I'm reconsidering giving Chloë sippy cups. Nursing has been more or less of a delight since we got over the underfed/jaundiced/tongue thrust/jaw drop/extreme pain thing. (Pumping is getting old, but nursing is fine. Also, I've been doing stretches and simple exercises while pumping at work, and that's kind of nice.) Chloë has shown no interest in biting me as of yet, and while we've sadly outgrown the football position, cross-cradle and side-lying and, lately, plain cradle have worked out just fine, even in the cramped chair at daycare.
However, I'm having a problem nobody warned me about, which is: Chloë is now treating the R.I.N.D.S. like sippy cups--specifically, as if they have handles. She digs her little fingers in and twists and grips, and while I can deal with that once in a while she does it over and over, and if she doesn't cut it out she's going to put the R.I.N.D.S. out of commission.
So tonight whenever she did it I removed her hand and said "no." This confused her. This annoyed her. She cried, which hardly ever happens while nursing (except when we switch sides. Even though we do it every. single. time. we nurse, she still gets upset), and I felt bad about changing things on her and disrupting her meal. But she's got to learn that R.I.N.D.S. were never meant to be user-modifiable.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Status report: Month 8
Chloë pulled herself up to stand today. She also started climbing out of her bathtub this evening. "Well that was a bit of a surprise," Eric said. And it was. But she's been building toward it all month.
Chloë is eight months old now. Eight months! We've been saying "such a big girl" all month. She's got so much going on, I don't even know where to start.
Let's start with the moving. There is lots of moving these days. Squirming, grabbing, rolling, twisting, and what you might, maybe, call crawling. Daycare does. Eric and I consider it more like inching, or maybe tacking. She gets around, but she doesn't really do it in straight lines for any period of time. She does get around, though. She can pull herself up to stand! She's very good at going from sitting to on her hands and knees, and back again. She can't pull herself up from her back to sit, but she's working on it.
She's become mama's girl lately; we think separation anxiety has seriously settled in. There were a few nights when she started screaming hysterically, in a way we haven't heard before, but calmed down when I went in. Luckily that hasn't lasted, but she still cries when I leave the room (except at daycare--she loves daycare). She'll lean out of other people's arms to reach for me, which is sometimes inconvenient but very sweet.
Her transition to solids continues. She's now eating a couple of ounces of cereal, sometimes with fruit mixed in, at breakfast, a couple of ounces of fruit or vegetables at lunch, some Cheerios or other snacks in the afternoon, and two to six ounces of food at dinner, depending on the day. (Also four nursings and one or two bottles.) She's had cheese and yogurt, rye, barley, cinnamon, eggs, pomegranate, and probably lots of other things, and is now eating small pieces of bread, vegetables, fruit--whatever seems soft enough and small enough to offer her. Her pincer grasp is developing, but she's still doing a lot of whole-hand grabbing.
We're working on her sippy cup training. With the Avent ones she can drink out of them by herself if it's very full. Otherwise she needs help. She also delights in drinking out of a real cup held by Mama. Mostly it goes down her chin, but sometimes she'll surprise herself with a perfect swallow. She loves finger foods, and will reject spoonfuls of her favorite foods (sweet potatoes, peaches) in favor of picking up puffs or cereal or fruit bits and expertly aiming them at her mouth. The aiming is expert, mind you, not the landing.
Miss Mindy at daycare has been telling her "wave bye bye!" when I leave, and I've been waving at her. A few days ago she started waving back--hesitantly, and kind of limp-wristed; but definitely a baby wave. This morning she waved when I said good-bye, before I waved at her. Have I mentioned she's the smartest girl in the world? She's also learning to do high-fives. She continues to be more interactive, and lots of fun. (And very wiggly.)
She loves her baths now, especially her edible ducky. I read her a bath book this evening and she was incredibly excited. Books! And baths! A book with a ducky in it! With her ducky! And Mommy! She still doesn't like getting her hair and face washed, but things are better when you can eat a ducky.
Toys are now a major thing. It's important to have them around. She looks at them and picks them up and waves them around and, always, tries to chew them. She has teeth now! Two little razor-sharp teeth, which we brush every night with a little nubby silicone thing that slips over your finger. She loves this, probably because of the buzzy noise it makes as it bumps over her teeth. She also loves biting. She's bitten me once. On my nose. It's my own fault for saying "Oh no! You're eating my faaaaaace!" whenever she sucks on my cheek, but I love the way she grins when we do it. She loves dolls, too, and pictures of babies, and blocks and balls. The world is a great big toy chest. And teething ring.
