Saturday, March 29, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
More of the same, a little different
So I'm a little at a loss for what I should say tonight. Health is beginning (?) to be such a bore. Aside from the couple of months or so between Z's b-day and mid-March, there always seems to be something wrong. I'm frustrated. I'm at a loss. And mostly, I'm sick of my baby being sick.
Zoe's Rosiola seems to have passed; the rash cleared out early Wednesday. Just to make way for...wait for it...a touch of croup. The seal-barking cough presented itself Wednesday morning and since then, her snottiness has crept up, along with another bit of fever. Her bugs have been so tough, mean and fast to come lately that they all seem to be running together.
I keep hearing about this mythical health she's supposed to achieve when she's oh, three years old. How getting sick real young isn't so bad because babies rebound so quickly and by the time they get into school they have immunities of steel.
But I want a healthy baby, and I want her now!
And technically, we're lucky. She's not *really* sick and Dave and I both have understanding and supportive employers. Thank goodness for that since we've both taken at least some time for what seems like all but 6 or 8 of the weeks since I've been back at work full time. But she's such a good baby. So sweet and generally really easy. I just feel it's owed to her somehow, some reliable stints of health.
Ok. Enough. On to happier topics.
Some updates, perhaps?
Z's been doing lots more pointed communication (well, pointing while communicating, but specific communication's what I'm talking about) when she wants or is interested in something. She's always shown interest, but now it seems like she's really asking and talking about or examining something when she points to it.
Speaking of pointing, for a good handful of weeks now, she's also been having fun pointing out body parts and is starting to recognize others' body parts. Watch out or you might find your nose picked!
She's also been very lovey. Out of the blue you'll hear the little lip-smacking noises of her air kisses. She loves it when you 'kiss' back. If you're lucky, you can catch a nice, big, wide-open kiss on the lips. Now, I've never been one for wet kisses, but these are yummy!
She's also quite affectionate with her kitties
and to her new baby doll from Nana and Pepere :)
Zoe's Rosiola seems to have passed; the rash cleared out early Wednesday. Just to make way for...wait for it...a touch of croup. The seal-barking cough presented itself Wednesday morning and since then, her snottiness has crept up, along with another bit of fever. Her bugs have been so tough, mean and fast to come lately that they all seem to be running together.
I keep hearing about this mythical health she's supposed to achieve when she's oh, three years old. How getting sick real young isn't so bad because babies rebound so quickly and by the time they get into school they have immunities of steel.
But I want a healthy baby, and I want her now!
And technically, we're lucky. She's not *really* sick and Dave and I both have understanding and supportive employers. Thank goodness for that since we've both taken at least some time for what seems like all but 6 or 8 of the weeks since I've been back at work full time. But she's such a good baby. So sweet and generally really easy. I just feel it's owed to her somehow, some reliable stints of health.
Ok. Enough. On to happier topics.
Some updates, perhaps?
Z's been doing lots more pointed communication (well, pointing while communicating, but specific communication's what I'm talking about) when she wants or is interested in something. She's always shown interest, but now it seems like she's really asking and talking about or examining something when she points to it.
Speaking of pointing, for a good handful of weeks now, she's also been having fun pointing out body parts and is starting to recognize others' body parts. Watch out or you might find your nose picked!
She's also been very lovey. Out of the blue you'll hear the little lip-smacking noises of her air kisses. She loves it when you 'kiss' back. If you're lucky, you can catch a nice, big, wide-open kiss on the lips. Now, I've never been one for wet kisses, but these are yummy!
She's also quite affectionate with her kitties
and to her new baby doll from Nana and Pepere :)
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
What I like (love) about you
I won't go into the ugly details of it, but Zo was a very sick little girl last night. (She's on the mend now.) I was holding off posting this until I could upload some pix to go with my comments, but since I'm feeling extra lovey about her now, I wanted to get this up....
So I'm going to copy-cat my darling sis-in-law, Amy, and drum up my own accounting of the things that make me cherish being Zoe's mom. Warning: this is likely to be super-sweet and sentimental and non-moms may not relate, but Zoe's growing so fast that I have to get these things down before they fade from memory!
* Her laugh. Zoe has a fantastic sense of humor and when she laughs it literally comes from her toes.
* I love how she throws her tiny little arms up around her huge baby head when she's in a giggle fit or getting tickled.
* I ache with love just thinking about her round cheeks and the softness of her chin. It brings me back to some sweet times in the nursing chair.
* I love how she wiggles her feet and toes when she's content or really interested in something. It reminds me of the ankle stretches my mom used to do before aerobic dancing.
* I love being the recipient of her mealtime lectures. She's so adamant and expressive. What a captivating 'speaker'!
