It’s amazing how quickly you forget so many of the precious things about having a newborn baby. I wish E could stay this little for at least another year, but already she is on her third round of clothes changes. I can’t bear to part with one of her little pink 0 – 3 month dresses – each time I put her in it I tell her that this will be the last time before I pack it away as it’s too short now. Then, after it’s been washed, I sneak it back into her drawer again, instead of adding it to the pile to put in the loft.
I want to memorise every tiny detail about her at this age because I know we can never get it back. So these are my favourite things about her so far…
I love how she tries to attack the bottle teat when she’s hungry by shaking her head over it, misses it altogether and then gets an adorable, frustrated crease in her nose.
I love her little milk spots under her eye that still haven’t disappeared.
I love the moment she sees me in the morning as I go to pick her up and her whole face lights up with the biggest morning smiles ever, followed by lots of big kicks and giggles.
I love how she smiles as she watches her brothers playing. I love how her brothers love her (one day I’d switched off the video monitor as she had woken up from a nap and I’d gone to pick her up. T2 picked up the monitor and saw the screen was black. He gave a loud, panicky scream. I ran downstairs holding E to see what had happened and found him crumpled on the floor in tears because he thought someone had taken her as he couldn’t see her. Awwwe.)
I love that when I take the bottle out of her mouth after she has dozed off how her tongue keeps moving as though she’s still drinking, even though she’s fast asleep.
I love watching her sleeping so peacefully with no worries in the world and her whole life ahead of her.
I love her dark, spiky hair that gives her a quirky, unique look of her own. The other day she had a hat on and when I took it off her hair was flat. It looked all wrong.
I love that she only wants to be held by me or her Daddy, and cries when other people want a cuddle. (OK, I didn’t enjoy this the other day when we attempted to go on our first night out as a couple in months and had to come home an hour later as she wouldn’t stop screaming for my sister in law. But it’s nice to feel wanted and to know that one cuddle from me can soothe her. )
I love that I’ve had the chance to have a singleton. Having twins is AMAZING and I love the boys dearly, but it feels fantastic to be able to sit and drink a hot coffee sometimes while the boys are at pre-school and she is asleep, or go into town shopping without getting my double buggy stuck between shop displays. It’s also lovely only hearing one hungry scream instead of hearing it in stereo.
I love that she takes after me in the sleep department, so I haven’t felt the sleep torture you normally endure with a newborn. The other day she slept in until 9.30am and only woke up then because I woke her! When she was only a few nights old she started sleeping in blocks of five or six hours, and from five weeks old has consistently been sleeping through from the 10pm dreamfeed until morning. Apart from a three-night stint when she hit the ‘4 month sleep regression’ wall. Thankfully she climbed over that one very quickly. (If I only had her I’d be so well rested! Unfortunately I have a pair of boys who wake up around 6.30am).
I love being able to buy pretty things for her to wear. I tell myself that she will only be this age once so I have to dress her in gorgeous clothes so I can take lots of pictures of her. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. You can never have enough pink tutus. Fact.
I love that she’s approaching six months and we’re going to start baby led weaning soon. I hated making purees and freezing them in ice-cube trays, so this time I’m hoping weaning will be a lot more fun. I’m not going to love the mess she creates, but at least this time we have a dog to help clean up the floor.
I love that even though she’s tiny, she has the grip of a grown man. I don’t love that she usually demonstrates this by pulling clumps of my hair or grabbing my necklace.
Cliche I know, but I love the way she smells. It doesn’t even matter if she’s been a bit sick; she smells like heaven. And there is nothing quite like snuggling up to a baby fresh from the bath, slathered in baby lotion.
I love watching her lay on the floor kicking her legs in the air and spinning around but knowing she still can’t move from the spot where I left her. I’m not looking forward to the crawling stage this time round. With the boys I was desperate for them to move (until they started to move, then I realised I must have been mad to wish for that!) but I can see all kinds of trouble looming as she starts to grab the boys’ grown-up toys.
I love looking into her eyes and seeing her desperately trying to take everything around her in. It almost feels like she’s in a panic as she wants to be able to learn how to do everything NOW.
I love her cute 0 – 6 months sleeping bags. I don’t want to think about packing them away and moving up to the 6 – 12 months ones even though her feet are now at the bottom. The 6 – 12 months ones I have ready are huge. Too big for my ‘tiny’ baby.
I love cuddling her while looking back on the pictures we took while we were backpacking four years ago, and rather than being sad because those days are in the past, I feel satisfied that we went before starting a family and content because our lives are filling up with all kinds of new experiences we never dreamed of. Hiking around Uluru, taking a longtail to a remote beach in Thailand and diving in the Indian Ocean were all life changing experiences, but nothing like as fulfilling as raising three children.
As I fold up my newborn memories, I feel pleasure and pain. I’m saying goodbye to my fragile and delicate little darling and looking forward to our future, and really getting to know one another.
What are your favourite things about newborn babies? It would be lovely if you could share them in the comments section. xx
Charlie says
I might or might not have cried when I read this! Beautiful! x
TalesofaTwinMum says
I might have shed a tear or two while writing it! x