The Smile

Macie had a bad day yesterday. Subsequently, so did her mommy! It started with the 4:30 am grunting, and didn't get much better. Mac rotated all day through cycles of eating, a few minutes of happiness, followed by crying herself to sleep (only for about 30 minutes, max), and then waking up crying and hungry. And these were 2 hour cycles - we didn't make it to 2.5 hours between feedings all day! I'm trying to rationalize it as a growth spurt!

By the end of the day, she was exhausted. Put her in the car seat to go pick up Ivie at school, and by the time we got home at 5:15 pm, she was sleeping. Slept in the car seat until I took her out at 7:30 pm to feed her and put her to bed. She ate well, and drifted quickly off to sleep, not waking until 12:30 am (almost 5 hours again!). Back to sleep afterward, waking again at 4 am. As I got out of bed for this feeding, I wondered if it would follow in the same pattern as the night before. With the post-feeding 2-hour grunting session...

After Macie finished eating, I swaddled her up in her blanket (she LOVES to sleep swaddled) and sat back down on the glider with her. This is one of my favorite things to do. She's so cute when she's got a full belly and is falling back asleep. And it's also the best chance I have of getting "the smile."

Let me describe this smile to you... It's too early for a "real" smile (I think those come around 4-6 weeks?), but if the real one is anything like the fake one, we're in for a treat as Macie grows up. As she starts to drift off to sleep, her eyes flutter and roll slowly back into her head, and her mouth makes sucking motions as if still looking to eat. Then comes my favorite part. Her entire face (including her eyes) breaks out into a grin, with a dimple only on the right side. The smile lasts for several seconds before fading as she falls to sleep. Precious.

I wish I had more words to describe this. But all I can say is that, in an instant, this one smile erased a full day of frustration. Much as I envision it doing in the future!