It's so very peaceful...

Tinysaur is sleeping through the night. I put her down to sleep at around 6:30 in the evening, she gets up for a bit of water at around 9pm (I find that if I feed her milk, she gets up CONSTANTLY afterwards) and sleeps through until 5am.

After she has her early morning bottle at 5am, she will lie in her cot and babble and talk away to herself quite happily until she drifts back off to sleep again - she used to have a cot mobile, but she flattened the battery by constantly pressing the star to make it turn on.... And I got so sick of hearing the first 5 notes of "Baa Baa Black sheep" every few seconds.

She is such a joy to be around at the moment, she loves giving tons of cuddles, will make a fake 'kiss' sound when she tries to kiss you, and LOVES to giggle and laugh while she plays. She has completely destroyed her Very Hungry Caterpillar book, and cries when it's not in her book cupboard for her to find (she likes to pull all her toys out herself).

One really big talent I have noticed she's got is the ability to find the SMALLEST POSSIBLE piece of dirt or pebble which is on the carpet. And no matter how hard I vacuum, she still manages to find something.

So life is absolutely fantastic at the moment. Daddysaur and I went through a tiny rough patch, but lately we've been relaxing quite a bit with each other and we're fine again. And with a little bundle who kicks her legs and waves excitedly when she sees us - why wouldn't we be fine??

Guess What I found today!!

A tooth. Yes, guys, that's right. Obviously teething does not bother my child whatsoever (despite previous thoughts), because there is a little white stump (which is actually really hard!!) on her bottom gum. I dropped her off at Grandma's today while I was at work and we discovered a tooth when I went to pick her up.

Gee - she doesn't like to do things one at a time! She must be a good multi-tasker like her Mum.

UPDATE: Second tooth found today! Wow - I'm hoping she stops with the surprises now.

Big Milestone!!

We have a crawler!!! Over the last few days, Tinysaur has been getting up on all fours and just rocking on the spot, and making sure everyone was watching her and cheering her on. But today, I was watching her out of the corner of my eye, and saw her do her first 'shuffle' across the floor. Sure, it was only about two paces across the floor - but she CRAWLED.

Her face was so funny as well - a look of complete surprise! Unfortunately, Daddysaur missed it because he was having a Daddy nap.

My Poor Ears

A couple of weeks ago, the little man and I went with my mom and grandma to visit some relatives. The little man was angelic on the plane ride (it was a quick one) and decently behaved on the car ride to our final destination - for a baby who had been stuck in a stroller or car seat all afternoon and evening.

Even in the new environment and unfamiliar crib, he did fine. It wasn't until we put him in his play yard (brought from home) that we had a problem. Any time people were not focusing 100% of their attention on him, he would shriek at the top of his little lungs. It was not pretty. Same thing happened when we were in a situation where he needed to be held rather than being allowed to roam around on the floor.

Because we were with a bunch of older people and because every first time mom worries about being judged, I was a lot quicker to respond to his demands than I would be at home. In our own environment, I would make a bigger effort not to reinforce his behavior, but away from home there are different challenges. So in the end, I think I created a monster.

Ever since that trip, when the little man doesn't get his way, the screeching begins. It's awful and it makes me crazy. I have no idea how I am going to break him of it. My approach so far is to ignore the screaming and give him extra attention when he plays quietly or attempts to express himself in a less unpleasant manner. I have no idea if it's working or if it will ever work, though.
Do any more experienced moms out there have other ideas? I really don't want the little man to become one of those obnoxious babies that no one wants to be around.

Reflection...

While enjoying a hot cup of coffee the other day (yes, one of those rare hot coffees!!) I reflected on the last 6 months of my journey with Tinysaur. I can remember being 12 weeks pregnant, and so excited about the little peanut growing inside me, I can remember the sleepless nights later on when I got huuuge, and I can remember (very well) the day my boobs first started to leak. In public. Downtown. With no spare change of clothes. I struggle to remember the labour. No, really, I do!!

And I miss being able to pass off my belly fat for a baby bump. Now I have to remember to hold it in, and fat sucker pants are my new best friends.

But the funny thing is that I can't ever remember what it was like now to be without a baby in tow.

Today she started saying 'Dadadada'. It was so cute. She is going well - enjoying trying different foods - her favourite is cooked peaches cut up, she loves her bathtime, and she loves the new cot mobile I got her. She is starting to cry if you take something off her, and will get very cranky if you are trying to dress her and she wants to wiggle around butt naked. Her favourite thing to do after we change her on the change table is to stand up and put her hand on the wall next to her hand print we have framed. She likes being tickled under the arms. She likes to grab you by the ears and pull you towards her and slobber all over your face.

Best of all? When she lifts her arms up to get lifted out of her cot.... Nawww....

And there's more....

After putting Tinysaur to bed tonight (which was sooooo easy tonight! - BOY is this a rollercoaster!!) I opened up my email to discover babycenter had sent me something for this week - 50 reasons why it's fun to be a parent.

My favourites would have to be:

• Gazing into your baby's eyes and knowing he trusts you totally.
• Discovering how infectious a baby's giggles can be.
• Crying when you see a baby born on TV, understanding how mothers feel everywhere

and then one which I really look forward to:

Hearing my Tinysaur say "mum" and wondering who that is, then realising - it's ME!!!

Aww.....

Count your Blessings...

My little tinysaur and I are at loggerheads lately - she wakes up about every hour during the night, and I can no longer put her down in the cot until she is fully asleep. The lovely routine I had established with her has gone cactus, thanks to her carer's different methods and refusal to even loosely follow my routine and methods.

Over the past two weeks which were my holidays from work, I have tried controlled comforting, introducing nightlights/toys/thumbsucking, etc. And nothing is really working. I have googled baby sleep problems that many times I think I have read nearly everything there is on separation anxiety and the like.

Today, when we were playing Tinysaur started to get a little grizzly. I stood her up on my lap, and just gave her kisses on the belly and tried to make her laugh.

Grabbing either side of my face, she pulled me towards her and proceeded to bombard me with wet, sloppy, huge kisses. At a point where I was sad and a bit bummed out she totally lifted my spirits.

Those huge sloppy kisses turned my day around, and made me step back and count my blessings, and appreciate what I have in life. I am so lucky to have my Tinysaur in life, that I shouldn't sweat the small things. And I love her more than anything in the world.