first pajama party

My mom had a birthday last week, so my sister-in-law and I loaded up our kids (four, total--Tyler, almost 4 yrs / Rachel, 3.5 / Carly, 10 mos / Emma, 7 months) and took them all to visit MiMi. The big kids got to sleep in the same room for the first time ever (MiMi also slept in the room to make sure there was not too much silliness going on). It seemed to happen all of a sudden, but Tyler and Rachel have really begun to enjoy playing together. Here are just a few of the priceless moments the children experienced together... And, can I just add that I think my nephew is HILARIOUS?? And that he is just like my brother...

rachel goes to the museum

We are very blessed to live so close to most of our families. Rachel is surrounded by grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins, and she just loves them all so much. It is also most helpful to have them all around. Their visits are a great distraction for me and for Rachel, and they willingly babysit regularly.

Last Saturday, Aunt Julie took Rachel to the museum for a fun morning of bonding. They saw butterflies and pigs, chickens, and bears. Rachel was most impressed with the train ride, though, and the plush butterfly and personalized "Rachel" mug she brought home. She's been dragging her butterfly, cup, and Wolfie (another new addition to her friends) around all week and refusing to sleep without them.

Thank you, Aunt Julie, for the free morning for Mommy.

Saturday night, Aunt Mamber babysat so Jarrad and I could attend an appreciation dinner for a friend. We called it a "date" and had a great time, and Rachel appreciated her special time with Aunt Mamber. Rachel also got a fun visit from her cousin, Tyler, this week. Rachel tried her best to boss him around, but he just kept looking at me and saying, "What's she doing?" He was really funny to pick up toys and hold them really close instead of playing with them, and he'd come running to me saying Rachel was going to take the toy, even when she was on the other side of the room. Once, he was holding a toy tightly and running around in a circle around our kitchen island. Rachel was watching, and she asked me, "Where's he going?" I said, "I don't know, Rachel." So she started following, which prompted him to immediately say, "Ahh! She's chasing me!" I couldn't stop laughing all morning.

We just love our family.

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.

in love with my baby

I know all you mommies out there feel the same way...don't you just love your baby?? I had two babies in my house on Friday: Rachel and 18-month-old Lyssette. Lyssette is one of those sweet babies who wants to be held and loved on, and it takes a while for her to feel safe. When her mommy dropped her off, she was literally shaking, like she was so scared and nervous! Poor baby. Rachel was such a good girl and did not protest the fact that I held Lyssette most of the morning. She even let Lyssette play with her favorite Monkey. After a couple of hours, Lyssette began to make herself at home, and even took a 2-hour nap in Rachel's crib! Rachel napped in the Pack n Play in another room, and slept her usual 1.5 hours. When Lyssette left later in the afternoon, Rachel was exhausted, and she seemed so happy to have her mommy to herself. She was so snuggly and sweet, and I took full advantage of my sweetie.

Later in the afternoon, Rachel wanted to get back in the Pack n Play with her blankie and her pacis, so I put her in there. She entertained herself for almost 30 minutes, even lying down on her belly and just resting, kicking her feet up and down, for 10 minutes straight. I was amazed, and in love.

Rachel and I went to my hometown on Saturday, and we got to visit with MiMi, Poppy, Aunt KiKi, Uncle Trav, Cousin Tyler, and Tia Milli. We had so much fun. It always so fun to watch the two kids interact, especially now that the developmental gap is narrowing (Tyler is 7 months older than Rachel).

cute moment

When Lyssette was here on Friday, and she found Monkey and was carrying him around, talking to him and poking his face, Rachel got really jealous. I was watching closely, though, and the first time Rachel reached to steal Monkey, I intercepted her and explained that we let our friends play with any toy they want. After that, Rachel followed Lyssette and Monkey around, and, whenever she felt herself reaching for Monkey, she'd pull her hand away and say, "NO NO."

