Merry Christmas!

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!

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.

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!

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!