by Liz | All Things Kids
In the space of just a few hours we’ve had a series of major catastrophes! Lena fell down the stairs…well, that might be a bit dramatic. She did fall, but only a few steps. No less traumatic for her, I’m sure! She was mostly fine after calming down with just a small bump on her nose. My heart may still be pounding.
Maggie has decided that sitting relatively calmly on her mat and playing with toys strewn all around her is completely unacceptable. She’s now only content when flinging herself bodily (aka crawling) around the room and tipping chairs over on top of her head. No joke.
Let’s hope tonight’s activities are a bit more tame.
by Liz | All Things Kids
I’ve been in denial for weeks, hoping this stage will just wait a bit longer to surface. I mean, babies are supposed to sit in one place and be perfectly content for hours right?!
Maggie is on the cusp of crawling. I mean, literally…any day now she’ll be stalking across the floor to gleefully pull on her sister’s ‘oh so tempting’ curls (Hair has long been a fascination for her.). Gone are the days of stranding her in the jumper while the rest of us buzz around in our various pursuits. Lately, she’s only happy if she’s sitting in the middle of the room with toys strewn all around her. That way, she can cast about in any direction and snag something of interest before growing bored and flinging it away. Eventually, she teeters just a smidgen too far and ends up on her belly (or just face planting in the rug, no big) and sqwuaks in irritation until someone has mercy and pulls her upright again. Then with a devilish grin she repeats the process all over again.
So far, I’ve managed to discourage Lena from attempting this maneuver as I’m fairly sure it’ll end badly. Probably for Lena. The sweet little girl isn’t quite sure what to make of her little sis’ new-found mobility. We’ve been talking a lot about sharing again since it’s taken on a whole new meaning now that Maggie can more adequately defend her own territory. Gone are the days of stealing toys and skipping away with a blithe, “Maggie sharing me, Mommy.” Sure love, of course she is.
Watch out world…Maggie will shortly be on the move!
by Liz | All Things Kids
There comes a time in every parent’s life when we question our decision making abilities. We all take immense delight in our child’s development and ecstatically encourage each new skill as I emerges. However, there is nothing more horrifying than realizing all of your unfailing encouragement has resulted in a mobile child!
Having a child who can move is life changing. I’m not even saying a full-fledged crawler, even a scooter will do it. Gone are the days of darting into the other room to switch the laundry or a quick run up the stairs to grab a pair of shoes. Nowadays, you turn your back for one second and mischief is brewing! Be it a potted plant, a low shelf of heavy pots or that clump of pet hair you forgot to pick up…baby has set her sights and is determined to find the exact wrong moment in which to strike. No speck is too small and no distance too far for the intrepid and fearless baby. Parents and caretakers beware!
That said, it’s so fun to watch them go!
by Liz | All Things Kids
It always seems that problems come in threes. The last few weeks, poor Lena has been struggling with a cold, teething AND an ear infection. Needless to say, none of us are getting very much sleep! She’s been a trooper and for the most part has been incredibly good-humored despite how she must be feeling. She was on antibiotics briefly but the side-effects seemed to be worse than the ear infection. After a second trip to the doctor I was very relieved to take her off the meds and she’s been a different baby ever since. While still sick, she’s much happier and definitely seems to be on the road to recovery!
On a more positive note, she’s started babbling all sorts of new sounds, desperately trying to move AND has become incredibly opinionated about her likes and dislikes. It’s amazing the progress she’s made in such a short time and she continues to surprise us every day. She’s even started blowing kisses which is just about the cutest thing you’ve ever seen! The key seems to be unending repetitive play. She has so much fun watching faces or our actions and slowly attempting them for herself. We’ve even seen her use a few baby signs though it’s not clear she knows their meaning yet. The sign for “milk” for example, might mean either “mom”, “up” or “milk”. Only time will tell!
That said, she’s no longer sleeping through the night, can be incredibly difficult to put back to sleep AND likes to wake the household up incredibly early with no thought of going back to bed. We’ve been extremely diligent about discouraging any “patterns” involving her sleep habits and continue to rely on some of our old staple tricks but to no avail. She has gone through cycles like this before (though none for such a long period of time) and if we kept to our routines, we found she’d get herself back on track eventually. We’re hoping this method will still work for us and are trying desperately not to encourage any habits to form!
