Everyone keeps telling us how quickly time flies with a newborn and to cherish every minute because they change SO fast. It's completely true. Looking back at the pictures we took of Providence that first week, we are shocked at how much she has grown and changed. Our sweet P.J continues to be very easygoing and for that we are eternally grateful. She's not sensitive to loud noises or dead quiet, nor does she have difficulty sleeping at night or eating or digesting or... well really anything. She truly is a JOY. Her personality is shining through more and more each day and we love to see how truly happy she is just about all of the time. She DOES cry and DOES have her fussy time of the day (most people don't believe us when we tell them this), but those moments are short-lived. Generally she's content to just "chill." :)In her second month she's learned how to smile which has brought tears to her mommy's eyes and laughter to us all. She was slow to figure it out but now she's a frequent smiler and we LOVE it. She no longer throws a fit when placed on her changing table or when given a bath; she's happy just to be wherever we are, whatever we're doing to her. :) She LOVES to look at bright colors and lights- the Christmas tree was her favorite focus point for the entire month of December and we were sad to take it down today for her sake. We took her out several times to look at Christmas lights and it was such fun to see her little eyes get as big as saucers. She's also making all sorts of noises and if I didn't know better I'd swear she's days away from her first word. :) Every few days she makes a new vowel or consonant sound that surprises and delights even herself.
Her biggest milestone (for all three of us really) was making the switch to sleeping with Mommy & Daddy for most of the night to sleeping in her own crib. She's transitioned beautifully and is able to put herself to sleep in her own bed and stay there for almost the entire night- a big step for us all! She's also finally begun to enjoy her bouncer and her swing- two items rendered obsolete for the first 7 weeks of her life. She especially loves to sit in her bouncer on the kitchen table and watch Mommy cook dinner. We continue to work on her "tummy time" and we're anxious to see all her hard work pay off when she can hold herself up and flip over.
While all of these little changes and milestones are fun and we are certainly aren't taking a single one for granted, I think what I find the most fulfilling is those quiet moments with her. Reading her a bedtime story from my grandfather's rocking chair in the corner of her room, and pausing to look around at all the things that were collecting dust for so long. Her room represented sadness and loss for such a long time, and I spent many hours crying in a heap in the middle of her floor, wondering if there would ever be a child to rock to sleep there. Now, in the stillness of the night when it's just me and my daughter, I look around and remember what her room USED to be, and I close my eyes in gratitude to the One who worked all things together for my good.
