live and learn

so yesterday, when changing nissa's diaper, i noticed some redness, so i decided to let her "air out" for a few minutes before putting on another diaper. i try to be sparing with diaper cream, so i wanted to know it was needed (and not just red from sitting funny) before applying. i stood nissa up in her crib, grabbed some dinner and sat down in the rocking chair across the way. a few bites in, i noticed nissa's eyes looked a little watery and she seemed to be really concentrating. then i heard a soft "thump" and i thought, no way! i put my plate down to look and sure enough, there was a little poop right there on the bed below her. i found it very comical. but things changed from comical to disgusting pretty quick, as the solid poop was followed by not so solid stuff, and in my scramble to clean up and reapply a diaper, more came, she finished and sat down and proceeded to run her fingers through it. argh!! so i scooped her up, wrapped her in a diaper then busted out the duck. bath time! but no sucking thumbs or washcloths this round. . . and that's why we keep 2 sheets for her bed.

on a less disgusting note, i noticed nissa is crawling on all fours now. she has always been able to, but tended to drop down to her forearms when she really wanted to cover some ground. she favors the upright position now. very cute. she's taken to crawling the length of the basement now. she'll stop and look back every once in a while; i guess to make sure i'm still there. i wonder what she'd do if i weren't? through the course of the ground she covered this weekend, she discovered gibson's bowls. first it was the food, which she flipped around a few times with her hand before grabbing a piece and bringing it to her mouth. yes, i stopped her before she could try it. then she found the water bowl, in which she splashed with both hands. gibson looked on, annoyed, so i picked her up and we left gibson in peace.

nissa has also become very adventurous in her climbing. she has always pulled up on the shelves at the end of the changing table. saturday she pulled up to the next shelf up, then was standing on the lower shelf. she was ready to keep going too! adam and grandma g seemed a bit exasperated by my letting her do this, but i was intrigued- i wanted to see how far she'd go. i had her spotted and the shelf supported. it was fine.

so i tried yesterday to practice "mama" with nissa. i used adam's method of pointing to her, "nissa", then to me, "mama". we did this a few times and when i stopped short of saying "mama" and pointing to myself, she said "dada". ha. she doesn't know him! she just knows what to say. i'll keep working on it, though.