Little Green Monster and Other Firsts

I had my first totally irrational tinge of baby jealousy today. A friend of Chris' who had her baby about a week after us also keeps up a blog in which she posted about her pregnancy and now about her life with baby. I hadn't looked at her blog in awhile, so in the couple brief moments of happy-sleeping-Kayla that I've had today, I decided to take a look and see what she had to report and that's when it happened...GREEN MONSTER. A small Green Monster, but a Green Monster nonetheless. Her baby is smiling! Smiling! She does say that it's not easy to get a smile out of the baby, which could be proud mom code for "The baby occasionally smiles accidentally, but we like to think it's on purpose because how much more fun is that?" I'm not judging. In fact, I TOTALLY feel that way and would completely understand if she was, in fact, exaggerating the frequency/significance of the smiles. But she not only says baby is smiling, but she has photo proof! I am so jealous! I absolutely, positively cannot wait for Kayla to start smiling at us on a regular basis. We occasionally get smiles now, but they are still few and far between and, to be honest, the blank wall, bedroom mirror, and Mr. Panda probably get just as many smiles and coos directed at them. In all fairness, all the books say that babies don't typically start smiling at you (on purpose) until between 6 and 8 weeks. Kayla is not even quite 6 weeks yet (but tomorrow is a-comin' little girl...), so it's really unfair to be wanting her to get a move on smile-wise. Guess maybe having over-achiever parents could be a little annoying after all, huh? I can't help it though...I so want her to smile AT ME...often...on purpose...it's like waiting for her to finally say "I love you".

Yesterday, I not only couldn't get a smile out of her, but she didn't even want to look at me! Usually my face is one of her favorite items of interest, but yesterday it was like I had suddenly become "sooo last week" and only during one especially energetic round of dancing/singing did I get so much as some eye contact. What was she interested in? Her bouncy chair, dancing and bouncing to the Baby's Playlist on my iPod, and, most of all, her favorite source of entertainment, the mirror above her changing table. I don't mean that she is looking in the mirror. No, no. She is completely obsessed with the dark, metal, swirly frame around the mirror. All I can think is that it is the way it stands out against the white wall behind it, but seriously...she spent a solid 10 minutes - an eternity in baby land - staring at that frame. It almost hurt my feelings. I couldn't get any eye contact to save my life, but that frame got a focused 10 minutes of wide-eyed looks and coos. Coos! Seriously...she coos for the frame, but not for the woman who feeds, changes, and cuddles her on a constant rotating schedule all day, EVERY day? I think she is toying with my emotions and it is just rude.





In other baby news, Kayla took her first ferry ride yesterday. She was going into Manhattan to meet Daddy for dinner after work. She stayed awake the entire ride, wide-eyed and looking...well...scared. Every time the boat went up and over a wave her arms shot out in that adorable startle reflex and her eyes got wide, like "WHAT THE????" She was a good sport though; didn't cry once.







Today, Kayla and I went down to the waterfront to watch the ships parade down the Hudson for the start of Fleet Week. We were a little late getting down, but still managed to catch the air craft carrier and a couple other small ships near the end of the parade. Okay, when I say "we"...Kayla stayed completely conked out in her carrier the entire time, not the slightest bit interested in the ships. Of course, the kid can only see objects that are within 18 inches of her face right now, so you can hardly blame her for not being wowed by the spectacle. Her mommy, on the other hand, diligently took pics and then contemplated the sadness of being both married and a mother when thousands of men in uniform are coming into your city...alas...but I digress.



Now, we're at home, wasting the afternoon away. I tried desperately to keep Miss Kayla awake, but let's be honest...there are only so many ways to entertain a 6 week old and once she makes up her mind to go to sleep, there is pretty much no stopping her. And so, she is now resting happily in her bouncer, after resting happily on mommy's lap, then the couch, then mommy's arms...it's a rough life.