+ Sleeping! +
I've been trying to remember, but I'm pretty sure that last night was the first night when you fell asleep before me and woke up after me. That's right, boys and girls, an honest-to-goodness full-night's sleep. It was fantabulous.

Last night we went to ZooLights. And you LOVED.IT. You cried the whole way there and I was more than a little apprehensive about the whole thing. But once we got you out and put you in our "new" Gerry backpack carrier, you were happy. We made sure you were bundled and warm and we set off to the Zoo. All the lights and kids kept you entertained for almost 2 hours while Daddy, Uncles Chris and Mason and I strolled around the Zoo with you. It was so much fun, and I definitely hope we make it an annual tradition. We took a couple of pictures with the regular 35mm camera, so I hope those come out.

+ Oh, so true +
From http://www.americanbaby.com for this week:
"Baby's understanding of "no" will soon extend to using it himself, either in words or through a definitive shake of the head. Although he's probably not yet sure what it means, it feels natural to him to move his head from side to side rather than up and down--which means that it will take him longer to grasp the concept of "yes." Once he understands about "no," he'll practice refusing everything from baths to diapers to his favorite meals...

As soon as your baby grasps the concept of "no," he will start playing with it as if it's an interesting new toy. To elicit a "no" (and the attention that comes with it), he'll bang on tables and chairs, pull at your clothes, or head for objects that you've placed off-limits, such as the computer or phone cord. If you don't say "no" fast enough, he'll slow his pace, give you a big smile, and continue on his way. The point of this game isn't to reach the forbidden item--it's to interact with you. And the best way to handle it isn't punishment, but providing safe, alternative ways to play together. "

You've been frantically shaking your head no for a couple of weeks now. Lovely new trick, really. You think it's hysterical. And a couple of days ago, it really dawned on me that you are trying it - and us - out. You totally do that thing where you crawl a few feet, stop, turn to look at us with a devilish grin as if daring us to say no, then crawl a few more feet... Wash, rinse, repeat. VERY cute. Exhausting, but very cute.

+ All She Wants for Christmas is Her Two Front Teeth +
And Santa's already coming through. So is another tooth! Your right front tooth has begun its descent. There is a sharp edge poking out this morning. Maybe Santa will bring the other tomorrow. I wouldn't bet on it, but it still probably isn't too far behind.

You are at school today, for a half-day. Grandma Laurie will be picking you up and taking you on some last-minute errands, then we're all off to the children's service at church. This will be the first time we've gone to the early service, and I'm hoping you like the kids' pageant. We shall see, right? After church, we'll come home for our traditional German Christmas Eve dinner and everyone will retire so Santa can come.

Tomorrow morning, presents and more presents! Grandmas and Grandpas will be swinging by to partake of our ham, etc., and that's right! More presents! In the afternoon, we'll head off to go see Grandpa Dan and... you've got it! More presents! Silly girl will have too many presents for your own good. Alas, that's what happens when you have this many grandparents. You're not getting much from Daddy and me, that's for sure.

Well, hope all our friends and families have a blessed and joyous Christmas full of good cheer, lots of love and just the right amount of traditional celebration. We shall "see" you all on the flip side!

Merry Christmas!

+ Christmas Eve Eve Eve update +
Oh, I had a nice couple of days off. Thursday was daddy's 30th birthday, so we spent the day with him. We also went to see Santa! You were so good for him, and were really quite curious about the whole affair. Fortunately, going at noon on Thursday was a smart thing to do, and there were only a few kids in front of us in line. You didn't cry until after the pictures were taken and I whisked you off of his lap before you really cried at all. Good baby! I'm hoping to make some duplicates of the picture (shhh- it's copyrighted!), and I'll scan it in if I ever get time to get my scanner working again.

Friday you went to daycare for a while so I could CLEAN! It's impossible to clean when I'm trying to keep up with you. You're such a little monkey, getting into absolutely everything! You tore down every single DVD and VHS video on the entertainment center no less than four times yesterday. I just let you do it because it's easier to put them all back up than it is to remove/distract you every 3 seconds. You were so methodical about it, too, carefully pulling each one of the shelf onto the floor.

Saturday you got to see Aunt Chelsie at her MBA graduation party, and you got to see Grandma and Grandpa and all kinds of other people who've never seen you. You were a little fussy, and still definitely going through all of your attachment issues, but generally pretty good.

