monkey business

Several mornings ago, Rachel greeted us with ramblings about a monkey visiting upstairs. She took me by the hand and lead me to the nursery, where we looked for the monkey. "He's gone now," she declared when he was nowhere to be found. She said he was big and red, and she seemed amused by him. She mentioned several times that she hoped he would come back and play with her. It was cute.

Until bedtime that night. Somehow, a second-floor monkey is delightful by day, but kinda scary by night. I couldn't argue with that, either. She screamed. She shrieked. We couldn't leave her alone upstairs. The first night, Jarrad stayed with her until she went to sleep. She woke up at 11pm and became hysterical again, at which point Jarrad let her sleep with him in the guest bed. The next two nights were difficult. She was scared, and we couldn't bare it, and we didn't know how to solve it. After reading some, and mulling it over, I quickly implemented "sleep rules:" 1. Stay in your bed, 2. Close your eyes, 3. Be still and quiet, and 4. Go to sleep. I hyped them up, made posters to hang on her wall, and promised stickers and various other rewards the next morning. She bought it. After a little whimper, she made the conscious decision to follow the sleep rules.

Our problem was solved for almost a week. But yesterday, we fought at nap time. After some visitors, we got to nap about one hour too late, and she was spent. After some "reminding" about the rules, she finally slept. We had visitors again last night, and she went to bed about an hour too late, again. And she screamed. She shrieked. She did finally give up and go to sleep, but we were exhausted. Nap today did not happen, and I was so very ready for bedtime to come tonight. We put her down a full hour earlier than usual. She was so sleepy, but she protested nonetheless. I finally had the brilliant idea to promise her a time frame: follow the rules for 30 minutes, and then we will come check on her. That did the trick...this time.

In addition to the sleep rules, the monkey dream has given us lots of opportunities to talk about God. We have always talked with Rachel about God, but she's never listened like she has in these last two weeks. She has become fixated on being by herself and she doesn't like it. If I had a dime for every time she whimpered, "but, I'll be all by myself," I'd be one rich mommy. Anyway, we've talked and prayed and talked some more about how God is always with us and she does not need to be scared of anything. I tell her that Mommy and Daddy love her most of all, but God loves her even MORE than Mommy and Daddy (that's so hard to say, but it's true, since I don't have the capacity to love the way God does). We've read from the Bible, and she's even prayed some herself, and she does seem comforted by that. Of course, all of this is what prompted the ramblings from my previous post.

I am glad to hear her talking about God and working through what it means to have God in her life. I want her to understand how powerful the name of Jesus is, and I love hearing her talk to Him or asking me to pray to Him, "for the monkey." My greatest prayer is that she will soon be able to comprehend the immense sacrifice He made for us--and that she will desire a relationship with Him.

Praise God for the ways He gets our attention!

chatty kathy

After a really long night of Rachel being apparently scared to be upstairs by herself (we assume because of the monkey dream she keeps talking about), she is very chatty this morning. Here are some snippets of her ramblings:

-----------

Who maked the banana? God did?

God made it!

And God made my miiiilk.

God made the monitoooor, and God made me and you and Caaaarly and Daddy too!

And God made everysting! Everypeople!

And I say, "Stank you for my toooooys, stank you for my fooooood."

Made Jesus too!

It's the same person. God and Jesus. It's one person.

God is upstairs.

He stays with me in my beeeed.

And God can say the monkey not come.

God won't let the monkey come. He won't do dat.

God can keep me safe.

------------

More on the sleep-disturbing monkey dream later...

love this girl

Rachel has been doing so well in her new room and her new bed, and she still is so excited about the whole deal. When people come over, she jumps up and down and begs them to come upstairs to see her biiiig room and her biiiig bed. We've started calling her old room "the baby's room," so I think we should be good and ready for this new little girl to take over in there. And the icing on the cake is that she's been sleeping a little longer, a little happier and waking up in a better mood than she was in her crib. What a blessing!

The funniest thing to me is how she's dealt with sleeptimes. At first, she didn't want to sleep under the covers, so I didn't try to "tuck her in" when it was time to sleep. I knew she'd get up and roam around probably anyway, and she seemed so swallowed up in that big bed, so what's the point? But after only a few nights, Rachel started tucking herself in. Now when I leave the room, she usually follows me to the door with an obligatory/courtesy whine/fuss, but quickly retreats into her room to play, read, and chit chat with her little friends. Fairly quickly, she climbs on her bed (if she's not there already), pulls back her covers, tucks herself in, and rests her little head on her pillow, falling asleep quickly. She also usually stays in her bed when she wakes up, and she just plays happily with whatever toys are left there from the night before. She'll eventually call "Mooooommy, MOOOOOmmy!" and I'll go upstairs to be greeted with a big silly smile, sweet hugs, and even sweeter kisses.

cute moment

Rachel gets more and more fun to watch as she plays. Lately, she's been doing a lot of "shopping," pushing her cart around and around and around, collecting various items to "take it to the store." She usually has her little green beany baby bear in the child seat, and he usually takes a potty break or two along the way, and he also occasionally gets a spank spank. She also loves to bathe her little animals, and pretend to lotion them after.

