Elyana - 20 Months!

Our little girl isn't so little anymore! She has such a personality! She is so cute, so funny, so personable! Really, I always have held fast that the newborn stage has been my very "favorite" (if pressed to name one), but this one is awfully close (my sister Karen warned me that between 18-24 months, as a personality would develop, it would be a heart-stealing time!).

Elyana is such a talker! I just stopped counting when she reached over 100 regularly usable words in her vocabulary. She had 40 at 17 months, 60 at 18 months, and surpassed 100 lately. She has such good pronunciation as well. She can't say her r's very well, but we find that adorable. Other words she pronounces with such precision are: honey, waffle, bed, mess, cheese, eat, tunnel, bath, potty, belly, to name a few. She also identifies some items by their sound instead of their name: "Meow" for cat, "Neigh-Neigh" for Horse.

A few months back, when she would be upset about something (like us telling her it was time to stop playing, or she couldn't have more sweets, or she had to share), we would tell her "Show Momma/Daddy Happy Face" and she'd say "Happy" (even with a sad/pitiful voice at times - oh she was trying!). She'd often say it through her tears/fussiness. But she always said it! It was so nice to know she was trying to please us and obey! Soon after she got that (18 mos), we started to tell her in addition to that, "Now show me your Cheerful Heart." And she'd pat her heart and say, "Hawt." Melt us to pieces!

I remember my sister Karen calling me when Elyana was 17/18 months, and I told her I felt like it was hard to enjoy this age, because I had to be constantly on top of things and watching and correcting her. She had hit people occasionally, she fussed a lot when her will was crossed, she would say "Mommy!" and demand I do everything for her instead of anyone else do it (basically, learning to boss me around to dress her, swing her, walk with her, etc). We always wanted to be watchful for attitudes and let her know she is not the "boss" of us, but at the same time we know we have to understand children do think they're the center of the universe (and their needs definitely come first), but it's a long road teaching them otherwise, and it must be done in accordance with their understanding.

Now, though? It feels like it's so easy! Yes, there are hard times, when she seems to wake up on the wrong side of the bed, and nothing will please her (she asks for her sandwich to be cut, then fusses that it's cut, she wants help with her drink, then fusses because of how I helped.... that kind of thing!). But those are by far the exception! Mostly, she is so obedient and we've been in this honeymoon stage since leaving Georgia. We use the word "Obey" and she will do what we ask (it's a little like magic, she knows that word/command is not to be disregarded). Sharing, she understands and obeys with the happiest attitude. We do work on immediate obedience, but even with that she's been mostly good.

Leaving Georgia, when she played with her friends, I had to be very on top of telling her "Share" and signing it for her, and usually it was more of an act I had to help her with and tell her to be happy about. Now? She sees someone try to use something she likes (a slide, a toy, a book) and she'll look at me, and sign and say "Shaaaaaaa-uh" (remember, no r's!). She doesn't grab her toys away, or look upset or mad that someone is taking her toy. She will still sign and say words that there are more emphasis on, which I find adorable! When we left Georgia, I would just mention her friends' names, and she'd say "Noooooo" and then tell me "Share" and add in another "Nooo." She was telling me she didn't like sharing with them! I am so pleased with her growth in this area.

Elyana can really carry a tune. She gets on kicks and wants us to sing these songs over and over and over... And now, these past few weeks, she is singing recognizable tunes. Her words aren't as easily recognizable, but you can pick them out. She can sing the tunes to "Twinkle Twinkle", "Mary had a little Lamb", "BaBa Black Sheep", "Grandpa's Farm", "Jesus Loves Me", and "Skip to My Lou" to name a few.

When we got here, she would fuss some when I went to workout for an hour a day and left her with Jonathan. Now? She'll say goodbye, and happily play with him. Sweet success! She understands that I go away, and return.

Jonathan's taught her to hold her hand over her heart when the national anthem plays at 4:30 on base, and she loves it! She loves listening to and watching the airplanes fly overhead. She loves watching the tractors work. She loves chase, picnics, the park, chalk, coloring (finally!), BOOKS (always has, we took at least 20 books in our little Civic for the trip out here, and spent an hour at the library each week getting 5-10 new books!!!), swinging, sliding, sand... She tells me she wants to go Shop, or she says "Coffee" (I take her to the base coffee shop). :) She loves playing on the inside play equipment at the base's Kidsport. She will walk and look at me and say "Hi Buddy!" (I tell her she's my little buddy.) She likes almost anything I like. :) She will also ask to watch tv with Jonathan and ask for "Chase Ball" (football) and "Hunting Deeew (deer)."

