a letter to greta

to our baby greta....
you are twelve weeks today and i am completely consumed with love for you. it happened in an instant....you arrived on the scene with your shock of dark hair, crying before we could even see your entire face. in the hospital you slept and we marveled at our peaceful, calm baby. you are still that peaceful, calm baby, but you have come ALIVE.
so what have you learned to do in twelve weeks? you follow things around with your eyes. you have started to notice your hands and have taken to sucking on them constantly. you can hold your head up when you are on your belly, although being on your belly is often a short occasion, as you are reduced to a crying, upset mess when tummy time begins. when you lay on your back, you strain your head and chest to try to sit up. in fact, being held in a sitting position seems to be what you enjoy most. that and being carried around so that you can look at everything. your head darts back and forth, trying to look at everything you possibly can. you love to look at yourself in mirrors, the records papa painted for you, your mobile we hung for you, although you don't look at any one thing for too long. you also love being held so that you can stand. pretty much you love being held. you are a snuggly bunny and like to bury your head into momma or papa's chest and sleep face first. at night you still have to be swaddled, which you fight at first but then you sleep for good solid stretches of time. you coo and talk and imitate sounds we make to you. you smile SO easily and you laugh this breathy laugh that is hilarious. your arms and legs are constantly in motion, making us wonder when you might suddenly roll over. you have also begun to move yourself around a bit...i don't know quite how you do it, but you are always in a different spot in your crib than when i put you down. car rides seem to make you mad lately, but luckily you have your birdie friend hanging from your carseat to keep you company. that's the red birdie toy that momma bought you after you were the only kid in baptism class without a toy on their carseat. you were so grateful for the birdie friend that it was the first thing you smiled at. you like to look at books, especially your fluffy chick book and the ones with pictures of real people. you like when your papa dances with you or makes up funny songs in his worst italian accent. and your favorite place of all right now seems to be on the changing pad in the bathroom. you get all smiley and talkative whenever we lay you there. and you LOVE baths...you lay there with your hair slicked back and your arms out to the side like you're laying in a sauna and you smile.
so much has happened these past twelve weeks....most of all that we have fallen head over heels for you. you are our joy. when i think about my love for you i am reduced to a blubbering mess. your papa and i have dreamt of you for so long, and now that you are here we couldn't possibly wish for more. i can't wait to see what the next twelve weeks will bring....
love, your momma