She sits, she falls

I think I have some pictures on my camera somewhere to prove that Madeline really can sit up on her own, but I'm too busy to download them.

I know that falling over is part of a babies development. It happens. I cushion her fall with the caterpillar her Kunard grandparents bought her. It works fabulously, unless it isn't around her. I have to back up a bit because I haven't mentioned a critical piece of information on this blog and it's needed for this story. It'll be a stand alone post soon.

We hired a nanny two times a week and in order to afford it, it's a nanny share, meaning the nanny watches Madeline and another baby at the same time, Eva (1). Olga had put both girls sitting up and was sitting between them, but the caterpillar was around Eva, who is much stronger and doesn't really fall over anymore. Madeline will always fall over. I think sometimes it's because she's tired and other times because she can't get around while sitting up, so she slowly falls forward and lands on her face and belly. She sits, she falls. I'm always there to catch her and break the fall.

Yesterday, she fell backward and conked her head very badly. It was on the rug downstairs and not the wood floor, thank goodness. I'm upstairs pounding out my work and I hear a cry I've never heard before. I knew it was Madeline and I jumped up and ran to the landing on the steps and asked if she was OK. I don't respond to all her cries when the nanny is over here, but this was different. The sound was horrifying and my heart was pounding so fast that I thought it was going to jump through my chest. I went and got her and she was still screaming and hyperventilating because she was crying so much. And the tears! Giant tears streaming down her face! She was hurt and it made me hurt. We went upstairs and I nursed her and gave her lots of TLC. She would still scream every once in a while but eventually calmed down. I could tell she wanted to be held, so that's what I did. I checked her eyes to see if they were dilating properly and her behavior really did seem normal, so I felt OK about the bump. Soon, she was standing on my lap and chewing on my chin and I knew she was fine. Apparently, my chin is the best teether out there. That may have to change now that she actually has teeth. Those suckers are sharp!

I know accidents happen and babies fall. Madeline will fall again. And again. Olga was very apologetic and I know it was truly an accident. I did tell her that the caterpillar or other pillows needed to be around Madeline whenever she was sitting and that she can't walk away from Madeline yet.

In other news, that pesky second bottom tooth has finally broken the skin. After a night of waking up every two hours, it erupted and I'm ever so grateful.

It's been a long week.