11 months (and 16 days)

Oh, Sofia, how time flies.  Your 11-month birthday has come and gone, and Mama, without the services of a reliable laptop, has let the day pass without being recognized.  I could go back and make this post retroactive to that date, but you change so much from day to day that I can’t even remember exactly how you were on June 20.  As I can only write while you sleep (and that is a situation that can change at any moment), this one will be short but sweet.

Around 10.5 months, you started taking steps, and you’ve worked up to being able to take around 6-10 at a time.  Of course, you treat it like a game, How Fast Can I Walk to Mama and Daddy (Or the Sofa, Sometimes)?, so you almost always end up lurching forward at the end due to the quickness of your steps.  If I help you steady yourself first, you can do pretty well.  Although you’ve been “standing” for awhile now, olately, you’ve been really eager to stand on your own for longer periods of time, and I am pleased to catch you doing it often, although I would prefer that you not try to do it in the bathtub or the baby pool.  Crawling is still your preferred method of motoring, and why shouldn’t it be? You can just get everywhere so fast.

You are starting to test my patience by throwing your food on the floor, and also by repeating the same “no-no” actions over and over again, like climbing under the one section of baby gate guarding the end table, in order to play with the electrical outlet.  You did that at least 6 times the other day, after countless “no, no, Sofia”s and even after your first ever time-out.  You are big trouble, little girl.

Some other bad habits you have been picking up: dropping your food on the floor when you are done eating, throwing mini-tantrums, and hitting when you are mad or really just whenever you feel like it.  We’re working on it.     

Possibly my favorite moments these days are walking into your room after you have woken up from a nap.  Your face is so cute when you’re not quite awake, and your cowlick is always super-crazy.  

You’ve been teething constantly since about your last monthly birthday. You’re working on teeth 3, 4, 5, 6, and just this week, I discovered that tooth number 7 poked through.

I think the combination of teething and being close to walking has lead to some long nights and early mornings for me and your Dad.  For some reason, no matter what time you go to bed, you wake up at 5 am.  I can usually pull you in bed with me, and you will nurse and then sleep for a little bit longer, but it doesn’t always work, and I’m a little worried about how that will work when you no longer nurse. You still sleep pretty well through the night, although your dad and I found ourselves watching a DVD and eating chocolate chip ice cream at 2 am the other night after you woke up 2 or 3 times.  Getting you to sleep is not much fun these days. Hopefully it’s just a phase, because your daddy and I have become very frustrated several times this week.

You love playing with your toys, and one of your favorites these days is this, which I picked up used  at a garage sale for $20. You love opening and closing the door, crawling through the doorway, ringing the doorbell and opening and closing the mailbox. It’s really adorable, and you are so cute playing with it.  (And I’m thrilled at the deal I got, having never bothered to check the retail price since I bought it until now!) It is so amazing to watch you play.  It sounds a little cliche but you really do discover something new every day.  You’re learning about playing catch (mostly the throwing part), and you starting to put things in baskets and containers, not just take things out.

I am pretty sure that you say the word “duck” or at least something like it.  You repeat it when I say it to you in the bath, and then today, you actually picked out your ducky after we said it.  That was very exciting for us. You still say “mamamama” and “dadadada”, and you definitely understand who Mama and Daddy and Nana and Nono and “kitty” are, because you turn and look at the correct person (or animal, as the case may be) when someone says one of those words to you.  You still just chatter up a storm and everyone who hears you comments on it.  Many people say that you talk more than any baby they have ever seen. That could end up being a good thing or a bad thing 

 

I can’t believe you are almost a year old, my precious little girl. You are so very sweet and I love you very much. 

Love, Mama

 

10 Months

Dear Sofia,

Wow, what an exciting (and exhausting) month Month 10 has been!

Unfortunately, you came down with your 3rd-ever cold yesterday (I think you got it from me - Mama is suffering, too), so this entry has to be shorter than usual, due to lack of sleep and general malaise (mine, not yours).