On Saturday, Rachel was sitting on the floor in Mimi and Poppy's house, and she seemed to think she had something on the bottom of her foot. She really wanted to see for herself, so she was pulling her foot up and trying as hard as she could to look at the bottom. She kept falling over until she finally gave up.

non-toy toy of the day

On Saturday, Rachel found MiMi's two bread baskets. They are both round and shallow. First, Rachel put them side-by-side and put one foot in each basket, like they were her shoes. Then, she sat in one, and, after that, tried several times to sit in them both together (half her bottom in one basket and half in the other). What in the world??

dinner theatre

Yesterday was fun, although Rachel's little gums definitely seemed to be bothering her. She's been having terrible trouble going to sleep at nap time, even taking 2 hours to finally fall asleep this afternoon (at 3:55pm, I went in her room and retrieved the pacis she had ousted for the third time, and I vowed I would get her up if she didn't fall right asleep when I left).

After her second nap yesterday, we met Aunt KiKi, Cousin Tyler, and Carla (sans Koen, since he was taking a nap himself) at the mall nearby. There is an outdoor area there that has an in-sidewalk fountain, perfect for children to play. It was Carla's idea, and I worked myself up for it. As soon as Rachel woke up, I stripped her down and smeared her with sunblock, found her cutest diaper and a summery outfit, packed her swimmy shoes and sun hat, and we were off. I thought Rachel would be mesmerized by the water jumping up out of the ground. Tyler seemed to think it was fun, and Rachel and Tyler were mildly interested in each other, but Rachel preferred walking around greeting everyone who was sitting at the tables outside. We hung around the mall all night. Aunt KiKi shared some of her baked ziti with Rachel, and then we let the kiddos play in the indoor play area. Rachel has been timid on the playground in the past, but last night, she went for it. She climbed all over the fake rocks, and she laughed hysterically as Carla and I helped her go down the slides for the first time. All the equipment is made out of squishy-but-firm foam, which really came in handy when Rachel decided to run down one of the slides. She fell back and hit her head on the slide and tumbled the rest of the way down (these aren't big slides, mind you). Carla, Aunt KiKi, and I gasped, but Rachel laughed and got right up. Whew! She learned all this monkey business from her cousin Tyler!!

Today was busy in a fun kind of way. Since Rachel took over an hour to go to sleep for her 1.5-hour nap this morning, and two hours to go to sleep for her 1-hour nap this afternoon, I was able be fairly productive. It is sad, listening to her on the monitor, struggling to stay awake while wanting to go to sleep. More info below...

Shortly after Rachel woke up this morning, two men came to clean our living room carpet. Spots have been popping up everywhere, and it's been driving me crazy. I've tried to do spot treatments, but it hasn't worked. As soon as the crew came in, Rachel went straight over one man (the older one...she seems to prefer older, grandfatherly men) and gave his leg a big bear hug. He laughed [uncomfortably]. Conveniently, it was Rachel's lunch time, so I pulled her high chair right over to the edge of the living room so she could watch the show as she ate. It could not have worked out any better. Incidentally, the guys were really impressed with Jarrad's concrete countertops. It was fun to have a chance to brag on his hard work!

Aunt Mamber came over this afternoon for her usual Thursday visit. Rachel was in a good mood, as she has been lately post-dinnertime.

I have slept really well the past two nights, which is a change from the last couple of weeks. It is amazing how good sleep really affects the how good I feel and how productive I am.

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	4	7
poop	0	2

From Sunday until last night, Rachel had done nothing on the potty except one poopy (and that was only because I caught her when she was about to go). Last night, right before bed, she peepeed on the potty, and I could not have been more thrilled. Today, she peepeed some on the potty, although she was still mostly reluctant.

The most amazing thing, though, is that this child, who went about 10 weeks without pooping in her pants even one time, who I watched hold her poopy all the way home from the park one afternoon, who used to only average once a day, usually right before bedtime, has now started pooping in her diaper in her crib. I don't know how she can possibly be holding it for that, but there is no other explanation. Yesterday morning, she had two dirty diapers in her crib before she went to sleep for her morning nap, and one in the afternoon. This morning, I changed a wet diaper and then a dirty diaper before she went to sleep, and this afternoon was exactly the same routine. It is amazing!

cute moment

While Aunt Mamber was here tonight, we were playing in Rachel's room, and two of her stuffed animals were sitting side-by-side. Rachel pointed at them, said something forcefully in Rachel-language, and then she turned, and she sat on them, laughing a sinister sort of laugh.