Yesterday you got your first haircut! We finally broke down and did it. Well, daddy did it. I told him I didn't trust him (Bad Mommy!), but he told me his game plan and I relented. It looks soooo good, I don't know why I questioned him. You can see much better now, and we trimmed the back of your hair so it's even. It's much shorter but you don't look like you have a mullet anymore. We didn't touch the sides or much of the top, so it should grow out much more even now. I saved a lock of your hair in your little keepsake box, so that's done now.

Today, back to daycare. You were running a slight fever last night and your cheeks were insanely red. You also are doing this weird pursing thing with your top lip. It was cracked over the weekend, and I've been keeping vaseline on it, but I think you must be teething really angrily right at the moment. It's the only answer I can find. I hope that's it! You really want those teeth to just be in. And I want you to be comfortable and stop drooling so much. Heh.

+ Mommy's little elf +
Taken a week ago, it's my elf baby! Notice the "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" jumper.

Good one.

+ Carnivorous? +
Lookie! Vampire teeth.

+ Funny +
Oh my, this is funny. In a tragic, grody sort of way.

+ Reading +
I know you're out there, Dear Reader. Why so quiet? I know my posts of late have been, well, less than fascinating. But still... Say hi! (Michelle, you don't count.) :-P

+ Sad, but true. +
You know my pumping has really fallen off when I get terribly excited by pumping 4.25 oz. in one pumping session. Lately, I'm lucky to get 3 in my first session, then maybe 2 each for the next two. I'm hoping some of the things I've been doing are finally helping!

+ Developments +
Well, I don't know if they're developments, but there are always a few things I feel like documenting and forget. Let's see if I can remember some of them.

Your "ephelant." Your Auntie Kendra gave you a Gund pink stuffed elephant even before you were born, at my baby shower. I should point out that you got a lot of toys and stuffed animals. But you absolutely love your "ephelant." You cuddle it to sleep. Even when you are already sound asleep in my arms, when I put you in your crib you reach for it. You like your purple doggie too, almost as much. But the "ephelant" is definitely your favorite. I might have to buy another one in case it has become your "lovey" and we risk losing or injuring it without replacement.

You wave at everything. And talk to everything. You have this particular way of "speaking" that sounds like you have a story you earnestly want to tell us. Sometimes you actually sound upset that I don't understand you. I should've stayed awake in my babyspeak classes, I suppose.

Diaper changes are ridiculous. And God help whoever tries to dress you. You refuse to sit still, and will roll over, push up and try to crawl off the changing table. I may have to resort to using the bed soon which really bites because I have everything so conveniently laid out for your changing table.

You crawl fast. Not always. But when you decide to be somewhere, you get there fast. Just ask the doggie. She usually looks at you with amusement lately, expecting you to attack her at any moment.

Work beckons. I'll have more fun updates later...

+ My hospital stay +
The news is talking again about the fire at a nightclub that happened a day after you were born. While I was in the hospital recovering and getting to know you, this and the pending Iraq war were all that I saw on TV. Yeah, it was a joyous time. Thank God I had overwhelming love and joy for you to override it all.

+ Goopy stuff +
Well, the goopy eye gunk appears to be dissipating, thank God. I will have to talk to your doctor about that next time. You were cranky last night with no appetite, but I'm hoping that's related to teething. You don't have a temperature, so it was off to school this morning. Hopefully you stay there.

Unrelated, but on my mind... A girl on my team is out today. Another person on my team who spoke to her sent out an email that said the girl is out because "She lost the baby. She's been bleeding heavily and there were other complications" and so on. Now. I'm new to this team and did not know she was pregnant at all. Same is true of 5 or 6 others on this team, one of whom approached me as he was very uncomfortable by the email. Upon further investigation, she had approved of this notice being sent out.

I have very mixed feelings on this. First and foremost, I'm terribly sorry for her loss. I don't know how far along she was, but it doesn't make any difference. She's probably devastated. And I am glad that she feels close enough with her teammates that she is willing to have such personal information shared so openly. I don't think I could do that. I'm very much a self-wallower and don't share with most people I know when something has hurt me. (Ceili, you'll probably tell your therapist all about my internalization of pain someday.) And I feel bad that the new people on my team are uncomfortable knowing these kinds of details about her. It's just all-around unpleasantness.

