This is a week of new achievements for Carolyn. She started sucking her thumb and rolling over, and now she’s figured out how to get her toes in her mouth. This morning, she was laying in the middle of my bed sticking her feet in her mouth – and every time she did it, she’d look at me as if to say “Look, Mom, aren’t I cute?”
Author: Sarah
Roll Over, Roll Over
Dear Carolyn,
Of course, the day after we told the pediatrician you weren’t rolling over yet, you decided it was time to. And of course you couldn’t do it while anyone was watching, could you? Daddy put you down on your back and sat down at the piano, and a few minutes later he looked over and you were on your tummy!
This is the end of the easy part, isn’t it? Before, if I put you down somewhere, I could be reasonably sure that you’d still be there when I came back – you could sort of rotate yourself around, and creep at about an inch an hour, but now…once you figure out how to roll from front to back you’ll be able to roll your way across the room.
I guess it’s time to start getting serious about the baby proofing stuff, isn’t it?
Love, Mommy
March Cross Stitch
A year ago I started collecting the charts and buttons for a 12-month series of cross-stitch patterns from Shepherd’s Bush. On Saturday, I was finally inspired to start them! They’re teeny-tiny – I didn’t measure, but maybe 3″ by 5″? – so they’re quick to stitch. I figure this one took about 8 hours worth of stitching time.
I’m finally starting to have a bit more crafting time lately. Once Carrie goes to bed, I have a little “me” time, plus we’re starting to work out how she can take naps that last longer than 10 minutes without having me hold her for the duration. Not that I mind snuggling with my baby, but it’s nice to have my arms free occasionally!
Now I just need to figure out how to display these without spending a fortune on framing them. Oh, and I still need to stitch the other eleven months. Details, details…
While I was out buying the thread I needed for this, I bought a couple of patterns for cross-stitched ornaments and some fabric to stitch them on. My goal for Christmas this year is to have an “unbreakable tree”. I have some felt ornaments I started last fall that are nearly done, and I’m planning to order a pattern for some knitted ornaments. This way, if we secure the tree to the wall, we won’t have to worry quite as much about having a toddler near it. (The dozen or so spun-glass heart ornaments we got as a gift the first year we were married won’t be coming out of storage for a long, long time.)
4 month well-baby visit
Vital stats:
18 weeks, 2 days old
13 lbs. 15 oz.
25″ tall
Round number 2 of shots today. They weren’t nearly so traumatic as last time, apparently – just a few tears instead of screaming bloody murder. Carolyn’s still in the 50th percentile for weight, but she jumped to the 75th for height! Maybe she got Denis’ tall genes instead of my short ones?
We got to talk about starting solids today. On the one hand I can’t wait, but on the other, I don’t think Carrie’s quite ready yet and I – yes, me, Carrie’s Mommy – think it would be better to wait. Unless she starts signaling that she needs solids before then, I’m planning to wait until after the musical is over – so another 5 or 6 weeks. I’m sure people will think I’m cruel, because she watches us intently and drools when we eat, so of course she must be starving. In fact, I get comments about it from family, friends, and complete strangers already. But she also watches intently and drools when I knit, fold clothes and talk on the phone. So obviously I ought to give her some knitting needles, the laundry detergent and a calling card. (Oops, was that as sarcastic as it sounds?)
The other thing I don’t get (as long as I’m on an “I’m the mommy so I know best” rant) is why there seems to be this prevailing attitude that babies are out to get their parents. It’s not just the pediatrician, it’s also (well-meaning, I’m sure) family, friends, and the ever-present complete strangers. The general gist is that if you respond to your crying baby in the middle of the night, she’s training you to respond to her when she cries. This is a Bad Thing, because then she learns that she can get what she wants out of you by crying long enough or hard enough. I believe that if I don’t respond to my crying baby in the middle of the night, all she learns is that when she needs me most I won’t come. We’ll work the sleep thing out eventually, I’m sure, and in the meantime I’m just going to lie to people and say through a sweet smile, “why, yes, she sleeps through the night like a perfect angel!” when they ask.
Wow. Apparently, I needed to get that off my chest. Now I need to go check on Carrie, since she’s been sleeping since we left the pediatrician’s office two hours ago. I guess getting shots is hard work!
Thumb Sucking
Carolyn is learning at least one new trick every day. Literally in the past 24 hours my binky-addict has decided that her thumb is way better. To be perfectly honest, I really don’t mind if she starts sucking her thumb (I keep trying to type that as “thucking her sumb”) instead of using a pacifier, because that means she won’t cry for us to put her pacifier back in during the night. Granted, it’s harder to take away a thumb, but I kind of figure either way – binky or thumb – she won’t be needing it in college. (Well, she’ll need her thumb, but not to help her fall asleep I hope!)
