Sweet baby Lola

Some things about her that I don't want to ever forget:

*It seems like every time I look at her, I can see that she is noticeably bigger. Some times I wish that I could freeze her, just like this. Not forever, but just for a little while. I love her teensy little feet, hands, face.....everything.

*I love her smell. Her smell before lotion. Yum.

*I love her little noises. Whimpers, mouse squeaks, coos, grunts.

*She has the most beautiful hands and long fingers. I often wonder to myself if she will play the piano like her Mommy someday?

*At about two weeks, she began holding her head up very well.

*She has a bit of an 'old man ring' in regards to her hair. The 'ring' is longer than all her other hair. It's quite comical. It reminds me of E's hair when he was a baby.

*She calms down just as soon as Shane or I put our hands underneath her to pick her up. We don't even have her in our arms yet, but as soon as she feels our hands, she is comforted.

*She is outgrowing her newborn-sized clothes already. I have put several sleepers and outfits away. *sniff*

*Speaking of clothing, she absolutely hates having her arms or legs threaded through sleeves or pant legs. Arms through long-sleeved onesies are the worst.

*On that note...."We've got a screamer on our hands!" Whew! What a set of lungs. (My family will tell you--she gets that honestly. From her mother. Ahem.)

*She does not take a pacifier very well. Shane is the only one who can successfully make it work. If I even go near her, she wants nothing to do with it.

*We thought she took a bottle well (we had to bottle feed her for two days when she was a week old, due to some nursing issues) but last week when we tried again, she was having none of that! We'll see how that plays out....

*She doesn't spit up after feedings--at least, not yet. She has, however, mastered the projectile vomit. Girl's got some distance.

*I truly believe she knows my smell. She calms down almost instantly the minute I take her (if she's with someone else and crying) even before I talk to her. That's a pretty cool feeling as a Mom.

*She knows we prefer to hold her. She prefers to be held. Good thing we are all on the same page.

*On that note, truthfully: I never want to put her down. Shane and I fight over who gets her. Well, not really....but both of us have a severe case of the holdies. (And we're competing with three other sets of hands, too--the boys are constantly begging for their turn!)

*I could also stare at her all day long. (I think I've said "She's so pretty....." at least 482, 176 times since she was born.)

*She has not gone one entire night in her bassinet yet. She starts out there, right next to my side of the bed, and usually makes it through the first feeding and will go back in until the second feeding (around 4 a.m. or so). After that, it seems she likes being curled up right next to me. I suppose that's just fine. *grin*

*She has yet to go in her swing. I keep forgetting to take it out of the storage room. *sigh*

*She has no concept of how expensive newborn-sized diapers are. Sheesh. Let's just say....her insides are working very, very well.

*She looks exactly like each of her brothers at different times, yet she has her very own look.

*She has at this point very dark, deep blue eyes and light to medium brown hair. Just like Mommy. I sure hope it stays that way.

*She has the most beautiful skin and the prettiest coloring. That, my friends, she did not get from me.

*She has smiled a lot while sleeping, and it looks like she may have dimples on both cheeks.

*She has about a billion nicknames already. Lo, Little Miss Thing, Lo-lee-girl, Sweet Baby Girl, LC....just to name a few of the most popular ones. We do actually use her real name most of the time, and it seems as though she already knows we're talking to her--she turns to us many times when we say it.

*She loves the song that plays on her mobile. If I sing it to her when she's crying, she will stop.

*She also loves the "Lola Claire" song. I've sang this made-up song to each of my boys, (with their own names in there, of course) and it always has had magic calming effects.

To the tune of Frere Jacques (Are you sleeping):
"Lola Claire, Lola Claire
How are you? How are you?
I love you, and you love me too
Yes, you do.....yes, you do."

{Yes, I know. I'm uber creative. But it's caught on and they've all liked it, so that's all that matters, right?}

*She became 'cordless' at 12 days old. And the coolest thing ever? She has my exact same belly button! *grin*

*Now that her stump is gone, she seems to really enjoy taking showers. (Incidentally, we've done this with all the boys, too--started them out as babies in the shower, rather than baths. Daddy handles this operation because I am scared to death that I will drop them, but he has very sure hands. We found this process is much quicker, warmer for the baby, and it seems to nix their fear of water--a win-win! We start bath time with them once they are a bit older and are able to go in the big tub and sit up by themselves.)

*She does NOT like being slathered with lotion. Yikes. Enter those massive, house-shaking screams here.

She does enjoy a round or two a day of Copacabana. *giggle*

Ah, Lola.

This girl is the light of my life. We--all five of us--are enjoying her immensely and are so thankful that God added her to our family. So, so thankful, and truly grateful.