Here is my husband and his look-alike daughter. We've been wondering what color her eyes will settle on (right now they are a striking blue) and I think they will stay as is. Note that her dad has the same great color. Not the point of this post.Babs is working hard on her reverse mullet. The hair in front is thick, and gets longer by the day. It is already hanging in her eyes. The hair in the back is understandably short, and a little thin, because she lies on it all day. Also not the point of this post.
This post is about my do-it-yourself second daughter. Kiddo expected me to do almost all the work of breastfeeding her, from holding her head up to connecting the mouth and the food. From day 1, Babs was clear - she would do it herself. I obviously have to hold her, because she is a baby, but she does everything else herself, and will arch her back and squawk if I don't comply with her rules.
And she is old enough to have a nap schedule. I hadn't got around to setting it for her (because, as opposed to Primus' infancy, my every moment is not consumed with Secundus' schedule - lucky her), so she did it herself. She puts herself to sleep when it's time. The other day I came into the room she was playing in twice to see her sacked out on the floor. (I'm paying better attention now, and putting her in her crib, for the record.) She doesn't really appreciate being rocked to sleep; she'll lift her head up and look around.
And while it's nice to have a self-sufficient baby (she evens puts on weight with more gusto than her big sis), I'm determined to have some quiet moments with her. So I still sway and sing to her a little before putting her in her crib. As I sang "I am a child of God" to her today, I was struck by the idea that we are starting again, to teach another precious child the essential truth that she is a child of God, He does love her, and as a family, we work to honor, praise, and serve him. And going to sleep to that song is the first lesson on that path. Babs' lessons have begun.
