Sleeplessness, cuteness, and stranger anxiety

[sal_amanda]

The transitioning of Nora to the time change was surprisingly smooth.  As a result, I should have had a bit of extra sleep this weekend, but to my great frustration and irritation, I was not able to sleep.  Of course today I was dragging my ass out of bed as usual.  I'm still pissed off about it.  

I think I forgot to mention before that Nora has started to babble on about da-da-da-da.  She doesn't know what she's saying, of course, but it's still super cute and John is thrilled.  I have tried to point out that she's specifically asking for him now when she has a poopy diaper.  

We seem to be running into some stranger anxiety, but it appears to be selective.  I mean, people always check her out in the grocery store and my neighbor held her last weekend and she was fine and I've never seen her have problems with subs at daycare at all.  However, she just screams at my parents, particularly my dad.  I asked about it at daycare and I guess she sometimes gets like that here and there if it's someone she doesn't know, but really gets upset if it's the assistant director.  My mom says she's getting a complex and she's trying to make the case for how it's because she doesn't get to see Nora enough.  Really, she just needs to take a couple minutes to warm up to people.  Like, when John's aunt stopped by a couple weeks ago, she picked her up right away and Nora got upset.  So I took her back and she checked Jeanne out from a distance and within five minutes, she was just laughing her head off at her in a way I've never really seen her do before then.  

I've asked John to warn his family that when we come up for Thanksgiving, they really can't swarm in on her like I know they would normally do because she will completely freak out with all those unfamiliar people in unfamiliar surroundings after being disoriented from the long car trip.  One more reason I'm totally dreading this trip.  

Anyway.  Here's a picture of Nora trying to look like her daddy with a bubble beard.
 

Comments

[kristyfrey.livejournal.com]

That picture is a gem - Zack and Nora both got blessed with nice heads of hair. Zack is going to need his bangs trimmed soon!

[sal_amanda]

Her doctor said something at her six month visit about her needing a haircut soon. I'm just trying to let it grow out, but I can't seem to keep it from going in her eyes so I may have to trim it a bit. I'm not looking forward to that.

[sal_amanda]

Yeah, we have this bath ring thingy that our neighbors gave us. We were anxiously waiting for her to be able to sit up this well to use it because she was getting to be too long for her baby tub, the little stringbean.

The whole stranger anxiety thing has pros and cons. It's good to know she won't go to just anybody, but it would be nice if she'd go to my mom easier.

[busybusymama.livejournal.com]

LOVE the picture. She is beautiful.

Will she pull clips out? It would be nice to get her use to them and then not have to cut it. I have been using "ouchless" hairbands for Grace since she was tiny (but older than Nora). They are really small, itty bitty rubber-band things for hair that I picked up in the grocery store. They stayed in even when her hair was super baby fine when nothing else would. Grace is three and I have NEVER cut her hair. She could use a trim in the back though, to even things out.

stranger anxiety. ick. It can be really stressful when the "strangers" are close relatives. Or anyone other than mom.

And why do people insist on rushing in on babies like that? My MIL used to overwhelm the kids. I would keep saying, give him/her a few moments to take it all in, then s/he'll be fine. But did she listen? Of course not.

[sal_amanda]

I think she would eat barrettes. I'll have to see if I can find those hairbands, though. That might work for her. She's funny because she likes to play with her own hair sometimes. And she likes to eat mine, which is weird.

Thankfully, she's not so anxious about strangers that she won't go to anyone other than me. I'd freak out if she was one of those babies. But she loves John and I've never seen her have a problem with people at daycare so that's good. I wish she wasn't like that with my mom since she's our primary babysitter.

Honestly, I don't think before having kids that I would have realized how freaky a team of swooping relatives might be to a baby. I've never been one to swoop in on a baby anyway because I've just never been all that interested in them, but I would definitely not do that now.

[i-am-solid.livejournal.com]

I guess I'll have to refrain from squishing her immediately when I visit next week, espcially since I look like mom.

By the way did you know I am visiting next week? Mom thought I was coming DECEMBER 15, not November. Even though I told her to check and see if it would be a good weekend before I bought the ticket.

[sal_amanda]

Well, supposedly I look like Dad, but that doesn't stop her from screaming at him. In fact, she screams at him the most. Can't wait until he shows up in a Santa suit. That ought to go over real well.

Yeah, I knew you were coming in November. Mom was grumbling about having the date wrong the other day.

By the way, you still need to send me your intinerary.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Sam likes to eat my hair, too. He doesn't have enough hair to eat his. Or play with his.

Very much like the bubble picture.

Sam isn't much into babbling. He's really into raspberries. He incorporates them into his chatter like consonants. He's been doing this straight for the past ten minutes, in fact.

He can be odd about who/when he decides to be stranger-anxious about, too. I think a lot depends on how tired and/or hungry he is at the time too. not to mention where I am.

[sal_amanda]

Oh yeah. Tired and/or hungry has a lot to do with it, I think. The babbling is really a recent development for Nora, though she has not given up her raspberries. She's especially fond of those when she's in the midst of eating bright orange carrots. Fun.