Elizabeth is almost 24 pounds, and 30 1/2 inches tall, which puts her right at the 50th percentile. Her head is still in the 90th, of course. The doctor immediately noticed the little bump that remains from when she got her goose egg in December, and said that it's probably just a little blood still trapped under the skin, and it'll go away. She seemed very nonplussed by all the head bonking - she said her second baby had a big head and was prone to a lot of toppling over and bruising. Makes me feel better about not immediately rushing to the emergency room.
The doctor was VERY impressed with Ellie's command of the English language, and said she's more like an 18 month old in terms of her development. I was glad that Ellie actually showed off for the doctor - she announced that birdies say "caw caw" and then proceeded to show the doctor the location of her nose, ears, cheeks and belly. The doctor was impressed that she not only touches the body part, but names it as well. Then I asked E to smell my feet, which she did. It's my best baby party trick!
We got three shots, which sucked, and we're going back in two weeks to get two more so we can be all up to date. That is the worst part.
Since we returned from Pittsburgh, we've been working with our now 15 month old on some behavior changes. She's still nursing a few times a day, but definitely cut back when I was gone for two days, and she didn't drink any of the milk I left for her while I was away (which is actually sort of great, because I won't worry about leaving some when I go on dates from now on. Forget you for the next year or so, pump!) I'm fine with the idea of nursing her until two, especially if we're just doing morning and night. And it's funny - she doesn't care if she nurses during the day now, but in the morning and at bedtime she collapses into tears, saying "mil! mil!" the second she sees me get near the recliner.
The big thing is that we're working on napping in her bed. When she was a baby, from about month 1-5, she'd only nap in her swing, which was fine by me, because I was willing to take a nap any way I could. Then she refused to nap unless I was holding her and nursing her, and I went with that for awhile, because I was still half-way desperate for naps. And then it mostly became a bad habit. One afternoon I tried to put her to sleep in her bed and after THREE HOURS of rocking, shushing, patting, nursing and crying in her crib, she was still as awake, though totally exhausted. So I'd given up and just sort of resigned myself to my fate. The nurse and nap wasn't the worst thing ever - I'd watch TV, read, catch up on my internetting, but it was pretty sucky, overall. Having a few days to myself, to get my groove back and feel more normal made me ready to make the transition out of my lap and into the bed. Friday we were having a little meal around naptime and she seemed to be fighting sleep, so I took her into her room, rocked her for a little while, then laid down with her for a few minutes. She played with her hands and flapped around and then all of a sudden she went limp and fell asleep. I held my breath and then crept out of her room, where she slept, all alone, for an HOUR. I haven't had an hour to myself during daylight hours in I don't know how long. And it gave me strength to keep working at it.
Saturday it took us 2.5 hours to get her to sleep in her bed, but she finally did it. Yesterday Tim got her down in 25 minutes, and today it took me a half hour. It is SUCH A RELIEF. The other good news is that she'll let Grams rock her to sleep at their house and then sleep in my old bed. Finally, mommy is free. FREE! Except for the part where I creep around the house on tiptoe, because I'm terrified to wake her up.
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