Well, first of all, you’ve become difficult to keep up with! Your crawling speed has tripled since last month, and you’ve been cruising around, using furniture to steady yourself basically since I wrote your last month’s tribute. In fact, as shown in the pictures above, it is nearly impossible to keep you still. In your crib, if you’re awake, you’re standing and bouncing. This has made bedtime difficult and often unpleasant for all of us.

You love to move around, including dancing when you hear music. I’m not sure how you learned to shake your booty, but you sure love to do so. Maybe from your dad. I’m kind of keeping you fenced in the family room, by blocking your way with furniture. I’m just not ready for you to begin exploring the house.

An increase in mobility has lead to lots of falling and bumps and bruises. You amaze me as you bounce back like a champ even after some seemingly brutal headbumps (never without tears, though, and rightfully so).

You love to empty baskets of clothes, taking items of clothing out, one by one. You do the same thing with your toys and diapers. You certainly don’t show any interest in putting them back; you are truly your mother’s daughter.

You love to chew on your shoes. No, actually, anyone’s shoes. I’m not sure where that came from. I’m trying not to encourage this habit. You’ve got short little feet, so size 3’s are too big. And your little arms are so chubby that I have to stretch out the sleeves of most of your T-shirts so that they don’t leave little marks (like those armband tattoos) on your skin.

You are much more interested in table food than baby food. You still love your yogurt and Cheerios, but you also love cheese, pasta with meat sauce, avocado, mac & cheese, peaches and chicken.

Changing your diaper without a fight is pretty much impossible these days; you will invariably turn right over and crawl away diaper-less and sometimes still with a dirty bottom. It’s my least favorite chore, and it’s one I can’t avoid, like I can with vacuuming and putting the clothes away.

You are quite the talker. Last night I brought you into our bed in the middle of the night (after two sleepless hours spent in your room) and you talked our ears off. I love listening to the inflection in your voice. You really have a lot to say; I wish I knew what you were saying. And you just love to talk to strangers. You’re quite the little ham. For this reason, you love to go to restaurants and to the check-out at stores. People are always chatting with you and find you very charming.

You love to be outside, and you love swinging in the baby bucket swings at the park. I found a great little park that’s about a 3 minute drive from our house, and I try to take you there on nice days. Unfortunately, you still don’t like going for walks, and almost every time I put you in the stroller, you whine until I take you out. That’s not so fun, and it makes my quest for exercise a little more difficult, although I do have an awesome new Ellaroo hip carrier that I probably should use during a walk.

Oh, and did I mention the awesome open-mouth kisses? They are so sweet and you are much less stingy with them than you used to be. In fact, you must realize how happy they make me, because you’ve busted that trick out a couple of times when I’m mad and frustrated because you won’t take a nap. It always makes me laugh.

Quickly, your likes, most as already mentioned: swinging, dancing, taking things out of containers, ripping paper or tissue into pieces, getting into things that you are not supposed to, music, listening to books, chewing on books, moving, feeding yourself, by hand and by spoon, being the center of attention, talking in general, talking to strangers, bath time, chasing the kitties, shoes, and clapping and waving bye-bye.

Dislikes: Diaper changes, when I take something away from you, being in the stroller, having your hair washed, going to bed, being left alone in your crib, having your face washed or nose wiped and saline drops in your nose.

I love you, my little sweetheart

Love, Mama

 

I hold these truths to be self-evident

…..that I love “list” posts

…..that the last good photo taken of me was my wedding picture 5 years ago, and that’s why I use it as my Myspace and Facebook profile picture, even though I look worlds different now

…..that I never wash my face before bed unless I shower, and I don’t always brush my teeth

…..that I’m really, really lazy

…..that I “drunk friend request” on Facebook (instead of drunk dial) when I’ve had a few drinks (liquid courage is good for that)

…..that the most difficult everyday tasks for me as a mom of a 9 month old are cutting Sofia’s fingernails and changing her diaper (she simply will not sit still, and is constantly flipping over and trying to crawl away with a naked butt).

