Another Mother's Take on Vaccines...

I couldn't say this better.

Our Daughter the Marauder

It's been a long while since I sat down to post. Life has been busy. Emma had a wonderful Christmas and did lots of visiting. The travel was a bit much for her; she had a hard time adapting to new schedules and long hours in the car. Overall, she had a wonderful time with family. She loved unwrapping every gift she could get her hands on (whether it belonged to her or not).

Lately, she's been growing. I'm amazed that she can wear a pair of jeans one day and by the next they're too short. She weighs 19 pounds now, and is now tall enough to wreak havoc on any table in the house. We don't even attempt to keep a baby-proof house so we remain diligent.

I don't believe in using the word "No" (for a lot of reasons, mainly because it is non-specific) on principle, but somehow Emma has started to say it anyway. Bad Mommy for slipping! Since Dave's and my parents both raised and trained us using plenty of positive punishment, it is hard to break out of that mold. I do know that Emma does NOT (yet) associate positive punishment with whatever behavior she was performing beforehand. Any kind of compulsion seems to leave Emma with the impression that "Mommy and Daddy are cranky" and not with the idea that maybe she did something to earn the punishment. Our main training tools are plenty of positive reinforcement and frequent use of negative punishment and things seem to be going pretty well.

Emma has added so many words to her vocabulary lately, that I'm no longer able to list them all. My favorites are "Flower" which she pronounces "Flaw-ver" and "Chicken" which she pronounces "Cuck-on" adorable! She also likes to say "Pretzel" but her pronunciation is pretty poor. She says "put-po" instead. She loves to look at the moon. She is still obsessed with cars, dogs and cats. She absolutely loves to sing and she does this so well. Her voice is soft and pretty. Occasionally I can even tell what song she is singing. She most enjoys the voices of singers such as Celine Dion, Judy Garland, Julie Andrews, Hayley Westenra and even Josh Groban.

Emma is also a fabulous dancer. I don't honestly know where her dance moves come from as I usually only dance a certain way. She's very creative and animated. She enjoys dancing to euro-pop, orchestral music and anything with a heavy beat. To my dismay, this even includes Daddy's techno.

Emma also works with me at Canines in Action several days a week. She's a great little ambassador and always eager to greet new clients and their dogs. The socialization has been wonderful and we've had very little issues with shyness. Emma is also learning to read canine body language. It often surprises me that she's able to make the conscious decision NOT to visit certain dogs. Most time her decision is not unfounded. Of course I don't trust her to make her own decisions here (she's a baby and all dogs have 42 teeth) but I have definitely been seeing some amazing things from her. She can tell the dogs to "sit", "down" and "come". She is using the clicker, but not appropriately.

Emma is still nursing frequently throughout the day. I am hoping to eliminate one of her two night feedings, but it's difficult as she'll cry for each feeding for hours. I think she needs it to help her back to sleep more than she needs the nourishment. I've been an inconsistent mommy and I've gone to her each time because it's easier to do that and put her back to bed than it is to not sleep because she's being so noisy! I definitely want her to wean her (night feedings) by the end of March as I'll be going to a dog training convention in Kentucky and I'll be leaving her with Dave for a full weekend. I certainly don't want her stressed or keeping Daddy awake for 2 nights straight.

Lastly, since I've been a bit stir-crazy lately, Dave and I (and Emma too) are planning an inexpensive weekend trip to visit Mammoth Caves in Kentucky. It's only about 3-3.5 hours from home. We'll likely board the dogs, and I've found a nice place to stay for less than 50.00 a night. Many of the cave tours are kid-friendly. Emma would enjoy the experience and the change of pace. She absolutely LOVES going new places. One of the tours we're considering is a boat tour. What fun! It'll blow Emma's mind.

I really don't believe in putting life on hold because I've got kids. I know it gets difficult to travel with them, but it's good to get them used to it early.Allowing children to experience new things, people, and places is good training!