Good morning, lovelies! Our oldest, Savannah, has been the hot commodity since being home from school. We’ve found our groove to these summer days. Savannah is 6 years old and can pull out all the belly giggles from our baby Avery. I think that’s a specialty of big siblings. They love to act silly and they know how to get a baby laughing their little head off. I’m SO grateful for Savannah’s sweet and nurturing spirit.
Years ago when the twins were born, Savannah hadn’t even turned 2 years old. It seemed as though she was a baby herself. I came home from the hospital with 2 car seats with 2 brand new babies. I have that moment on video but it’s forever burned in my heart. She had the tiniest ponytail on the top of her head and was wearing her 12 month clothes. I placed the twins’ car seats on the floor in front of her little feet and officially introduced her to her new baby brother and sister. She leaned forward and must’ve only noticed a few things. She saw the blue and pink blankets and excitedly yelled “BLUE!” and “PINK!”. That was as far as her vocabulary could carry her heart.
“MAMALOGUE”
As I watched my 3 babes together, I felt a deep emotional connection begin to strengthen. I could feel that Savannah needed reassurance from me with these brand new babies invading her space. And as I held my brand new twin babies, I knew that their mannerisms were entirely different from one another and they’d need different comforts at different times. Learning those hungry and sleepy cues from your baby can sometimes feel challenging, right? The great thing is the special bond between a mom and baby is incredibly powerful and grows with time! And as I reflect on my experience with Avery, my heart is bursting as I recall all the many mamalogues we’ve experienced together as our connection has strengthened. A mamalogue is that special dialogue between a mama and her baby. It’s when you discover those sweet baby gestures and sounds telling you everything you need to know about your little one. It’s mother’s intuition. We all have it and we’re all the most qualified to handle our kiddos.
Feeding Avery is chalked full of my favorite moments with her, whether I’m breastfeeding or bottle-feeding. How to feed a baby is one of the biggest decisions every mother decides. There are so many different ways to feed a baby and I believe every. single. one. of. them. is. right. With my twins I had always equally breastfed and bottle-fed. I did things a little differently with Avery in the beginning and I nursed her exclusively. We would occasionally try adding in a bottle but each time it was difficult for her. A few months later, I was needing to hire a sitter so I could get blog work done while someone could care for Avery, which meant I needed to clue in to what Avery needed to have a great bottle feeding. One morning before she woke up, I felt as though she would take a bottle easier if she was really hungry. I warmed up a bottle of milk and then woke her a few minutes before her usual wake time and she drank through 5 ounces of milk in one feeding. Avery was in the cutest “milk coma” letting me know she was officially ready and comfortable with bottles. It felt like a miracle! I knew that she always feeds the best in the morning and was so grateful for our previous mamalogues with her letting me know what routine simply wouldn’t work for her. I started introducing bottles to her when she was about 6 months old to give flexibility to my schedule and for date nights away from the kids. It wasn’t an easy transition and I shared that experience HERE –but that was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made! She still LOVES her Philips Avent Natural bottle.
Philips Avent captured the sweetest video featuring women around the world who shared their own stories about their magical moments thanks to their instincts and special intuition.
MOM-TUITION MAMALOGUE
It has been amazing to see how much my older 3 kids love their baby sister! I realize how fleeting these sweet, All-Is-Right-In-The-World moments can be. I still remember a crazy moment feeding the twins. I had my huge nursing pillow on my lap and was tandem feeding them. They were not yet 1 month old. Savannah needed help to use the potty (she was potty-training) and was wanting a drink & a snack. She was hysterical on the floor near my feet. She needed me right then and I knew she just couldn’t wait. I was still nursing Charlotte on one side while I had propped Ethan up with one hand and was trying to burp him with my other hand all while watching the alligator tears roll down Savannah’s face as she dropped to my feet. First, I laughed. It’s all my overwhelmed brain would let me do. Just laugh at the chaos coming from these 3 little Crossley souls that I wanted so badly. Then I trusted my mother instincts and knew exactly who needed what in what order and the scene quickly calmed down. These are the mamalogues I simultaneously had while my baby was feeding or while trying to burp the other fussy baby that had a little gas bubble. Or the mamalogue between my tiny toddler who was having a difficult time processing her feelings and she simply needed my grace and love.
I believe that’s exactly what motherhood ends up being. You’re doing the impossible every single day. Proving to yourself that the impossible becomes possible and it’s all because of your love and connection. I’m so grateful to have these memories of motherhood. What are a few of your favorite mamalogues between your little loves? Please share those in the comment section below!
NECKLACE MAMALOGUE
When I was pregnant, I had the most beautiful necklace made. 1 disc had all 4 of my kid’s initials engraved, 1 slightly smaller disc with my husband’s initial engraved, and a tiny birthstone for both my husbands and my birth month (our birthdays are 1 week apart in April). I wear it every day and never take it off. I’ll always remember the moment while I was feeding Avery and she had just gotten big enough to reach her hand up to my neck to play with my necklace while she drank her milk. I always know she’s on her way to a “milk coma” when she starts to quietly inspect the discs on the necklace. I know that she’s relaxed and I’m giving her exactly what she needs from me in that very moment. I love our feeding times mamalogue and not a feed goes by where she doesn’t twirl her fingers around the engraved discs. All is still, the 2 of us are feeling peaceful and calm. It’s these quiet and connected moments that I’ll cherish so much as she keeps growing up!
Recently, we’ve been consistently working to help Avery communicate with signing. “Milk”, “more”, “night-night”, “all done”, etc. Last week, this baby girl right here signed her 1st word! It caught me by surprise because we’ve been working on signing for weeks, and she was only starting to catch on when we helped her move her tiny hands. It was 7am and I had just picked her up out of her crib. I placed her down by my feet and she walked a few steps over to the rocking chair, turned back as she looked at me with her big, deep blue eyes while opening and closing her fist furiously signing the word “milk”. She wanted to rock in her chair with her mama with her morning milk. Seriously took my breath away!
Join in on the fun by sharing your own “mamalogue” moments on social media using #mamalogues!
