Eluned G. Sharron Bethea » October 2008 Journal Entries » AboutMyBaby - online baby scrapbooks, photo albums, videos, birth and pregnancy announcements

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Tue, Oct 28, 2008 10:00 PM
Will took Eluned back for her second flu shot today. (Dr. Zimble's office breaks the flu vaccine up into two shots for babies.) While they were there the nurse re-measured Els at 27 inches, which is right along her original growth curve.

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Sun, Oct 26, 2008 5:00 PM
The best gauge of whether or not Eluned is going to like a new food is how much I like it. Bananas? Loved them immediately. Avocado? No interest. Mushy carrots? May be her favorite. Cauliflower? I think she was trying to spit it out. See, the more I like a food the less she seems to, and vice versa.

Of course there are foods everyone can agree on -- who doesn't like oatmeal?

And like most people, she'll eat things she doesn't like if they're covered in things she does. We finally got her to eat cauliflower when we mixed it with quinoa and applesauce.

But thus far, the most reliable predictor of her reaction to a food is to take the inverse of mine. Off to make her some black beans and eggplant. (Kidding! For now.)

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Sarah: Sweet potatoes? Pears?

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Sat, Oct 25, 2008 10:00 PM
The introduction of cantaloupe is threatening to touch off a minor revolt at our house.

We weren't sure how to prepare cantaloupe for Eluned, so on Sunday we tried a few different preparations. Each time Will would bring Els a sample to see how she did with the texture -- and each time he went back to the kitchen with the remainder she'd start hollering. We eventually settled on a near-puree, and then let her eat herself silly.

Now, we've known for years that the cats like cantaloupe too. We've been giving them our cantaloupe rinds. But last Sunday, after Els was stuffed, we put the rest of her bowl down next to their food. The cats had no idea there was such a thing as pureed cantaloupe. Have you ever seen a cat inhale food?

So for the rest of the week, each night we'd pull out a little cup of pureed cantaloupe for the next day -- and each night the cats would both appear within seconds and Els would start fussing. Everybody wanted that cup.

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Kate: That's why I was pulling out and opening up the cantaloupe cups. We overbought avocado, so Els' fruit snack this past week was cantaloupe plus avocado. Never thought to offer it to the cats.

Sarah: and no untimely "outcome"? ! Great ! BTW, have you tried your cats/daughter/yourselves on avocado? Some cats are crazy for it. Me, too. Who knew nutrients could be so yummy?

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Mon, Oct 20, 2008 9:00 PM
Living up to her goat (Capricorn) and pig (Golden Fire Pig) natures, Eluned has started eating paper. She helped Will get the mail on Sunday, then distributed it around her playmat. I dropped her off today at Bertha's with a black smear across the side of her face, then had to reassure Bertha it was only ink; Els had chewed the corner off of a restaurant flyer.

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Poppa: I suggest she taste the New York Times, the Atlanta Constituion or the Smithsonian Magazine - much more sustenance!

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Sat, Oct 18, 2008 2:00 PM
Not only is Eluned's "vocabulary" expanding, she is starting to speak with recognizable inflections. She asks questions now by raising the pitch of her voice at the end of her phrase. And she can use the emphatic inflection too; although she can't yet say, "Hey, you, fetch me that cat" her meaning is clear.

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Sarah: In my opinion, there are two parts to language: the words with their meanings and the music (tone and pitch) of language with its meaning. It won't surprise me if she can sing before she can talk.

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Fri, Oct 17, 2008 9:00 PM
Eluned loves to play with us, but not the way you're thinking. She loves our mouths. She'll pull our lips aside to see our teeth, then prod and explore our teeth for quite a long time. And every once in a while she'll poke one chubby forefinger (just one) into our mouths to see how far it will go.

She grabs our noses. Lately she's been gently touching my eyelashes and eyebrows.

She plays with our fingers and our hands. She would play with my feet if I let her.

She loves our hair; Will's is long and silky and mine is short and bristly. She's very interested in my hairline, where my face ends and my hair begins. She'll grab two big fistfuls of my hair and pull my head into her. Or she'll reach up for a stray tendril of Will's hair when he's not paying attention.

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Wed, Oct 15, 2008 6:00 PM
Eluned has discovered the "drop things on the floor so Mom and Dad pick them up for me" game. Unfortunately for her, she has not yet learned to be subtle about it, so she usually only gets about three turns before the thing stays on the floor.

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Kate: Hi Aunt Marilyn! Eluned has been showing signs of separation issues for a few weeks now. But it's been even longer than that since she started looking for things. There's a photo on here somewhere of her pulling aside the mirror on her playmat to look behind it. That started when I put my glasses behind the mirror to keep them away from her -- didn't work. And she'll still occasionally check to make sure she isn't missing anything back there.

