These Weeks In Mommyhood

First of all, happy 18 months Cati! I can't believe my baby girl is a year and a half already. Time sure has flown by and each day Cati looks more and more like a little girl and less and less like a baby. I can't believe that tomorrow we will wake up and be officially closer to two than one.

Just when things were starting to feel better around here, things kind of got worse. At first, Cati got a cold. She was all congestion and runny nose. That went away but came back a few days later mixed in with fever. A wrestled check of her mouth revealed two molars coming in and a possible third tooth showing up next to her bottom two teeth. I think her "colds" were really related to teething. Either way, what I've had on my hands the past two weeks is one temperamental and sensitive toddler. On top of it all, Cati has cut down her midday naps to an hour if I'm lucky. So not only is she a temperamental, sensitive teething baby but she is also a temperamental, sensitive, tired teething baby. I'm trying to be as nurturing and comforting as possible but I'm tired too; Alex has been on home call which is more of a curse than a blessing because his pager goes off multiple times every single night and it takes me at least an hour to get back to sleep after all is said and done. I want these teeth to finally break through so I can have my happy baby back and I want one night of really good, uninterrupted sleep.

Here are the other fun developments from the past two weeks:


Little Elephant. Alex taught Cati all about elephants on his week off. Cati now knows to put her hand to her mouth like the elephant's trunk and to make a blowing noise. It's so cute. Even cuter is when she puts her hand up to our mouths so that we can be the elephants.


Sock Hater. Cati knows what she likes and she will make sure we know it too. Right now she does not like socks when she goes to sleep at night. If we put socks on her she will take them off, throw them out of her crib, and then go to sleep.

Beep Beep. A few weeks back I joked with Alex that Cati would respond with "beep beep" like a pager when I asked her what daddy sounded like. This week she did just that. Almost. Alex was in another part of the house when his pager went off. Hearing the "beep beep" Cati immediately said "dada." I thought it was funny while Alex thought it was sad that his daughter was probably the only toddler familiar enough with the sound of a pager to associate it with her father.

Hugs For All. This is the flipside to all the crankiness: Cati now gives hugs spontaneously and on demand. My favorite is when she hugs me and then plants a sweet kiss on my lips.

Here's hoping for a happier and more rested baby this week.