But her favorite thing right now is that I've begun letting her help me wash dishes. She sits on the counter by the sink, and I direct her to turn the water on and off for rinsing. I let the dishes drain and air dry, so we always come back later and she sits there again, pulling each dish out of the drain rack for me to put away. She loves these little chores!

Here's a picture of Rachel having a snack at the huge kiddie pool we went to last week. She had such a great time!

big move--that's a wrap

As of this morning, I am fairly confident in saying that Rachel has successfully moved to sleeping full-time in her big bed! Last night and tonight, I made a point to go straight downstairs after our bedtime routine, so that she had to put herself to bed, which she did! It occurred to us that the previous night or two, she seemed most upset to find I had left after she'd fallen asleep. So, when she woke up in the middle of the night, the first thing she did was go check where I had "fallen" asleep, only to find a vacant spot, which was difficult to see I guess. Last night, though, she woke up and cried some, called for us, but then went back to sleep fairly easily. She stirred another time, but I don't think she even bothered to get out of bed that time. She's doing great at naptime as well, and her nap has become exactly what it was in the crib (just over 1 hour, waking up fairly content, but a little whiny).

And now, looking back, this really was not a difficult transition for Rachel after all. It was a little difficult for me, and my back is paying for all the naps and nights spent lying on the floor waiting for her to fall asleep, but, overall, it was about as easy as I guess we could expect it to be.

I am super proud of my baby girl, and she seems super proud of herself. I hope our next little girl is as agreeable! I really can't wait to see what her personality will be.

So here's the rundown of the strategy I used to get Rachel in the big bed/new room (mostly for my own future reference):

• Talked it up for several days before the move.
• Helped her move her toys to her new room after her last nap in the crib.
• Let her play on her new bed before the move.
• Stayed with her and lay my head on the bed until she fell asleep for two sleeptimes. Put her in her crib to go back to sleep upon waking in the night.
• "Slept" on her big bear on the floor just beneath her bed until she fell asleep for two sleeptimes. Put her in her crib to go back to sleep upon waking in the night.
• "Slept" on her big bear, moving farther from her bed and closer to the door each time for ~five sleeptimes. Put her in her crib to go back to sleep upon waking in the night.
• "Slept" on her big bear outside her door (there's a gate on her door) until she fell asleep for two sleeptimes. Put her in her crib to go back to sleep upon waking in the night.
• Left the bear in her room, and read a book in the hallway outside her room with my back to her until she fell asleep for 2 sleeptimes. Put her in her crib to go back to sleep upon waking in the night.
• Went away immediately after bedtime routine, and did not return until morning, even upon waking in the night.
• Rewarded with a popsicle when she slept all night in her bed for 3 nights.
• Promised to reward with a sticker chart now that she seems confident.

All of this, of course, came with lots of conversation. I let her know exactly what my plan was, step-by-step, to try to avoid any surprises on her end. I try not to "trick" Rachel when I can avoid it, so I told her each night that I stayed, that I would only be staying until she fell asleep. She still seemed sad to find me gone, but at least she wasn't betrayed, I guess. We also talked a lot about the big bear, and the popsicles. Another thought I had was that I wanted her to get used to being in charge of her own bedtime, so, even when I stayed with her, I truly pretended to be sound asleep, allowing her to get up and play and do whatever until she was ready to go to sleep. Otherwise, I could see the future of me running up and down the stairs and policing her every move, which is not what I want to be doing. I don't mind sneaking in and clearing toys from her bed after she's asleep--that seems much less stressful to me--and I just write it off as her winding down process.

Anyway, these last few posts have been pretty boring, probably, but this was a fun problem-solving exercise for me, and I wanted to document it for future reference (how many kids will I be transitioning??...who knows?).

Since you've made it this far, here are three recent pics of Rachel. Serious Rachel Rachel with her birthday present from Aunt Mamber...it blows bubbles!

Rachel's piggy tails! I love it!!

big move part 2

Rachel begged to sleep in her new bed at naptime yesterday, so I decided we'd give it another try, resigning myself to stay in the room with her until she fell asleep. She finally did, and she took a longer-than-usual 1.5-hour nap! I was very excited, and she seemed proud of the move. Last night, it took her a long time to fall asleep, but she did great until she woke up scared around 2:00am. In an effort to get some sleep, I stuck her back in the crib to fall asleep on her own while I stumbled back to my own slumber. She seemed happy enough with the arrangement, and didn't complain this morning either.

I wasn't sure what today would bring, though, since we were planning a three-day visit with my parents. I talked up the pack and play like it should be fun to sleep there at MiMi and Poppy's, and she was satisfied with that. However, it has been quite some time since she's slept in a pack and play, and, to my dismay, she climbed in and out with no hesitation. So, at naptime, out she came, and back I put her, and out she came, and back I put her, until finally MiMi lay down with her. She slept, but for only less than an hour. Poppy set up the toddler bed they have, and that's where Rachel is sleeping now (after I stayed in the room with her and tucked her in when she finally fell asleep).

