Seven Minutes

This afternoon it took a little longer. It always seems like it will last forever...

Three Minutes

I have been struggling with the nap routine this week at the house where I'm babysitting this summer... not wanting to stress Erica out by leaving her in a strange place but knowing it was hard to settle her down for the same reason. I knew that in the five days between yesterday and next Wednesday I would need to practice laying her down awake to settle herself down. It is hard. I hate it. I question myself. I knew she was tired, she was falling apart on our walk with Nanette. She wouldn't even let me read one time, "Goodnight Moon" or sing all the way through "Jesus Loves Me." I had to put her down. She cried so loud. I didn't want to do it. Then I sat down with the computer and looked at the time. Three minutes and she was silent as a sweet dream.

I hear

• the fan coming through the baby monitor while she is sleeping
• all her fun little new words she says: Da da, Ma Ma, blah blah, puh puh, blub blub, hi!
• new way of crying, very soft blub blub, really brings a new meaning to the word "blubbering"
• very faint clapping sounds
• drumming on many different toys
• at least a few little barking frogs, making Russell crack up laughing (passing gas)

I smell

• yummy yummy baby bath smell on her hair
• telltale signs that she has filled her diaper

I taste

• any food that I'm not sure is cool enough for baby
• formula on the occasion there is a blocked bottle nipple
• any food stuck to her hair or skin when I don't have a washcloth handy (like a mommy kitten)

I see

• sweetest eyes
• most precious little rose lips
• yellow golden gorgeous hair
• learning new skills all the time like sitting up from face down position

I feel

• soft skin
• slippery after bath
• warm hugs
• getting heavier all the time
• awesome settled down baby rocking for bed
• strong pulling against my turning pages when she wants to turn her own pages
• sweet little hands on my legs now that she can scoot her way into the bathroom while I'm getting ready

This week's fun milestones

Erica is working hard on one big milestone -- crawling. She isn't quite there, but it is only a matter of days. For a few weeks she has been leaning over, reaching for toys, and almost acting like she is ready to crawl, only to forget to put her arms out front and fall right on her face. Ouch! She sometimes cries, sometimes just lays there. I can only imagine she's thinking, "Doh, not again." That is if she is thinking in Homer Simpson's language, which I hope not. Or the Simpson Dad, can't remember his name. She's also had a hard time figuring out what to do with one of her legs, which gets stuck up under her bottom when she's trying to lean over into the all-fours position.

I saw a video on Babycenter.com about developmental steps that lead to crawling. When a baby can get from tummy down position into the sitting up position, she is physically ready to crawl. This week Erica figured that out for the first time! AND she clapped for the first time right after doing it. The whole family is very good about cheering for Erica whenever she accomplishes absolutely anything, so she is used to people clapping for her. My guess is that she has been wanting to somehow get up from the "fell on my face" position, and when she did it, she was also ready to cheer for herself. So cute. Just the best.

Another fun thing Erica did this week was to melt her Daddy's heart into hot butter. She has said similar things in the past, but one day this week it was the most clear-sounding full sentence ever heard from an eight-and-a-half month-old. Erica was sitting in her high chair when Russell walked in the door after work. She just as plain as a big kid said, "Hi Dad-dy!" I really thought Russell was going to fall on the floor. His reaction was as cute as her little feat.

One last milestone really is a work in progress. Whenever Erica falls asleep in the car, even if for just a couple of minutes, she wakes up when we bring her inside and take her out of her car seat. She just can't seem to transfer. We have left her in the car seat for short periods of time, but she still wakes up after no more than 10 or 15 minutes. Today after a long outing and no real morning nap, I thought she just might be tired enough to stay asleep if I took her out. She did! Then she slept about 45 minutes which was a nice little nap.

Every day is a new trick and I believe that all this activity is also making Erica grow! Yesterday I dressed her in a new one-piece playsuit and Russell noticed it was too tight around her thighs. Now she doesn't seem to be a real fat baby, but that suit was definitely not going to work. We have lots of beautiful dresses for her to wear that still fit, but dresses have been getting really tangled during her crawling attempts, so we are putting together play outfits of t-shirts and shorts in her NEW size.... drumroll... 18 months! Now most of her 12 month clothes still fit, just not one-piece suits. Yikes.

We are really looking forward to what the next milestones will be like. Crawling, here we come!