eight months!

It's hard to believe that she's 8 months old today.

She's now slept all night THREE nights in a row.  I couldn't be more thrilled.  Waking up each morning and realizing that I haven't been awakened since I went to bed the night before is just heavenly!  I've probably just jinxed myself by writing that, but let's hope not.

good news, bad news

I haven't done one of these in awhile....

-The good news is that Rebecca slept all night the last two nights!  Both nights she went to bed around 7, I didn't get her up at 9:30 to feed her like I've been doing (in order to prevent a middle of the night wake up), and I had intended on letting her cry it out when she woke up in the middle of the night, only she didn't!  She slept straight through until 7:00 or 7:15!  12+ hours!  Woo hoo!!!!

-The bad news is that she's a terrible napper.  45 minutes is pretty much the longest nap she takes.  She takes several of them a day.  I don't know how to solve the problem.  I let her cry, trying to get her to go back to sleep, but yesterday she cried for an entire HOUR without stopping.  The poor girl.  I felt like a terrible mom.  After an hour it was time to eat so I got her up.  Should I have let her keep going?  I don't know what to do.

-The good news is that Rachel has graduated to a booster seat in the car.  She loves it, and I love that it's so much easier to fasten her in.

-The bad news is that now I have to switch Rebecca over out of the infant carrier, into Rachel's old seat.  This means that I'll no longer be able to pop her carrier out of the car and into the stroller to push her in to school or the store or wherever we're going.  The ramifications of this are that she'll have to wear a coat (instead of being covered with the super warm cover in her carrier), which means I'll have to wrangle her into said coat before going out, and also have to carry her everywhere.  I'm trying to wait out the cold weather before I make the switch, but unfortunately she keeps gaining weight and is very soon going to outgrow her carrier, likely before the weather turns warmer.

-The good news is that Rachel didn't pull a card today at school.

-The bad news is that she pulled one on Monday (for not obeying the teacher--twice) and also that she had a meltdown today because she wouldn't share a jump rope with a boy in the gym.  Ugh.  I'm glad she's learning these lessons now, before kindergarten begins in the fall, but something tells me that we'll still be dealing with the same issues then.

a conversation

Today while eating lunch at the kitchen table, Rachel and I had this conversation after I noticed she was being unusually quiet (unusual because it never happens that she's not talking!):

Mom: What are you thinking about, Rachel?
Rachel: I'm not thinking.
M (laughing): But you have to be thinking about something.
R: No, I'm not. 
M (trying a different approach): What's going on in your head?
R: I don't know.  (Silence)  It sounds like mice are running around in my head.


Maybe next time I'll just enjoy the silence and not try to understand why.

progress

An update on little Miss Rebecca....

She hasn't been rolling much since I last told you she rolled.  She'll do it if you start to push her legs to the side when she's laying down, so she can do it, she just chooses not to. 

She's babbling up a storm.  She's been experimenting with various sounds and every few days she seems to have a new sound she's obsessed with for awhile.  A few days last week it was a very high pitched squeal.  She did it constantly for about 48 hours.  Then she started yelling instead.  Now it's a combination of squeals, yells, and jabbering with various combinations of "aah," "gah," or "dah."  It's cute, and since she's usually happy, it happens a lot.

Yesterday when I layed her down for tummy time, she showed off some brand new skills.  Over the course of a few minutes she turned herself around 180 degrees so she was facing the other end of the room.  We were thrilled to see this new skill, as it's her first attempt at moving in any sort of manner.  Today when I put her down she did the same thing, even faster.  Maybe scooting isn't far behind.  She certainly isn't following the "norm" as far as hitting milestones, but she seems to be progressing at her own pace, learning all of the things she's supposed to.  I guess someone has to be at the late end of those averages, right?

She's loving the Christmas present, this kitchen, which Rachel picked out for her.  It seems to be one of her favorite toys and she knows how to manipulate it pretty well to make it play music.  Of course she also loves putting the pot and spoon in her mouth, and "sampling" the carrots, milk, and applesauce jar that came with it, too.  Rachel enjoys playing with it, too, and the two of them are interacting more and more as Rebecca becomes more playful.  It's fun to watch.  She adores her big sister and one of her favorite pasttimes is watching her big sister, breaking out in big smiles whenever Rachel pays her any sort of attention!

Still no teeth, though they've seemed close for so long.  One of these days they finally have to break through. 

She's currently coughing and sneezing a lot.  I hope the ear infection isn't back.  She goes back to the doctor this week for a check up, so I'm thankful to be able to find out if there's anything wrong.

She's a very happy baby, gives us lots of smiles, and I just adore her!

new 'do

Rachel's been asking for a haircut.  Her bangs were waaaaaaaay too long, so we went today after school.  She decided on her own that she wanted it shorter.  I said, "A little shorter or a lot shorter?"  She said she wanted it a lot shorter.  The hair dresser and I both tried to talk her out of it, but she was determined.  I actually wanted it shorter, but wanted it to be her decision, not mine.

The picture isn't so great, but here's her cute new haircut.  We both like it.  Even my husband, who really didn't want it shorter, thinks it looks good.

And I'm SO excited to hear less whining, "Mommy, my hair is static-y" all winter long!

an interview with Rachel

I've seen these interviews before on the blogs I read, but never tried it.  Today I decided to give it a shot.  Trying to keep her attention long enough to answer them all was a challenge (she was busy looking outside at the snow falling down), but we made it to the end.  Some of the answers didn't surprise me, but others did. Anyway, enjoy!

