Monday 30 April 2012

Standing, shuffling, reaching, CRAWLING???

So she can pull herself up to stand, yesterday she took a few assisted yet deliberate steps. 4 of them. Yes, I'm scared. And apparently I spoke too soon in last weeks post. 

After a couple months of a comfortable (for me, not her) manoeuvres to move within a 4 foot radius, this morning Lady Penelope decided she's going to start crawling. No more little reach and sits. No more bum shuffles. 

 
She went from not crawling at all, to bombing around the living room ripping every book from its shelf, every cord from it's socket and ducking under every blockade we had set up. (video forthcoming)

Looks like it's time for baby gates and a thorough child proofing!

Tuesday 24 April 2012

9 months... round 2!

9  months today and Penelope still has yet to cut a tooth. My nipples are thankful. She's healthy, funny, and... she's moving. Development is a pretty intriguing thing to watch. Our babes develop rapidly while we're pregnant, I don't know why I thought 9 months would be any different outside the womb. Damn that girl is quick.

The once adorable, reaching out to squeeze my finger has transformed into grabbing anything she can manage to grasp in her tiny little hand and putting it in her mouth. The small chores I was actually able to accomplish around the house during her discovery of mobility haven fallen victim to Penelope's new favorite game: take everything out of the laundry basket/toy box/diaper bag. Some days it's cute. Some days when the back isn't up for bending over to repeat the chore for the 7th time, it's such a pain in my ass that I just leave everything strewn over the kitchen/hallway/living room. My house looks like I've turned into a hoarder, only the cupboards and closets are bare. 

She has managed to pull herself to standing all on her own, and even though she's not "crawling" per say, she is getting around pretty quickly on her bum and with her repeated reach and sits. I'm desperately trying to figure out how to keep cables from being chewed on and how to sweep every day so she wont repeat the stray toe nail incident. *gag

She is so alert and attentive now, I catch myself swearing and instantly get this gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach that tells me her first word will be "boob" and her first sentence will be "you're so fucking cute!" I'm trying to remember to tell her she's funny and smart and clever too. Who knows what is getting in at this stage. I am tempted to teach her early on to answer "no I'm not sleeping through the night... dick", to the assholes who ask. And speaking of words, she's saying mama, and mum-mum -- although I'm not sure that she hasn't associated food with the word rather than me. We get dadas, papas, and ngnews ngnews a lot too (I think she's try to say Enya).

It's been the most magical 9 months, and I'm riding the craziest roller coaster I've ever been on. Some days it's scary (those are the ones with sleep dep) some days it's blissful. Some days are full of laughter and some with tears. But every one of those days is full of love. 

"Love is just a word, until someone comes along and gives it meaning." ~ Paulo Coelho

Happy 9 months my love.

Monday 16 April 2012

Baby Brainz Moment #87

Baby Brainz Moment #87: Removing the high chair tray before re-wetting the clean up cloth.

Even though they are strapped in, locked in, and have a tray preventing them from falling out and tumbling over, "they" tell you that you are not to leave a baby unattended while in their high chair. 

They don't say anything about not turning your back for 3 seconds. 

I cleaned off the hands, removed the tray, realized there wasn't enough clean cloth to get the sweet potato pancakes she had created off her face, and turned around to re-wet the cloth. I didn't get that far.

CLUNK was all I heard.

I don't know how Penelope managed to undo the clasp and I don't know how the belt came out of it's brackets, but there was my baby girl on the kitchen floor between two chairs crying. She cried loudly for just a moment. Once I picked her up it became this soft, "mama I'm scared" and maybe "mama that hurt" cry. She folded against me, wrapping her arms around my neck like she was a wool scarf in winter, nuzzling her face into my collar and cried softly. It broke my heart.

There it is, I've finally experienced that mama guilt everyone was talking about.

With her cheek pressed against my chest, her tears drying on my skin, she finally calmed down. And then later... slept. My guilt was replaced with relief that she was okay and a small celebration dance inside me that she hit her nap time right on schedule. I was grateful just to have time to process what happened.... and to start shopping around for high chairs with five point harnesses.

Tuesday 10 April 2012

The Chair

You're trying to crawl, stand and walk at the same time - which has led me to drinking coffee standing up.

It's really not as satisfying as sitting down in a comfy chair with a steaming mug of java. Instead of reading a book or paper I am reduced to watching the neighbourhood television. I never thought I would long for drama to unfold outside our big living room window, but it's all I've got as you struggle to climb up one leg, thump on your bum, and try again with the other, only to fall over. Again.

I stare longingly at the chair. It's been 25 minutes my love. Don't you want to sit quietly with your books and blocks? It is my birthday after all. Don't you want to give Mama a 20 minute break?

No? We're going to try to crawl again instead? 

As I watch you back yourself into a corner under that delicious looking comfy chair, I realize nap time may be the only time I get to sit in that chair again. I know this is only the beginning  and I have many years of abuse and being treated like a jungle gym ahead of me. But you must be getting tired by now?
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