I'm not getting OLD, just older in my thinking...

I think it is a sign of aging when you think really hard about something and just get MAD about it, or frustrated really, especially when it has to do with the thinking of some people. I'm not saying I'm getting old, I just feel frustrated when people don't see things they way I see them (considering I'm a fairly open-minded person). Okay, that sounded "old." But, it's not the young people, it's the older people. It is frustrating when people want to stand back, pull their hands back, and say "that's not my problem" or "we don't need to go there." There is a younger generation following our lead, whether they want to admit it or not! And if we don't have some "crazy" people (obviously like myself) coming out and say, "you know, there is a better way to do this," or "don't do it that way just because everyone else is," or even "I've been there. And I've learned this: ______"
If the older and middle-aged generations do not learn new things (and learn from what they've experienced) and actually teach it to the upcoming generation, then we will not progress. Not a a society, nor as people. And by progress, I mean taking it back to the natural. When human beings were in touch with this earth, it's Creator, it's animal inhabitants, and with each other.
Why is that so hard to get past? To move toward? Why do we put up boundaries that are anything but natural?
I was so frustrated that I actually hand washed my dishes on purpose, just to calm myself down!

How is one "Crunchy?"

Recently, I've been reading on a new parenting forum called GCM (Gently Christian Mothers). I kept seeing the word "crunchy" pop up. I had to ask! Emily (saturnfire16), was the first person who explained it to me. She had very many thought-provoking explanations...and I thought that they were very interesting since she has made them from a Christian perspective. I thought it was very mind-expanding to simply read why she believes what she does, and so I asked her if I could use her responses for my blog, and she graciously agreed. So, here are her takes on being "crunchy":

Well, like AP (Attachment Parenting), being crunchy isn't a list of do and don'ts, or meeting certain criteria. It's just a lifestyle that has certain things in common, and a general life philosophy in common, and takes on different roles for different people. Personally, I believe that God designed our bodies to be healthy, when we eat the food he made and use the cures for sickness that he created. I believe that he designed my body to be capable of giving birth, that he made my breasts to nourish my baby and my hips to carry her. That my children are a blessing, and that I should treat them with love and respect. That he created them with a natural curiosity and love of learning and desire to please. That he gave us dominion over this earth and animals to care for them and not destroy them. So for me, that has led to babywearing, cosleeping, breastfeeding, GBD (Grace-Based Discipline), homebirth, raw foods and traditional foods, homeopathy, homeschooling/unschooling, cloth diapering, not vaxing or circumcising, sustainable living etc. Some of this is new for me too, and I'm always learning! There are a lot of ways I'd like to be more "green," and the cloth diapering will be a new thing with this baby due in July. I just try to always be learning and adjusting, with the goal of getting as close to living the way God designed us to live as possible. But not all of these things are for everyone, and that's ok! And since our culture is mostly so far removed from "natural," I think it is often just a matter of people not knowing the options that exist. For me, it's fun to find out! I'm thinking that crunchy is probably a more liberal, hippy, coastal word, so I'm guessing that there wouldn't be many people using it in the Midwest, but I could be wrong.

*when I asked her to elaborate on some of these things she replied:

I try to eat mostly raw foods, which means eating them in the state that God created them. So uncooked fruits, veges, nuts and seeds. Obviously some things have to be cooked, so I try to eat them in the "traditional" ways. I'm just learning about soaking grains, which makes them easier to digest. I'm also just learning about fermented foods, like keifer and kombucha. Many of our ancestors did this. Our modern day sour cream and yogurt are takes off of traditional fermented foods, but with additives and so processed that it takes away a lot of the nutritional value. I do eat meat and dairy, so I'm not a vegan or vegetarian, though I think these diets are good too. I get my meat and eggs from a local farmer who raises them free-range on organic pastures. I'm trying to find somewhere local to buy raw (unpasteurized) milk, but in the meantime I buy organic from the store. I just joined my first CSA (community supported agriculture), so starting in June, I'll be getting fresh, organic produce from a local farmer. The way a CSA works is you basically buy a share of the crops up front, and then get a weekly variety of whatever is in season.People will argue back and forth about whether it's best to eat raw or traditional or vegan or vegetarian. But the one thing all these diets have in common is that they avoid processed and refined foods, additives, preservatives, excitotoxins etc. Basically, its just eating the food that God made vs. eating food that someone in a white coat in a lab made. For a variety of reasons, some people can handle meat, and others don't feel as good when they eat it. I think that when someone is sick, the first thing they should look to is their diet and see what might be the cause of the symptoms.
Co-sleeping's not for everyone. The important thing is that you and your baby are happy with whatever you're doing. I loved it, because I couldn't stand the thought of getting up in the middle of the night to nurse. We did it for 2 years and probably would have gone longer, except now I'm pregnant, so I didn't want two in my bed. But she was ready for her own bed, and the transition was really easy.
For me, not doing vaccinations is just an extension of the rest of my beliefs. God created our bodies to be strong and healthy, when we take care of them. He didn't make a mistake that only modern medicine can cure. I did research them, and everything I found just convinced me more not to do them.
Sustainable living is kind of like environmentalism, but I don't like being grouped with tree huggers. So things like recycling, less materialism and consumerism. Just living simply. Organic food is sustainable because it doesn't destroy the land.
Sorry I'm so long winded! I guess I just get excited about all this stuff.

Brielle 4 months old: 3-28-08

Today Brielle is 4 months old. I told her. She is still so big, and yet still so small, something I say quite often. She is holding her head up quite well, and likes to pull her feet in close. Sometimes she pulls them into her mouth, though the boys noticed today that she has a harder time getting hold of the left foot. She smiles so much. Two days ago she had her well check up and shots. I hate shots. The first set (at two months) I bawled through, these we both did better at. She slept for hours afterwards. She weighed 15lbs 7ozs. What a chunk! She has rolls on her arms and legs that the creases never see the light of day! Her skin is improving, but I still have to cover four different special areas with four different special ointments and creams. Seems as if she will have this condition for a while. She is definitely more able to calm herself now. She also gives us warnings before she cries. She coughs, grunts, rubs her feet together furiously, or fusses for a bit so that we now have a chance to get her before she is raging mad. Changing scenery still works well with our little social butterbug. She still cannot stand for clothes to go over her head, or to have her arms forced through her shirt. The boys do wonderfully well with her. Just today Josh fell asleep with her on the futon in her room. Just like that. A nap sounds good to me right now. She was wide awake at 6:00am this morning, and that was the 5th time she had gotten up during the night. I counted…somehow. I think I could nap better if the neighborhood kids weren’t outside yelling (i.e. playing) in our front yard. It sounds horrible to be quite honest. I thought the sounds of kids playing was supposed to be beautiful. I guess not when they reach middle school and constantly scream as a part of their recreational outlet.
I love nursing (now-I wouldn‘t have said that a few months ago!). No bottles, no yucky formula (she spits up), and no bottles to prepare and wash. That’s just the anti stuff. What benefits have come with breastfeeding too! I love providing her nourishment. That she knows me, that she wants me, that she can see, smell, and even sense me is wonderful. Most of the time she actually fusses around me, and maybe it’s because she is hungry. Everyone else gets smiles from her when she sees them. But, that is okay. And while nursing bonds us, she is in no way particular about who has her or who holds her yet. I hope it stays that way. I hope she feels secure, snug, and loved so much that she is comfortable around everyone. She knows who loves her. And I know that one day she will have to be aware and cautious, but let that day be a long time away.
She has begun to grab everything. Every day she reaches for more. Soon we will no longer be able to hold things for her grabbing them. It’s amazing now. Now. She grabs my hair all of the time. She pulls me close to her. I don’t mind. I smell her. She smells like the most wonderful baby smell in the world to me. I kiss her soft cheeks and smile at her. I undo her feisty grip on my hair when it begins to hurt. She shakes her body. I love her. We all do.
I rock her sometimes to calm her in my arms when she is tired. I know that they say by this age that you should put a sleepy baby down, not a sleeping baby down. But sometimes I just want to hold her a little longer. I close my eyes and find the soft rhythm. She is so precious, asleep in my arms. I hope she doesn’t outgrow the bassinet soon. I don’t want her to sleep in the other room. I know they say she is supposed to be sleeping in her own room by now, but why? I can get to her faster in the middle of the night if she is right next to me.
Her daddy is nuts over her. He will do anything for her. Tonight he was on his way to shower and I asked him if sometime he could assemble her bouncer, and he just did it right then. Mumbled complaints at me the whole time, but I know the truth: anything for his baby girl.