Aunt Marilyn: She may be working on separation issues. If she drops something it goes away from her and then she gets someone to retreive it for her. Babies are so fascinating and Els is right on time or early for these important milestones. When she has the concept of object permancy (that mother exists when she is away from her)she will go looking for something that is hidden from her. Put a toy she is playing with behind your back and see if she tries to get to it.

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Mon, Oct 13, 2008 9:00 AM
Bertha has a new baby. He's 4 months old and at least as big as, if not bigger than, Els. When I left this morning she was utterly captivated by him.

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Sarah: I've always wondered why babies are so fascinated by each other, even the ones who are afraid of strange adults. Maybe Els will unlock the secret.

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Sun, Oct 12, 2008 8:00 PM
Although Eluned isn't crawling yet in the strict sense -- we don't put her down on her playmat on the floor and come back to find her halfway under the couch (as some of my Jan. '08 mom friends have) -- she is an active, mobile child. A couple of weeks ago we had her in her bucket stroller, unbuckled, and she crept up and over the rim of the seat until she was hanging halfway out of her stroller. (I had a hand on her the whole time.) This morning she started out sitting in between me and her Daddy, facing Will, then flipped over, scrambled across my throat (good morning to me) to my other side to reach a toy, then flipped over again and played with it on her back. So I'm not sure what to call it -- creeping? Scrambling? Clambering? But she's on the move.

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Sarah: Screepering...Brambling...Cleeperamulating? She's so active, count your blessing that she's not crawling yet. When she does, I predict you'll be a very busy set of parents.

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Sat, Oct 11, 2008 10:00 AM
More examples of Eluned learning:

1. Holding Els facing me, I saw the cat in the corner of the room and greeted her by name. Els turned all the way around to see the cat, which means she knows the cat's name*. I've since realized she knows the word "kitty" too.

2. While she holds the sitting position beautifully, Els can't yet sit herself up from prone. (Actually she sat up for the first time by herself this morning.) To help her, we'll hold out our hands, so she can use us to pull herself up. The other evening, she reached out to me, and I realized she was reaching for my hands/arms to pull herself to sitting. So she learned an alternate way to sit herself up, by remembering what Will and I did and instigating it herself.

*P.S. Els does not know her own name yet because no one addresses her by name (except random strangers going, "Ellie! Ellie!"). For now, we're still having fun with nicknames; my latest is The Double-Chinned Wonder. Hey, I've worked really hard to get those double chins.

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Thu, Oct 9, 2008 10:00 PM
Eluned fell out of bed last night. Of course, this is precisely why we have the Arm's Reach Co-sleeper pushed up against the side of the bed. I woke up early this morning to find Els half-sitting, half-leaning in her co-sleeper, looking confused and a bit perturbed.

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Sarah: "Fell out of bed." That's what she would *like* you to think. Sounds to me more on the order of the first of many midnight escapades. Bright little girl that she is, not much is going to constrain her, if she can help it. IMHO

Poppa: Oh! A new experience; let me think about this! A prelude to "look out world, here I come!"

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Tue, Oct 7, 2008 10:00 PM
I've been experimenting with Eluned's food. After all, she can't eat pureed nectarines and mashed bananas forever.

I've tried incorporating more texture. When I introduced oatmeal, I cooked rolled oats until they were very soft, but I didn't grind or puree them. And Els has taken to regular oatmeal very well. I've had mixed success doing the same with her lentils.

So this week I made pumpkin and split pea soup for her (original recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/spicy-pumpkin-and-split-pea-soup-232424). This was an even bigger experiment, because although I adapted the recipe heavily, I did add pureed onion and a hint of cinnamon and ginger to her food.

And she hates it. Even mixing half soup and half quinoa didn't interest her. So this week we're cobbling together more lunches from leftover purees in the freezer. Next week I'll try something else, but I'll dial it back a bit for now.

Anyone want some soup?

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Sarah: Sounds delicious! Obvious Els has a more refined palate than mine. I can just imagine her expression when she tried it!

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Sun, Oct 5, 2008 5:00 PM
This morning, while she nursed, Eluned reached up and held my hand. Well, my finger.

Time to lower the Pack'n'Play. We still have it on the higher level so Els can see us when she sits up. But this morning, she dropped her toy over the edge -- and proceeded to stand up, holding on to the side, to peer over and spot her toy. Then she stood there for another minute or two and grinned at me. I did not have the camera handy.

Later she pulled herself up to standing again, to watch me, and discovered that she could see the cat. So she stood there, holding on to the side of the Pack'n'Play, and hollered at me and the cat for a few minutes.

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