The Great Awakening

Rachelle is an awesome baby. Here's what I mean - she already sleeps 5 or 6 hours at a stretch at night, she almost never fusses, she is generally content to be plopped down somewhere protected while she's awake and she conks out whenever we take her anywhere.

That said, I've been looking at older babies (you know, 3 or 4 months old), and getting excited for the time when I get to know her a little better. She must have felt my yearning, because a couple of nights ago, she started really acting like a conscious human being, and less like a floppy cute tiny doll that squeaks every once in a while so you won't forget it's there. She was waving her fists and feet around madly, and looking all around like she'd never seen anything in our house before. She looked me in the eyes and I felt it - there's a real person in there somewhere!

As a postscript, I would like to add that she smiled for the first time this morning after her 4 AM feeding. That's right, I got her first smile all to myself. Not surprisingly, it was not like her brother's first smile, while was bold and seemed to take up most of his face. Instead, it was just the corners of her mouth and her eyes, but her face just lit up and it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

Welcome to the world, baby girl. May you never stop discovering it.