She knows me?

After staying away from Teavana for quite a while –it’s an expensive habit, and I like my teas from Sunflower Market just as much- we made a little caffeine stop today.

tea5

Bzzzzz

After a night of high hopes with the swaddling, she busted out of her swaddle every hour or so, screaming like an angry elf, and I couldn’t wake up the Swaddle King because he had to fly this morning. So we partied all night: me re-swaddling her, bouncing and singing back to sleep on the stability ball, lather, rinse, repeat, with the necessary eating/burping/diaper change sessions in there.

After her all-nighter, she spent a lot of the morning crashed out in the Moby, and then we did tummy time, read books, the usual shenanigans, and went to the mall. We’ve turned into a couple of mall rats lately. It’s not even with the purpose of buying anything, but because I have all of the good breastfeeding spots figured out (the lounge at Dillard’s, fitting rooms), it gives us a chance to get out of the house and walk around if we don’t have plans that day with friends, and I appreciate the mall options here so much. In Valdosta, the anchor stores were Belk and JC Penney, and they didn’t have a Banana, Gap, or Express. The Victoria’s Secret was the 1980s floor plan with pink and gold heart wallpaper.

So, since I have no idea where we’ll be stationed next, in the meantime I’m going to breathe in all of the goodness that is Tucson, including the mall 😉

Today,

I’ve heard a lot of overtired cries, remedied by lots of food and snuggles (food and snuggles would make anything feel better though, right?)

been spit-up on

peed on (I had to laugh at that one)

and it felt like one of the most challenging days in a while, which I think is only because of the crazy night last night.

And then this morning, while I was changing her diaper and singing the good morning song

she looked up at me, cooed, and gave me the biggest, toothless smile.

I melted into a puddle of mush in front of her crib.

She can pee and spit up on me whenever she likes.. at least (I think) she knows who she’s doing it to 😉

smiley girl

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79 Comments

  1. Beth on February 16, 2012 at 7:33 am

    She totally knows you! She had beeen hearing your voice before she was born and now hears that voice all the time… she totally knows you are her mama! What a gorgeous smile! I too was a mall walker. My favorite time to go to the mall, though, was when my son had just learned to become a pretty confident walker. The mall was open early in the mornings (although all the stores were closed) for early mall walkers, so it was a flat, level place with very few people, and as long as I kept him away from stairs and escalators, he could walk around and look at everything with me! It was a great “workout” for both of us, LOL!

  2. Courtney on February 16, 2012 at 8:06 am

    She is gorgeous! Such a perfect mix of both you and Tom! 🙂

  3. Shannon on February 16, 2012 at 9:00 am

    Just beautiful! She is precious!

  4. Natalie S on February 16, 2012 at 9:06 am

    Oh, wow, what a big, beautiful smile!! She is gorgeous! And totally knows her mama.

    I used to take my little one to Target a lot in the beginning…but I think it is way more difficult to just “window shop” there so it started to become an expensive outing 😉

  5. Kate on February 16, 2012 at 9:06 am

    What a sweet smile!!

    Have you tried the Swaddle me blankets with the velcro? The A&A ones are my favorite but we resort to the velcro ones to keep the swaddle intact overnight. I never offer unsolicited advice….but they are amazing for swaddle escapees!

  6. Annalisa on February 16, 2012 at 9:25 am

    I love when they start to smile! I read somewhere that the smile is actually a defense mechanism — I suppose that after weeks of crying, sleepless nights, and stress, a smile means you won’t hurt them 🙂 I think it’s true

  7. Sarah on February 16, 2012 at 9:40 am

    I think you might enjoy this post! It has really helped me gain some perspective when we have rough days at our house (my little love bug is 11 weeks old!) Hopefully the smiles will keep increasing from here on out. It makes everything easier. 🙂

    http://www.rookiemoms.com/the-payoff-has-arrived/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RookieMoms+%28Rookie+Moms%29

  8. Brittany (healthy slice of life) on February 16, 2012 at 9:47 am

    Oh just look at that big beautiful smile!! I’ve been peed on before, too. Indisnt even know girls could do that.

  9. Christina on February 16, 2012 at 9:56 am

    what a little bean! she is so precious!

