Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Baby Stats

Roxanne has her twelve month check up today! Her daddy took her, since I was at work. Apparently she was fussy, but that's pretty standard when she's sick. Her mood has been much better today though. At least around me. Anyways, back to the doctor... Roxanne now weighs 23.7 pounds, which puts her in the 90th percentile for weight. She is 30.5 inches tall, which puts her in the 95th percentile for height. Her head circumference is only 17 and 3/4 inches, which makes her in the 50th percentile for head size. I credit Justin with that one. He has a small/normal sized head. Mine's huge. According to Justin, the doctor didn't really comment on anything else, and it was a pretty short appointment. She said that Roxanne has a cold, and that her congestion will probably last for about two weeks. Justin and I decided ahead of time that she shouldn't get any shots, since it would just be mean to give her shots when she's already feeling sick. Of course, the doctor said it would be safe to give them to her anyways, but we said no. We'll bring her back to get them in a couple of weeks when she's feeling better. It's just too mean to give a sick baby shots.

Alright, I'm off to get this baby ready for bed. We've been giving her showers at least once a day to try and keep her congestion moving. It really helps. Yesterday we gave her honey a few times to act as a cough suppressant and it also seems to help. Of course, it's her first time having honey, since you are supposed to wait a year to give it to them (they can get botulism from it) and she doesn't seem to like it that much. I think it's the texture...

Happy Holidays!

Monday, December 22, 2008

A post just for Justin








This post is dedicated to Justin on his birthday. He's currently trying to get some sleep (like I should be) since we're both pretty behind. So I will take the opportunity to share some of his baby photos. Teehee.

Happy Birthday Justin!

Today is Justin's birthday! I won't reveal how old he is just in case he minds. He had the day off of work, since he doesn't actually go back until January. Unfortunately, he spent the day with the sick baby while I was at work. He swears that he enjoyed his birthday, but I know that Roxanne can be a little tough when she doesn't feel well. We were planning to go out for a date yesterday to celebrate Justin's birthday, but Roxanne's illness pretty much ruled that out. Not only would it be kind of mean to expose our friend/babysitter to her germs, but it seems unfair to Roxanne. I promised Justin that we would do something fun for his birthday once she gets a little better. We've been talking about trying to see a movie... It's been a while.

We were at my Dad and Colleen's farm on Saturday evening, and she got progressively worse while we were there. When we left on Sunday, we were still hoping we could go out for our date, but we went to some last minute shopping at Lenox after we got back from the farm, and Roxanne was miserable. She had been napping all morning, so we thought she'd be OK, and I put her in the baby sling rather than the stroller so that she could be close to me and just sort of snuggle me as we shopped. Absolutely not. She was overstimulated and squirmy, and after about half an hour she started to melt down. I nursed her in the bathroom at Bloomingdale's, and about five minutes afterwards, she threw up on me. Aaah, the joys of mothering. It definitely made me feel like a jerk for dragging her out when she clearly didn't feel good, and it also made me realize that she was definitely sick, and it was more than a runny nose from teething.

She still feels pretty terrible, and so she's not up for doing much other than whining and being held. Last night I was up with her for about three hours trying to get her comfortable and back to sleep, but by 3:00am I was starting to lose compassion and just getting frustrated. She would only sleep while I was sitting up since her congestion is so bad. Fortunately, she settled down not too long after I was getting to be a basket case, and being the excellent parent that I am, I partially achieved this state of calm by playing an episode of Murder, She Wrote on my lap top and letting her watch it. Please don't call DFACS on me. We've been giving her baby Motrin at least a couple of times a day, since she feels like she's been running a low-grade fever. It's definitely one of the worst colds we've seen her get. I don't know where it came from, since neither Ben nor Josh have anything. We think she might have picked it up at her birthday party, but who knows. She is pretty notorious for licking foreign objects like shopping carts, etc. I have one of those high chair/shopping cart covers but it's not big enough and basically just causes more trouble because I'm constantly trying to get it to cover whatever exposed area of the chair/cart that Roxanne is trying to bite or lick. I've seen some HUGE ones that look like they would be more effective, but I'm hoping she'll be getting out of the licking phase in the next few months. I mean, I'm sure she'll still put things in her mouth until she is at least two, but not EVERYTHING.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Still no cupcake eating for Roxanne




Still nothing... What baby doesn't want to eat cupcakes??? What a goose! She did have a special birthday muffin this morning from the San Francisco Coffee near our house, and that went over really well. Maybe she just doesn't like angel food...