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel did get a little wet from the water fountain at the mall, and she thought that was funny. Even funnier, though, was the disgusting, runny mud puddle in the natural area by our table. She was stomping in it, just like PopPop taught her to do, and she was having such a great time that I didn't stop her...but I did give her a good bath before bed last night.

triple threat

Yesterday was a pretty good day, with a visit from Aunt Julie and her dog, Jack, and Jarrad was in and out all day, too. It was nice to have some company and some help, and it made the day fly by. Rachel took two good naps, and Jarrad went to the grocery store 3 times, buying over $300 in groceries for less than $40. Maybe I haven't mentioned Jarrad's newest hobby: couponing. One of the grocery stores in our area is tripling manufacturer's coupons all weekend, so our house is a mess of clipping and sorting. It's all worth it, in the end, and the house will hopefully return to normal by Monday.

Last night, I cut all the pieces to make Rachel's birthday dress. I recieved a really nice sewing machine from my parents when I graduated from college. I'm ashamed that I haven't used it much, but I'm hoping that will change. It is a really fun hobby, and one that should come in handy through the years, when my kids want really weird costumes or repairs made to their favorite clothes. We're doing a ladybug theme for her party, so I bought some ladybug fabric online. I borrowed the pattern from my friend, Lisa, who has already made two dresses for her little girl, Leah!

Today started out great, with Rachel sleeping until 7:30am (after her usual early-morning snack), and a visit from Cousin Tyler and Uncle Travis first thing. I guess our visitors had Rachel feeling pretty hyper, because she never went to sleep when I put her down for her morning nap. Everyone assured me she'd make up for it with a long afternoon nap, but it lasted a mere one hour. I was really frustrated, and she was really cranky. Tonight, Aunt Mamber is coming over to babysit while Jarrad and I go to "The Music of Pink Floyd - A Rock Symphony" with some friends. It will sure be nice to get a break for an evening.

Progress Report (Friday)

	potty	diaper
peepee	4	4
poop	1	0

I discovered a new trick: let Rachel play with a warm washcloth while she sits on the potty. Duh! She loves playing with little pieces of fabric or paper, especially wet washcloths. Why didn't I think of that sooner??

Progress Report (Saturday)

	potty	diaper
peepee	3	5
poop	1	0

cute moment

Yesterday, Rachel walked around and around for 45 minutes with her My First Purse on her arm. A couple of times, she got so frustrated trying to get it on that she just sat and cried a mad cry. I'd like to know what she's thinking sometimes.

non-toy toy of the day

Uncle Travis let Rachel play with Cousin Tyler's hat and bib she insisted on pulling from his bag. Uncle Trav even entertained her by putting the hat on his head. Rachel is blessed to be loved so much by Uncle Trav!

a tribute

A quick, lots-of-pics-to-post blog today. Tia Milli is going home to Honduras on Saturday, so she came for a visit and to say goodbye to the kiddos. She even hung out with Rachel while I went out for a couple hours this afternoon. She is going to miss Tyler and Rachel so much, and they will miss her too. We'll look forward to seeing her again in August, and I know she will be keeping her eye on the blog!

Milli, Rachel, Aunt KiKi, and Cousin Tyler. So cute!

Aunt Milli took this pic while I was gone...she let Rachel have free reign over a bowl of Cheerios! Nice face, huh?

Rachel took two great naps again today: 1.5 hours this morning and 2.5 hours this afternoon. Good baby!

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	7	2
poop	1	1

Rachel woke up for the day at 6:30am and played in her crib until 7:00am. When I went to get her up, she had a poopy diaper! I look forward to the day when she can yell, "Mommy, I gotta gooooooo." Or something like that, anyway.

cute moment

You can hear Milli and me laughing. This is Rachel, trying her best to put her own diaper on. So silly!

