1, 2, 3 and We Are Almost Off!!!!

Check out my babe as she masters the art of standing up on her own.  She's almost walking!  Amazing how quickly they learn!!  BTW - YAY might be the most overused word in my house at the moment.  Every time she stands up on her own, she looks at Steve and I for applause and congratulatory words which usually is YAY!!!!! 

Naked Baby!!

This past Sunday Lottie decided that she was going to strip down and embrace the world NAKED!  I was crafting away (1st b-day decor) on the couch when all of a sudden I saw Lottie tackling her shirt, pulling it right off.  She looked quite pleased with herself afterwards.  Of course, not wanting her to get cold, I put it back on her.  Not 5 minutes later, she tackled and pulled her shirt off again.  She then proceeded to play with it, stretch it and crawl around the house with it.  She did this for the next hour.  She had all of her toys around her to play with but she only wanted to play with a shirt.  Typical!

After she started carrying it around like some sort of security blanket, Steve and I laughed saying how embarrassing would it be if our child had a security shirt instead of a blanket!  Thankfully Lottie has no attachment to a blanket or stuffed toy yet.

Later in the day, Steve made a traditional English dinner that included roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roasted potatoes, veggies and gravy.  YUM!!!!!!!!!  Lottie tried her first Yorkshire pudding!!!  She loved it.  She sat on Dad's lap while he fed her - no shirt and all! 

Lottie has once again done really well with her big girl food this week.  She had her first taste of shrimp and grits, broccoli and cheese, mac and cheese, tuna, etc.  I'm so happy she is trying all of these foods and seems to be enjoying them.  I had my suspicion that she was going to be a vegetarian early on b/c the girl did not want anything to do with baby food meat (i.e. chicken and noodles, turkey and gravy, etc.)  Thankfully that does not seem to be an issue any longer.

I am looking forward to spending the weekend w/ Steve & Lottie!!  Lottie is having her cake smash photo session tomorrow morning!!!  I'm going to pick up her little cake after work.  Should be fun!!!  I can't wait to see Lottie's expression when she has her first taste of cake!!!!

I still can't believe her first birthday is upon us.  Stay tuned!

Big Girl Food!! Happy 11 Months!

It's official, my little monkey is graduating to big girl food. 

Since Christmas, she has really shown she is ready to self feed.  It is getting harder and harder to feed her baby food.  She swats at the spoon, tries grabbing the spoon or shakes her head no.  So far, I've tried giving her roasted carrots, celery, potatos and chicken and dumplings.  She had a few bites of the veggies and potatoes but not nearly enough to fill her little belly.  At some point she decided she had enough and started picking up the carrots and throwing them on the floor!  :)  Awesome!  I better accept now that my house will NEVER be clean again!

However, when it came to my slow cooker chicken and dumplings, Lottie went to town.  She absolutely LOVES them (Proud Mama).  I was so pleased to find something that she really enjoys.  I made a batch on Sunday for dinner and Lottie has been eating leftovers for dinner all week.  YAY!

This week marked the first week she started trying to eat off the menu at day care.  Every Friday we get a menu to circle the food items we give permission for her to eat the following week.  The ladies at day care are so excited.  They can't wait to get her eating big girl food.  Yesterday when I picked her up, I learned that she ate green beans and applesauce for lunch.  She did great!! 

When it comes to snacking, Lottie's favorites at the minute is a cut up pickle and sweet potato and banana puffs.  She loves it!!

 


It is hard to believe my baby will be a year old in a month.  Happy 11 Months babe!!  You are getting to be such a big girl! 

Clearly, she has not pulled everything she needed out of the box!

Continued.............

Ha, I just read my previous blog and thought, "Wow, I sound like a crazy sick woman!!!"

All has pretty much settled on the home front and starting to get back to normal.  After Lottie's doctor appointment on Wednesday, the doctor stated her ear infection had completely healed (thanks to the Rocephin injection) and she just has an oral yeast infection most likely caused by antibiotics and the NON STOP putting toys in and out of her mouth. 