Both of these pictures were taken on the day this blog was written, March 28th, her 4 month old day, while in her beloved Aunt Kelly's arms.

Brielle 3-14-08

I was reading over some of my journal entries into my laptop while I was in fact looking for poetry to print out for Brielle’s scrapbook. Talk about tearing up! I want to print it all out and make a journal just for her: that is about parenting her! Maybe I should save it to a disc though? Think of technology advancing. Will she prefer it on a disc or printed out? Will she even want to read it? I would! I mean, I do! Seriously though, I would love to read anything that my mom wrote about me, or even wrote about anything during the time I was a baby. Yet, I’m pretty sure not much exists. Now watch, I write and write about my daughter and she won’t be interested. Maybe though, it doesn’t matter. I post some of it on the internet for anyone to read. I think it is good to share our experiences with one another.
Tonight as I was putting her to sleep in my arms (I am wearing a tank top) she was running her silky smooth hand all along my arm, chest, and shoulder. It was calming her as she was falling asleep. I thought it was one of the most precious things a baby could do. Ever.
She is still very much a private eater. She does not like loud noises when she is eating. We sleep with the Vaporizer fan on all night (every night) because she sleeps best with it on. She takes her pacifier a lot and sometimes wants it over me. I don’t take offense. I can’t turn on the light attached to the headboard of my bed. She won’t eat with it on, and not because the light is distracting her. I really believe she thinks the lamp is something! I don’t know what, but she arches her head way back, extending her neck, and gives it the strangest most curious look! Even if I turn it off, once she’s noticed it, it’s too late. It’s something. She is but 3 ½ months old but she loves to try and sit up and stand up. She’s an active baby alright. But, she always has been, even in the womb. She likes to just lay near me and kick and push me with her feet. She’s very physical. She loves to hold my hand with her hands on her chest. She loves to feel things. She listens to everything. I can get her to laugh kind of now. It’s such a beautiful sound. She’s recently discovered her voice. And she likes it, of course. I’m no longer surprised, though still say over things, “the boys didn’t do that……….” HAHAHA She’s our unique little princess. She’s exactly what God designed and had in perfect mind when He created her attributes. She’s perfect, particular, and so wonderful. She makes us all smile. The boys think she knows more than it seems she should, and they are probably right.
She’s sleeping now, and I’m thinking I should be too.

About blogging and a funny breastfeeding day

I sort of made a mistake. I typed in a few of my “favorite” books from recent years. That was fine, not the problem. The mistake came when one day I clicked on one of my favorite books and realized that it took me to other blogs that also had that book listed as a favorite. That meant that other people not only enjoyed the same reads as myself, but that they also had some similar beliefs. And they were blogging about them. Not only were they blogging, but they were researching and sharing, while also incorporating their own real-life experiences into it. Interesting. So…the problem came with my desire to read all of it! Some of it was very new to me, some so full of true emotion that I actually got misty-eyed reading it. I was impressed at the ability of some bloggers. I wondered if they were paid, some were so good. Of course, my free time feels very important to me, so I only took the time to read what seemed of value. Which was a wonderful option, I might say, to pick and choose. To click away or scroll down. Ah, how I marvel the notion that I never discovered the enticement of blog reading before. It is probably going to be a necessity that I pray for guidance, discretion, and discipline *before I log on to my computer now. Lest I forget also that my darling daughter will not allow me much time online as it is.