* I cherish the look she gives us when we arrive to pick her up from daycare. It's as if she's been 'working' busily for hours and appreciates the happy end to her day.
* I will never forget how joyful it feels to carry Zoe in my arms on the walk to the car as she giggles and cheers at the site of her daddy walking behind us.
* I love love love how much Zoe loves her daddy.
* I love how she pats herself on the chest when she coughs and then cracks her cute little grin as if to say, "Ah. That's better."
* I love her march-like crawl. That girl moves like she means business sometimes!
* It's so fun to see her peeking into rooms as she approaches a doorway, displaying a little of her nosiness she's inherited from me!
* I love how she sort of shivers into a slouch after you pull off her clothes - as if she's a little shy to be naked.
* I simply adore her Kewpie doll grin. Who told her to make that quintessentially baby expression?
* Those post-bath curls!!
* It's fantastic to frantically hurry into a quiet room only to find her absorbed in her books.
* I melt when she touches my hair and nuzzles in to my kisses on her cheeks and eyes and mouth as I hold her in the dark, just before putting her down to sleep at night.
* I love that she's my daughter. I am so immensely proud of her and can't believe the great fortune I have in being able to call her mine.
So I'm going to copy-cat my darling sis-in-law, Amy, and drum up my own accounting of the things that make me cherish being Zoe's mom. Warning: this is likely to be super-sweet and sentimental and non-moms may not relate, but Zoe's growing so fast that I have to get these things down before they fade from memory!
* Her laugh. Zoe has a fantastic sense of humor and when she laughs it literally comes from her toes.
* I love how she throws her tiny little arms up around her huge baby head when she's in a giggle fit or getting tickled.
* I ache with love just thinking about her round cheeks and the softness of her chin. It brings me back to some sweet times in the nursing chair.
* I love how she wiggles her feet and toes when she's content or really interested in something. It reminds me of the ankle stretches my mom used to do before aerobic dancing.
* I love being the recipient of her mealtime lectures. She's so adamant and expressive. What a captivating 'speaker'!
* I cherish the look she gives us when we arrive to pick her up from daycare. It's as if she's been 'working' busily for hours and appreciates the happy end to her day.
* I will never forget how joyful it feels to carry Zoe in my arms on the walk to the car as she giggles and cheers at the site of her daddy walking behind us.
* I love love love how much Zoe loves her daddy.
* I love how she pats herself on the chest when she coughs and then cracks her cute little grin as if to say, "Ah. That's better."
* I love her march-like crawl. That girl moves like she means business sometimes!
* It's so fun to see her peeking into rooms as she approaches a doorway, displaying a little of her nosiness she's inherited from me!
* I love how she sort of shivers into a slouch after you pull off her clothes - as if she's a little shy to be naked.
* I simply adore her Kewpie doll grin. Who told her to make that quintessentially baby expression?
* Those post-bath curls!!
* It's fantastic to frantically hurry into a quiet room only to find her absorbed in her books.
* I melt when she touches my hair and nuzzles in to my kisses on her cheeks and eyes and mouth as I hold her in the dark, just before putting her down to sleep at night.
* I love that she's my daughter. I am so immensely proud of her and can't believe the great fortune I have in being able to call her mine.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Sweet girl
Good things come to those who wait. Or maybe in my case, to those who complain?
Bug has been much more snuggly in the weeks since her last (mystery!) illness. More snuggly in the sense that I used to have to steal hugs when I'd pick her up or when I was holding her on my lap and now she actually reaches out to me and pulls me in for a hug. OH MY GOSH THANK YOU! Thank you, thank you, baby!
And I'd just been saying how Zoe really isn't a snuggler. Not that she really is now, but the fact that she's looking for hugs is like night and day to me. I'm no longer jealous (in a nice way) of the friends who talk about their sweet, snuggly girls and look longingly at my busy, bustling one. Zoe's *always* been a sweetie. She has a fantastic sense of humor and a great disposition, but this mom has been starving for the little tiny baby who used to sit nestled in my arms for hours on end for like the past 8 months!
So it seems we've struck some balance. Yay for that!
Speaking of balance, Zoe struck her first pose on her own toes the other day (3/6) - in the middle of the room! It didn't last long and I haven't seen her do it since, but man, that was cool! She also maybe might have sort of almost perhaps taken her first (mom- and dad-witnessed) step! It was last Sunday, after she came home from her overnight with Nana and Pepere. So cool.
