Three Funny Things

1. When we're on a walk, Tali points out every dog we see. She gets upset if the dog doesn't want to play with Jackson.

2. Tali often drinks too fast and coughs. So, I pat her back. Now, she coughs and pats her chest.

3. If you ask Tali where her nose is, she touches it. Then, she picks it.

Bad Mom: Didn't Do My Research

About six months ago, I became friends with one of my neighbors who has a daughter a week older than Tali. One day we were having a conversation about diapers and she told me why she uses cloth diapers. As she's explaining this to me, I am thinking to myself "this sounds like something I would do, I wonder why I never researched it." I never bought formula, I never bought a can of baby food, why am I buying disposable diapers?

I never regretted my decision until now. Thanks to Pampers, I truly wish I had done some diaper research before we had Tali. Pampers recently introduced a new line of diapers with "Dry Max" technology. Unfortunately, many claim that this new technology (which Pampers claims is thinner and more absorbent) has a nasty chemical that is giving babies an awful diaper rash. Recently, Tali had the worst diaper rash I've ever seen. It was like someone burned her - ouch! This diaper rash, which happened about two weeks ago, lasted for four days. It was so bad that she cried when she sat down in the bathtub (I had to bathe her standing up) and screamed whenever I put diaper cream on her. After the rash was over, another friend told me that some people were complaining about Pampers burning their kids and it seems like exactly what happened to Tali. But as I had just purchased a huge box of Pampers I decided to continue to use them and see if the rash came back.

This morning, when I changed Tali's diaper I noticed the burn was starting to reappear. I put diaper cream on her all day but now it's getting worse. So tonight, after I put Tali down, I went out to buy organic disposable diapers. I'm just hoping it's not too late and that the burn won't be terrible in the morning. It's probably too late in Tali's life to switch to cloth but I'm not ruling it out.

The worst part about this whole thing is that Pampers is denying that there is a problem! They claim that all of these moms are lying. I'm angry. I'm not sure I'll ever buy Pampers again.

I burned my arm on the oven last weekend and it hurt for a few hours. I can't even begin to imagine what Tali's burn must've felt like. I was telling this story to a friend this evening and she responded by saying that Pampers should be accused of child abuse. I agree. If someone knowingly burned a child, that is child abuse. I feel awful for keeping Tali in Pampers after the first burn. No more. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with all of those diapers but I'll figure something out. I don't even want to donate them and risk another child getting burned. Any suggestions, let me know.

We Are Pacifier Free!

On her 17-month birthday, Tali went to bed without her pacifier - officially saying goodbye to one of the few things that could calm her during her first year of life. About 8 minutes after H and I put her down, she stood up in her crib and cried for 30 seconds. It took her an entire hour and a half to fall asleep, but she did it. She tossed, she turned, she talked but - except for that 30 seconds - she did not scream. Now we can get rid of all the pacifiers and find a new use for that top middle drawer in her dresser.

Congratulations, Tali. This is a major milestone.

First Real Word

Yes, Tali says "mama" and "dada" but I'm not sure that she really relates them to us on a regular basis. She also says "dada" every time she sees a dog or wants to know what something is.

Another word she says often is "done" and I am going to call this as her first real word. Although she says this throughout the day in relation to things that aren't done, she also uses it appropriately at meals.

When Tali is finished eating (either a type of food or an entire meal), she says "done" and raises her arms to her shoulders with her hands turned out (as if she's doing the sign for "I don't know"). If you give her more food after she says "done," she crushes it in her hand and gives it back to you. She's done. Tali will also say "done" when she sees that a bowl/plate of food is empty.

So, "done" is Tali's first word. I'm not sure what that means for her future (will she finish everything she starts or will she just declare things done when she's had enough?), but we will see.

