Water Baby!

Last Monday we took our Little One for her first swim.
After her initial hesitation:

She decided it was pretty fun after all:

Especially once she realized there stuff she could...sample:

She LOVED going around in circles with Daddy!

She can't WAIT to go again!!

Teething

That inevitable stage of development that every parents dreads -- fussy baby, sleepless nights, constant gnawing and drooling.

I know most parents out there will agree when I say, I cannot WAIT until this is done and over with!!  Emma begins “the signs” (a.k.a. the drooling, gnawing on EVERYTHING, restlessness at night) weeks before anything happens.  I think it was 2 or 3 months of this before the first two teeth finally popped through.  Then she was great!  Slept well at night and the drooling all but stopped. 

Then about 2 months ago, it all began again… Nighttime has been the worst!  I can deal with drooling, gnawing, clinging.  But really?!  Waking up every 2 hours on the best nights; 30-45 minutes on the worst… 

And for weeks no sign of teeth. 

Then finally a couple little white caps can be seen on the top!  Woohoo!!  I can see the finish line!  Aaaand!!  Last night was awesome!  We put her down around 11 o’clock (date night involving The Avengers pushed her bed time a little later than normal.  But worth it!) and she didn’t wake up to eat until 2:30!  Now this is the best part… not another peep, stir, or whimper until just before 8 this morning.  5 hours of sweet, uninterrupted sleep!  *insert sigh of happiness*

She hasn’t let me feel in her mouth this morning (she maintains a “no-touchie unless I put your finger in there myself” policy when it comes to her mouth; probably related to the jillions of times I’ve dug stuff out…), but I’m guessing those two little toofers are on the merest verge of breaking through the gums. 

Hallelujah!!

What a Daddy's Girl

Emma is most definitely a Daddy's girl... Tonight we went through our normal after-dinner routine: play time until showing tired signs, bath, jammies on, and a snack to send her off to dream land.

And everything went down like a charm....until about 30 minutes after she fell asleep.

She started getting a little restless (most unusual) -- I guessed it was because she was hot(a sweaty head is usually a good indication of that...). So I switched her to the other side so that the side of her resting against my arm could cool off.

Then Daddy came in the room and started talking to me about something (very,very quietly; not unusual).

Emma heard her Daddy's voice and, and despite the overwhelming desire for sleep, was unable to be content merely listening to Daddy but simply had to gaze on him. He moved to the other side of the room, trying to get out of her line of sight, but she would not accept this arrangement! She merely craned her head the other direction, ignoring Mommy's attempts to soothe her to sleep. Nothing would satisfy her but falling asleep in her Daddy's arms.

Most definitely a Daddy's girl! And Mommy is quite content with this turn of events.

*satisfied sigh*

Bedtime and more...

So our child is definitely a night owl like both her parents. *cough* 1 am bedtime *cough, cough*  Actually, that was only for the first 3 months.  Her bedtime has now shifted to about 10:00 - 10:30 pm, thanks to Daylight Savings Time and determined persistence on our part.  Who'da thought that I'd actually be glad for DST...?  I guess miracles do happen.  I am NOT looking forward to next Sunday... We've started working to shift her bedtime to 8:30 - 9:00 in anticipation.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

But there was something even worse happening than a 1 am bedtime.  There for a little while I thought she was going to be *shudder* a morning person…  Waking up every morning before 7:00 am...  >_<

I'm not sure what would be worse -- having a child that's a morning person or a Longhorn... So we are VERY glad that she decided to settle on a slightly later wake up time -- between 7:30 and 8:00 am.  I can live with that.

But she does this thing that really confuses me: as soon as she wakes up, she’s... happy.  Yeah, that’s what I said, happy.  As in cheerful, smiling, gurgling, talking, babbling.  Is this normal behavior for a human being?  What's up with this??  Where's the normal, comfortable “don’t talk to me for 30 minutes” grouchiness? 

*sigh*

This is what I get to see every morning.  See what I mean?  Happy!!  I don't understand this child...

Good morning, Mommy!! 

The last 6 months have been such a blur of growth, development, and adjusting.  She’s gone from this:

to this:

This sad unpleasantness:

to the more pleasant, yet slightly gross and painful (for me, thanks to her new little toofers...):

Yes, that is correct.  She's cutting teeth.

:-D
:-/
*happy dance*
O.O *groan...*

They have finally pushed through enough to get a picture, though we had to be super sneaky to get it:

And the crowning achievement!!  She first successfully accomplished this about 2 weeks ago, but has started doing it on a regular basis for the past few days.  I am told this is an advanced skill for a 7 month old -- I'm not sure if I should be thrilled or scared for her life...