Happy Birthday Roxanne!

Today is Roxanne's first birthday! To celebrate, she took her first really real steps. I know I said the other day that she took a step, but today she actually took like 3 or 4 in a row, and she's done it several times. Yay! She is really getting to be a handful now. I remember thinking a couple of months ago that Roxanne was so easy because she liked to play with her toys, whereas Ben (also very easy) seemed somehow drawn to everything that he wasn't supposed to have. Well, the joke is on me, because this baby is a terror! She has a HUGE toy bin in the living room that is overflowing with fun new toys, and all she wants to do is slap the dog, try to mash the buttons on the computer tower, open and close the desk drawers, and climb all over the nasty dog bed. So today I dragged her to Target after work and we finally got a baby gate... I was trying to hold out until consignment season, but Justin and I agreed that it was time when Roxanne scooted into the kitchen the other night and had a piece of dog food in her hand by the time we caught up. She also is drawn to the stairs, so the gate blocks her from getting to those, too. Of course, the baby gate does nothing to keep her from the computer, the desk or the dog (and her bed) but it does at least keep her from the stuff that is really dangerous. Most importantly, now I can lay around on the couch and there is no place she can go that I can't see her.

I will take pictures of her tonight eating a cupcake. Well, in theory she will eat it. She totally didn't have any interest in the one at her party. But maybe the second time is the charm...

On an unrelated note, I just want to vent for a moment about child healthcare providers. Last night, Roxanne woke up and started crying with this awful-sounding hoarse cry and when I went to get her, she was wheezing. I brought her back to bed with me after Justin tried unsuccessfully to get her to settle down and go back to her crib, and all night she was just miserable! She would nurse and settle and drift off and then start wheezing and want to sit upright, on and off for a few hours. Sometime around 4:00am, I brought her into the bathroom and ran the hot shower while we sat and breathed in the vapor. It definitely helped her breathing, but I was still really anxious. I kept being terrified that she was having an asthma attack or something, since she had NO symptoms before going to bed. I almost brought her to the children's hospital about four times, but then she would drift off and her breathing would get easier. So this morning, she had absolutely no wheezing, and I really couldn't even hear any congestion. But, afraid of a repeat performance tonight, I called the pediatrician's office and talked to a nurse. She asked me lots of questions, and then basically told me to watch her tonight and if it started back up, I could either bring her in to the emergency room or come in the pediatrician's office tomorrow morning. When I mentioned that her 12 month check up is on Tuesday, she basically said, "well, if you don't see any more symptoms, just wait and mention it at her appointment." I've been watching her like a hawk all today, and I can't say she's had many symptoms. She's had a couple of brief coughing episodes that sounded congested, but her speaking voice sounds totally normal. I decided to call Children's Healthcare anyways, thinking I could maybe take her to one of their "urgent care" centers after work, since they are open until 9:00pm. So I spoke with a nurse, who was rude, condescending, and basically told me that Roxanne probably wasn't really wheezing, she just was congested and that I should run a humidifier in her room tonight. And if I brought her to an urgent care center, I would just be exposing her to serious illnesses for no reason at all, and that I would be negligent and cruel to do so. When I explained that I just didn't want to risk her having another night of this scary breathing, she just told me that I could bring her to the hospital if it happened again or take her to the pediatrician's office in the morning if it wasn't too severe. Then she got really nasty with me when I told her I thought it would be safer to have her seen this evening and couldn't understand why I couldn't go to the pediatrician's office right away if I was "so worried." I tried to tell her that I was at work and that Justin and I share a car and there was no way for me to take her to the doctor's office until after leaving work, and then she thought I was saying that I was Roxanne's nanny and not her mom. That's when I decided to end the call. I mean, I certainly understand her point, but she was so rude! And acted like I was a terrible mom. That's like the third time we've had a terrible experience with them. I don't get it!

