Well, there it is! She's pulling up! She started pulling up on Brad and I about a week or so ago. As soon as she figured out that she could do it once, she's unstoppable! We had to drop her crib mattress down this weekend. We're still swaddling, which is a long story. Suffice it to say, she has had horrible allergies/pollen issues and hadn't been sleeping well for a few nights and so we re-swaddled. She's sleeping through the night again, so we're leaving her be for a few days. We'll start to unswaddle again soon. Anyway, she's rarely ever in the crib unswaddled, which is probably why it's taken her this long to pull up. We only put her in there when we're doing something in her room, washing hands after changing a diaper, or when mommy needs a minute to start laundry or something. It feels great to say that every single thing that this child has done that is new, I've seen it the first time. Every new sound she makes, funny face she makes, new milestone she hits. I was right there when she pulled up on her crib the first time. I was a proud mommy! Here's the video proof! This wasn't the first time, but one of the first.Emma Pulling Up on Crib from Susan Gilchrist on Vimeo.
I have mentioned before that we were going to do the "Ferber Sleep Method" which involves letting her cry or fuss for specific amounts of time before going in to check on her, never getting her out of the crib, and gradually increasing the time inbetween checks. It was going well and we had gotten down to 1 feeding. Then we had a set back or 2 and she was back to 4 times a night up and wide awake. It was a nightmare and I knew that we had to stop it. If we didn't, we were not only harming ourselves because of a lack of sleep, but harming her as well. It's our job as parents to teach her what night time's supposed to be like, and waking up 4 times to eat just ain't it! So we started to "Ferber" again. It was working slowly. One night I woke up to her fussing around midnight. I turned the volume on the baby monitor all the way down and set my digital timer for 10 minutes (an old one from several years of classroom use, and not incredibly reliable). I fell asleep. I fully expected the timer to wake me up 10 minutes later, to go in and put the passy back in, and go back to bed. Only the timer never went off. It died. I woke up at 6:30 in the morning and Emma was just starting to stir. I felt like the worst mother in the history of the world. I still feel like that. I'll never forgive myself for it. I know that it was just accidental, but I feel like crap that I wasn't awake enough to know that the timer malfunctioned. Anyway, you get the point. She was in a good mood, though she was tired. She didn't seem to hold a grudge, but guess what?? She slept through the night from that point on. She occasionally has a night where she wakes up once but puts herself back to sleep within minutes. So there you have it. I'm a horrible mom, but my kid sleeps through the night. She's well-rested and I.....well, not so much. Brad and I are night owls and just can't seem to get to sleep before 11PM or midnight on any given night. SO I'm exhausted most of the time, but we're working on changing that habit.
So I bought Emma a ride-on/push behind toy for Easter because it won't be long before she's walking at this rate! She helped me put it together today and then enjoyed a little ride. She pretty quickly figured out how to use her feet to scoot it backwards. Now if we can only figure out the "forward" part! She looks so big to me on this thing! Pardon the fact that it's fuzzy - she doesn't hold still for long!
She's crawling everywhere now, and FAST! I've baby proofed some of the living room, which is where her toys are and where we spend a majority of the day. However, she can quickly make her way into the kitchen or down the hall, which is not good. We also have a very sharp fireplace which scares the hell out of me. I decided it was time to put together her SuperYard XT, which is pretty much a pen. There's almost no way to find a baby gate big enough to block off the area between our living room and kitchen, so this was our only option. I picked it up brand new, in the box, at a consignment sale a few months ago for less than half of the full price. It's so nice to have somewhere safe that I can put her and know that I can do some dishes and that she'll pretty much be in there when I get done! She doesn't mind it much yet either. I'm sure this will change! Can you see her in there??
Here I am!
Tonight we went to dinner with a couple of my previous students and their moms. We've gotten to be good friends! We had a great time, but it makes me feel so old! I have known Caroline since she was 2 and she is now 14!! I used to babysit her and then was her 5th grade teacher! And Jack is now taller than I am! It's so nice to be able to keep in touch. They were all excited to see Emma and she was an angel - she even stayed in her high chair through the entire meal and didn't scream once!! I was so proud! Here she is just after we got home. You'd never know she had fallen asleep in the car on the way home!
I'll leave you with one last precious video. Emma LOVES my parents' dog, Bailey. She busts out her biggest gummy grin every time she sees him. Bailey LOVES bubbles! This is what happens whenever we blow bubbles around Bailey. Unfortunately, he eats a lot of soap for the sake of her precious laughter, but I don't think he minds. In fact, I'm pretty sure that he thinks it's all for him! I wish that Lucy wanted to play, because we would do this at home all the time. Unfortunately, Lucy's a wussy and is terrified of bubbles. Just don't even ask.....she's not the brightest crayon in the box. :)Bubbles from Susan Gilchrist on Vimeo.
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