I've gone through and disinfected the house, wiped down the toys and boiled things that absolutely should not have been boiled!  Ooopppssss.........  I ended up having to throw away a few of Lottie's toys that did not survive the boil.  Sorry baby!

This past weekend, Lottie and I had a girls weekend together.  Steve and a friend went to Raleigh for the weekend to catch the Hurricanes game.  Lottie and I shopped, napped, cleaned and played and were in bed by 9:00 p.m. on Saturday night. 

Lottie loves Target!!!

Fingers crossed we can get through the next couple of weeks without the recurrence of an ear infection!!!

The Dreaded Ear Infection is Back!!!!!!!!

That's right, it's back!  Thankfully in only one ear but still - Ugghhhhh

For the last two weeks, Lottie has been coughing, sneezing and spreading snot all through the house!  When I took her on Christmas Eve, her ears looked great and after being tested for RSV, etc. - she checked out clean.  Fast forward two weeks later and her symptoms have not changed - in fact her cough seemed to have gotten worse.

I got to work on Friday at the crack of dawn in order to leave early to take her to the doctor.  Once we checked in and weighed in (18 lbs, 14 oz), we went back to the exam room.  I explained that her cough/cold has not gone away.  He took one look in her left ear and said there's the problem - she's got herself an ear infection.  That is why her cough/cold is not going away.  After looking back through her chart, we thought the best course of action would be to give her a Rocephin injection followed with 10 days of oral antibiotics.  If it doesn't clear up within that time, we are definitely getting the referral for tubes.  I hate it, but at this point, it seems like it makes the most sense.

Poor baby after her injection in her thigh

After a Rocephin injection, you have to wait 20 minutes in the office to make sure there is no allergic reaction.  Thankfully there was none. 

Fast forward to Saturday and guess who's caught the stomach bug from daycare - Lottie!  I gave her a bath on Saturday evening and I swear within an hour after giving her a bath - it started!  She threw up 3 separate times and we ended up going through 4 pairs of pajamas.  This is the first time I've had to deal with actual throw up and let me tell you it was GROSS!!!!!!!!  Thankfully, I got her settled and in bed and there were no more incidents!

Fast forward once more to Monday.  Around lunch time my stomach started feeling queasy.  I thought it was just heartburn, but by the time I picked Lottie up from daycare and got her home - I started feeling really sick.  That's when it started.  I caught the BUG!  I proceeded to throw up from about 6:00 p.m. through 1:00 a.m.  I thought this can't be happening!!!!!  I literally thought I was on my death bed. 

Tuesday morning finally rolled around and I had to call into work.  I felt lightheaded, weak and had absolutely no energy.  Steve took Lottie to daycare and I headed back to bed.  That didn't last long!!!  Steve called around 9:00 a.m. and said that daycare had called saying Lottie has white stuff in her mouth, looks like little white pockets on the inside of her cheek.  They said we need to come pick her up.  WHAT??????  But I can barely move - how am I going to take care of a 10 month old when I can barely function myself?  So, I put myself into the shower hoping to feel somewhat human again.  (Didn't work)  I fixed myself a piece of toast so that I could at least drive and not pass out.  Once I got to daycare, Lottie seemed fine.  It appeared that she has a little yeast infection in her mouth most likely caused by the oral antibiotics she's been taking for the ear infection.

I think Lottie must have somehow known that mommy wasn't feeling very well, because she was such a little angel yesterday.  We did a lot of napping and a little playing - mostly napping!  Thank goodness!!!

Today, I'm back at work.  But as luck would have it, poor Steve started throwing up this morning.  We just can NOT catch a break right now.  He went ahead and went to work, but is leaving around 1:00 p.m. to get Lottie back to the doctor for a recheck of her ears and mouth.

What a NIGHTMARE!!!!  I may as well just hand over my paycheck to the Pediatrician's office and daycare.  Agghhhh!