I have thought about this several times with amazement: The same exact spot where Brielle was born is the same place where she now rides in her car seat . The back seat is also where I spend time nursing her (it is so much easier to nurse her there than try to find some place indoors, especially since she prefers to eat in peace). Which brings me to the subject of nursing in public. I am totally fine with nursing her anywhere, even in public. But Brielle makes it quite clear that she does not prefer to eat with so many distractions. I guess they overwhelm her. Sometimes so much noise puts her to sleep, but it doesn’t work the same for eating for her. I have tried and it ended up resulting in quite an ordeal. We were at Opry Mills, and I was searching everywhere for a place that I could at least get her to latch on in private before people came near enough to notice she was nursing. Well, I certainly wasn’t wearing the correct nursing attire, and I certainly didn’t feel as comfortable as I thought I was in my head. Not to mention it was a Saturday evening at Opry Mills, meaning it was jam packed in there. I tried to nurse her while standing in the Nike store, she ate a little., just enough to force her stomach to make more room, resulting in a diaper blowout (I had to change her clothes at the nearest bathroom). I tried to nurse her while standing in the bathroom. Too noisy. There was a horrible smell that overwhelmed me in there. I went to the hallway and nursed her there with my husband and children standing by. Again, I was frustrated by what I was wearing, not thinking it would be this hard to accomplish something that we’d done hundreds of times already at home. She ate a little more. We walked on. Then, she’d really had it. She had to be hungry. She began to cry. The boys went into the toy store, I said, “I’ll be on that bench over there.” I sat by two women who I hoped weren’t going to give me a hard time, blocked myself with the stroller, again scolded myself for clothing choices, and tried to help Brielle latch on. She wanted to, I think, but the distractions were just too much. I kept trying, but it just wasn’t working. I put her back in the stroller, and she didn’t cry. Actually, she fell asleep for a while. When she woke again I was using the bathroom, so I tried to nurse her in there (she eats best when she first wakes up) but nope, the cleaning people were too loud, though the shoppers were becoming scarce. So, I put her back in her car seat into the stroller and we rolled out to the car and drove the hour home. She never fussed. Go figure. I don’t know. We take every day as it comes. And just when think I may have her figured out, she changes that on me too.

Thank you for Breastfeeding!

Thank you for Breastfeeding!
Determined to breastfeed, I thought it would be far easier than it began. Then I thought it would naturally get easier. Then I realized that this was the way it was, in part due to the nature of my baby. Through the past few months, when I’ve been discouraged, I’ve sought images in my mind of all the women I’ve seen breastfeed their babies, or have talked or written about it. This has inspired and continuously motivated me on our own breastfeeding journey. So…I just wanted to thank those women here!
Thank you Holly for breastfeeding Isaac when you came to visit. Thank you Jamie, who used to live in Springfield, TN, for breastfeeding your toddler. (Both of these women I met online years ago.) Thank you Tammy, my cousin, for nursing your three children, including twins. Thank you Stephanie for breastfeeding your toddler and Lisa for nursing your baby (both of these women did so at our church’s life groups a few years back). Thank you Alicia for breastfeeding your babies (a daughter, then twins-an image that always inspired me.) Thank you to the lady on the pool deck at Ft. Leavenworth, KS, for nursing your baby right beside the pool under a towel. Thank you Kelly for nursing Dustri as a baby and through her toddlerhood. Thank you for giving me so much support about it. Thank you Rachel for nursing Hays and now Trice and for giving encouragement to me during this time. Thank you to the lady who breastfed at the park during the military picnic. Thank you to all women who support women who breastfeed and all the women who do it!
These are all of the women that I’ve actually seen breastfeed or talked to about breastfeeding specifically up until now. Which is crazy that I can remember them all, isn’t it? I guess it’s because I DO it so much that I think about it a lot, and I’ve really needed encouragement about it, since I have such a high-need baby. I wish there were more women on my list now that I look at it…but I’m really just grateful for the women that I‘ve remembered that have breastfed. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