+ Dental proof +
By the way. This is a week or so old. Kept meaning to put it up. You can't see her little vampire upper teeth, but alas. This is as good as it gets.

+ Mysteries +
I don't know what's up with you. Friday afternoon, I got called to come home because you had a fever. I cuddled you all evening and by bedtime you seemed better. Other than not sleeping particularly well all weekend, I thought whatever was ailing you was pretty much dissipating. Yesterday your eyes started getting "goopy" again, with both eyes looking like clogged tear ducts. I started using the medicine in your eyes that we still have from the first time you got this (you were five days old). It already looks much better this morning in the discharge department. But your eyes still look very red and puffy. Poor baby. You went to school this morning but admittedly didn't look very good. Your eyes were all red and puffy, and the bottom of your nose is all red and raw from me wiping your snot (which there really ISN'T much of anymore). You come by that honestly, though. That's the first clue that I'm sick - my nose turns red as Rudolph's.

Anyway... I don't know. I worry about you. I keep telling myself that's the trade-off for daycare and you'll have a healthier preschool and Kindergarten because you've been sick now. But I can't help but feel guilty for sending you back and letting you just keep getting sick. In-home daycare is always an option but I just haven't found one I like. I might be looking into this more soon. Our plan was to keep you here for a year and re-evaluate. I know you have a bond with Maria already so it may not be that easy. Who knows?

Putting more pics in her 9-12 month album tonight if I can. Otherwise it will be Wednesday. We got some REALLY cute Christmas pictures, and some nearly professional-looking ones of you and Daddy playing the piano. So sweet! Tomorrow night we're going to a mothers' group at BestFed in Mesa. You'll get to meet some new friends I hope. If we like it, we'll keep going about every other Tuesday. Fun!

+ Flu shot +
Well, we get to be part of the small minority of folks who witness a reaction to the flu shot. Thankfully, it was mild, but it provides us something to watch for in the future. You had your flu shot on Tuesday morning, and yesterday midday you spiked a 103 fever and got booted from daycare. After some daddy cuddling, then mommy cuddling and some tylenol, it went down and you were fine through the night.

We're still trying to get back our sleeping-through-the-night thing though last night was pretty darned good. You woke me up at 1, but when I came in you were just fussing. I left you alone and you drifted back off to sleep. At 4 you woke up for real and cried for milk. Then back to sleep until 7 again. Not bad at all!

+ Compare and decide +
Yeah, Ceili looks mostly like her daddy. See here to compare!

+ Well, I'll be! +
Look around you. Does the world look different today? Hell froze over! Yes, I know, it's hard to believe and I admit the world looks an awful lot like it did yesterday. That's something to ruminate on another day. But I digress.

CEILI SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!

I know, it's happened a couple of times before, but this time felt... different. I think we're on to something. It was textbook, I swear to you. You went down at 7:30 - awake. No tears, no whining, just a few minutes of playing with your stuffed elephant and then sleep. That's it. I woke up at 3:30 and tiptoed in to spy on you, but you were snoozing away soundly. There was no sign you'd ever awakened. All of your toys by your crib were still there, watching over you as you slept, and your elephant and doggie were in roughly the same places they were when you fell asleep.

Next thing I know, it's 5:43 (two minutes before my alarm clock was due to go off) and I heard you whimpering very quietly. I got to you before you fully woke, fed you and you went BACK TO SLEEP! I had to wake you up at 7:15 to feed you before I left and you were all smiles and giggles.

Incidentally, you did your psycho giggling thing again last night. It was shorter, maybe only 5 or 10 minutes, but at least Auntie Chelle got to hear/see you do it this time. WAY too cute.

Daddy took you for your flu shot this morning, so I'm not overly optimistic that you will sleep happily tonight since that's kind of a big thing. On the other hand, maybe you'll sleep even better! Who knows?!

We also tried a new thing with your bottles at daycare yesterday. I'm sending 3 6-7 oz. bottles instead of the 4 4 oz. bottles you were getting. Dear reader: I know, I know. If you have a baby her age or older, you're thinking, "What?! A 9-month old drinking only 4 oz. at a time?!" But (a) she's small and (b) she's a snacker. I nurse her that often much of the time too. But that's why I'm sending less, smaller bottles now. I would like to break this pattern. And she seemed to like it too. She got her third one at 4:00, which tells me a lot. We did it again today and I think we're on to something!