Note: please ignore the fact that I used the Xbox remote as a lure...

Umm... HELLO?!?

So… it’s a good thing Facebook, phones, iPads, and cars are effective means of communicating news to the world.  Otherwise, you would probably be wondering “WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED?????  I mean, the last piece of news on here is ‘And now we wait…’  So are we still waiting??  Are you the one woman in history who will be pregnant forever?  I mean, sure, all women think that in the last couple weeks, but it’s never happened before!  Come on, woman, tell us what happened!!!”

Yeah, pretty sure no one has been thinking that.  And if you are, rest assured… no, I have not been pregnant all this time.  Our precious little Sea Monkey was born as an adorable little baby girl named Emma.  And this beautiful, smiling piece of God’s goodness has sapped every extra little minute, brain cell, and bit of energy that I have…  Pretty much nothing is left for creative news posts…  She’s just the best!

But thanks to a very good friend of mine, I have been re-inspired.  So be prepared for updates from the Sea Monkey Corner!  Until then, enjoy the following pictures from the last 6 months:

Her swing pretty much swallowed her -- less than a week old

Tryin' her darndest to sit up like a big girl
while sporting her new dress.
One month

The bear was bigger than her! 

The beginnings of a smile -- 1 1/2 months

Her own special way of communicating: Pbbbt! -- 2 months

"I wanna see what's going on!!"

"Hey, look at my gorgeous hair.  I worked all night on that."
3 1/2 months

Christmas with Uncle Chris -- 4 months

Her first hunting trip; loved being outdoors, despite the frigid temperatures.
4 1/2 months

"Hmmm...Daddy's nose seems like a good
thing to gnaw on... Right, Daddy?"
5 months

Everything goes in the mouth...

...and I mean everything.
I would like to point out she flipped that over herself.
5 1/2 months

"Whatchyu lookin' at?"

And she scoots around the house like
she's got her own set of wheels. Ai yai yai...

And now we wait...

For those of you waiting on pins & needles and with baited… bated… beighted...(?) breath, here’s a brief update: 

I have seen the midwife a few times in the last several weeks, and it’s pretty much a no-news, waiting game at this point.  I’ve been examined a couple times and currently I am about 1 cm dilated, about 60% effaced, and the top of her head is approximately at a -1 station.  For those of you who know what all that means… good for you!  If you don’t, you may not want to… if you just can’t stand it, go look it up.  I’m saving the graphic post for later… 

Basically it means my body is working properly – it's preparing for labor, doing everything it can to keep labor as short and normal as is possible with such things.

Does it tell us when things will get started?  Nope.  Not a bit. 

Does it tell us how long or short labor will be?  Nope.  Not a bit. 

Does it tell us if it will be a normal, straightforward labor?  Nope.  Not a bit. 

You might be getting the point by now.  This data really gives us no information about anything other than my body knows the time is getting closer and it's beginning preparations. 

Which is good.

And now we wait… some more.

And the countdown has begun...

As you can see, room is running out.  Sea Monkey likes to remind me of this on a very regular basis.  I can just hear her saying, “Hey, Mommy!”  *tap, tap*  “I need more room in here.  Babies need their stretching room, and I don’t have much anymore.  See?”  *streeeeetch* 

“Ouch, Baby!  I KNOW you don’t have much room in there.  Don’t you think I can feel you pushing and stretching?  You feel that thing against your head?  Yeah, that’s my bladder.  VERY uncomfortable for Mommy.  And that hard thing your foot is pushing against?  That’s my rib – it doesn’t like being moved out of place and it informs me of that preference every time you push against it.  You do realize that out here you’ll have more room than you know what to do with, right?”  

Then I very hastily add, “But things get very cold and uncomfortable out here when babies come too early *cough* hospital bills *cough*.  So why don’t you take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be perfectly safe and warm and just hang out for a bit.  Think of it as your first lesson in patience.  Then you can come see what it’s like out here in a couple weeks.  K?” 

Then, inevitably, that little speech is followed by, “Eep!  A couple weeks??  Is that all the time that’s left before we are “in the zone”?!  Seriously??  Oy...”  Even though I know not to expect her to come early, just the thought that I could quite possibly have my very own healthy, full-term baby in my arms in less than two weeks always sends this electric shock through my system – a combination of excitement and pure terror...

I have to keep reminding myself that this is one of the few times that being a pessimist is a good thing.  Much better to expect her to come late and be pleasantly surprised by an early arrival than hope she comes early only to be two weeks late.

36 weeks and 5 days...