To Etta, at 4 months

Your big sister placed the tiger there to keep you company while you slept <3

Dear Etta,


Oh, sweet Etta, happy 4 months!  We're spending today with family in Chicago, the last day of a week-long trip to visit family.  You met a set of great-grandparents this week and charmed friends and family with your grins.  These days, you smile easily.  You've become such a happy baby that it's almost hard for me to remember how difficult your first few weeks were for us.  You may have cried every waking minute at one time, but now you hardly cry at all  (unless you're in your car seat- but that's another story, and thankfully, one we don't experience often living in Brooklyn).  


This is such a fun stage- you are happy to be passed from person to person with no stranger anxiety yet, and you sit happily without grabbing for every object within arm's reach (though you're close- so this may change tomorrow).  You can almost sit on your own, so you are easy to hold- that is, unless you're trying to sit up even further, in which case you just might propel yourself off the holder's lap.  You're that determined to observe every bit of your surroundings.  But when you are sitting up, you observe everything quietly, contentedly, with your wide blue eyes moving around the room until they land on a face and- Oh, this I love- your face lights up with a huge smile.  As Daddy says often, your smiles are extra precious because your emotions at this stage are 100% genuine.  You smile only because you're truly filled with joy.  Which also makes those rare chin-quivering cries that much more heartbreaking.  Oh, your smiles....

The only thing that competes in the cute category might be these rolls.

(Forgive me for this one.  You'll understand one day.)

Or your cooing- also topping my list.  You are just an all-around bundle of adorableness and sweetness.  Time with you is passing far too quickly.  I want it to slow down.  So when I smother you with kisses, stop and linger to inhale your sweet, baby scent, or pause to just gaze, thank you for being patient with me.  I just want to savor every moment of your babyhood.  That silent giggle you do when you see me.  Those cheeks.  The sound of your happy baby voice.  The way you arch as you stretch upon waking.  You bring me such joy, Etta, and the incredible part is that I know from experience that it just keeps getting better as you grow.  And that is mind-blowing to me right now, because I can't imagine life being better, more joyful, than this.  I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.

Love,

Mama