Positivity

Things I love about being Gwen's mommy:

1. You know how in cartoons, when a character wakes up and does this incredibly exaggerated s-t-r-e-t-c-h? I always thought it was such an affectation, that no one actually does that when they wake up. However, Gwen does. With this adorable little sleepy/grumpy look on her face. It's completely delicious.

2. Just this week, Gwen is starting to smile in recognition of us, not just as a reflex. It's not constant, but when it happens it lights up the room.

3. When nursing, Gwen doesn't feel it's necessary to stop eating, change positions, and obtain back-patting assistance to burp. She doesn't even unlatch, just burps out of the side of her mouth and keeps on chugging. No time to waste, here, people. Hilarious!

4. At nearly five weeks old, Gwen still has all the beautiful downy lanugo she was born with. It's the softest substance you've ever felt in your life, and combined with her baby skin it feels like velvet. In addition, stroking the long hair at the back of her neck releases powerful endorphins that help you feel all is right with the world.

5. Gwen is a very warm baby. Unless we are going out somewhere, I usually don't even put clothes on her, now that the weather is nice. A diaper and a swaddling blanket suit her just fine. She's so warm that after a good nursing session, the side of her body that was cupped in my arm is covered in sweat, and her hair is wet and curly from it.

6. Once, she got spit up in her eye. In her eye! How the heck did that happen?

7. I am getting better at putting her in and taking her out of the sling, and have decided that it is, as advised by Rhea, way better for taking her out on errands/shopping etc. than the carseat/stroller combo. It can be tricky to get her in, but once she's in she usually settles quickly and often falls asleep. I have even managed to nurse her in the sling once, which if I could master would change my whole life.

8. Most of the time when I nurse her, Gwen is swaddled up and mostly immobile. But sometimes circumstances conspire and she is unswaddled and naked (see #5). When this happens, when I hold her skin to skin against my body, it transports me back to the moment we first met, when I first held her warm, slippery, naked and perfect little body against mine. It's like revisiting the night you first fell in love with someone.

9. When Gwen is trying to find my nipple and latch on, sometimes she gets frustrated or upset and begins to weep piteously. It's impossible to take this seriously, because not only do I know with all the certainty she lacks that the food source is still right there, but it's the most overblown and emo sound you've ever heard, and is thus hilarious.

10. We went to a choir barbecue on Saturday, and the choir sang "Welsh Lullaby" and dedicated it to Gwen. She was nursing at the time and for the duration of that song, she froze in rapt attention and just took it all in.