Guys, I cannot believe it. We’re only weeks away from my littlest little having her first birthday. (Yes, we’re there already, and I still remember going into labour with her so clearly. Wasnt it just last week?) 😉
And I’m still stuck in the time warp that has her as a tiny little babums…granted the growth in the first year is phenomenal, so that wasn’t too long ago, and Im just being a bit dramatic here. But I just cant believe we’re almost there already. Flip, never mind the fact that she’s going to be a big sister soon!!
Anyhoo, the last time this blog saw anything about her was all about her newborn days & maybe Easter. Although, let’s be honest, life right now has made that I hardly ever am on this blog at all. And I miss it so. But the brain is just not playing with. But that’s a story for another time. Right now, today, I’m all about our little Coconutty.
There’s honestly just too much to be said about our newest little team member, and if you’ve been following my Instagram (@traxgport) you’d have seen all the updates (see the hashtag #yurikomaeupdates) So if you want to see that super cute series, see here. But this right here is more just for me to pause time a bit, savour her littleness, breathe it in a little longer. Cause even though there is sweetness and wonder in watching her grow up, there’s still a twinge in my heart about how fast it’s all happening.
But that’s a tale I’ve been rattling about since my pregnancy with her, right?l…..(and I am honestly trying my best not to bore you with it, but it’s a real thing for me. Hence so top of mind.)
So indulge me a bit as I dip back into the past few months a bit…
Pix from 7 months on…
7 months
Oh my hat, this little thingy may be so little in stature, especially in comparison to her sissies (she’s a proper shorty!), but this girl makes up in pure charm…
You’ve may have heard me mutter quite a bit about her Jedi mind tricks that she’s had over Mike and me since pretty much the beginning of her life, but now mam has upped the ante quite a bit….I know give you her latest weapon in charm and twisting of little finger…the Koko Head tilt…
It’s pretty much right up there with Puss n Boots’ eyes, except far more disarming in person.
Not only does it beckon an uncontrollable “aww” from the viewer, but also renders them completely suggestible to anything she may be demanding.
It is incredibly effective. Works on her sissies too.
But speaking of demanding, this one makes no bones about what she wants, and taking it if it’s not given immediately. Now, whilst Im very cautious about this behaviour, and not letting it get out of hand – because, really, it’s more than baby wanting and baby not understanding why she cant get it – there’s a boss mentality about her that we cant deny. We can’t deny and don’t want to douse or dilute in any way. Obviously just hone and point in the right direction, but it’s clear there is strength of leadership in her that’s different to the others.
And what’s truly wonderful to watch and witness is how this little Koko just seems to blend right in with our other kids. It seems as if she’s not interested in being a baby, when whatever her sisters are up to just seems way more fun.
So, if we’re getting take out, like say Burger King, madam expects a “happy meal” bag to be handed to her too. She finds her seat next to her sisters. (we’re pretty casual in recent nights, where thanks to pregnancy fatigue, I drop my standards, and instead of sitting at the dinner table, we lounge around the coffee table in the lounge). She refuses to have her food handed to her on a bowl, when her sisters are eating burgers out of paper bags. So to skip any unnecessary melt downs, we’ve learnt to pop her food in one the take out bags, with a few extra fries tossed in to make it look like she has the same. (and yes, she actually checks! No kidding!)
So, yes, you may say Im creating a monster by pandering to all her needs (which I don’t). But as I’ve learnt, you’ve got to pick your fights…and losing sanity in the home just over a few fries and paper bag is just not worth it in my book.
She also wants in on all the games of her sisters..and I mean all the games! Including board games! This was at first cute to her sisters…until it wasn’t…Board pieces going flying, everyone loses their places, monopoly money gets grabbed, dice get stolen…and lets not even go there with Jenga. So the girls have opted to whip out the games after she goes to sleep.
But the one game we’re all in on is any variation of chase. Usually daddy chases the big girls, as they damn near lose their mind with excitement, and shriek my eyes off. Koko always used to watch so intently from her vantage point in the lounge, until one day I watched how she would shriek with them, and try and crawl furiously to catch up to them. So, despite my pregnant body’s overwhelming need to just lay still and veg on the couch, I swooped her up and ran with them. And HOLY COW, guys! The excitement and joy that this kid displayed! She had the time of her life! Complete with “skatter lag” (hysterical laughter).
Of course, this now means that mom will never again be allowed to be lazy ever again when chase comes up…no matter how preggers I may be.
Also, what’s so very interesting is how all of this – the unfolding of her personality – is so closely related to (aka pretty much exactly )the way we interpreted her during her unborn session we had with Robyn Sheldon a few weeks before she was born. Any of you mamas do a Mama Bamba Unborn child session? (I still need to share that with you! We do it with every child, but this time it was really special. And different. But GOSH! There is so much more to share with you, but life has been a whirl wind for the past nearly two years. So so much to share!)
But mostly, she’s just such a happy child. Goodness! Like seriously happy! So when she does cry, it’s really heart crushing to hear. (Said every mother, ever!) And mostly, just such an easy child. Really. I’m not sure Mike and I would have been so keen to fufill our dream for number four had she not been so easy. (Who’s to know?) But then again, if I look at how things panned out, it seems God would have decided that for us whether or not she was an easy child! 😉 #suprise
Which brings me to the fact that this little one…our littlest Koko..our teeny tiny shorty babums, who was only just born the other day, is going to be a big sister herself soon! I mean, HUH?! CAN YOU EVEN? Because, I can’t even.
But I’m so excited for her. Just as I am so mindful of how short her stint as the baby of the family will be. And how much I’m just trying to soak her in.
Perhaps that is why I’m so very ok with her 3am milky wake-up calls. And why I’m completely ok to break all our previous night time rules and play with her in our bed for “just a little longer”, despite the fact that it’ll be the only time I’ll get to sleep in between my alarm clock and my newly founded pregnancy insomnia (yeah, we’re there already with that gem). I’m taking any and every chance I get to enjoy this little button.
Lots of lovely mamas took to Instagram to make me feel a bit better about these 3 am milk feeds – for which my heart sings (you women rock!Thank you.). But it also made me face the admission that Im so ok with it with her. I mean, if you knew me well, youd know that Im a big advocate for healthy sleep in children, and little true awareness there is around the importance of that kid getting their full sleep quota (never mind their mama’s sanity). But this time, Im letting it slide, purely so that I get more of her as possible. More of her laughs, more of giggles. More of her finding her way under my arm to snuggle and better inspect whatever she stole from her dad’s bedside pedestal. More of me watching her small little handies clasp her own bottle, and hearing those sweet little gulps.
I’ve had enough experience as a mother to know just how quickly it all goes, and how much I actually miss it when it’s gone.
And the fact that she’s all over her mama? Gaahd,I’m loving that too! Still crushing on dad, but totally kamakazie dives to get to me. And I will unashamedly say, I love it! On some rare mornings when she’s awake while i get done for work, this does make for getting done for work incredibly hard – with a baby on your hip. But this season is so short, and I’d be a fool to lose out on it. I’ll take all the half-ass hair brushing jobs, and half rubbed in moisturizer and utter exhaustion any day and looking like a hobo most days. (Although I’ll probably still continue to bitch about that exhaustion day in and day out, and wish it away and cry in my post toasties about how I can’t deal…)
She truly is such a light in our lives (as they all are)…