Intrepid Murmurings

Emma has a lot of neat tricks up her sleeve these days.  Or, I suppose you could call them skills.  Here are some of them:

• She knows the sounds for dogs, cats, cows, bears, horses and sheep.  Baa!  Moo!  Raaaaaawr.
  
• She can spoon her own food now!  Successfully! Yogurt, applesauce, thick soups, cereal.  Messy, but fun...
  
• She can brush her teeth!  She still loathes the fact that Mama or Daddy need to help at the end, though, to be sure that all the teeth actually get contact with the brush. 
  
• She can pretty much manage stairs by herself.   I have been leaving the gate open a fair bit, since she won't go up them much on her own, unless I am going up with her.  (ha, well, this list was started last week, and today she fell down three stairs, after attempting to follow me up, landing flat on her back. And I have caught her twice going up stealthily without me.  Gate back up, bad mama!)
  
• She can go down the slide by herself at the park! And on her new backyard toy .  As long as she has much encouragement to go "feet first" and on her belly (she sometimes remembers the belly part and starts to go down head first!). 
  
• She has started drinking from a real cup, and manages it really well!  She likes it so much she will drink much more than what she does from a sippy cup (which is good -- trying to keep her hydrated on more than just breastmilk these days).  We are not yet ready for liquids other than water, though, as it does sometimes end up all over her and the floor.
  
• She is really loving her books these days, and can name quite a few of them when she sees them.  Her current favorites are "Duh Duh", "Duh duh ", and "Duh Duh", "Da Doh", Clap Hands (where she just does that), and her very very favorite, "BAAAAYYYYBEEEEEE".   When she sees one of these books and it is clear that we are actually going to read it to her, she gets visibly excited and jumps up and down and squeals.  Makes it very hard to say no, even if its past her bedtime.  
  
• She is repeating everything these days, and that includes letters on a few of her alphabet books and her foam bath letters.  She can say about three quarters of them, after I do, when she hands them to me or points to them.  Trying not to get too excited about this as a former beginning reading teacher.  Ha.
• There are so many others.  Dancing, running, pretend play, joking.  Lots of new faces, including lots of "mad" looks.    Talking in her sleep (Guess what it is, just guess.  Yep, you are right.  "BABY!").   Definitely a fun stage, even with the more challenging toddler stuff...
  

Today at Emma's 15 month check up, the doctor and I were discussing her egg allergy while she nursed. She heard the word egg, and came off the boob to inquire "chicken?" (chi-choo) and then went back to nursing. Ha!

She learned about the chicken/egg connection (and learned to say both words) two weeks ago when we were "chicken sitting" for a friend.  I guess those daily visits to the "chi-choos" really stuck with her!

For stats, her weight was up to almost 24 pounds, which puts her at 60th percentile.  Chubbin up!  She was at 79th percentile for height and head circumference.  Everything else was on target, though her language, which we have sort of realized, is a bit advanced.  I bet she is up to about 100 words/signs now, though many come in and out of rotation frequently.

The doctor was very supportive of our continued breastfeeding, more so than he has been in the past, for some reason.  And he mentioned how great it was given her current dairy intolerance, which was nice to hear.  He was helpful with our allergy concerns (currently dairy, egg, and raspberry,possibly some others, though all are somewhat mild), and referred us to a specialist for that.

We happened to bring her doll along (not a surprise, really, since she goes everywhere) and the doctor did every procedure with the doll before doing it on Emma, and she was thrilled by that and totally fine with everything, even the ear check, which she usually hates.  Woo hoo, we will definitely bring Baby to the next appt, as well! 

And, to please my geeky side, the office has moved to a new computer recordkeeping system that prints out a personalized report of the appointment for you at the end, with all the data for measurements, past vaccines, developmental milestones, etc, which was really cool.

The only downer was that she fell asleep nursing at the end of the appointment when the doctor and I were talking, and it was a rude awakening to receive three needle jabs to the thigh by the nurse -- poor kid! She recovered miraculously well, though, given the circumstances. It was really helpful to be able to talk to her about what happened this time, though, with her knowing the signs for "sleep", and "hurt", and knowing where her leg, is, etc.  I think talking through it really helped her get over it faster!