I knew I'm in for several days of having to stay with her until she's confident and used to the new bed (it is really big, and it's in a new room, besides), and I know the trasition to follow will probably be difficult. This is definitely the hardest transitions we've made to date; Rachel has handled the others like a champ (which probably lead to my over-confidence leading to this one). One fun thing coming from it, though, is being able to experience her winding down process in person. I love listening on the baby monitor as she plays and sings and talks to herself until she falls asleep, and I've often wished for a video monitor so I could really witness what's going on in there. It's really a funny few minutes, so I guess it's not so bad after all.

But I do hope she adjusts easily and quickly, and I hope I haven't thrown her into this too soon (although the pack and play incident today would suggest that the transition was quite inevitable). It definitely seems there's no turning back now...

big move

I tried to move Rachel to a big bed tonight. We've been prepping her new room for a week and a half, and after her nap today, she and I moved her toys and clothes, and played there for most of the afternoon. I've been talking it up, and she seemed excited.

But she's happily asleep in her crib now, after a brief attempt at the big bed. She changed her mind quickly when I got up to leave her there, and she didn't even stay long enough for me to make it out of the room. Poor, abandoned Rachel. I felt horrible for even trying, because she seemed pretty shaken up by the whole experiece.

Oh well...I guess we'll revisit this idea in a few more weeks.

where in the world

Our camera batteries are completely shot, so here's one old picture of Rachel...

So where have we been? Where do I begin? Rachel has had an ugly tummy virus for almost two weeks, but it seems to be clearing up. Insanely, I woke up Tuesday morning and decided I should take Rachel to Tennessee to visit her Great-Grandma, who was there visiting relatives. For a variety of reasons, Rachel and I never make it up to the mountains of West Virginia where she lives. Where she was in Tennessee is only 1.5 hours from where Jarrad's dad lives. So, I made all the phone calls to line it up, threw everything in the car, including Rachel, and headed out. We stopped by my hometown and picked up my dad, who graciously accompanied us on our roadtrip as entertainment for Rachel. So on Tuesday afternoon, we landed at Jarrad's dad's house, where we spent the night, and then the four of us (Rachel, Poppy, PopPop, and I) headed to Tennessee and back on Wednesday, spent the night again, and then back through my hometown and back to Raleigh on Thursday. (Hopefully I'll get pictures from the visit from Jarrad's cousin soon.) Whew!

We returned exhausted and sickly. I recovered, but Rachel is quite sick with a nasty headcold. After two weeks of the stomach stuff, I decided to take her on to the doctor on Friday, who predictably told us it was just two viruses back-to-back, and we just have to wait it out. On a funny note, Rachel wasted no time trying to boss the doctor, and the doctor pointed out several times that Rachel is "very grown up for her age." Rachel peepeed in the potty and blew her nose while we were there. What a show off.

Although Rachel's vocabulary has been a bit slow to grow, she finally started saying "more" and "please" this week. She has used the signs for these words for months, but she seems to finally have made the connection between the sign and the actual word (now she runs around saying "muh, muh, muh" for everything). She still has yet to say anything with the "ee" sound (she says "mama" for MiMi), but I do try not to get anxious--difficult, isn't it??

cute moment

Of course, Rachel did not cooperate with my roadtrip plan, which was for her to sleep on the way to pick up my dad and then stay awake with him in the backseat on the way to the mountains. She did the opposite, and she yelled essentially the whole 1.5 hours we were in the car alone. My nerves were completely shot, and, at one point, I turned around to her and said, "Rachel--that is TOO LOUD!" I guess I sounded kind of mean, because she looked so hurt and sad. Her bottom lip poked out and her brow furrowed, as if she was fighting back tears. She silently peered out the window, but she perked up shortly, and recommenced yelling. I felt bad that I hurt her feelings, though.

But the cutest thing for me was when we were spending our second night at PopPop and Uma's house. Rachel and I were sharing a room, which Rachel did not realize on night one. She woke up at 1:15am on night two, and she insisted from her pack n play that she needed to potty. In an effort to keep her from waking up the whole house, I set her on the potty, where she proved to be wide awake. As I sat in front of her, struggling to keep my eyes open, she looked at me, wide-eyed, with a smile all over her face. She was still, and seemed to be studying my face. She reached out and patted my cheek a few times, and then she wanted hugs. My little sweetie didn't really need to potty, but that was okay. I put a new diaper on her and attempted to put her back to bed, which she protested LOUDLY. So, I put her in bed with me, and I told her that she had to go to sleep or she'd have to go back in the pack n play. She seemed to understand that, because she lay down quietly. But she was wide awake, and she tossed and turned, talked to herself and giggled. After about 45 minutes, I decided to try again to put her to bed. She cried. She screamed. I tried to ride it out, and she settled down in about 10 minutes, but started right back up again. So I gave in, and she must have worn herself out, because she ended up falling right to sleep lying next to me--something that hasn't happened in a really really long time. I didn't sleep all that well, but it was really sweet to sleep by my baby. She stirred a few times after 5:00am, but she quickly curled up on me and went back to sleep every time. She was finally up for the day around 6:30am, and she was in a surprisingly great mood.

