Down stairs

A few times I’ve helped Amy go down the stairs — usually by having her sit on a step, stick her feet out to stand on the next step, sit on it, etc.

Last night she figured out how to go down backwards instead, which she found easier.

An early valentine

Amy got an early valentine today.

My playgroup friend Lydia and her youngest, Gracie, came over, so the little ones could play together and the adults could work on Lydia’s current sewing project. In the hour and a half we had, we managed to find the relevant pattern pieces (this was one of those envelopes with four different patterns, some also in child sizes, so lots of tissue to sort through and keep away from babies), cut them out, tape them to the fabric, and cut most of the pieces out. We also talked some about the pattern and modifying it to use the view C apron but the view D pocket.

As we were helping Lydia and Gracie get ready to go, Gracie went to hug Amy… and bit her on the cheek.

Most likely intended as a kiss, but — ouch!

Good, bad, ugly

Bad:

Amy spent the later morning playing a bit and clinging to her blanket and saying “eat.”

When it was finally time to eat (she’d had plenty of breakfast — as much as she wanted), she took a few bites and then spent the rest of the mealtime crying for her blanket.

This annoyed me.

Good:

I let her down and washed the dishes.

She came over and announced that she was going to poop. I took her to her room, removed the diaper, which just had a smudge on it, and sat her on the potty. She had her blanket to cuddle and we read a book, and plop! Out of her bottom came a tiny and very hungry caterpillar little poop. (Sorry; you get these baby book phrases in your head after awhile; if you didn’t recognize that, it’s from Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar.)

When I informed her what she’d done, she clapped for herself (I joined in) and we continued reading the book.

Ugly:

Not much later, she looked down and saw that the poop was still there, and got Very Upset.

———

A little later, we did the “eat”/”no” dance — she would go to her high chair and say up or eat or high chair, but when I’d move to lift her up, or ask her if she wanted to eat, she’d say no, then repeat. I kept washing dishes. Eventually she looked serious about wanting to get up in the high chair, and she let me lift her up, and ate a little more food.

Amy makes music

Over on the dulcimer blog.

Nap hour

It is the nap hour.

I made the bed in a hurry.

I got out the sewing machine and the dress I’m working on; I figure I’ll set it up in the kitchen, and see if I can also work on it with Amy around, since hour-long naps don’t allow for much sewing progress. I also don’t believe in excluding her from the other things I do in life.

A quick stop online to see if I had email or new blog posts to read.

And I think what I’ll do next is just lie down with the kitty.

If the pattern that has held since Tuesday keeps holding, there might be twenty minutes of nap left.

Oops, I hear coughing.

I must confess I am having a hard time adjusting to one-nap-ness.

Even though I feel defensive knowing there are folks out there who mistakenly think good moms are always thrilled to be with their kids 24/7 no matter what, I will proclaim, along with the other enlightened-by-experience folks, that everyone, even moms and babies, needs a little space to themselves and a little outside interest to keep their relationships healthy.

And that one hour a day is insufficient.

And that it is in fact good for Amy, too, to spend some of her time occupying herself and not being externally entertained 24/7.

And so I will continue figuring out how to create enough space for both of us, carving it out of awake time since nap time is dwindling.

The coughing has stopped, and my kitty awaits. Ta.

Addendum

She puts her socks and shoes next to her feet as if she’s trying to put them on.
She says hairbow and points to them, hanging on a ribbon on the wall, when I comb her hair.
She sometimes lets me put one in her hair, if I’m quick, but mostly says no.
She has started announcing, with some upset / urgency, that she is pooping.
She repeats “tada!” if one of us says it, and often morphs it into “da ta!” which I think is hilarious.

What Amy does

• Lies down in the bath, supported on her forearms, kicks like she’s swimming.
• Puts her face forward or sideways into the water, which amuses her.
• Gets quite upset if she poops in the tub or on her naked-time blanket.
• Doesn’t mind peeing in the tub, but sometimes gets upset if she pees on the blanket.
• Goes around the blanket playing and saying “Pee” whether she is going to or not.
• Occasionally sits on her potty, occasionally saying “pee” or “poop” but not doing either (except that one time).
• Hands us the spoon to fill. (Oh my. Interesting transition, eh?)
• Has just today figured out that food gets to her mouth more consistently if she brings the spoon up level instead of flipping it upside-down.
• Bangs on her food, her dish, her tray, her sippy cup, with the spoon.
• Occasionally chases food around the dish or tray with the spoon.
• Occasionally is surprised to find that food gets into the spoon.
• Puts the sippy down sideways and says uh-oh.
• Picks it up and sets it upright when we ask her to.
• Says bib, tray, bread, meat, apple (meaning orange), beenie (meaning banana), Cheerios / cereal (I can’t tell which she means — to her they’re probably synonymous).
• Says down, baggit (blanket), or bunny at various times during her meal, whether she’s really done eating or not.
• Says eat when she’s not eating, sometimes when she’s hungry, and sometimes when she’s just finished eating.
• Says honey, which I think means or is synonymous with hungry.
• Eats plenty and is in no danger of starvation.
• Cries at the doctor, even if it’s the vet.
• Likes to sit and look at books or be read to.
• Walks around with a book saying s(h)it, s(h)it, and/or book, book.
• Says Ee-oh (the end) when she turns the last page.
• Calls The Itsy-Bitsy Spider book Ishie.
• Does the spider sign.
• Says down while doing the down came the rain sign.
• Sees a picture of the Pat the Bunny book in a knock-off / sequel and goes to fetch the original.
• Smells flowers on fabric, in books, or anywhere else she sees them.
• Says flower.
• Carries a blanket, bunny, or occasionally another stuffed animal, holding it close with one hand and patting it with the other.
• Sometimes says down or up when she means the other.
• Whines and cries.
• Smiles and laughs.
• Is quiet and engaged.
• Gives lectures or concerts or commentaries.
• Wanders.
• Knows where she is allowed and not allowed.
• Often obeys these limits.
• Sometimes jerks her limbs and / or head when thwarted.
• Usually works through these mini-tantrums pretty quickly.
• Sucks her thumb with blanket gathered up around her nose and mouth.
• Looks over her shoulder, grins, runs away to be chased.
• Plays hide and seek return, a mobile variation on peekaboo.
• Freaks out with joy when the kitty enters the room.
• Loves on the kitty by putting her head on her.
• Thinks all letters are called “A.”
• Points at things, pictures, letters, words, wanting their names.
• Naps maybe an hour a day. (Yikes.)
• Sleeps through thunderstorms.
• Sleeps now.

