Monthly Newsletter - 5 Months
WALK THIS WAY
We’ve created a monster. We started teaching Button “baby steps,†where she holds onto our fingers and takes little, wobbly steps, one foot in front of the other. We figured she would enjoy this based on the way she loves to grab our fingers and pull herself into a standing position.
I do believe she has made the connection between these baby steps and moving from Point A to Point B. Now, she is no longer content to lay, sit or stand for any period of time, especially when she sees something (or someone) on the other side of the room that interests her. It’s never long before she starts looking around and getting that little pre-fuss of discontentment. And if she’s standing and we’re not assisting with baby steps, she starts trying to leap her way across the room, which—if we’re not careful—results in a face plant on the carpet.
Though not yet to the point of being able to pull herself from a laying to a sitting position, she has gotten quite good at sitting recently and can sit up without falling over for an almost-indefinite period of time. This is nice because the fancy-schmancy mobile she had previously become bored with is like a new toy from the sitting-up angle, so we’re enjoying her renewed interest in it.
NANNY TRANSITION…AGAIN
We got some unfortunate news recently that, due to a contract stipulation with her school district, Mindy would be unable to continue to be Button’s nanny. We were all very sad about this, as Button seemed to enjoy her time with Mindy, and we had really appreciated being able to have Button at our house every day.
As he tends to do, God provided us a solution with another friend of ours who was looking for a nanny position in order to get out of her current job situation. Kathy happens to live only minutes from our house and has a 17-month old boy, so the two kids will be able to get some social interaction during the day.
Kathy starts this week, and we think things are really going to work out well. We are thrilled that our Little Button will still get to spend the day with someone we know personally, and also that she will continue to get to spend most of her time at our house, in an environment she is familiar and comfortable with.
OTHER TRANSITIONING
The time of breastfeeding has come to an end and we are officially on straight formula now. Little Button has finally taken to the taste of it and doesn’t reject it anymore as long as it’s heated to the perfect temperature. (I told you she was picky, right?)
A relief by all measures.
I must confess that although I found breastfeeding to be a valuable and rewarding part of my child’s development, it’s nice to be able to drink caffeine and eat hot dogs again.
Formula is expensive, and we are spoiling ourselves by buying the ready-to-serve kind because…well frankly, mixing powder is annoying.
But it’s so nice to never worry about having enough to feed her, about what effects my meals will have on her digestive tract, or about what to do if we’re in public and she gets hungry. At first I went through a bit of guilt over the transition, but I’m getting over that now and enjoying it.
We did recently feel the effects of no longer having the breast milk immunity factor, however. Little Button came down with her first cold the other day, probably because we are bad parents and let her chew on a paper coaster in a restaurant.
Said cold was complete with itchy watery eyes, red, runny nose, coughing and the most pitiful pout known to man. She doesn’t cry or get overly fussy when she’s sick, she just mopes. And it breaks your heart every time you look at her, which leads to multiple hugs and carrying her around all day just because. And then when she’s well again, she doesn’t understand why she is no longer in your arms every waking minute.
Fortunately, she seems to have inherited my immune system, complete with the ability to sleep anything off. After 24 hours of heavy napping and a good night’s sleep, she was back to her normal self and the coughing/sneezing/dripping/pouting was no more.
All in all, the past month has flown by and we continue to be amazed at our daughter’s growth and development. Each new stage is more fun than the last and we can’t wait to see what the next month will bring.
