Teething can bite me (pun intended)

 I know how lucky I am to have a wonderfully easy baby, but days like today, I think I am really in for it when she becomes a toddler.  It's like she's grown up so much in the last two weeks, she hardly looks like a baby to me anymore and she's already showing a lot of her personalty, her apparent independent, determined, and sassy personality.  I don't know if she's got some more teeth ready to cut or what, but she was a pistol today.  She didn't want to sit, or stand, or lay down, she didn't want me to hold her, and when she did she didn't want to face me, so she'd spin around and once she did that she would spin back the other way, when I finally gave up and either put her down to play or in her jumper, she would scream and cry.

I tried putting her down for her morning nap but she wasn't having it, she just cried every time I put her down until I finally have up.  Around mid afternoon she was looking tired so we snuggled on the couch and she passed out pretty quickly, but only slept for 45 minutes and never took another nap today.  I figured with such little sleep, she'd go down really easy tonight.  Haha, nope.  I put her down 30 minutes later than usual but it was more of the same, screaming and crying when I tried to leave the room, restlessness and a lot of fidgeting when I tried to rock her.  So overall bed time took an hour and a half longer than usual.

I attempted to let her cry it out but I don't think I lasted more than 5 minutes.  It just breaks my heart to think she is laying there, in pain or upset or whatever, thinking I don't love her because I am not coming in to get her.  I figured it has to be teething discomfort so I gave her some teething tablets and some tylenol and tried again.  This time I told myself I would let her cry it out for at least 15 minutes before going in.  It was hard, but I knew there was really nothing I could do, and she was just so overtired, the best thing was to just let her cry and wear herself out so she could sleep.  Thankfully at 13 minutes she started to calm down and a few minutes after that she was asleep.

I am not sure how to explain it, but I just have a feeling of what her personality is going to be.  She's very observant, she watches things a lot and I can just see the little wheels turning in her head.  I think she will be calculating and think about things a lot before she takes action, but when she does she will be a force to be reckoned with.  She will be smart, and confident, and determined and just a little bit (or a lot of bit) sassy.  I can't wait to see her personality unfold.  My MIL pinned a sign on pinterest for a baby girl's room that sums up Emily perfectly.  It says "Let her sleep, for when she wakes, she will move mountains".

So last week I went through all of her clothes and packed away her 9 month clothes and got out her 12 month.  My baby girl is getting so big.  Her pants drawer is over flowing.  Whatever size she is in, she is often a size or two behind in pants since she has a long torso and short little legs, so some of her six month pants and all of her 9 month pants still fit, and then most of the outfits she got for Christmas came with pants.  I just don't know what to do with them all, there are so many.  I guess I had better go through them some day and pack away any smaller ones that might be similar to some 12 month ones and ones she doesn't wear often.

I'm tired of spending so much money on her pictures, at this rate I am going to have to start a fund just to pay for them all the time.  So I've been pinning some stuff on pinterest for tips on how to take them yourself.  I have a nice camera I got last christmas, but honestly I don't know how to really use it.  I will find a setting that seems to work, but then it will stop being the ideal setting and then I'm lost on what to do.  There are many many buttons and options that I have no clue what they do, so I found an online tutorial I am going to take to really learn how to use my camera.  I paid enough for the damn thing, I should know how to really use it rather than treating it as a very expensive point and shoot.  I can't wait to take a stab at taking her own pictures.  And if I fail, there is always the JC Penney down the street.  I wasn't thrilled with them for her three month pics, it was so rushed, and we waited a long time since the last people went over their appointment time.

But it was a Saturday.  Now that I am not working, I could take her mid day during the week and I am sure it won't be nearly as busy.  But I am really hoping my plan works out, I have so many cute ideas for her first birthday pictures.  One of my favorites is my plan for the thank you cards I found on pinterest.  I'm going to take a picture of her holding a sign that says thank you, and just write the thank you message on the back.  And, since 4X6 pictures are so cheap to print, they'll be really inexpensive.  I think I should also be able to get the invites for her birthday party for free, or almost free thanks to Pampers rewards.  I can't believe her birthday is in less than three months.

A friend from my old job announced just before Thanksgiving that she's going to be a grandma, her son's girlfriend is pregnant.  This woman loves babies, like LOVES babies, she even got me a gift for Emily in addition to whatever she contributed to my work shower.  I was really happy for her when she announced it.  Then today, she announced her other son's girlfriend is pregnant and due just two months after the first, so she'll be getting her first two grandkids both this summer.  I'm so happy for her....but sad that I can't look at pregnancy announcements the same way anymore.  When I hear of them, instead of my first reaction being, wow, how exciting, it's "I hope everything goes ok".  Especially with her expecting two, it just makes me worried that the chances have increased that something will happen with one of them.  Things that don't cross most peoples' minds, cross mine now.  It's so unfair.