The church we chose here has an hour and 15 minute service, and Elyana will sit quietly through the whole thing (no childcare there anyway). She colors, reads, sings some, and says "amen" a lot. She also will say "Bib-uh" for Bible when we have morning devotions as a family. She reminds us often to pray before our meal by folding her hands and saying "Pway"?

We have always made sure she didn't just get a paci "whenever." But it was very subjective. As a child gets older, it's not fair to them to do things based on the parents' whim. So we trained her that when she asks for paci, we ask, "When do you get paci?" and she'll say "Ni-Night.... Ca-Ride" (bed and car rides). It's a rule she understands and there's just no arguing with it. Sometimes she'll fuss unhappily, but 99% of the time, she will tell us the rule, and stop asking. She is capable of so much understanding, we constantly find we have to really not underestimate her!

We have loved her growing personality, vocabulary, character. She has definitely developed quite a memory, and constantly surprises us with recalling things from months ago (like where she heard a song, or something). It's as if she couldn't tell us before, but her mind was working, storing these things away, and now she can recall with amazing correctness.

This is long, but there is so much to document! We lovelovelove our little Sweet Georgia Peach!!!

Receptive Language

I have been reading about this lately, and it interests me so much! I have been delighted and impressed with Elyana's understanding and communication with me/us. It is something I've been very intentional about, but this being my first child, I am not sure how much is attributable to her ability, and how much is attributable to my work. But I am eager to share what we've done and where we are currently with her language development.

Since Elyana was newborn I have talked to her and read to her a lot. All sorts of things. I would explain:

- what I was doing while I held/wore her - and why. (cooking, laundry, getting the mail, making coffee). Ex: "Momma is sauteeing onion to put in the bread for dinner." "Momma is washing our dirty cloths, look at the Georgia red clay." "Let's see if anything fun is in the mailbox. What a sunny day outside!")
- detail-by-detail what I was doing with her and why (bathing, diapering, swaddling, dancing) Ex: "Momma is soaping up your feet now to make them smell all nice." "Let's get you all swaddled in the white swaddle blanket with the sheep on it so you can be all cozy." "Listen! It's Yo-Yo Ma playing Bach's Cello Suites. Let's dance."
- what we were seeing as we were out and about (walking, grocery shopping, driving) Ex: "Oh, it's Christmas, look at the ornaments hanging from the ceiling." "Blood oranges are on sale, let's buy them to eat." "Do you hear that bird chirp? That's a bobwhite quail!"
- when I was looking for something. I often would ask "Where is your...." and then fill in the blank with paci, shoes, hat, a book title, of particular toy. I'd also do this when I was looking for something of mine!
- I talk to her about how much I loved her, about her birth story, about how she was conceived, about how much I love her Daddy, about how sad I was when her Daddy was deployed ... basically, I just shared my heart at different times.
- I share the Gospel with her... I talk to her about Jesus, and about his life on earth. I talk about His ultimate sacrifice, His perfect sinless life, our need for Atonement, His Ultimate Love. I talk about how God reveals Himself to us through Nature and Beauty... so we pay LOTS of attention to nature.
- I read, read, read to her. Since she was very young (2 months old? I know people start earlier, but that's when I first did it.) I read everything. We have tons of books. Some days we only go through about 5 together, other days it's 30! From books with pictures with one-word-per-page, to books with entire story-lines and few pictures (still toddler-appropriate). I read a chapter from the Bible to her aloud each day. I read the menu to her at restaurants. At 11 months old, she started to read books to herself. She'd sit down, go through the pages, and "talk" about them. Now she will choose which books she wants us to read, and which she wants to go through by herself.
- I have always assumed she understands more that I probably think, but I've never required it of her.