One-nap day #3

All went fine this morning, even though 4-5 inches of snow kept everyone away (it was my turn to host playgroup, and yesterday I had made a cake and defrosted a banana bread and tidied the house and tuned my dulcimer (one of the moms was going to bring her flute and stay late to play)).

The nap began at 1:00.

At 2:15 or so, I heard babble begin. Incredulous, I waited to see if she would go back to sleep.

At 3:00 or so, Mark got home. The happy babble was still going on, with occasional quiet moment. She doesn’t even have toys in there — just her three blankets and a giant stuffed dog. Amazing she could entertain herself so well, so long, in there.

At 4:00, we went ahead and got her up.

The rest of the day went reasonably well, considering; she was a little more reactive than when she’s slept well, but she coped well.

If the downward trend continues, will tomorrow’s nap be half an hour and Sunday’s be nothing at all? Just kidding. I think.

I am feeling a little worn down. I suppose it’s to be expected — the stresses of baby rash and kitty care, the transition to one nap with all the adjustments of expectations and plannings, the not having any in-person social contact other than a night at the dining hall…

Oh, and the coconut cake is good, but Amy’s birthday cake was better. This coconut cake is a recipe I got from the pastor’s wife in Ithaca. It’s a spice cake made with soaked oatmeal (and flour), with a cooked icing, with coconut in the batter (my innovation) and the icing (according to recipe; I left out the nuts because one mom’s son is allergic).

Oh, and I love my banana bread recipe — it tastes good and has good ingredients. But the crust is always rather hard. Is it the whole wheat flour instead of white? Or the maple syrup instead of sugar? Or the butter instead of oil? It would be nice to figure out how to make healthier baked goods that have the nice textures of the overly-processed kinds.

Amy Peed in the Potty!

Who knew it would be such an exciting moment?

Mark was hanging out with Amy in her room (naked time (for her, that is)) while I was making the icing for the coconut cake. All of the sudden I hear Mark call out, “Good girl!” with much enthusiasm.

And he then comes out to tell me all about how she was minding her own business, went over to the potty, sat on it, and peed.

Wow.

I have no illusions that this is going to be the way of things from now on, but a mama can dream… the sooner she figures out the whole potty thing, the sooner she’ll be out of diapers and less prone to rashes… not that that’s the only benefit to learning the potty way, of course.

One-nap Day #2

Today didn’t go quite as swimmingly as yesterday.

Amy got a little tired and fussy earlier than yesterday, but we made it through naked time, diaper changes, breakfast, lunch, tub soak, and I managed to make the coconut oatmeal cake for tomorrow — although the dishes are still piled up in the kitchen and I haven’t iced it yet.

She only slept from 1 to 3. She is cheerfully babbling in her crib, so I’m leaving her there for now.

I did manage to tune my dulcimer and get a shower. The laundry basket of diapers is not folded, and the load of baby clothes is still sitting in the dryer. Amy’s lunch tray and bib are still lying on the table.

The cat ate her dry food in the morning and threw it up. She ate maybe half of the wet food mixed with ground beef at lunchtime. She tried to visit with me during the morning, but Amy is not at a stage where that works out well while she’s up — she is not gentle with the kitty so the kitty has to avoid us both. After the tuning and shower I played with her for a few minutes, and that’s about all the attention she’s had.

It takes two of us now to get the kitty pill in the kitty, and last night it took us many many times before it stayed down.

Amy’s rash looks maybe 1% better. This, after almost two weeks.

I am so tired of everything taking so much longer for me than everyone else. The cat’s illness, Amy’s rashes, tuning my dulcimer… none of these things should last so long. And it seems I don’t get much of a break in between — seems especially that Amy’s normal state is to have a rash.

Whine, complain, grumble, humph. But it could be worse. Sigh.

I guess I’ll go get Amy up and try to tidy, maybe ice the cake. Going to the dining hall for dinner, which is nice since it means no cooking and no extra dishes.