On colic, seborrheic dermatitis , breastfeeding, and reflux…

On colic, seborrheic dermatitis, breastfeeding, and reflux…
There are things I thought I knew about babies. I have learned that I did not know nearly as much as I thought I did.
Like- I had heard about colic, and thought it sounded like a nightmare. I didn’t really want to know about it, and I never in a million years dreamed that I’d have a baby that had it. I also knew a little about seborrhea (cradle cap) since Tyler had it mildly. I knew about little about reflux because Joshua spit up like it was something normal after each feeding. I also thought I knew about breastfeeding since I had breastfed (along with supplementing bottled formula) Tyler for the first four weeks of his life.
All I have to say is HA HA HA HA HA to all of that which I thought I knew!!!
Then I have to say:
Colic is NO Joke!
Breastfeeding is NO Joke!
Seborrhea NO Joke!
and Reflux is (you guessed it) NO Joke!
I could tell you all of things that I’ve tried over the past twelve weeks that have failed, failed, and failed some more. But that would just be long and grueling (although if you are interested-call me and I’ll tell you all about it). I’ve heard tons and tons of advice (tell someone you have a fussy baby and they have some sort of solution for you). So far though, I’ve been able to find a few things that actually WORK, and those are far more important to share.
Breastfeeding was my first reality check. It wasn’t like I remembered it, and I did not know that each new baby was a new nursing relationship, unlike the last. It hurt! And it was very time consuming. You never know how much a baby is actually eating, so therefore I had to keep offering the opportunity to nurse to her (just in case). I don’t even have any really good advice for this yet (except: hang in there!). I am so glad that I stuck it out, because I was seriously considering the bottle. I love nursing at nighttime best because it’s so convenient and she eats so well. We still struggle with daytime feedings because she is such a private eater, she loves to eat in peace! Accommodating that is often frustrating or just plain hard sometimes. But I try to do it anyway. Whatever works.
Colic was a surprise as well. She cried a lot. She cried when we were holding her, when we put her down, while we rocked her, in the swing, with a pacie, at morning, afternoon, and especially in the evening. We were exhausted. Fortunately she slept through the night. How weird though. I read through my baby books, talked to my midwife, and our pediatrician, then I diagnosed her with colic. Which just means “cries a lot.” I was pointed to a book called, “The Happiest Baby on the Block: How to calm your crying baby and help them to sleep longer.” Or something like that. In it, he describes several reasons why he feels babies develop colic in the first place, then what you can do to help them in their first three months. Which turns out to be basically simulating the womb. Which makes sense. So, we swaddled, held her on her side, jiggled her around, shushed her with the fan on the vaporizer, and gave her a pacie. Just like the book said to do. And yes, it usually worked. I also put her in her pouch sling that this wonderful lady, Jami, made for us. She has always loved curling up in there, like she was in the womb, and for some reason noise tends to bother her less in there.
Let me just say our girl has no problem hearing!
I had no idea what the seborrheic dermatitis was until I took her into the Pediatrician for it. I thought she was allergic or something (possibly giving her the stomach problems too and adding to a painful reflux). She was covered in red bumps all over, and where there weren’t red bumps there were dried up crusty patches covering her skin (on her shoulders spreading down to her hands, on her ankles up to her knees, on her side, her chest, and of course on her head an face). It was insane all over. So I took her back to the Pediatrician, since the first time he’d just recommended the usual: change detergents, soaps, use head & shoulders on her scalp, and hydrocortisone on the really rough patches. The next time he was really aware of her skin condition and how intense it was covering her body. And he finally made a suggestion that worked: a product called Aquaphor. I bathed her, covered her in it (the only thing she doesn’t cry when I apply it to her skin) along with the hydrocortisone cream as well, and we’ve seen great improvements. Only thing is that I have to apply it daily in order to keep in from returning! Hydracortizone 1% cream also works well, and I put that on the really scaly patches. (We’ve also discovered that Desodine (by prescription) works well on the really blotchy patches, but only the Hydracortizone can be used on the face). And A & D creamy ointment works well in the rolls of her skin, where there are creases that never see light or feel air.
Reflux is something that some people say all babies have for the first few months of their lives. Perhaps some babies react harsher to it than others (hence why some spit up more than others, though sometimes the food doesn’t always come back up and out). Well, she would be eating (this happened a lot) and I could hear her stomach clucking kind of, then she would get kind of choked up, not breathe, then start coughing. Oh, I just felt so bad! I would just want to cry every time this happened. But now as I type this, I realized she does this much less than before. I’ve tried cutting out much of my dairy to see if she might have milk allergy or intolerance. This may be part of what is helping her, who really knows though. It may be that she’s getting older, that I am much more aware of her temperament now, or it may be the dairy. Regardless, she shows improvement, but still has days/evenings that remind us that she is our high-need, demanding, colicky baby.
So, that has been our adventure thus far! I just checked out a new book, “The Fussy Baby Book,” to find out ways that I can help her eat without being so distracted by every little noise around her. But, I am sure the best suggestion is going to be: find a quiet place to feed your baby. Ah, how much there is to learn. I thought I would still be able to “do” things after having a baby. Well, I am, but maybe in small increments. And it is getting better, thank goodness. She is now growing more able to calm herself and can be distracted when she’s fussy. Her older brothers can amuse her occasionally (Halleighlujiah!). But I’ve suspected all along that I would never had spent this much time with her (24/7) holding her, comforting her, feeding her, and experimenting with new ways to console and satisfy her needs had she not been born with the personality that she has. Nor if I weren’t breastfeeding her. She demands I put everything on hold for her. And that is absolutely fine. I love her. Many times I’ve told her, “I’ll give you anything you want, if only I just knew what it is you want.” My arms have been filled with her so much, and I know that I would not want this time to go by and it be any other way. So, despite the trials, I am so very thankful. I feel so much closer to my baby because of the very things that have had my head spinning! I should have expected this, knowing how active she was in my womb, and the way she came into this world! Now, I can only watch with joy and anticipation as she grows into the beautiful individual that God has created her to be!

