Dear Kyveli,
First of all, big news! Remember that disappearing tooth I mentioned last month? Well, it finally popped through! One morning (November 1, in case you're keeping track) I felt your gums while feeding you breakfast, and sure enough, there was the tiniest sharp little corner of the bottom right incisor peeking through the surface. We couldn't even see it yet, but it was definitely there. Within a week, it had come through completely and the one next to it was also beginning to emerge. See?!
Thankfully, it didn't seem to cause you much distress when it broke the surface, although in looking back, your daddy did tell me you were practically a drool faucet the couple of days leading up to my little discovery. I'm hoping this will put an end to your restlessness at night (at least until we get to the next bout of teething).
For the past few weeks you've been waking up several times each night wanting to nurse. Because we're too tired during these nighttime wakeups to have the forethought to do anything else, you usually end up in bed with us so that you can nurse back to sleep and mama and daddy can drift off again ourselves. We all love snuggling together in the same bed at night and wouldn't mind our co-sleeping arrangement being a permanent one, but I'm beginning to wonder if sleeping right next to us is actually contributing to your wakefulness at night, since you tend to wake up when either of us moves or gets up to use the restroom. Also, since you know I'm right there, you also know that you can have a little snack whenever you want and the constant source of warm milk being practically smooshed in your face may also be a contributing factor. And although you're not crawling or even rolling from your back to your tummy yet (you mastered tummy-to-back rolling months ago), you're going to be doing both of those things very soon and because our bed is pretty high off the floor, we need you to be able to sleep in your crib for safety reasons. So we've been concentrating on helping you realize that your crib is a nice place to spend time by letting you play there during the day while I fold laundry on the bed or get ready for the day. Your crib is in our room so you'll still be right there with us all night, but just in your own safe little nest.
Nighttime sleep isn't the only difficult kind lately. You've also been fighting naps. It can routinely take me 45 minutes of bouncing, rocking, and/or standing in the dark closet with the door closed to get you down for what will end up being a 30-minute nap. And then you're cranky and extra needy when you wake up because you didn't get a long enough nap, which oddly makes it even harder to get you down for the next nap. It's been a rough cycle, and is making it difficult to make any plans or leave the house during the day. We had a particularly awful day not long ago where you refused to nurse all day long, and you fought your naps even more than usual. I was getting really worried because you hadn't wanted to eat any solids either. You were still drinking water from a sippy cup so I wasn't worried about you getting dehydrated, but I put in a call to the advice nurse just to be on the safe side. Eventually I was able to get you to take some pumped milk in a sippy cup and eat a small meal, and Dr. Gruver called back that evening and the next day to check on you. Thankfully, by then you had given up your little food strike and were nursing normally again.
An entirely new dynamic has been added to our daily routine now that you are eating solid food 3 times per day. Especially since you're a S-L-O-W eater just like your mama. Unlike your mama however, you've become super duper picky all of a sudden. A few weeks ago you'd eat pretty much anything I spooned into your cute little mouth, but lately you've been asserting your will and BOY is it a strong one (wonder where you got that from? *whistles*). If you're not in the mood to eat, you block our advances with the spoon with your chubby little arm. We used to be able to get away with distracting you just enough with a Baby Einstein video that you didn't notice us sneaking you bites of food, but not anymore. It helps somewhat if we give you a spoon of your own to play with but that's no guarantee either. You seem to only want to feed yourself, which would be fine if you'd feed yourself anything other than baby puffs, graham crackers and water while all the nice, homemade, organic baby food I so lovingly made languishes in the freezer. I've been racking my brain trying to think of other things you might like to feed yourself. Your Auntie Sarah suggested freeze-dried fruit bits - genius! You'll now nibble on freeze-dried apple, banana and mango pieces, as well as yogurt melts (aka freeze dried yogurt, sounds weird but it's good!). I try to convince myself that this, in addition to your beloved water, is pretty much the same thing as an actual meal. I also try to remind myself that you're still getting the bulk of your nutrition from nursing, and that at this stage of the game it's really all just for practice. Still, it gets frustrating wasting so much perfectly good food. If you're anything like your parents though, this will be a temporary stage and you'll be a great eater eventually.
We've been taking a Baby Sign Language class for the past few weeks. This is something I always hoped to do when I had a baby of my own, since I've seen the results first-hand with other babies. I was able to find us a great, affordable class within walking distance, and we've made some nice new friends with the other mamas and babies in the class. We're just getting started but I already can't wait until you sign to us for the first time!
One of your favorite activities these days is looking at yourself in the mirror. As soon as you catch a glimpse of yourself, you get a huge smile on your face and squeal with delight. I don't blame you since I do exactly the same thing every time I see you too! Here are some pictures of you and...you:
We had a fantastic visit with your Great Aunt Carolyn and Great Uncle John Unger recently, who were visiting from Virginia for your 2nd cousin Paige's 5th birthday. We met them, Nate, Michelle, and Logan for a short hike at Sanborn Park, which was where your daddy and I were married 3 1/2 years ago. We've been back there a couple of times since our wedding, but this was the first time that we got to bring you along. It felt very special to revisit the beautiful redwood trees that watched over us as we tied the knot, but now with you. (It also provided a great opportunity to try out the super cool hiking backpack Shenoa and Dan gave us when you were born):
The day before that we all spent the afternoon at Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park. Your Aunt Heather, Uncle Brian and cousins Shasta and Jevria drove down from Sebastopol to join us. It was a beautiful clear day with great views of the ocean to the west and the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge to the north. Paige and Jevria loved playing peek-a-boo with you and a good time was had by all:
What a busy, fun month! The next couple of months promise to be just as busy and just as fun since they'll include your first Thanksgiving, a visit from Grandma Renee and Aunt Madylan, AND your first Christmas. Then I will attempt to stop time before your first birthday sneaks up on me just as quickly as the last 8 months have slipped through my hands. We love you so much, little sweetie. We can scarcely imagine or remember what life was like without you.
Love,
Mommy
