Stand and Deliver

Since she got two rubber duckies in her stocking, Rachel has been getting to take baths instead of showers for the past few nights. She really seems to love it, and it saves water. We only fill the bath up 6-8 inches and it's enough for her to splash around in. She's shown crawling-like inclinations as she tries to get to ducks out of reach and she talks to them. The baths also allow Lori to participate a little more; she can sit outside the shower on the floor with the shower door open and play with the baby, too. Last night, Lori had left to take care of some stuff and the door was still open. Rachel leaned towards the edge of the shower, walked her hands up the side of the tub, until she could grasp the ledge that would be outside of the shower doors, to keep water in the shower. Then she began to pull herself up. The first two times, she started to fall to one side partway up. But if I sat her back down in the water, she would splash for a few seconds and then lean forward and try it again. She seemed to do more pulling with her arms than pushing with her legs, but pretty soon she was standing on her own repeatedly without falling to one side in the process.

I really think the past few days have hit another milestone... she just seems more perceptive, more alert and much closer to talking and walking than she did even just a few days ago. Still, no signs of a desire to walk. I think it's because she's learning a lot by observing and she doesn't see us crawling.

Last night she ate the whole bowl of rice cereal without making a mess. The only mess was when I dribbled some on her (ok, and me too.)

Another toy she got for Christmas is a Baby Winnie that Pooh that 'magically dances' It comes with a baby rattle and when that is shaken, the toy wiggles around. Pretty clever, and you could see her starting to realize the cause and effect. It's so awesome to see discovery and thought in her, or any child or adult for that matter... that look of "dawning" as they start to put two and two together.

Merry Christmas!

Well Baby

Rachel had her six-month "Well Baby" appointment yesterday. She had to get stuck four times. She didn't enjoy that, but it's interesting how quickly babies seem to forget shots... like a few seconds after each one, they're fine and happy again. The pain is fleeting. To have that kind of innocence would be awesome. At least in situations like that.

She is 25-3/4" long and 16lb6oz and her head is 17-1/4" in circumference. Length and weight are right at the 50th percentile and the head is a little larger. The fluid in her ears from the ear infections looks much better, but she did have to have one ear scraped so the doctor could see into it -- she has narrow ear canals. She did not like that.

She threw such a fit at one point that the doctor said "ooh, a bit of a temper." and we were both thinking to ourselves "Nuh-uh. Not our sunshine." But, it could be true, she could end up with a temper, with me as her dad. On that, still working on the being positive and learning from her thing. She does have such a happy life.

With support, she thinks about the walking thing, sometimes taking a few steps. If she's sitting on the bed and we come up and lean against it, she will grab onto us and try to pull herself to standing. She isn't yet pushing enough with her legs, trying to do all the work with her arms. The other night she was in her playpen and all of the sudden we looked over and she was at the edge with her arms over gazing out. Really not sure how she was able to get to that stage. She wasn't in any danger, but if she repeats that too much, then we'll need to abandon the bassinet attachment and just use the larger playard area, which will bum her out because she seems to love sitting up so high, surveying the room.

Can You Hear Me Now?

Rachel's cold was on its way out when she got a fever. Back to the doctors and yep, ear infections in both ears. Grrrrr.... So she went on amoxicillin(sp?) and a day and a half later the fever broke. She seems to be getting much better and she's been mostly sleeping through the night and actually sleeping quite a bit during the day, too.

Hello, darkness my old friend

Ah, it's like heaven. The heat is back on in our house and Rachel has blessed us with two nearly complete nights of sleep. She has also given us her cold. Hopefully it passes quickly.

Cold Watch 2004

Rachel's cold seems much better today. She's still a little stuffy, but the conjunctivitis seems to be completely gone. We're still doing the eye drops and she's still hating it, but overall, she seems much happier, especially when she's sitting on mom's lap looking around. When I hold her she cries and wants to go back to mom.

