Teeth!!!

Besides worrying about our little firecracker getting into any and everything now her two front teeth are coming in, at the same time. Our little trooper has done so well, teething can be a terrible or ok experience and thank GOD we are experiencing the ok parts. She hasn't done the whole crying non-stop all day every day thing. She has learned to make raspberries all the time which we hear helps the babies with the pain they may be feeling. She has also taking to biting her mom at times (but that's her own fault...she places her hand in front of her...of course the little firecracker will bite if her gums itch! I'm just saying lol), or biting her toys.

 

My wife has found a way that has helped tremendously as well: she takes an unused wash clothe, wets it and then sticks it into the freezer. Once frozen she takes it out and gives it to our daughter. Biting into the cold/frozen wash clothe she has heard, helps soothe the itchiness and pain, and so far so good. Our daughter will use that to help soothe herself than all the teething rings we have, hey she knows what works, we just have to keep providing her with more frozen wash clothes.

 

Because of this teething issue our daughter for the past month has fallen asleep at regular time, then woken up in the middle of the night, ready to play and eat. Now usually we just put her in the bed with us, she sings, cracks herself up then falls asleep. But after talking to a few family members we realize now that this sleeplessness may be due to her teething. So, a few days ago my wife (the smart woman that she is) bought teething and gel and puts some on her gums right before or after the little firecracker falls asleep. Low and behold it works! she either sleeps straight through the night again, or gets up, whines a little, takes her pacifier and goes right back to bed. Thank you family for enlightening us! We thought she woke up in the middle of the night just because. Since she didn't really cry about her teeth we couldn't really know what was causing her to wake up...but I guess it was her teeth. Thank goodness for good advice! Now we can all rest easy! :-) 

Our Little Firecracker

Our daughter now crawls forwards! This was something we had been waiting for...but now that it's here...I don't know anymore lol.

 

Now don't get me wrong I'm very happy that our daughter can now crawl forwards and every which-a-way there is, but now we can't keep her still! Now she loves being on the floor crawling more than being in her walker. She gets into everything now, curious about everything she sees and all the rooms of the house.

 

When she first crawled we were overjoyed, so very happy that now our little lady was a mover...but now...now...she keeps us on our toes. She hadn't realized she could move past the living for weeks (which was great, because all we had to worry about was keeping an eye on her in the living room, because she had yet to venture past that point. But now that she has realized there are more rooms than the living room...oh boy! We can not stop the little firecracker. She crawls to the kitchen, makes a pit stop for water cooler and empty bottles in the kitchen, then crawls into her room (if my wife or I are in there on the computer), she crawls into our bedroom from the living room (which is scary enough because the stairs are right in front of our bedroom door. It's so hard keeping her still, and I know she would prefer not to be still!

 

Now-a-days we have to use her walker to block her entry way into the hallway that leads to our room and the stairs, but the little firecracker is learning to try and crawl right underneath the walker...smh.

 

Not only is she crawling but for the past week she has learned to pull her self up using the couch, her mom's leg, her walker, whatever is sturdy enough to hold her. Now anything we take away from her and place on the couch (thinking she couldn't reach it) now has to be placed even higher, because this little has learned "Oh so they're trying to move it away from me? ok, I'll just pull on up and try to climb on to this couch and get it anyway."

 

It's funny and scary at the same time. We're overjoyed that she's becoming even more mobile and growing, but sad and frightened because now she can get anywhere, touch anything in reach, and will be walking real soon! Yikes! I don't know if either of us are ready for that, but our firecracker sure is, and she is not stopping anytime soon!

The Food Debate

For the past month my wife and I have been at odds when it comes to the food she feeds our daughter. Now, I understand it's ok to give her some of what we are eating, but at the same time I would prefer her not to choke. 

My wife let's her have pieces of what she's eating...now to her they are small pieces but to me...no, they are way too big! Even though the doctor told her to feed her some pieces of chicken or meat, because of our daughters low iron levels that does not mean 1. we have to do so, or 2. we have to give her chunks of food! 

