Look!!
Evie has never been a real cuddle baby. The most I ever got was when she was a newborn she would wrap her body around my waist while nursing. But that eventually disappeared and I really miss that little bit of snuggle that I used to get from her.
The truth is, she hated being held with her body facing us. We tried and tried but anytime we held her in the normal way you hold babies, she would go ballistic. The only way she wanted to be held was cradled in our arms. Once she got some control of her head, she no longer wanted to be cradled... she wanted to sit in our arms facing outward with her back leaning up against our chests.
Last night before bed she was cranky and crying, and I picked her up and held her facing me thinking she would just go more ballistic. But to my delight and surprise, she put her little arms around my neck and laid her head down on my shoulder. Neither of us are used to that and it felt a little awkward, but OH HOW MUCH I LOVED IT!!
I hope we are rounding a corner and that she'll be a little more affectionate.
I (we) have gone on long walks with Evie since she was a newborn. From the first month, I tried different carriers/slings and she hated them all. She wanted to be in my (our) arms. This made it difficult because I could never be hands free and it was very hard to carry her like that for long periods of time. I tried going for walks with her in the stroller, but she would fuss and cry within about 15 minutes most of the time. (Before I became a Mom, I always felt rolly eyed towards Mom's when they would give in to their crying baby. But now I understand - Mom's will do anything not to have to hear their baby cry. It's stressful!!) So walking in our arms facing outward was the way it had to be.
Finally when she was around 4 months she took to a carrier that a friend had given us and as long as we faced her outward she was happy. The very first walk I went on with her in the carrier, we walked for over an hour. She never cried ONCE and the walk was so peaceful and so nice and for once my back and arms didn't ache!!
When we walk sometimes I'm quiet and sometimes I talk to her. I've read that babies are supposed to hear 30,000 words per day (gulp!). When I talk to her, I point at things and say "LOOOKKK!!" and then I say something about the thing I'm pointing at. Today was the first time she actually responded to my pointing. Every time I pointed and said look, she would turn her head and look directly at the object I was referring to. Apparently she's been doing this with Randy for the past few days and he only mentioned it when I told him about our walk.
It's exciting watching her learn and grow (and - keeping fingers crossed - becoming more cuddly and affectionate!!)