One of Rachel's favorite things about our visit was feeding the ducks that hang out at the pond in PopPop and Uma's neighborhood. This morning, before I went to Rachel when she woke up, I heard her calling the ducks. Uma called the ducks over by putting her fist to her mouth and quacking. Rachel's interpretation of that is putting her open palm to her mouth and saying "duck duck duck duck duck." She is still talking about our trip, including Uma and the ducks.

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel took a decent nap today, for the first time in almost a week. She was in a good mood between nap and bedtime, and she spent a lot of it folding and stacking her diapers. She hasn't played with her diapers in a long time, since we don't use them much. Rachel also continues to play with the bucket of bubble gum she got from the big gorilla at the mall on Halloween.

But her favorite play right now comes from her shopping cart and her vacuum (the popper push toy). She prefers that someone push one while she pushes the other, so she is constantly insisting on that. She has enjoyed two visits from GiGi this week, and GiGi has been a willing playmate.

whew!

Jarrad and I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of one of Rachel's little toys playing music over and over. What isn't a loud toy during the day is a really really loud toy by night, and I remembered that she had had this particular toy in her crib after naptime (where was it hidden at bedtime?). Jarrad said, "What is that?" I said, "It's her stupid (pardon the language) keyring toy--I forgot it was in her crib." "Is she awake?" he asked. "Well, she probably is now." Each song immediately followed the one before, as if she was depressing the play-a-song button continuously, though she was silent and still. When I entered her room, she lay there, sound asleep, gripping this awful toy. I pulled it away from her (I really had to yank it), and she grumbled and rolled over, but stayed asleep. WHEW!

tuesday post

First of all, I would like to report an abrupt ending to Rachel's paci usage. That's right--we packaged them up and "mailed" them to the hospital for little babies yesterday. I was anticipating a loooooong night last night, but Rachel did great! I have been dreading the end of paci era, and I am relieved that it hasn't been a big deal so far. I hadn't planned to take them away so early, but Rachel face and lips have been so chapped lately, and she always had a weird white film on the inside of her lips whenever she woke up, so I decided the time had come.

We have also officially switched to training pants by day. Rachel is finally big enough for the smallest sized cheap training pants, and I am relieved to be rid of diapering a busy toddler. She averaged two accidents for the first few days, but she's only had one (usually during dinner) or none for the past 3 or 4 days. There are still times when she wears diapers: when she sleeps, and when we're on long car rides, for church and for a babysitter. She doesn't seem to mind switching back and forth for now.

Saying "byebye" to the paci and "byebye" to diapers really makes me feel like my little girl is growing up. To prove she is getting closer to two every day, the last week or so has been full of meltdown after temper tantrum after extreme mood swing. It's a roller coaster living with a toddler! Here's a video of Rachel begging for a cracker, as she does innumerable times a day. She usually uses a sign she made up for cracker, but she already knew that I knew what she wanted, so she didn't bother here...

Rachel is really talking a lot lately, too, although her words are few and often unintelligible. She kind of just talks about whatever she can name, putting the words together into nonsensical sentences. My favorite is that she likes to say "maamaaaa" so sweetly now, and she absolutely yells "DADDY, DAAAADDY," when Jarrad's in another room. Also, whenever I say, "where's the _____?" (fill in the blank with whatever I can't find at the moment), Rachel immediately calls for whatever it is--"jaaaacket, jaaaaacket,"--and then hugs and kisses the item as soon as we find it.

cute moment

Today, we got in the car to go to the grocery store. Rachel started yelling "glasses, glasses, glasses" (in her language, of course), as she pointed to my suglasses that were clipped to the visor. I put them on, and she said, "yay!!" and clapped her hands.

Rachel had a meltdown one day because I wouldn't let her climb onto the coffee table, where she intended to sit on a little plush couch that goes with one of her dolls. I did let her sit on the toy couch on this chair, though, and that made her happy enough.

And, finally--last but not least--we visited MiMi and Poppy over the weekend, with Uncle Travis, Aunt KiKi, and Cousin Tyler. Tyler has suddenly become very interested in Rachel, so getting the two to pose for a picture wasn't difficult. Awwwwwww.

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel has enjoyed learning to use crayons and stickers. Her artwork would be so fun, if she didn't usually ball it up and declare it "TA" (i.e. trash) as soon as she was finished. I guess she's one of those artists.

one nap, two naps, three naps, four

The weekend was fun, with lots of visitors. Saturday morning brought MiMi and Poppy, Uncle Travis, Aunt KiKi, and Cousin Tyler. My mom baked her specialty: Chocolate Pound Cake, and I got to keep half because it was MY birthday last week. Rachel skipped her morning nap, although she did have some quiet time in her crib before our company arrived. After her 1.5-hour afternoon nap, Jarrad and I took Rachel strolling at the mall, where we ate an early dinner (Rachel ate a peanut butter sandwich and a banana) before tucking her in bed.

Sunday is always a one-nap day, but Rachel did well. We all went separate directions in the afternoon: Jarrad helped a friend with some house work, I had my first soccer game (100 degrees is too hot for soccer), and our friend Stacie graciously came over to hang out with Rachel. Rachel's nap was only 1.5 hours (again), but she didn't seem to mind that Mommy and Daddy weren't home. Our Community Group came over Sunday night, and Jarrad served $0.45 tacos from Taco Bell.

