She's Laughing

"A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance..." Proverbs 15:13

Instead of feeling cranky from sleepiness, Maddy was in such a great mood after feeding her at 12am. While she was lying on my lap she was babbling to me about her day. She's at the coo-ing stage, and it's always fun to watch her shriek "ooowwww" and "aaaahhh" as a way of communicating her happiness. She was also cooing a lot when AmyGrace and Micah were at our house visiting earlier this evening. I wanted Erwil to hear her talk and kiss her goodnight, so I walked her over to her dad.

Erwil happened to be hanging his belt back in the closet, while I was carrying Maddy to say goodnight to him. I was feeling eager to put her to sleep because Erwil and I have gotten very little sleep from the day before and we had just finished up cleaning up the kitchen. We were both so exhausted from finishing the day's worth of tasks, but little Maddy eyes were still wide open like a hooting owl. We can tell she still wanted to stay up late with the grown ups. Oh, no!

It was getting really late, and past her usual bedtime. No matter how tired we feel, we can't resist Maddy's happy smile and her playfulness. Erwil kissed her goodnight. Then he jokingly made snapping noises with the leather belt and said "Go to sleep or you get palo." In Tagalog, "palo" means "spanking". Maddy made what sounded like a laugh, "he-he-he."

I told Erwil, "Go ahead and make that snapping noise again. I think Maddy just laughed for the first time." Surely again after Erwil said "palo" and made a "snap, snap, snap" sound. Maddy gave us a wide grin and voiced out a "he-he-he."

Just to make sure we were really hearing her laughter, I told Erwil to repeat the same thing for a third time. Again Maddy laughed and grinned. It was so funny to see her laugh at her daddy's jokes especially because it was about "palo". The two of us were laughing at her reaction. We were gladly astonished at how Maddy is now beginning to laugh at Erwil's jokes. She gets it!

Finally, it was time to put her down so that we all could get some sleep. Our night ended well. Maddy is starting to learn how to laugh purposefully.

Wellness

Oh Maddy, your little soul amazes me! Praise God for fashioning you into someone so wonderful! You're a delight to me in the 8 weeks that I've known you!

Today you had your 8 week check up with Dr. Pang. Along with researching more about infant immunizations, I woke up praying for your complete wellness while I was nursing you this morning. You now weigh 11lbs and you are 21 inches long. You are sleeping longer at night, but you are still learning to soothe yourself to sleep. I know that it's hard to self-soothe to sleep. Even I have trouble doing that during many nights, and it's just too bad that I'm too old to suck on a binky. That's why I'm up late blogging away while you and your dad are snoring asleep.

Please be patient with me. As a new mom, I am constantly bombarded with so much advice...maybe too much. There's nothing secret about it on Google. I was really overwhelmed with what to do as far as vaccinations are concerned. There's so much research out there concerning it, and I just kept asking God to give me the diligence to seek out information and also grant our family peace in this health decision we are making for you. Like in James 1:5, I asked God to grant me the wisdom because I am not a doctor, I'm just a teacher. Thankfully He blessed me with so many supportive people, including your very own pediatrician Dr. Pang, who has been flexible and conscientious. Your Tita Sheenna gave really great advice because not only is she a doctor, but also a mom and we talked for an hour about you. It helped that she has "been and done" with that stage of parenting. Also, a pediatric doctor friend introduced the AAP website for me to read more information about childhood vaccines.

Your daddy and I are amazed with your bravery. Ugh, I personally hate all needles. I thought you would too. I was expecting you to make an audible wail the way most babies do. Nope, not at all! The nurse gave you the shot on the fleshy part of your upper thigh, but you didn't even cry. Good girl! This has been the third time we've witnessed your high tolerance for needles. Maybe I can learn to toughen up. From now on, if I ever have to face a needle while sitting in the dentist chair or doctor's exam table I will repeat the mantra to myself, "If Maddy can handle a needle, then I can too!". So, I wonder how you will do next month when I take you to get your ears pierced?

You know what else I discovered today? You love grape flavored Infant Tylenol. I gave you a medicine dropper full of it before we left the house for your doctor's appointment. I've never seen such a look of pleasure as you swallowed all of it down. It must be all that high fructose corn syrup they add to make sure you swallow down the acetaminophen.

