Alaina's First Month (by Amy)
- My favorite face is Alaina’s “O” face, which happens when she purses her lips in a tiny, tiny “O” shape. She always looks so inquisitive and cute when she makes that face.
- I also love her “optimistic” face, which happens when she raises her eyebrows and looks around with her big eyes. She gets little wrinkles in her forehead that make it look like she’s thinking.
- Sometimes, Alaina falls asleep on my chest or Philip’s with her arms and legs all scrunched up under her. I call this her “frog” position. It’s so precious and it makes me feel so special when she does that.
- Alaina is very strong. When she holds onto my finger, she squeezes amazingly tight. She often manages to knock her bottle out of the way when she waves her arms around because there is so much force behind it. It’s also hard to change her diaper sometimes because she clamps her legs closed so tightly.
- I love the way Alaina sucks on her bottle or on her pacifier. She’ll suck normally two or three times and then she moves her tongue rapidly up and down very quickly to make a little fluttering motion. Philip does the same thing when he tastes something for the first time….like father like daughter.
See a video of Alaina sucking on her pacifier here:
- Also, sometimes she sucks on her pacifier so hard that she leaves little marks on her face.
See a video of Alaina sucking on her pacifier here:
- Also, sometimes she sucks on her pacifier so hard that she leaves little marks on her face.
- Alaina’s favorite place be to explore the world around her so far seems to be the foot of our bed. She LOVES the ceiling fan, and even started “talking” to it when she was about 2 weeks old. She also likes to look at our black and white bedding and at the slats in our headboard.
- Since she was born, Alaina has been hard at work training us to be her parents. We call this “parent hacking” (the name comes from the website “Lifehacker” which is a repository for “tips and tricks for getting things done”). During her first week, I was explaining to her that I was in charge, and that she had to do what I said. As I was talking, she pooped in her diaper. Then, as I was changing her, she peed all over the place and I had to change her whole outfit. I guess she told me who was really in charge J
- I love Alaina’s feet. They were one of the first things I noticed about her when she was born because they seemed too big for her little self. I love how big they are, and how soft and kissable they are. I love how she curls her toes and how she spreads them out so wide. I also love how she likes to cross her ankles all the time.
- Since she doesn’t really have control of her limbs yet, Alaina’s arms and legs are always moving. It’s cute when she sticks one hand up in the air—especially when she’s sleeping. When this happens, my dad says she must have a question.
- When she is content, Alaina will often cross her arms on her chest and clench her little fists.
- Sometimes when she is sleeping, Alaina does this karate kid move that makes me laugh.
- Another one of my favorites is when Alaina "misses" a sneeze. Like most people, when she sneezes, she tends to sneeze more than once. Sometimes, she goes through the motions of sneezing even when she doesn't need to. When that happens, she'll let out a big "Ahhh" in the cutest little voice ever. I'm determined to catch that on video one of these days!