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!

light as a feather, stiff as a board

Hello faithful blog readers! You probably noticed my blog vacation. Rachel, Jarrad and I had a great time visiting my family Friday and Saturday. Rachel got to hang out with her cousin, Tyler, and they seem to be enjoying each other more and more. But, of course, the grandparents enjoyed the silliness most of all. Poppy got out some of his fun hats, masks, and wigs to entertain the kiddos. On Friday, Rachel decided that her preferred entertainment was walking, holding onto someone's fingers for balance. So, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, that's all the child wanted to do. When we tried to take a break, she'd holler for more. When we tried to sit her down, she gave us the stiff-leg. When she got her way, she was talking, giggling, and grinning the whole time. Aunt KiKi pointed out that Rachel walks belly-first. That's because we can't keep up with her! It's a pretty funny sight. And the funniest thing is that she's not actually going anywhere. She's just walking.

So, this morning, when I got her out of the crib and tried to sit her down, she gave me the stiff-leg, as usual. But, she felt really stable, so I let go. She stood there, giggling, for a long time before she gently sat down. We practiced all day, and she took a step here and there. She finally took two steps in a row before falling forward. When Jarrad got home tonight, she took about five steps in a row! She thinks it's a fun new game. I think it's saving my back. I know what you moms-with-more-than-one-kid are thinking...that I shouldn't encourage her to walk just yet. I know my life is about to get a lot more difficult once she walks, but I can't get over the excitement of watching her develop this new skill!

Rachel had a really great first Easter. Aunt KiKi gave her a princess Easter bucket with cute chicky glasses and some other toys, and two beautiful spring dresses. She also bought her too-cute Easter Sunday outfit (picture coming). Cousin Anthony came over on Sunday and brought two singing and dancing Easter bunnies from MeMaw and GGPaw. Rachel wasn't sure what to think of these. She got adventurous and touched the one that wiggles his ear while he sings, but today she decided he scared her. When I was trying to get her to walk, she kept her eyes locked on that bunny and wouldn't let go of me. Yesterday afternoon, GiGi came over with a fuzzy Easter card and a soft basket with goodies, and, last night, Aunt Mamber came over with her collection of little PoundPuppies for Rachel (remember those??).

On Friday, Rachel and I went with Poppy to see some of his relatives. They all seemed to enjoy Rachel. Saturday, we went to my Aunt Doris's house for my mom's family get-together. We had a great time seeing everyone and visiting. Our friend Koen and his family even got to come, and Bob got to drive Uncle Roy's tractor! We are so blessed to live near so much family!

Rachel was clearly glad to be home today. She took two good naps and did great on the potty. I hope she will sleep well tonight!

Progress Report

I may be ready to give up the potty charts in favor of only reporting how many diapers she used each day. Over the weekend, she used two diapers Friday and Saturday, one diaper Sunday, and no diapers today. She did have one small floor accident right before bed tonight (she stopped as soon as Jarrad yelped at her and swiped her onto the potty), which ruined an otherwise perfect day! She has been very potty-friendly lately, even sitting and playing on the potty for 15 minutes today when she evidently didn't need to go. I kept offering to help her up, but I guess she was having fun. It's refreshing after the few difficult days we had last week. I hope she continues to love it!

cute moment

Rachel's cousin, Tyler, reportedly does not kiss people very often; he prefers to kiss his stuffed animals. However, this weekend, he kissed Rachel several times! I guess they're going to be good pals!

non-toy toy of the day

Her Easter basket, of course!

