What she's up to

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since I last had a chance to write. It's late, and I really should be in bed, but I'm not sure when I'll get another chance to post, so ...

Kid A is now well over four months old. She is doing all sorts of cool new stuff. Mainly, she is practicing -- over and over and over again -- grabbing objects and stuffing them into her mouth, taking them back out, and putting them back in again. It's really funny when she has been staring at something we are holding for her, and then makes a sudden move to grab the object and tries to put it in her mouth ... but she has missed the toy, and she succeeds in putting only her own hands in her mouth. Very amusing for her daddy and me!

She is also "talking" much much more. The other night, while we were having some quiet time after nursing, I started just making random sounds, and actually worked my way through the entire alphabet. There were certain sounds that interested her more than others (I could tell by how vigorously she kicked her legs in response to a sound), but she was transfixed by all of them, just looking up at me with her enormous eyes. Anyway, I have been making a greater effort to introduce her to "letter" sounds, because she is more and more interested in "talking" to us. She doesn't really laugh yet, but she does this funny thing when she's excited or really happy ... oh my goodness, I don't know if I can describe it! It's a loud and vocal inhale. I don't know if it's something she would have done anyway or if she learned it from me; for the longest time now, I've been giving her tummy-raspberries when I change her diaper, and in between belly-blows, I lift my head up and inhale with an excited look on my face, and I make a sort of excited sound while I'm breathing in. I sort of think that that is where she got it, and it totally cracks TM and me up!

Another neat thing is that it is now a surprise as to what she might decide to smile at. For instance, one night I was holding her quietly, thinking that she was going to fall asleep. I had nursed her, and she was lying in my arms with her pacifier, just looking up at me, and I decided to "shush" her. So I started going, "Shhh," and she looked at me and just broke into the biggest grin behind her paci. I did it again, and she had the same reaction. I did it 5 or 6 more times, and by this time I was laughing so hard. Needless to say, there was no nap after that!

Kid A and I went shopping with my mom today. My mom was nice enough to buy me a few new shirts for work (thanks, Mom/Nana!). Unfortunately, Kid A had a super rough day and it was really hard for me. She got hungry and tired and overstimulated, and I was never able to meet all of her needs sufficiently. The worst part was the noises. Over and over again, there were way too many loud and surprising noises that just sent her over the edge. First there was a really loud motorcycle, just as she was about to fall asleep for her Nana, while I was browsing in a store. Then, after a fairly decent nap, I went into a public restroom to for a long-overdue diaper change. The bathroom was really small, and the toilets were so loud when they flushed! Five or six flushes during our short diaper change, and poor Kid A's eyes bugged out every time and she flailed her arms and kicked her legs ... it was pretty awful for me, since her little system had already been overtaxed. I realized today that if I take her on outings like that, I have to ensure that I have comfortable places for her to eat and to sleep, so that everyone concerned will have an enjoyable time. If I can't be sure that those things are possible, I probably shouldn't go. This will be an adjustment for me, but I think she's starting to be easier to read, in terms of her preferences and sensitivities.

In other news, I am fully an Emergency Response worker now. I have completed the client contact portion of my first two investigations, and all that remains is the bureaucratic documentation/forms-completion components. So far it's going well. I suppose that's really all I have to say about that right now.

And I have new hair! I have chopped off the long, graduate-student hair, and I have a cute, short, new 'do. I hope to post some photos soon, especially since I have no idea when I might be seeing folks these days!

So glad I got a chance to do this. Off to bed!