She now likes to walk along the walls and along the back of the couch. She LOVES her push walker and will walk with it until she gets to something else that she would rather walk along. She can even cruise around it and step over the legs. She has great control over it and can effortlessly speed up, slow down, and stop. She's only been walking with it for a few days and today she decided to stop, let go for a few seconds to stand alone, and then hold on again. She repeated this several times. Yikes! She also enjoys playing with the toys on the front. I would definitely recommend it. It is the Chicco Activity Baby Walker.
Elise and her walker
Last night John came over to play while his parents went to a Hail and Farewell (gotta love those!) They were quite flirtatious!
Elise and her boyfriend, John
At the end of the evening, I was trying to nurse Elise in the living room while Sarah nursed John. Normally I just go in another room to avoid distraction, but I thought that it might work since she was sleepy. Wrong! She decided to play a game instead. She took my nursing cover and held it up over my face, then took it away and giggled. Then she did it again and again. This is the first time that SHE has been the one to initiate peekaboo! So cute. She also rediscovered clapping. She started clapping a long time ago (maybe around 6 months? I posted a video of it at some point) and then seemed to forget about it for a month or two. Well, yesterday she decided to start clapping again. So, after the peekaboo nursing cover game, she just wanted to clap. She would eat for a few seconds, then pull off, sit up, and start clapping. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. This is all about 45 minutes past her bedtime!
Now for some not-so-cute things. I would say that the past month has been the WORST that Elise has slept since her newborn days. Aside from the growth spurt here and there, she's been sleeping 12 hours straight since she was a little over 2 months old. Then, starting around 8.5 months, she has been waking up once (hungry!) about half the time and twice!!! at night about 1/4 of the time. We went through the big 9 month growth spurt and we've had a bunch of milestones in the last month (experts say that babies like to practice these milestones when they wake up at night), but seriously? If I have to go get her in the middle of the night, she is either sitting, crawling, standing, or cruising around the crib. And screaming her head off. Thankfully, she goes right back to sleep after she eats (if she is hungry) or after she is laid back down (see following paragraph).
The other issue we've encountered over the last week or so has dealt with the afternoon nap. She still takes two good 1.5-hour naps, but the afternoon nap has started requiring a little intervention on my part. The morning nap and bedtime are still running smoothly, but in the afternoon she decides to play in her crib before sleeping. This would be totally fine except for the fact that she will sit/crawl/stand/cruise around the crib and realize that she is tired. At this point, one would hope that she would lay back down and go to sleep. Wrong! Instead, she screams for mama to come lay her down (yes, sometimes she actually says 'mama' in the midst of screaming). If I pick her up, she lays her head on my shoulder and puts her thumb in her mouth. So I lay her back down and she goes to sleep (most of the time on the first try, always by the second try). I think I might need to reevaluate the timing of her afternoon nap. Currently she wakes around 8 (I wake her up by 8:15 if she isn't already up), then is ready for her morning nap around 10 and wakes around 11:30. Maybe I am putting her down too early or too late (but I always wait for a sleepy sign before putting her down... it just usually occurs within the same 30-minute window). What time would you put her down for the afternoon nap? Perhaps I need to consult Babywise again.
Enough of that. Here is a cute video clip from today.
Where's Mama? from Stephanie Powell on Vimeo.
And here is a picture that I took of her walking behind the couch right after the video... you can see Boss laying on the couch cushion.
A few thoughts...When the "single mom" phase started 6.5 months ago, I didn't know what to expect. It sounds horrible, right? Stick a first-time mom with a 3-month-old to raise by herself for a year, minus 2 weeks for R&R. I can honestly say that it has not been hard at all. I would even say that 98% of the time it has been easy. There has only been one time since he left that I really needed a break, so I drove to Austin, dropped her off with my parents, did a little retail therapy, and returned good as new. However, let me qualify this thought. Even though Mike isn't here right now, he is still my partner in this parenting adventure. He encourages me and is always eager to hear about Elise's accomplishments, sleep habits, feeding habits, playdates, toys, games, new clothes (okay, maybe that is pushing it!), etc. He is the perfect match for me and I can't wait to see him really get to be a daddy when he gets home. When he left, Elise was just a cute, smiling, stationary blob. He is going to have so much fun with her. I can't imagine going through this without him as my partner. I have so much respect for "real" single moms and I pray for them often.
To Mike: I love you so much! I am so thankful that God has blessed us with such a happy, easygoing, adorable baby. Elise has no idea how lucky she is to have you as her daddy. I can't wait for our little family of three (well, four, including Boss) to be reunited.