She has a lot to say these days. Mostly it's "da da da da da da da," but sometimes it's "Ummm," or "ba blah blah," or "I am not being sufficiently entertained! Correct this situation or I will use your head as my personal punching bag!" Or maybe I just imagine that last one. She's so expressive these days, every day more of a person. She laughs during peek-a-boo sometimes. She loves grabbing at the pages of her books (which is why we're board-book and bath-book only these days). She smiles when I sing her silly songs or Eric zooms her above his head. She screams when we take away a toy or force her to put down the tube of Butt Paste because we're done changing her. She moves my hands when they're somewhere she doesn't want them. She's all about communication. She's less easy than she was a few months ago, but she's more fun and much more interesting.
Peace, yo.
Chloë is eight months old now. Eight months! We've been saying "such a big girl" all month. She's got so much going on, I don't even know where to start.
Let's start with the moving. There is lots of moving these days. Squirming, grabbing, rolling, twisting, and what you might, maybe, call crawling. Daycare does. Eric and I consider it more like inching, or maybe tacking. She gets around, but she doesn't really do it in straight lines for any period of time. She does get around, though. She can pull herself up to stand! She's very good at going from sitting to on her hands and knees, and back again. She can't pull herself up from her back to sit, but she's working on it.
She's become mama's girl lately; we think separation anxiety has seriously settled in. There were a few nights when she started screaming hysterically, in a way we haven't heard before, but calmed down when I went in. Luckily that hasn't lasted, but she still cries when I leave the room (except at daycare--she loves daycare). She'll lean out of other people's arms to reach for me, which is sometimes inconvenient but very sweet.
Her transition to solids continues. She's now eating a couple of ounces of cereal, sometimes with fruit mixed in, at breakfast, a couple of ounces of fruit or vegetables at lunch, some Cheerios or other snacks in the afternoon, and two to six ounces of food at dinner, depending on the day. (Also four nursings and one or two bottles.) She's had cheese and yogurt, rye, barley, cinnamon, eggs, pomegranate, and probably lots of other things, and is now eating small pieces of bread, vegetables, fruit--whatever seems soft enough and small enough to offer her. Her pincer grasp is developing, but she's still doing a lot of whole-hand grabbing.
We're working on her sippy cup training. With the Avent ones she can drink out of them by herself if it's very full. Otherwise she needs help. She also delights in drinking out of a real cup held by Mama. Mostly it goes down her chin, but sometimes she'll surprise herself with a perfect swallow. She loves finger foods, and will reject spoonfuls of her favorite foods (sweet potatoes, peaches) in favor of picking up puffs or cereal or fruit bits and expertly aiming them at her mouth. The aiming is expert, mind you, not the landing.
Miss Mindy at daycare has been telling her "wave bye bye!" when I leave, and I've been waving at her. A few days ago she started waving back--hesitantly, and kind of limp-wristed; but definitely a baby wave. This morning she waved when I said good-bye, before I waved at her. Have I mentioned she's the smartest girl in the world? She's also learning to do high-fives. She continues to be more interactive, and lots of fun. (And very wiggly.)
She loves her baths now, especially her edible ducky. I read her a bath book this evening and she was incredibly excited. Books! And baths! A book with a ducky in it! With her ducky! And Mommy! She still doesn't like getting her hair and face washed, but things are better when you can eat a ducky.
Toys are now a major thing. It's important to have them around. She looks at them and picks them up and waves them around and, always, tries to chew them. She has teeth now! Two little razor-sharp teeth, which we brush every night with a little nubby silicone thing that slips over your finger. She loves this, probably because of the buzzy noise it makes as it bumps over her teeth. She also loves biting. She's bitten me once. On my nose. It's my own fault for saying "Oh no! You're eating my faaaaaace!" whenever she sucks on my cheek, but I love the way she grins when we do it. She loves dolls, too, and pictures of babies, and blocks and balls. The world is a great big toy chest. And teething ring.