All this is to say, she now currently can and will (some of the following she's been doing for months, but this is just a compilation):

- Understand and obey two-stage requests ("Find your shoes and bring them to mommy." or "Get your hippo and put him in the basket.")
- Find a book by its title and bring it to us. (She's been choosing between 2 books since she was 7 mos old)
- Understand and obey me with "no's" (no walking in the street, no touching the candles)
- She remembers past experiences and relates them. Ex. She will see a fire in a restaurant and say "hhhhooo" for "hot" and understand it's a no-touch.
- I start off all my fun sentences very slowly and quietly with "Elyana, would you like to...." and she snaps her head to me intently. She knows it is something fun!!! It's usually ended with "watch Baby Dance" "have a cookie" "go outside"....etc.
- She understands "Help" and will sign it to me for at least a half dozen circumstances daily. This one is so huge to me, because it is clearly an understanding that whatever is frustrating her, her momma will fix if she asks. Whereas before it was just a whine and a general pointing, now she'll clearly get near the object she is having a problem with, and sign "help," knowing that I will come fix it for her!!! If it's a toy she's closed and can't reopen, or a ball that's stuck, her toy playing the wrong song, or her dropped paci... She can tell me and know I'll fix it.

These are a few of many ways we've been working on communication (both ways). I try very hard to consistently work on something new with Elyana every few days/weeks (depending on how hard it is for her). For example, we've always used "no touch" to mean for her not to even go near something. Today, we worked on 'no touch with your hand, but you may step on it' (it was a puddle of water). We have worked on "wait" a long time, because that's such a hard concept. But I don't care how fast she grasps them, so long as I am working with her.

I think our children are capable of so much more than we give them credit for, or opportunity. But it's not something necessary to work on, I just enjoy it so much. I have just ordered a book I read good reviews on called The Philosophical Baby. I am eager to read what it has to say about my child's developing mind.

Elyana - at 9 Months. And Life.

What to say...

Elyana is 9 months old! At her appointment, I had to fill out a developmental form and go through all these things they wanted to know if she's doing at this age. Checked them all off, except I'm not sure I've seen her use a toy to bang against another toy (J says he's seen it). She's eating like she should (both nursing and baby/table foods), weighing 19 lbs! She just changes so much every day! Such as:
- Can identify words & the objects they go with. For example, if I ask for a book (and use a title sometimes) she will go get it for me. She will point to a "light" if we ask her to. She loves lights!
- She will wave hi/bye at request. She said "ba-ba", but only to Aunt Karen and her daddy, and has dropped its use for now. The waving is so cute!
- She found her shadow a little over a month ago (which she LOVES), but now she will wave at it (and mine)! We see it outside, but she even found it inside where a lamp was casting it on the floor. She is so observant, she surprises me with it!
- She has started going "oooh" at things she likes... pictures on her book pages, my pretty jewelry, my coffee make, dogs, trees, wind: pretty much anything she thinks is fun or nice!
- She is still doing wonderfully with using a toilet. We'll have 1 or 2 dirty diapers a week, during a nap or that we missed. Even Jonathan can tell when she needs to go, he's pointed it out to me a number of times. Love this! (I don't even really intend on trying to train her from wetting the diapers for a long time. That's just something I'm not sure she or I are ready for. She will use the toilet to do that, but it's more incidentally b/c she's already going to go.)
- She stands alone for up to 5 seconds now. :)
- She's totally changed her "favorite" books. Seriously, she had 3-4 ones she loooooved, and a night-night book as well. Well she won't sit for any of those anymore. It happened overnight. She has a one new favorite book and one new favorite night-night book. And other ones she may sit for, but not the old favorite. It's so funny, a bit odd, and I'm getting bored of her new favorite. She also fusses if we use animal noises anymore!!! Go figure?!?

Jonathan and I just adore her. So much. Being parents has been such a joy for Jonathan and me. Truly, we feel so overwhelmed with joy that we've been entrusted with her little life!!!

Jonathan and I are also preparing for Deployment #4 at the end of November. That sinking feeling in the pit of our stomaches returns. I find myself with tears close at hand at random times. It's a very emotional process, preparing for the inevitable. Preparing for something you've gone through so many times before, you know the steps, but don't get any better at handling them. We've got a little over 3 weeks left before the window of leave time hits. I pray they will stretch out as long as possible.

We have gone to Saturday night service at our church a few times (it's new). It's much smaller, and we have enjoyed it a lot. It also leaves Sunday more free, which has been so nice. Also, no missed/delayed naps! :) Elyana sat through the entire service last week (which was a good 10 minutes longer than usual) and she did great! She made a little fuss/scream maybe twice. That's it. We both concentrated while she played and ate Puffs. Yes, without Puffs we would not have made it. So what? I can deal with that! One thing I did was call a very dear friend of ours, who Jonathan and I both think has done amazing with their 3 children (who are around 11, 7 and 4). I got her advice about leaving children in nursery, separation anxiety, and some child training. It was so, so good! I really praise God for the wonderful people he's given us in our lives that we can learn from rather than just walk through things with good intentions but only our own limited wisdom. We are in one accord right now in what we're doing. Sure, there will be things to talk about in the future, but right now we're good. :)

That's all for now. :) Except pictures. I'll do those in another post, because Elyana's about to wake up and I need to finish stuff up!