…..that my daughter’s recent habits of not taking afternoon naps and for waking up before 6 am simply does not work for me, and I refuse to accept them

…..that my laptop is slowly but shhurely dying and buying another one wasn’t really in the budget for this year (the reason why my left parenthses have been missing in my recent posts).

…..that power outages can be big pains in the ass.

…..that it never fails that every home improvement my husband and I take on becomes exponentially more difficult and frustrating as it wears on

 …..that every time I become so frustrated and tired of keeping up with my daughter (today I offered to express mail her to my mother), she does something new and so excruciatingly cute, that it wipes away most of those feelings.  Today it was her trying to “zerbert” my bare belly like we do to her to make her laugh.

……that in the process of writing a blog post, I either become too exhausted to finish or lose focus before I finish it, and then it sits in my drafts folder, where it has only a 50% chance to see the light of day as a published post, and more likely than not, it only contains about 50% of what I want to/intended to say, but I’m lucky to even finish it in a half-assed way (and the finished version always has a million typos).  Oh, and when I read it the next day, I’m always like “What the hell does that even mean?” especially regarding the end (usually the part written when I’m half asleep). 

…..that I’m heading to bed for some well-deserved sleep.

 

9 Months

Dear Sofia,

Well, it’s official. You’ve been on this earth as long as you were in my belly (actually even longer because you were born two weeks early). It is hard to even remember the first months of your life.  Just recently I’ve seen two different friends’ babies, both around a month old, and in my head, I thought, “No way was Sofia ever that small”.  In truth, you were even smaller. I guess watching you grow into such an independent, spirited grown-up little person has clouded my memories.

This month was definitely my favorite so far.  You and I are becoming best buds. Although you will happily stay with your daddy and your grandparents, I’m the one who you want and need when you get scared, tired, or cranky.  And believe me, you let everyone know when that is.  You never really want to let me out of your sight, although your newfound mobiity make you forget about watching me every once in awhile.

This month was big for milestones.  First, you learned to get on all fours, and then to push yourself around backwards.  Neither one of these skills did much for you, as you found it extremely frustrating not to be able to go forward.  You did a lot of crying and calling for me (sometimes with a “ma-ma-ma-ma”, sometimes with just a whiny cry.  Second, you cut your second tooth, which popped up right next to your first one, bottom center.  Finally, just a week ago, you started crawling for real for real (after about a week of being able to move forward through some serious arm strength, stretching and kicking)  and on the very same day, I saw you pull up all the way from sitting on the floor to standing holding the coffee table (really a soft faux leather ottoman). Your dad says that he saw you doing that the night before, though.  Now, you really feel that nothing can stop you, and you’re crawling all over the family room (I catch you before you get to the kitchen, and pulling up anywhere you can.  I just crack up to pieces when I am sitting on the couch, and I see your little head pop up over the ottoman.

As exciting as these milestones are for both of us, they haven’t come without problems.  Sleep interruption problems, to be exact.  Two weeks of this month were pretty awful for sleeping, first from the teething, and then from, and I’m guessing here, excitement about these “in the process of being acquired” skills, preventing you from wanting to sleep when you could be practicing.  Your daddy and I have muddled through the last two weeks, at first being frustrated and exhausted, until we decided to look at the situation as if the 3 of us were partners in trying to help you get some sleep, instead of you vs. us. Then we were just exhausted.  :)  Fortunately, that seems to have passed at then moment, and hopefully we’ll have a couple of good weeks before you approach your next sleep-circumventing milestone.

You’re still the happiest baby on earth - or so it seems to everyone who doesn’t see you all the time, like me and your dad.  And even with us, you’re happy and smiley about 85% of the time.  You love people, especially babies and little kids, and unless you’re really tired, or someone scares you, you will flash the sweetest little grins to everyone.  One time at Target, I had you giggling so much while you sat in the cart looking at me, that every single person we passed started smiling and commenting.  Hardly an outing goes by when some stranger doesn’t comment on your sweet deameanor, your bubbly personality or your extreme cuteness.

