nissa has been sleeping really poorly all week. at least once a night, she has woken up in a major way. she often does wake up, cry for a second, then roll back over. this is different. . . she's up, screaming as loud as possible, working up a sweat she's crying so hard. a half an hour or so later, and after a snack and/or drink, she is content enough to go back to bed. it's not teeth (that we've seen) and she didn't get a cold till later in the week, so we really don't know what's up with her. every night is a waiting game, hoping she sleeps through the night and gets all the hours she needs (and we do too).
with the warm weather has come spending more time outside. we were outside recently and the neighbors were dog sitting. once nissa spotted the dog, she pointed, wiggled and screamed "puppy!" he's a fluffy brown poodle mix so i leaned over the fence to say hello and make sure he was up to meeting strangers. he seemed friendly enough so i grabbed nissa to let her say hi too. she loved being able to pet him and get kisses on her hand. the interest didn't last long, but it was cute and i'm glad to be able to indulge her once in a while.
the other day i was in the back of the basement (changing loads of laundry, perhaps?) and nissa was exploring the area on her own. i noticed she was over by the buckets by the door, one of which contains rocks for the fish tanks. it wasn't until i was done and went to scoop her up that i noticed she had taken a fist full of rocks and put them in her mouth. i suppose they could resemble food. . . but ick! fortunately she spit them all back out into the bucket (ick again) and now i have to keep an extra close eye on her when she wanders over that way. the back of the basement in general is not very baby friendly :P
i experienced one of the biggest surprises with nissa when i took her and gibson to the vet for his check up. when we first got there, a nurse came in to ask questions, then took gibson in the back to draw his blood for tests. as soon as the door shut behind her, nissa started crying hysterically, reaching toward the door. she had become instantly upset that they had taken gibson away from her. before that they had just been milling around the room, not really paying attention to each other, though nissa was occasionally amused by gibson's leash trailing behind him. when the nurse brought gibson back (and nissa started to calm down) she asked what had happened to the baby to cause all of the crying. it was hard to keep a straight face when i answered that she was upset that she had taken gibson away. i hadn't really realized how attached she was to the pooch before then. then the doctor came in, checked him out, then offered to take him in the back again to give him his shots (since i clearly had my hands full with nissa). i said ok, then explained to nissa that gibson was going to go to the back again, but that he'd be right back. it didn't work. she wailed as soon as she saw he was leaving again and didn't calm down till he was back. the doctor felt bad that nissa had cried, but when i explained why when he returned, he understood. funny how that little kid understood the difference between gibson going to the back room at the vet vs going outside. . . i guess she could tell gibson was anxious?
another funny discovery happened at the vet too. on a hunch, i packed up water in a travel mug with a straw attachment. nissa is a BIG fan of drinking from straws, especially when it comes to sneaking a sip of my iced coffee (decaf, of course). so i filled up the mug with water, screwed on the lid and it was an instant hit. it's relatively leak-proof and easy to operate and not too heavy when full. at last, nissa has a high volume cup! but man, did i pay for it afterward, with a more-than-soaked diaper afterward.
lately, while preparing dinner, i've closed a few doors but otherwise let nissa roam the first floor at her leisure. as a result, she has found a precarious new favorite spot. nissa has taken to climbing up on the shelf on the butcher block in the kitchen. though it was terribly dusty before, it's not now (i know, bad mom moment) and just has a few pots and lids. her interest in the contents of the shelf helped me move long ago the cast iron skillet and cordless phone i was keeping down there.
lastly, on friday night i discovered that the gate that we've leaned up against the bar to keep out nissa and gibson is no longer going to cut it. i saw with my own eyes nissa grab the gate, pull it back and squeeze herself between the gate and the bar (tricky, with the kick rail keeping the gate pretty close) and making her way beyond the gate. to me, this sums up the challenge of parenthood- having your diligence thwarted by a surprisingly clever child. . . do you get mad, or just impressed? it's hard to stay on message when you're both at the same time.
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