life lesson

I had a rather emotional weekend, partly due to exhaustion from traveling and not sleeping well. As a result, I have two life lessons. First of all, I have always been an "over-achiever." I am a student at heart, and I am anxious to be the best [insert title here] possible. At the moment, I am obviously consumed with being a mommy. I thrive on the daily challenges and I look forward to the adventures of each new stage Rachel goes through. Because of this, I spend a lot of time with Rachel. Maybe you've thought this in reading my blog, that perhaps I spend an excessive amount of time with Rachel. Does she need me right on top of her all the time? When I was home, I said something to my mom about playing in Rachel's room. She looked at me funny and told me that concerned her a bit. Huh? Why? Am I doing it wrong?? Oh no, am I? She explained that it's a little odd for a 26-year-old to spend most of her day playing in a 9-month-old's bedroom, and that most people have other things they need to be doing. That's true. That's true. I am doing it wrong. I have been telling myself, "I will have only one child only once. I should enjoy her, I should watch her, I should study her." That is what I want to do. But is it healthy? My friend, Carla, and I were talking about self-indulgent parenting and trusting our instincts. Maybe I am being self-indulgent. As of last week, Rachel has become a lot more clingy. She acts afraid of some things (like the dog and the singing bunny), and she doesn't want to let other people hold her. I know it's developmental that she go through this, but how much of it am I fostering by being in her face all day? My mom felt bad that her observation upset me, but I'm glad she mentioned it. At least I can momentarily step outside of myself and try to consider my options and what's really best for Rachel. I imagine I will look back and grieve many parenting decisions I make by the time Rachel is grown. I am glad to have anyone point out anywhere I might be at fault. As I told my mother-in-law once, "Anytime you want to give us advice about Rachel, you go ahead, and we'll either listen or we won't." I just want to be the best mom possible.

Second, last night, Jarrad cautioned me that I need to be careful about how much I talk about Rachel's pottying. Huh? I suppressed potty talk for a long time, because I was unsure if it would work, and I didn't want to get ahead of myself with outrageous claims. But, now that it really seems to be working, I guess I am getting more and more excited about it, and I will talk to anyone who cares to listen, and, apparently, even those who don't. When Jarrad pointed that out to me, I felt horrible. I am afraid I've come across braggy, and I don't mean to. As I told my brother (because if I've been obnoxious to anyone, it would definitely be my brother), potty training Rachel has been my little experiment--something I've found fun and interesting. I don't fancy myself a better mother, or Rachel a smarter baby because of it, and I hope that's not how I've made anyone feel. I try to be honest about my parenting style and not hide when I've discovered a shortcoming. I don't lie and say my cloth diapers don't smell bad and are sometimes tricky to launder. I won't pretend I feel validated every time I choose to let Rachel "cry it out" (or not). And I won't say infant potty training is superior to waiting. For me, it has been a worthy venture, but I know...I'm weird.

weekend bliss

It's so fun to have PopPop and Uma in town! GreatGrandmaw G. taught PopPop how to make all kinds of goodies from apples, and he brought Rachel some special homemade applesauce. She loves it! He also made yummy Apple Butter and Apple Jelly. He made pickles, too! He's so handy.

Yesterday, PopPop, along with Pop, Landin, Kevin, and Uncle Travis, helped Jarrad with a huge project. Our neighbor, Jimmy, owns a tree service, and he graciously brought a few of his employees over to clear our backyard! We are now nearly treeless behind our house. There's still a lot of work to be done (I'm told) before we can have a green grassy yard, but we're one step closer, and I couldn't be more excited. I can't wait for Rachel to have a safe place to play outside. Check out the before and after!

While the guys were doing the loud work, Rachel and I spent the day at Aunt KiKi and Uncle Travis's house. Rachel fell asleep in the car on the way there, and thought that 15 minutes was a sufficient nap for the morning. So she and I played while Tyler slept, and Aunt KiKi attended a bridal shower.

The three of us had lunch and played a while, and then played a little while longer when Aunt KiKi came home. She took Tyler to see his Grandpa, and Rachel took a good afternoon nap in Tyler's crib. She enjoyed seeing Uncle Travis when she woke up, since he is so very silly and will do about anything to get Rachel to grin and giggle

When we got home, Aunt Julie came over with her little dog, Jack. We all spoke in cheery voices, as Rachel watched Jack closely from her stroller. She didn't cry at all, and she even let Jack lick her toes! We had dinner with Aunt Julie and Mr. Landin, and Rachel was very ready for bed.

