Sideways S

Last night was pretty crappy, especially for Baby S. She is definitely more energetic, but her parents are still a few steps behind. We had an early dinner and by 6:30 p.m. P was ready to head upstairs. Yeah, 6:30 p.m., like Papi, going to bed with the chickens. Although we did not go to bed but just hung around upstairs. Baby S felt OK enough to play in her room alone for a while. She did check on us here and there because G-d knows that parents can't be trusted. :)

Baby S joined us in bed and by seven thirty she was doing the I'm-so-tired-I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-myself-so-I'm-going-to-cry-kick-and-scream-until-I-figure-out-how-to-fall-asleep-ritual. Since she is sick, we are giving her a lot of space and letting a lot of things go, so we just resigned ourselves to a good 45 minutes of her Linda Blair in the Ex0rcist imitation. But it did not happen. What? She started her ritual, and then I heard her snore. P pretends to snore to try get her to sleep (never works) and Baby S has started to mimic him. I thought she was simply imitating her Baba, but when I looked she was out, totally out. YEAH!

Since P and I were awake and talking and laughing, we woke her up a few times. Poor Baby S glared at us and went back to sleep. About an hour later we placed her on her crib, because we knew she would not sleep well with us. We spent the night tossing, turning and coughing, not conductive to peaceful slumber.

Baby S is usually all over her crib, and our bed. It is not unusual to find her at the foot of the bed, about to roll over onto the floor. Last night we realized how sick she was because she remained in the same position all night. I was up all night, checking on her, making sure she was breathing. Kind of freaked me out that she was not moving. I took the picture above at 7:30 a.m. and she still had not moved. I guess she needed that tight fit to feel comfortable. It makes sense because that is what she does when she wedges herself between P and I. Baby S makes her own womb as needed.

Over the past few days Baby S also did something we had only seen our second day together in China. She has demanded to have both of us, not in a bratty way but in a really needy way. Our second day in Kunming Baby S was off and we stayed in our room, skipped the group dinner and ordered room service. She was whimpering and spent the evening alternating between our laps. We thought she was grieving and truly needed both of us. Ever since, Baby S has been consistent in wanting her Mama when something is wrong. But not for the past few days. I hate to admit this, but I'm glad that P stayed home sick for two days or it would have been hell on me. Two nights ago I got up to get something and Baby S had a gargantuan meltdown. P asked me to sit down with her and offered to get the item for me. That did not work for Baby S either and she had a small herd. We had to sit close to each other, with Baby S on our laps, to get her to calm down. I guess that we have a way of quantifying how bad she is feeling. If Baby S needs two parents at all times, we are on red alert. Even when sick she manages to teach us something new.

Baby S is picking up more words every day and does a lot of baby talk but with a discernible pattern. It is really funny when she goes off on her rants. It sounds a bit like twin talk, except, that, you know, she is NOT a twin. So we kind of wonder if we'll be using that therapy fund sooner than expected.

Baby S is still using the sign for poop , although she can clearly say the word. Yesterday she made the sign and said the word several times, but it was a false alarm. I said the same thing I have been saying for 7 months, "No sweetie, you did not poop, you passed gas." Seven months saying the same thing and not once has she repeated gas. OK, no biggie, we knew language would come slower for Baby S due to her origin and our insistence in exposing her to three languages. After a few more false alarms I looked and said, "Nope, just a f@rt." Baby S giggled and repeated, "f@rt, f@rt." OK, do children come with a built in sensor alerting them what they are not supposed to say? It is the first time I used that word with her, I talk to her constantly, and of the thousands of words she hears daily, she chooses to repeat THAT one?