Now, we're not kidding ourselves that we'll be able to see all the important 'firsts' - especially since we're not with her every minute of every day. We're just going to concern ourselves with the firsts that we witness. In other words, we've told daycare (and anyone else out there who gets to spend quality time with the bug) that we DON'T WANT TO KNOW IF SHE'S DONE ANY NEW GREAT THINGS IN YOUR PRESENCE! We're prefer to be blissfully ignorant! ;)
Besides, it's less about measuring her stats on the important milestones than it is about the importance of recognizing her gains when we see them.
A few pix from the past week:
Yum! Spag & Meatball!
Striking a pose in her cute duds
Giggly girl
Party pants!
What's in the box??
Helping mom sort the junk mail
Bug has been much more snuggly in the weeks since her last (mystery!) illness. More snuggly in the sense that I used to have to steal hugs when I'd pick her up or when I was holding her on my lap and now she actually reaches out to me and pulls me in for a hug. OH MY GOSH THANK YOU! Thank you, thank you, baby!
And I'd just been saying how Zoe really isn't a snuggler. Not that she really is now, but the fact that she's looking for hugs is like night and day to me. I'm no longer jealous (in a nice way) of the friends who talk about their sweet, snuggly girls and look longingly at my busy, bustling one. Zoe's *always* been a sweetie. She has a fantastic sense of humor and a great disposition, but this mom has been starving for the little tiny baby who used to sit nestled in my arms for hours on end for like the past 8 months!
So it seems we've struck some balance. Yay for that!
Speaking of balance, Zoe struck her first pose on her own toes the other day (3/6) - in the middle of the room! It didn't last long and I haven't seen her do it since, but man, that was cool! She also maybe might have sort of almost perhaps taken her first (mom- and dad-witnessed) step! It was last Sunday, after she came home from her overnight with Nana and Pepere. So cool.
Now, we're not kidding ourselves that we'll be able to see all the important 'firsts' - especially since we're not with her every minute of every day. We're just going to concern ourselves with the firsts that we witness. In other words, we've told daycare (and anyone else out there who gets to spend quality time with the bug) that we DON'T WANT TO KNOW IF SHE'S DONE ANY NEW GREAT THINGS IN YOUR PRESENCE! We're prefer to be blissfully ignorant! ;)
Besides, it's less about measuring her stats on the important milestones than it is about the importance of recognizing her gains when we see them.
A few pix from the past week:
Yum! Spag & Meatball!
Striking a pose in her cute duds
Giggly girl
Party pants!
What's in the box??
Helping mom sort the junk mail
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
I'll have what she's having
So it's come to this: Zoe simply, almost exclusively, rejects (new) food if it hasn't come off my plate.
To signal her desire to eat, she does this hilarious birdie mouth thing as if she's trying to show me her teeth (kind of like she's doing in this pic from her b-day bash) or rather trying to get me to show her my teeth.
Case in point: She couldn't get enough of the broccoli rabe from Sunday night's meal and was really pretty interested in the asparagus from Monday's meal. Tonight, she was all over the shrimp from my *spicy* gumbo! Whatever gets the good stuff in, kiddo! The salmon went over pretty well the other day, too and I know, just know, that she would have sunk her teeth into my tasty cheeseburger last night if I'd let her (but dad said it was too rare for her consumption).
So, the big lesson learned here is that WE'RE NOT KEEPING UP with Zoe's maturing palate!
Zoe wants new, gosh darnit, and readily forthcoming food. So, I call out to all you moms out there - send us your baby-friendly dinner recipes! (I promise to share what gets gathered, or you can just leave 'em as a comment on this here old blog for you to hunt and gather, yourselves.)
In exchange, here's a couple of Zoe's recently cast-aside baby menu items, a la Dave:
Home ground chicken sausage with spinach and onions
3/4 lb raw, skinned, boneless chicken breast, cubed
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 small apple, peeled and grated
2 tbsp fresh bread crumbs
salt & pepper, to taste
flour for coating
vegetable oil for frying
*sage and garlic to taste
*1/4-1/2 C chopped spinach
Put chicken in food processor w/onion, parsley, apple, and bread crumbs. Chop for a few seconds, then season the mixture lightly. Form mixture into 4 sausages, each about 5 inches long. Coat w/ flour. Saute sausage in oil for about 15 minutes, turning occasionally, or until browned on all sides and cooked through. Dave said he made a quadruple batch - seems more worth the work to do it that way
Zoe's friend, Lucy, apparently loves these!
Otherwise, and still, things are going great, chez St. Alonzo.
Zoe's uncle Chris and auntie Erin came for dinner and to hang with 'Miss Zoe' Friday night. Zoe got her shy on, but slowly warmed to chatting with Erin. To quote Chris, babies love Erin and I can agree it's true. Zoe reserved some REALLY cute side glances for Chris. No, no pix, but it was all a hoot with her Cupie Doll grin. Too funny.
