Annapolis

For labor day, we all went to Annapolis to visit Nona and Dida. We had already been before in May for mother's day, but C was too young to care about such things as the puppies... Now she cares! A lot! Her first reaction was one of excitement, punctuated with her characteristic attempt at communication with babies and animals: hah. Of course, she was a little unsure at first, so she would stay close to me and pull away if Dixie tried to lick her. However, after dinner on Thursday, Dida started throwing cheerios at the dogs with C in his arms. The dogs were running down the length of the hallway to catch the treats. C first looked surprised and then, all of a sudden, burst out laughing. And I don't mean smiling, I mean a full out big throaty laugh! After that, the dogs were her friends, whether they wanted it or not! Beau was not feeling very well that weekend and therefore spent most of it avoiding the little monster trying to catch his tail. Dixie on the other hand seemed to feel very maternal and protective. She licked C who delighted in the tickle, let C pull herself up holding on to her, trying to catch her nose, etc. A very very well behaved dog!
The weekend was a very good one. We also hung out with Aunt K., Uncle N. and B. and ate much cheerios and Gerber cereal. She has become a complete cereal junkie. I don't mean the mushed kind, which we finally gave away. She just doesn't care for mush, unless she can spread it on the tray and on her face. But when they are solid, they are much sought after. It is that weekend that she started being demanding of her feeders. Before that, she had climbed on other mommies at playgroup in search of the cheerios bag, but had not yet asserted her right to being fed cheerios promptly the way she did it with Aunt K. As soon as some distraction slowed down the supply line, a ringing 'ah would come to rise the slacker (this is a distinct 'ah from the hah of communication). This has now been going on for a week! If not answered, the 'ah becomes louder, then more imperative, then there is banging on the table or the chair tray, then screams. My little angel has become a beast. I feel like the mother of a coke-head. We are trying to teach her to say "more" or "encore" accompanied by the sign for it. Yesterday, she actually did it! Well, ok, she was still in the middle of putting a fist full of cereal in her mouth, so I'm not sure whether she understands the meaning of the sign, but she definitely is practicing it. I think she'll soon get it; she should, with the amount of cheerios she eats a day! As long as we consistently do it ourselves before giving her more, we'll have a signing baby in no time.
On the mobility front, there is constant improvement. We received a super yard from neighbors and C quite enjoys cruising around the edge of it. Mommy can't go very far most of the time, but it still gives me a reprieve if I need to fold laundry or go to the bathroom. She pulls herself up very easily and wants to do it all the time. She'll take my hands, or someone else's if I'm not paying attention, to stand. She's not that good at taking steps yet, but is trying to let go of what she's holding on to stand by herself. She has also mostly abandoned her precrawl, where she kept a leg bent, usually in her skirts so that it would slide, and pushed with her other foot. She started moving like that so that she could easily sit back down. C always hated tummy time and her biggest obstacle to crawling at first was the fear of ending up on her tummy and being stuck there like a turtle on its back. She now crawls on all four like the babies in diaper commercials most of the time. She reverts to the weird one for short distances only.
She has been sleeping very badly for the past week, with stretches of at most 3 hours. Before this, she had been taking nice long nights of 6+6, 5+7. We don't know what is happening. I am afraid that my milk supply has diminished and that maybe she is hungry. I have been pumping less often with all our social engagements (we're quite the socialites of the 'hood now) and now when I do pump, I think I get less milk than I used too. I'm going to try to give her a bottle tonight after she stops nursing and see how that goes. If that helps, I might look into herbs to increase lactation and maybe even call our pediatrician and get domperidone.