One poopey morning...and On Breastfeeding

One Poopey Morning…
Sometimes I think I know my daughter. Then, she usually throws me for a loop. I am starting to recognize when she is tired, hungry, uncomfortable, wanting to move, or when she wants attention or something to play with/look at. She starts to flail her arms up and down and grunt when she’s just beginning to let me know something is up. Then it progresses (of course I usually try to help her at the first signs). Sometimes I can even tell when she needs to poop, believe it or not. She gets really fussy, and I’ll know that she hadn’t gone in a while, then she will nurse off and on and eventually she will let it all out. Well, this morning she was up eating off an on from about 5am to 8am. Not the norm, as this girl has really recognized night to morning since birth. I get up to change her diaper, and realize she’d recently pooped. So I take her diaper off, wipe her bottom, and go to throw it away. It’s then I hear this weird sound! I thought, “what on earth was that?” I look and see that (you guessed it) she has pooped all over the place. If you know anything about breastfed baby poop (at least our baby’s) it stains everything it touches (hence why we had two waterproof changing pads under her). Except the explosion went beyond them and got onto her new and beautiful crib sheet! Ahhrrrr…..the wet wipes! It was all over her clothes, her, and was getting all over me. Brielle was oblivious to all of this. She carried on as nothing had happened. I rushed everything to the laundry room to soak & wash. She happily played with the tail of my stuffed dolphin since I had gotten her dressed and taken care of her first. I actually like it when things go differently than expected sometimes. She keeps me alert and attentive to her. I appreciate that about her, her personality.
On Breastfeeding…
We are now 3 ½ months into her life and into breastfeeding. It seems that we had to wait a little longer to enter our “reward” era. The books all suggested that around 6-8 weeks it would all click and become clear that it had been worth it to stick it out. I was sure looking forward to that time, because the first 8 weeks were rough! Breastfeeding wasn’t natural, she didn’t easily latch on, and it was so time consuming and painful! I knew that it would eventually be worth it…I just never knew when. Well, it took 3 months for her to really learn to calm from her colic. We spent countless hours holding her, bouncing her, rocking her, and trying to listen to her needs. She has spent more time in the sling, next to her mother, than any baby I’ve ever known. Now that “sometimes” I think I know her, I can generally try things I think she may need to help her. I had to recognize that she didn’t want to nurse in loud places, and I had to accommodate that for her. I had to realize while some advice was beneficial for us, other advice was best left alone. I had to trust that she and I have a unique relationship from all other babies and moms, and I had to learn to trust my instincts as her mother. Many times I reminded myself that if she were born to me two hundred years ago and we were living as native Americans on this continent, we would have to figure out how to do this! And I enjoy breastfeeding her now. It is a very special time for us. I thought that it had actually been part of my problem with being so rundown and filled with crazy thoughts after having her (since having a baby was so much more taxing than I‘d remembered and I‘d never exclusively breastfed my other children), but I realize now how much it actually helped me. I had to be giving, attentive, nurturing, and sacrificial. I had to be patient and determined. I had to put someone else’s best interest before mine. It almost seemed that when I realized all of this, that nursing just naturally clicked for both of us. And now we are both reaping the many benefits of it. And like I read in The Fussy Baby Book, “This is a need that my daughter has right now at this certain time in her life, that only I can meet.” And I am aware that it will not last forever…so now is the time, today is the day…to feel blessed.

