Stayed up much too late last night (past 11:30!!) and woke at 5:30.

Claire ate a whole tablespoon of rice cereal and the same amount of applesauce this morning.

She ate two teaspoons of peas at lunch and dinner each.

She napped only 30 minutes in the morning and woke (she often wakes at 30 minutes and needs to learn how to settle back to sleep); she clearly needed more sleep, so I waited an hour. She cried the entire time. Husband stayed home from work today to “hold my hand” while I waited and learned to tolerate this. I’m on my own tomorrow, and I think we’ll be fine.

I took Claire out for an errand after the failed nap. Around noon (90 minutes after ending the last attempt) I rocked her and put her in the crib. She whimpered at most five minutes and then slept for 80. Her maximum nap time seems to be 80 minutes. She awoke and we went to the park.

Since she was still an hour short of rest, she practically rubbed her eyes off her face, so I rocked her at 5:15 and put her down in the crib again. She napped for 40 minutes. Then we all had dinner, she had a bath, and went to sleep at 7:30 like an angel.

In addition to playing at the park, Claire was also introduced to West African drumming. A man was practicing on a Djembe. He was thrilled to be asked about it and let Claire touch the goat-skin surface. She and I danced while he played, and then we took a walk.

Claire might be able to understand hello and bye-bye. I’ve started prompting her to wave at her reflection in the mirror and I wave too. Today we had many opportunities to say hello and bye-bye to her father. He waved and she waved back!! She probably doesn’t “get” what it means, but she’s mimicking and responding. He nearly melted into a puddle of schmoopiness each time she waved.

Can I tell you how happy I am? I love every day with my daughter.