Health:
We've finally got a tooth! It only took girlfriend 13 months, but we've finally got a top tooth to speak of :) I can see the other top tooth working its way out, and the bottom two seem to be trying their best as well. Teething wasn't nearly as bad as expected (of course, that's my side of the story, not Lizzie's). We had some really icky diapers and a bit of a fever, but other than that, girlfriend wasn't too fussy. Then again, I do recall taking her in to Urgent Care one night in the midst of teething due to a fever over 102 and nasty diapers... we'll chalk that up to first-time parenting :) We weren't sure if it was just teeth or something more! And in our defense, the doctor for UC was pretty concerned about her as well (thinking a kidney infection? Oh no!) Oh well, live and learn. Aside from that, we've been totally healthy :)
Sleep:
We had been doing really well in the sleep arena -- still waking up once a night, but taking nice, long naps (usually an hour in the morning and two hours in the afternoon). However, since I've been off for the summer (whee!), I think babycakes assumes she should be up and partying with me all the time. I'm lucky to get a half-hour nap out of her -- sometimes twice a day, but sometimes just once! Don't get me wrong, this momma loves her baby, but I do need a little time to eat lunch without a toddler (since when did I become the momma of a toddler!?) climbing in my lap, trying to get a few bites of my well-deserved lunch. Anyway, I'm not sure what to do about it. I've been anti-CIO, but in the past, I've noticed if I give her a couple minutes when she wakes up prematurely from a nap, she'll go back to sleep -- so I've been letting her cry a little to see if that will work these days.
Nope.
Girlfriend can (and does) completely outlast me in that arena. She'll cry and scream (er, repeat "mama" over and over again... be still, my breaking heart!) and throw her pacifier (and books and stuffed animals and cars that I've strategically placed to make her crib less sad when she wakes up from naps) overboard for an hour and still be going strong. It's at that point that I give up and give in, and find myself opening the door of my poor, sweet baby, whose arms are outstretched and is babbling, "mamamamamama" over and over again. She'll then snuggle in and hold tight to me like a baby koala for at least 20 minutes from the traumatic situation she's just been rescued from.
Sigh. What's a momma to do? Am I bailing her out too soon? Should I let her go longer than an hour? I figure she's not going to give up, so that's why I do. Am I being naive? Any help is appreciated :)
As far as nighttime goes, she's doing just fine there. We had a few rough nights where she wouldn't go to sleep for us at night and I was rocking her for a couple hours before putting her down, but we seem to have remedied that issue by putting her down anyway, sitting by her crib and rubbing her back. It takes ten minutes or so, but she does calm down enough to sleep. Overnight, she's doing well -- usually just needs a pacifier and a back rub/butt pat for a few minutes before we go back to bed.
Diet:
Lizzie is still an incredible eater. I was concerned around one year that she was losing interest in her veggies, but she's proving loud and clear that's not the case! There are some nights when she'll decline some of them, but for most meals, she has no problems eating whatever it is I put in front of her.
I've noticed a decline in how much she's been eating at mealtimes, which isn't too much of a surprise to me, as I'd read this typically happens about now. She is extremely interested in snacks, of course :) She knows right where we keep her snacks and is also increasingly interested in the refrigerator. Naturally, whenever I pull out her milk or water sippy from the refrigerator, it is exactly what she doesn't want -- she'd rather peruse the options a bit and make a choice for herself ;)
We're doing whole grain waffles with peanut butter and some fruit and milk for breakfast these days -- she loves it! Depending on when she wakes and eats breakfast, we may or may not have a morning snack. For lunch, I'll give her something I've saved from supper the night before, or we'll do whole wheat English muffin "pizza". Earlier in the summer, I picked up some organic hot dogs for her for times when we grill brats for ourselves. I wanted to avoid the extra chemicals and nitrates for her, so these were a good choice for that. Sometimes I'll grill her a hot dog and give her half of it (cut up nice and small, of course!) for lunch, too.
Favorites this month include... sweet potatoes, avocado, green beans, raspberries, blackberries, apples (I let her gnaw on the core after I finish it... feels good on her teething gums and she loves the flavor! She gets mad when I decide it's time to take it away :)), bananas (given very sparingly...) and Plum Organics Mighty 4 Cereal Bars -- girlfriend seriously can't get enough of them.
She's been having tastes of ice cream here and there, and, well, you can just about guess what her favorite favorite food of all time is :)
Social:
Now that school's out for summer (whee! Did I mention that yet?), Lizzie hasn't been getting as much "kid" interaction as she normally does. Regardless, she's been having a great time seeing her cousins lately (she adores them!) and I've taken her to the Y's "drop-in" care while I teach my yoga/pilates classes. The drop-in daycare is an awesome service for people who go to the Y here, but girlfriend is still warming up to it. Poor baby cried for half of the class I taught on Friday :(
Milestones:
First tooth broke through this month! We're also taking steps on our own (we've seen her take five by herself!), but girlfriend is definitely a cautious little babe. She wants to make sure she can do it just right before she commits to something -- she was the same way about crawling! I'm guessing it won't be long before we have a walker on our hands.
She's saying "uh-oh", "mama", "dada" and "ball" and will woof for a puppy sound and make a sound for a car/truck/tractor as well. She's babbling non-stop! It is so much fun to her her voice. She's also learned to communicate that she's "all done" using a sign that's similar to the one used in sign language, and she will also shake her head "no" for things. Pretty cute :)