About every other day, Rachel has nap troubles. She sleeps until 7:00 or 7:30am and, although she may seem tired and sleepy, she has a really hard time taking her morning nap. I've been letting her skip it, but, consistently, it results in a too-short afternoon nap, and, consequently, a really cranky baby. She slept until 7:00am today, and was acting sleepy by 8:15am. I decided not to even try putting her down for a nap until 9:30am (she's usually down at 9:00am), and, by then, she seemed really ready. She settled on my lap for our book, and she got really still and quiet. But once she was in her crib, she rolled around and finally pooped in her diaper before going to sleep around 10:15am (of course, I cleaned her up first). She woke up at 11:30am, just in time for GiGi's visit. At 2:00pm, GiGi left, and Rachel, who had been going full speed ahead showing off for GiGi, and I headed upstairs to settle down for nap. Surely she will sleep well...but, as it turned out, she never slept at all. So I got her up, and we went to Koen's house for a visit. Being in a different setting was enough distraction to keep her happy, and Carla was kind enough to even feed us dinner! Rachel ate chicken and veggies (something she does not usually love), cheese, and mandarin oranges (a Rachel favorite). She had nooooo problems going to sleep tonight.

Progress Report

I think we're ready to cut the progress reports. Rachel is doing GREAT on the potty, now, and I feel fully confident leaving her in a coverless diaper all day (except when she sleeps). She still has one or two "accidents" almost daily, but they're always small. Exciting!

cute moment

Rachel stays so busy all day. One of her favorite pastimes is to drag around a bag (preferably a gift bag or shopping bag), putting things in and taking them out. Another favorite hobby is sitting on things, and, most recently, climbing. A few days ago, she successfully into our shortest living room chair, and she was so proud. Today, it occurred to her that she might be able to climb onto the coffee table, something she's never before attempted. She hoisted herself up in no time, and stood up, with a conquering grin. I took a few pictures before forbidding her to climb on the coffee table, and she quickly moved on. When Jarrad got home later in the afternoon, Rachel stopped her play to run and greet him at the door. As soon as he came in, she turned back, ran straight to the coffee table, and climbed up. What a show off!

non-toy toy of the day

I was on the phone for a moment yesterday when Rachel found the Q-tips in the bathroom drawer. She made it out with about 8 held tightly in her little fist. I took them away when she started pulling the cotton off the ends, bit by bit.

another nap, another dollar

Rachel slept in until 6:25am today! I was thrilled to see the sun was up before Rachel, so I was in a good mood. She started getting cranky around 8:30am, right on schedule for her 9:00am nap. However, for some reason, for whatever reason, it took her a full hour to go to sleep. She slept and slept and slept, until 12:10pm. What a nice break for Mommy!

Between naps, we visited Ms. Kathy, who lives really close by. She has a son who grew up with Jarrad, so she's almost like family! She also JUST became a grandma, but her grandbaby lives on another continent for a few more weeks. I thought it might be nice for her to get a baby fix (even though I'm feeling less and less like Rachel's a baby anymore) as she looks forward to meeting her granddaughter, Ava. Rachel, as usual, enjoyed exploring Ms. Kathy's home and picking up Ms. Kathy's things, and sitting on Ms. Kathy's tiny footstool.

We came home right at what I thought would be a good time to put Rachel down for her afternoon nap. 3:15pm did not work out for her though. After going back and forth with her several times, I gave up around 4:30pm. Aunt Mamber came over, and Rachel was really glad to see her (it's been over a week!), so that was a good distraction for super-tired Rachel. She was in bed tonight at 7:30pm. I wonder what time morning will come for us...

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	5	8
poop	3	1

Does anyone out there think these are ridiculous numbers? She was doing fairly well today until her afternoon nap attempt. The problem is that she seems to have figured out that she can talk to me from her crib. So about 10 minutes after I lay her down, I hear her in the crib: "GOOgoo GOOgoo GOOgoo." She's saying potty...does she need to potty? I don't want to ignore her if she needs to potty. I gave her a chance to potty before her nap and she didn't go. Did she hold it so she could call on me like this? Fine, I'll go up there. And so I go. And her diaper is wet (or dirty, like it was this afternoon). I sit her on the potty. She's amused and doesn't do a thing. She's back in the crib, I leave, and wait...10 minutes later the sequence repeats. What in the world??? This afternoon, she went through THREE diapers like this. The first was dirty, and the other two were just barely wet, as if she had squeezed some out so she'd have an excuse to get out of the crib. Is that possible? She seems to little for such complicated manipulation...er...

cute moment

While Rachel was awake in her crib this morning, I heard her on the monitor, laughing. What made her laugh? I wish I knew what she was thinking sometimes!

non-toy toy of the day

Ms. Kathy has a wonderful set of bunnies who sit on the floor by her entertainment center. Rachel tried to pick them up, but they were too heavy. She scooted them around for a minute and then moved on to easier decor.

