Whew, how time flies, even in these days of quarantine and "social distancing"! Somehow life with five kids, homeschooling, and constant house projects keeps us pretty busy regardless of the blank social calendar.
Bridget continues to be our happy, healthy baby--as long as she's held and with people! She'll tolerate floor play for about 5-10 minutes with some toys (and preferably a sibling nearby or interacting with her) if she's well-rested and well-fed. But after a short time, she begins fussing . . . and then screaming. All is right with the world again when Mama picks her up.
She finally tolerates the stoller if I take her for a morning walk!
Bridget is adept at rolling and can do a bit of scootching/army crawling, but she doesn't aim very well yet. Her coordination is improving but isn't great yet. She certainly loves to grab at anything within reach! It's hard to drink a glass of water while holding her now. When I pick peaches or apples with her on my hip, she grabs the leaves. Today I laid her on her back on a blanket in the yard while I did some gardening. She pretty promptly rolled over, pulled the blanket toward her, and grabbed some grass to taste.
Recently Jeremy set her up in Clara's old booster seat with some toys on the tray. She loves to grab and hit at the toys, making noise and seeing what she can catch to put in her mouth. We have to replace the animal toys several times a meal, but she's usually pretty pleasant and entertained, which allows us to eat in peace without a grabby, cranky baby on one of our laps! Evenings continue to be her hardest/crankiest time, like most babies, but she is so much happier than in the early days when she'd just wail for a long while. She usually wants/needs a little cat-nap for about 30 minutes around 6 p.m. or so, which is always hard for me to finagle, since I'm also making dinner, overseeing clean-up activities, etc. etc. So I forget, and then she falls asleep in Jer's arms or just gets really fussy. When I remember, the evening does go better for all of us!
Like my other kids, Bridget started waking again at night around four months old, though not consistently. Recently we've had a string of good nights and then some with a couple wake-ups. Last night was midnight and 4 a.m., and then she was up for the morning around 6:15. The nights she sleeps 8-5 or 8-6 are glorious!
Bridget was pulling down the flower wallhanging by her changing table every time I changed her, so that's put away for now. But she still likes to be changed and usually smiles when I get her on the pad. Then she grabs her toes and sucks on them until I pry her hands away to take the diaper off and clean her up. She laughs or smiles if I kiss her neck and tickle her chest, and generally she's just very happy to interact face-to-face with me. She does love those toes of hers, too, though.
When she wakes from night or nap, she often rolls herself over, sucks on her toes, and coos to herself for a bit before making more insistent noises to call my attention. I love hearing her happy squeals, raspberries, and other noises. She has recently started sniffing (usually while gumming her upper lip), doing a little funny bunny face, all scrunched up and smiley.
Clara and Bridget
She finds her siblings and their antics (usually exaggerated for her benefit) very interesting and often quite funny. I think she's laughed the most at Abby, but everyone vies to get a laugh out of her. Abby and Clara got her laughing by snorting at her the other day. But then Clara got a little too vigorous in her snorting and startled the poor baby, who ended up crying. Clara hasn't given up on what she thinks is this sure-fire way to make Bridget laugh, though. Clara also likes to pant and "beg" like a dog to get Bridget smiling and laughing. Most of Clara's interactions with Bridget disregard any personal space and tend to be loud and repetitive. But Clara also loves to hold her on her lap and is good about keeping her secure. "She is happy because she feels safe with me, Mama," Clara tells me. Bridget is getting quite hefty for Clara and looks large on her lap, but Clara will often patiently hold Bridget--even when the latter is crying--until I can relieve her.
Abby and Bridget
Abby delights in Bridget's smiley nature and chubby happiness. Whenever she holds Bridget, she keeps up a constant stream of conversation to draw my attention and affirmation to all of Bridget's cuteness. "Just look at this sweet baby, Mama! Don't you just love her? I do. Look at her smile at me, Mama! Our baby is just the best baby in all the world. Don't you think so, Mama? She just loves to look at me. She thinks I'm so funny! Bridget is just so sweet. Isn't she just the sweetest, Mama?" etc. Abby loves to wear her yellow, flowered, long-sleeved pajamas partly because they captivate Bridget. She stares at them and grabs at them, wanting to get any part of the material in her mouth.
Lydia and Bridget, back in April, when Lydia was first allowed to hold B standing up/walking (very exciting)
Lydia is a bit chagrined that Bridget has not laughed at her as much as at Abby. But she loves to hold her, too, and often encourages Bridget to cuddle on her shoulder as she sings her a lullaby. She is quick to offer to hold Bridget if I need to do something with both my hands. She and Abby both are eager to be helpful, though they get quickly fatigued if Bridget fusses and cries with them. Both twins want to change Bridget's diaper, pick out her clothes, dress her, etc., and I'm sure I'll have ready and willing helpers when it comes time to feed her real food, too!
Josiah and Bridget (in May)
Josiah loves to tempt Bridget to grab at him (hair, nose, mouth) or gnaw on him (shoulder, knuckle, knee) and sometimes repents of allowing her to touch his feet, put her hands in his mouth, etc.--mostly "accidentally." He keeps an eagle eye out for any sign of her spitting up and is quick with the burp cloth. Last week he did get well-doused, though! He was a good sport about it. He calls her "Pie-pie" and even got his friend Malachi calling her that last week when we stayed with Malachi's family for a few days (our AC broke and we needed emergency housing until it was fixed; our friends were so gracious to host us!). I think "Pie-pie" comes from "sweetie-pie" or some such term of endearment. Josiah likes to take Bridget to see the "baby in the mirror," and he tries various daring ways of holding her if he thinks he can get away with it.
All the kids love to be the first to greet Bridget when she wakes from a nap. The big kids clamor to pick her up and bring her to me. (Now that she's in a real crib and not the small co-sleeper, I don't feel comfortable with them reaching so far to pick her up and haul her out and over the railing. They're pretty disappointed with this.) They love to see her stop crying and start smiling when they enter. They exclaim over her rolling ability, how far she scootched during nap, how many patches of spit-up they see on the sheet . . . .
I remember my siblings' and my stampede to get Baby Rachel up from her nap--and it's fun to observe my own kids' similar competition to be the first in the baby's attentions. Bridget has been all of our delight during this quarantine time. I definitely recommend having a baby around if you must be cooped up at home most of the time! Even a high-maintenance baby like ours is such fun. I wouldn't trade her for the world.