Whew, what a ramble. Can you tell I'm running on empty?

So anyways, HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The most mobilest baby

Roxanne took her first steps today! Well, it was really only one step, from the couch to my knee, but it was so exciting! She did it right before we left work today, and I was telling Justin all about it once we got home. Then lo and behold, she took another step! This time she was standing up unassisted while holding one of her new birthday toys (don't even get me started on how many wonderful and adorable things she got! Thanks to all!) and she took a step backwards but stayed standing and didn't reach out to hold anything. So it might still be a while before she starts really going, but I think she's making progress! She spent about ten minutes straight tonight cruising up and down the length of the couch while waving her pants around in the air. She had pulled her pants off a few moments before. We didn't see exactly how she managed that, but they are slightly baggy pants with an elastic waistband. She cruises SO fast now. Almost like a little run.

The other thing she loves these days is climbing. She particularly loves climbing in and out of things, as can be evidenced in the photo above. Believe it or not, she climbs in and out of that table by herself, although we hover over her the whole time. She also likes to sit in Ben's "Breast Friend" pillow that sits in his nursery. And the two of them climb into a drawer that belongs to a nightstand and holds lots of puzzles. They sit inside it and fight over wooden puzzle pieces to chew on. She likes to climb in the toy boxes at Ben's house, too. It stresses me out since she can't climb out and throws a fit when she wants out. But I try to abide by that style of parenting that allows babies to do things that are not exactly convenient for you as long as they aren't dangerous. So while I don't love hovering over her as she attempts to climb onto her toy table, or get her feet stuck in the seat of Ben's riding firetruck, I don't want her to be told "no" all the time. I save that for when she tries to stick things in the Diaper Champ or play with the lamp cord.

Oh, and as a disclaimer, the outfit above is a little weird. The pants are her skeleton pajama pants, and the top was a dress that I was trying on her. That's why she looks like such a ragamuffin. Oh, and birthday party photos are now on Flickr! The link is on the left! We really appreciate everyone who came and gave Roxanne such generous and thoughtful gifts. It was lots of fun!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Friday, December 12, 2008

Holiday Temper...

We just got home from Lenox. Whew! I have to tell you all though, there is a fabulous sale at Baby Gap right now. If you spend $75, you get 30% your entire purchase. Good deal! We got most of our shopping done tonight, but Roxanne was really having a meltdown by the time we left. Poor girl. We shouldn't push her past her limit, but it's so easy to let that happen! She has learned a new trick of stiffening her entire body while you are holding her or when you first put her in the car seat, and it's kind of like trying to hold down an eel or feral cat. She's a stinker.

Today Roxanne started using the "bah" sound to refer to the various balls in the playroom at work. Her and Ben were both doing it and we were rolling several balls around the floor simultaneously. It was positively dizzying, but lots of fun. She is also inconsistently blowing kisses. Usually she won't do it when we are on our way out the door, but once we are out of sight of anyone else, she blows a few. Go figure. She is also officially giving kisses. It's very very cute. She comes at you (sometimes with an open mouth and sometimes closed) and makes the "mmmm" sound that I always make when I kiss her (you know, mmmwwhhaaa!). Her and Ben kiss each other a lot. Sometimes on the mouth and other times just on the forehead or arm or tummy, etc. They are quite a pair.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Speed Racer


Roxanne figured out how to turn and steer her walker this week. It's a big deal because now she is tearing up the entire downstairs floor with that thing. Before she would cross the room and then stop once she hit any kind of blockade like a wall or door or table or couch, etc. etc. But now she has learned to back up and take things from another angle. Tonight I went to Perimeter Mall to meet my mom and left Roxanne with Justin, and when I got home he told me that she was really going fast with her walker. He also said that she knocked into Katie with it twice while Katie was trying to eat her dinner. Poor tortured Katie. Roxanne and her daddy apparently had lots of fun while I was gone though.

