Briony woke up screaming around 630am yesterday. Nick and I were perplexed as we walked in her bedroom to check on her. Once we turned on the light, the source of our daughter's discomfort was obvious. Briony's left eye was swollen and red. You could tell it was hard to see out of it because when she opened her eyes she would look around trying to focus and then would have to shut them again. She screamed and fussed and fussed and screamed.
Unsure of whether or not it was a bug bite or allergic reaction, Briony and I headed to the pediatrician's office. I felt so helpless. She wanted so badly for me to fix it and she tried so hard to be brave. There is nothing more pathetic than a five month old with a swollen eye, tears streaming down her face in obvious discomfort trying to give her mom a half smile. As I wandered around the exam room trying to console my uncomfortable child, I couldn't help but reflect on my role as her mother. At times being a parent is incredibly empowering and at other times I am rendered completely helpless.
After dying her eye a fluorescent orange and evaluating it under a black light we discovered it was a corneal abrasion or scratch. She got some eye drops, cried some more tears and ended up with a rather adorable eye patch. After all was said and done she recovered quite quickly, and is nearly as good as new today. In the grand scheme of things, I know this is but a scratch in the surface (pun completely intentional) of hardships and trials life could throw her way in the future. Its hard to be faced with the reality that I just can't always protect her from everything.
In other news, Briony has been working hard on becoming an independent sitter. She has virtually no interest in lying down anymore, she just wants to sit. I am starting to feel as though she may take after her grandpa Tom, skip crawling all together and just scoot around on her butt until she learns to walk. She is completely against any tummy time and has once again gone on a strike against rolling over. I have one stubborn daughter when she wants to be!
Solid foods are going well. Virtually every food we've tested so far has been a hit, with the exception of green beans. They appear to be taking a very low spot on her otherwise growing list of favorite foods. I believe it has helped us eliminate one night time feeding as we are consistently only getting up once a night these days. I am also quite convinced that we have some sleepless nights ahead as she and I enter phase two of sleep training to hopefully get rid of this final feeding.
We had our first family outing to Como Zoo, when Nick was fortunate to receive an unexpected day off on our anniversary. At this point it was more entertaining for Nick and I than for Briony. However, as I witnessed at the zoo, I don't think it will be long before she is pushing around her own stroller and forever changing our family outing experience!
I continue to be so amazed at how quickly my baby is changing. As I stare at her now toothy grin, I can't help but think of how radically she has changed things around our house. I can only smile at how much joy she has brought us. I am relishing the ease of our life as we still have a sedentary baby, but am excited for the exploration we can do once she is on the move. I marvel at how she is already finding her voice, even with words several months away. She is growing and developing in her opinions and interests. She has even started to take a genuine interest in books. At times she even tries to turn the pages! I have so cherished the ease of my work schedule these past few weeks and am not so secretly relishing the fact that at the present time, my daughter is 100% a mama's girl.
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