three months

Dear J2,

The past three months has simply flown by. I will try to write this letter without comparing you to your sister too much, but it's really hard. You are a shining example of Darwin's evolutionary theory. You have evolved to be a chill, laid back baby as a survival mechanism. I think you knew that Umma was not going to make it through another "challenging" (for lack of a better word) child.

Going back to work has been much more difficult than I had anticipated, and after a long exhausting day at the office one of my favorite ways to recharge the batteries before I even attempt to conquer Hurricane J is to sit for a little cuddle with you. Even better? When your Appah takes Little Miss J for a field trip and leaves us at home to hang out in the peace and quiet for some mommy-son time.

You are simply the sweetest baby and so easy to love. You are officially into 6 month jammies and can hold your head up well enough to sit in the Bumbo - although you only seem to tolerate the thing for a few minutes at a time. You do quite well in the swing though (best purchase ever!) and can often be found napping while rocking away. Despite every single person who takes care of you being sick, from your Appah, who landed himself in the ER, to me, who had a day or two of the sniffles, you have managed to stay illness free, in part I believe because breast milk, like unicorn blood, is magical. Go me and my magic boobs! You have a layer of permaglitter stuck to your head from all your sister's sparkly things, which only adds to the magic.

We just celebrated your first Christmas, and you were a right jolly old young elf. All my concern about not really getting you much of a gift (we did wrap you up a box of diapers) was completely misplaced as you got several toys from friends and family. So whenever you're ready to really get into it, we're set! For now you are happy to smile, laugh, and "talk" to us.

I can say without hesitation that you are my all-time favorite baby. With you, I don't even mind the sleepless nights (that much). You have, however, started sleeping better at night. *I think* Or we could just be so exhausted that we simply no longer have any grasp on reality. As I started to type this, you were sleeping peacefully and more importantly independently in your bassinet, which was a completely foreign concept to us three years ago. The sleeping bar was set extremely low by your predecessor and anything short of being held 24/7 makes you a champion sleeper in our books. So even the illusion of longer stretches of sleep is much appreciated.

Thank you for allowing me to actually experience being in love with, and sitting around with my baby and having a peaceful restful maternity leave. This time three years ago, I was just the mom who said all the right things to people to distract them, hoping they wouldn't notice how much I loved/hated my baby and being a mom. I can now say all the right things and actually mean them.

love you for a thousand years and a thousand more,

Umma