Motherhood Challenges

Things have just really been busy around here. I've had at least 3 different blog posts I've wanted to make about my thoughts on some different issues... But time has gotten away from me (as usual!). I'll do what I can here.

Nursery...

Nursery again. While she did really well a few times, she has now full-on entered the "Stranger Anxiety" stage. I attempted to taker her in one week, and she clung to me and cried hard - so of course I did not even try letting her go then (calming her down from that took at least 5-10 minutes). Jonathan and I thought that maybe if he took her she wouldn't do that (she has a strong momma preference!). No, she did that to him. He still let her go (I could never have done that!). But the end result was, when we'd waited the amount of time I felt comfortable with, and checked on her, she was beside herself. (Which meant, I became beside myself!) We agreed nursery is not working now. We are praying about this again, for wisdom to know what is right for her. Jonathan wants to read an article or book on separation anxiety, and I do as well. I feel very conflicted about this, because my mothering instinct tells me one thing (nursery is not something she needs), yet I do want wisdom for how to help her and what will be best for her. I have appreciated all your input and advice, so can I solicit you all for any books/articles you may have read about this?

For example, sleep training is something everyone seems to have an opinion on. Everyone does it differently. If we didn't have a conviction when she was little of how we were to do it, I'd be lost, probably trying bits of this and that, never really sure what was right for our daughter, and being in general confused (rather like how I feel about nursery). Yet, we knew what we thought would be good for her and our family, and we read books that helped enable us to pursue that goal, and feel comfortable with it. I know I need that here!

Using the Toilet!

Elyana is constantly surprising me. Ever since we got home from Labor Day in NC, I decided to try Elimination Communication (EC) with her. I read a little bit about it, and a few people's stories of their implementation. I decided I needed to get her used to the toilet and what it was for. I also had noticed she always went #2 in the morning (usually after the 2nd nursing). So I started giving her naked time on a waterproof sheet on the floor for ~20 minutes. I'd watch her and see her start to go - and then I'd rush her to the toilet. I'd giver her a "cue" word/noise to create an association. Well, a month later and now anytime she will cue me when she's needing to go! I have to be attentive, because otherwise I can think "Aww, how cute, she's grunting" and miss it (it's not obvious unless you know to look for her cue)! This week, three days in a row now, she has "cued" me intentionally, before she even starts going (she cued twice on Tuesday, which is unusual to go twice, so I'm glad I listened to her)! Just today, I was really proud of her, because I was in the kitchen loading a few dishes as she played in the next room for a few minutes. 5 minutes of this (maybe) and she crawled in and came over near to me. Usually she just wants to be with me, so I think nothing of it. Then I noticed she sits down from a crawl, and starts her noises. Takes me a few seconds to put it together, so I take her to the toilet. Sure enough, as I get her set, she starts going! I am so proud of her!! Jonathan's watched this a few times now, and he said, "Wow, it's obvious she prefers this." And I realized he's right - she prefers to go on a toilet than in her diaper. The fact that she has a preference and can accomplish that amazes me. It also makes my heart so glad that we are "communicating" like this. No fussing here!

On communication, I have been working on the sign language, still plugging along. I do not see much recognition of the signs we use (sticking with 4 basic ones), nor is she repeating them back, but consistency and perseverance seem key. I shall plug away as long as I need to. I hope to see the light come on around 9-10 months old, as others have. :)

I will freely admit that this past weekend I definitely struggled a lot with my relating to Jonathan. At one point I felt like "all we do is fight over child-raising..." (which is such an exaggeration). We disagree so infrequently over anything (months at a time) that when we do I feel like it's the end of the world! I was getting incredibly discouraged at our differences and my attitude was so dishonoring to Jonathan (because I felt I was right). We of course talked it through, and by the next morning, my heart was much more aligned and at peace. We still have to come to an agreement, but I know the Lord will provide wisdom. I just have to do my part in reverencing Jonathan as commanded, and speaking my mind in an honoring way. I have so much growth that needs to happen in this area! At least I finally understood the marital challenges people talk about when raising children.


