The problem with Kate’s sleep schedule is that she is just like me: left to our own devices both bedtime and wake time slips later and later. It sounds like a good thing that we do the same thing, but it’s bad – I need someone to keep me on track! These 10am mornings make me late for everything, pushes nap time way late, and, worst of all, results in me being wide awake at 1am. I need to start setting my alarm, but in the past that plan has failed me because I half wake up, realize I have no actual reason to get out of bed and doesn’t more sleep sound nice? Then I turn off the alarm and fall back asleep. (This has been my problem since I was a child, staying up late to read and refusing to wake up in the morning. Kate follows in my footsteps here.)

Kate has had a couple of great days. I’ve made a point to get out of the house and give her my full attention and it has resulted in a much happier, nicer child. She has been very sweet, very interactive, and throwing far less tantrums. Though I suspect a large part of her attitude was just a phase, we all weren’t feeling well and she does have those weeks where behavior is just not typical. In any case I am happy we are back on track!

She is starting to do more imaginative play. Today her Elmo doll was swinging, climbing, and needed a diaper change. At home she’s been bringing her dishes to me to “eat” and “drink” and at the children’s museum today she used the play food to make a sandwich. It’s so interesting watching them mimic and act things out. She continues to add to her vocabulary and it’s fun listening to her describe everything in her own perspective now.

Poor Ember on the other hand is just not having a good time at all this week. At first I thought she was getting sick, as she did have a runny nose for a couple days. But now that’s gone, Kate and I are no longer even a little sick, and Ember is still a very cranky baby. I am thinking she hit the 3 month growth spurt. She’s crying a lot more than usual, and it will just come out of nowhere – her body movements and the type of cry make me think pain. Nothing really makes her happy right now except nursing, so she’s spending a lot of time at the boob without really eating a lot. She wants to be held all the time, she’s not at all happy being left in the bouncer, and even when she’s fallen asleep I’ll put her in the swing and she’s awake crying 10 minutes later. I feel so bad for her, I’m giving her lots of snuggles and kisses. Luckily she’s still sleeping at night fine, just nursing more than usual which isn’t a big deal for me. If she needs to sleep snuggled up to me so be it. I’m just not used to her being clingy!

I did bring out the exersaucer today for the first time. Kate thought it was her toy and was crawling in and on it, of course. But while Kate was napping I put Ember in it with a pillow stuffed behind her. She’s pretty young for it so she didn’t last long before she had enough, but it was so funny watching her stare at the toys and touch everything…. and drool. My gosh does this kid drool! I had a bunch of baby bibs for Kate and couldn’t figure out what the heck they were for, they all sat untouched. Well now I know! Ember soaks the front of her onesies if I don’t put a bib on her. When sitting on my lap drool constantly dribbles onto my arm. Yuck! She’s been experimenting with her tongue and different sounds, so that makes bubbles and even more drool. I hope she’s not an early teether. I’m not ready to deal with that yet!

Hey look at this! Fastest Rising Baby Names, guess who is on that list under “More girls on the rise”? I find that funny because before we chose Ember the only person we’d ever heard of with that name was someone Den went to elementary school with (many many years ago!). We just liked it, it suited us and our family. Now when people ask what her name is and I tell them I get a lot of, “Oh, my neice/cousin/friend of a friend just named their baby that!” Okay maybe not a lot, but it happens far more than I expected. Go figure!

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Ember wants to be entertained. Here I thought I was going to have an itty bitty baby, I could sit her on my lap and do whatever I wanted! Fail. She wants my attention and she wants to talk. She’ll be squawking as I carry her around the house on my hip but when I put her down on the bed to change her she gives me a big smile, blows bubbles, and babbles some sounds at me. Well that fixed it, mama! Let me show you what I can do! I have to say, she’s a very charming child. Anyone at all looks at her she’s all cute smiles and coos.

I am so happy that things feel so much more normal with her now! It did take a while to bond with her and sort through the fear and weirdness. But now I can’t help but giving her little kisses on the top of her head all day long (why are their heads so soft and kissable?!) and I just feel at ease. I know her little quirks and personality now, I know the faces she makes, I know how she gets a rash from disposable diapers. I know that kissing her on her belly gets a huge smile and she just started a “Heh heh heh!” laugh. When she’s being a grouch I know which voice is her annoyed whine and when it’s about to get serious. She makes me smile a lot. I’m so glad she decided to land in my life and shake me up a bit.

(Yes, she gets a rash from disposable diapers. For a long while I was doing cloth at home and sposies when we went out and she had a rash that kept coming and going – red and dry skin and very angry-looking. I started using creams to combat it. Then I went on vacation and took only sposies. She started getting red on the plane, and it got worse by the time I arrived. That afternoon it looked horrible! The entire time I was there I was slathering on moisturizer and diaper cream. I ended up using some of my friend’s cloth diapers and would see an improvement. When I got home I put her in the cloth full time and it’s gone. She does get red when she’s wet and sitting in it, but it’s just red, not bumpy and dry and flakey.)