Marissa is clearly not impressed with the Cheerios race car,
and she has no problem letting you know just how unimpressed she is.
I've written a few times about why I am grateful for Mason, but nothing so far about Marissa. Now that she is past her acid reflux/colic stage, I don't generally struggle as much with her as I do with Mason. And since I am trying to use this space to help me remember my many blessings, I often choose to write about things when I am not feeling particularly grateful for them. Anyhow....
Being Marissa's mom is a true blessing. It was a difficult pregnancy. I had high blood pressure. My nephew was diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma which was then modified to leukemia because there was such a high level of bone marrow involvement. He nearly died more than once and spent basically my entire pregnancy in the hospital. Landon was sick, primarily because of the stress of his job that he hated. Then we decided near the end of the pregnancy that it was time for Landon to leave his job and find a new one closer to our families. Then we got to deal with moving, a change in jobs and insurance and figuring out how to keep my doctor in the bay area. Then I was diagnosed with preeclampsia and put on bedrest. So, it was a hard time for me to be pregnant. I sometimes wonder how the stress I was under during my pregnancy has affected Marissa.
And who is Marissa? Let me start off by saying she is great. She makes me laugh all the time. Aside from looking basically like a female version of her brother, she is so completely unlike Mason that I am reminded how we are born who we are. Experiences will shape us, but we are ourselves from the beginning. Marissa is strong. She will not be deterred or distracted once she has set her sights on something in particular.
Marissa is observant and curious, often happy to be watching what everyone else is doing before deciding whether she'll participate or if she'd prefer to do her own thing.
Marissa is a little bossy. Okay, she's a lot bossy, but I think that goes along with the whole not being easily deterred. At nine months, she clearly already has her own ideas about how things should be going and what people should be doing to accommodate her. She doesn't want to be fed . . . she wants to do it herself, thank you very much. She doesn't want to sit on your lap . . . she would like to be on the floor so she can get to everything she wants. She has been trying to walk since she was six months old, but thankfully she is still just crawling.
Marissa is a little sadistic, and I have the nursing wounds to prove it. Mason bit me once, and I said "Ouch!" really loudly. The loud noise scared him (loud noises do that to him), he cried a little, and never bit me again. Marissa bites me, I say "Ouch!" and she laughs her little butt off. She does it over and over. Various people tell me the only way they got their biters to stop was by biting them back. Eventually, I reluctantly bit her back (not hard enough to injur, but I thought hard enough to not feel good), and she laughs at me like, "You think that's gonna help? Wrong! I own you woman!"
Marissa takes care of herself whenever possible. When she is hurt, she doesn't want to be snuggled close. She'll cry, sit in your lap if she feels like it, and then she's okay again. She shows her love and appreciation by smacking you in the face over and over (I think it's out of excitement, but it could be that whole sadistic thing), but very rarely gives hugs or kisses to even her most favorite people. She doesn't require the same snugs that Mason does.
Marissa is fun. She likes to play, all the time, although if you aren't Mason, it has to be on her terms. Something that might have cracked her up yesterday will illicit zero interest today. However, she will show you how she wants to play and have lots of fun and giggles if you follow her lead.
Marissa is pretty awesome. I can't wait to see the person she will become. I am proud to be her Mama and eternally grateful that she came to live at my house.
Being Marissa's mom is a true blessing. It was a difficult pregnancy. I had high blood pressure. My nephew was diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma which was then modified to leukemia because there was such a high level of bone marrow involvement. He nearly died more than once and spent basically my entire pregnancy in the hospital. Landon was sick, primarily because of the stress of his job that he hated. Then we decided near the end of the pregnancy that it was time for Landon to leave his job and find a new one closer to our families. Then we got to deal with moving, a change in jobs and insurance and figuring out how to keep my doctor in the bay area. Then I was diagnosed with preeclampsia and put on bedrest. So, it was a hard time for me to be pregnant. I sometimes wonder how the stress I was under during my pregnancy has affected Marissa.
And who is Marissa? Let me start off by saying she is great. She makes me laugh all the time. Aside from looking basically like a female version of her brother, she is so completely unlike Mason that I am reminded how we are born who we are. Experiences will shape us, but we are ourselves from the beginning. Marissa is strong. She will not be deterred or distracted once she has set her sights on something in particular.
Marissa is observant and curious, often happy to be watching what everyone else is doing before deciding whether she'll participate or if she'd prefer to do her own thing.
Marissa is a little bossy. Okay, she's a lot bossy, but I think that goes along with the whole not being easily deterred. At nine months, she clearly already has her own ideas about how things should be going and what people should be doing to accommodate her. She doesn't want to be fed . . . she wants to do it herself, thank you very much. She doesn't want to sit on your lap . . . she would like to be on the floor so she can get to everything she wants. She has been trying to walk since she was six months old, but thankfully she is still just crawling.
Marissa is a little sadistic, and I have the nursing wounds to prove it. Mason bit me once, and I said "Ouch!" really loudly. The loud noise scared him (loud noises do that to him), he cried a little, and never bit me again. Marissa bites me, I say "Ouch!" and she laughs her little butt off. She does it over and over. Various people tell me the only way they got their biters to stop was by biting them back. Eventually, I reluctantly bit her back (not hard enough to injur, but I thought hard enough to not feel good), and she laughs at me like, "You think that's gonna help? Wrong! I own you woman!"
Marissa takes care of herself whenever possible. When she is hurt, she doesn't want to be snuggled close. She'll cry, sit in your lap if she feels like it, and then she's okay again. She shows her love and appreciation by smacking you in the face over and over (I think it's out of excitement, but it could be that whole sadistic thing), but very rarely gives hugs or kisses to even her most favorite people. She doesn't require the same snugs that Mason does.
Marissa is fun. She likes to play, all the time, although if you aren't Mason, it has to be on her terms. Something that might have cracked her up yesterday will illicit zero interest today. However, she will show you how she wants to play and have lots of fun and giggles if you follow her lead.
Marissa is pretty awesome. I can't wait to see the person she will become. I am proud to be her Mama and eternally grateful that she came to live at my house.
