Ena gets a bath

Updating

I can't believe that it has been almost one month since I wrote an entry. We have been so busy. We traveled to the Lower Mainland in March for Spring Break and then in April for my sister's wedding. We had a visit from Nanny and Granddad for Easter. It was report card time again for Elliot. And for me, Ena has been refusing to sleep much during the day so I have very little time to write (or do much of anything). Ena used to sleep for at least 45 minutes at a time in the swing. About a month and a half ago she stopped taking these longer naps and would only sleep for about 25 minutes at a time. Then, she outgrew her swing. It was only a matter of time. We knew it was coming, but we held out hope that some magical solution would appear. Maybe she wouldn't outgrow it as soon as it seemed. Maybe she would magically start napping in her crib. We were living in the parents' world of denial.

She is now far to active to be in her swing. When we put her in she starts grabbing the bars, banging on the tray, pushing with her legs, and today's development? Jumping up and down! There is no way she can sleep when the swing offers these new entertainments, and no way that we can trust she will be safe.

I've been spending lots of time walking her to sleep in the stroller, laying in bed with her sleeping on my shoulder, or allowing her to nurse to nap on my lap. These are certainly not the best methods but the last two do have the added perks of snuggling with her and watching her sleep. She is a lovely girl.

Ena's latest milestones:

She still hasn't quite figured out how to crawl. She can move backwards with ease, and can worm herself forward on a soft surface, but she hasn't figured out that to crawl forward she needs both her head and her butt off the ground at the same time. When she really wants something that is out of her reach, which doesn't happen often because she usually just loses interest, she can work her way to it but I wouldn't call what she does a crawl.

On this past Friday she started pulling herself up to a standing position. I had her sitting in her crib as I put some laundry away, turned back to check on her and she was standing up and biting on the edge of her crib. Since then she has become an expert at it. She immediately pulls herself up when I put her in the crib. She has also started doing this stiff leg thing. Whenever E or I go to put her down on the ground she straightens her legs so that we can't move her into a sitting position. She just wants to stand. It's quite funny to watch. We've each been struggling with this new development - I've taken the tactic of pulling one leg out from under her when I need her to sit and E has begun just laying her down flat on her back.

One of her top teeth has now broken through her gum. It looks quite large. We keep hoping that once her teeth come through she will sleep better. I think we are fooling ourselves though.

She has been 'talking' up a storm for the last couple of months. It really started way back in November but every day she seems to get more adept at making sounds. When she plays by herself she spends the whole time razzing, cooing, making noises like 'ba, ba' 'hi,' 'adjuey,' and a variety of vowel sounds. It is very sweet to listen to. I think she is going to have a lot to say to us when she can finally make herself understood.

We've been feeding her a variety of solid foods. Surprisingly, she really likes chili. She also loves banana (still), avocado, kiwi, pears, apples, figs, and oatmeal.

Well, it's time for me to go change a diaper. I will try to write more frequently.