Friday, June 19, 2009

Teething Pains

Teething Pain for E = nipple pain for mom.  My daughter is using me as a teether.  I didn't realize until last night, how sore I am.  I've started using the lanolin that I got when I started breastfeeding on my nipples again.  Last night, as she slowly gnawed on my nipple, I said "Oh, stop that!  That hurts Mommy!"  She stopped, looked at me, smiled, then went right back to doing it again.  I've been sticking my finger in her mouth to break the bite when she does it, but I think I'm going to have to get a little more serious now, since that's not working.  I certainly don't want her thinking she can do that to me once her teeth have cut through.
And when will those teeth come?  I feel like the kid's been teething for months!  I will not be surprised if five teeth sprout all at once.  In fact, last night when she was chewing on my finger, she was doing a ton of chewing with her top gums, not just her bottoms.  Oh boy!

Another one of her favorite chew toys is my cell phone.  I have learned the hard way that it doesn't make a good chew toy.  I now cannot talk on my cell phone.  There must be slobber, spit-up and other gunk in the speaker, so that when I call someone, it sounds like I'm in a cave on the other side of the world.  I now can only use my phone with the hands-free device.  Luckily, it should still be under warranty, so I'll be taking it to the cell-phone store today.

Also with the chewing comes the total disdain for pureed foods.  E will have none of that.  I now have to feed her small chopped morsels of food.  Her favorites so far are pears, peaches, peas, olives and avocado.  She had some cod the other day and seemed to enjoy that as well.  For snacks, I give her Pirate's Booty (a puffed rice & corn snack made with spinach & kale), freeze dried fruits and snap-pea crisps.  These new foods make diaper changing fun!

On the crawling front, she is still moving backwards, but gets her belly off the floor much better and more often.  She is beginning to figure out how to move her knees under her body, and once she has that, all she'll have to do is figure out how to coordinate it all.  That should be no problem.  She has no problem moving herself around the living room, even if she's going in circles.

I feel so fortunate to have such an easy going, happy child.  It sure has made this parenting thing a breeze.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Teething, Crawling, Eating & Playing

TEETHING

This week has been crazy for poor little E.  She's been super moody and fussy, as we await the emergence of those two bottom teeth.  She chews on everything, my fingers being her favorite, and wakes up in the middle of the night screaming.  It's so sad to watch her go through this.  We've tried everything - frozen teethers, teething drops, teething tablets, and now we're on to vanilla extract.  Our next door neighbors mentioned that, and it seemed to do the trick last night.  And still we wait...

CRAWLING

E began this week (3 days ago) moving her body on the floor like a windshield wiper while on her belly.  Yesterday was Paul's birthday, and for his birthday, E scooched herself backwards on her belly about 8 inches.  So just in the past few days she's been doing super on her belly, pushing herself up and getting her belly off the floor.  Who knows, by the end of the week, we may have a crawling baby!  Of course, she still cries when you put her down there.  I'm never sure if it's because she's frustrated that she can't move or if her teeth are bothering her.  If only she would talk...

EATING

E is an eating champ (or was, before the teething issues began).  Her favorites these days are pears, avocadoes (specifically, guacamole), apples and garlic mashed potatoes.  Today I bought some Veggie Booty and gave her some (of course, I broke them up even smaller than they come because she hasn't had anything but purees up until now).  She picked them up with a pincer grasp (thumb & first finger -- special ed teacher in me showing), and fed them to herself.  She LOVED them!  That's good, because they are a healthy snack food, made with corn, rice, spinach and kale.  Yep, my daughter eats kale.  I will never let her know what is in Veggie Booty, lest she decide she hates it and never eats it again. Smile

PLAYING

Two great things have happened this summer.  #1 Our pool opened; and #2 we bought a bike trailer.  Now we can have summertime fun with the Belchigator.  We have taken her on one trip in the bike trailer - to the Beaverton Farmer's Market.  We had to take a few breaks, but I'm sure she'll get used to the contraption soon.  We've been swimming in the pool twice since it opened last weekend.  E loves the pool!  We put her in her little innertube floaty, and she kicks herself around!  It's hysterical to watch.  Today when we were in the pool, she began splashing with her hands.  I think that soon we'll be able to synchronize the two, and may have an olympic swimmer on our hands!