I can hear my wife now: 'I don't give her chunks of food!" So she says...smh. To me if the pieces are too big I'm just afraid she will choke. Being a volunteer firefighter I see this all the time; kids choking on foods that the parents did not think were that big. Well that won't be our daughter! I don't care what anyone, even my wife, says; if the pieces are too big she will not be giving it to our daughter. 

After constant back and forth about this I have agreed to disagree with my wife. She can feed our daughter pieces of food (as long as they are not big chunks!) when she's with her, but with me our daughter is going to have to be content with just plain old Enfamil and some baby food. This way we can both be happy with feeding our daughter.

Big Sister!

My wife and I learned a couple months ago that we are going to be parents...again! The thought of being parents again is very scary, especially since we have a daughter who is under 1, but I think we can do it! It'll take a lot of sleepless nights, tired mornings and days, and lots of coffee to get us through, but I think we can do it! 

I think our daughter has started to notice that something is different with her mom. When rubbing or tapping on her stomach she makes a double take these days, because her tummy is bigger than before. Now-a-days she tends to give her little kisses on her tummy whenever we're all laying and watching TV for the night (which is so cute). 

The other day my wife and I decided to tell our daughter that she is about to become a big sister soon, we asked if she were happy to become a big sister, she looked at us both, smiled then shook her head. We could do nothing but laugh, it seemed she knew what we were asking, and telling us that she was not happy because she was supposed to be the baby for a little while.

Our little lady keeps us on our toes and laughing everyday. Whether she's ready or not she's about to take that big sister role, and oh boy are we...NOT ready! lol

Stomping Grounds

While our little lady is still getting the hang of crawling (still going backwards lol) we've decided to give her walking practices now as well. My sister in law lent us a walker that is in use everyday! This little girl loves her walker, but she forgets one thing: You DO NOT have to stomp in order to move around! She has become used to the other bouncer that does not move but allows her to bounce up and down, so when she's in her walker she does the same thing lol. She stomps, and stomps, and stomps (trying to bounce) around the house, not realizing she can move forwards and backwards just by making regular quiet steps.

My wife has tried numerous times to show her and push her around in it, but I think she just enjoys stomping around the house, making all that noise that comes with each stomp. She slowly moves forward with each stomp, and lately she's been creeping forward. Going backwards is no problem, she just sits and leans back and there she rolls. 

Soon enough she'll get it, and will be zipping around the house...but for now we (along with our downstairs neighbors) have to bear with the pitter patter of little stomps around the house. 

Neglect...!!!

I must say that I apologize for neglecting this blog for so long. There has been so many things going on that I have yet to sit and write...but we'll get back on track! Please continue to read and enjoy our adventures as first time parents. 

And We're Off!!!

Everyone has been asking that age old question: has she started crawling yet?!

Well for those inquiring minds that want to know: yes, she has! But...backwards!

It was about a week ago when my wife had our daughter on the bed with her, we either have her sitting on a blanket on the floor in the living room, or the bed with a bunch of toys around her. well our daughter was playing with her toys when one rolled away. When it happened she looked around at her other toys, then at the wife, then back at the toy. I guess she thought: "ok, guess she's not going to get it for me so I have to get this toy back." She leaned forward and laid flat on her belly in the middle of the bed. Now she tried reaching and stretching but nope, couldn't reach the toy. Then she curled one knee under her, kicked off and was ready ready to go! My wife was right there, clapping and cheering her on, yelling yay she's crawling! she's crawling!

we were both so very happy until we realized....wait....she's moving farther and farther away from the toy, not closer. That's when we both realized she wasn't crawling forwards, but backwards! We shrugged and kept on cheering...hey; a crawl is a crawl, she knows which way she wants to go and if backwards is her choice, whelp we will cheer it on.

Our daughter now knows how to crawl backwards, scootch a little forwards, and turn herself all the way around in a  circle, but moving forwards...she has yet to master.

My wife and I are pretty happy about this, this just means  that she will not be moving forwards to get into stuff just yet. But when she does...oh boy will we be in trouble!