Teeth and Hair and She Isn't Even a Teratoma

Abigail was eight months old yesterday and I am having a hard time believing she had really been around that long. Yet all of her changes and growth would indicate that this is in fact entirely probable. As of yesterday, she weighed in at 23 pounds, all long legs with thighs like cedar trees and round baby belly and glowing baby cheeks. She starting cutting her first tooth earlier this month, a bottom left, only to have the right one start popping out just basically a day later. Now the top two are doing the same thing, one right after the other. She is taking the same "go big or stay home" approach to teething that she did to pooping. I was wondering when her teeth would start showing up as there had been lots of drooling for months, but nary a bump. Not that I was begging for her to have them, but one does like to be aware when these things are happening.
In addition to this dental accomplishment, she now sits well enough to enough baths in the "grown up" tub. Can I tell you how nice it is to not have the entire bathroom soaked with her splashing in the baby tub? Now she can splash all she wants and she will have to get a whole lot bigger to be able to soak the bathroom now, although I know that that too will come in time. This still has not changed her utter dislike of being put into her PJs, but at least just about every other aspect of her nighttime routine is pretty settled, right down to taking her vitamins.
But I think the vitamins are contributing to another recent problem: constipation. We started her on solids right at the end of August and that was when things started stopping. At first, it was my fault because I was starting her on banana and banana can be very binding, but we got that moving after a pooping hiatus. From there, I have been trying to get prune juice into her (and limit her banana intake), but man, does she not like it. I even beefed it up with Karo; however, getting it into her has been a whole other matter. I have tried feeding her oatmeal which she tolerated for two days and then stoutly refused. Last night, I even tried making baby oatmeal with peach nectar (because she LOVES peaches), but that was just as much of a no-go. I managed to sneak some of it into her with her pears, but we will see how long that ruse lasts. At this point, she is eating applesauce, mango, sweet potatoes, banana, butternut squash, carrots, pears, peaches and avocado. In terms of purees, meats will be next in another month or so, but until then I am trying to figure out how to start her on finger foods.
Ah yes, finger foods. For most parents, the issue is "how can we keep things OUT of her mouth?" so the question of how to get the baby to try a food is a little moot because if you put it in front of her, she'll pop it right in there (at least once). Not so with our little P-nut (who is now also D-sticks for drumsticks due to the size of her legs) who will put her fingers, our fingers, her burp cloths and that is about it into her mouth. Every now and then you will see her chew on one of her toys, but that is a rare thing. Now I am not complaining about not having to be concerned that every little scrap of paper and bit of trash will make it into her maw, but it does complicate the prospect of getting her to pick up something solid and yet edible and get that into her. However, I know that this too will come in time; I highly doubt we will be following her around the elementary school cafeteria waiting for her to open her mouth so we can spoon in lunch. And by the way, the complete and total trust exhibited by her baby-bird-way of sitting there popping her mouth open for another spoonful of something she likes is incredibly endearing. More proof that cuteness is one of the ways they protect themselves for their own survival.
And this of course makes me think of her adorable hair! Now that she isn't on her back all the time, the back of her head is having a chance to hold on to its hair plus the stuff on top is getting longer. We even occasionally get a baby tangle and her cowlick is only getting longer with its curly infrastructure. She isn't a huge fan of having her hair brushed, but puts up with it galantly and I love watching what her locks are doing, although I know that all of this may well change drastically. Daddy and I still plan on dreadlocking her in a few more years, much to the chagrin of both of the grandmothers.....
I have also been superpleased with her adjustment to daycare. When Brian started teaching at Sidwell the beginning of last month, she started with their infant daycare program and it has been a wonderful experience. I love the fact that she is around other little ones, although she is currently the youngest, and her teachers are very loving, very practical women. It makes me comfortable knowing that my parental standards and requests are being honored plus she gets to be on campus with Daddy! That is always good too. She is sitting up so well and reaching for things further and further away from her and though they keep working with her on tummy time, she continues to hate it so I think she will go straight from pulling up to walking and skip crwaling. At the moment, she loves to be held to standing and if you put your hands out, she can pull herself up basically without help, but can't do so while pulling on a stationary object (doesn't quite have the dexterity of grip for that yet).
However, even with all of these changes, she is still nursing well and I am so grateful for that because of all the work that it has taken for us to get to this point. I have even basically abandoned her nursing pillow because she is long enough to kind of half-sit, half-recline in my lab, even when in the glider. And I absolutely love that. I am still pumping for her bottles and nursing her pretty much on demand when we are together. She is still getting up about once a night to eat, but that is really OK with me because there are plenty of times when she rustles around and goes back to sleep so it's not like I have to be on call every hour or anything.
And speaking of sleeping, we have even been able to stop swaddling her! She has been napping unswaddeld at daycare, but still getting wrapped up at night. With the acquisition of some warmer PJs, we have been moving away from the swaddle and now I love seeing how much she is able to migrate around her crib in her sleep. She has even started talking in her sleep, as much as babbling can be considered talking. That usually means she is close to waking up, but it is pretty trippy to go into her room, hear her carrying on and realize she is still completely out. Silly girl!
And that makes me think of my new favorite thing: the Ergo baby carrier we got. I am all about baby wearing and had been so disillusioned when she was really little and hated every carrier we put her in (Bjorn, Snugli, sling). She learned to tolerate the Bjorn, but that became anathema by early summer. The sling was more consistently successful, but it broke - in the sense that the fabric ripped away from the stitched backing (downside of gi-normous babydom, I suppose). But the Ergo has been great - she is comfy, it is incredibly comfy to wear and she only starts to complain if I try to stand absolutely stock still; so long as there is some kind of movement she is cool. And I have even been able to get her to nap in it! Even while hiking at Great Falls! In October heat that could have been early June! So I am all about our Ergo right now and hope to continue using it until she can really walk all on her own.
So downsides? Trying to figure out the balance of two full time working parents. Our commute. Other than that, mamahood is a kickin' ride. Even when I feel like it is kicking me down the stairs ;)