Phase after phase...

Mary seems to be going through phases. It's common for children, I hear, and I can expect more fun in the future, but right now, I don't really know how to deal with it. For the last week, she has been waking in the middle of the night for a bottle. That I don't mind, sometimes I wake up hungry too, and I'm sure that she's growing again. What bothers me is when she wakes up, and is wide awake. She gets up, and plays, and crawls around like a mad thing, laughing and giggling, for 3 hours! What on earth?? I am crossing my fingers that this phase is over, last night she slept for thirteen hours straight. Thank heavens. The other phase she is in is absolutely refusing to eat her solid foods. Foods that she was happy to eat a week ago now make her cry. Sweet foods, sour foods, bland foods...it doesnt matter, she won't eat it. I really don't know what to do with this new thing of hers. I think it started when I tried to introduce lumpy foods to her, and it's just gone down hill since. She hated the lumps, and now she wont eat anything, maybe she thinks that I'm trying to trick her into eating things she doesnt want? I guess I am though, she has a laxitive that she is supposed to be given twice a day. It is impossible to get the stuff into her anymore, like wrestling an aligator, so I have started to hide it in her food. It's really syropy and sweet, you'd think she wouldn't mind it. If anyone out there has suggestions on how to get her to eat, I'd appreciate it. I don't want to have an 18 year old who only drinks milk and eats her food pureed.

Other than the phases, she is stil a joy. She is such a good baby, I really feel quite blessed. She talks all the time, and I am positive that she says "cat" now. It could be just wishful thinking on my part, but a couple of friends have heard her, and they think so too. Her two teeth are growing nicely, they are as sharp as puppy teeth, and she bites everything. I am thankful once again that I didn't give in to the the breast feeding nazi's. Not only would I be a blubbering, brainless mess, but my nipples would be chewed right off by now.