First Words

I'm just as bad as everyone else at this blogging thing. Things get busy and writing about my precious baby's life slips down the priority list. Yikes.

MJ has changed so much since July. In fact, my mother swears she might as well be a different baby since she saw her last (two weeks of vacation = baby withdrawal). She chews her toes, rolls over from front to back and back to front, giggles uncontrollably, eats oatmeal cereal, sweet potatoes, corn, and carrots, shifts items from one hand to another before shoving them mercilessly into her mouth, weighs at least 20 pounds, and most wonderfully of all, says "Mama."

That's me.

Typically, babies say "Dada" first. It's not because they like their daddies better; the /d/ sound is just easier for those little mouths and vocal chords to say. /m/ is hard!! I was fully expecting MJ to say "Dada" first, and I wasn't going to take it personally. I was even encouraging her to say it, just to hear her say something, but her first word was "Mama," music to my ears.

She's been vocalizing the /m/ sound for quite a while, probably since she was four months old. It wasn't until a few weeks later that she really started stringing those /m/ sounds together, making a sound that sounded like "muhmuhmuhmuh." I knew she was just making noise, and didn't read into it.

Last weekend, Mike & I decided to break MJ's pacifier addiction. After weeks of waking several times in the night just to have her "nippy" returned to her mouth, we'd had enough, and were looking forward to a full night's sleep. I saw an old friend at a wedding who told me she and her husband had taken the pacifier away from their daughter at four months, so I knew we could do it. We just had to be strong.

The weekend that MJ and I returned from Nags Head with Kristen & her family, we put Operation Break Nippy Habit into effect. We put her into her crib, nippy-less, and waited for her to fall asleep. Surprisingly, she did fall asleep without the pacifier (for the first time since she was 10 weeks old) without even one minute of crying. We were shocked, yet gleeful, and congratulated ourselves on our accomplishment.

Our glee lasted until about 3am, when MJ woke up expecting someone to rush over and put a pacifier into her mouth. Sigh. I reminded Mike (his turn) that he just needed to reassure her and then go back down the stairs, turned over, and returned to dreamy bliss. I awakened the following morning to an empty bed. As it turns out, Mike denied her the pacifier, lay on the floor to see if she would fall asleep, dozed for 15 minutes, and then finally gave it to her when she wouldn't stop crying.

Night one: fail.

The next night, it was my turn to test my strength. She again fell asleep with no problem, only to awaken at 2:30am wanting the pacifier. I stumbled up the stairs and peered over her crib to find her opening and closing her mouth as she turned her head back and forth, searching for what she wanted. She didn't even open her eyes. I kissed her little cheek, stroked her hair, and patted her tummy to let her know she was okay. At my touch, she opened one eye, peeked at me, and clearly said "muhmuh!" I gasped, but then decided she didn't really mean it. Then she opened both eyes, looked directly at me, and said again, "muhmuh!" When I still didn't give her the pacifier (as I stood with mouth open, staring in shock), she raised her eyebrows, shrugged her shoulders, and pleaded, "muhmuh, muhmuh!"

Obviously, I gave her the pacifier.

The next morning, Mike said I was weak. Like he would have ignored that sweet request!

The next night, we decided to hold our ground together. We went up to check on her when she inevitably woke up in the middle of the night and then returned downstairs right after. She mumbled some cries for only eleven minutes before going back to sleep on her own.

Ever since, she's slept through the night sans nippy. Tomorrow will mark one whole week of full sleep for everyone.

Victory.

Since she's been saying "Mama," I think Mike's been a little jealous. I overheard him shamelessly repeating "Dada" to her for five straight minutes after he pulled her out of the bath tonight. Poor Dada.

Additionally, MJ has been at her baby sitter's since Monday. I thought it would be extremely hard for me to leave her, but with everything I've had to do to get my classroom ready in time for school to start, I've been so incredibly busy that I've hardly noticed I'm alone. I think it's been easier for me because she is with someone that I trust. Diane is my mother's cousin, and between babysitting and rearing her own three children, she has close to 30 years of childcare experience. Also, she's amazing with kids. I remember when I was little and going to their house to play, and feeling like I was in a world built for children. Sleepovers included piles of pillows and blankets all over the floor, movies rented, and fun snacks. There were toys and games everywhere, and because she cared for kids, there were lots of them to play with! The transition for MJ has been so easy for her too. I know she loves watching the older children play, and they love taking care of her as if she's their little doll. All in all, good things.

Baby Machaela is fast asleep after a fun day of play, strolling through Olde Town, watching her father and grandfather build her mom's classroom easel, dinner with good friends, flinging corn and sweet potatoes all over her high chair (and mom), and a relaxing bath with Dada.

What more could we ask for?