Dear Summer: 2 Weeks

Dear Summer,

    You're two weeks and a few days old now.  At one point you were down to five pounds even, and probably less than that in the days between weigh-ins.  From that point you started to get the hang of nursing and gained 13 ounces in three and a half days!  That was ten days ago, so you're probably nearing seven pounds by now.  The weight is starting to show in your face, is forming little tiny legs rolls and, happily, has given you somewhat of a toosh.  You're skin finally stopped peeling right around the time I was able to give you your first bath (which is nice because now I'm not picking at it all the time) and your skin has become so silky soft!

    To Sabine you are still The New Baby.  To Jacob you are Summy because we realized there isn't an obvious nickname for Summer.  Daddy and I sometimes call you Sumsy because there is a Bob the Builder character with that name.  To Mango you are something interesting to sniff and to Ginger you do not exist.  To the bunnies, you are just one more thing in the long line of things that have pushed them further down the list of priorities.  And to everyone you are a nice something to hold, snuggle and adore.

    For at least the first week of your life I don't think you were put down.  Maybe for ten minutes here or there, but it's very possible you really were never out of arms.  For starters, I would have held you all day if there was nothing else for me to do.  And then there was Daddy holding you every chance he got.  Jacob and Sabine were constantly fighting over who was going to get to hold you.  Jacob especially would just sit there and hold you for a long time.  There were the grandparents and all the other visitors holding you.  And at night you sleep right in the bed with us.  Right now you do spend brief periods in the bassinet that we have downstairs, mostly because I'm really trying hard to put you down so you get used to being on your own because I don't want to mess you up for sleep like I did with the others.  But it's hard because mostly I just want to hold you all day long.      

    My favorite times with you are when your eyes are open and you look around.  I love gazing into your little eyes and wondering what you're thinking.  The extent of your abilities now is to turn your head around, lock you eyes on something, stick your tongue out at in and then make an 'O' with your mouth in approval.  If you like what you see you'll swing your jerky little limbs around in excitement.  It's fun witnessing your motions and realizing that they are familiar ones because they are the exact movements that drove me crazy when you were still inside.  In your sleep you practice your smiles, and sometimes laugh out loud.  The sleep smiles make sense, but we can't figure out how newborn babies laugh - like how do you know things are funny?  And if you can do it in your sleep, how come you can't do it while awake yet?  I guess it is just a mechanical thing at this point and there's no emotion attached to the laughing yet.

    Daddy has already coined a special term for you.  He calls it The Watchtower.  When you're fussy he puts you high up on his shoulder, as if to burp you, and lets you look out at whatever is behind him.  You look so cute with your crinkled brow and dark little eyes peeking out from above Daddy's shoulder.  Things must look very different from up there.

    Some days I don't think it can get much better with you, but I know the next best thing that is coming:  The day that you first smile at us for real.  It's going to be like fireworks going off inside my heart.  Your brother and sister were all over you for the first couple weeks, and have finally started to back off a little bit, but when you begin smiling at them, it's going to be all over.  And when you start giving us belly laughs, I can only imagine what goofballs they'll look like trying to evoke a laugh from you.

    Whatever is coming, it's going to be good.  There isn't going to be much downtime around here for quite a while.  We're going to be tired and cranky.  The house is going to get messy and it's going to drive me crazy.  You're going to continue to poop all over things and your spit up is going to reach greater distances.  You'll keep us awake at night (like last night when you were up for 2 1/2 hours straight).  But at the end of the day we'll look at you, fall in love a little more, and know that it's all worth it.

Love,

    Mommy