January Update

I've been dreading sleep training big time. I tried doing sleep training a couple of weeks ago because Emma was acting extremely tired but would not sleep. She just kept crying. She wasn't sick and acted completely normal earlier in the day when she wasn't tired. So I made her sleep in her crib by herself after 15 minutes of her crying with me in the room. I don't remember how long she cried for, but it seemed like a lifetime. I tried to be consistent and made her sleep in her crib for an afternoon nap. She cried for over an hour. That seemed like a million years. I only went in to see her once and she was pathetic. She put her arms around me (although I did not pick her up) and kept trying to give me kisses while sobbing. Break. My. Heart. It was complete torture. I hated every second of it. I started to think that working full time might be a good idea. Then she could have naps at school that I wouldn't have to put her asleep for. It was a really bad day. That week, she also had a major break down in the car and literally gagged herself on her snot because she was crying so hard. She didn't want to be in her car seat. I took her out, and she was totally fine. I felt very frustrated. Come to find out, she had new teeth coming in. I guess it's a lot more painful for her with her molars coming in. She never had such a hard time with her front teeth. There were really no signs except she would completely lose it when she got tired. There was no drooling and no fever. She didn't seem to be chewing on stuff more than usual. Then we finally saw her put her fingers to the back of her mouth- I think she was feeling her new teeth. I felt pretty awful that I was trying to sleep train her during all of this. I'm clearly not mom of the year. We have been consistent with naps and making her go to sleep in her crib by herself. Earlier this week, she fell asleep in less than 5 minutes. LESS THAN 5 MINUTES. I seriously was on cloud nine. I felt like I had just won the lottery! Some days have been easier than others. I've dropped the afternoon nap because it never seems to go very well. And following Steve's lead, I wait until she's absolutely exhausted before I put her in the crib. And a fully belly helps too. That was the trick when she fell asleep in less than 5 minutes. She was yawning and rubbing her eyes before 9am and I didn't put her in her crib until 11am for her nap.

There are so many ups and downs with parenting, but overall I feel an overwhelming sense of happiness and joy that is hard to explain. I could not love this little girl any more than I do. Emma has been such a sweet cutie pie! And when she's having her moments, I just focus on the fact that she's teething. It must really hurt. I think it makes it easier if you know why she's crying. Steve stuck his hand in her mouth recently and felt her back left molars. Earlier this week she kept going from completely happy to teary. We thought her other molars are coming in. I was finally able to see them- and from what I can tell, she has two molars on the left and one on the right. Poor lady. And to top it off, she's been sick with diarrhea since this past weekend and then she had a fever of 102.3. I feel so badly for her. She's on the mend now and seems to be doing much better though.

This is how Emma slept for two hours on the living room floor when she had a fever.

She stayed extra close to me since she didn't feel well. We tried using the carrier with her on my back so I could get some stuff done around the apartment. It lasted for a little while. The next time I put her in the carrier like this, she kept pulling my hair. So it didn't last long.

Emma is babbling up a storm. I'm  not sure if she's said her first word. I thought it would be more obvious. Just before her first birthday, I really think she said "bib" two days in a row without me prompting her. If you ask her where her bibs are, she'll look right at them. So she's known for a while where her bibs are. She did it again this past week without me saying it first. I still can't get her to say it on command, although she will copy a lot of words that we say. Because her speech isn't that clear, I'm still not certain if bib is her first word. The past couple of days, she's walking around everywhere saying "ack" I assume it's babbling but am starting to wonder if she's saying a word that we just don't understand.

I've started to work on some sign language with her. I"m not sure if she'll start to sign to us or not, especially considering we started it kind of late in the game. She's been signing all done to us for a while. I'm not sure if she learned that in MDO. I assume so but always forget to ask. We've also been working on more, eat, milk, and water.

We had the radio on in the car and Whitney Houston came on. She put her arms in the air and was waving of them. Then started clapping. When we got into our apartment, we added a Whitney Houston pandora station on our TV and played it for her. It was super cute because she started to dance when it came on. 

In the past week, I really have notice a change in her. She seems to understand a lot more of what we say. Today I saw her stomp her feet, so I quoted from one of her books, "Stomp your feet. Clap your hand. Everybody ready for a barnyard dance." She went searching for this book and then brought it to me. Another book that we have has pictures of animals in it. I do animal noises and hand motions along with some of the pictures. She always watches me closely when I make a fish face, and she tries to copy it the face. It's excessive cute. And then before I get to the last page with the snake on it, she will do the snake hand motions before we even get to the page. So she definitely remembers what's coming next.

This week Emma has started stacking two blocks and playing with toys that need hand-eye coordination. In the past, she preferred to knock down blocks and chew on any toys instead of actually playing with them. It's really fun to see her develop.

She also held a pen and drew for the first time.  Half the time, she still wants to chew on the pen. But it was fun to see her doodle on the paper too!

Whole Foods shopping cart. She hasn't had a ride around the store in it yet.

Emma's wheely lady bug

 

 

We've mostly stopped giving her bottles. She is mostly drinking out of her Lollacup, which has a straw. She found a bottle in the refrigerator!

Getting ready for bed with some favorite stuffed animals and blankets!

Emma watching Sesame Street. She might be watching the segment with Abby's Flying Fairy School. Looks like Emma's trying to fly too!

 Emma likes the pans!

Yes, that's chocolate drool :-)

Getting into trouble is what I do best!

And chewing/licking everything is another favorite hobby of mine :-)

We ate at Mellow Mushroom this past weekend. Emma loved their pretzels made from pizza dough. She ate at least one full pretzel if not more. She loves marinara sauce as well. This seems to be a new favorite of hers!

Emma was initially frustrated because she kept knocking down the blue block when she put the yellow block on top of the big block. She finally figured it out. Go Emma!

 Emma being cute :-)