Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Good Mothering

Today I felt like a good mother. I made Lily laugh countless times. Big full belly laughs. I made her homemade baby food while she played in her pack and play and watched me in the kitchen. We made squash, sweet potatoes and carrots. I took her for a walk. We cuddled. We napped. It was an all around perfect mother/daughter day. I've been off work all week because my nanny/sister is on vacation so subsequently I am on vacation. My heart is so huge with love for her that I can hardly stand it sometimes. I love that she cries when other people hold her and then I hold her and she stops crying. I love her big gummy toothless smile. I can honestly say that I've never been this happy in my life. Despite the sleepless nights, the crazy hectic pace of my life these days, despite my new found poverty and huge credit card balance, despite it all I've never felt this fulfilled and this completely satisfied with my life. Every night when I go to bed I thank God for giving me Lily. And every night I can't wait until morning so I can see her and have another day with her. And, I feel like I'm doing a good job at being a mother. Sure, I do have bouts of mom guilt when she spends too much time in her pack and play or especially when I leave for work in the morning. But for the most part, she's a happy, good tempered baby. She sleeps mostly through the night, even though I get up often (too often) to check on her. I'm so paranoid of her rolling over on her stomach so I run in there at every noise. We had her six month check-up yesterday and here are her stats.

Weight - 15 lbs 4 oz. 45% percentile
Height - 27 inches 80% percentile
Head - 65 percentile

She passed all the milestones. She rolls over. She can sit by herself with support. She can pass things from hand to hand. She grabs at everything. She's starting to scoot herself on her belly and begin to get up on all fours. I think crawling is within weeks. Yikes! I better get my floors clean!

I use to think that I would never want to be a stay at home mom but after this week I'm starting to change my mind. I think I'll cry when I have to go back to work next week. We're having so much fun! Tomorrow we're off to lunch with Daddy and then to the museum with my friend Sarah and her little girl. Fun. Fun. Fun.

2 comments:

nikole sarvay said...

"I love that she cries when other people hold her and then I hold her and she stops crying." Oh yes, I feel the same way... It sounds like a lovely day...

Heather said...

Glad you enjoyed your time off. I remember the big baby belly laughs. I wrote an entire entry in my regular journal about my DD's laughs when she was a baby. I still love to hear her laugh, but it's so much different.