She's on the move...

Well the days of "perfect baby" are over and our heads are now spinning by a NEW phase in Natalie's life. Who knew a 9 month old could give us a run for our money? Natalie has started crawling and pulling up all the time now and she has resolutely decided that she does NOT like being penned in with a baby gate and especially in her crib. The past few days have brought mayhem and LOTS of tantrums when she goes down for nap or bedtime. Neither one of us thought we'd have to deal with the tantrum thing quite so early and it's left us wondering "What would the Super Nanny do?" I think she'd be proud at our efforts - but the fight isnt quite over yet!

Last night we had a major standoff. It was 10pm and Kevin and I had just enjoyed a night out strolling though the grocery store, Bed Bath and Beyond and stopping for ice cream. We'd taken Nat with us and, while keeping her out late was probably a bad idea, we needed to get out of the house. She'd done a lot of whining, crying and screaming during what was supposed to be naptime earlier that day and we just needed a break! During our trip out, she stayed in a good mood and fell asleep for a while.

Once we got home, though, she was not content to dutifully go to bed for the night. Instead, she stood in her crib shaking the rails, snot running down her nose, screaming for all she was worth. If there's anything that will break your heart as a parent its that look in your kids eyes when they're competely a wreck and dying for you to pick them up. Kevin and I both looked at each other in bewilderment. What were we supposed to do? She was obviously tired but she wasn't content to be rocked. And the previous trials with naptimes and the crib were making putting her to bed nearly impossible!!

You might be wondering what we did..."did she feel poorly" "is she teething"? But the answer to that was quickly answered when she quieted down the moment she was released from bondage...aka the crib. So our heart-wrenching solution was to sit in the darkened room quietly and lay her down every time she stood up in the crib. I think I laid her down a total of 15 (not kidding) times before she eventually quieted down enough for me to pat her back so she could go to sleep.

This afternoon's nap was the same ordeal, but a bit shorter... Ahh... something tells me that this is a sign of things to come and we should be very, very nervous. Both Kevin and I are strong-willed and something tells me we have it coming to us!

We'll try to get another video of how "on the move" she really is these days. Stay tuned...