maybe

We put Rachel into bed at 6:00pm last night. She had no trouble falling asleep, and I hoped we had done the right thing by putting her down so early. She slept well all night, until...5:00am. She woke up well-rested, refreshed, and ready for the day. I was none of those things. I tried to nurse her and put her back in the crib, but when she realized I wasn't coming back, she got pretty mad. She wanted to play! So we were up. An hour and a half later, at 6:30am, I kindly asked Jarrad if he might be willing to play with her so I could get a little more shut-eye. He obliged, and even fixed Rachel breakfast and fed her while I snoozed until 7:30am. It was wonderful to get that "extra" hour (I think I'm still missing a few hours of sleep somewhere). We had an uneventful day, except that Rachel's schedule was pretty much shifted an hour early. I did hold her off a little on her naps, but she was tired an hour earlier than the usual naptimes! She napped well, though, 1 hour 15 minutes for both naps, so I put her down at 6:50pm tonight (I couldn't hold her off any longer than that). Maybe she will sleep just a tad later in the morning. Maybe.

My friend John came over for a few minutes this morning. Rachel took right to him and let him hold her and play with her. She showed off her walking and even her split! John was so proud.

I forgot to mention that I finally bought Rachel her high chair, and she loves it! She looks so cozy and safe, and she really seems to feel a lot more comfortable and secure. It's also really nice to have the tray, now that she's able to feed herself some.

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	6	1
poop	1	0

I hope this means she is snapping out of whatever was bothering her the past few days!

cute moment

Rachel woke up not long after she went to sleep tonight, and she cried longer than usual. I went to check on her, and I picked her up (because I wanted to) and rocked her. She lay her head on my chest and rubbed my arms for a minute, and then she suddenly sat back, looked me square in the eyes, and did her modified sign for "more" (which she uses whenever she wants to communicate anything at all). She looked so serious. "What, Rachel? Potty? Hungry? What?" She burst into tears and buried her face in my chest, clearly frustrated that I didn't understand what she was trying to say. She calmed down and tried to communicate with me again. She ended up nursing and peepeeing on the potty, but I'm still not convinced either of those things was really the message.

non-toy toy of the day

I was putting away Rachel's freshly washed diapers today, and she got her favorite two out of the basket and carried them around all afternoon.

long time no blog

Friday afternoon, Rachel and I went to GiGi's house so Jarrad could do some work in the house without worrying about waking the baby. We stayed through Saturday afternoon and came back home after her second nap. I was so happy that the change of setting didn't really phase Rachel; she slept as well as she usually does (not that great lately), she was in a great mood the whole visit, and she played with GiGi and Pop even when I was nowhere to be found (they let me go back to bed Saturday morning when Rachel woke up at 6:30am). It was, again, SO nice to have the chance to go straight back to bed until 9:00am. Now that Rachel is nearing her first birthday, I am suddenly getting some freedoms back, like being able to hand Rachel over for hours at a time while I have a chance to do whatever. Anyway, Pop really fell in love with Rachel on this trip. He told her of all the mischeif he planned for the two of them, and he told her she has him wrapped around her finger! She got a big kick out of him too, especially since he got right down on the floor to crawl around with her, playing hide and seek, and chasing her all around. So sweet! Rachel also had a great time watching GiGi and Pop's cat, Sadie. Sadie is a very old, set-in-her-ways (some may say "snooty," but I won't say it) kitty who was not interested in Rachel's antics. Rachel still loved trying to figure her out, though!

Today we went to the park for a picnic with Koen's family and the local chapter of HITCHUP. It was a beautiful day for a picnic, and Rachel got to experience swinging for the first time. She had a blast, and I had a great time seeing some families I worked with in the school system a couple of years ago. It hasn't been too long since I worked with some of those children, and they all looked so big and grown-up...it made me think about how fast Rachel will grow up.

Progress Report

Rachel did so well on the potty while we were at GiGi and Pop's house this weekend, but she's having a rough time in general. I don't know if the sleeping and the pottying might be related, or might be caused by the same thing (a growth spurt? teeth coming in?), but I'm praying we figure it out soon.

We have hit a HUGE potty milestone, though. Today while we were at our picnic, it became apparent that Rachel needed to poop. I wasn't sure what to do, so I thought I might try to find a bathroom and just see if she would use a regular potty. I didn't find one, and her diaper was very wet, so I changed her. It was time for us to leave, anyway, so we packed up and headed home. All the way home, Rachel was grunting, her face got flushed, then pale. I was sad at the prospect of changing a poopy diaper (I haven't changed one in at least a month), but I encouraged her to let it out. When we got home, I rushed her inside, and she had not pooped in her diaper. I put her on the potty, and she immediately let it all out! I was SO excited that she had refused to poop in her pants, but I felt terrible that she had held it so long (isn't that dangerous??). She had appeared to do the same thing Friday (but I was unsure she really had held it), when I thought she was pooping during lunch, but didn't actually go until I went to change her and set her on the potty. I guess we're carrying the potty with us from now on, and I don't think I mind!

