What's happening?

I cannot believe so much time has passed since I've come over here to talk about life as mom. I guess living in my world makes it feel like time is moving slowly, but reading it back, I can see how it's actually flying.

Calina is joy and stress and laughter. Cuddles, squirms, and a bundle of emotions. It's strange how when she was a tiny baby it was easy to keep life somewhat normal, but now that she's getting bigger and getting a personality (she likes and dislikes things now) everything has become more about her and juggling things I would like to get done has become a lot more challenging. Back when she was 2 or 3 months old, I told Colin to enjoy that time, because even when things were difficult with her, I knew they were by far easier than they would eventually be. I don't think he believed me then, but I think that he's coming around. He told me yesterday that he was sad and surprised that he was more stressed out at home than at work. That he got to his desk in the morning and sighed with delight and realized how peaceful it was. I laughed and said I understood really well how that could be.

That's not to say that things are bad or even worse than they were - just different. I love that she is becoming a real character in our lives. It's so fun to sit down at the table with her in a highchair and give her spoonfuls of real food. It's amazing to know that if I try hard and push all the right buttons, I can distract her from being cranky or turn a good mood into laughter. I even love how difficult it is to get her to sleep because the payoff when she finally gives up is so incredible. Every morning she wakes up a little earlier than I'd hope, squirms, eats fitfully, and smacks me in the face/grabs my nose until I open my eyes. This makes her very happy, so I usually get a giant smile or giggle. She loves books and flinging/chewing on toys, loves her daddy and watching the dogs. She's become very fond of taking walks in her stroller, and will sit happily for an incredibly long time in the bath, as long as she has a couple of toys. She sings her "sleepy song" right before dozing off. She flails both arms madly up and down when she's excited and/or overtired, or when she's saying hello to someone.

She's over 16 pounds now and 26 inches tall (mostly looong legs!), perfectly average for her age. Her head is getting very nicely rounded out, but we're still not having an explosion of growth like we'd like to see. (Even though her head circumference is above average for her age, it looks like we still have some growing room with this helmet. Boo.)

She sits up incredibly well, pretty reliably without falling over unless she overreaches for something. She still hates tummy time (I think the helmet digs in to her neck), and though it's clear she wishes she were mobile, it doesn't look like crawling will happen anytime soon -- and other than the fact that I know she'd love to be mobile, I am enjoying every moment she stays put! She grabs and reaches for things constantly, one hand at a time, passes things from hand to hand to get a better look at something, and is doing less chewing on things and more shaking up and down.

She's eating solid foods like a champ - she eagerly eats everything I've given her: Mashed bananas, apple sauce, smushed pears, peaches, and steamed carrots (pureed or mashed, she likes either), sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and avocado. She doesn't care if it's lumpy or smooth or cold or hot, she likes it all. She loves sucking the juice out of big pieces of things: watermelon, pineapple, pickles. She watches Jhonen intently when he makes a lot of noise or plays with things or walks around. I love that he's right ahead of her in age - I think he'll be a good influence coming up. I'm hoping that his language skills will encourage hers.

I love that she's still enough of a baby to hang out in her wrap and fall asleep on my chest, but a big enough girl for me to sit her down and have her potentially entertain herself for a few minutes with a basket of toys. I think we've made it to the perfect age.