Menagerie

Today Mara made a little hyena laughter while in her light sleep. Ever since we saw her first at the hospital, Greg and I have been listing all the little animals to which we can compare her, and I guess this is as good a time as any to write up the list:

• She started mewing like a tiny kitty on her very first week, which gained her the nickname of "matzuc mic". This was confirmed the second week when she started making little paw-like fists around her cheeks while breastfeeding, and even when she was hoping for a feeding. Soon after that she started thoroughly stretching every part of her body whenever she would wake up, just like a limber feline. Yay, no better time to share a baby Willow photo!
  
  

  

  Look similar?
• Her first "action move" on her second day of life was crazy cute. Greg was holding her on his chest facing down (bonding /sleepytime) and had to pass her on to me. He got up to a sitting position while holding her, then lowered her onto his arms face up, at which point she suddenly threw her hands up in the air looking exactly like a flying squirrel!
  
  
  
  We found out later that this is called a startle reflex (Moro reflex), quite common in babies, but we kept the flying squirrel name.
• Her legs in the first two weeks of life are still staying in a froggy position. She stretches a lot now, but in the car seat/rocker she still holds the froggy pose.
• Every now and then, in her quiet alert state, Mara will thrust her little lips forward into a sweet ducky face! She's been at it all along since birth.
• Fourth week brought another change in stance: the froggy breastfeeding pose was replaced by a full body stretch, long extended legs and arms straight aligned to the sides of the upper body. That pose, plus her arching her entire body to raise her head so she can take some air between gulps, made close resemblance to a little dolphin. Of course, Greg might argue that it is actually more of a baby beluga.
  
  
  
• This was not the only water creature Mara was imitating; since early days she has been quite a voracious feeder. With a frown that borderlines both concentration and anger, she is vicious when sees "the food source". The first 5-10 seconds of feeding are almost always triggering mommy squeaks, and sometimes I even need to hold Greg's hand for a bit for comfort. We checked the pregnancy & baby books for advice and found out that the behavior was referred to as "barracuda baby".
• The first mollusk on the list was added this evening, in her fourth week. Mara was breastfeeding and decided to readjust. Wearing a full body outfit that does not give her much friction, she struggled to move higher on my chest as is leaning back on the bed. She of course kept slipping, but I decided to let her try and get some much needed practice. Suddenly she gathered all her strength, arched her entire body, and lifted her head really high. It only lasted about two seconds till the realization that she is still a tiny baby crept in, and then she dropped her head with her left eye smack onto the much craved nipple! Her reflexes kicked in right away as she lifted her head again just enough to close the eye that had taken such great offense. The next 10 seconds passed like a slow motion movie, which I was witnessing frame by frame. If you have ever played with a snail as you were growing up this would sound familiar: I used to frustrate the poor creatures by lightly touching their eye, which would immediately make them retract the long eye stalk all the way to the head. It took quite a while for them to slowly let that eye stalk reemerge, unfolding it to its original full length.
  
  This little baby's eye went through about the same whole process! After that sudden self-poking, the corresponding eye lids snapped shut. Mara kept her head high for a while after that, like a defiant little one eyed pirate, then slowly started to open the lids. First the tiniest little crack, which then got wider and wider over the next seconds as there seemed to no longer be a danger in its vicinity, up to a normal bright-eyed infant that finally realized that her starting goal still hadn't been achieved. She then successfully landed on the dearly sought after milk-dispenser.
• Her sounds so far also include the aforementioned kitty and hyena, and the awesomest Donald Duck sneeze that seems impossible to catch on camera so far, but we'll keep hoping!