Zoe had her first (and quite successful, so I hear) overnight (gulp, sob, weep!) with her Nana and Pepere this past weekend.
Girls doing lunch
*Thinking* about making that first step, but saving it for mom & dad ;)
Pretty girls
Keepin' 'em on their toes
Sweetness
Super sweetness
Dave and I had fun and sexy plans to do some work on our bathroom and utility room floors. Nothing says 'hey, the kid's away, let's play' like tearing the toilet out of it's socket, turning off the water and not washing your hands all day long! ;)
We got the bathroom 90% done (the project would be done if it hadn't culminated in a re-do on the bath faucet fixtures and a spackle-patch on the wall near the shower) and the utility room floor looks great. Kudos to Dave who did the majority of the hard work.
We're chiseling our way down the remaining house projects list in preps for us finding a house and needing to hop onto the market. There have been a couple of interesting finds, but nothing's stuck (either we opted to not take our chances and remove 14 trees or the sellers opted to not take our contingent offer - what can you do?) This, like parenthood and pregnancy before it, has been a supreme exercise of my patience skills. Dave still says he loves me before drifting off to sleep at night, so I guess that means I'm not failing miserably :S
Some more vid for the rabid fans: I finally got around to taping Dave and Zoe doing their bedtime routine at the changing table. Honestly, this is typical. Is this baby girl smitten with her Daddy, or what?
To signal her desire to eat, she does this hilarious birdie mouth thing as if she's trying to show me her teeth (kind of like she's doing in this pic from her b-day bash) or rather trying to get me to show her my teeth.
Case in point: She couldn't get enough of the broccoli rabe from Sunday night's meal and was really pretty interested in the asparagus from Monday's meal. Tonight, she was all over the shrimp from my *spicy* gumbo! Whatever gets the good stuff in, kiddo! The salmon went over pretty well the other day, too and I know, just know, that she would have sunk her teeth into my tasty cheeseburger last night if I'd let her (but dad said it was too rare for her consumption).
So, the big lesson learned here is that WE'RE NOT KEEPING UP with Zoe's maturing palate!
Zoe wants new, gosh darnit, and readily forthcoming food. So, I call out to all you moms out there - send us your baby-friendly dinner recipes! (I promise to share what gets gathered, or you can just leave 'em as a comment on this here old blog for you to hunt and gather, yourselves.)
In exchange, here's a couple of Zoe's recently cast-aside baby menu items, a la Dave:
Home ground chicken sausage with spinach and onions
3/4 lb raw, skinned, boneless chicken breast, cubed
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 small apple, peeled and grated
2 tbsp fresh bread crumbs
salt & pepper, to taste
flour for coating
vegetable oil for frying
*sage and garlic to taste
*1/4-1/2 C chopped spinach
Put chicken in food processor w/onion, parsley, apple, and bread crumbs. Chop for a few seconds, then season the mixture lightly. Form mixture into 4 sausages, each about 5 inches long. Coat w/ flour. Saute sausage in oil for about 15 minutes, turning occasionally, or until browned on all sides and cooked through. Dave said he made a quadruple batch - seems more worth the work to do it that way
Zoe's friend, Lucy, apparently loves these!
Otherwise, and still, things are going great, chez St. Alonzo.
Zoe's uncle Chris and auntie Erin came for dinner and to hang with 'Miss Zoe' Friday night. Zoe got her shy on, but slowly warmed to chatting with Erin. To quote Chris, babies love Erin and I can agree it's true. Zoe reserved some REALLY cute side glances for Chris. No, no pix, but it was all a hoot with her Cupie Doll grin. Too funny.
Zoe had her first (and quite successful, so I hear) overnight (gulp, sob, weep!) with her Nana and Pepere this past weekend.
Girls doing lunch
*Thinking* about making that first step, but saving it for mom & dad ;)
Pretty girls
Keepin' 'em on their toes
Sweetness
Super sweetness
Dave and I had fun and sexy plans to do some work on our bathroom and utility room floors. Nothing says 'hey, the kid's away, let's play' like tearing the toilet out of it's socket, turning off the water and not washing your hands all day long! ;)
We got the bathroom 90% done (the project would be done if it hadn't culminated in a re-do on the bath faucet fixtures and a spackle-patch on the wall near the shower) and the utility room floor looks great. Kudos to Dave who did the majority of the hard work.