squirt spurt

I think Rachel's going through a growth spurt. She's been eating a LOT and sleeping really well during the day. Today, her morning nap was 1 hour 45 minutes, and her afternoon nap was 1.5 hours. We've had some fun outdoor time yesterday and today! Last night, Rachel, PopPop, Aunt Mamber and I went to Jarrad's softball game. It drizzled on and off while we were there, but Rachel didn't seem to mind. Today, just after all the rainfall, PopPop took Rachel outside. When Rachel got wiggly (it doesn't take long), he let her walk around in the sopping wet grass! Then, he taught her to stomp in puddles. Rachel had a blast, and she gave me a fit when I made her stop playing so she could take her afternoon nap. After pasta with tomato sauce for dinner, Rachel needed a bath in a big way. As for her current bedtime, I've been inching it later so she's going around 7:30pm now. I've figured out she seems to need 11 hours of night sleep, and I'll take a 6:30am wake up time (although I might keep trying to get it a little later, and shoot for 7:00am). So far, it's working out pretty well, and she hasn't been up before 6:00am in several days.

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	5	3
poop	2	0

Yesterday wasn't as good as today, but it wasn't terrible.

cute moment

There are train tracks that run right by the softball field where Jarrad plays. Last night, a train came through and caught Rachel completely off guard. She's usually not afriad of loud noises, but she grabbed the first set of legs she could find--Aunt Mamber's, and clung on tight!

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel played with sticks while we were at Jarrad's game.

pink flouride

First of all, the symphony was AWESOME! They played with a full rock band and even had a rocker-dude singer with long fuzzy hair and sloppy clothes! I've never been a huge Pink Floyd fan, but it was great to hear some live music and just relax for a couple of hours. Thanks to Aunt Mamber for contributing to our evening by babysitting!

Rachel woke up at 3:00am and was back to sleep until 7:00am. She seemed ready for a nap around 8:35am, so I put her in her crib and hoped she would fall asleep for a short nap before church. She finally fell asleep at 9:00am, and I couldn't bring myself to wake her up when it was time to leave for church. She woke up at 9:45am, and, since we only live 10 minutes from our new church, we were only a tad late. Please note, however, that she woke up on her own, after only 45 minutes of napping! Ugh! This afternoon, she fell asleep at 1:40pm and slept only one hour. She willingly went to sleep at 6:30pm again tonight.

Triple coupon weekend is almost over. I will publish a special edition when we have Jarrad's grand total of savings. I'm happy to say the house is already back to normal.

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	3	4
poop	1	0

cute moment

Either Rachel really loves bananas, or she is enjoying her new word, because she continually points to the bunch of bananas and repeats "nanana, nanana, NANANA." She also got a bath this morning, and she showed that she knows the sign for "bath." Every time we went by the bathroom today, she did the "bath" sign, which just looks like she's washing her belly and chest with her fist. So cute!

non-toy toy of the day

A [free] bottle of mustard. She was happy to carry it around and gnaw on it this afternoon.

deep thought

I have been really working hard in my house to get things straightened up and keep them that way. I've never had much trouble keeping things relatively clean, but I struggle with keeping things tidy. For about three weeks, I've been working hard to find a home for everything and just get rid of things we don't need. I have been so productive, and it's been easier than I expected to keep it up. Thursday night, Jarrad pulled out all his couponing stuff and spread it out in the kitchen, living room and dining room. After his trips to the store, he added lots of products everywhere, waiting to be stored. It was amazing how my mood was affected by the mess! I hadn't realized how much better I was feeling from a more organized environment. What a great lesson to learn, and a great motivator to keep things tidy.

snacky

We had a great day today, especially since Rachel slept straight through the night until 6:00am, and then she played in her crib for a while before I got her up. I ended up feeding her dinner really late last night because she had a big Cheerio snack with Tia Milli late in the afternoon, and I guess that did the trick! So, now I know to feed her a snack in the afternoon, and then we'll have her dinner at a more normal dinner time.

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	3	5
poop	1	1	a naptime poopy diaper :(

cute moment

This morning, Rachel played in her crib a long time. Just as I was getting up, I heard her die laughing. I have no idea what she saw or did that she thought was so funny, but I thought it was pretty cute.

non-toy toy of the day

I let her hold my apple for me while I got her lunch ready today. She wasn't sure what to do with it, so she mostly stared at it, glancing at me occasionally.

She also thought the Cheerios box was funny when I shook it in her face, so I let her examine that too. She figured out how to open the box and pull out the bag.

what size 2??

Who knew pacifiers come in sizes?? Apparently Rachel has been sucking on 0-6 month pacis all this time. Will her future teeth be messed up? Maybe it's just a way for them to make more money, but I bought Rachel some new, size 2 pacis last night (hers are probably pretty gross now anyway). They come in weird colors, but they are pretty cute. She didn't seem to notice any difference.

We went to visit cute, tiny, brand new baby Cameron today (but I forgot my camera). He is not quite a month old, and he felt as light as a feather! He slept peacefully (except for a few grunts here and there) the whole time Rachel and I were there. Rachel had fun walking around and exploring unfamiliar territory. Oddly, she kept her hands off almost everything, and she didn't try to climb the stairs! I don't know what kept her from trying to pull everything off the coffee table, but I only had to tell her "no touch" a couple times, and she listened, too! I definitely don't think I can take much credit. I mean, I've never told her not to pull candles off a table, so how would she know not to? I hope she will be as easy when she's a teenager :\ one day. Whew, that is too much to think about...