Trip Home!
We leave Friday for 10 days in NC!!! I am so excited to see our families again! What a great time it will be! We also get to take Elyana to the State Fair! I haven't been with Jonathan in a few years, and now we get to take our daughter. I don't know how long she'll last, but with a stroller, my wrap, and many arms to hold her, I'm hoping it's for a few hours! She's at a great age for enjoying it. I am excited because both my sister Crystal, and my brother and his wife will be in town (usually you miss seeing someone). I am bringing my kettlebell because as my sister Karen pointed out, it's compact! And since muscle = metabolism, I need to keep the weights up. (Also, I realized my last post might sound like I've got my pre-baby figure back.... yeah, not yet!!! I just happen to be able to wear my small jeans again, but still need my abs back. I don't know how long that'll take, so I'm still working out consistently and trying my best to eat clean!)

Autumn Should Be Here!

Right now, we're all struggling with some sort of sickness! Elyana had a cough and mild fever. She's mostly better. J had congestion and sore throat. I had sore throat and achiness. It's been since Wednesday, but still hanging on. I feel like it's so mild, it's just been hard to shake. Yesterday we all felt better, but J & I didn't wake up feeling too good. I'm grateful we've been so super healthy so far, and have very good immune systems. This is Elyana's 2nd illness, and her first was only 2 days of runny nose, fever, crankiness. I am thinking of buying her the Tri-Vi-Sol finally (a vitamin supplement of Vitamin D, A and C). They're great at boosting your immune system. I haven't gotten it for her yet, because she gets 30 minutes every day outside, if not more. (A walk is one of our non-negotiable daily activities, like music or eating!) But with the changing of the season, and her now getting immunizations every month, it's probably smart. (We're doing a very modified vaccine schedule, based roughly on Dr. Sears alternate schedule, but with my choosing to eliminate some and delay everything from starting until 6 months. I'll post more if anyone has questions.)

This Saturday was opening day of Bow Season for Deer. It's an exciting time for Jonathan! I have been practicing on my bow, but won't get to try until we go home and family can watch Elyana. We did go Labor Day weekend to dove hunt, and I got one. Yes, just one. I was only out about 2 hours, because of a small-group committment, but it was fun! J got 5 so we had our traditionally delicious sauteed dove-breast in salted butter, thyme, and marjoram. So good!

Once Labor Day is over, Jonathan feels like autumn is on its way. I have waited and finally got to put out my fall decor! I think it's my favorite (with Christmas coming in a close second)! I have all sorts of orange and brown flowers, foliage, etc around the house. Then of course there's my wonderful candle collection! I have different scented oils and candles in Mulled Cider, Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin, Autumn Leaves, Harvest, Cinnamon and Cloves, and Creamy Caramel. They all add an ambiance and scent that I love! And ushering the day in with Pumpkin Pancakes with Hot Cider Syrup all the more convinced me that autumn will be here soon!

Elyana is such a beautiful, wonderful, precious baby! I love her so very much!!! She babbles a lot more, saying "dadada" "mamama" "bababa" "lelele" "gagaga" "uhgauhga" and other such noises! I love it! She is crawling around now, which we adore! But I don't think she realizes that if we're in the other room (and she can see us) she can get to us as well! It's more her way of getting to an out-of-reach toy! She continues to love being outside. At Grandma and Grandpa's they had a baby swing she could sit in, as well as a hammock and a sandbox! Can I say she adored all of those? We definitely need a sand box. She'd play for about 30 minutes, loving touching and eating the sand (I know, yuck!). Then we'd bathe off! She loves going HIGH in the swing. Same as when she sits with me on a big-person swing. If I'm not going high she's bored! :)

The eating thing she's gotten kinda funny about. Three times a day is more than she likes. She also now would prefer our food to her own. If we're eating or drinking something, she has no end of curiosity about it! But if it's her own mashed food, I'm good to get her eating a "full" (2-3 TBSP) serving of each at one sitting (oatmeal, fruit, veggie). She used to love it all. I'm not worried, because honestly I think babies are being pushed to start solids a lot sooner than they ever were, and the most nutritious thing for her right now is my milk anyway! It's more I have to stand my ground if I feel intimidated by other mothers who think my baby should be eating more solids. I am getting better at this and for the most part people are kind and non pushy anyway.

