Goodbye, Bottles! Hello, Cupboard Space!

Finally, the day the Bee family has been looking forward to for 14 long months has arrived. No more bottles! We are a couple of months behind, here, but, after much trial and error involving sippy cups and other receptacles, we have finally found a viable alternative. It turns out that Emma really enjoys using a straw. This startling revelation, well, ah, revealed itself a few weeks ago, while we were eating out somewhere and I had, of course, forgotten to bring her sippy cup with me. The baby bee doesn’t mind drinking water from a sippy, but she will not drink milk, either hot or cold, from a cup. So, after seeing her slurp down some cold milk with gusto using a straw, the proverbial light bulb went off above my head and I was determined to find a cup with a straw that would fit the bill. With the help of my neighbors, who have so patiently listened to me wax both hopeful and pessimistic about getting Emma off bottles for weeks, I finally found a really good straw cup from which she contentedly drinks milk or water. Hoorah!
Emma’s Dad and I set a date for the Big Experiment and, of course, at the last minute decided we couldn’t do it quite yet and vowed we would implement the new SOP the following day. Naturally, we feared a change in her nighttime routine would disrupt her blissful 11-hour sleep cycle, which, for the most part, has few interruptions. And, though the first night brought a surprising wake-up call at 3:30 am, which set my heart to racing and my mind wondering, “Oh no, will she ever go back to sleep? Is this her new wake-up time?” the transition has been very smooth. We are on the fourth night of the new routine, which now includes dinner, with her milk in the straw cup, bath, teeth brushing, stories, a lullaby or two, then bed. Yay, Emma! Thank you for being such a sport.

Kisses: A "Just Because Post"

Aww. Emma loves to give kisses now. Sometimes, if you say, "Kisses, kisses," to her, she'll offer you the surface of her face with a big, goofy grin. Or, if you just get within "range," she'll dispense with the formalities and just grab your face and plant a big, wet smooch on you. See picture!

Where Does This Go?

Among her growing list of accomplishments, the baby bee has added the “Let’s take everything out of the box and put it back in” game. Of course, putting it back in does not necessarily mean returning the item to its place of origin. Emma likes to stash her little treasures, which range from a plastic spoon to a shoe (hers or mine) to a book, in the oddest places. To wit: This morning, I found the aforementioned plastic spoon in the pan cupboard, a pair of shoes I had been searching high and low for in the miscellaneous cupboard, and some random toys in her changing table cupboard. It’s actually kind of fun – sort of a like a scavenger hunt, except you do not what you’re expected to find nor that something may be missing for several days, or weeks.
A couple of nights ago, I sat with Emma while she methodically took all of the tea bags out of their respective boxes and placed them on the ground, determined to sort and catalog them in her baby bee brain. To spice it up a bit, I offered to help her count her little treasures. She seemed to be having a lot of fun, and - you know it- I was having a blast. I methodically counted to 10 over and over again, while waggling my thumbs and fingers. I would put the tea pouches in her little hands, which she would try to eat, or put them on the floor, so she could feel and see how many pouches there were. After a while, Emma seemed to mimic the intonation of my counting and would echo back, “Bah, bah, bah, bah” in the same cadence I had been using. Baby bee, I am enjoying you so much!

Tired Little Monkies

While our great town has much to offer - a slew of pawn shops, cash-checking stores and used-car dealerships - it does not have a Target. So, in order to go to Target, one must make a 45- to 60-min sojourn, maybe cross a state line and pay a few tolls in the process. I'm sure it could be worse, but on behalf of all moms on the hunt for affordable, cute things for herself and baby, "Why???" All right, now that I got that off my chest, Emma and I had the pleasure of accompanying Addison and her mom, Emily, to Target this week. We packed the babies in the car and plied them with sippy cups, snack traps and a favorite toy. In Emma's case, she doesn't really have a favorite toy yet, so I was hoping that maybe I could find one for her on the trip. After 45 minutes of flat, flat and more flat, we finally arrived at Target, happy to see something other than brown grass and sad cows.

We decided to try something different with the girls, this time. Instead of getting two separate carts, we got a cart with a big red attachment on it for Addie and Emma to sit in. Looking for all the world like two tourists on a tour bus, the girls tried to stay balanced on their precarious seats while we pushed them around the store. Once Emma and Addie figured out they couldn't reach each other with their hands, they resorted to kicking each other. But, it was all in good fun.

Target proved to be just as fulfilling as we thought it would, and, with slightly lighter wallets, we proceeded to Toys R Us to look for more baby stuff. It was here, with Emily's help, that I found Emma a candidate for the role of favorite toy. Meet Mr. Monkey Face, a.k.a Mojo, the softest toy ever. Emma got very excited as soon as she laid eyes on him and held him next to her in the cart while we continued shopping. The best part is, we have had Mojo with us for three whole days now and Emma still likes him. Yay!

After our shopping was done, we all headed back home and sang to the girls until they fell asleep in the car. Within about 10 minutes, they had both conked out, looking full and happy after a long day of shopping and lunch at Arbys. What a fun day! Thanks, Addie and Emily!
To see the amazing adventures of Addison, click here! She has her own wonderful blog.