Things I've learned

1. I've learned that no one can warn you enough about how hard being a mother is. It is filled with wonderful little moments where you get to learn about your little baby and make quiet memories that no one will ever know about, but it is Hard with a capital H.

2. Hayden hates to be laid down to sleep if she has some unresolved bubbles in her tummy. Who would though?? I just happen to be terrible at eliciting a burp... sometimes.




3. Hayden loves to have her fingers and cheeks kissed. It brings out a ton of smiles. :) Lately, after I've kissed her cheeks (many times - can't help it) I will put my cheek up to hers and she will lean into me and open and close her mouth quite energetically as if she is trying to return the kiss. It's the funnest thing ever.

4. She loves her dad.

5. Along with the previous note, John can get her to burp on demand. Which is quite frustrating. The other day he was explaining to me (again) his technique. He was explaining, "pat, pat, pat... then pause... and... " and Hayden chimed in...."bbBBBURPpp". To which I said, "That was SO lucky! You only got her to burp because I had already been trying for 15 minutes!" and John said nothing just... pat, pat, pat... then pause.... and..." and Hayden politely obliges him with another HUGE burp! Yeah, this partnership is going to be trouble.





6. Its not a good idea to let Hayden get 'overtired' or 'overstimulated'... the girl needs her sleep!

7. Hayden likes to be around people. We have been putting her in her room to nap during the day, which has been great because she is getting the deep sleep she needs. But, when she wakes up and wants to be part of the conversation, she will cry (I AM actually learning to distinguish between the cries) and then one of us will go get her and bring her down and she is happy as a clam to be with us.

8. She has an internal clock that is dead-on accurate. When we first got home from the NICU, we were all on a strict 3 hour feeding regimen. Now that she's gotten bigger and is no longer a "premie", we can stretch out her feedings to every 4 hours. Hayden unfortunately did not get the memo. She can be in a dead sleep and the 3 hour mark hits and she awakes crying, letting us know that it is time to be fed.

9. She has excellent hearing. We knew this from the beginning because every little move that someone made caused her to look perplexed and peer in their direction. This hasn't changed. She can hear a truck outside make a noise and it will completely startle her. And if John is trying to get her to sleep and put her down (on the second floor), and I get a phone call, I have to go down into the basement and shut the door, otherwise she looks around for me and fusses.

10. She hates having her diaper changed more than anything. The sound of the sticky tabs being opened on a diaper causes her twist, wiggle, kick and jab... she definitely has a future as either a bellydancer or a black belt in karate.