The Object of My Affection

I am TIRED! The funny thing, however, is that Maia slept very well!! She went to be easily and stayed asleep. The reason I am tired is because I couldn’t fall asleep, every time she moved, I looked at her to make sure she was OK. To make sure the blanket wasn’t wrapped around her. To make sure her pacifier was within reach, because she did ‘wake up’ frequently to look for it. To make sure she wasn’t too close to the edge of the mattress because I didn’t want her to fall off. (She couldn’t possibly get hurt, but I didn’t want her to fall off and have it scare her or wake her.) She cried out somewhere around 5 a.m. I tried to just rub her back and soothe her, but that didn’t work. I picked her up and she calmed right down. She didn’t want me to put her back though! The first time I tried, she woke up and cried again. (She had fallen asleep in my arms.) The second time, I lay down with her on my chest and we both sort of fell asleep. I again tried to get her off, but nope! So, I tried the other thing the baby house had told me. Sometimes she just wants a drink. Well, she wasn’t acting like that, but I thought, I’ll try her sippy cup with a little water and see what happens. She lay on her mattress and drank some. Then she started thrashing the cup about and playing with it, so I took it away and she fell asleep! I’ve got to remember the water for next time too!! Whatever the reason she woke up, it was short lived and easy to calm her down. She woke up about 7 a.m. and I don’t know if she played quietly for an hour or if she fell back asleep, but I know that I, indeed, fell back asleep and she then woke me up at 8 a.m. It was a pleasant surprise to have had it go so well.

We got up and had breakfast – she ate Oatmeal and then her first dry Cheerios! She really liked them. She enjoyed her breakfast. I love breakfast, and enjoy it the most as a meal to enjoy with my kids. I can't wait to make her breakfast at home. Especially french toast - a favorite of mine and Matthew's!!

She played for a while and we had a nice morning. In the baby house, she was on a schedule to take two naps from 10-12 and 3-5 and then sleep from 8-7. I know she never slept all the way to noon (at least recently) because we were there by noon everyday and she was never just getting up. In fact, she seemed quite awake. Mom and I thought she could probably do with just one nap after lunch for her age, so I was going to start that today. It was pretty obvious though, about 11:30 she was going to need that nap! So, I fed her a little early and she is now taking her nap. It turns out, she only slept one hour for the early nap, which meant she definitely needed a second nap. I put her to sleep for that nap at 3:00 and she fell asleep at 3:30. She woke up on her own, just about 5:15. I was only going to let her sleep until 5:30 at the latest.

At lunch, I gave her more chicken and tried the cauliflower baby food. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a baby hate something as much as she hated cauliflower! She gagged, twice. The first time, I thought she was ‘acting’ and I didn’t quite catch on… The second time though, I understood! She wasn’t having anything to do with that cauliflower. So, I’ve thrown that away. Instead, she ate the rest of the chicken, peas, and a whole jar of Cherries. She LOVED the peas and Cherries. She basically went immediately to bed after lunch and I didn’t stay in the room with her this time to ‘get’ her to sleep. I did however watch her from the door through a crack until she was asleep since the room is not baby proof. There was no need – she fell asleep quickly. So now – I’m going to take a nap!! I promise I won’t give a blow by blow of every day of her life, but for the first 24 hours, *or so*, I am detailing it all out – if nothing else so I remember it all!!

Well, I never did nap. As soon as I started to get tired enough to sleep she woke up. We went for a walk outside. It wasn’t a long walk but it was so warm outside today that it was great to get out. I took Maia in the baby carrier. She was all bundled up from head to toe and since she was facing forward, I couldn’t see her face. I kept asking Mom how she was reacting. She said she was serious with really wide eyes. She certainly didn’t mind it, and she loves being in the carrier. For me, on the other hand, it was much more difficult than it was when we were in the baby room.

After the outing, we had played, and then had a snack. Banana again and a cookie and milk. She downed it all. Then, the next nap. After nap she was very cheerful and we played some more. She is really walking more and more and will be quite the pro before too long. She wasn’t barely taking any steps when we arrived, so seeing her cross a room at times is amazing. She is very proud of herself too!!

For dinner, she had real food, not baby food. Mom sat with her and helped her when she needed help. She had some shredded roaster chicken, and chunks of carrots and home fries. Man, first of all, you can tell she hasn’t really fed herself before. She loves the freedom to do that. (Although one look around and one can TELL she’s never fed herself before.) She also seems to think we’ll take it away from her, so I’m trying to show her that we won’t. She ate every last carrot, potato and piece of chicken we served her. One funny thing is she bites everything, meaning no matter what size the carrot, or potato, she takes a bite of it, and doesn’t eat the whole thing at once. Hence, the mess. She even bit her Cheerios in half, or maybe thirds!!

Although we only gave her a sponge bath tonight, she feared the whole shebang and wasn’t happy at all. I still think she’ll get used to it eventually.

Then we had fun singing and dancing. No, really! She threw every toy on the floor. She played with her shoes. She sang when their was music and bopped around to the beat. Again, she was quite proud.

That was our first full day together. After all that it was time for bed. She went right to sleep and hopefully will have another wonderful night. I look forward to our second full day together!