"You're Gonna Miss This"

FREEZE!  Carly is in her 5th month of life and I need time to just stop in its tracks.  She's perfect.  She's playful, happy, energetic, cuddly, beautiful and on the verge of transitioning from little baby to big baby.  I love her so much I can barely contain myself.  Truth be told it's been a tough year (one year ago this week we announced we were pregnant) of emotional and physical transitions, but I feel like I've finally got it figured out and I'm on cloud 9.  I don't want her to change from this perfect little ball of joy I feel she is.  I tell you, I am going to have to have lots and lots of babies to fill this void once she becomes a toddler.  Watch out, world! Or maybe I should say, watch out grandparents!  I think I will have as many littles as my Lord and my husband will allow!

Right now there are two things I never want to let go of.  First is her sense of humor that has developed over the past few weeks.  She knows how to play little games and giggles in anticipation!  Here are her favorite games...anything that involves an element of surprise and her control over a situation:

1. The, "Is mommy still sleeping" game.  When laying on my tummy in the morning, I close my eyes to pretend that I'm still sleeping while she is watching then pop them open and say, "Boo!"  Sure thing that will get some giggles

2. The, "Push mommy down" game.  Daddy holds her while she pushes me away with her feet.  Observe (side note...we had rented the movie with Adam Sandler, "Jack & Jill" and it was a complete waste of time...so that's whats on in the background):

3.  The, "Let's see how many times we can pull mommy's glasses off of her face" game.

4. The "I'm gonna get you" game.  One of us starts from across the room and with each slow-motion step say' "I'm gonna get you," resulting in huge smiles and giggles when we finally reach her and give her a big smooch!

5.  The "Eat my fingers" game.  She loves to experiment with cause and effect.  What will happen if I stick my fingers near mommy or daddy's mouth?

Those are the top 5...but she still loves "toes to the nose" and "so big" games.  She's just so playful!

The other thing I can't let go of is her desire to cuddle with me.  She will only cuddle with me...and it makes me feel so warm inside!  Even Brian commented the other night on how much more cuddly she is with me than him.  It might just be the best feeling in the world, with a close second being when she flashes her smile.

I was reading another one of my friends' blog this week and she is the mother of a 3 month old boy.  She was talking about sleep and said, "but it seems the more books I read and the more people I talk to about it-- the more "sleeping" seems like the standard of enjoying my baby".  Whether or not my Carly is sleeping how I desire her to be should not be the standard of enjoying her. Why couldn't I have read that 4 months ago?  Any of you who are regular readers know that has been one of my biggest hurdles, and bottom line is it was hindering my ability to fully delight in my baby.  Here forth I will give all new mommies that advice!

Here are the rest of the lyrics to the song I'm referencing in title of this blog.  Great words to remember in each stage of life:

You're gonna miss this

You're gonna want this back

You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast

These are the good times

So take a good look around 

You may not know this now

But you're gonna miss this.

I've taken a good look around and decided that I will indeed miss this stage when it's over.  I will never get this precious time with just me and my little babe and my big babe ever again.  So I'm soaking in up. :)