Thursday, July 6, 2006

Scary developments

This week (so far), Rebecca has both successfully crawled and sat up on her own.
I am scared. There are still boxes and junk everywhere.
The crawling... well, she only mastered the arms because she was reaching for something. She hasn't reproduced it yet, but Greg thinks it should still count. Not that she doesn't already get everywhere she wants by rolling and inching. She decides she wants something and then away she goes! Unfortunately, because of her interest in things that hang and dangle (hair, curtains, jewelry etc.), this means that when the breeze blows the curtains on her window, she attempts to escape from the change table - no matter what the diaper situation may be, via attempts at contortions over the edge of the table.
The sitting up I discovered when I went to fetch a crying Becca from her room. I walked in and discovered a cranky baby sitting in the middle of her bed. Uh oh. This particular feat has subsequently been demonstrated for me by Rebecca (and this is the part that is cause for concern). When she wants to sit up, she: (1) rolls onto her belly, (2) assume the crawling start position (all fours), (3) raises her ass in the air and fully or almost fully extends her legs, (4) walks her hands back towards her feet, (5) eases her butt down onto the ground, using her hands to support her. As Greg pointed out, this is very close to manoeuvers required for the w-word. Ack! She also has a few other sitting up methods - one involving pushing herself up with one hand from lying on her side, and the other involving pulling herself up using (1) my clothes, (2) immobile objects.
Finally, Rebecca used to be a good sleeper. Actually, when it comes to naps, she is still an excellent sleeper. But now, we are encountering major night time issues (only at bedtime!!!) that seem to stem from separation anxiety (from me in particular). She hasn't really bonded to anything but her blankie, but this bonding seems to be more of a "getting to sleep" type bonding, and not a "semi-adequate replacement for Mommy" type bonding. She is clearly tired, giving all her tired cues, but she fights off sleep and is quite distressed if I leave her. Why she isn't upset at nap time is beyond me. On top of this, there is still teething to deal with and big changes like the house, and trying new foods. All this to say, it has been very challenging lately. Once she does get to sleep, she can still go for 7 or 8 hours. But the thing is, at this age, she should get 11-12 with no interruptions, easy peasy.
I almost forgot - Becca has discovered that the famous "baby in the mirror" of whom she is so enamoured, also lives in the glass on the fireplace. Phew.
Well, I can hear the pounding on the crib, so nap time must be finished.

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