  10. Jessica@Fruit and Veggie Tales on February 16, 2012 at 10:22 am

    One word: WOOMBIE! http://www.woombie.com/ This thing is a total life saver. We could swaddle my daughter as long as her hands were out and she would be fine but my son was Houdini and he was so uncomfortable at night (gluten) that he always wiggled free. Enter the woombie and he slept so much better! I didn’t like it after he was able to roll over freely while he was asleep, it just made me nervous but until he was about 6 months, it was a lifesaver! They also have lighter fabrics if you are concerned about her getting hot. You can get it on amazon and they frequently have it on baby half off. Have a good day.

    • Natasha on February 16, 2012 at 1:20 pm

      Haha! I just posted this too, then saw your comment. They look liked they would work great!

  11. Kelly @ Vegolosophy on February 16, 2012 at 10:45 am

    So precious!

  12. Jennifer on February 16, 2012 at 11:01 am

    Awwww…. I love her smile! She is soooo cute!

  13. Laura @ backstage balance on February 16, 2012 at 11:02 am

    What a beautiful smile!

  14. JennP on February 16, 2012 at 12:15 pm

    That’s awesome that you were able to get such good pics of her early smiles! I swear it took me 2 months to get a quality smile on film!!

  15. Emily @ Glitz Glam Granola on February 16, 2012 at 1:16 pm

    Ohh I’ve passed that tea place but never gone in before– I need to change that! And what a great idea to walk around the mall together with your little one, it’s also a great sign of fun shopping dates as she gets older! 🙂 What a huge smile! She’s absolutely adorable!

  16. Natasha on February 16, 2012 at 1:19 pm

    I’m not a mother yet, but saw this the other day, and thought of you after reading about your swaddle escape artist. Have you seen this? http://www.woombie.com
    Might be worth checking out? Have a great day, Livi is so adorable!!

  17. Anna @ The Guiltless Life on February 16, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    Aw she’s so adorable! The mall can sometimes be such a great escape. Even when I was in college and was studying my butt off around Christmastime, it would be too freezing for me to want to go for a walk outside so I would go to this huge mall by my place and walk up and down it looking at all the Christmas displays and lights and just get my head out of the books. I wonder if malls know their multiple uses? Haha

    • Fitnessista on February 16, 2012 at 2:10 pm

      i used to do that during finals season, too! it was a great way to escape from studying for a while

  18. Beth on February 16, 2012 at 1:48 pm

    ohhh…absolutely adorable! She’s is such a cutie!

  19. Debbie on February 16, 2012 at 2:45 pm

    My son is still not sleeping consistently through the night going on 2 years now! His cry goes right through me at night…I am exhausted and cranky and feel like running away sometimes…but when I look at that little face in the morning all smiles and giggles and calling me mummum all I want to do is kiss him all over! They have us wrapped around their tiny little fingers and cute little toes!!

  20. Lisa on February 16, 2012 at 2:47 pm

    Oh gosh how cute! Their cuteness,funnyness etc makes up for the tough times. I sing that song to my kids & dogs some mornings! I must have gotten it from my mama!

  21. Maddy on February 16, 2012 at 6:18 pm

    Gorgeous girl with a gorgeous smile. Melt my heart. Yeah, once they smile it makes every thing worth while. Smiles still make my heart happy.

  22. Andrea of Care to Breed on February 16, 2012 at 6:56 pm

    Good lord, she’s cute. You’re so lucky she’s already smiling. Bronwen took forever to smile and even longer to smile for me. But, after a particularly rough day (think multiple sobbing mommy fits), she looked at me and gave me the biggest grin. I told her, “Mommy really needed that.” and all was okay in the world.

  23. Ali on February 16, 2012 at 9:11 pm

    When Sophie was a newborn/infant we went to the mall alllll the time. It was safe, clean, and opens early! haha

  24. Jaclyn on February 16, 2012 at 11:32 pm

    what.a.cutie.!!!

    Oh of course she knows you, you’re momma!! 😀 She gets more beautiful every day… and that smile is infectious <3

  25. Christena on February 21, 2012 at 7:21 pm

    I’m just catching up on posts and I just have to say – Gina, she is SO CUTE. ADORABLE! Oh wow!

    • Fitnessista on February 21, 2012 at 7:58 pm

      aww thank you!

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