That leads us to today. She slept until a respectable 6:15am. She was dry for the third morning in a row (that's seven of the last 9 mornings!). She refused to take her usual abbreviated Sunday morning in-the-car-with-Daddy nap, so she was cranky by the time church was over. She took a short nap on the way home, and then took her regular afternoon nap after lunch. PopPop and Uma came by on their way out of town. PopPop fed Rachel some more homemade applesauce! Early to bed for Rachel tonight.

Progress Report (Sunday)

	potty	diaper
peepee	6	5
poop	1	0

	AM nap	PM nap
duration	N/A	1:15
diaper	N/A	dry

I got really frustrated with pottying on Friday (Rachel seemed anxious too), so I decided we would take a potty break Saturday. Since we weren't home most of the day anyway, it was the perfect opportunity to take a little vacation. She did use the potty two or three times when we were home, but I didn't even take it with us to Tyler's house. I felt much more relaxed today, and I keep telling myself not to rush things or overreact to what I think are her cues.

cute moment

When Tyler woke up, I put Rachel in his crib. Tyler was still sleepy, so Rachel took the opportunity to bully him by stealing his paci right out of his mouth. Since he has extras in his crib, he didn't seem to mind. She pulled his paci out, he replaced it with another, she took that one, he replaced it, and so on. They played several rounds of this. Tyler was very polite to humor Rachel.

non-toy toy of the day

PopPop's Gatorade bottle was a fun distraction while we sat outside and chatted Saturday afternoon.

what a good baby

My dad emailed pictures from his visit last weekend. Isn't my nephew, Tyler, cute?? We don't see enough of that kiddo. He's 7 months older than Rachel, and he's a big boy. We're glad Rachel will have him by her side as they grow up!

Rachel had an awesome night last night! Although she stirred, and even woke up, a couple of times, she went right back to sleep without hollering for me or crying. She finally woke up for good just before 7:00am, and I felt like a new person. My list of stuff I need around the house has been growing, so Rachel and I ventured out to Target after her 1-hour morning nap! Rachel sat so nicely in the shopping cart. I actually remembered to bring the CleanShopper cart cover with me, so she was riding in luxury. She fell asleep for about 10 minutes on the way home, so I was worried she wouldn't want to take her afternoon nap. But she went down without a fuss and slept for about 45 minutes.

Rachel was extremely sleepy this evening, and by 5:00pm, she could hardly keep her eyes open. She felt warm, so we checked her temperature: 100.5 Poor baby! She's never had a fever before. She also had a runny nose and her eyes have been really watery all day. Could she be getting a tooth finally? I sure hope that's all it is and that she'll be fine tomorrow.

After bedtime, Jarrad stayed home with Rachel so I could go out to dinner with my cousin Andrea and some other friends. Tomorrow is Andrea's birthday! Rachel woke up after I got home, so we checked her temperature again. It was back to normal. I feel guilty for leaving her tonight.

Rachel has learned how to throw things (though they usually don't go far). Check out this video, where I tried to set her up with lots of throwable things. She was only mildly interested.

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	6	5
poop	1	1

Rachel tried to poop in her diaper at lunchtime. So I said, "Rachel, potty?" picked her up and dashed upstairs. I removed her clean diaper and sat her on the potty, where she, sure enough, pooped. YAY!!

cute moment

This afternoon, Rachel toppled over and bumped her head. She cried, and I held her and tried to make it better. She calmed down, and for the next 5 or 6 minutes, she just wanted to snuggle with me. She sat in my lap and kept grabbing my hand to hold it over her face (like she wanted to go to sleep). It was the best. Then, a few minutes later, I sat in the rocking chair in her room. She wanted to come up there with me, so I picked her up. While I held her there, she turned to give me one kiss after another. I bet I got 10 kisses! Such a sweet baby.

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel was very interested in dropping her hat and making me fetch it while we were in Target. She played nicely with her hat for awhile before starting the game. Her hat has wonderful little tassles that she loves to examine and feel.