Thursday, March 31, 2011

The Return of Darth Critter

Last night was definately a trial.  Between teething and allergies my sleep for the night consisted of 15-20 min naps throughout the night.  Poor Critter sounds like Vader and starts snorting whenever she tries to laugh.  The good news is that I seem to have a very strange child who thinks having her nose suctioned out is funny.  I've already lost count of how many bibs and shirts we've been through today.  Between the snot and the drool I think I'm about ready to throw another load of her stuff in the wash.

While I know that once she's started crawling I'll be wishing she'd be still, I still can't wait til she's mobile.  I've tried to encorage the process by putting favorite toys just out of her reach... instead she's figured out that if she grabs hold of the blanket she's laying on she's able to just pull the toy to her.

I'm thinking about starting sippy cups soon.  She'll be 6 months tomorrow.  My baby's growing up.  Anyhow, you'd think that something like a sippy cup would be a rather simple thing.  No, it's not.  There's the kind I had as a kid, ones with nipple like tops for transitioning, ones with straws, even some with the sports bottle type of flip spout.  I can't help but think that maybe parenting is becoming over complicated in some aspects.  I have learned one thing though.  No one is going to ever entirely approve of how you are raising your child.  For every article, study, or piece of anticdotal evidence there is for one side of an arguement, there's just as many on the other. Co-sleep or not. Bottle vs breast. When to start baby food.  Pacifier or not... if so what kind.  Its rediculous.  A person could go crazy trying to second guess everything they do with their child.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?

...Well... I guess I just did.

Blogging seems to be the thing to do these days.  At least this way I won't be telling the same Critter stories as many times and forgeting who I told... maybe.  Either way, I think it might be a good idea to start recording my early times as a mom as well as Critter's development.  I probably should have done this from the start truth be told.  She'll be 6 months old on Friday and its amazing just how much she's changed in so short a time.

I had lunch with some friends a couple weeks ago and one made a comment about kids not really developing a personality until they were 4-5 yrs old.  I just had to laugh.  Critter was making her personality known even before she was born and its just gotten more pronounced since.  She's definately gotten my sense of humor.  Everyone comments on how happy she is too.  I suppose she is.  Then again, its not really like she has much to be unhappy about.  She gets fed and changed on demand (demanding: an ability she's gotten down very well), she naps when she feels like it, and she spends most the day playing with her toys... and watching Kung Fu Panda... a lot... all day in fact.  She loves that movie.  I didn't think babies her age would even have the attention span to sit and watch a full length movie like that.  She even has her favorite parts.

Right now she sits on her own and I'm currently working with her on crawling.  On the one hand I know that as soon as she's mobile and getting into stuff that I'm going to wish she'd just sit still, but on the other hand I just can't wait for her to start exploring the world... hopefully by doing more than just chewing on it.  Lately anything she can get her hands on becomes a chew toy.  Yesterday she scooted off her blanket, over to her swing, and started trying to gnaw on the metal leg of the swing.  Yay for teething?  She's been fussy the past few days while trying to chew on things... or at least as fussy as she gets which really isn't much.

I'm not sure what counts for actual talking.  Every now and then if you tell her 'Hi' she'll repeat it but I know she's just repeating sounds.  She doesn't actually say mama or dada, but if she's trying to get one of our attentions, she has a very destinctive noise for each of us.  She does say 'mmm good' though while she's eating.  She's started doing it other times too... mostly when she gets her way about something.  If she's wanting to be picked up and squaking about it I'm likely to get an 'mmm good' when I pick her up.  Also, a few times when she's had a really nasty diaper she'll say it while I'm cleaning her up.  The rest of the time its lots of high pitch squealing and spitting, both of which she finds hilarious.  I keep threatening to sit her out in the yard and let her water the grass for me, but I don't think she's taking me very seriously.

That's about all for the regularly occuring fun.  Now at least there's a starting point when I start rambling about new things she's into.