cute moment

Rachel is working on several new skills, not the least of which is walking. I am hoping all her new knowledge is the source of her sleep and potty problems, but only time will tell. Today, Rachel was playing with one of her burp cloths (she loves small pieces of cloth). She carried it over to the Boppy pillow and tried to wipe off a stain that's been on it forever! Later, she was playing with her cell phone from her "My First Purse" Aunt KiKi gave her, and she put it up to her ear for the first time, like she was really talking on the phone! This week, she has also begun making all the signs I've been using with her: "more" "eat" "no" and "potty" (she doesn't always use them correctly). At GiGi's house, her potty was set up right next to a wall with an outlet, and she kept looking at it and making the sign for "no." I can't believe how much she is learning and imitating now. We have to start really being careful of our own behavior so she doesn't imitate any of our bad habits!

non-toy toy of the day

GiGi let Rachel play with a really big [empty] oatmeal container. Rachel is really into putting things in containers and taking them back out again, so that was great fun for her.

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.

worth looking into

Rachel's sleeping has still been crazy today. She woke up at 5:30am. I tried to put her back down, and I think she went back to sleep for about 15 minutes or so, but then she was up for good. Her morning nap ended after only 40 minutes, and her afternoon nap was 1 hour 15 minutes (which would seem good, if any of her last three naps had been longer than an hour).

I did get to clean out some drawers and closets that desperately needed attention. I am discovering that, in spite of my best efforts, I am a packrat. I keep STUFF, and then I forget I have it, which means it's rendered useless, even if I end up needing it. So I threw STUFF away, probably to make room for more.

Rachel has added one more sign to the mix: the sign for "potty." She doesn't do it exactly right, and she doesn't do it when she actually needs to use the potty, but she has a consistent gesture (which is almost correct) she makes whenever she hears the word "potty." So cool!

Tonight, I let Jarrad put Rachel to bed while I went out to run some errands and meet my friend John for dinner. This is a first for us; I have always put Rachel to bed, but she is definitely old enough that she doesn't need me to nurse her at bedtime anymore (she never falls asleep when I nurse her anyway). I was nervous (I know--that's silly), but I kept reminding myself that he could call if there was some problem. Of course, there was no problem, and she went right to sleep, as usual. I'll have to admit that, although I was very relieved, I was a little sad that she no longer needs me in that way. I guess I'll have to look into having another baby sometime.

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	6	2
poop	0	0

cute moment

If you've been to our house, you know we have a sunken living room, which means there is a step down into it. It used to be a nice boundary when Rachel first became mobile, but it wasn't long before she figured out how to crawl up the step. Almost since the day she could crawl up it, she has been able to dive right back down without fear...until yesterday. Now, she is timid to go down the step! Here's a video of her trying to work up the nerve. As an added bonus, in the video, when she abandons the idea of going down, she performs her new monkey crawl. She monkey crawls, I think, because she really wants to stand up and walk, but doesn't want to stop moving long enough to do it.

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel got into a stack of her daddy's coupons today. She spread them everywhere, balled them up in her fist and carried them around, got them stuck to her hands and feet, and scooted across the floor with them. At one point, she was carrying 4 or 5 around. She kept dropping them, and she'd stop to pick them up, which caused her to drop the others, and so on. She was determined not to move on without them though!

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.

ketchup

I hate getting blogged down (I know--corny). Let me start from the beginning...

Saturday was a really fun day. Rachel slept just okay Friday night, so she went down early, at 8:45am, for her morning nap. She woke up at 9:30am (of course), just as our friends Koen(8) and Bob(10) arrived to spend the day with us. Their parents had a fun wedding to attend, so they got to hang out at our place until about 3:00pm. Bob loves video games, so he brought those along, and Jarrad even got to play some too. Koen enjoyed Rachel and Rachel's singing bunny that wiggles his ears and taps his foot. I attempted to make kid food for lunch: hotdogs made to look like butterflies. They turned out rather well (it's not rocket science), although, as predicted, they weren't as pretty as the picture in the magazine. Jarrad had fun teasing Bob about eating butterflies. Koen enjoyed the french fries. Rachel slept better in the afternoon, which was a big relief. Jarrad managed to get some work done on the house Saturday evening, and we all turned in early.

Sunday was crazy, as usual. Rachel woke up at 4:30am, but I didn't hestitate to put her back to sleep myself, praying she would sleep late (since she always misses her morning nap on Sunday). She obliged, and didn't wake up until a little after 7:30am; it was so nice to "sleep in" a bit. We had fun at church, and Rachel, though tired, was in a good mood on the way home. She took a normal afternoon nap before our mystery guest arrived, in full ninja turtle attire. Actually, he is a friend of mine from home who likes to dress up and be crazy. He was in town to watch the local Roller Derby bout. We gave the little boys (5-year-old Jackson and 4-year-old Mason) across the street a big thrill by ringing the doorbell and having the ninja turtle (Raphael maybe?) greet them.