Oh, and Roxanne had some pretty serious head trauma today at work. She has been tumbling a lot lately, since she wants to pull up on EVERYTHING and doesn't always have the most steady footing. But today she was trying to put her face in my face while I was laying on the floor, and she fell sideways and hit her forehead on a toy. It cut/scraped her and she really fussed. I felt terrible, since I watched it happen, but I think it was pretty minor. It only bled a little, and I was able to put some ice on it so it didn't swell much. But now she has a pretty big mark on her little forehead. I'm hoping it doesn't turn into a big goose egg bruise. Something tells me it won't be the last war wound. Especially once she starts walking...

The photo above is from my sister. It was taken at Stone Mountain during our little trip. I would like to use it for holiday cards, but I feel like it is already too late for that... I keep getting e-mails from stores about "LAST MINUTE SHOPPING" and I'm thinking, "I haven't really started my Christmas shopping...how can it already be last minute??" I guess you're supposed to be done by November 1... Oops. I guess I should get on that.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Stone Mountain Christmas


We went to Stone Mountain this weekend for a family trip courtesy of my wonderful grandparents. We had a really nice time, and Roxanne (as always) had lots of fun with her cousins, and second cousins. It was really cold on Saturday night as we walked around checking out all of the things going on in Stone Mountain's Christmas Village, so I was a little worried about Roxanne. When we rode the train, I put her in the sling and bundled her up in a blanket that Nana and Mike and Leah were nice enough to bring and let me use. She ended up falling asleep and stayed asleep in there until we left. She missed the parade, but I'm sure she'll enjoy it more next year. I put her in a Christmas sweater that my Grandma made for me when I was little. There is a bigger one that used to be my sister's. I told Justin that we had to have a second baby just so that we could utilize the sweaters. He wasn't all that amused. But doesn't she look cute? You can see in the photo how cute she looks with her Nana. Don't they look festive? I'm really excited about Christmas this year. It's like I get to relive the excitement I felt as a child all over again with Roxanne. The magic of Santa!!

I can't believe Roxanne is going to be a year old so soon! She seems to be cutting a few teeth right now, and she's a drool machine and everything is going into her mouth. She's doing this new thing where she bites down really hard on something and clenches with her whole body. Her shoulders rise, her fists clench and she shakes all over just a little. Her face is the icing on the cake though. She looks so serious! I hope the teeth come through quickly, since teething really messes her sleep up. She got a special treat last night sleeping with me and Justin in the giant hotel bed. When she woke up this morning, she immediately crawled over and started slapping Justin and trying to crawl on him. The crib that the hotel gave us was great, but it was iron, and Roxanne wouldn't stop licking it. So she got to stay in the big bed. I'm going to try and start night weaning Roxanne this week, but I'm already afraid. She's a very stubborn baby! The lactation consultant I talked to at Piedmont told me I should try offering her water when she wakes to nurse at night. I'm going to try that. Keep your fingers crossed for me! If the night weaning works out, I hope she will start sleeping in longer stretches, too. I spend a lot of time on the forums of my favorite breastfeeding moms website, and so many of the moms talk about sleep woes. It's scary since some of them are talking about their babies still waking up several times a night at ages 2 and 3. Ugh... That will not be us! Hopefully...

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Daddy's Night Routine

I always monopolize the blog talking about me and Roxanne, but I wanted to take a minute to share the cuteness that is Justin putting Roxanne to bed. Justin puts her to bed every night, since we've been trying to implement suggestions from the book The No Cry Sleep Solution which include not nursing baby to sleep and spending alone time with Daddy. They have a little routine (also part of the plan) that is usually followed very closely. It starts with a diaper change, which is usually pretty uneventful, but occasionally exciting when Roxanne decides to peepee in the open air. She gets her pajamas on, but she's not always agreeable for that. It's funny to notice the little differences between me and Justin and how we interact with Roxanne. Even down to the fact that we change her clothes differently. I pull shirts over her head and then pull her arms through one sleeve after the other. Justin bunches up her shirt sleeves from the cuff to the shoulder seam, so that her hand instantly passes through the sleeve and there is less risk of her thumb getting stuck in the sleeve on the way out. He does the same thing with her pants. Is that a silly thing to point out?

