Learning Curve

I know it's only been a year, but looking back, I realize that I have already made a TON of parenting mistakes. Most of these I didn't know any better, some I knew better but did them anyway, and the remaining errors in judgement have been pointed out to me by others (unsolicited).

I didn't realize that the amount of hours I've spent on the floor playing with her would actually hinder her sense of independence and ability to entertain herself! She can't do anything without wanting me to be a part of it. I'm not so bothered by this as I am by the fact that she will not eat very well in her highchair. My husband and I do not eat at the kitchen table, but rather in front of the TV on trays. I know, I know, not good for family dynamics, blah, blah, blah. So, she likes to run around and come to us every couple minutes to get a bite of food. We've set a bad example. I should have started her on the sippy cup earlier because now, it's a bit of a battle. But I didn't realize how early it's recommended to introduce the cup. She was just so small at 5 months.

The other bigger mistakes, which I'm paying dearly for now, were more conscious decisions to go against my better judgement and expert advice everywhere! We bring Courtney into our bed sometimes early in the mornings and she sleeps with us for a couple of hours. It's really the only way we can sleep in and we just get so desparate for sleep that we are willing to do just about anything. Surprisingly, this hasn't affected her sleeping habits too much. I actually think she's not that crazy about sleeping with us. I also let her have her way if she whines too much...I've even been known to offer her a cookie to shut her up! When I told this to my boss, he just looked at me, shook his head and said "rewarding bad behavior, shame on you!". Yeah, Yeah, I know! Because of this, she has mastered the art of the temper tantrum, and now I must take back control! Also due to lack of sleep, we got her used to only napping in her stroller. At the time, again, we were desparate and then, she just became accustomed to it, so now we're stuck!

Others love to tell us when we've messed up. My mom tells me that I've spoiled her too much, my boss tells me I need to institute the timeout, random strangers give me the stinkeye in the store when she starts to whine a little, (when I know that they really want me to do is smack her). Surrounded by all these experts, you would think I would be the perfect mom...NOT!

Precocious is an understatement!

I am continually amazed by how aware and engaged Court is on a daily basis. She's like this miniature adult with stubby legs. She doesn't stop talking from the moment she awakes in the morning (very casually saying "MOM!" into the monitor to get my attention) to the time she goes to bed and says "night, night". Things have changed from her merely mimicking (sp?) us to actually knowing what she's communicating. It must be a great relief for her to be able to tell us what she's feeling or what she wants, though there is some frustration when we still don't give her everything she wants. She looks at us incredulously as if to say "but I said PLEASE!"

She knows most of her body parts, she counts to 3 on her fingers (she's actually copying a Baby Einstein video...she has no idea what counting means), she pretends to read books out loud in this matter of fact tone of voice, she points to pictures on the fridge and identifies me, Casey and my parents (papa and nana). My husband farted last night and Court laughed and made a raspberry sound with her mouth. That was a first also, but I'm not quite as proud of that one! I'm starting to lose track of all the cute things she's doing. I might have to post more often.

My parents took her to Chuck E Cheese for the first time on saturday and she had a blast! Apparently, she dragged my dad around by the finger to all the different toddler rides and was in love with the Chuck E Cheese puppets performing on stage, pointing to the them and yelling "Mira, Mira" (Spanish for "Look"). What a character! My mom said she is constantly being stopped by strangers who tell her how breathtakingly beautiful she is, especially her big blue eyes. It's strange because Casey and I aren't exactly extraordinarily goodlooking people, so I guess our genes meshed pretty well! She got all the traits from my husband that I wanted her to get (and I few personality quirks I hoped she wouldn't). I don't believe anyone really wants their child to be miniature versions of themselves, at least I don't, so I'm glad she's a good mixture of us both! Can't wait to see what develops next!

Courtney Gone Wild!

She is learning about her body parts, like her nose, eyes and mouth, but she's also been interested in mine and Casey's body parts too lately. So, the other day, I was getting ready to take a shower and I had her in the bathroom playing with her toys (I was home alone, and desperate for a shower). She's seen me naked tons of time, but this time, she was really staring at boobs as if she's never seen them before. I never nursed her, so she has been pretty unfamiliar with them thus far. She grabbed by boob and said "what sa?" I told her they were mommy's Chi Chis (spanish slang for breasts). Then I showed her where Courtney's chichis were and she was absolutely enthralled with the whole idea. Ever since, she's been going around pointing to mine, Casey's, my mom's and lifting her own shirt up to show hers and chanting "chichis, chichis, chichis". It's her new favorite word! Great...

A couple of days ago, she saw Casey get out of the shower...pointed to his "you know what" and made the sound of a monkey. I'm not really sure what that was about, but it was hilarious. We are now a little more modest about Casey's nudity in front of her. It's sad that she's getting older and we have to think about those things now, but it's a reality we must face. We have to start thinking about how we want to address the subject of our bodies and sexuality with a little girl in the house. I certainly don't want her to be a prude or uncomfortable about her body, but I don't want her to be flashing random strangers either! Raising a daughter is touchy stuff! I don't want her to end up as screwed as I am about her body image.

