Busy being a Mom

Well hello there! My I have been busy the last few months! Summer is exciting, lots of people visiting and trips. As of now, I have gone on a trip to Kentucky and New York, and had lots of family visit.

When Emaline is bigger, and if she asks the question "why didn't you write more when I was a little girl?" the answer will be, "because I was too busy being your Mom." And it's true. I have a lot of time during the day and most of it is spent playing with, caring for, teaching, and otherwise raising Emaline. Other times I'm tending to my houswife duties, and often teaching and playing with Emaline while I do that as well. She is showing the effects of that attention, she is an exceptional little girl!

The biggest news this week is that our girl is now officially toddling. She started walking just before her 10 month birthday, and just this past few days has begun walking most of the time. She toddles side to side, sometimes seeming to lift into the air vertically on her little twinkle toes. She is excited, we are excited, it's a good time to be a Brown. Funny, the last time I wrote a blog was when she started crawling all the time!

Em is has officially been in her bed alone since around 8 months. She got used to being in her room after a few nights sleeping there with Mom, and after a week or two I transitioned her onto her mattress on the floor. We went out of town for 3 night and my two sisters put her to sleep there. The night I came home, Em wouldn't stay asleep on that mattress, wouldn't sleep in our bed, it was a mess. So the next night we transitioned into her crib. We did kind of a Ferber light technique. My main goal was to get her to fall asleep alone, and to get her used to not having someone pick her up every time she woke up. I don't remember all of it (I was sleep deprived!) but after a few rough nights she started falling asleep easily at bedtime. Now, she still wakes up every 2-4 hours (sometimes 5) but is easy to put back to sleep. We are much happier with her in her own room and she isn't as bothered by noise in there. She falls back to sleep on her own sometimes now, and I see it just getting better as time goes by. So, we still aren't where we want to be, but for our particular baby it is much much better.

Another big change for us is Emaline is eating real food now. We were having trouble getting her to eat any baby food with texture in it, she'd gag and often throw up what she'd eaten. Then in her second round of teething, she decided to stop letting me to feed her altogether, and those non textured baby foods weren't something she could feed herself. So, we have a multi-pronged approach these days.

First, I started making her oatmeal in the morning, nice and thick. I can put some on her spoon and she holds it and licks it off. This is an awesome learning tool, she'll be feeding herself soon. Second, I bought some squeezable baby foods (to get more food in her tummy than feeding herself will allow). She likes them, and when she's really hungry will suck an entire one down in a minute or so. We have been buying Ella's organics Plum Organics.

And Third, Emaline made it apparent to me that she wanted to eat what was in MY bowl. She became so excited when I cooked, and got more excited and impatient as I ate my food. Num num was her demand, give me some of that! So one day against my better judgement, I gave her the most non spicey piece of chicken I could find out of my stir fry. She ate it right away, and proceeded to say Num Num (I like this!). She ate lots of chicken, and some more the next day. Since then I've given her bits of lunchmeats, more chicken, some barbeque (turkey, brisket, and even a little pork ribs) and Em has proven to be a true Texan. She loves her meat. So much for texture problems! But I have been needing and trying to cook more healthy meals during the day, since she wants to share with me. The meals I make for my husband and I are usually eaten after she goes to sleep. It's good for me and good for her, and I want to encourage her desire to eat what I am eating. That means less cookies/crackers/bread and more veggies!

My daughter has proven to be a super loving little girl. Her newborn cousin came to visit and she hugged him and rubbed his head when he cried. She also lays her head on and hugs me and her Dad, and especially the dog.

Well that's my post for now, a bit of catching up, but the overall tone in my mama-hood right now is IN LOVE. I am absolutely in love with my baby, with my ability to spend so much time with her and with my husband and the family that we have together. This is my life, and I love it!