You still are “growling” all the time, but luckily it’s adorable, and you always follow it up with a smile.  You growl at me and your dad, your grandparents, friends, strangers, etc. I don’t know exactly where you got it, maybe from a toy, or if you just started doing it on your own.  Fortunately it’s far from the only sound you make.  You say “mama” and “dada” and “ba”, which I think means “bye” although it could have a double meaning (”bye” and “bath”).  You also have learned to wave “bye bye” and do it quite frequently although not always when we want you too. Also, you shake your head “no” a lot, and we don’t know if YOU know it means “no” but you certainly do it often when asked “yes or no” questions, like “Are you going to be good for Nana tonight, Sofia?”, so it often is pretty funny.  What’s not funny are the mini-temper tantrums you throw sometimes when I make you take a nap, or when you are overtired.   BOOO to those!

Since your diaper rash has cleared up, you love taking baths, for which I no longer have to join you (at least, with me IN the tub), and also love showers that you take with Mama or Daddy.  We’ve discovered that showers take a lot less time, so that is our choice when we are in a hurry.  You splash around, play with your toys, and try to grab streams of water from the shower or toys.

As far as food goes, you’ve been having some new things, that you like a lot:  pancakes, pizza crust and various bread-y items, pear juice, mac & cheese, even some meats in a jar (yuck).  You aren’t too fond of cheese crumbles (maybe it’s because I bought the 4 cheese variety, and I haven’t figured out which kind you don’t care for), soft, diced pears and certain babyfoods.  You still love your baby yogurt (too much sugar, I know), cereal, Cheerios (although I think the ratio of how many you try to eat vs. the ones you actually get in your mouth is about 3 to 1, and of course, your milk. I made the executive decision to forego bottles, and only use sippies, even at night. So far it’s worked, but it’s only been a couple of days. You’ve also been trying to feed yourself by taking the spoon from my hand, but that’s not been an easy experience.

You still love the cats, and they are pretty interested in you, too, although they don’ t want you to know it. You’re pretty interested in pulling their hair and that’s about it.  You also love other babies and kids, and your’d like to grab onto them, too, sometimes hurting with your fingernails.  Today, you were trying to pull up on Noelle, our 15 month old neighbor, and you performed a perfect wrestling takedown. OOPS!

You like to play with your toys in the morning.  You usually will play for 20 minutes or so when I first put you down on the floor before you start crawling around trying to get into mischief.  After that, we’re lucky to get 10 minutes from you, unless we turn on the TV and there is a cartoon that incorporates songs and singing (like the Little Einsteins theme song - your absolute favorite).  That will usually capture your attention and get you clapping and rocking.

Something else you like is watching me blowdry my hair, and then letting me blow-dry your hair, too (really, just a quick blast of cool air. Now you are coming strong after the hairdryer when I sit next to you, so we’ll have to figure out a way to do this. You also love going after my purse, shoes, paper, magazines, diaper wipes, and laundry (dirty or clean).

Your naps seem to have settled into a mid-morning nap, and one in the late afternoon.  If I don’t get you to sleep at the right time, things tend to get muddled, and we all pay for it. :)   At night, while you are sleeping, you flip over onto your tummy and assume the crawling position. I assume that you are doing this involuntarily, because you wake up, hysterically crying until we flip you back over, and one time I think you were still sleeping while you cried and while I flipped you over.  

You spent some time outside this afternoon with me on a blanket, enjoying the beuatiful sun. You absolutely loved it. I’m so excited about all our fun times-to-be-had this summer. On Friday, I took you to a nearby children’s museum and let you play around in the toddler section. This was one of our first “playdate” outings with friends, and you had a blast. 