On Tuesday our contractor called, and said he could start tearing out our kitchen the next day.  What?  So not ready!  How do you pack up a kitchen with a toddler running around?  It is now starting next Monday, and before then we need to pick out tile and countertops, move out of the kitchen (and put it all where???) and figure out how we are going to manage without a working sink or stove for two weeks.  Eeeps!  We also have to pick out new appliances, fixtures and other things.  Fun, but stressful!   We cannot WAIT to have our new kitchen, however.  Rolling dishwasher, be off with you!  Nasty, cracking, fake white "wood" flooring, be gone!  Overflowing cabinets, appliances, bottles, bowls and pans without homes, adios!  Organization, here we come! 

New photos are up!  Finally!  

Having a bit of trouble with the uploading software for our gallery, so
these are a sneak preview of whats to come once thats fixed...

My plan was simple.

Another year of school would save me.
Of course it would.
The hunt for a job could be held at bay
– tenuously – for another year, at least.

No interview suits to buy and iron,
no resume sparkling on thick, smooth paper.
After that it would all be easy
everything falling into place.

And so it went.
Books, papers, discussion and debate
inspiration – steps to help us save the world
were dangling precariously, tickling our fingertips.

But then, on a bright and warm summer day
it all came crashing down. With hat and paper in hand
“do good things,” they said, and pushed me out the door.
The sky opened wide, and sparkled clear.
Birds were singing, there was a band, I think...

But I, like a dog sensing eminent danger
stiffened and looked back,
claw marks digging deep
into a shiny, polished floor.

Holy beeswax!  I'm having an art sale!  Or, more like it, participating in one put on by folks far more hip, organized and motivated than myself.  But it is definitely something, given I have done Extremely Little in terms of art in the past 15 months. 

In true form I have procrastinated quite a bit, but I think I will have at least 5 new pieces done by then, and will bring a lot of my older stuff that is decent, as well.   Sometime in the next 48 or so hours I will need to print up business postcard things, make a makeshift art stand out of an old ladder (ha), print up care instructions and titles for all the pieces I am going to show, as well as finishing the edges and making sure said pieces have some sort of hanging hardware on them.  And photograph the newer ones, in case they actually sell.  Eh, not my favorite part of the biz.  But it will be fun once I'm there!  If you are in Seattle, please stop by!  

Can I just say that I am tired (TIRED!) of the 30 minute nap routine?  One 30 minute nap per day? That is what we are getting these days (again!) and it is driving me insane.  Seriously.  Insane!   30 minutes is enough to eat my lunch, and that is it.  Maybe (though unlikely) check my email.  Her mood (and mine) is pretty rotton the rest of the day as well.   Sadly, I do not think it is tooth related, but I can hope....

We (re)started our sleep plan based on the tips and suggestions of the sleep consultant yesterday.  However, she pretty much had no advice on naps so that doesn't really change much.   Nights are actually going pretty well, just 1-2 wakeups between when we go to bed and about 5 am, which is HUGELY better than it used to be.  She tends to get about 10 hours of sleep at night, from about 8-6am.  Bedtimes and getting to sleep is the kicker, a multi-hour affair sometimes, but hopefully with the changes that will get better.  The Big Thing is no more nursing to sleep, which was actually not even an issue last night.  The Other Big Thing might be some leaving the room when she wants to keep playing, which I have been doing some of already mostly for mama breaks.  Emma Does Not Approve. 

In more interesting news, she has made the connection this week that She! Is! Emma!  She calls herself  "Memma" and points to herself if I ask where she is.  I still can't tell if she recognizes that she is The Baby In The Mirror, and it is clear that she does not recognize herself in photos (baby! she exclaims.  Yes, thats you.  Thats Emma.  BABY! she insists....).

She is also this close to saying her first sentence, which we repeat, repeat, repeat all day (both verbally and in sign):  "No bath for baby (her beloved doll)".  No bath for baby!  No bath for baby in the bathtub!  No bath for baby in the shower!  No bath for baby in the toilet/the pool/the water table/the doggies water!   Egads, I am tired of confiscating that soaking wet doll and trying to get it dry again.  At least its washable!