Sugar is not good for you. Prove it? The sugar substance in the Infant Tylenol caused a huge diaper blowout once we arrived and waiting in the doctor's examination room. Your poop leaked out of the sides and up your back, Maddy. You stained your white onesie. It even smeared on the butcher paper used to cover the exam table. It took almost the whole pack of Kirkland brand unscented wipes to clean you. Fortunately, I brought extra clothes for you. Otherwise, we would have to run across the street to Del Amo Mall just to find you some clothes at Baby Gap. You're so lucky you're really cute and your poop doesn't smell bad yet. If it weren't for that, your daddy and I would not go near you to change your diaper. Since we love you, we can stand even your most-poopiest diaper.

At 2 months of age, it's really fun to watch you play in your crib and talk to your toys. I wonder what your toys are telling you? You love to smile as I teach you about the parts of your face. Maddy, you're pretty talkative after a good feeding. You are quite the conversationalist!

Speaking of feeding you, I must make mention that although you learned how to drink from the bottle, you are becoming smarter about it. Just last week you began rejecting the bottle. We don't know why you just decided to boycott bottles. Is it the temperature of the milk? What do you have against Medela and Dr. Brown's bottles? Or is it because you're ready for the higher stage level nipples? Our hunches are inconclusive. You just won't take bottles, so it's pretty obvious that by default you've elected me to become your personal milk wagon.

Why bother packing bottles whenever we go to church or to your grandma's house? The milk will be left untouched. Instead, I have to scout for baby-friendly places to take you and make sure that I have my nursing cover whenever you want to eat in public. Most of the time, I just nurse you inside the car (and right now the summer heat has started to make that plan unappealing). A life without baby bottles I'm sure is a great thing for your dad because it saves him from having to wash and sterilize bottles every night. We realize that it's a challenging thing because it's going to be that much tougher to leave you to a babysitter if you aren't bottle feeding right now. You just added another facet of feeding challenges for whoever will be watching you whenever I'm away. I don't mind it though. It just means that I earn a gazillion popularity points with you.

I've seen you cry, pleading for milk and it makes me feel awful. Even though you don't cry with bursts tears just yet, it pains me to see you go through your short-lived hunger pain. You look like you are writhing in pain to watch you cry out loud and lips root the ends of your crib for milk. My poor darling! All I have to do to make your crying stop is to tickle your nose with the burp and your face instantly lights up as you kick your legs with excitement. When you latch on, you have the happiest face. You have the look of heaven when you are nursed by me. I love seeing your face. I love that I, being your mommy, can provide you with that kind of happiness, physical security and better immunity to diseases. We definitely have our moments of bonding frequently, you and I, Maddy girl! As of last Thursday, I turned in my leave of absence to LAUSD to be home with you for 24-7 bonding time! Prayers confirmed. Thank God that decision has been made final and I have the peace of mind knowing I chose the right thing to do for our family.

Now that I have you Maddy and this whole routine of breastfeeding has become enjoyable for the both of us, I have come to greatly appreciate what 1 Peter 2:2 means--"Like newborn infants, long for the spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good." The Word of God is spiritual milk. Lately I've not been well as I read and hear news reports about what is happening to my work environment and the students in desperate need of good teachers.

I'm feeling pain in the form of worry, sadness, discouragement, anger. Eight teachers have been displaced from Catskill Elementary, and that is 8 too many! The news that is being published in the LA Times and The Daily Breeze is grim. Instead of going to God's Word for spiritual feeding to nurture inner strength, I tend to "lightly snack" on it. I ought to be filling myself up a full heaping of God's guidance. Why do I latch onto the other things--people's opinions, humanistic philosophy, my 2-page resume of teaching expertise--all of which have not really give me answers? It winds up heightening my frustration because it's flawed. The longer I'm disobediently away from drawing closer to God and meditating on His Word, the emptiness and anxiousness settles in. No wonder why I'm still "hungry"? Shame that I ought to know better, but the knowledge and the application doesn't always intersect. What? I'm just being honest about how lazy I am in turning to God. Thankfully, the Lord provides His reassurance in His salvation. Oh, how I need Him!

So my prayer tonight is for our Heavenly Father to continue sustaining your wellness, Maddy. I guarantee that you'll experience topsy-turvy moments. You will crave and cry out for comfort and guidance. Don't be like me, and starve yourself from His Word and then latch onto things that fall short of His Glory. It's God alone who will give you that craving to draw near to Him. I hope you always indulge your heart in God's Word in these times. He alone satisfies, because He alone has the power to give you salvation.



Likewise, my prayer is for God to instill a craving in me for His Word and bond with Him more intimately. There's no excuse to be skipping time for "spiritual meals", now that I've been employed by God to be a stay-home-mommy. I can't be a strong mother when I'm spiritually undernourished.

Once again, I'm humbled by this magnificent feat of parenthood.