Your other likes:  Mama or Daddy singing and/or dancing and being in our arms while we do so, not having to wear a onesie under PJ’s (thank you, Spring), banging toys (or anything else you can hold onto) together, like cymbals, being outside, drinking out of a sippy cup, eating finger foods, YoBaby yogurt, playing with tubes of lotion or diaper paste,  and exploring.

Dislikes:  Lying down to get clothes or diaper changed (hence, you play with the tubes mentioned above as a distraction), when I try to make you sit when you don’t wanna (you straighten your legs, throw your headback and scream, getting tired, shopping (boo!), wearing sunhats or suncreen, and stroller rides when you’re not in the perfect mood for them and when Mama makes you nap.

Love you always, sweet girl.

Mama

 

Love, actually

On the eve of the eve of my daughter’s 9 month birthday, I sit here pondering the last 18 months of my life, and the wonderous of it all. The other day I was showing off pictures of Sofia talking to a lady I know from the sorority advisory board upon which I sit, and she said, “Isn’t just ridiculous how much you love them?”, speaking of children, of course.  And I thought to myself, “yes, that’s exactly right.”  I’m so ridiculously, hopelessly, crazily in love with my daughter, and everyday I cannot believe how her simple, two-toothed smile can just send me over the moon.  Even on nights where I reluctantly leave my bed at 2 am to answer her cries, when I pull her out of her crib and hug her and rock her with her head on my shoulder, I am so totally and utterly in a state of bliss.  I know it’s cliche, but I really can barely remember what my life was like before she became a part of it.  Now there are times where I think, “Why didn’t I do [insert activity more easily performed pre-parenthood]before I had a kid?” or “Why didn’t Rick and I travel to [some exotic locale] before we decided to procreate?” and it really does kind of feel like all our opportunities to explore the word or even just socialize within the communities are either gone (or postponed for many years) or are few and far between, and it does kind of make me sad, but I’d gladly trade them all to be Sofia’s mama.  When I’m out running errands and she is in someone else’s care, I’m happy to be out and about on my own, but at the same time, my heart is incomplete, and remains that way until I see her again.  It’s really a crazy, wonderful feeling that is indescribable, and my words don’t do it justice.  My words do none of my feelings on this subject.  But can any words? I daresay not.  

 

Update

After another awful night last night, the cause of Sofia’s night wakings was revealed to me at lunchtime. A brand new tooth is peeking out, her second one. Light at the end of the tunnel.

 

A little rambling

Sofia’s taking a much needed nap, and I feel like procrastinating a little (I really need to sweep and mop my floors, as well as straighten up before MIL comes over tonight to babysit).  I’m almost certain no one reads this but Leigh, whenever she can muster up the time, so if you are reading it, please post a little note in the comments, just so I don’t feel so lonely.