The next part of the routine is story time. They have several books that they choose between, and you'd have to ask Justin what her favorite book is. She is sometimes rowdy during this step, and instead of sitting quietly and listening to the story, she slaps the pages and does her best to rip the book out of her daddy's hands. She squeals and squawks, too. She definitely likes books, but some days are better than others...

Next it's time to turn out the lights. I can hear this part from our bedroom across the hall. Roxanne's room has one of those old light switches that are really heavy and make a loud pop when you flip them. Justin is teaching Roxanne to flip it by herself, so he helps her do it with her fingers and lets her try it on her own. In either situation, Roxanne thinks it's hilarious. Justin says he can't figure out why, but she really does think it's funny to flip that switch. I just hear *pop*giggle*pop-pop*giggle*pop*giggle* "you almost got it that time!" I think the flip gets switched roughly ten times per night.

It sounds like fun from where I sit. Then comes rocking in the glider. Justin doesn't sing to Roxanne since he swears he can't ever remember the words to any songs ever. I believe him. And she doesn't seem to mind. She just nestles down into her Daddy's chest and snuggles. Once she is in the lightest stage of being asleep, Justin puts her into her crib and lays a blanket over her bottom half. We leave the fan on in the bathroom for as long as possible, since it helps drown out the occasional sound of our stupid neighbor's motorcycle. Someday I would love to get her a noise machine, but in the meantime the bathroom fan works pretty well.

OK, sorry for yet another sappy post, but I just wanted to get that down for Roxanne before she's a big girl and her little routine changes. And give some of you an idea of what a wonderful daddy Roxanne has. They are really cute together.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Standing and more standing

So, our entire long weekend was a whirlwind of visiting, but it was all wonderful. I won't get into all of the trips, but we spent Thanksgiving at my Mom's house with my sister and her family (my stepdad and Leah were in Orlando for her soccer). It was really fun, and as always, Roxanne really had fun with her cousins. Friday we went back to my mom's and I actually got to do a little shopping with my mom and sister and nieces. It was so perfect because we went to a Target near my mom's house and it was really empty. They had these awesome carts that had two big kid seats and then the basket in the cart, so Roxanne could sit and face her cousins. Of course, she got squirmy fast and I ended up pulling her out after a while, but it was cute while it lasted. My mom and my sister braved the Black Friday crowds and went shopping around 6:00am on Friday morning. My mom got Roxanne a fantastic walker at Wal-Mart and it was really cheap since it was a "doorbuster" deal. Roxanne has been obsessed with it. She played with it at my mom's house on Friday, and then we went to my Dad and Colleen's farm on Friday night, and stayed through Sunday morning, and she loved it there, too. That was awesome since it's a huge house with hardwoods, and Roxanne was tearing it up. Back at home she's playing with it a lot, but it makes our living room seem tiny! It only takes her a few seconds to get from one end of the room to the other. Earlier this evening she crashed it into Katie's bottom and got a big kick out of that.

I swear the walker is really helping her. It is one of those walkers that is shaped like lawn mower and it will convert to a wagon when she's done using it as a walker. There are toys on the front of it, so sometimes she pushes it sideways so she can play and walk at the same time. But just in the past few days, she has been able to stand unassisted for longer and longer periods. Today she stood all by herself for almost 30 seconds or so while holding a small toy. Then this afternoon she stood by herself for a while as she clapped to some music we were listening to (thank you Michael Jackson). We have been trying to let her walk as much as possible as we hold her hands, so she's getting a lot of practice. Of course, my lower back hates me, but whatever. I'm secretly hoping she will start walking by her birthday, but we'll see.

On Sunday we went to brunch at Highland Bakery with Justin's Dad and Susan and Roxanne had a big time playing with them. It was her third (and last) time visiting with them for their trip back, and she's really enjoyed it. While we were there I was looking at the cake/cupcake/cookie portfolio and fantasizing about getting Roxanne some fancy stuff for her birthday party from them. Their baked goods are delcious and AMAZINGLY cute. Look at their portfolio and tell my you aren't impressed. But I'm not even going to bother pricing it I think, because I assume it would be very expensive. Maybe next year! But wouldn't a Where the Wild Things Are cake be adorable? Sigh.