To Be Continued.............

Lottie's First Christmas!

Lottie's First Christmas didn't get off to a great start this year.  On the night of the 23rd, Lottie started getting a fever and a hacking cough.  We had our usual get together with my Dad's side of the family that night and while we were there, Lottie started feeling really warm.  We got her home and I checked her temperature which was right around 100.9.  I gave her a dosage of infant Advil and put her down to sleep.  Around 3:00 a.m. I heard her crying and went in to check on her.  She was BURNING up!  I mean felt like she was on FIRE!  I laid her down and checked her temperature and this time it was 103.6.  I alternated and gave her infant Tylenol to see if I could get this fever to break.  At this point I was wide awake and not going back to sleep.  I stayed up with her for the next hour and around 4:30 a.m. rechecked her temperature.  Thank God it had gone down a little bit to 102.3.  We eventually laid back down for a few hours and got up around 8:00 a.m.  I rechecked her temperature and it was at 101.9.  Thankfully Lottie's pediatrician's office is open on Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.  I called and made an appointment and got her in at 9:30 a.m.  I just didn't feel comfortable going into Christmas and the next few days not knowing what was going on with her.

While at the Pediatrician's office, he did a swipe with a very long q-tip up both nostrils to check for RSV and other infections - let me tell you - Lottie did not like that one bit!  Thankfully after 10 long minutes of waiting on the results, everything came back negative.  He felt that she just had a bad cold and the fever was present to help fight it off. 

The rest of the afternoon, I kept a close eye on her and the fever finally ceased!  Lottie played with Otis and Scooby (my sister's dogs).  She would laugh, then scream, laugh, then scream - I didn't know whether she liked them or not, still don't know.  It was fun watching her interact with them though. 

For the last couple of years, we've been going to my brother in law's parent's house for Christmas Eve cocktails and food.  He has two of the sweetest nieces who just adore Lottie.  Anthony's mom made stuffed banana peppers, chicken livers wrapped in bacon (GROSS - Steve loves them), shrimp cocktail, pasta fagioli and enough baked goods to make you sick (but oh so delicious).

Holiday Dress I bought at the consignment sale for $2.50

Tearing through tissue paper and wrapping paper - she loved it!

Standing up on her own for a few seconds - "no hands"

We got home that night and tucked ourselves in bed and waited on Santa to visit.  Lottie was so excited the next morning when she awoke (not really, but in another couple of years she will be!).  We passed out the presents and let Lottie go at it with the paper and boxes. 

Of course, my sister had to do the dog's stockings first!  Geezzzzz

Hurry up Aunt Amy!

New headbands

Lottie's new ball pit!!  (Don't you know those darn balls are all over the house now - awesome idea) 

And here we go......  She stopped caring about her toys and just wanted to play with the box!

Mom's new Panther headband!

Lottie's teletubbies sent all the way from England from her buddy Billy

Lottie's new alphabet train to help her with walking!  This train does so many cool things!

Here she goes!

After opening gifts, I put a breakfast casserole and hashbrown casserole in the oven I had made the day before.  We ate breakfast, cleaned and played with Lottie and her toys most of the day. 

Every Christmas night we make a ham and turkey and serve finger foods.  Then my two BFFs Ashley and Jeanette come over along w/ my second set of parents, Butch and Beverly.  We exchange gifts, eat and normally get into playing some sort of game.  I look forward to it every year.

More presents!

Christmas was so much fun this year!  Kids really do make the holidays!  I will remember this first Christmas always!!  I can't wait to watch Lottie grow this next year.  It is so hard to believe that she is going to be a year old in just a month and a half.  WOW!

A quick update on the cold - we still haven't been able to shake it - Lottie's cough has not gone away and now she's got the runny nose and sneezing to go with it.  We are going back this afternoon for a follow up appt.  Hopefully it isn't anything more serious than a cold.  Fingers crossed!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!