2011's letter to stella.

hello to my dear stella.

you haven't been alive much of 2011 outside the womb,

but you have been joyriding with us since march 1st, so uh,

i have about 10 months under my belt with you.

as a child (and adult) my mom wrote me a poem every christmas,

so it is my hope to write you, miss stella, a note 

either on christmas or for your birthday.

both come at busy times of year, but for this year here goes:

dearest stella k,

you bring me so much unexplainable joy.

it's only been 6 weeks and i can't imagine life without you

and it's hard to imagine life before.

your daddy warned me of this before you were born, 

warned me that we'd look at you and life would all the sudden seem weird without you.

there's been some hard times

some happy times

and mostly times of learning.

we all are getting to know each other and it seems that you 

are feeling more comfortable with us too.

that's a good feeling.

daddy and i are learning to perfect our parenting skills of that for an infant.

we learned you like to be swaddled when tired, but not when NOT tired.

we learned that you can't keep a paci in for the life of you (but what 6 week old can?!)

we learned that you LOVE white noise!

see that little white box? that is your only christmas present from

mama and daddy. best $17 we ever spent. it actually is more of a gift to us.

we learned that you have my intestines. (my apologies)

we learned that you like to hear yourself talk and squawk.

we learned that your favorite time to smile is in the morning after a diaper change.

you tend to shut down in large groups of people.

you were such a trooper through our 5 christmas celebrations and 

probably did better than daddy and me. 

(we aren't really allowed to shut down though).

i don't want to become obsessed with all those milestones and crap, 

but i do plan to track some of your firsts.

your first smile (not by reflex) was on 12/21/11.

one morning i was changing your diaper and you looked at me with that 

gummie grin.

i talk to you in a normal human voice regularly just like i did in utero, 

but in the mornings i throw in a higher pitched voice

(NOT to be confused with baby talk)

and ask "how is my stella doing? how is my lovie doing?"

and every morning you smile.

it makes all your screams seem ok.

god must have known what s/he was doing...

you are becoming more alert for longer stretches.

you are out of your NB clothes for the most part. 

i went through and put out mostly 3 month-ers :)

you seem to be growing like a weed.


10.9 lbs at 4 weeks & 10.15 lbs at 6 weeks
and 23.25 inches long, 90th % for height, but like the doc said
"one dot doesn't make a curve"
so we don't know if you'll stay that way, of course it's from daddy.

what really caught me off guard the other day is your sleep habits.

you used to fuss and fuss and only want to be held.

after a night of letting your paci fall out and you falling asleep on your own

the next day you napped and napped and napped

(ok i know that is what baby's do...)

and fell asleep mostly on your own.

i kept thinking "who is this child?"

i think it comes back to the 3 of us getting to know each other better 

and how to best cater to your needs.

thank you for coming into our lives. 

it's been a roller coaster of 6 weeks, but mostly joyful.

i'm finally to the point where i can believe you are ours.

forever.

it excites me to think what 2012 will bring for all of us.

this letter will be so different.

i can only imagine what all you are going to teach daddy and me.

i love you, lovie.

ma.ma.