3 Months

Today marks the 1/4 of a year mark for Miss Hayden. She is so little, and yet I'm feeling nostalgic already. As I'm not planning to have any more children (well we know how well my plans work out, but that is not the point), I find myself thinking but I'll never have a baby this little again. And she is such a sweet and easy baby. She is precisely the type of baby that sweetly deceives couples into trying for one of their very own, only to have them feeling disillusioned when they are up night after night for weeks on end trying to soothe their colicky, fussy infant. It really is best that she be my last. That way I can spend the rest of my life condescendingly offering young women advice on how best to raise their newborns and raising my eyebrows in disbelief when they describe the trials of new motherhood with only the memories of Hayden fresh in my mind and the memories of Jillian buried in the corners of my once sleep deprived brain.

As you can see Hayden is all smiles these days. She does not smile on command for the camera as her sister would, but instead offers the most adorable grins when only I am there to treasure them. Other times she seems to have a wide-eyed look of near terror on her face as if she suddenly realizes that these crazy people surrounding her are indeed her family.

I went back to work late last week, and while I miss my little pumpkin, I did not cry. I'm not really the sort that cries over this sort of thing as (1) I like my paying job and (2) two under two is a much tougher job that I'm more than happy to pass on to my now weary husband. Life has pretty much returned to normal or at least our new state of normal. Our weekends are jam packed this summer with weddings, birthdays and other fun outings that I may one day manage to post pictures of. Luckily Hayden is quite accepting of our busy lifestyle and is happily transported in her car seat anywhere at anytime. If only Jillian were so flexible.

Speaking of Jillian, she continues to be quite happy with her new little sister. Mostly because Hayden contentedly watches her older sister's constant performances as she attempts (and succeeds) at being the center of attention at all times. Any of my relatives would tell you that the dynamic exactly mirrors that of me and my younger sister. Occasionally I have spotted a little jealousy in Jillian like the other day when she demanded that I place the "baby" on her play mat and then sit in the recliner and feed Jillian her sippy cup like a bottle.

Sleep continues to be reasonable. Jillian is pretty consistent in an 8pm bedtime, and usually I can get Hayden to sleep around the same time. Usually she only wakes up once between then and when I wake up for work at 5am, so I really cannot complain. Of course now that I have posted this all hell will break loose. She naps in her swing periodically throughout the day. With Jillian at this age I had a whole nap routine worked out. Not so with Hayden. She just sleeps when she wants to and is awake the rest of the time with very little fussing in between.

And yes, I know exactly how lucky I am.