Parenting Elise

The joys of parenting Elise...... 
It's hard and so very rewarding all at the same time. 
Lately it's been kind of hard.  For example I am up right now, at 1am because she is up and insisting that she needs to nurse.  I have decided that at 13 mos she doesn't need to nurse anymore in the middle of the night.  She has water if she's thirsty and a paci.  I go in there and give her love, but she is very stubborn!! I feel so bad though, I just want to give in and nurse her, but I know that I really need some sleep!! It would benefit all of us if I slept more!  haha.. just ask anyone in the family.. I can  get pretty cranky!
Steven is off this week, so if I don't get a lot of sleep at night at least I can get a nap during the day.  Still though, it's so hard to hear her cry. If it wasn't so hard I would have done this a long time ago!! I tried.. months ago... but she out-stubborned me. I could have "won" but I didn't consider it "winning" to let her cry... no, scream... for hours and hours.. and that is what she'd do. Poor baby.  Not sure if it's worth it now, either.  Ugh..... breaks my heart...
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Well, I just spent about 5 minutes in there with her.  She's still refusing her water, but she did take her paci and lie down.  First I had to put my hands on her chest... she stopped crying, but I could feel the sobs still. :( Then she rolled over.  Poor baby. Finally relaxing.  I just wish she'd give up and go to sleep, she's so tired, she can hardly keep her eyes open!
Now, she's crying again, only a few minutes later.  Nursing is like a drug for her! Even during the day she is so cranky until I nurse her and then she just perks up and chitter chatters and smiles and runs off.  Not long after, she's after the nun nuns again.. she's acting like a newborn!!!
Her molars are trying to come in, so maybe she just needs more comfort, IDK.  Poor little baby...
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Just made her lie down again and she's quiet... hoping, praying... that she goes to sleep and praying even more that she just skips her 3am feeding and just sleeps all the way through!! The other night she was up from 3am to 6am, mostly because of the thunderstorm, but I am sure her teething didn't help either.
Oh I love her... she's so sweet.  I love that way she smells when I kiss her head.  I love hearing her little voice when she tries to say all kinds of new words.  She is actually trying to repeat after us now! She says, baby, momma, daddy, hi, tries to say Benny, but it comes out baby.. meow, please (puh), so big... "that' big, nice, and I am sure there are more.  She waves bye bye... oh yes, and nun nun, and ny nite.. but they both come out nah nah... she sometimes calls drinks nah nah too.  Also if she is done eating and I ask her if she's all done, she'll put her little hands out.  She also tries to say peek a boo... haha.. I love it!!!
She is such a character, she is into everything and SO hilarious!! She makes an awesome "oh so purdy" face.. family joke... and has all kinds of awesome expressions.  She's always jabbering so I am sure she'll be talking in no time.
It took her until she was 11 mos to be totally walking, but I am positive she has been trying to walk since she's been born, haha.. I just knew it, in her first day of life she wouldn't even rest her head on my shoulder, she wanted to look around! Little stinker.. has always been curious. 
She is seriously loved by all.. haha... her big sisters ADORE her, and even Matthew really loves her too! He still has a pacifier and she loves to pluck it out of his mouth and stick it in hers... and he just laughs and lets her do it!! That's really surprising because he LOVES his pacifiers.  Johanna especially loves to take care of her, she is always carrying her around.  I tried for months to not let Johanna stand up or walk with her, but she has a mind of her own and it didn't take me long to realize that she's very responsible, holds her well and to be honest it's a HUGE help to me that she takes such good care of her... so I gave in and let Johanna carry her everywhere.  Katie and Danielle love her too, they are such great big sisters.  Alaina still tries to pick her up and I am sticking my ground, THAT is not allowed.. she just does not know how to do it.. but she means well.

Well.. Elise has been quiet for about 10 minutes now, so I should get back to bed.  Maybe tomorrow I will write about what it's like to parent the other 5.
Pray for us, that she will sleep through the night soon... if I get pregnant I don't know how I'll do it with such little sleep!! Not only that, but she needs the sleep too.