2 Months

Baby girl,

Today you are two months old! I cannot believe it has already been two whole months since the moment we first met face to face. It has been a whirlwind couple of months . . . a rollercoaster ride that has left us breathless with worry and at the same time more joy than we could have imagined. You are the first thing I think of when I awake in the morning, and the last thing on my mind as I drift off to sleep. I spend my days with you, and they pass, one after the other, in a beautiful blur of your smiles, your squeals of delight, your kicking legs, your big blue eyes, your peaceful face as you sleep wrapped up in my arms. I was realizing the other day that these 12 weeks that you and I have together are likely the only 12 weeks ever that we are going to get to hang out together all day every day. I'm not likely to have summers off of work, so this time we have now, this is our summer, our time to hang out, get to know each other, just us girls. And I am making sure to savor every moment.

You have already grown and changed to much! Closing in on 11 pounds, you have outgrown so many of your outfits. Sometimes your dad and I hold them up and shake out heads in amazement that you were ever small enough to fit in them. You are long, and you often outgrow clothes in length before you get too big for them in width. You have started to pudge up; your cheeks, your thighs, even your little feet are all perfectly pinchable and squishy.

You have started to carefully watch things now, from toys to the flashing lights on your jungle play mat to your dad's and my faces as we talk to you, sing to you, and laugh with you when we are changing your diaper. You are a delightfully happy baby. You love to spend time on your play mat, kicking your legs energetically and waving your little arms. You recently discovered that if you kick hard enough while sitting in your bouncy seat, the seat moves! You were absolutely delighted with that discovery and spent several minutes squealing and kicking and bouncing and grinning. You and your dad have the most wonderful conversations, with you cooing or squealing a special message to him, and him parroting it back. You think he is the most wonderful conversationalist ever, and your talks delight you to no end. Your head control is developing rapidly, and you can now hold your head steady and move it from side to side. When we lay you on your stomach, you are starting to realize that you can lift it up and still look around and see the room. And possibly the most amazing development: teeth buds! I was shocked to look into your sweet gummy smile last week and see two white spots, belying the teeth that lie just beneath the surface and that will surely break through sometime before the end of the year. I can't believe it! G-Mommy told me today that your Aunt Katie got teeth at 3 months, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised . . . apparently it runs in our family!

In the last month, you have gotten to meet all of your surviving great-grandparents except one, your great-grandpa who lives in Israel. They are all absolutely in love with you. They can't believe how young you actually are; your alert eyes and expressive face lead people to believe you are older than your two months. You also got to meet your Uncle Brian and Aunt Ragan. You and Uncle Brian had a great time hanging out, farting, and watching Longhorn football. You two are going to be fast friends.

I am so proud of you. So in love with you.

So very thankful that you are a part of my every waking, and dreaming, moment.

Happy two months, my sweet Ali-bear, Ali-oop, Ali-babba, Ali-Ali-oxen-free, Ali-gator, and of course, forever my little Ali-cat.

Love,
Momma