31 Things I Love About Leslie

I hope you didn't think I was going to leave Leslie out of my 31 Lists! I am so happy Leslie Nicole joined our family. I cannot imagine our family without her. I am so blessed to have two daughters and I love that they will always have each other and I hope they will always be best friends. There is SO MUCH to love about this sweet, snuggly, beautiful angel and the past five months have been a blast. I'm looking forward to getting to know her more and more.

1. She smiles with her whole body. I love those toothless smiles!
2. The smell of her neck.  I can't describe it but there's something about that scent that is some kind of sensory bond. I love it.
   
3. She took to breastfeeding immediately. Even though her mouth was so tiny and we had to work at it to get a good latch every feeding session for weeks, she stuck with it and we worked it out. And life is good.
4. She has blue eyes. Sometimes they look just like my Papaw's.
5. She's even more blonde than Arden. Who would have thought I would have blonde babies? Thanks to Dibs' strong blonde genes, I've got an almost-cotton-top baby and I adore it.
6. Her hair sticks up - SO cute. The little swirl of hair is smack in the back of the top of her head, so I imagine we'll be dealing with cowlicks - can't get over the cuteness!
7. She's getting to be a pro at rolling over and is trying to crawl. Just yesterday, she was my teeny newborn!
8. She adores Arden. ADORES.
9. That laugh! So contagious. 
10. Her cry is (usually) not irritating. Dibs always thought Arden's cry was cute but it grated on me (like it's supposed to - it's made me jump into action, anything to make it stop). Leslie's isn't as high-pitched or something, and it takes a lot longer to get me to that flustered, panicked mode.
11. She's healthy. I totally take this one for granted. We are so blessed to have a happy, healthy baby. Life is truly miraculous.
12. She has discovered the comfort of slurping on two fingers. Neither of my girls have been keen on pacifiers but somewhere along the way in the past month, Leslie has discovered that two fingers on her right had are extremely tasty and comforting. It's adorable and a life saver, to tell the truth. I know we'll have to help her break that habit down the road and I'm not looking forward to it but for now, everybody is happy. And it's so cute.
13. Peekaboo is already fun for her.
14. Those little tootsies. What is it with me and baby toes?
15. She likes to hold my hand. (We're big on hand-holding around here.)
16. She likes being read to. I think she's going to love books, too.
17. "The Wheels on the Bus" is one of her favorite songs. Odd but I'll go with it. Now, whenever Leslie starts crying, Arden launches in to a rousing rendition of "Wheels on the Bus" or the Alphabet Song  - her personal favorite.
    
18. She is generally happy and easy-going. I marvel at the fact that I have two generally easy-going children.
19. She's learning to hold things. A-mazing.
20. Those Cheeks! Those chubby cheeks are irresistible.
21. She is trying so hard to sit up. It's kind of sweet to see her work so seriously and so hard.
22. She started sleeping through the night at 2 months old, just like Arden. I always thought it was a fluke with Arden and was prepared for a different experience. Now that she is teething, we are getting up several times a night but she goes right back to sleep after some comforting and feeding and in some cases, just jabbers for a while and puts herself back to sleep. I'm kind of at a point now where I don't count the sleep I do get - I just know it isn't enough - but I think it's generally about 6 hours or less and often in increments of about 2 hours.
23. She wakes up happy. Both of my girls are happy early (EARLY) birds. I love those seeing those happy, sunshiny faces, even if the sun isn't up yet.
24. She talks to herself. It's precious.
25. She's talking! Coos, giggles, squeals - we've got it all. I can't get enough.
26. She has the most delicious fat rolls. Those little arms and thighs are getting so roly-poly.
27. She loves to squeal and splash in the bath. So fun. It doesn't get old.
28. Her existence is good for my prayer life. I pray so much more now that I'm a mother. Sometimes, when my arms are full of baby and I can't go or do anything else, I am reminded that I can pray. So I do. And it has been a revelation.
29. She is not a terrible spitter. She is a spitter and I have some memories of REALLY disgusting experiences but, on the whole, it's not that bad. And I know it could be so much worse.
30. She's fairly predictable. My girls (and I) love routine. I can almost set my clock by her - when 6 pm rolls around, she starts rubbing her eyes and giving the signals for me to drop everything else and get her ready for bed.
31. She loves her Mama. It's so endearing, probably mostly because Arden never really expressed a preference for me unless it was mealtime or she was really tired. When Leslie was born, we got a minute together (see video) and then she was rushed off to the nursery. I knew it would be a while before I would see her again, because I would be in recovery from the c-section for about two hours. It's just kind of hospital policy that you don't see the baby until you are in your room. I guess they are afraid Mama might drop her or something while recovering from all the good meds (and I was blissed out, in a very serene state of mind, thanks to my anesthesiologist). But after just an hour or so, while Dibs and I were jammed in the TINY recovery room, marveling over all the pictures and video he took in the nursery, the lactation consultant bustled in with Baby and announced that Leslie wanted her Mama. And she's pretty much been that way ever since.