![\"\"](\"http:\/\/lunardreams.net\/baby\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/12\/DSC_9364.jpg\" "\\"DSC_9364\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe other night I was driving home from somewhere later in the day, and night had already fallen – it hits so early now. Night is hard for me to take Kate anywhere because I can’t see her in the mirror without some form of ambient light. But this trip there was silence from the back seat. I turned up the music a little bit, smiled, and relaxed, thinking about how much appreciate a nice drive with a sleeping baby. It occurred to me then that somewhere in the last few months I have stopped worrying when she fell asleep in the car. When she was a newborn and I was driving it was always hard. Either she was crying, or she was peacefully sleeping and I, though relieved, was nervously looking in the mirror every few minutes to make sure I could see her breathing. I don’t even know when that nervousness went away. I guess I’ve driven around with her sleeping enough times that it’s become normal, expected.<\/p>\n
During the day she now naps in our bedroom for an hour or two all by herself. I don’t find myself pressing my ear against the monitor speaker much anymore, and I don’t have to fight the urge to check on her (our door makes noise, checking on her always runs the risk of waking her up). Some days I want to just turn off the monitor, because every rustle that she makes has my nerves tingling, thinking she’s going to be awake any second – which doesn’t give me a very restful break.<\/p>\n
Kate is obsessed with pulling up to her feet now. She’s trying to pull up on everything, but is really only successful grabbing our hands. She still falls a lot, so my job during the day is now to be The Spotter. I get to sit there for hours, sitting her up, holding her up, catching her when she falls, and being the monkey bars as she yanks on my clothing trying to do it herself. She used to sit and play with toys. Now she sits and plays with toys, then leans forward on her hands and knees, rocks back and forth, and slides onto her belly. She used to roll around. Now she tries to pull on objects, fails, and yells for help. I have to sit her back up and let her do it again. While I am fascinated by her growing abilities and totally proud of my child, I am also very bored. I watch a lot of TV. I know this is bad – especially given how terrible TV is right now.<\/p>\n