She apparently comes by it honestly: both Denis and my mother were thumb-suckers. Maybe it’s genetic? So far she doesn’t seem to be favoring one thumb over the other. Does that mean she’s thumbidextrous? (Sorry. It’s really not that late, but I haven’t gotten much sleep the past few nights. I’m going to just close up these parentheses, hit “publish”, and go to bed. ‘k?)
Screaming Mimi
Carrie’s earned a new nickname. She’s our beloved little Nazgul. Seriously, she’s been testing the upper limits of her vocal range (and volume) for the past two days. I think my hearing is starting to suffer. Is this a normal developmental thing? Because if she weren’t doing it with a smile on her face I’d really think that she was in great agony over something. But since it’s interlaced with giggles and smiles and normal babble, I think she’s just playing with her voice. Right?
And then last night, the first time ever that Denis and I sat down to watch a movie after Carrie went to bed, she all of a sudden decided that her mattress was filled with rocks. Or something. I don’t know, all I know is every ten minutes she would wake up very, very angry. Needless to say, we didn’t watch our movie. At least it’s wintertime and the windows are shut – if they were open, I would have fully expected the police to show up last night, between the shrieking and the wailing and the gnashing of…um…gums. Tonight seems to be going better. We’ve watched the rest of our movie and she’s still asleep. Now I need to go to sleep!
Spamalot!
No, not the email or comment spam kind – although now that I mention it, I haven’t had a comment spam attack in a while…I wonder why? Anyway, we’re going to see Spamalot for our anniversary! We bought front row center balcony seats – which I personally think are way better than orchestra seats, and I’m glad that the rest of the world doesn’t think so, because this way they’re also cheaper. (They also require significantly more stair-climbing, so we’ll get our exercise too!)
Now I just have to wait 86 more days…
Four Months Old!
Dear Carolyn,
Today you are four months old. I can hardly believe it. A year ago I had just found out that I was pregnant with you, and here you are, a fascinating little person who’s working so hard at learning about this great big world. As of yesterday you weigh 14 pounds and are 24 inches tall, although your official check-up isn’t until next week. (Sorry, you’ll have more shots then too…)
I think every day you learn something new. You are gaining so much control over your body – sometimes when you wave your arms and hands around it’s so smooth you look like a dancer. Just these past couple of weeks you found your head. You like to rub your forehead and cheeks. The first time you did it you looked like you were trying to say “oh, my aching head.” For all I know it does ache, since you’ve been teething a lot lately. We have several teething toys for you – chilled, textured, chilled and textured – but your hands down favorite is…hands. You’ve also discovered that you can grab your feet. Those haven’t quite made it into your mouth, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time!
You’ve completely fallen in love with books. Your two favorites at the moment are “That’s Not My Puppy!” and “Where’s Spot?” You start giggling just as soon as I show you the cover of a book, and you try to help me turn the pages. We could read those two books over and over for an hour and you still wouldn’t get bored. At this point in time your library consists mainly of puppy themed books. I’m trying to branch out a bit, really I am!
You also have become interested in the piano. You like to sit on Daddy’s or my lap and press down on the keys. We’ll be starting formal lessons tomorrow. Just kidding, although I do play scales for you and name the keys while I do it – maybe you’ll have a head start when it’s time for you to learn? (I promise I won’t force you to take lessons if you don’t want to.)
You’ve added some new words to your stories – ah-boo and raspberries. And bath time is becoming much more fun, since you’ve learned that you can splash the water with your hands and feet. We’ve started having you sleep for at least part of the night in your crib in your very own room down the hall, too. That’s harder for me than it is for you, I think. In general you’re becoming much more independent – you can occupy yourself for quite a while and not even miss me, especially if your beloved wind chimes are available.
It doesn’t seem possible, but you’re becoming more fun to be with every day. It’s so exciting to watch you learn and grow!
Love, Mommy
Future Concert Pianist?
More Books!
I’m still reading the Discworld books, but I also picked up the first three books of the Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin. I’m halfway through book three and I’ll have to go back and get the other three soon. They are fantastic! It’s strange, I’d always thought I’d read something by her because her name sounds so familiar, but none of the book titles do…
I hadn’t been doing all that much reading before Carrie was born because I spent all my free time knitting. Now that most of my free time is spent snuggling my sleeping baby, I only have a hand free to hold a book instead of the two hands I’d need to knit. This is a perfectly fine trade-off, as far as I’m concerned, because the knitting will still be there when Carrie’s older and too big to nap in my lap. And I’m sure that will be sooner than I’d like! (Of course, then I won’t have any excuses not to clean house or do the laundry while she’s napping, either.)