July 27, 2010 - Monster Ear... Grrrr!!!!

The bad, crackly sound effects from a 1950 monster movie come to mind. Hands up, eyes bulging, mouth roaring and that weird monster walk that is almost more like a jilted sway from side to side with some forward motion thrown in. And give it a name like the "Evil Ear."

Yeah, I know, doesn't look too sinister does it? But this ear... well mom always said if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all. Hmmmm....

Not only is the ear that dared get an ear infection and cause my baby pain, but now that she has the hives, this ear has taken it upon itself to become one gigantic freakin hive! And it's the only place on her entire body that truly seems to itch. Before I got the Benadryl in her, my little lovely scratched it so much she drew blood. ::gasp::

See, evil ear. Now it just needs a cheesy screen play and soundtrack.

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July 26, 2010 - What's Cute and Itchy and Dotted All Over?

My poor baby is! She is a mottled medley of HIVES!

When we woke up this morning, I saw three little spots on Georgia's face and I thought a spider or something had bitten her while she slept. So I tore her bed apart, sheets and mattress flying as I searched for the little culprit which I envisioned tearing from creepy little leg from creepy little leg. Nothing!

Then I took Georgia's pj's off and I instantly knew that no little bug was responsible for this:

The pediatrician blames antibiotic #3 which Georgia is still taking for her ear infection. More specifically, she says Georgia is allergic to penicillin. GREAT! So no more antibiotic #3 (which was augmentin and I'm learning it gives a lot of kids hives), and no antibiotic at all until these hives go away.

I'm worried Georgia is going to start thinking this is life: colds, coughs, ear infection, hives, itchy and scratchy. If my heartache for her could make her feel better, she'd have the immune system of a god!

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July 25, 2010 - Nothing But a Butt View

I remember the days when I could lay Georgia down on her back, and she would just lie there so innocently and play with her toys. I could step into the next room for a second and then return, and there she would be still playing with her toys. She would smile up at me, wanting to be held. We were the center of her world.

Now, instead of a smiling face, I just get the butt view:

Georgia crawling away from me, exploring the world on her own. Oh yeah, and crawling toward her beloved air conditioner vent.

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July 24, 2010 - We Have a.... !!!!

What? You think I'm going to tell you right away? Where's the fun in that?

I don't know, Georgia finds beating the floor fun.

It's funny, this journey into parenthood. I'm learning more right now that at any other time in my life, and isn't it supposed to be Georgia who is learning and absorbing everything? But it's amazing what I'm absorbing, I never expected it to be so rich and all consuming. It's not just learning to be a parent, it's learning to love like I didn't know love could be and it's learning more about myself and my husband than I ever knew before and it's learning so much about life and how to TRULY live it.

While I thought this would be all about teaching Georgia, really, she's teaching me to really live - grab it all up, suck it all in, breathe deep and pure and just squeeze the crap out of life. And it's amazing and I have the two most amazing people to share it with.

I learned something else this week, something wonderful that just makes me smile that goofy, I-can't-hide-it-I'm-so-giddy-kind of smile. I learned......

.... we have a crawler in our house!!!! Georgia figured it out overnight it seems and crawled for her daddy a little on Thursday night and then a lot for me on Friday and then today, this girl is all over the place. It's like she's never gone without crawling.

And what would you, if you had gone your entire life without being mobile, want to go to that first chance you had to move around? What would pull you in, fascinate you and make you say "I need that!"?

For Georgia, it's the air conditioner vent in the wall. Yep. She can't get enough of it.

Yes, this week I learned a lot. But most of all Georgia's latest feat just reiterated one thing for me - she is growing up too fast. I'm losing my little baby already.

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I Heart Faces - Purple

I love my daughter's look in her striped purple pj's. This was about a month before she started crawling, and she was in her "flying" phase. She would just arch her back and throw her feet up into the air and just swing and swing her arms... like she was going to get somewhere. And it delighted her to do so.

Go check out all things purple at I Heart Faces:

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Trendy Treehouse - Sports!

