I'm going to go bald soon

I'm thsclse to pulling out all my hair!! Shannon is suddenly having the hardest time getting to sleep during the day. It's as though she suddenly realized that while she naps, Mommy is having the BEST PARTY EVER outside her room and she wants NOTHING to do with her crib. After 3 hours of screaming, tears (hers & mine), rocking, squats, back-patting, calf raises, books, attempting to nurse-to-sleep, shushing, hand-sucking, waking as soon as her head hit the mattress, and singing I *think* she is out. Let me emphasize the THINK. No way in hell am I going in there to check!

It took so long that I ended up having to feed her in the middle of her tantrum b/c it had already been 5 hours since the last feeding! I have no idea why this is happening all of a sudden. The past 3 weeks were wonderful nap-filled days. It drives me nuts that something can work so well for a few weeks, then suddenly be the most disastrous thing EVER.

In the middle of the cry-it-out phase of my afternoon, I realized that she's now too old to legally drop off at my nearest "safe haven" location. I guess I'm stuck with her. Hahahahahaha! (disclaimer: I don't really want to get rid of her. It was a fleeting thought that made me giggle despite my frustration)

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Baby Brags:
Shannon has been really good about learning to hold her bottle when eating and holding things and bringing them to her mouth. She still hates the pacifier, but occasionally, she'll tolerate it if she can hold it & gnaw on the edge.
I'm pretty sure she'll be cutting a tooth within the next few weeks, if not the next few days. Her lower gum is puffy, white, and hard. It almost feels like there is a tiny razor blade beneath the gumline. Not looking forward to nursing with THAT!
She has been straining to get herself upright from a supine position. She's really strengthening those little tummy muscles. She tries to sit up in the stroller, also, though when I do raise the back up, she just slumps off to the side after a while. It's cute more than anything.
I'm getting more & more tempted to start her on solids. She STARES at me when I eat, and I'm starting to think her tongue-thrust reflex is diminishing. Maybe in the next week or two. I'd like her to be as close to 6 month as possible, and she's just shy of 5 months now. I also need a little time to plan her meals, since I plan on making them rather than buying them.

Edit: ignore what I said about the solids & read the next post to come!!!

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The rain here is really putting a damper on my days lately. I've been needing my daily walks, and especially my big-girl walks with our friends Colleen & Carol Ann (who is 1 week older than Shannon). And the worst part is that the house gets so COLD! the heater hates me, so I have to bundle both of us up until it randomly decides to kick on. Annoying.

Got to talk to Mike on Tues and weds of last week. He was in Panama, and rented hotel room with a friend so they could use the wifi. He was able to download all of the most recent pics and videos, and we got to talk over AOL Instant Messenger's Talk function for about 6 hours. Can;t wait to talk to him again!

Valentine's Day pictures: