Pa Buehh and more crawling

She's starting to form "Pa Pa" sounds and has done more crawling. She's no speed carwler but she's gone from "getting the hang of it" to actually doing it a little.

Ismael is proud she's getting closer to saying "Papa". I still think it's closer to "Buah..buehhh" but I find it more interesting she started to move around in the crib and tries to get up to see where I've walked away to. It's the end of an era. Can't leave her unattended on a bed :) My big girl is about to keep me wicked busy.

Ma Ma

Since arriving in Mexico last week, Carolina hasn't slept well two nights in a row. Last night while basically awake from 2-4am she said "Ma...Ma". A few times. And has since sped it up to "Mama". She's said it a few times. I'd be more excited if I wasn't so exhausted at the time. :) and she likes to use it during the wee hours when she's too worked up to go straight back to sleep after eating since we are all in the same room. I'm very much looking forward to going home if only because we get separate rooms again. Phew.

she's also working on a new word, not sure what, but it sounds like "Buhhhh..buhhhh...buhhh".

We are also working on getting her to say "Papa".

More when we get home...

PS today is her 7th month "birthday" :)
PPS she crawled 2 "steps" today when she was with Abuelo.

It was all going surprisingly well when it changed

So we went to a friend's house last weekend and it went surprisingly well with Carolina. She napped, TWICE!, for an hour each time in a room she'd never been in before. Man that was great. She was pleasant and enjoyed being around people. I left, surprised and hopeful, that meant our flight on Friday morning would go swimmingly well. Or at least better than I had previously expected.

Then last night happened. Poor thing is really in pain from teething. Those blasted teeth just won't pop through the skin. They keep threatening. She's been basically moaning in pain (and yes, I've given her everything I can aside from a baby-sized shot of whiskey) since last night. She slept for 3 hours, then 2 then up every 90 minutes. Then about 4am and before 5am, got up twice.

Ismael tried to calm her down, I tried to boob-calm her. Yeah, not much. More pain medicine. Yeah...

So about 5.30am I stayed in her room with her on the spare bed in there. I got her to relax and fall asleep and kept popping the chupon in her mouth when it would fall out and she'd try to crawl away. Until it fell out for good and she was asleep. She woke up about 7.30am and looked worse for wear -- but as always, did her best to smile.

She was up for almost 2 hours, as usual, then an almost 2 hour nap. Had trouble with falling asleep for nap #2 and is still sleeping but for only about 20 minutes so far. She already yelled out in a bit of pain since falling asleep.

So we're nearly done packing. Weighed the suitcases and aren't in danger of exceeding the 1 checked bag of 50lbs or less. And I'll be armed with everything I can think of to help her get through the flight.

I've already had one nightmare about the TSA person telling me I can't keep the bottle of Tylenol I have. And I have some good telling off lines in my dream, of course I can't remember the snappy comebacks while awake. But I'll throw out everything we have that remotely resembles liquid as long as I keep the infant Tylenol. Because, seriously, the homeopathic stuff is helpful to a point but I'm not sure it isn't the cause of some recent bouts of "constipation" she's had. And when she's really going for it, the stuff she likes least (Tylenol and baby Orajel) are the things that make her stop hurting fastest. Or at least stop crying, screaming or moaning.

I keep thinking she's experienced the worst of it, and it'll pass soon. And then another day comes and she gets pain she hasn't had before.

At least I'm over my cold. If I was sick AND she was teething AND we were on a flight when she was at her worst, I don't think I could handle it as well as not being sick.

All that aside, I think as usual she will surprise me on how she does on the flights. It might be better or worse, but it'll certainly be different than I can imagine. It always is...

Now I just have to remember to pack the passports and we'll be all set.

But on a happier note, my little Carolina was having a wonderful time yesterday afternoon with some other babies in the neighborhood at a mom's house near us. There were about 6 of them at a playdate. She was the smallest and youngest, but she sat up for about 15 minutes (first time ever!) because the other ones were sitting and crawling and I could tell she was very calmly showing them she could do it too.

As you can see in the photo, she was really sitting in a 'good girl' pose. Super cute! Sometimes she REALLY reminds me of my sister. This photo is one of those times.

After this picture, she let me know she wanted to stand up. So I helped her. She then "walked" towards one of the other little boys who was standing on his own. He leaned towards her, she put out her hand, he put out his hand and then they held hands in mid air for a second. He started 'talking' to her and she made just one little noise. But otherwise, she was totally silent. She's really more of an observer, so I was impressed that she was making 'contact'.

6 month checkup at the doctors... with shots

Yup, it was that time again this morning. Poor kid really let out a wail when the shots went in. The new doctor's office is nice about it, but the nurse wasn't as adept at getting the shots in quickly as the old doctor. But at least, she's got her immunizations and it didn't cost us $500. We have her on the list for the flu and H1N1 vaccines since they are doling them out in small quantities, weekly. It's likely she'll be up on the list when we're in Mexico, but I'll take my chances and leave her on the list.

Anyway, here are her 6 month checkup stats:
13lbs, 12oz (10%)
25" length (25%)
16" head circumference (25%)
and got 5 shots.

Her next appointment is in 3 months for her 9 month checkup, and no shots then. Hooray!

After only a 20 minute nap in the car ride to the office, she was surprisingly pleasant for the doctor. She only freaked out when she saw the needles since she knew what was coming next.

Then crying all the way home, and a quick feed and nap for an hour. Woke up smiling at grandpa who was nice enough not only to bring us and home, but to wait to make sure she was okay when she woke up. (Grandma wasn't feeling well with a stomach bug so she was at home. Nearly better though!)

After seeing she wasn't hungry again, I changed her diaper and we went out for a walk. She was a bit warm, so just a onesie, pants and socks -- and into the fuzzy thing in the stroller. I wasn't sure if the carrier would make her legs hurt, and she really likes the fuzzy thing for the stroller. She was quiet and content for the hour or so we were outside. I only came home because it looked like it was going to rain and I didn't bring an umbrella.

See a photo of her during the walk. As you can see, Clifford was a helpful companion during the walk.

I was grateful to see the little smile, which quickly turned into a big yawn...