We're chiseling our way down the remaining house projects list in preps for us finding a house and needing to hop onto the market. There have been a couple of interesting finds, but nothing's stuck (either we opted to not take our chances and remove 14 trees or the sellers opted to not take our contingent offer - what can you do?) This, like parenthood and pregnancy before it, has been a supreme exercise of my patience skills. Dave still says he loves me before drifting off to sleep at night, so I guess that means I'm not failing miserably :S
Some more vid for the rabid fans: I finally got around to taping Dave and Zoe doing their bedtime routine at the changing table. Honestly, this is typical. Is this baby girl smitten with her Daddy, or what?
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Que?
So, it's either us, or the Dr., but someone's an amateur as far as I'm concerned.
After the cumulative hell that was last week, it seems we may have to face the fact that it might have been all about nothing.
Monday night, after a super day at daycare, Zoe was horsing around with her daddy while I was doing the dinner dishes. We can pretty reliably get some really great and goofy giggles out of bug by flipping her upside down and kissing her tummy. It's also a great way to catch a glimpse into her usually tight-as-a-clam-shut mouth.
Dave flipped her and found a new tooth. A premolar, nonetheless.
Yay!
Except as soon as he found and announced its presence, we both came to the realization: DUH. Teething. A typical cause of, oh, FEVER, fussiness, loss of appetite, poor sleep.
So why, oh why didn't we think of it last week? Why didn't the pediatrician take a look in her mouth and see that HUGE new tooth tearing through Zoe's poor, sore gums and save us the trip to Children's Hospital to rule out a big, bad, terrible illness????
Well I guess to start, we didn't catch on to Zoe's chompiness - this was a new kind of tooth, after all. That and we really figured we'd see her next two bottom teeth before we saw anything more up top. Still, we couldn't help but to feel a bit miffed and foolish. Amateurs.
Whatever. We've moved on beyond last week. Zoe's way back into her game, eating, sleeping and playing as well as ever. I had a very happy Wednesday at home with her today. So, I'm still thankful that it wasn't the big bad terrible illness and that it was a virus and a viciously quick bout of teething running their respective courses. On to the next thing...Zo's already showing signs that the other premolar is coming soon. At least we're on to her this time!
In other Zoe news, we've been seeing lots of fun developments over the past couple of weeks - in her personality, communications and mobility. For instance, we happily declare 'Ki-y' (kitty) to be her first official 'see and say' word. The animal lover in me is rejoicing! She also says, 'milh' (milk), usually with prompting, but lately more on her own. I think I also heard 'chees' (cheese) in her highchair this week. And we've heard a few 'nk-q's (thank yous), too! Usually after we say it, but she says it! Along with that, she's getting awfully good (great, actually) about handing off her cup when she's done with it. Yahoo! But should we miss the hand-off, there's sure to be an 'uh-ah' (uh-oh) exclaimed after its fall to the floor.
Oh, and I think bug's getting in touch with her Hispanic roots. In her endless explorations, she does lots of pointing at things and will inevitably say 'k?'...Que? I think she's already mastered her first Spanish word!! ;)
Zoe's also showing some maturity in her drinking choices. No, she's not sipping off mom's wine glass, but she does choose to sip off mom's water glass. Any time she lays eyes on it! Very cute. We've tried to deter her by taking the 'sippy' off her cup, but she's no fool and insists on the big girl glass. So yes, we've gotten used to drinking cloudy water, thanks to Zo's backwash, but it's very fun seeing her maneuver her head and mouth to just the right angles to get a big gulp. Love it.
We're also making strides on the walking front. Just today I had my first experience leading her through a room holding only one of her hands!! In the past couple of weeks, Zoe has gone from literally crumpling at her knees when we picked her up to lead her on a stroll to not only letting us lead her, but venturing forth a bit on her own. We've caught her assessing what it takes to get from point A to point B when the distance between isn't covered by anything scalable above the floor. She'll eventually opt for the knees, but just the fact that she's thinking about it is huge.
And finally, Zoe's been gaining a deeper perspective of self. Just the other day I was stretching on the floor after a run and Zoe came crawling up to me - to laugh at my being on the floor of course. I was reaching for my toes and said "Zoe's toes!" What'd she do? She plunked down on her bum, sprawled her feet in front of herself and pointed to her toes! What a hoot! That was one of the best workouts I've had in a while ;)
Some cute pix and a vid of our bug of lately:
Learning about in and out, over and under, in front and behind
Learning about up and down:
Bug attack
After the cumulative hell that was last week, it seems we may have to face the fact that it might have been all about nothing.
Monday night, after a super day at daycare, Zoe was horsing around with her daddy while I was doing the dinner dishes. We can pretty reliably get some really great and goofy giggles out of bug by flipping her upside down and kissing her tummy. It's also a great way to catch a glimpse into her usually tight-as-a-clam-shut mouth.
