A Mommy Story

I just realized it’s been awhile since I wrote about Mira. Did you forget about her? She’s now four months old – can you believe it?

I’m a little behind on things right now. This past week has been busy, with cleaning up after Cordy’s birthday party (video still to come), Cordy starting at her new preschool, me starting nursing school, Aaron starting rehearsals for a new play, and also taking care of a family of cats in our spare time. It’s exhausting, and I’m barely awake as I write this now.

Mira has been around through all of this, quietly waiting for her turn to be noticed.

OK, maybe “quietly” isn’t exactly accurate. Miranda is a force to be reckoned with, just like her sister, yet often in entirely different ways. At four months, the screaming is slowly lessening (thank you, colic gods!), and she’s beginning to let her preferences be known. Some personality traits I recognize from Cordy, but at times they seem to be polar opposites.

I’m starting to understand that we will never be able to make both of our daughters happy at the same time. Cordy hates to leave the house, while Mira cries more if we’re home. Cordy gets upset in large groups of people, but Mira is happiest surrounded by a crowd. So if we’re home, Mira is upset, and if we’re out in public, Cordy is upset. Fun, eh?

Mira is a breast fiend. She wants her milk directly from the tap, and is usually offended by any offer of a bottle. Cordy hated breastfeeding, and had given it up entirely by this point, so this is all new for me. I’m glad breastfeeding has been so easy this time, and it’s certainly cheaper, although it guarantees that I can’t be away from her for long.

Like Cordy, she’s a serious baby, requiring a real song and dance from me to produce a smile. She’s discovered her feet recently, pulling them to her mouth as often as possible. Actually, anything near her ends up in her mouth – she’s practically begging for solid foods, but I’m holding off until her next check-up at least. Somehow I think she will love any food offered to her.

She’s charming, and while she still hates being put down, she’s not as high-needs as Cordy was at this point. Her naps are infrequent and short (must run in the family, and it’s enough to convince me I don’t want more kids), but she will sleep a 5-6 hour stretch in her crib at night before demanding to be brought into bed with me for the rest of the night.

It’s hard to not constantly compare my two children – is this normal? Do other parents spend way too much time noticing how their kids are similar and different? Regardless of the comparisons, Mira has found her place in our family, and she is a sweet baby. I can’t wait to watch more of her personality develop to see how much she is like her sister, or Aaron and I, and also how much she is her own person.

Happy four months, Miranda. Now, do mommy a favor and let me get some homework done, m’kay?