Little Miss Particular

I try to think of words to describe our darling daughter and good things like: adorable, cute, sweet, beautiful, precious, joyous, and special all come to mind. But there are times when she is: fussy, complicated, upset, demanding, time-consuming, high-need, and exhausting. Most of the time she is also particular, which fuels the fire sometimes, unless I let it be (usually I do). She doesn't like her fingers to be held still (so much for clipping them - I tried once) so I attempt to file them when she's in a good mood and I file fast! She has never liked her diaper changed since we brought her home, nor her clothes. Diaper is okay now. Clothes are still not. She dislikes anything going over her head. She dislikes her arms being moved through a hole. She doesn't mind the lower body so much anymore though. She doesn't like her ears touched, or cleaned. She does like her bath, however, thank God. She doesn't like her face washed though. Keep in mind this is all relative. Sometimes she doesn't mind these things so much as others, sometimes we move really fast so she doesn't get upset as a result of us doing things "she doesn't like." She doesn't like her nose suctioned (okay, what baby does?). She doesn't like to be still (EVER!). She doesn't like to eat when there is noise. She likes to eat while in motion sometimes. And she doesn't like to take real naps. She cat naps all day long from about 7am to 10pm. Particular? Humph!

So.....what does she like? Ha Ha! She likes to be held. She likes to be looked at. She likes to be talked to. She likes to be smiled at. She likes to smile back. She likes it in her sling next to her mommy. She likes it when her daddy comes home to play with her. She likes watching her brothers give her attention. She likes car rides. She likes to sleep at night time. She likes to bounce. She likes to stretch. She likes to watch mobiles turn. She likes to roll around in her stroller in big malls. She likes to eat in private. She likes to coo and caa. She likes to let a person know when she is not happy: i.e. too hot, too cold, too uncomfortable, too bored... She likes to swing sometimes. She likes to be up high and see what is going on like in her reclining high chair in the kitchen. She likes her bassinet sometimes. She likes being lathered in Aquaphor (but NOTHING else). She likes wrapping her fingers around a finger and pulling herself forward. She likes her feet touched. She likes her hands touched. She likes kisses on her cheeks (thank God! I love to give those!). She loves her family and her life, I think. And her mommy just realized what she likes is longer than what she dislikes. I hope her sweet infant hood is remembered as such.

*Although I must note that even though she likes all of the above, the trick is to find out when and what. It's the fun game we play all day! :)

And I love every bit of my little miss particular.