Brawny Little Thing

We've been quite busy as of late in our house, doing over a couple of rooms, and I am finding myself exhausted.  I have learned one- hundred times over that child- rearing is an incredibly tiring daily exercise, albeit an awesome one.  Mabel is so energized, so courageous and brawny, and so curious lately that we find ourselves completely pooped at night.  J went to bed at 6:45, right after Mabel did, the other night.  We've given whole meaning to the term "old farts."  House projects combined with child care makes for two witchy and tired parental units.

Mabel is on the go now at an unprecedented degree.  She stands easily, and now makes her way down a surface, say the couch, for instance, by taking steps bigger than she should.  Every now and then she falls; she seems to look to us to see how she should react, and naturally we smile and tell her she's just fine.  Other times, she'll take a giant leap and step from, say, her Pack 'n' Play to the couch.  She seems to really get a kick out of taking steps but definitely can't walk yet.  I've been reading that around 9 months (which she's just past) babies are way more brawn than brains; they no longer look before they leap because they are so excited with their new- found strength.  The best thing lately has been Mabel's dance moves.  I know they dance and do Zumba at day care, but since Mabel can't walk or even stand without holding on, I assume she just watches and marvels at the big kids.  But every time we put music on, Mabel either bounces up and down, or does this amazingly cute shoulder back- n- forth move, which also entails bopping her head along.  I can't take any credit for this habit-- but I sure am grateful for T for teaching it to her.  J and I laugh SO hard!

Choosiness is another new trait for Mabel.  She's become more particular than ever before, which isn't always fun for us.  "No, I don't WANT to read 'My First Book of Colors' right now-- I want 'I Like Bugs' " is an example of what she seems to bellow.  We try to keep her busy and distracted while feeding her (she's definitely NOT choosy when it comes to food, which we are loving), and sometimes she really lets us know what she wants to do while eating-- from playing with one of her spoons to reading to mashing up yogurt chips.  And doing any one activity for too long is not cool in her book.  She will enjoy her "car" or her Pack 'n' Play or her doorway jumpy for bits of time and then wants new scenery.  It's amazing that she can be smiling and giggling it up one second then reaching up to one of us to be "rescued" in the next moment.  And Mabel now, at most times of day anyway, it choosy about how she is held-- wants to face outward toward the world.  She puts all her strength into contorting her body and turning it around while she is in someone's arms. It's rather hilarious.

We've also got clapping and lots of laughing going on, which we adore, but the exhaustion comes in with the chasing. We've got a couple gates up, but there are still various places even within a room we don't love Mabel to go toward.  Making all this more challenging is the fact that we are stripping wallpaper and priming and sanding and painting walls in a bathroom and in her play area and the living room.  We had to completely quarantine her play area, which before was a godsend because it contained nothing unsafe and we could just gate her up in there.  She's confined to the living room now, and there are multiple exits, and little routes toward windows and other places we would prefer her not to head toward.  Mabel ALWAYS seeks the most dangerous places.  J has a joke that we could put a million dollars in front of her or a knife, and she would go to the knife.  We lay out toys upon toys and all she wants is the remote control, one of our iphones, or a wire or lamp.  It's incredible.  I have to assume this curiosity is a good thing, and it's nice she wants to see and do new things.  But we get run pretty ragged and I just can't WAIT for our remodeling. designing to be over.  As of now, we have made a religion out of picking up gluey wallpaper pieces and various paint chips.  I swear we vacuum daily, but it's to no avail.  And then the irony is that the stopping to satiate her and keep her safe pauses the projects and stretches them out.  Is it nuts that today I was excited to come to work so Mabel could go to T's house and be back in the safe zone with lots to do?

Regardless, we are enjoying witnessing Mabel's little personality being formed.  She's still a happy baby, even with the gross teething she has going on.  She loves people and dogs, and is still obsessed with Elmo (we are not holding it against the puppet that his puppeteer is apparently a child molester-- argh!).  We see each and every day more ways in which Mabel becomes Mabel-- it's something I never understood before but am royally loving!

Voting, Teething, and Standing

Yup, all three of those activities have taken place in Mabel's life this week.  Ok, so she herself didn't technically vote, but she came along for the ride.  It was our first time voting in our new precinct, and, having to bring an infant with us, we were especially grateful for no  lines.  I heard some folks waited up to two hours at polling stations around the country.  Talk about patience being a virtue...

In addition to accompanying Dad and Mom at the polls on Tuesday, Mabel also cut two teeth.  One appeared on Monday, really, but was more visible on Tuesday, when it met another pearly white friend.  I know I have horrible eye sight, and I'm also not the most observant person in the world, but I am still unconvinced these teeth are "in" despite hearing so from both the day care provider and J.  I see white, but if that's what a cut tooth looks like-- well, it just is not what I pictured.  Still, an exciting day in Mabel's infanthood!

