I think we're finally reaching the point in Emma's young life when things aren't changing quite as rapidly as they had been...
But the biggest development is one itty-bitty little tooth that has popped on through her bottom gums. Yep- my goober has a pearly white! I didn't see it coming, either- she's been generally grumpy and angry for so long that I assumed she's just a feisty little kid by nature. So when my mom announced one day (she had been babysitting) that she felt a tooth, I was skeptical. Especially since she insisted she felt one a while back and there turned out to be no such tooth... and wouldn't you figure, my stubborn baby bird would not let me look at or feel her gums all night. Once I tricked her into letting me peek, I couldn't figure out if something was really there or not. It took a few days for me to be certain that there was a tooth poking out of those gums and now, about two-ish weeks later, the whole top of her tooth has officially come through. We have a baby tooth! And we didn't die in the process of it coming in! HOORAY!! Although I think tooth number two is on its way, and it seems to be much less kind to her. She tried chewing on my hand today and ended up leaving a tooth mark indented in my skin from biting me so hard. It hurt.
Seriously. For how feisty, strong-willed, and stubborn she is, I figured she'd be in 24/7 meltdown mode when her first tooth erupted... instead, I had no idea one was on its way. Here's to hoping the rest of her teeth come through so subtly, but I highly doubt that will be the case. As I mentioned before, she has been very angry and shouty lately, but that's not uncommon for her. She has still been sleeping like a total champ through it all, and hell, I'll take it! I can deal with angry and shouty much better than I can deal with whiny and excessive crying.
Sleep: Hallelujah, she's still sleeping through the night without a peep. Well, mostly. She is still in bed between 7:30 and 8:30 and falls asleep anywhere between 7:30 and 9:00, depending on her day and who babysat her. Last week, she woke up at about 10:45 one night when she realized her leg was stuck in the crib slats. I had already fallen asleep, so my groggy behind marched into her room, rescued her leg while she smiled and laughed at me (thanks, kid. I'm glad you thought it was so funny to wake mommy up!), then went back to bed. And so did she... because she's an awesome sleeper and knows how to put herself to sleep. That was an issue I dealt with for a few days, though- she kept getting her leg(s) stuck in the slats of her crib. I didn't want to use a bumper, because she's so squirrely that I know she'll somehow get all wrapped up in it. I've looked at mesh bumpers, but I can't find one that's functional and rated well (I've read lots of reviews of bumpers that don't stay up). And I'm serious when I say that she's squirrely when she sleeps- she generally kicks and flails while chatting to herself while she falls asleep at night. I had to rescue her legs again a few nights later when she had BOTH of them stuck in her crib. Luckily, I tiptoed into her room after she was nice and asleep and ever-so-gently moved her legs and tiptoed away. She had no idea I had even been there. But other than her crib eating her legs, she's been sleeping just fine. And the leg issue only lasted for a few days before she wised up and stopped getting them stuck... but then she started migrating to the top of her crib and sometimes sleeps with her head up against the slats. Oh, well. At least she's sleeping! She seems to have nightmares on some nights- or at least that's my best guess at what's going on. She wakes up and cries out a couple of times, then goes right back to sleep. Or never fully wakes up in the process. Something like that.
My saving grace over the last couple of months has been the fact that she's sleeping so well at night. The entire month of March felt like a constant battle in which I'd get knocked right back down after I struggled to get up. And repeat. I'm so glad I wasn't battling a baby who didn't want to sleep at night on top of everything else... including moving. I'm so glad that's over.
Her new chosen method of putting herself to sleep is a mix of extreme kicking and the most intense baby raspberries I've ever heard. She only pauses to take a breath or kick feverishly... and then suddenly, there's silence and she's asleep.
Oh, and we still use her motion sensing diaper clip at night. The darned kid can roll over in both directions (yay! She finally started rolling from back to tummy this weekend!) and is healthy as can be. I'm pretty sure if she hasn't had any episodes of apnea yet, there's a good chance she'll be just fine... but we'll just keep using it for a little longer. Maybe until she's... I dunno... three? lol
Food: UGH. She just doesn't want her solids anymore... she'll sometimes eat some fruit or sweet potatoes but usually she just purses her lips and turns away from the spoon after the first two bites of food. She'll eat her puffs and cookies, but I don't want her getting hooked on snacks before her first birthday. I'm hoping it's just a phase brought on by her teething. Since she's so interested in feeding herself (I gave her some pieces of toast one and she wouldn't let me give her any, but gladly fed herself. Miss independent. Sheesh!), I bought some fresh fruit and veggies and a mesh feeder, with the intention of her eating some food that way. Yea... big fail. You can give this kid anything that's not supposed to go in her mouth, and she immediately tries to eat it. Give her food, and she wants nothing to do with it. So naturally, when I gave her the mesh feeder, she looked it over, turned it all around to get a peek at every angle, then tossed it. I tried showing her that it goes in her mouth, and she pursed her lips and chucked it across the room (do you see what I mean about stubborn and feisty?!). So mommy got smart the other day and fed her some pureed fruit from a spoon, then dipped her mesh feeder in the fruit (with a frozen peach in the mesh feeder) and let her taste it. Then she started chomping on it and seemed to enjoy it... for a whopping few minutes. Then she chucked it again and wanted nothing to do with it. It's still a work in progress though.
