update on my hypersensitive lady

So...Natalee's still being a goon. Last night we got out her popper toy--she got it for Christmas. You know the kind--you slide the button or turn the key and the darling little animal pops up grinning at you. WAAAAH!! Even when she pushed the button herself. Silly lady.

Mike brought her into the school this morning so that the nurse could look in her ears for us, just to be sure that she doesn't have an earache. Both checked out fine, so that's a blessing. I also had her listen to her lungs b/c she has this rattly cough that's making me nervous but she said that the rattle is high, not in her lungs, meaning if she was older and could hauk it up then it would clear out. We go again tonight for manipulative massage so hopefully that will help some of this allergy/teething drainage junk!

Mike and I have been really trying to introduce loud noises in a 'controlled environment' to help her get used to them. We let her play with our hands and then start clapping them until they get louder--things like that. The popper toy apparently wasn't a great idea but we'll keep plugging away. I hope it's helping. It's sad to watch her be scared of loud noises especially when they didn't used to bother her. We've got to get a few things at Wal-Mart tonight and this'll be the first time there since she's got this new found fear so it'll be interesting to see how she reacts. We've been trying to make sure we're right with her, making sure she feels loved and safe so that she knows mommy and daddy are always there and she doesn't need to be scared. At the same time, we're trying to avoid overprotecting her to the point that we shield her from all things loud b/c we're going to have to teach her to cope with them at some point. I'm sure this is the first of many struggles in parenting but I certainly didn't think we'd be tackling something quite like this so young.

I appreciate all your comments on the last post. It's nice to know that my 'mommy team' is behind me rooting me on. For the most part she's still our silly, lovey little baby girl--she's just finding her wings in this great big world and deciding what works for her and what doesn't!