That's my philosophizing for now.
Please see new pics below. One of Court with Casey's dad studying the racing form at the race track a couple of weeks ago. And one of her pretending to be a ghost after her bath. It's her new favorite pasttime. She actually covers her face with her towel and walks around saying boo, bumping into walls, falling down and cracking up about it. Not sure what's so entertaining about it, I always like to hear her laugh!

MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY!

I stayed home with Court these last 2 days because her babysitter is in Mexico visiting family on a much needed vacation. When she gets back, I am seriously giving her a medal. This stay at home mom stuff is soooo hard. It's definitely been great spending time with her, but I think it's made her more clingy. She's already been suffering from separation anxiety these last few weeks and me being with her constantly these last few days is making it worse, I think. Oh well. It's just a phase. Though it is hard to hear her say mommy like 3000 times a day for everything, it feels great at the same time because she just loves me so much.

I went to the mall with MY mommy today and with Courtney and it was hilarious. Three generations of Alexander women tearing up the stores! We took her out of the stroller and she proceeded to run around Macy's like a child possessed. She went from makeup counter to counter and banged on the glass, looked at her reflection, pointed and said "baby". She was pretty excited. But when we made her stop she threw the biggest fit. She's gotten pretty good at those temper tantrums. She threw a big one in Target. She threw herself on the ground and flung her head back. I barely caught her time before she hit the back of her head on the hard ground. I've become one of those frazzle looking moms with a screaming, misbehaving kid in the mall. I can't believe it. I feel sorta bad for judging all those other women just like me for all those years! I have newfound respect for mothers everywhere!

Then, we bought her an outfit (rewarding bad behavior) at Gymboree. We got the skirt and shirt, so of course, we had to get the matching sweater, hat and socks! $85 later, we got the most beautiful outfit that she will only be able to fit into for the next 6 months. Money well spent.

As promised, attached are a couple of pics from her b-day party. A couple of weeks laterI am remembering the party being much more fun than I originally reported!

Happy Birthday Baby.

I can't believe I survived the first year. It's been the most amazing, trying time of my life, but I feel as if I have emerged a good mother and a better person.

On 8/27, we had what was supposed to be a small get-together at the local park to celebrate Courtney's first birthday. It exploded into a 30 guest rager with tons of food, beer and only 3 other children present. I spent the day chasing after Court, who would not take a morning nap for me before the party, so needless to say, she was a handful. I didn't enjoy most of the party, though I am grateful for everyone who came to see my little girl and buy her a gift. I was tired, she was tired, and it was difficult to mingle, when I had to see to her every need as she was most difficult than normal. My husband was barbecuing and totally busy.

I'd like to thank Casey for doing a marvelous job with the party. We planned a barnyard animal themed party because that seems to be the only specific thing that Courtney is into. She adores her Baby Einstein Baby MacDonald video and sings along. So, we had a barnyard cake, and there was a petting zoo at the park, with a pony named Poncho that she kept dragging everyone to go visit. She would point to him and say E-I-E-I-O. She wasn't much interested in any of her guests, but she actually like the presents, well the paper anyways. She got some beautiful clothes..more little girl clothes, rather than baby clothes. She's getting so big! She got a lot of books, which are her favorite thing in the world and a couple of toys which she already loves. I caved and put sugar in her cake, though she didn't really eat it as much as she rubbed the icing all over her face. I have some great pics of the party which I will upload this week and add to the blog hopefully. They are adorable

She actually turned one on 8/28. I did a lot of reflecting that day. A little over a year ago, I was eagerly anticipating the arrival of this unknown baby, and after she was born, I spent time wondering how her personality would develop. Now, she has a very distinct personality: funny, smart, friendly, stubborn, polite. It's amazing watching this beautiful creature turn into her own person and know that you had a little something to do with it. It's an experience I almost cannot even describe.

She had her one-year well-check with her pediatrician last week. She weights 21 lbs 10 oz, and is 29" tall. The dr said she should be saying 3-5 words by the time she's 15 months old, but she listed the words in her vocabulary and she actually says 32! She's a little chatterbox and a mimic. Casey and I have really had to watch our language. No missteps yet, but she'll try to say anything we say. She has good manners also, saying please and thank you. I'm just so proud I could burst.

Ok, enough of all this sappy stuff. I promise next time I will go back to sharing cute stories, struggles and sarcastic remarks.

I will share one story this week.
I tried to give her a nectarine yesterday and she spit it out, handed it back to me and said "no....thank you". That was the first time she'd ever been so polite about not liking something. She normally throws it off the side of her highchair to the dogs, who are eagerly awaiting.

She also thinks the name of our dogs are Sissy and "No-No" when their real names are Zoe and Fred. We call Zoe Sissy, so I'm not surprised she calls her that, but I feel bad that she calls Fred "No-No". That just means that she notices that we are always yelling no at that poor dog!

She cracks me up!