Delaney's crawling! She'd been doing it inch by inch for the past week or so, but she's made huge strides (literally!) in the last few days. She does this adorable, hilarious crab-crawl thing (Roger calls her Tripod) where she can only crawl when her right leg is sticking straight out. This milestone, while exciting, is kind of freaking me out. She's getting into things now that she shouldn't and we've got to keep a close eye on her at all times and babyproof everything to keep her safe. With regards to babyproofing, we're not those parents you hear about who've proofed the whole house before the child is born. We took the wait and see approach. Well, we waited and on Friday I saw, so Roger spent the better part of the weekend working on making the house safe for our little crab.
And, what's with babies having to put everything in their mouths? What was God thinking when he decided that's how they'd approach the world, that's how they'd learn? If you ask me, the hand-to-mouth stuff is more of a feature than a benefit. Now, instead of having a maid service vacuum once every other week (sure, it should have been done more often than that anyway, but really, who has the time?), I'll need to do it myself every day. We have Mathilde hair everywhere, dust bunnies, dirt from foot traffic. Ick. I've been finding the strangest things on the floor that I'd probably just ignored before, but now every little speck is a hazard to Delaney (or extremely gross to me). One man's dirt is another parent's nightmare.
Anyway, on to the coughing. Delaney's been coughing at night for the past 10 days. The weird thing is that it almost only happens at night and usually doesn't start until she's been asleep for about 3-4 hours. She generally doesn't wake up from it, but I sure do. Every little cough she utters jolts me awake, so needless to say, I haven't been sleeping well lately. We didn't call the doctor right away because she had no other symptoms. She had no fever, no runny nose. She eats normally and is always in great spirits.
About four nights into it I thought I'd try a humidifier. It doesn't seem to be making a difference, but we're continuing it anyway. Seven nights into it I finally called the doctor's office and spoke to his physician's assistant. She told me we could try an OTC infant cough medicine and said that if she developed any more symptoms to call back. Things appeared to improve a bit after we gave her the cough medicine, but this afternoon right before I left the house for some one-on-one time (with myself! Can you imagine? Just me, me, me all to myself.) her temperature went up to 100.4. I know that's not terribly high, but for a baby who's never been sick and who's only had a fever immediately after birth, it upset me a little. Roger assured me that she'd be fine, he'd take her temp again and keep a close eye on her. So, with mild trepidation, off I went.
By the time I returned three hours later, she no longer had that little temp and was still happy as a clam (crab!). She's been coughing less tonight. I guess I'll see what happens overnight and call for an appointment in the morning if it's warranted. The whole thing is troubling, but not too worrisome. I think it just bugs me that I can't figure out why she's coughing.
And, now to the cinema. As I've mentioned before, my husband rocks. Yesterday I told him I needed some time to myself so today he encouraged me to get out of the house. My alone time today was spent in a dark, cold theater, experiencing Woody Allen's latest flick, Match Point. It was definitely a departure for Woody, but well done. I found it to be slow in parts (The end, while suspenseful, did drag a bit, although maybe that's because I desperately had to pee and kept praying things would wrap up before I wet myself in public.) but the leads were pretty steamy together. I'm a happily married heterosexual, but even I wanted to make out with Scarlet Johansson by the end of the movie. I guess any film that keeps you in suspense while making you question your sexuality can't be all bad. Hmmm...I can ask Roger to test that theory for me next weekend when we see Brokeback Mountain!
That crawl is too funny! I see what you were talking about the other day. Doesn't it seem like there is a reason to say "life will never be the same" just about every day?
Good for you going to see a movie. I think I might tell J I need a few hours and go see "Memoirs of a Geisha" since I still haven't seen it. Tell us how you like the gay cowboy movie. I can't wait to hear your opinion.
Posted by: MamaChristy | January 30, 2006 at 06:13 AM
i'm dying to see brokeback mountain--can i go with you? :)
so cute that crawl!!
i'll hazard the coughing is from a post nasal drip--does it happen to coincide with when she started crawling? she might have an allergy to those dustbunnies or dustmites or something she's finding on the floor as she crawls around. (and no, i'm not implying that you have poor housekeeping skills! (puhleeez, you should see the dustbunnies in this house.) just that the environment isn't as controlled as it used to be since she's moving around so much more). double parentheses, how'd ya like that?
it's much harder to work at home when they're more mobile. that's why i get most of my work done between 8pm and 1am. sad, but true.
i'm done hijacking your blog.
Posted by: moxiemomma | January 30, 2006 at 11:27 AM