Still Sick

Rachel's still got a cold. The eye gunk was separate -- conjunctivitis, aka pink eye... highly contagious to child and adult alike. Fortunately, we've not gotten it, but we do now have to give Rachel eye drops three times a day. She really hates it, but forgives us quickly. She seems to also be teething a lot. The dog running around the dining room entertained her for awhile today. And the baby tylenol seems to have helped. She's still coughing, but she doesn't whine/cry after each cough anymore, just sometimes. The doctor's advice is just to ride it out. Easier said than done.

Overparenting

MSNBC.COM -- This was an interesting article (link above). On one hand, our pediatrician said that we were some of the calmest first-time parents he had encountered (did he tell a lot of parents that? did he mean we were too calm? probably not), we had planned to buy that thing that sits in the grocery cart seat, which this article points to as a visual indicator of someone who's over-parenting. Guess we'd better cross that off the list.

Study: Laptop Use Could Lead to Infertility

MSNBC.COM -- A recent study cautions men against using laptops balanced on their laps, suggesting that the act of sitting with one's legs together, and then the laptop on top would lead to warmer temperatures and possibility fertility problems.

Sounds Like

If there's no sweeter sound than my baby's laugh (ok, it's a tie with Lori telling me she loves me), then there is no sadder sound than a baby crying because she doesn't feel good. Rachel's got a mild cold. Last night it was coughing and a gooky eye, and today it's just the cough, though possibly more of a cough. But Rachel feels cruddy and you can just tell by her cry. I am thankful that it's only her second cold and that I'm better about it. With her first cold, I was pretty ticked off at the daycare. This time, I'm all about taking care of her and hoping it passes quickly. I spent the day with her. We went to the mall and walked around and Christmas shopped.

If they could just stay little

I don't know how it is for her mom, but I struggle constantly wishing Rachel could walk/talk/eat solid foods/play N64, but at the same time, wishing she would always stay tiny, have the cute little crew cut and be tiny enough to dance on my stomach. I hope that doesn't make me discontent, or unappreciative of this amazing little creature. Her wonderment, her simple joy, the way she lights up my life is just amazing. Why would I possibly want her to change? I guess it's a desire to share, to teach, to impart. And maybe some of that comes from her inherent desire to explore her world... to see her reach for the keyboard as I type, to see her frustration when she wants to communicate with us but we're just not understanding what she wants to tell us.

But one reason I wish she could always stay little comes from what we were reading last night.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen. -- Ephesians 4:29

As she grows and begins to be able to converse with us, will her sweet nature continue to compell us to be sweeter, or will my negative attitudes and cutting wit wear off on her? Will she be calling other drivers bastards or shouting "Go back to Georgia" when she sees an out of state license plate? Or will we be saying "Honey, look at those flowers growing alongside the freeway!"

The clock is ticking...

Study: Ultrasounds won't hurt baby

MSNBC.COM -- A new study done in Australia says that there are no effects of having multiple ultrasounds done. Which I think is great news because that was the best part about going to the doctor with Lori -- was seeing the little baby.

Wow...Teething Sucks

Rachel had severe teething pain over the weekend. I've never heard her scream like she was doing Sunday night, even after Orajel was applied. I really don't like her having to go through all that in order for her teeth to break through. James and I talked about it, and he said that maybe it's like a butterfly in a cocoon. If they don't fight their way out and have pain and struggles, they won't be strong enough to fly. I'd like to think it's something similar and that the experience will make her stronger and better able to handle hurt in the future. Although I'd much rather have her not be hurt in the future, but I guess that's a part of life and something for which we'll need to prepare ourselves.

She has continued to have fussiness this week, and it's been tough at times keeping her her little chipper self. She doesn't want to be held, doesn't want to be in the bouncer, doesn't want to be in the playyard playing with toys, doesn't want blanket time...but at least those times pass. I think once the first few teeth break through, it'll be much easier and not so painful for her. Plus, she'll be able to start eating much more fun things than rice cereal, so yay!

And through the teething times, if you talk to her, she'll smile right at you, even when she has tears still on her face from the pain she's been feeling. Sweet little baby.