Aunt Julie came over last night to babysit while Jarrad and I went to Bible Study. I know I say it all the time, but we are SO blessed to have such willing family members. Aunt Mamber was originally going to come Sunday night, but ended up with a stomach ache. We called Aunt Julie, who loaded up her knitting supplies and came right over! Landin joined her after we left, so it was nice to see them for a few minutes after we got home.

Rachel slept through last night for the first time in a long time. She got up at 6:00am, which seems really early, but I'll compromise for the uninterrupted sleep. She slept one hour 15 minutes this morning and 1 hour 40 minutes this afternoon. Between her naps, we went to the mall, where we got to see Aunt KiKi and Cousin Tyler (again!) and our friends Denise and Jon David (who is two days older than Tyler). Jon David WON the BabyGap casting call this winter, so there is a huge poster with his cute little face in the front window of the Gap store (look for it next time you're at any mall!) The employees at Gap let him play around in the window and look at all the pictures of himself. It was so cute!

Progress Report

To sum up the weekend pottying: Saturday was a good day, Sunday was not. She was wet both mornings, but dry today.

	potty	diaper
peepee	4	4
poop	2	0

cute moment

Rachel loves Little Rex. While she was eating Cheerios last night, I remembered Little Rex was in my purse. I stuck him in my pocket, head first, so only a little of his tail and feet were visible. It took her a couple minutes, but she finally noticed him, and she went nuts! She grinned and kicked her feet and waved her arms. She squealed and screamed at him, and stretched to get him out of my pocket. This evening, Rachel fell and bumped her lip, and she cried and reached to hold Little Rex!

Also cute, and a little strange, are Rachel's developing fears of...things. So far, she's shown definite timidness around dogs and singing bunnies. Today I sat her down in the grass to get a picture. She was afraid of the grass. She tried her best not to touch it at all, and she was shaking when Aunt KiKi rescued her. Sheesh.

non-toy toy of the day

Yesterday, I occupied Rachel by letting her play with a styrofoam plate while I tidied up the kitchen.

smelling sauce

I stripped Rachel's diapers tonight--one of the joys of cloth diapering. The funny (not really) thing is that it's my most expensive diapers that smell sooo bad. The cheapest ones, the ones I started out using exclusively, are made of several layers of cotton--and that's all. The pocket diapers have a waterproof layer on the outside and a fleece or microsuede layer on the inside, and you stuff something absorbent in between, usually a microfiber insert (microfiber can absorb ten times its weight in liquid). All the layers in the pocket diapers are made of synthetic fiber. The waterproof part does not smell, but the fleece and the microfiber inserts reek of ammonia. My cheapO, bulky, not-so-cute cotton diapers smell FINE. Go figure. Anyway, what causes the odor is usually detergent build-up. I knew it was there, I was just in denial. My friend Christina left a comment on yesterday's blog that made me admit I had a problem, which is the first step. Tonight, I soaked and scrubbed the dipes in Dawn dishwashing liquid (which supposedly cuts through the detergent buildup much like it does grease buildup on dishes), and I'll be running them through hot wash cycles until there are no bubbles in the final rinse. As much of a pain as this all sounds like it is, it's also kind of an adventure. Sure, I'd rather go to bed early tonight, but it is fun to problem-solve.

Rachel took terrible naps again today, and she was up in wee hours of the morning again. I decided to put her to bed early, in hopes of fixing what is probably over-exhaustion at this point. Unfortunately, she talked to herself for several minutes before falling asleep, so she really only ended up about 10 or 15 minutes early. Oh, well!

Right after Rachel's morning "nap" (should 45 minutes even count as a nap??), Rachel and I went to visit Aunt KiKi and Cousin Tyler. Tyler is 7 months older than Rachel, and the gap in their development is getting smaller and smaller. They are beginning to interact a lot, and they even both had cheese (and Cheerios, since Tyler stole some of Rachel's) at lunch! Aunt KiKi let Rachel bring home Tyler's walk-behind toy. She looks so proud to be independently walking!

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	5	2
poop	0	0	I hope this doesn't mean we might have a midnight diaper to change!

cute moment

Tyler has a new habit of backing up to people and sitting in their laps. It's fun for his mommy and daddy, although sometimes he does have ulterior motives (like today when he gave me his sweet face and sat in my lap because I was holding the camera and he wanted it). Today, as 17-pound Rachel sat innocently on the floor playing, 30-pound Tyler tried numerous times to back up to her and sit on her lap. As obvious as it seems to us, he didn't understand--that will never work!

non-toy toy of the day

I tried my best to get a good video of these two kiddos playing. The window of time they were able to play together was small, since we were there close to lunchtime, and Tyler only takes one early-afternoon nap right after lunch these days. This is the funniest video I took. I told Kim I think it's a glimpse into our future. As you can see in the pictures and video, it seemed whatever one was playing with at any given time, the other wanted. And, since they were both ready for a nap, it was a funny exchange to watch. Rachel took it all in (and took notes, I'm sure). In the video, Rachel and Tyler are fighting over a water bottle, and I'm behind the camera laughing silently. It was so much fun to see them play together!