She has a lot to say these days. Mostly it's "da da da da da da da," but sometimes it's "Ummm," or "ba blah blah," or "I am not being sufficiently entertained! Correct this situation or I will use your head as my personal punching bag!" Or maybe I just imagine that last one. She's so expressive these days, every day more of a person. She laughs during peek-a-boo sometimes. She loves grabbing at the pages of her books (which is why we're board-book and bath-book only these days). She smiles when I sing her silly songs or Eric zooms her above his head. She screams when we take away a toy or force her to put down the tube of Butt Paste because we're done changing her. She moves my hands when they're somewhere she doesn't want them. She's all about communication. She's less easy than she was a few months ago, but she's more fun and much more interesting.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
She'll love the screensaver
Last night Chloë spent her first night sleeping on her tummy--by herself, that is. She's slept on me like that often enough. When I put her down for bed she grabbed her puppy and twisted onto her side, as usual, but after a minute she started crying, which was unusual. A little later music started. She's got a Fisher-Price aquarium strapped to the middle of one side of her crib, a hand-me-down from her cousin Gabriel, who loved it as a baby. It has swimming fish, a couple of levers to press to make a clam open and close or a starfish twirl (I think), and a big button to start and stop music and lights. I figured she'd kicked it with her foot, which has happened before, and the crying stopped shortly after, so all was well.
I went in later to check on her and found her on her tummy, scootched down in the crib so that her face was level with the aquarium, one arm outstretched. She had obviously flipped over, crept backward (because that's all she can do) until she reached the aquarium, and turned it on. She probably slept through the night like that, but she was practicing crawling when I woke up this morning so I don't know for sure.
She did the exact same thing tonight. I'm going to move that aquarium up tomorrow so she doesn't have to scoot so far.
I went in later to check on her and found her on her tummy, scootched down in the crib so that her face was level with the aquarium, one arm outstretched. She had obviously flipped over, crept backward (because that's all she can do) until she reached the aquarium, and turned it on. She probably slept through the night like that, but she was practicing crawling when I woke up this morning so I don't know for sure.
She did the exact same thing tonight. I'm going to move that aquarium up tomorrow so she doesn't have to scoot so far.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
The List
There is, of course, a List of people who will be the first to die when Chloë achieves world dominion. Right now it's mainly requests from her minions--for example, loyal henchman Su has added several, and Eric has at least one, and I've added a few as well, especially after some long days at work. But Chloe has a few of her own.
Recently added to the List, it appears, is yellow ducks.
She has a rubber ducky for bathtime, and whenever we present it to her she chomps down on it, usually bill-first, we assume for censorship purposes. Her grandmother has a similar toy that gets the same treatment. One of her (okay, my) favorite books is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle. It has a yellow duck in it, and today when we were reading it she attempted to chomp on it too...bill-first. I don't know what her grudge is, but it runs deep.
Recently added to the List, it appears, is yellow ducks.
She has a rubber ducky for bathtime, and whenever we present it to her she chomps down on it, usually bill-first, we assume for censorship purposes. Her grandmother has a similar toy that gets the same treatment. One of her (okay, my) favorite books is Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle. It has a yellow duck in it, and today when we were reading it she attempted to chomp on it too...bill-first. I don't know what her grudge is, but it runs deep.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Yakkity yak
Chloë has been babbling up a storm lately. Her latest favorite syllable: "blah." So all day long we've been hearing "blah blah blah. Ba blah bwah? Blah! Blah blah blah."
You may keep your comments about which of us she takes after to yourself.
You may keep your comments about which of us she takes after to yourself.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Baby's First Spaceship
I have, finally, finished Chloë's quilt:
I started this considerably before she was born. Ahem. (I realize I haven't posted the last of her birth story either. I do intend to. Eventually. Maybe when work stops being quite so insane.) It is, as I hope you can tell, the pilot's-eye view of a spaceship. Above, the status of the various parts of the ship; in the middle, a viewscreen; below, various buttons and switches and panels, plus a targeting screen. In my defense, there was a lot of hand work involved on this thing. Here's hoping it lasts a few years of stains and drool.
Chloë inspected it and, despite its lateness, accepted the offering.
I started this considerably before she was born. Ahem. (I realize I haven't posted the last of her birth story either. I do intend to. Eventually. Maybe when work stops being quite so insane.) It is, as I hope you can tell, the pilot's-eye view of a spaceship. Above, the status of the various parts of the ship; in the middle, a viewscreen; below, various buttons and switches and panels, plus a targeting screen. In my defense, there was a lot of hand work involved on this thing. Here's hoping it lasts a few years of stains and drool.
Chloë inspected it and, despite its lateness, accepted the offering.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Goodbye, toothless smiles
We have achieved teeth! After nursing this evening Chloë was playing with my hand, pushing it around, then putting various parts of it in her mouth, and her gumline felt bumpier than before. It was. Two sets of toothy mountain ranges (well, foothills) have emerged. Hello, biter biscuits!
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