This Week in Mommyhood

This week has been the perfect example of how motherhood can suck and be amazing at the same time. It sucked because Cati has had a serious case of "papitis" (daddy-itis). She spends her days asking for dada and looking for him. Fifty percent of what comes out of her mouth is "dada" so I don't know if she is calling for him all the time or just enjoying the way "dada" feels on her tongue. She still prefers to be with me and fights Alex when he tries to change her diaper and refuses to go to sleep when he tries to put her down at night but I want her to call out for me! All I ask is for a mama here and there and all I get is a wicked little smile and "dada?" when I ask her to say mama. I know this sounds petty and silly but I can't help but feel a little hurt by her not calling me mama. Is it really wrong of me to want and have it all? On the other hand, motherhood was amazing because Cati is finally giving kisses on demand! Before she would do a hand to the mouth "muah" but only when she wanted, which wasn't very often. Now she initiates kisses and when you ask for "un besito" she puckers up and gives you a juicy wet one.

I've learned to never underestimate what Cati understands. She may say a few words (new word of the week is "duh" for duck) but she understands so much more. She understands and responds to directions like "let's go upstairs" and she  understands requests when you show her what you want like when I showed her one shoe and asked her to bring me the other she had hidden. She's also gotten really good at expressing what she wants physically; if she sees something she wants she either points to it or reaches for it and then opens and closes her hand in a grasping motion. It's really impressive to see language develop. Kind of makes me wish I remembered more from my language development grad class.

The funnest development this week is that Cati is starting to let me put bows in her hair again! When she was younger I put bows in her hair almost everyday. Then, around 9 months she started protesting. She would immediately grab whatever I put in her hair as if hair accessories had some kind of poison in them. Well, now she let's me put bows in her if (1) she can't feel the bow and  (2) the bow is put to the side and pulls the hair out of her face. The minute she feels it, however, she yanks it out, tries to put it back on, can't, then sticks it in her mouth. She only allows bows and if I try to put a headband she will yank and pull until it's stretched out so much it doesn't fit her.

Cati has been so great with food despite the fact that the top four teeth are coming in. I love that she is so open to eat anything and everything. What really impresses me is the fact that she eats so much and she only has two teeth! This week she tried pernil (pork) that her Tio Chris made and corned beef that I made.

We went to the Miami Agriculture & Cattle show this week. I learned two things at this event: (1) Cati really loves animals and she isn't afraid of them and (2) I can't do events like this by myself. There were so many people at the event and it was pretty hot. Cati got tired of being in her stroller fairly quickly and it was difficult for me to watch her and the stroller at the same time. I felt bad keeping Cati in the stroller when it was so hot but I honestly couldn't manage letting her roam with all the people and she did not want to be carried.

This was the last week of our family honeymoon. Alex was on a light rotation and we got to spend a solid four days with him a week. (Note: I find it hilarious that a light rotation for Alex entails him working about 35 hours a week. That's full-time for a lot of people!) Monday starts a new rotation and we go back to our real normal of me being at home with Cati all day and Alex hopefully having a light enough day to make it home before bedtime. I'll admit and say that I'm just a tiny bit scared of being alone with Cati again.