A lot has happened in Tessa's first three months. For one thing, she's growing like a weed! Even though Kate and I see her every day, we still find ourselves startled by how much bigger and more aware of things our little girl is. She has already outgrown the beautiful hand-made cradle that my Dad built for us. We've moved her into the larger KinderKare crib that my sister gave us. She took to both without much trouble at all.
From the beginning, Tessa has been a great sleeper...as long as we remember to let her sleep. I remember that first month or so being very stressful to me because Tessa always seemed to have a meltdown in the late evening...timed conveniently with Kate and my preparations for bed. Tessa seemed extremely clingy to Kate and refused to be consoled if Kate was not holding her at night. That was a really frustrating time for me because I felt so helpless that I couldn't calm my child down. We eventually came to realize that the main problem was that Tessa was literally too tired to sleep. We'd been waking her up for meals and diaper changing and what not instead of letting her sleep as long as she wanted. It turns out that Tessa is extremely grumpy when she doesn't get enough sleep. So nowadays we let her fall asleep whenever she wants to...and we let her sleep as long as she likes. Her record is seven hours! When she gets enough sleep, she's very chipper and happy during her wakeful hours...and even seems to fall asleep better when we put her down.
Tessa has been co-sleeping with us at night. We may lay her down for a nap in her crib or on a blanket on the floor...but she sleeps between us at night. This was primarily for ease of nursing and to make sure Kate and I were aware of any complications she might have at night. I was concerned at first about co-sleeping because I was certain that I'd end up rolling over and squashing Tessa. But thankfully that just doesn't seem to be happening. I don't know if there's some unconscious mechanism in a parent's brain that prevents them from harming his kid. In any case, it's worked out well...and I find that I really like rolling over in the morning to find my wife and daughter lying there beside me.
Tessa's repertoire of sounds has grown over the months as well. She used to just make wailing, crying noises...which I have to admit were not that endearing. Next she learned how to make little 'ahht' sounds to indicate she was happy or excited. Then she figured out how to make humming sounds, resulting in 'ahht-mmmrrmm' being her choice phrase. Now she performs variations of the same noises, though it always seems to be an effort for her...and she often looks affronted when we laugh at her. She also likes to 'sing' - in which she'll make those humming noises at her toys or the window for long periods. She sometimes sounds like she's singing herself to sleep. I'm certain that she'll be saying 'Mommy' any day now.
Our daughter has also proven to be quite adept at socializing with strangers. She was being passed around and held by people other than her parents when she was four days old. And she continues to be adaptable. She is rarely scared by strangers coming up to talk to her. She is very quick to smile at anyone who's willing to smile back at her. This has predictably made her a serious charmer, eliciting coos and compliments wherever she goes. I'm starting to suspect that she knows what she's doing...
Lastly, Tessa has started rolling over. I think it started when we would put her in the cradle. She figured out that if she lifted her feet up, gravity would tilt her over and presto, she was on her side. At some point, she figured out how to push herself up from a tummy position and roll over to her back. We're not sure how conscious this process is...since Tessa often looks rather startled to find herself looking up at the ceiling when she's been on her side a moment ago. She's also an accomplished 'scoocher' - meaning that she has learned how to push herself forward with her feet. If her feet connect with anything solid, she knows to straighten her legs and move herself up an inch. Rinse-repeat...and she's sliding off of her floor blankets in no time. By the same token, she kicks with her feet to get herself rotated when she's lying down. We'll set her down for a nap...then come back to find that she's spun around 240 degrees. She also really likes to be upright, either sitting in our laps or 'standing' up with one of us supporting her under her shoulders. Her days of immobility are probably numbered.
Kate had decided that she would resign from the Poudre River Public Library in order to stay home with Tessa. She had considered staying on with the library - especially since she's been with the organization on and off for over a decade - but she was certain that if she tried to be both an employee to the library and a mother to Tessa, she would end up shortchanging one or the other. She decided that Tessa the greater priority. As it turned out, after a chat with her supervisor Tova, Kate would not be fully resigning. Kate had asked if it was possible to come back as a 'substitute' sometime later in the year (assuming Tessa was okay with that). Tova liked the idea and said that they would simply change her job position and keep her on the payroll. This has allowed Kate to pop in for a short shift to help train folks on scheduling or teach one of the public computer-use classes. When she goes into work, she either brings Tessa along or has someone meet her at the library to mind the little girl while Kate does her thing. It's been a good arrangement thus far.
Our crowning achievement with Tessa was when we took her with us to see a performance of "The Secret Garden" at the Union Colony Dinner Theatre in Greeley. It was Kate's birthday weekend and she really, really wanted to see this performance - it was the main reason we had purchased season ticket to Union Colony last year. We knew it was a risk to take a baby with us, but the management of the theater said it wouldn't be a problem and set us up with a table on the edge so Kate could duck out if necessary. As luck would have it, Tessa was perfect! Kate fed her during dinner before the show began and before long Tessa was fast asleep and dozed through the entire performance. She even received compliments from other patrons about how amazingly well behaved she was! What a good girl!
So there have been a lot of changes to our little girl over the last couple months. You can see the obvious ones in the pictures at the beginning of this post, which were taken shortly after Tessa was born...and these ones that follow, which were taken here in late March. She has changed a lot!
While it's far from always perfect (Tessa has her meltdowns just like any baby), parenthood hasn't (in my opinion) been a major adjustment to our lives. Yes, we've had to get used to taking Tessa into account whenever we want to go somewhere, even just running errands. Our days and nights are often broken up by Tessa needing food or a diaper change. But overall, it really hasn't been that bad. The financial burden hasn't proven that much thanks to the generosity of friends and family as well as the lifestyle we've chosen. We were never the most active of couples so adjusting to staying home with a baby wasn't much of an adjustment. In fact, sometimes we find ourselves wondering, "Is this really our own baby? Aren't her parents going to be back soon for her?"
But we love our little girl. There's no denying that. She's all ours and nothing is going to change that. And the best part is....I think Tessa herself knows it. :-)
Thanks for reading - I hope you're having a great day!
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