• Sofia’s been so incredibly inconsistent when it comes to sleepytime, and it’s messing with me.  Last night we had the second night in as many weeks where she just wakes up around 11:30, 3-4 hours after going to sleep, and is just wide awake, ready to play. Unfortunately both nights, I was just heading to bed. Last night, I was downstairs finishing up with my pump and the pumped milk, when I heard her cry.  I didn’t head upstairs, as I really needed to finish up, and because Rick usually will hop right up when he hears her on the monitor. Of course, he sleeps right through it, and by the time I reach her, she’s absolutely hysterical, and there was no way she was going back down.  Everything I learned from Elizabeth Pantley’s The No Cry Sleep Solution flew straight out of my head, and I tried to get her to sleep the best I could.  At one point, when I was laying down next to her crib, she rolled from her back to her tummy, and stared down at me through the bars, giggling.  This was followed by her raking her pacifier back and forth across the bars of the crib, like an inmate does with a metal cup.  It made both of us laugh, which isn’t quite conducive to getting a baby back to sleep.  Thank goodness my husband watched her for an hour and a half this morning while I slept.  The sleep deprivation is killing me, but I certainly can justify a nap right now, not when I’ve got so much to do.
• Drat! She’s awake, and the moment I almost had her back to sleep, the phone rang! At least she slept about an hour and a half.  That’s usually awesome, but considering she’s down about 4 hours from her nighttime sleep, she’s gonna be tired a little earlier than usual.  Of course, it will be her Nana who has to deal with it, as we’re gone for the evening.  Guess I’ll have to finish this later.
• Okay, it’s the next day, and once again Sofia is napping. Last night was another bad sleeping night, and guess who took the brunt?  Yours truly.  Dad knows that the next two late-night awakenings (and if they last under 30 minutes, they don’t count!) belong to him.  I always resort to nursing, and I think she knows that, so hopefully her daddy will straighten her out.
• On a related note, as I told Leigh in the brief conversation referred to in this post, if I could have any superpower, it would being able to put my kid(s) to sleep with one touch.   Wouldn’t that be amazing? A happy, well-rested child every day = a happy, well-rested mommy every day.
• Totally OT, but do you ever watch Top Chef?  I just started watching it this season, but I am enjoying it.  The only thing is, and I preface this by saiying that I am definitely the opposite of a foodie, but I have only seen maybe 2 or 3 dishes that I would ever want to even try.  That probably says more about me than about the show, though. I do admire the contestants’ passion for cooking and for food, and wish I could find something I could be as passionate about.
• Creativity?  I am devoid of it.  I have been trying to work on a baby scrapbook for Sofia.  This scrapbook is actually already completed (it’s called an instant scrapbook); all you do is add pictures. I thought it would be fun, and was excited when I found it in her closet (I had forgotten completely about it), but I seriously suck at it, AND IT’S JUST ADDING PICTURES!!!  I have no creative bone in my body which prevents me from picking out the best pics and from creating any interesting - no, not just interesting, but marginally attractive -  any marginally attractive layouts.  This, my friends, if you are out there, is why I don’t blame you, in any way, shape or form, if you don’t read this blog.  It’s pretty boring, and really only useful for keeping updated on Sofia.
• Heh - if you forget to put the “i” in Sofia’s name, it spells “Sofa”
• Speaking of names, I really feel like if you choose to spell your child’s name unusually, you really can’t expect others to assume the correct spelling.  Sofia’s name is misspelled “Sophia” all the time, and I don’t get offended, even when it’s someone who should know how to spell it.  However, I really don’t know how to correct it nicely when it’s a friend or relative.  If it’s in an email or a card or something, I usually just spell it correctly in the response or thank you note. But sometimes people don’t catch that.  Any suggestions?
• Dare I say it? Spring has finally come to the Midwest.  I’ve never been so happy for temperatures in the mid-50’s in my whole life.  The grass, once brown from its permanent snow blanket, is becoming green again, and some of the trees in my backyard (which will provide some privacy so I can open up my blinds again!!) are starting to bud.  The best part of all is being able to take Sofia out for walks and not having to bundle her up before we go anywhere.
• Actually, I have never had a real coat for Sofia this winter.  Basically she just wears a jacket over her regular clothes, a hat, and a blanket to and from the car, if needed  I do have some really warm buntings that she wore when it was really cold, but coats seemed silly when she was in her infant carrier, and then before I knew it, the winter stuff in the stores was gone, so she’s been without one for awhile, even though she’s been out of her carrier since early February. I would take her to the store and see this little babies all bundled up, and kind of felt like a bad mom. But it’s not like she was ever really exposed to the elements for longer than a couple of minutes, and if it was too cold, we just stayed home, or she wore her warm bunting.
• I’ve lost 13 pounds since Jan., most of them in the last month when I joined Weight Watchers online.  I wish I would have done it earlier, but I didn’t realize that they would take into account the extra calories for nursing.  Actually it’s kind of awesome, because I get 10 extra points a day, which is 33% more than I got before, and is pretty much a another meal and a half (or gives me a little leeway if we decide to eat out).  It’s great because I can still eat regular food, but I am encouraged to make better choices and to practice portion control.  I am officially at my pre-baby (or at least my weight at my first OB appointment) weight, and I went down a size in jeans, even though I’m not yet to my pre-baby size.  I still have my smooshy big belly  :cuss
• I never did sweep and mop the floors - whoops! 
• Woo-hoo! Baby’s still sleeping. Knock on wood!

