Summer Progress

June is almost over.  Katy has been busy going to story time at the library, cooling off in the water, drawing on the sidewalk with chalk, going for walks, learning animal names and sounds (will it ever end?!?!?), and learning to stand in/on various objects.

Enjoying the splash park.

Splash park joy.

Standing in a frying pan.

Standing in an angel food cake pan.

I've been busy with a baby showers, craft projects, keeping Katy entertained, and trying new recipes. This week's new recipes included Caribbean coconut sweet potatoes, chicken stock from a chicken carcass, and a very low sodium condensed cream of mushroom soup (I am currently obsessed with cutting sodium in the Sias household diets).  Katy loved the sweet potatoes, the cream of mushroom soup smelled wonderful, and the chicken broth turned out very gelatinous, which I now know is a good thing thanks to google and my sister-in-law who is a chef.

With all the activity between Katy and I, I wonder how I ever had time to work.  

The End of a Sleep Era

When Katy was born, she slept swaddled next to me, after I breastfed her to put her to sleep.  At three months, Katy started sleeping in her swing, after I breastfed her to put her to sleep. At six months, Katy started sleeping in her crib at night, after I breastfed her to sleep.   At eight months, Katy started taking her naps in her crib, after I breastfed her to sleep.  I weaned Katy at 13 months, but I continued to rock her to sleep at both nap time and bedtime.

This week, after 16 months of breastfeeding or rocking Katy to sleep, Katy started going to sleep without me holding her.  It was not something I imposed on Katy, but rather something she signaled to me through uncomfortable shifting and constant back arching as I tried to rock her.  I understood these signals because I've spent a lot of time holding Katy next to my chest as her little body slowly gives way to sleep.  I know what rocking motions soothe Katy the quickest, and I have successfully used them without a rocking chair.  I know the difference between Katy's breathing rhythms in shallow and deep sleep.  I know the difference between shifting due to discomfort, wiggling to stay awake, and movement that is part of Katy's natural process of shutting down to sleep.  I know how long it will take to put Katy to sleep based on how she resists my attempts to keep her from squirming, and I know how to tell when the wiggles are on the edge of defeat.  And now I know when Katy doesn't need me to rock her to sleep, which makes me both proud and a little nostalgic.

Asleep with her bunnies.  Check out that tan!

Learning to Be Nice

Katy is now seventeen months.  She is moving all the time, she says more words than I can count, and she is constantly looking for new things to explore.  She is also starting to enjoy Doug.  Katy enjoys feeding Doug, she occasionally laughs at things he is doing, and sometimes she even tries to initiate play with Doug.  When Katy has became too rough with Doug. however, I quickly stop her, pet Doug gently, and say, in a gentle and drawn out voice, "Be nice."  Now, when I tell Katy to "be nice" to Doug, she immediately ceases the rough behavior that warranted the instruction, gently pets Doug, and says, "nice," in a calm, drawn out voice.

Over the last several weeks, Katy has become increasingly interested in what I do when I'm in the kitchen.  I try to involve her as much as possible but sometimes she isn't big enough to help, which makes her frustrated.  The frustration usually plays out without consequence, but a few times it has escalated until Katy hit my leg with her hand while making a defiant noise of dissatisfaction. Immediate verbal correction always followed and this correction usually involved the familiar phrase "be nice," although in the broader context of "be nice to mommy." 

Today, Katy hit my leg in a moment of frustration.  Before I could correct her, she immediately began gently stroking my leg and saying, in a soft, drawn out voice, "nice."  I held in my laughter as my daughter petted me like a dog and instead agreed that yes, she should be nice to mommy just like she should be nice to Doug. 

Aside from the humor in being petted like a dog, I learned a parenting lesson today.  In the future, I need to be more specific with my instruction to Katy because her cognitive understanding is now developed enough to apply concepts from one scenario to another.  I never imagined that teaching Katy to respect Doug would be useful in teaching her to respect me because in my complex understanding of dogs and people, Doug and I are in vastly different categories.  In terms of the simpler concept of hitting, however, Doug and I are in the same category.  As I type this, I recall reading advice about specific instruction in parenting articles and books, but what I read apparently didn't have much impact until I witnessed the reason behind the advice play out at home.  Sheesh, learning how to be an effective parent is a big task, kind of like learning to be nice.    

I Love You

Since I last blogged, Katy learned to say, "I love you."  Katy's "I love you" is not very clear but after hearing it several times in the correct context, Chris and I are certain Katy is saying her own version of "I love you."  Katy has learned to say a lot of other words since I last blogged, including "meow, meow" for cat and abre for open.  She even says please sometimes.  But really, none of these other words have the same impact as, "I love you," even when the "I love you" is a slurred mess and the other words are spoken crystal clear.