Aunt Mamber came over to see Rachel for a few minutes this evening. It's fun to see Rachel react to a familiar person, and she loves Aunt Mamber. Rachel mostly walked around and around the downstairs, and then up the stairs, as Aunt Mamber followed.

Oh, and Rachel's sleeping? Jarrad put her to bed, and she was asleep at 7:30pm last night. She woke up (not sure why) and nursed around 12:30am (I had a hard time convincing her to nurse at all before I left last night), then slept until 6:30am and played in her crib until 7:00am. How great is this?? Her naps were 1.5 hours this morning and 2 hours 20 minutes this afternoon!! It was 7:30pm to sleep tonight. It is so nice to have my good-natured, well-rested little girl back!

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	5	5	higher peepee count: another indication she wasn't eating enough, poor baby
poop	1	0

cute moment

She did two things this afternoon that amazed me. First, when Aunt Mamber was over, Rachel was carrying around a pair of her socks. I looked at her and said, "Rachel, can you put your socks on your feet?" I didn't give her any other clues to what I was asking her to do, but she looked at her feet and then put the socks on top of her foot! Then, at bedtime, we were cleaning up her room. She followed me to her toy basket as I was putting in the last few toys. I said, "Rachel, go get a book to read." She looked across the room where her books are stacked and cooed. "Rachel, go get a book, get one book. What book do you want to read?" She went over, picked up a book, and brought it to me! I can't believe how much she understands now.

non-toy toy of the day

She was mesmerized by tearing up a baby wipe this afternoon. She concentrated on ripping it into the tiniest pieces possible.

road to recovery

Yesterday morning, Rachel woke up at 4:45am, but I went straight to her (always hoping she'll go back to sleep for a couple hours). She did go back to sleep, until 7:10am! It felt weird to get up after sunrise. So the morning felt really short, because she still was ready for her nap at 9:00am. Whew!

Last night, I volunteered at the JoyProm, which was SO much fun. Because the event lasted all night, Jarrad had full bedtime responsibilities. Predictably, he had no problems, and Rachel went right to sleep. However, I had not been specific enough about nighttime diapering, so Rachel woke up at 1:00am, soaked from top to bottom due to a leaky diaper. I got Jarrad up to help me change her sheet while I cleaned her up and changed her clothes. Once she was back to sleep, she slept until 6:00am, which made me happy. To make up for the leaky diaper incident, Jarrad got up at 7:00am, and I went back to bed for a whole hour. Rachel went to bed at a normal 7:15pm tonight. I hope we are back on track!

Rachel took good naps today, so this afternoon, we went to see MeMaw and GGPaw and Cousin Anthony. I didn't get a picture of Rachel with MeMaw because Rachel jumped out of her lap before I even had a chance to get the camera.

Progress Report

I really do not remember her potty count yesterday and today, but she has been fairly cooperative. We've had two good-but-not-outstanding days. She probably used 3 or 4 diapers both days.

cute moment

I got a pair of socks out for Rachel today, and she wanted to play with them. I gave them to her, and then asked, "Can I have one to put on your foot?" She looked down and put a sock on her foot! (Not on her foot, but on top of her foot. I thanked her and really put it on, and then she put the other sock on top of her other foot!

non-toy toy of the day

Last night, I got all dressed up for the JoyProm. My fancy shoes were out, but not on my feet, so Rachel went straight for them. She loves shoes!

toddle toddle

Rachel woke up at 4:30am, but I went straight to her, nursed her, and put her right back down. I think I was back to sleep before she was, and she slept until 6:30am. What a nice nap! Her morning nap was really good, but she was asking to go to sleep again really early. When I finally put her down for her afternoon nap, it took her a long time to go to sleep, and then she only slept for 45 minutes. I decided to put her to bed super-early tonight: 5:50pm. I'd rather have a well-rested early-riser than a cranky early-riser, and it seems like those are my only two choices for now. Now I just need to learn to go to bed super-early.

I felt pretty good today after sleeping until 6:30am, so I was able to get a lot done. Jarrad also bought a "new" [used] car today. It's a '94 Honda with good mileage, and it will be much cheaper to drive than his giant truck.

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	1	5
poop	2	0

Rachel was very sleepy and cranky most of the day, but even when she seemed to be in a good mood, she was non-compliant on the potty. She finally signaled to me she needed to go this morning, and she pooped. I was excited she had told me and thought we might be turning a corner for the day, but then she peepeed in her crib while I emptied her potty (I was about to run her a bath, so I didn't re-diaper her). I was happy with her until I returned to find the huge wet spot on her sheet. She looked guilty.

cute moment

Rachel crawled onto my lap today and lifted up the tail of my shirt to give my belly a big sloppy kiss. She looked at my stomach, and then she went and picked up her burp cloth. She brought it straight back over to me and wiped off the wet spot she had left!

