The Hug Game

Things have been hectic in the Houtz household because we've had contractors finally installing our new floors after an unfortunate plumbing mishap last month. The babysitter has been watching Court at her house and her routine has been majorly thrown off. I've created a creature of habit (much like myself) and she doesn't respond well to change. This is good and bad. Good because her schedule has helped her sleep and eat better and because we can all predict how the day will unfold, more or less. It's bad because it's made her a bit..umm..."inflexible", if you will. It really killed the bottle weaning process this week. When she's upset or out of sorts, she cries for her baba as her one and only comfort item (besides me, that is). So, I've relented and she's back to 3 or 4 bottles a day, after getting her down to 2. Sucks, but it is what it is. I went online to find some mothers in similar situations so that I can get some advice, and all I get is responses from zealous stay-at-home moms going on and on about how their kids have been off the bottle since they were like 10 months. Now, how is that supposed to be helpful? Don't these women have better things to do than make other moms feel bad? They should just concentrate on mothering their perfect children...Ok...vent over! I'm just boycotting that site.

There are some awesome things going on, though. Courtney is continuing to blossom into this incredible little girl (wow, I sound like Tom Cruise gushing over Katie Holmes)., but it's true. She will constantly say the last word in whatever sentence you just finished. She is stringing together 2-3 words into her own little mini-sentences. "mommy, elmo book". "mommy, up night-night". Of course, all her sentences start with mommy! She also loves to say her name. She'll run down the hall and I'll yell"Courtney" where are you? and she'll yell "Courtney" back because she thinks it's a game. Only when she says it, she sounds like she's from Boston. Her R's aren't very pronounced. It's cute.

The best thing that's going on is that she now LOVES to give hugs. It's become a game in the morning. I'll put my arms up and say "big hug" and she runs into my arms and gives me the biggest bear hug. We'll do that like 20 times in a row. I can't even describe the feeling. It's neat to see her develop these new desires to show affection. You know your kid loves you, but it's better to have them show it. It brightens my day no matter how much my house is in disarray!