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Well after saying I wasn’t sure what makes you upset, this month definitely gave me a few examples. For whatever reason, your stranger danger seems to come and go. You’ve always loved daycare and never reacted poorly there, but suddenly you’ll burst into tears if a neighbor that you’ve known since you were born tries to hold you. While you often seem to be more like G in that you don’t want me to hug or cuddle you too much (you’ll go so far as to punch me in the throat to try to get out of a hug), you’ve also been a bit attached to me lately. You want me to sit approximately 2 inches from you on the ground next you to. Close enough that you can have a hand on me or crawl into my lap if needed, and if I try to leave the room or move away, you’ll start crying. That’s definitely new.

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Eight Months

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This might finally be the month that breaks me, because having three mobile children is definitely harder than two and a baby. I think we can finally say you’ve figured out this crawling thing, although not well enough for us to realize that when we put you somewhere, you’re not going to stay there. You’re moving just enough that we’re still surprised to find you in a new spot. You bounce and spin and take a break to sit and then get up and move another step or two, but you’re definitely moving, and obviously thrilled about it.

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An Ode to a Tongue

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I’m not sure why it happened, but about two weeks ago, it appeared. And has been a constant presence ever since. She always loved her tongue, of course. She curled it, and stuck it out at us, and did other things you use a tongue for. But lately? It’s always here. And always curled slightly and pointed up towards her nose.

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Small Updates

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Sometimes I feel like there’s nothing to update because every day seems the same, but at the same time everything changes so quickly that I have too much to share. Like E’s favorite song lately is Rihanna’s Umbrella (because what a cool thing to sing about!) and G’s favorite song is ABCDEFU (“She sings it wrong!”).

The baby baby is suddenly huge. I looked at her the other day and almost didn’t recognize her face. It doesn’t help that I think daycare has been brushing her hair so it doesn’t always stick straight up anymore, but suddenly she has these big cheeks too! She’s also huge, I just weighed her and she’s about 17 lbs which means she’s moved up a diaper size and a sleep sack size, but long gone is my tiny ity baby. It’s okay, because she’s almost entering a really fun phase, where she’ll be able to sit and play with us, and she’s starting to get really excited about food. I still don’t really have the energy to want to feed her table food even daily, but occasionally she’ll get to chew on something we’re eating and so far she loves it. And if not, she just chews on my shirt instead.

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Five Months

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Well this month you have officially moved from a baby that is content to be along for the ride, to our ‘baby baby’ who wants to explore and do. No longer can we put you down on the floor with some toys and expect you to be content. You need to be entertained and experience and see new things. Which has been hard since we haven’t left the house this month. It makes me hopeful that your transition to daycare will be smooth, though. The other day E was explaining to you what daycare would be like. He was telling you what your room was going to look like, and made sure you knew that he’d be able to see you and check on you through the windows multiple times per day.

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Four Months

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More than once this month I’ve said that I think we’ve found our loudest child. You have found your voice and you love to sing and make everyone know that you have opinions. You are making sure that you will not be a forgotten third child. I’m not sure how you could be, you’re everyone’s favorite. Even the cats like to come check on you multiple times a day. Your siblings are still your favorite - after a particularly fussy day, the first time you seemed truly happy was at the end of the day when I set you up watching G.

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Three Months

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What a determined little baby you are. You’re not content with being a newborn anymore. You’re learning to roll and are working hard at sitting up too, when all we want is to enjoy you as a baby for as long as possible. You see your older siblings doing things, and you just want to be where they are. You love them so much, if you hear them you’ll crane your neck and move your body to try and see them. Of course they love you just as much, some nights you get a hug when Mama and Dad don’t.

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Two Months

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About halfway through the month, I looked at you and realized you were no longer a newborn. It was shocking and sad. I wasn’t sure how the change had happened so quickly, and was immediately mourning the fact that you’d left the sleepy and squishy phase. It is, of course, an accomplishment for you. You’re growing! You’re one step closer to showing us who you are as an independent person. And pretty quickly I learned to love this new phase too. You love eye contact, and when I coo at you, I can make you smile.

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Smile With the Rising Sun

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Everyone knows that having a newborn means you’re not getting a ton of sleep, but you do spend a lot of time watching someone who is. I guess I could get jealous of all that quality sleep the baby is getting, but instead my mind wandered to another spot - how amazing it is to be a baby that gets to feel so secure and safe at all times. Due to both of us being home on leave right now, this baby spends almost 24 hours a day in direct contact with one of us. Assuming you believe that a newborn can smell their parents, what an awesome gift we’re able to give to let her know we’re always there.

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One Month

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A whole month. A month of cuddles and smelling your head, and staring into your eyes. It’s a different experience, knowing you’re my last baby. It makes every cuddle just a little more precious, and makes me wish to get through these rough days less. Actually, they’re really not that rough.

There’s definitely some benefits to being the third child. You definitely have more relaxed parents than your siblings had. E had nervous new parents and G had parents who were figuring out how to parent more than one child. You have parents who have been there, done that, and so not much makes us nervous, which means not much upsets you. You are the calmest baby we’ve had. The vacuum can be running, your siblings can be screaming, and you can be sleeping.

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Birth Story Part III - Everything Else

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So this is normally the part of my birth story where I talk about all the complications and how badly I hemorrhaged afterwards. Except this time I had a doctor that actually listened when I told her my history and it was a game changer. I think I lost less blood than I did with E. It was amazing to not only feel okay minutes after delivery, but to have a calm delivery room. No one rushed the baby away, no extra help rushing in, just a quiet room.

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My Third Baby

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I never expect to bring home a baby just because I’m pregnant. I know too much, have seen too much that it’s not always the case. I always hope for a successful outcome, but I know it’s not guaranteed. Which is maybe why I’m always left is such shock when a baby is placed on my chest. It’s the best possible surprise and shock, and even two weeks later I’m still just amazed that she’s here. I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to have another beautiful baby.

I’m not sure if it’s the fact that my hormones are less messed up (since there was no massive blood loss this time) or if it’s the peace of knowing this is my last baby and I can focus on enjoying everything instead of stressing over it, but I am definitely in a happy baby zone. I might be tired, but I have this head to smell and it’s intoxicating.

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Birth Story Part II - Active Labor/Birth

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Despite willing it to be true, I didn’t have a baby by morning. Both E & G were born on a Sunday at 2am, but this baby decided to be different. I also didn’t get a ton of sleep either. I wasn’t feeling painful contractions, but lying down was uncomfortable. Unless I was sitting up or walking around, I’d get a little crampy, just enough that I couldn’t fall asleep. I think I managed to sleep from 11:30 - 1 am and again from 3:45 - 4:30 am when contractions slowed down a bit. Because they slowed down, I got a second dose of medication at that time.

I was feeling a bit frustrated and impatient (as was everyone who knew I was at the hospital waiting for updates!) but I managed to eat a granola bar and some apple juice and started to get my mind around the fact I might be here for a while.

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Birth Story Part I - Early Labor

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I was rereading G’s birth story, and laughed that I said the labor went too fast. I guess I had it coming then. Third babies have a reputation for being tricky. First babies take a while, second babies are quick, and third babies do what they want. They’ve got extra room and can flip all over, and apparently are in no rush to be born. This one wasn’t, anyway. Just absolutely did not want to be born. Usually leading up to your due date there will be some sign that labor is approaching, but not with this one. Usually at some point during labor the nurses will let you know that the baby isn’t happy and we either need to move positions or work towards a quicker delivery. Not this one - every time they checked her she was perfectly happy.