Dave flipped her and found a new tooth. A premolar, nonetheless.
Yay!
Except as soon as he found and announced its presence, we both came to the realization: DUH. Teething. A typical cause of, oh, FEVER, fussiness, loss of appetite, poor sleep.
So why, oh why didn't we think of it last week? Why didn't the pediatrician take a look in her mouth and see that HUGE new tooth tearing through Zoe's poor, sore gums and save us the trip to Children's Hospital to rule out a big, bad, terrible illness????
Well I guess to start, we didn't catch on to Zoe's chompiness - this was a new kind of tooth, after all. That and we really figured we'd see her next two bottom teeth before we saw anything more up top. Still, we couldn't help but to feel a bit miffed and foolish. Amateurs.
Whatever. We've moved on beyond last week. Zoe's way back into her game, eating, sleeping and playing as well as ever. I had a very happy Wednesday at home with her today. So, I'm still thankful that it wasn't the big bad terrible illness and that it was a virus and a viciously quick bout of teething running their respective courses. On to the next thing...Zo's already showing signs that the other premolar is coming soon. At least we're on to her this time!
In other Zoe news, we've been seeing lots of fun developments over the past couple of weeks - in her personality, communications and mobility. For instance, we happily declare 'Ki-y' (kitty) to be her first official 'see and say' word. The animal lover in me is rejoicing! She also says, 'milh' (milk), usually with prompting, but lately more on her own. I think I also heard 'chees' (cheese) in her highchair this week. And we've heard a few 'nk-q's (thank yous), too! Usually after we say it, but she says it! Along with that, she's getting awfully good (great, actually) about handing off her cup when she's done with it. Yahoo! But should we miss the hand-off, there's sure to be an 'uh-ah' (uh-oh) exclaimed after its fall to the floor.
Oh, and I think bug's getting in touch with her Hispanic roots. In her endless explorations, she does lots of pointing at things and will inevitably say 'k?'...Que? I think she's already mastered her first Spanish word!! ;)
Zoe's also showing some maturity in her drinking choices. No, she's not sipping off mom's wine glass, but she does choose to sip off mom's water glass. Any time she lays eyes on it! Very cute. We've tried to deter her by taking the 'sippy' off her cup, but she's no fool and insists on the big girl glass. So yes, we've gotten used to drinking cloudy water, thanks to Zo's backwash, but it's very fun seeing her maneuver her head and mouth to just the right angles to get a big gulp. Love it.
We're also making strides on the walking front. Just today I had my first experience leading her through a room holding only one of her hands!! In the past couple of weeks, Zoe has gone from literally crumpling at her knees when we picked her up to lead her on a stroll to not only letting us lead her, but venturing forth a bit on her own. We've caught her assessing what it takes to get from point A to point B when the distance between isn't covered by anything scalable above the floor. She'll eventually opt for the knees, but just the fact that she's thinking about it is huge.
And finally, Zoe's been gaining a deeper perspective of self. Just the other day I was stretching on the floor after a run and Zoe came crawling up to me - to laugh at my being on the floor of course. I was reaching for my toes and said "Zoe's toes!" What'd she do? She plunked down on her bum, sprawled her feet in front of herself and pointed to her toes! What a hoot! That was one of the best workouts I've had in a while ;)
Some cute pix and a vid of our bug of lately:
Learning about in and out, over and under, in front and behind
Learning about up and down:
Bug attack
Friday, February 22, 2008
Fever
What a week.
Day 1, early Saturday:
Early last Saturday, in the middle of the night, Zoe woke with a fever. She went back to sleep fairly easily, but didn't get up again until we woke her at 10:00 am the next morning! 15 hours after we'd put her to bed the night before! Not good. She woke very puffy-, weepy- and purple-circle-eyed. Really not good. Snuggly and fussy too, she was sooo not our girl. She spent the day snuggling with Dave and by evening time, despite a less than stellar appetite, she was nearing closer to herself. Phew.
Day 2, Sunday:
...Except she fussed through the night Saturday, maintained a low-grade fever through Sunday and fussed through Sunday night, too.
Day 3, Monday:
Monday, we thought she was better - still mellow - but better. But after a shortish stint of shopping (Dave's idea to hit the sales at the outlets! I couldn't argue!), her purple circles re-blossomed and the fever spiked again. I felt pretty bad that she'd been such a great sport, feeling crummy, strolling around while we did our thing.
Day 4, Tuesday:
Early Tuesday morning (3:30am, because well, we were all up), we decided I should stay home with her that day. She needed more snuggle and to just be home. We thought she was coming out of it, but she still had her low-grade fever and still had purplish eyes. How pitiful!
