Precious Moments

No, I'm not referring to the porcelain figurines. I'm talking about moments of such sweetness with Emma that I find myself overwhelmed.

I just laid Em in her crib for the night and have a few minutes to write before I'll hit the hay myself. We went to church this evening and she did really well up in childcare....fell asleep on the shoulder of one of the workers. I commented to Jon that she always seems to do that with everyone else but me. After church we stopped at home so I could feed the Peach, then headed to a restaurant to meet up with friends. She was such a good baby the whole time, playing (yup, actively PLAYING) with the toy hanging from her crib (I'm so proud of how attentive she's becoming) and squealing periodically when I'd catch her eye and make faces at her. We discovered she isn't too fond of lots of people clapping and creating chaos. It is the kind of restaurant that serenades people on their birthdays, and both times they did it Emma had a mini-meltdown. By the time we left to come home, she was pretty tired, so I thought she'd crash immediately and stay down for the night. She DID doze in the car, but then woke up considerably when we arrived home and I had to change her clothes. I decided to go ahead and feed her, a little earlier than schedule, so she could go to sleep with a full tummy. When she finished and pulled off, I was able to position her cozily up on my shoulder where she settled in and fell asleep. Ah, what a victory for me!

Honestly, I'm not sure there is anything that can compare to having the warm little body of a baby completely relaxed against you, her hair lightly brushing your chin, feeling her inhale and exhale, and occasionally sigh in her sleep. I wish I could somehow bottle up the experience to crack out in the moments of life that stink and leave me discouraged.

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, it's so cool to see Emma grow and develop, picking up new skills and interacting more with the world around her. But as all parents would probably agree, it's bittersweet. I hate that she's growing up so fast and that she'll never be quite the same ever again. I have the most perfect, good natured, sweet-tempered, and GORGEOUS little girl EVER!!! Of course, I'm a little biased.

On another note, Emma has a new cousin. About two weeks ago (almost, but not quite), Julie and Rob welcomed Sean Terry into the world. He was 7 lbs. 11 oz. and 20 1/4 inches long. Julie says he has a ton of hair and is a little jaundiced. Big brother, Jackson (2 1/2), is doing okay except is missing his "Mommy-play-time." Good thing Nannie and Grampy have been there to help out. Grampy has been a great playmate. I think we'll be seeing Rob, Julie, Jackson and Sean within the next couple of months as they come to Ohio for a wedding. That'll be great since we didn't end up meeting Jackson in person until he was nearly 2. I'm sure it'll be crazy to see the size difference between Sean and Emma, despite there only being 4 months between them. I'm shocked by just how much growth takes place in the first year. People tell me kids start to "even out" after that, and that the size discrepancy shrinks considerably.

That's all for now, except to say that I'm going to get free ice cream from Bruster's tomorrow and that Monday will mark the start of more disciplined eating and exercise. I need to trim down this waistline so I can fit back into my size 12's!