Height/Weight: I was beginning to worry that she hasn't been getting enough to eat, and sadly, I think I'm right. She's been holding steady at about 19.5 pounds over the last month when she should still be gaining some weight. So I'm going to try to ensure she at least gets more formula if she insists upon not eating her solids. Hmph. She's still pretty tall, though. And fully in 12 month sized clothes! I boxed up and sold most of her 9 month sizes at a garage sale a few weeks ago and the remaining stuff is now boxed up and ready to go to a loving new home. I like it when she grows into a new size because shopping for baby clothes is my new hobby. Having a girl is tough on the wallet, though- I couldn't decide between the pink zebra printed bathing suit and the floral bathing suit, so I bought both. Ha! Typical me ;)
Mobility: She wants to crawl. So. Badly. I'm surprised because she hates being on her tummy so much that I thought she'd forgo crawling altogether, but she's trying! Just within the last few days, she's starting to move her legs more and is pulling her little booty up off the ground while trying to pull herself forward. She can easily move herself onto her tummy from sitting upright without doing a miserable face-plant in the process. And she loves to pull herself up to standing- with a little help, she can pull herself up on furniture now. My life will soon be over... once this kid goes mobile, there's no turning back. I will no longer be able to plant her on the floor and find her in that general area a few minutes later if I have to put laundry in the washer or pee or something like that. We have a lot of babyproofing to do.
I experienced another first- Emma's first big-girl vomit. Puffs and broccoli. Bleh. It is exponentially worse than formula vomit.
Emma got to spend some time with her Auntie Lauren a couple weekends ago! She's a very special person in my life, so it's important to me that Emma has a good relationship with her as Emma grows up. She's only met her Auntie Lauren a few times so far, but it's apparent that she loves her. Especially when Auntie Lauren shares her yogurt and banana with the baby. Earlier this week, she got to meet her first cousins once-removed, her second cousin, and her great aunt, who are all from North Carolina. It was a fun-filled day of shopping and Emma was a complete trooper- she only grumped a few times. She actually does really well when we go out- she loves to look around at everything and stare at people until they become uncomfortable.
My baby won't be a "baby" much longer. And this makes me so sad... my one and only baby girl! My, how time flies when you have an infant. An infant who won't be an infant in a few months... *sigh*
Now that she's 9 (almost ten! Aaaaahhhhhh!!) months old, the natural question that everyone asks is when we're having another baby. The answer?
Never.
It's an uncomfortable conversation to have with people I don't know well because... well... there's no way to adequately explain it without making it a long story that sounds very sob-story-ish. It's kind of like when strangers ask how old Emma is... do I say she's 9 months? Because she is. But then they start asking if she's crawling and I have to say no, but she was a preemie so it's normal. Or I can use her adjusted age and say she's 7 months, but she's already big for a 9 month old, so I'm sure the next question will be "how much did she weigh when she was born?" Announcing that she was 4lb 5oz would then lead right back into the "she's a preemie" conversation. Not that I mind, but I typically like to limit the amount of time I spend chatting with total strangers in public, because that a) gives them more time to try to touch my child without my permission and b) gives them more of an opportunity to give me unsolicited parenting advice. Anyways...
The truth of the matter is, we went through hell to have this grumping mess of a teething baby. The fertility treatments were frustrating, expensive, time-consuming, heartbreaking, and uncomfortable. Sitting in my car in the parking lot of my office while sobbing after finding out that another cycle was a bust is no bueno. Having surgery sucked. Sitting in a hospital for four weeks was torture. And having my child in the NICU was something I never want to experience again in my life. Ever. For any reason. It was traumatic, stressful, and forever changed who I am as a person and I am not doing it again. I don't think I even need to mention that we were lucky in the fact that Emma is such a healthy little girl and her feisty attitude helped her break out of her hospital prison an entire five weeks before her due date. But if we were to have another child, there's no saying that we would be as fortunate. Emma suffered enough. It would be irresponsible to try to do this again at the possible expense of our child's quality of life for any period of time. A newborn baby belongs at home, snuggled up with mommy... not in a cold hospital room surrounded by nurses and doctors. So as time is going on, I'm formulating my response to the dreaded "when are you having another baby?" question.
Although... hubby and I made an incredibly cute baby. It's a shame we can't make another giant-eyed feisty ball of grump. Wait, no. One is enough. ;)
Emma's nicknames this week:
Tater
Boo-Boo
Emmy
