...my morning is my snuggle/sleep nap with Belle. She falls to sleep so peacefully when we are snuggling, and the 60-90 minute nap is so relaxing. The people who warn about co-napping being a bad habit are the same people who warn me about how quickly the time goes and how she'll be off to kindergarten/college/married before I know it. I love cuddling, napping, watching her nap, and I feel so lucky to have mornings, just the two of us, when I can enjoy.
...nursing is how Belle sprawls out on my lap so comfortably and so trusting, and then looks up at me with a huge smile when she's satiated. It makes all those months struggling to learn to breastfeed and those visits with and call to lactation consultants worth it. Indeed Belle makes challenges (sleepless nights, breast infections from nursing) somehow seem worth it.
...this new crawling stage is that it shows such opinion in Belle. If she is discontent where I put her down in a room, she moves to be where she wants to be (which tends to be where I don't want for her to be, like near the sharp-edged coffee table or near the power-cords and outlets). I know I say I love every stage when Belle's in it, but this crawling stage is a wonderfully exciting glimpse into Belle as decision-maker. Though dangerous and exhausting (since out apartment is not child-proofed, I basically spend Belle's play-time chasing her around ensuring that she remains safe while exploring), it's a joy to watch Belle look around a room and make a decision where she wants to take herself.
...playtime is that it is basically make-a-mess-time. After the stackable cups are strewn about the living room, the game is over. When the stacked rings are in every corner of the play area, Belle moves onto a new toy. When the foot-nigh tower of blocks has been toppled, the blocks become old news. It is so much fun to watch Belle make a playful mess of her play area, and then crawl away from it, satisfied with her destruction. The next phase is teaching her the joys of stacking and building so she can make neat, but that is developmentally a few stages away from mess-making (it's far easier to toss around plastic shapes than to get them through their respective holes into the bucket).
...Belle's smile is how much it lights up the world. Last week when my parents and grandmother were visiting, we five sat on a bench on Riverside Drive and watched the people walk by. Belle smiled and cooed and made friends with many of the strangers on the street. One woman told us that Belle's smile made her day. I feel the same way, but it's somehow more meaningful coming from a complete stranger. I can scarcely go to store, ride an elevator, walk down the street without Belle making a friend with her innocent, genuine smile and her sweet-sounding coos. Belle is quite a friendly baby, but her smiles are priceless.
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