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

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Mon, Sep 29, 2008 10:00 PM
Eluned is a flirt. She'll stare at someone until they look at her, and then immediately bury her face into me. But then she'll peep back out to see if they're still looking, and smile.

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Sat, Sep 27, 2008 6:00 PM
Watching Eluned try to crawl reminds me of Uma Thurman in Kill Bill Vol. 1, when she wakes up in the hospital. With great effort, Els did make it about a foot this afternoon.

And why should she make the effort? We dote on her. Bertha dotes on her. We carry her almost anywhere she wants to go and bring her just about anything she wants. She doesn't have to crawl.

Mindful of this, Will and I have begun to put things out of her reach. The cats are not cooperating. Els would definitely try to crawl to the cats, but as soon as she budges, they bail. So our most reliable incentive? The TV remote. Els will creep a good foot and a half (and counting) to reach that.

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sarah: Sorry. I meant "chuckle"

sarah: Had to chuck when I read this. The TV remote, of all things. She is certainly a child of the Electronic Age! I can see her now older, racing to be the first to get the remote and choose her own channel...parents, beware! The cats have already figured it out. Els is on the loose (sort of).

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Thu, Sep 25, 2008 10:00 PM
Eluned had her 9 month appointment today. We met with another young doctor from Dr. Zimble's practice (whose name escapes me right now, but she was very nice).

Els is 16 pounds 14 ounces, so just shy of 17 pounds, which is right along her weight curve. They measured her at 26 inches, which is not enough of a gain in height -- it breaks her height curve. But the doctor said she's not worried unless it continues at Els' 12 month appointment; she said it can be hard to properly measure a squirmy baby. I thought about it later, and I think Els must be taller. So we'll get her measured again, at her 12 month appointment if not sooner.

Els is advanced for her age at some skills, like grasping and speech. (Which we knew.) But she hasn't started crawling yet. (Which is fine by us.) So, in balance, she is a perfectly normal baby: taking all these different skills at her own pace.

The doctor isn't concerned that she's not crawling, although they did ask us to call in and let them know when Els starts; she said it should be very soon. (More things we knew already.)

And it turns out Dr. Zimble's office does a routine check at 9 months for her iron levels. Els' were fine. The doctor said, "Keep feeding her what you're feeding her."

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Sarah: Nice to know the doctor(s) agree with what you already know. My daughter, too, was "normal" in height/weight during her first 2 years. Now she's 6'2" (yes, that's a "6") and my grandson is an inch taller than she. Just when you think you've got them figured out....

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Sun, Sep 21, 2008 10:00 PM
My Mom says she has heard Eluned singing. More than one person has commented to me on the musicality of Els' voice.

Her "vocabulary" is expanding too. I've heard her use most of the vowels, and she's pronouncing quite a few more consonants, including d's, b's and even h's. She just recently started doing the classic baby "goo goo ga ga."

Els' range of sounds has increased significantly too. The other night she started making a low "huh huh" sound. Tonight she was quacking like a duck. (At the cat. I swear.)

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Sarah: Quacking like a duck at the cat? My dear, you misunderstand. She and the cat were having an important conference--and you were eavesdropping. Really. I'll bet she gave the cat that serious look, the cat responded, and they were off on a tangent. They know what they're talking about; you just have to let go of your pre-conceived ideas about language.

Now, if the cat quacks back....

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Sat, Sep 20, 2008 1:00 PM
Bertha's daughter-in-law (who helps with the kids) reported yesterday that Eluned fixated on the boys eating their afternoon snack while saying "mum-mum-mum." So it looks like we're adding a third meal next week.

Our trip back to Philadelphia for the wedding was special for another reason: Els and I nursed the whole trip. No pumping, no bottles, no food.

I've been pumping since the day after she was born. Pumping part-time was the only way I was able to nurse her. My pump is something of a safety blanket now, so of course I took it with us. But I'm so, so tired of pumping. Giving it up for a few days was ... I can't find the words.

We did beautifully the whole time. I expected it to screw up my supply, but it didn't. It was nursing the way I've read about it: together nearly all of the time, my body producing exactly what she needed.

It becomes even sweeter in hindsight, because Els is close to the point where we'll have to feed her "solid food" every day. She's growing and eating more now than I can sustain by myself. So our brief interlude in Philadelphia will probably be the only time I get to exclusively nurse her.

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Sarah: This was a lovely entry. Thank you for sharing your special time with Els.

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Wed, Sep 17, 2008 11:00 PM
Rev. Anne says our friendly, chatty little girl may be a minister someday.

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Kate: Sarah, between you and I, I would be thrilled if Els became a minister. I've always felt a tug towards a religious vocation, myself. But really, as long as she's happy and healthy I support anything she wants to do.

Sarah: One of the most awesome things is that the whole universe of possibilities is open to her. She could be so many things, do so many things, go so many places, it's amazing. How would you feel about her being a minister?

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Sat, Sep 13, 2008 2:00 PM
Eluned isn't crawling yet, but it's only a matter of time. She leans so far forward now from a sitting position that she gets up on all fours (and then gets back down to sitting again). She does this to reach things, like a cat; they're thrilled at this new development. And when someone is holding her, she'll clamber all over them in pursuit of the things around her (toys, cats, remote controls, phones, lint, etc.).