1. What is something Mommy always says to you?


Uh...Don't get in trouble.

2. What makes Mommy happy?

Good stuff...(I asked her, "Like what?")...like being nice and kind and hugging people and loving people and share with people and that's all the good stuff....and playing nicely.

3. What makes Mommy sad?

When I do bad things...("Like what?")...being mean and fighting and don't be nice and don't share and pull a card to red.

4. How does Mommy make you laugh?

Tickling and laughing.

5. What was Mommy like as a child?

She had yellow hair and skin and a blue dress and a red dress and a necklace and bracelets. (She's referring to the dresses my mom saved of mine that Rachel now uses to dress up in when she's at my mom's house.)


6. How old is Mommy?

I forget....how old are you, Mommy?


7. How tall is Mommy?

We have to measure you first.

8. What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?

I don't know....is it cooking?

9. What does Mommy do when you're not around?

Clean and cook.

10. If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?

What's famous?

11. What is Mommy really good at?

Games....that's the only thing.

12. What is Mommy not very good at?

That doctor's game I got for Christmas. (She's referring to "Operation.")

13. What does Mommy do for her job?

I don't know...to take care of me and Rebecca and cook and go shopping with me for Christmas presents at Christmastime.

14. What is Mommy's favorite food?

I don't know.  (Then she asked me what it was...I told her it was pizza.)

15. If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?

Um, maybe Scooby Doo?  And remember that bear who steals picnic baskets?  (I have to add that she's never ever seen Scooby Doo or Yogi Bear, so I have no idea why she chose those!)

16. What do you and Mommy do together?

Play games and play with my kitchen and painting and we have lots of fun.


17. How are you and Mommy the same?

Because you had yellow hair when you were a little girl and we have the same color eyes.

18. How are you and Mommy different?

Because you have brown hair and I have yellow hair.


19. How do you know Mommy loves you?

Because I'm your favorite four year old girl.

20. Where is Mommy's favorite place to go?

Maybe Meijer.  (Ha!  This one made me laugh.  Meijer is where I do almost all of my grocery shopping, so she knows I go there all the time.  Hardly my favorite store, but yes, I do spend a lot of time there!)

the nutcracker

I mentioned here that I'd write a post someday about the night Rachel and I went to see The Nutcracker.  So here we go.

She was so excited about it for days.  When it was finally time to leave the house, she was ecstatic.  She loved getting dressed up and going somewhere at night (we almost never go anywhere in the evening, so whenever she gets a chance, she thinks it's really special).  As we drove toward downtown we listened to Christmas music and she talked my ear off about anything and everything.   We parked in the underground parking garage and walked up the stairs to ground level.  As we came outside, we were right in front of the theater, which was all lit up with Christmas lights.  Rachel was in awe.  It really was spectacular looking and I was excited, too.

We walked in the theater and her awe continued.  It's an old, ornate theater that's been restored, and it really is beautiful.  She was approproately impressed, looking all around at everything.  We went in the rest room, which has a lounge area with two old, "fancy" couches (her word).  She thought that was so great! 

We finally made our way to our seats in the balcony.  She talked my OTHER ear off and asked one question after another until the lights finally dimmed at showtime.  I had prepared her ahead of time by watching clips of The Nutcracker on youtube, and reading the story of The Nutcracker, so she knew roughly what was supposed to happen.  While that was good in some ways, I was second guessing myself when every 30 seconds or so she would lean over, move my hair away from my ear, and whisper, "When is _____ going to happen?"  (fill in the blank with any event in the story--she asked about all of them!)  Or she'd ask, "What's happening now?"  or "Is this part almost done?" and on and on.  I told her she wasn't allowed to talk during the performance and if she had a question she had to whisper in my ear.  Well, she followed those directions alright...but a little too literally, since she really did whisper something about every 30 seconds! 

But she loved it.  All of it.  Her favorite parts were the Sugar Plum Fairy and Mother Ginger, whose children come out from under her dress.  My favorite part was the Waltz of the Flowers. 

We were stuck in the parking garage after it was over, waiting to get out, for 15 minutes, during which time she started melting down ("I just want to go hooooooooooooooooooooooome," she cried).  It was late and way past her bedtime, so it didn't surprise me.  But when we got home she was excited to tell Daddy all about it and stay up a little while to eat a snack.  It was a great night.

I decided at the last minute the next day, on Christmas Eve, to buy Rachel this CD of the show for Christmas because she loved it all so much.  I'm so glad I did.  Ever since Christmas morning she's listened to it over and over again, reinacting the dances.  Now she's VERY interested in taking ballet lessons and being "a real ballerina."  She said, "Mom, when I'm older and know how to dance will you and Daddy come watch me when I dance in the Nutcracker on the stage?" 

So maybe in the fall we'll start her in a real ballet class if she's still interested.  We'll see.

dates and times

Happy 2011!

We've had MANY conversations in our house recently about the date....about it no longer being 2010, about it being January, and December is all done, and February comes next, and that's when we leave for Disney World, and on and on and on.  Rachel is obsessed right now with the date--it started in December when we were doing the Advent calendar, and is continuing now because we're doing a countdown calendar to our Disney trip.  And she's also obsessed with the time.  I don't know how that one happened, but all of a sudden about a month ago she just started noticing the time and asks me all the time, "What time is it, Mommy?" and when I answer she says, "What do we do at 5:30?" (or whatever time I say it is.)  It drives me crazy!  Is this a normal four-going-on-five phenomenon?