Rachel is definitely a toddler now. She prefers to walk, and she can change directions and navigate around things. She can even stop, bend over and pick something up, and then keep walking! It is so exciting to see her develop this new skill. In this video, she uses the sign for "no," but she still can't resist putting her little paws where they don't belong!

rocker baby

We had a fun day today, especially since Rachel slept in until 7:00am, and even played in her crib happily until 7:15am, when I greeted her for the morning. Her morning nap was 1 hour 40 minutes, but her afternoon nap was less than an hour. I put her down really early again tonight, at 6:30pm. The sleep book says to make her bedtime earlier to cure the night waking and the super-early mornings. I hope it works! She was really happy and hyper when I was getting her ready for bed, but she went to sleep in no time, which is exactly what the book says should happen. She usually starts rubbing her eyes and face, tugging on her ears, and getting really fussy by her usual bedtime, and the book says that means we're putting her to sleep too late! We'll see!

We had a visitor in the middle of the day--Rachel's friend Leah! Leah is coming close to figuring out how to crawl, so she seemed pretty interested in watching Rachel crawl circles around her. I took several pictures of them. In almost every one, Leah is looking straight at the camera with a beautiful smile, and Rachel is turning around, stealing Leah's toy, looking at her toes, just being a busy-body. Koen and Bob also came over late this afternoon. Bob had fun playing hide-and-seek with Rachel, and he got a big kick out of her love for Little Rex.

Aunt Mamber came over for her usual Thursday visit. She and PopPop will be running in a half-marathon in Nashville this weekend, and Rachel is excited to be rooting for them from home!

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	2	3
poop	2	0

cute moment

She talks a lot on this video, AND she shows off a couple of her tricks.

non-toy toy of the day

I let Rachel play with my Valentine's Day candy hearts necklace today. They make a great noise when she shakes them around, and she loves to examine the little beads.

fezzy sleep

Today was a long day. Rachel was up at 4:30am again. I went to check on her to be sure she didn't have a dirty or leaky diaper. I rocked her for just a minute and then put her back in her crib, where she whined for the next 45 or 50 minutes. She woke up again at 7:00am. Her morning nap was less than an hour, and her afternoon "nap" was only 35 minutes. She was so cranky immediately following her afternoon nap, and she could hardly hold her head up because she was still so sleepy. So, at 3:15pm, I did the whole nap routine again and put her in her crib. She didn't argue, and she rolled around a bit and got quiet and still, but I peeked in several times, and I don't think she ever really went to sleep. At least she rested some.

My childhood friend, Jared, came over this evening. It was fun to catch up with him. He spent 2 years in India, so he has some great stories and insights. Rachel loved showing off her newest skill of walking with her walk-behind toy, and then she went straight to bed to make up for some lost sleep.

She started using another sign today! She used the sign "eat" for the first time, and seemed very pleased with herself. I think it's so cute that she uses those signs for everything she wants to communicate.

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	4	5
poop	1	0

cute moment

Rachel has two silly new habits:

1. She has figured out how to gasp. So she is constantly sucking in air and sounding like her Poppy hiccupping after a big meal.
2. She turns her tongue over in her mouth, something I can't do. She does it all day, and it helps her make some very interesting sounds, too!

non-toy toy of the day

The ninja turtle that visited us yesterday gave Rachel a "Tiny Fez." She played with it all afternoon.

tight wad

Rachel woke up in the middle of the night, as predicted. I decided to leave her be, and she never even full-on cried. She wimpered on and off (mostly off) for about 40 minutes, and then was back to sleep until 7:15am! I guess we'll try that again tonight.

I loosened up with Rachel some today, and I got quite a bit done! She played on the floor in our bedroom, which she thought was really great, and played in the exersaucer for a few minutes, while I washed and folded laundry, finished cleaning our bathroom, vacuumed, all kinds of things I usually cram to do during her naps and after bedtime. It felt good to be so productive, it made the day go by faster, and I was pleasantly surprised at how not-dangerous it was for her. In my mind, I imagined her going straight for all the non-baby-proofed areas, but she just explored and had a great time.

Rachel got a bath today, and I attempted to spike up her hair. She just barely has enough to make it work! She's playing with the pink rubber ducky from Aunt KiKi's Easter basket.

Aunt Julie came over and played for a few minutes this evening, and then stayed after bedtime while Jarrad and I had a date! Aunt Mamber gave us a gift certificate to a really fancy resaurant, and we needed to use it. It really worked out great, and I needed the time out. Thanks to the best Aunts in the world! We are so blessed.

By the way, Rachel took 6 steps in a row today! She's so proud of herself.

Progress Report

Rachel used 3 diapers today! She was wet first thing this morning, so that accounted for one diaper.

cute moment

Rachel is so funny now; when she is crawling toward anything she thinks is off-limits, she'll turn around to see if we're watching. She gets this cute little smirk on her face, and, as soon as we make a move to get her, she turns back around and sprint-crawls, giggling.

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel has a new habit of picking up her left leg with her left hand and trying to do stuff with it, like using it to hit one of her stuffed animals, or putting it over her eyes when she's tired. She acts like it's not even attached to her...so silly!