Melissa ended up howling for only about 40 minutes total on Thursday. But that was howling accompanied by climbing out of her crib and pounding on the bedroom door. So we chickened out of continuing with the Thou Shalt Go To Sleep By Thyself thing.
Melissa is learning words now! She can say eyes and mowff [mouth] (and point to them), she's trying to say shoes, and this morning when I took her in to Rachel she said desheeii [there she is].
But she recently decided that both parents were mama. I guess because that's the most important one? Dada's ego is bruised. She used to say dada; it's not like she doesn't know how.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Bedtime
Tonight I took Melissa to bed, bounced her on my knees, patted her back while she lay on my chest, put my arm around her with her next to me, and still she squirmed and fought sleep. For an hour.
I figured I'd turned in an honest effort, so I told her Good Night and wished her well. Fifteen minutes later she's still yelling angrily. I'll bet she lasts another hour easily.
We started on No Night-time Snacks on Sunday. I guess we might as well start Going To Sleep By Yourself while we're at it.
I figured I'd turned in an honest effort, so I told her Good Night and wished her well. Fifteen minutes later she's still yelling angrily. I'll bet she lasts another hour easily.
We started on No Night-time Snacks on Sunday. I guess we might as well start Going To Sleep By Yourself while we're at it.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Singing and Chattering
Melissa sings now. The words are her own, but she can carry a tune. Her favorite is "Are you Sleeping?" She is immensely pleased when she begins singing and I join in with her. She'll also sing to "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Both she and Matthew like to dance to music.
Matthew too loves to sing, but he started around 2 yrs, and not 15 months like Melissa. The other day Matthew went to "talk to the Mayor," and I heard singing coming from the bathroom. I've heard of singing in the shower, but not singing on the porcelain throne!
Melissa Vocab:
"Aw don!" All done!
"tank ew" Thank you
"amen" - spoken very quickly and the letters slurred together. She says this whenever she feels a prayer should end whether or not the prayer is truly finished.
"at!" cat! - with high pitched squeal!
"entle" gentle
"ut's dis?" what's this?
Melissa also says Mama and Dada of course. She doesn't say no yet, but she is quite clear in her intentions. When she refuses anything offered her, she shakes her head very emphatically.
-Rachel
Matthew too loves to sing, but he started around 2 yrs, and not 15 months like Melissa. The other day Matthew went to "talk to the Mayor," and I heard singing coming from the bathroom. I've heard of singing in the shower, but not singing on the porcelain throne!
Melissa Vocab:
"Aw don!" All done!
"tank ew" Thank you
"amen" - spoken very quickly and the letters slurred together. She says this whenever she feels a prayer should end whether or not the prayer is truly finished.
"at!" cat! - with high pitched squeal!
"entle" gentle
"ut's dis?" what's this?
Melissa also says Mama and Dada of course. She doesn't say no yet, but she is quite clear in her intentions. When she refuses anything offered her, she shakes her head very emphatically.
-Rachel
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Savage Uncle
Last night Matthew got out his action figure Batman and decided to play with it. When I say "play with it", I mean run at his Uncle David and jam Batman's pointy bat-ears into my chest. The first time this occured, the singularity of the event amused me. The second time it happened, I grabbed the figurine out of his clutches, pretended to bite Batman's head off, and then threw the figure a few feet away.
Mathew, who had been laughing the whole time I pretended to attack Batman, became mortified and ran off whaling when I tossed his toy.
I went back to writing my email and ignored the upset Savage Peanut. Family home evening soon started up and I brought my dinner into the family room. I sat down and commenced enjoying the savoury wedding leftovers. Matthew had his own plans for my dinner and and ran at my head superman style with Batman's pointy ears. I was not amused. He nearly made me spill my food on the rug.
I took Batman and sat on him. Mathhew in a panick quickly said he was sorry. I knew he was just working the system and told him that was not good enough. He ran off to Momma crying. Luckliy, Uncle Nolan gave a great family home evening lesson which heavily involved Matthew and his little helping hands.
At the end Matthew gave the closing prayer. He then gave everyone a kiss goodnight. I gave him his toy back then and told him I loved him.
Last night's events have not been entirely forgotten by Savage Peanut. This morning while I was sitting down in the kitchen, he came up to me, smiled, and then gave me a couple of light punches to the side. He was testing Savage Uncle. I knew it, and he could tell.
-Uncle David
Mathew, who had been laughing the whole time I pretended to attack Batman, became mortified and ran off whaling when I tossed his toy.
I went back to writing my email and ignored the upset Savage Peanut. Family home evening soon started up and I brought my dinner into the family room. I sat down and commenced enjoying the savoury wedding leftovers. Matthew had his own plans for my dinner and and ran at my head superman style with Batman's pointy ears. I was not amused. He nearly made me spill my food on the rug.
I took Batman and sat on him. Mathhew in a panick quickly said he was sorry. I knew he was just working the system and told him that was not good enough. He ran off to Momma crying. Luckliy, Uncle Nolan gave a great family home evening lesson which heavily involved Matthew and his little helping hands.
At the end Matthew gave the closing prayer. He then gave everyone a kiss goodnight. I gave him his toy back then and told him I loved him.
Last night's events have not been entirely forgotten by Savage Peanut. This morning while I was sitting down in the kitchen, he came up to me, smiled, and then gave me a couple of light punches to the side. He was testing Savage Uncle. I knew it, and he could tell.
-Uncle David
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Melissa update
A couple months ago, we tried to teach Melissa "baby sign language." She didn't show any interest after several weeks, so we pretty much lost interest too, with the exception that Rachel continued to demonstrate an opening-and-closing-fist motion for "milk."
Just recently, Melissa finally started using this sign. But she uses it for "I want." She'll come up when you're trying to fix lunch and start reaching for the things on the counter, opening-and-closing, adding "Ba, ba, ba" for emphasis.
Melissa's also reached the "I want to be like Dad" stage. Last night, Rachel tried to feed Melissa some of her excellent potato soup. Melissa would have none of it, shaking her head vigorously and pushing the spoon away. But when I sat down and started eating my soup, she came over and ate mine with relish.
She even drank her cough syrup without complaining after she saw me drink some... but that only worked once.
Just recently, Melissa finally started using this sign. But she uses it for "I want." She'll come up when you're trying to fix lunch and start reaching for the things on the counter, opening-and-closing, adding "Ba, ba, ba" for emphasis.
Melissa's also reached the "I want to be like Dad" stage. Last night, Rachel tried to feed Melissa some of her excellent potato soup. Melissa would have none of it, shaking her head vigorously and pushing the spoon away. But when I sat down and started eating my soup, she came over and ate mine with relish.
She even drank her cough syrup without complaining after she saw me drink some... but that only worked once.
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