 

Month 8

Dear Sofia,

Once again, this will be a short little note, as I am trying to write this as you nap, and we all know how quickly those can be over.

This month was frustrating for you, as you’d really like to be mobile, but you just aren’t yet.  So there were many tears of frustration, as you’d get yourself into positions that you didn’t like, and needed rescuing. Of course, you haven’t figured out that you could roll whereever you need to go, but that’s okay.

Things you have learned to do: clap, eat crackers, Cheerios and small pieces of bread, rock on all fours, and just this week you have learnedto  pick up small foods like the aforementioned Cheerios and feed yourself and to wave bye-bye.

Things you love: clapping along to your favorite songs, your cousin Ella (who can make you fall over laughing), feeding yourself, rocking back and forth when sitting on the floor or on someone’s lap (a precursor to dancing, I think), watching people eat, kitty-cats, going for walks outside in the stroller (on those few days where it allows for such things), shrieking (especially in a public place, like restaurants and the grocery store), growling (yes, you GROWL, all the time, but thankfully, it’s a happy, funny growl), throwing toys from your highchair, yogurt, juice (although we’re cutting back on your already-limited-and-very-diluted exposure due to some nasty diaper rash), rolling your naked butt over during diaper changes and grabbing anything and everything (including your 3-month-old cousin Isabella when you were getting your pictures taken). 

Things you hate: going to bed, generally eating (except for your finger foods-you’ve got more exciting things to do, I guess), watching me leave the room, going shopping, bathing without Mama, getting your clothes changed and having your face washed.

 Love you always,

Mama

 

…

So my case of shingles has subsided (without chicken pox), but I’ve fallen into a state of exhaustion, as every day I struggle to make an almost 8-month-old-who-thinks-she’s-5 happy.  Each day, Sofi becomes more and more anxious to become mobile, and is constantly throwing herself from a sitting position into a tummy position that more often then not leads to extreme whininess or the occasional hysterics (especially when a bump on the head occurs).  Sometimes she’ll even launch herself right out of our arms, as she did the other day at bedtime, when my husband literally caught her upside down by the bottom of her pajamas.  Attempts to soothe and put to sleep at bedtimes and during night wakings (which have become entirely too frequent for this mama who’s been spoiled with a through-the-night sleeper since she was 8 weeks old) are met with not-malicious-but-still-annoying tantrums, the kind where the little dear arches her back and starts throwing around her body cause she’s just learned how and that it merits results.   No longer is she content in the jumperoo or sitting on a blanket or in her highchair, playing with her toys for more than a minute, and I’m finding that life is becoming a little more difficult.  I know this is just the first stage of many years of exhaustion, but boy, it’s hit me like a ton of bricks!  I wasn’t ready for the eruption of this little ball of frustrated energy, and part of me, although I know I’ll wish that the future me could have reached out of the mirror and slapped myself (like in the V8 commercials) when I say this, wishes that she could move on to crawling so I don’t have to deal with her frustration.  But I will say that she gets cuter every single day, and she’s starting to enjoy so much of what we do together, and has a smile on her face about 75% of the time, so it’s all worth it - just tiring

 

@$^!&*#% Shingles!

I can’t believe I’ve been diagnosed with shingles! And the worst part is that I have been exposing my poor, sweet, innocent daughter to chicken pox for the past two days.

For some reason I always thought of shingles as an antiquated disease, like scurvy. Guess I was wrong! Oh, well, now David Letterman and I have one more thing in common.