Day 5, Wednesday:
Wednesday is our stay at home day and I honestly almost can't remember it now because, well, I think it was more the same, aside from our (now regular, monthly) visit with the Pediatrician. They didn't like hearing that she'd held on to a fever for so long and wanted to see her ASAP.
Blood pressure: UP!
Now, since the start of this, Zoe had held a fever. So how do you think it went at the Ped's office?
Lungs and sinuses and ears were all clear - which we expected because she hasn't been snotty at all. But there was no real fever to speak of (just over 99 degrees which, baby-wise ain't bad).
Her eyes though, were still purplish; it was possible that could be due to fatigue and fever. And the fuss was certainly there. She was NOT happy about her exam, did NOT appreciate the ear check and was probably as shaken up by the whole thing as I've ever seen her. With worse ideas at the back of her mind, the doc ordered up a urine analysis in hopes it was a bladder infection....which meant collecting pee from a baby!
Now, again, since the beginning of this, Zoe had been THIRSTY. Drinking tons of water and milk. So how do you think the pee collecting went?
They taped a very odd little baggy thing to her and had us hold her upright which was fine, except as far as she was concerned, she was done with the Dr's office. So, we took a stroll and offered a sip of milk or water every step of the way. NADA. No drinking. No thank you.
Sigh. Poor kid. I know I was feeling pretty darned bad about toughing out the fever up to this point. What is it about Dr's offices that make you feel like a bad parent sometimes? I mean, they weren't mad at us, but I just felt so bad for her whole experience there and so bad that it had come to that. But then again, would it have been any different if we'd gone any sooner? worse because we'd go there only to be have been told to go home, wait it out some more and still have to go back? I don't know.
So after a jaunt up and down the street, we headed back to the Dr's in hopes that she'd peed a little, but she hadn't. Then I spotted the faucet! Now, at home, running water is a sure-fire way to get pee from our baby. And bingo, it worked! Then came the waiting.
Day 6, Thursday: So of course yesterday we learned that the urine analysis was negative for a bladder infection. But they wanted us to keep them posted about the fever. Fine. She was actually feeling cooler...until Dave changed her mid-morning and discovered another bit of a spike.
After talking with the Dr. again in the late afternoon, we opted to not wait until Friday to see if there were any changes, especially since well, the Dr. was slightly concerned about this being a big, bad terrible something that I just won't name. (I know the depressive-meter on this posting is already running sky-high and I don't want to bum out my readers to the point of despair.) So, off I dragged poor bug to Children's Hospital for a blood draw.
No, she didn't appreciate that, either. And I, well, I was ready to cry, too.
I can't even to begin to explain how sad it was to be at Children's. I mean, it's a beautiful facility and the staff are all great, even cooing at Zoe despite the fact they've seen literally a million kids. But it was so sad knowing that all those kids are there because they are sick. Many of them are really sick. I just wanted to take our baby out of there.
But, fortunately, after a frustrating wait last night, we heard from the Dr. that all indicators did NOT point to the big, bad, terrible, unnamed something. Man. Thank goodness. My hearts go out to all the families at Children's who weren't blessed with the same kind of news we received.
But still, what the heck was this fever all about??
Day 7, Today: I stayed home with Zoe again. She seemed a bit better - slept better than she had since last week and ate a great breakfast. And, she was cooler to the touch. Yahoo! Later this morning, I spoke to the Doc and she said that after seeing the lab results and talking with the CDC, she's calling this an Adeno Virus and that this seems to already be on its way out. Needless to say, we're quite relieved. I'm not in any shape to argue with a sane conclusion here anyways.
So in the end, our baby is better. Not 100%, but better. I think perhaps our getting back out of the 'sick' mindset will help her, too. I think I'm going to take her for a walk in the last hours of sunlight.
Some cute pix and a couple of vids to lift everyone's spirits and witness what a great baby Zoe really is - even when she's sick:
Nice pets for her pal, Lucy
Gettin' feisty with the paparazzi
Fun times with blocks
New tricks
Day 1, early Saturday:
Early last Saturday, in the middle of the night, Zoe woke with a fever. She went back to sleep fairly easily, but didn't get up again until we woke her at 10:00 am the next morning! 15 hours after we'd put her to bed the night before! Not good. She woke very puffy-, weepy- and purple-circle-eyed. Really not good. Snuggly and fussy too, she was sooo not our girl. She spent the day snuggling with Dave and by evening time, despite a less than stellar appetite, she was nearing closer to herself. Phew.
Day 2, Sunday:
...Except she fussed through the night Saturday, maintained a low-grade fever through Sunday and fussed through Sunday night, too.
