Marley was such good baby in the hospital. It still amazes
me how easily they get into a routine. Sleep. Eat. Poop. Sleep. They do exactly
what they need to do to survive. And so much of it is so natural. Unfortunately
I banked on this whole ‘natural’ thing a bit too much when it came to breastfeeding.
I didn’t think it was a difficult thing. I was so concerned about labor, I
never thought about how to keep that little human alive after she was here.
Breastfeeding was tough for us. We found out later (at 18 months) that she has
lip-tie, which can impair a babies ability to nurse correctly/efficiently/effectively. It won’t affect her long-term so there’s no use in correcting it but
finding that out gave me hope that maybe I’ll be able to have that
breastfeeding relationship with a future baby. One can always hope!
Marley in a Nutshell
She hated being completely swaddled. If we wrapped up her
arms, she would fight and squirm until she freed them. Then calmly fall
immediately asleep. It didn’t take us long to figure that one out.
We were always so careful to lay her down to sleep. I’ve
since learned that she will sleep through anything when she’s tired. We have
some crazy loud thunder-storms out here in Oklahoma and she has never once
woken up to them. I’m not going to pretend like I haven’t woken up and listened
intently waiting to pull her into bed with me:)
She was always a great sleeper. (Keep in mind that this is
relative – do not expect to ever get a ‘full-night’s sleep’ ever again once you
are a parent;)
Marley started walking the day after her first birthday. On
her birthday she was playing at Grandma Page’s where she ‘borrowed’ cousin
Kaleb’s walking/pushing toy. She had been taking one or two steps at a time for
a few months before then. But I think that pushing toy gave her the confidence
she needed to just go for it. After that day, she never looked back:) Except when she’s
helping me push the cart at the grocery store. She likes to get down on her
knees and watch Momma freak out!
She got her first tooth around 9 months. We never gave her
very much pain management stuff for it and she didn’t ever take to teething toys.
Just took it like a big girl:)
No paci’s for this girl. She sucked on her fingers a handful
of times. But her true soother is her bottle. Even at 19 months she still
lights up when we say the word. She will only drink from a bottle or mom’s cup
(I always use straws, even at home). I’ve tried every type of sippy cup and
trainer cup and even given her a cup with a straw of her own. But nope, Momma’s
must taste better.
My favorite part of the day is when I get to put Marley down
for bedtime. She gets a cup of milk in her bottle and I get to snuggle her
brains out and read scriptures until she finishes it. Then we say prayer and
change her diaper while singing a song together (maybe have a little
tickle-fight) and the tuck her in with her wide array of stuffed animals.
When I’m not working, I get to do this twice! Once for nap
time too. That one is actually better because I read to her until she falls
asleep. And then I get to snuggle her as long as I want and kiss her, and play
with her hair and do all the weird things that moms do:)
She is quite the ticklish little lady; the bottoms of her
feet, her rib cage and her thighs. When Ben gets scruffy, he’ll rub his chin on
the bottom of her foot and she just loses it.
Marley LOVES the water. For the past 2 summers, we’ve been
living in apartments with community pools. There are some great videos and
pictures of her swimming and jumping in before she can even count. I love that
she has no fear in the water – but because I’m a helicopter mom, there is a lot
of anxiety that goes along with that;)
She has started saying “tank ew”, “momma”, “daddy”, and
“scoo-er” on a regular basis. She has known the signs for “more”, “milk”, and
“food” for a long time so she hasn’t felt the pressure to use new words. But
she just started saying “bock-ee” for broccoli so I think she’s starting to branch
out:)
When we were living with Marthie she said “Kee” for Kita
regularly. She loved walking on Martha’s island and it has been a hard
transition for her to be on ground level since then;)
She has always been petite for her age which is one of the
reasons why I have a hard time forcing her off the bottle. She doesn’t eat a
whole lot anyway and she doesn’t have a lot of baby chub to spare. Plus, who
needs that stress? She only uses it right before bed and naps. We practice good
hygiene by brushing before bedtime and in the morning (no rotting) and I know
it’s common for toddlers to nurse worldwide (no teeth gaps). So I don’t believe
that using a bottle a couple times a day to drink nutrient filled milk is going
to do long-term damage. I’m positive she’ll outgrow it on her own with more
confidence as a result than me traumatically taking it away from her.
She’s got some pretty crazy ‘Stranger Danger’. I joke with
the people sitting next to me on our flights that if she started getting fussy
or anything that they just need to make eye contact with her and say something.
She will immediately shut down. She does great when we’re walking through the
store and people are all doing their own thing – she’ll say ‘hi’ and wave and
chitter. But when all the attention is on her, she freezes up and just wants to
be held by mom or dad. The best way for someone to get her to willingly play
with them, would be for them to just get down on the floor (at her level) and
play with some toys. She’ll be over in a moment to join in. Just don’t force
her – you’ll get nowhere. This aspect of her personality she definitely gets
from me. If I could behave like this as an adult I would. Allow me to do my own
thing and we’ll become fast friends. Put me on the spot and make me feel
uncomfortable? We’re done. It’s amazing how personality inclinations truly do
have some genetic connection – I really don’t think she could have learned this
behavior from me already.
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