+ Jobbing +
Daddy and I always joke about how you need to get a job, especially since you'll be walking soon. All you do is sit around, eat, throw things at the doggie, etc. I think you could earn a tidy sum for us doing something productive, right? ;-)

Well, I just read that Baby Olivia is modeling. Now that's what I'm talking about. Get on out there and start earning. I want to retire when I'm 40. As my mother - your grandmother - would say (and HAS said), "A good daughter would try to make me happy."

I've thought about submitting you for baby modeling. Your crazy blonde hair is both an asset and a detraction, I think. And you've got pretty blue eyes - but every baby has that. I dunno.

+ Blogger and stuff +
I would blog more if the stupid right-click thingie would work. I don't know what's up with that. Oh, and before I forget, there is a new album for 9-12 months linked in her family/friends page. If you need access, just say so!

Anyway... Sleep. This is our issue du jour. You see, you're sleeping better. Kind of. Last evening, you had some tummy issue but you were just exhausted and wanted to sleep but couldn't. After some Mylicon drops, you pepped up and turned into Energizer Baby. Seriously, I have NEVER seen you with that much energy. I think you giggled for 1/2 hour straight. It was surreal. And I couldn't get you to calm down to actually go to bed, so I just plopped you in there with your stuffed animals around 8 and you played yourself to sleep. Wonderful. Then you woke up at 3, and went right back to sleep after some boob time. I actually had to physically wake you up at 7:15 to get ready for school!

Now, I have mixed feelings on this. You see, we discontinued monitor use a while back because I was being hyper-sensitive to it, waking up every time you rolled over. That made me a nervous wreck because I couldn't hear you, well, every time you rolled over! If I can't hear you roll over, how will I hear if you choke or suffocate or succumb to some evil monster living under your bed? (joke) I leave your door open and leave mine cracked and have faith that when you cry I will hear you. Nearly every time I wake up to your crying in the middle of the night, you are standing on the closest edge of the crib, chewing on the crib edge. That means you've been awake for a while. In other words, I am not waking up until you scream loud enough to get through my slumbering deafness.

Last night I know you woke up at least one time after our 3 a.m. waking because you pulled down every.single.toy lining the back of your crib (they're all safe, I just keep 'em there for storage during the day). But I never heard it. You either weren't upset enough, or you weren't loud enough to wake me.

My mother thinks this is just fabulous. She actually used the word "fantastic." I don't think this is fantastic OR fabulous. Again. If I can't hear you wake up enough to get peeved and pull down every toy in your room, how will I hear that evil monster coming after you?

I know this is a necessary step, and I know the folks from the Cry-It-Out camp will be applauding our progress. I just hope I can come to feel the same way. Being rested regularly might help that.

+ December +
Oh my goodness. Well. We made it through a nasty nasty bug which you felt it was necessary to bring home. Everyone got it, and your ear infection was matched by my own. Daddy and I both missed a ton of work, and you missed almost the whole week of daycare. Fortunately, everyone was feeling better in time for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day you had an upset stomach, though, so you weren't really very cheerful. Oh well. Not much we can do about that I suppose.

You are 9.5 months old now. That boggles my mind.

It's astounding what you can do and what you know now. I am amazed by your cleverness, like waiting patiently and sneaking a peek to see if we're watching after we've told you "No" to grabbing things you're not supposed to grab. You are drawn to the videos/DVD's like a freakish magnet. And doggie toys. You crawl like a speed demon, and pull up constantly. You easily cruise around furniture and reach from one thing to another with alarming ease. I understand better every day all the descriptions I've heard about babies and their stages. You're more of a handful all the time, but watching you grow is so rewarding all at once. It makes me choke up with emotion when you reach for me, or watch me while someone else is holding you. I know you don't have a choice about your attachment to me, but it blows me away that this incredible human being thinks I am truly the bee's knees.

At your Dr's appointment at the beginning of your last illness, you weighed 17 lbs. 4 oz. Four days later, you were down to 16 lbs. 10 oz. (yikes!), but the doctor said it was okay. At any rate, you should be weighing somewhere in the 17+ lb. range. My arms can feel it too, I tell ya!

You babble constantly, and you still have just the four teeth. The two middle ones have been threatening to break through for days, but nothing yet. I don't envy you your teething fun.