Day 3, Monday:
Monday, we thought she was better - still mellow - but better. But after a shortish stint of shopping (Dave's idea to hit the sales at the outlets! I couldn't argue!), her purple circles re-blossomed and the fever spiked again. I felt pretty bad that she'd been such a great sport, feeling crummy, strolling around while we did our thing.
Day 4, Tuesday:
Early Tuesday morning (3:30am, because well, we were all up), we decided I should stay home with her that day. She needed more snuggle and to just be home. We thought she was coming out of it, but she still had her low-grade fever and still had purplish eyes. How pitiful!
Day 5, Wednesday:
Wednesday is our stay at home day and I honestly almost can't remember it now because, well, I think it was more the same, aside from our (now regular, monthly) visit with the Pediatrician. They didn't like hearing that she'd held on to a fever for so long and wanted to see her ASAP.
Blood pressure: UP!
Now, since the start of this, Zoe had held a fever. So how do you think it went at the Ped's office?
Lungs and sinuses and ears were all clear - which we expected because she hasn't been snotty at all. But there was no real fever to speak of (just over 99 degrees which, baby-wise ain't bad).
Her eyes though, were still purplish; it was possible that could be due to fatigue and fever. And the fuss was certainly there. She was NOT happy about her exam, did NOT appreciate the ear check and was probably as shaken up by the whole thing as I've ever seen her. With worse ideas at the back of her mind, the doc ordered up a urine analysis in hopes it was a bladder infection....which meant collecting pee from a baby!
Now, again, since the beginning of this, Zoe had been THIRSTY. Drinking tons of water and milk. So how do you think the pee collecting went?
They taped a very odd little baggy thing to her and had us hold her upright which was fine, except as far as she was concerned, she was done with the Dr's office. So, we took a stroll and offered a sip of milk or water every step of the way. NADA. No drinking. No thank you.
Sigh. Poor kid. I know I was feeling pretty darned bad about toughing out the fever up to this point. What is it about Dr's offices that make you feel like a bad parent sometimes? I mean, they weren't mad at us, but I just felt so bad for her whole experience there and so bad that it had come to that. But then again, would it have been any different if we'd gone any sooner? worse because we'd go there only to be have been told to go home, wait it out some more and still have to go back? I don't know.
So after a jaunt up and down the street, we headed back to the Dr's in hopes that she'd peed a little, but she hadn't. Then I spotted the faucet! Now, at home, running water is a sure-fire way to get pee from our baby. And bingo, it worked! Then came the waiting.
Day 6, Thursday: So of course yesterday we learned that the urine analysis was negative for a bladder infection. But they wanted us to keep them posted about the fever. Fine. She was actually feeling cooler...until Dave changed her mid-morning and discovered another bit of a spike.
After talking with the Dr. again in the late afternoon, we opted to not wait until Friday to see if there were any changes, especially since well, the Dr. was slightly concerned about this being a big, bad terrible something that I just won't name. (I know the depressive-meter on this posting is already running sky-high and I don't want to bum out my readers to the point of despair.) So, off I dragged poor bug to Children's Hospital for a blood draw.
No, she didn't appreciate that, either. And I, well, I was ready to cry, too.
I can't even to begin to explain how sad it was to be at Children's. I mean, it's a beautiful facility and the staff are all great, even cooing at Zoe despite the fact they've seen literally a million kids. But it was so sad knowing that all those kids are there because they are sick. Many of them are really sick. I just wanted to take our baby out of there.
But, fortunately, after a frustrating wait last night, we heard from the Dr. that all indicators did NOT point to the big, bad, terrible, unnamed something. Man. Thank goodness. My hearts go out to all the families at Children's who weren't blessed with the same kind of news we received.
But still, what the heck was this fever all about??
Day 7, Today: I stayed home with Zoe again. She seemed a bit better - slept better than she had since last week and ate a great breakfast. And, she was cooler to the touch. Yahoo! Later this morning, I spoke to the Doc and she said that after seeing the lab results and talking with the CDC, she's calling this an Adeno Virus and that this seems to already be on its way out. Needless to say, we're quite relieved. I'm not in any shape to argue with a sane conclusion here anyways.
So in the end, our baby is better. Not 100%, but better. I think perhaps our getting back out of the 'sick' mindset will help her, too. I think I'm going to take her for a walk in the last hours of sunlight.
Some cute pix and a couple of vids to lift everyone's spirits and witness what a great baby Zoe really is - even when she's sick:
Nice pets for her pal, Lucy
Gettin' feisty with the paparazzi
Fun times with blocks
New tricks
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