Second Nap

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Tali took her morning nap, sans pacifier, without a tear. She was perfectly content to lay down without anything plugged into her mouth - only her blankets to soothe her. So I decided that Wednesday afternoon would be the first day of pacifier removal for the afternoon nap. When I put her down there were no complaints. But, she didn't sleep. She talked for an hour but no nap. I don't think this had anything to do with the pacifier. She took an almost two hour morning nap so perhaps she just wasn't tired. If she continues to be fine during the afternoon nap then I will remove the pacifier at bedtime this weekend. I have a feeling she might be upset about that one but we'll see. Either way, this might take less time than I had thought.

Pacifier Update

The pacifier removal is going better than I thought it would.

On day three (I left her with Savta that morning), she cried for 7 minutes then played for 30 minutes then slept for about 40 minutes.

On day four she cried for 10 minutes then went right to sleep. She slept for 1 1/2 hours!

Day five's nap was in the car on the way into the city to meet a friend so that didn't count.

And for day six (today) she cried for about 30 seconds and went right to sleep. She was laying down before I even made it downstairs to turn on the monitor. She slept for 1 1/2 hours again. To be honest, I cheated a little. She slept until 9:30 this morning (yes, it was nice; no, I didn't sleep in also) so I skipped her 11:00 nap and just put her down after lunch, around 1:30. She was very tired by this point so it was easy.

I think I'm going to wait to remove the pacifier from the next nap until Tali can go to sleep without crying for two or three days. I'm hoping that'll be soon. But, it's going well. So even if it is a slow process I can see it working and I'm proud of myself for sticking it out. Listening to your daughter scream is tough, especially if you know you can fix it.

Cool New Trick

When we first got Jackson, we taught him lots of tricks. The one trick I never got around to teaching him was to sneeze on command (yes, it's possible). The idea was to ask him if he was allergic to cats and then have him sneeze.

But now my daughter can cough on command. I didn't teach it to her, it just kind of happened. She thinks coughing is funny and will fake cough so that you mimic her. She now knows the word "cough" and will do it when asked.

Yum!

One afternoon during our trip to New Orleans, Tali was hungry (as usual) and was reaching for the tomato on the counter. So I gave it to her to see what she would do with it.






I finally got smart and took off her dress so that it wouldn't get ruined.

A Little Better, Sort Of

Pacifier Removal, Day Two:

Today Tali screamed for about 30 minutes then sat down in her crib. She played with her blankets, tried to get comfortable for a nap and talked to herself for an hour. No nap. But, less screaming. It's progress.

That Was Painful

Pacifier Removal, Day One:

Before every nap, I give Tali one of her blankets (she sleeps with two) and a pacifier and then we read a book. Today I only gave her a blanket and we sat down to read. I didn't even get through the book before she started crying for her pacifier. So I turned on her music, put her in the crib and just let her scream. She stood in the crib and screamed for about an hour before she finally calmed down and sat there quietly playing with her blankets. At that point I made the mistake of going upstairs to put away the laundry. She heard me and started screaming again. This lasted for about 25 minutes (I figured I'd leave her in there for 1 1/2 hours since that is the length of her normal morning nap) before she sat down to play with her blankets. Then, at exactly 1 1/2 hours she laid down. She's asleep now - no pacifier. Who knows how long she'll sleep for as it's lunch time but at least she fell asleep without her pacifier. The worst part is that I have to do this again tomorrow. Ugh.

So Long, Pacifier

Today begins the first day of weaning Tali from her pacifier and it will start with her morning nap. At her last doctor's visit I was told it's time and the doctor told me the best way to do it - take a gradual, one nap at a time process. She said to expect a week of crying before she gets used to going to sleep without it. After she's accomplished sleeping without it during her morning nap, it's on to the afternoon nap and another week of crying. And then, on to bedtime and another week of crying. I expect this whole process to take about a month or so and it won't be easy for Tali or me. I was told to leave her in the crib for the hour, even if she screams, so I'm planning lots of projects to distract me. Wish me luck!

Dancing with the Bass

Thanks to Great Uncle David, below is a video of Tali dancing with the bass at Commander's Palace.