Laughter

I could tell that Nadia was feeling better yesterday because it was so much easier to get her to laugh. I kept giving her Tylenol and Hyland's teething tablets on Sunday as I was hoping she'd be as good as possible at Paul's Aunt Debbie's house, but yesterday I didn't give her anything. The tooth still hasn't come up all the way. It's come up enough that it hurts my finger to rub her gum, but the part that is visible is still rather small. Speaking of laughter, yesterday was the first time she laughed in anticipation of being tickled. I've tried in the past to do the "I'm going to get you" routine, but yesterday was the first day she found it funny. She was laughing and laughing, and I hadn't even started tickling her yet. It was sooo sweet. :-) I just love hearing her laugh!!!!!

I am teaching two nights a week. On Monday nights I'm teaching a math/science early childhood course (29 undergrad and 8 grad students are enrolled), and Tuesday nights I'm teaching a language arts/social studies elementary ed course (28 grad students are enrolled). Yesterday I left the house at 2pm so I could get things situated for the semester, but normally I'll be leaving later than that. My office hours start at 3:35 both days so I need to leave by 2:55 at the latest. Paul said he'll make sure he's home by 2:30 those days. Last night I got home about 8:15pm. That was the longest I had been separated from Nadia in quite awhile. It was hard to leave, but knowing she was with Daddy made it much easier. Class went well last night so that also helped. Many of the students in this class I have had in other classes in the past. Learning names is NOT my forte so I am glad that I already know a fair number of their names.

Sunday night she woke up a couple of times, and I just let her cry but then I let her get up around 6am. I was hoping it would be later than that since we had kept her up until 9pm. Last night Paul put her down at 7:15pm. She woke up the first time at 4:50, and I definitely wasn't going to start the day that early as I had gone to bed later than usual. It's hard for me to come home from class and go right to bed as it usually has me a little more "wired" than usual so I actually stayed up until a little after 10pm. She woke up again at 6:15 and after she cried awhile I let her get up for the day. I am still puzzled as to what to do to get her wake up time to be 7am at the earliest instead of 6am at the earliest. A later bedtime doesn't seem to do the trick.

As for nursing, yesterday she went on strike again when I tried to nurse her first thing in the morning, but then she did nurse after her first nap yesterday. This morning was deja vu in terms of her refusing to nurse (I tried several times); we shall see if she'll nurse after her first nap or not today. I have a feeling we'll be lucky if we make it to 7 months in terms of her still getting some of my milk, but I think she'll be weaned by then. I still struggle at times emotionally over it although in general I'm dealing with it better. If I knew I'd have another baby it would be easier. The hardest part for me is thinking I might never experience this again - something I never thought I'd say during the first couple of months when it hurt so much.