I still love cloth diapering!!! But I do wish I'd gone with Fuzzi Bunz, as my BG velcro holder seems to be wearing out. I have been putting off contacting them. Actually, I should be doing that instead of blogging. But what's more fun? Anyway, I know they'll replace it, but there's only a year warranty, and I know I'll just face this again with another baby. :( Ok, I just found out, I have to mail them my diaper covers, but at my cost (bleh). Oh well. I'll tell you how it goes!

We are training Elyana and she understands "no touch" although she doesn't always obey the first time (she understands though!). We realized she "whines" for things (toys, more food, etc) and so I'm working very hard to intentionally use signs every time this happens, and to not give her something at every whine. I try to let her stop whining, and tell her "more" (with the sign) and then immediately give it. Any success with this type of training?

Oh, and she's now quite the car traveler. She's done 8-hour car rides (or more) twice a month for the last 5 months, so she's getting very good in there. Minimal fussing! She plays, watches trees, and sleeps. I'm grateful for our little traveling buddy!

Um, Nobody Told Me That!

I had no idea 3 week old babies threw tantrums... And that their little sin-nature could start that early. Seriously. I hate, hate, hate that!!! My true joy in these first few weeks was that it was all about loving and bonding with our baby... About meeting her needs. There was no place yet for scheduling, letting the baby cry it out, disciplining, or anything but LOVE.... I was sooooo happy and basking in that uniqueness. I knew that in too quick a time, we would be dealing with all that anyway... So imagine my surprise and dismay with today's discovery.

Ok, before I share I will say that last Thursday Jonathan & I were having some "us" time snuggling together, and put Elyana in her bouncy seat. She looked at us and began mad-crying. (Yes, mothers really can tell what their baby is crying for! I know her hungry, gassy, mad, hurt, uncomfortable, bored, and loney cries!) She did not like being left out! It was almost funny, because it was so obvious what she was doing. It took her only 5 minutes or less of crying and she quieted down. Of course then, lesson learned, we immediately picked her up and smothered her with love and kisses and snuggles!

But that was so quick and small and innocent.

Today? Well, we had some of Jonathan's family down the last 3 days. We had a wonderful time! They were enamored with their first grandbaby/niece, and appropriately so! But as it was, she was held so much that I think the only time at all she wasn't was her night-time sleep (9 hours with a nursing in-between). Please know, though, that this little girl gets held for hours by Jonathan and me anyway. Especially in the morning, when she gets up for the day, after my shower, I'll grab some coffee and a nutri-grain bar, and she usually is ready to nurse again. So I'll nurse her while reading my Bible, and then just hold her, sing to her, play with her, and cuddle pretty much the entire morning. It's not usually until lunch that I even bother trying to put her down. I adore her so much and am cherishing all the newborn time and maternity leave from my job! And in the evenings Jonathan will hold her to his chest for hours, humming or singing, playing too. But after this weekend, this morning she would not let me put her down at all (I had a stomach bug and had to). She did the mad-cry, even if I was next to her, talking to her, and touching her. *sighs* So I tried to let her cry and soothe herself and learn that she cannot always be held anymore. She did ok, but only once I swaddled her and put her in her carseat because I was going to meet Jonathan at base for lunch. (I swaddle her at night, but not during the day, so that she learns to use those hands/arms/legs.) After lunch, I nursed her, gave her a bath, and then cuddled/nursed skin-to-skin, so she got held all until Jonathan got home at 4. Then after he held her, we put her down, and she threw a fit! Once picked up, she stopped immediately, and looked into our faces happily. *sighs* This was a battle of wills! I cried, I was so unhappy hearing my baby fuss! But Jonathan and I knew we shouldn't give in. Seriously, I think she cried for 20 minutes (it felt that way anyway, maybe it was just 15). We watched on the video monitor, my heart breaking! She doesn't know how to soothe herself, so after that long, I asked Jonathan if I could go in and swaddle her because that would comfort her. He said yes, and within 3 minutes she stopped crying and calmed herself. She is now sleeping peacefully. My sweet Angel baby.

I hated every minute of that, and believe me she'll be held a lot this evening so she feels loved by us and cared for and content. But it really was a little battle-of-wills. I cannot believe it happens this early. Hopefully this is our last experience with this for a few weeks (months?) at least!!

(I don't know all my readers' positions on child training, but I am trying to be honest about our new journey into parenthood.)