Yesterday, about halfway through my work day, I received a text from T (day care provider) with a picture of Mabel standing inside a Pack 'n' Play.  That's right, folks-- the girl can pull herself into standing.  It's been quite hilarious watching her attempt this skill over the past month or so.  She mastered kneeling a few weeks back, and since then, she has tried ever so diligently to get one foot flat, thus pushing up the leg, and then the other leg.  Despite her 'can- do" attitude (as evidenced by repeated attempts) she just didn't have the strength to push those legs upward.  When she did do it at day care, T said she was quite proud of herself, beaming and giggling, and refusing to nap.  Little stinker.  (Poor T-- Mabel is good fighting naps as it is-- now it's only going to be worse!)

To give her some practice, we set up her Pack 'n' Play in the living room last night.  This set- up is actually key because we have begun stripping wallpaper in Mabel's playroom, so she can't go in there for a few weeks.  Thus, now we can plop her in the Pack 'n' Play with some toys, and she can just goof around or try her acrobatics.  Last night she was tired from her day, and gave standing the old college try a few times but ultimately whined for help.  I came over and pulled her into standing, and once again she was happy as a lark, up on her two feet and watching TV, while keeping a watchful eye on Mom and Dad. 

These baby milestones are fun.  But what is interesting about them is that you can go weeks without a new talent/ skill/ habit, and then three things can happen in a day or a week.  I have a love- hate relationship with that What to Expect in the First Year book, as the monthly milestones are cool to read about and prepare for, but if your kid doesn't do them exactly as projected you freak out.  For example, teething-- Mabel is nearly 9 months old and just got a couple teeth.  Some babies teeth at 3 or 4 months.  And then there is the ambiguous language-- 'Your baby may be...' and 'Your baby will probably be...' and 'Your baby might even...'. Um, okay- so how do I know what's normal, exactly?  I've decided to read these chapters but take them with a grain of salt, using the pediatrician as the true judge of progress.  Mabel has done a bunch of stuff early, a few things later than projected, and then most right in that 'Your baby will probably be...' range.  No matter what source you use, it's neat to see the milestones unfold on their own, as each baby is different.  This week, J and I turn our gaze to Mabel's pull- ups, teeth, claps, throws/ flings, and happy shrieks.  Been a cool ride!

Baby's First Hurricane

This week, the Northeast endured the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.  It's probably unfair to New Jerseyans and New Yorkers to refer to the damage in MA as devastation, as they are experiencing HORRIFIC damage-- still, even five days later.  Roads are closed, power it still largely out, and people even lost homes and cars.  Residents are competing to get the rations of gas available at gas stations.  Entire sections of NYC were evacuated and later flooded.  My brother, a Manhattan resident, was given a rental car and sent up to Boston to work from his company's MA office since the NYC office is out of commission for a while.  It's hard to fathom that even in the technology area our lives can still be so thwarted by the powers of Mother Nature.

Up here. we had more typical tropical storm effects-- some flooding, some trees down, and a lot of power outages.  In our house, power was down for about 29 hours.  I wasn't sure how it would be experiencing a hurricane with an 8- month- old, but it ended up being sort of funny.

Mabel slept through the windy night, despite the howling, and even a few times when I will swear the house shook.  Being only 8 months, she obviously had no idea what a power outage meant.  I completely sympathized with my friends who have toddlers.  I'm sure it is a test of one's patience to be met with the whines of, "But I WANNA watch Thomas the Tank Engine!  Make that TV work!" Or, "Why isn't my food hotttttt?"  You poor things, parents of tikes.  You have my commiseration.

Mabel was instead almost creepily obsessed with the flicker of candle flames.  She stared at them for what seemed like hours.  Eventually, she seemed annoyed that she couldn't see well, clumsily bumping into her playsets and toys, unable to find her blocks and stuffed animals.  J had fetched, in addition to candles and a couple of flashlights, his fishing headlight, which the wearer dons on his or her head in order to see the rocks and waves and sands ahead.  Jokingly, J attached the headlight to Mabel's head.  She immediately had a blast, scooting all over the house getting into anything she could shine her new- found light upon.

When we removed the headlight, Mabel even fussed a bit.  But she was tuckered out from her adventures and slept well, even though I did not.  I kept thinking the window panes would blow in, cutting our sweet baby's soft skin.  I am nuts.  I admit this.

The other fun piece of all this was Mabel's fascination with Catch Phrase.  In boredom, J and I whipped out the board/ battery- powered games.  Catch Phrase is a mutual favorite.  Mabel shrieked and laughed with joy every time one of us hit "start" and the game piece would beep and light up.  Mental note for the future: if Mabel is bored or fussy, give her Catch Phrase.  Here were J and I, bored silly and on the brink of going to sleep even untired just for something to do, but Mabel could not have been more entertained by that silly thing.  It was a good reminder that simple things can be fun.  I've become altogether too reliant on technology and TV.  I needed the wake- up call.