She also holds her own bottle now. Bertha says she's been doing it for about two weeks. Apparently she takes her first bottle of the day and just horks it down. Subsequent bottles may take her a little longer, but now she can hang on to them and finish them when she's ready.

And she can push down the canopy over her carseat (see photo), but not raise it up again.

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Fri, Sep 12, 2008 7:00 PM
I don't think our little girl is going to do proper stranger anxiety. She's too much of a people person. But the child who was happy to be held by anyone just a month ago has started showing a clear preference for me.

It really showed at the wedding. Eluned would usually agree to let someone else hold her, but only for a few minutes. Then she'd start reaching for me. And woe betide us if I tried to leave her (say, in my parents' hotel room while I ran down the hall to mine for something); that almost never went well. Although a couple of times I did get a gratifyingly enthusiastic baby upon my return.

Happily for everyone, she is also very attached to Bertha. When we saw Bertha again on Tuesday, Els did her whole excited kicking, shaking, exclaiming thing.

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Sarah: In my experience, it's only a cat who will act aloof and unimpressed when you return, as if your reappearance on the scene meant nothing, really.

But isn't it wonderful to be greeted with boundless enthusiasm and love and joy? Could it be because you're a great mother and she's a delightful little body?

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Tue, Sep 9, 2008 1:00 PM
More nicknames: Toofers, The Management, Silly Pickle, Volume, Sleepy Bear, Milk Tick, Blondie Bear

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Sarah: ~*giggle*~

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Mon, Sep 8, 2008 10:00 AM
We are blessed with the sweetest, easiest, most patient, friendliest baby. I don't know how we got so lucky.

This past weekend we flew to Philadelphia (changing planes in Phoenix on the way out and Dallas on the way back). Eluned traveled beautifully. She played and nursed on the first leg of both trips and slept most of the second leg each time.

In Philly we met all kinds of new people. We went out to lunch, visited with the bride and the other ladies while they got their nails done, went to the rehearsal dinner, went shopping, and finally attended the wedding itself. Throughout it all Els was alert and cheerful and interested in everything around her. (Okay, she did sleep through the entire wedding ceremony.)

P.S. The bride's grandmother, Leola, performs with puppets. Els and I went to the back room to nurse, and we were treated to a private puppet show. Later, Grandmother Leola performed for the reception. Els was captivated each time.

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Sarah: Well, you could turn it around and say that Els was/is blessed with the nicest, smartest, friendliest, coolest parents evah! She comes by it honestly.

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Sun, Sep 7, 2008 10:00 PM
We have teeth! Teeth!! I didn't even know Eluned was teething. She just grinned up at me on the airplane this weekend and I saw two little teeth poking through (her two bottom front teeth).

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Sarah: My goodness, it doesn't seem possible. Has the time really gone by so quickly?

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Wed, Sep 3, 2008 12:00 PM
I've begun teaching Eluned American Sign Language. We're focusing on three signs -- "milk," "change" (as in diaper), and "cat" -- to introduce the concept of signing.

I know "cat" is an odd choice for a first sign, but she loves cats. And she frequently looks at a cat and then looks back at me, which is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate a sign.

I've learned a few more signs, including "sleep," "want" and "more," and I use those around her too, but not consistently yet. We'll build up both of our sign vocabularies over time.

Els "talks" a lot, but not in English. The one sound she makes regularly is "mum-mum-mum." This seems to mean, interchangeably, "nurse," "bottle" and me.

The root sound for the word "mother" across multiple language families is "ma," and the word for "mother" in a given language is often closely related to the word for "nursing" or "breast." I knew that already, but watching it play out with my own child is something else. I now have to wonder if babies naturally say "ma" (or a variant like "mum") and we as parents assign that to ourselves.

http://www2.hivolda.no/jpv/mother.htm

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Sarah: num num, mum, mum!

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Mon, Sep 1, 2008 9:00 AM
Eluned is exploring texture. When we put her down on a new surface she runs her hands all over it. She quickly finds any divergence -- a spot, the edge, a change in the pattern -- and focuses there.

We've started putting her down on more surfaces, including floors, which is opening up new options for her. She loved my Mom's tile floor. And you may remember the rug Will bought her before she was born? (There's a picture on here somewhere.) She's investigating where one color ends and another begins.

Els also now has the manual dexterity to push buttons. I let her play with the phone the other night, and I had to go over several times and turn it off because I kept hearing a dial tone.

This all came together when I adjusted something on our thermostat while holding her. (I posted a picture over in Photos.) Els reached for the controls because she reaches for anything I'm handling, so I moved closer so she could explore.

I realized, as she played, that she wasn't touching the controls randomly. She ignored the empty panel with the logo, and spent only a few seconds on the cover (flipped up). No, she was trying to press the "buttons" and exploring the surface of the control to figure out how she could see buttons but not feel them. Either she had watched me adjust the thermostat, or she had just seen me press enough buttons (phone, remote control, keyboard, etc.) that she had an idea of how that control should work.

Comments:
Sarah: It's so exciting to follow Els' progress. This child has so much power of concentration and observation! And she carry over information from one set of experiences to another and apply it appropriately. All children do this, but not so early and not so thoroughly. Kudos to you for being such an observant Mom and for providing her with a wide variety of experiences to learn from.

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