This is a category I don't have many pictures in, but it just so happens I recently went to a sporting event to end an era. If you are a baseball fan at all, you might know that the Men's College World Series is played in Omaha, Nebraska, and has been played at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium here since 1950. But this year was the last. A new stadium is being built in Omaha, and Rosenblatt will be torn down. If you've ever been here, you know how sad that is.

You can see my full post on the game here.

Woohoo! I finished #6!

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July 23, 2010 - Found Her in the Avocado

More attempts with finger foods today and more BIG FAT FAILS! Really, who knew it was this hard to learn to eat. Isn't there supposed to be some primal instinct in us that just says "there is food... eat!"? Or some kind of eat or die survival thing? You don't see baby animals in the wild not eating their food because they know what happens if they don't!

Not, of course, that anything like that will ever happen to my little lovely. One of the perks of being a human I guess. And I guess she's knows it, that she can take as long as her little heart desires to start eating finger foods. In the meantime, we slaves... ahem, I mean parents... will just keep making bottles and making milk and spooning in purees.

But perhaps she working really hard at getting this finger food thing down, perhaps I'm just not seeing the "big" picture. Because when she was "practicing" with her finger foods next to me today as I washed bottles, when things got quiet I turned around to find this:

Those cheese pieces and avocado chunks just tuckered her little self right out.

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July 22, 2010 - What? Something Where?

Just a quick post for today, and not that great of a picture.

I wonder if she realizes there's something stuck in her teeth?

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July 21, 2010 - Poop Was Oozing Everywhere!!!

So as you know, Georgia is on her THIRD round of antibiotics for this stupid ear infection that will not go away. Wait, let me rephrase that. She is on her second round of antibiotics FOR the ear infection. She got the ear infection while on the first round of antibiotics for a cough. At least the cough is gone.

This latest antibiotic, and the strongest so far, came with a warning from Georgia's pediatrician. And why is it these warnings always center around poop? The last one came with a "red poop" warning. This one came with the dreaded "D" word warning.

So as you might have read here, Georgia started this latest and hopefully greatest antibiotic on Monday, after her nine month check up. I gave her the first dose that night.- no change. She got her next two doses on Tuesday - no change. Then comes today.

I should have seen the warning sign when Georgia had a blow out (the diaper kind) this morning. We haven't seen one of those since we started on solids months ago. But I thought she got it out of her system. Silly mommy.

So off Georgia and I go to her daycare - Georgia in her cute little dress and me in a business suit. My routine is to fill out the daily log, label Georgia's bottles and then take her out of her carrier to say my goodbyes and hand her over to one of the ladies there. ::sigh::

We get through steps one and two just fine, and then I pick her up. I'm saying my sweet goodbyes with her safely nestled into the crook of my hip when, what's this? Is there something wet... ugh! Oh yes, Georgia "leaked" all over me, all over my suit and all over the shirt under my suit jacket. Oh, and did I mention it's a tweed suit? Plenty of little fabric crevices for poop to hide. And well, leak is a serious (s-e-r-i-o-u-s) understatement.

That crap (pun intended) was EVERYWHERE! All over my jacket, all over my shirt, all over my hands, all over Georgia's onsie, all over the little dress that went over her onsie, all over Georgia's legs and of course, all over her diaper. It took two of us to get her changed and cleaned up in our attempts not to spread the poop to more locations.

And that's always a call you want to make to your boss. "Um, I'm going to be late to work because I have to go home and change. Why? Um, my daughter pooped all over me. Yeah, really. Yep, all over." And imagine the conversation yet to come with my dry cleaner.

So I used the almighty Shout before leaving the house again for work. Uh, dare I ask what tomorrow holds?

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July 20, 2010 - Not Much Has Changed

No, not much has changed when it comes to those pudgy fingers. On day two, they still like to grab the little puffs, and now we've added shredded cheese...

And they still let all the little puffs stick to them...

But they will not, I repeat WILL NOT, stick those puffs or cheese pieces into Georgia's mouth. Nope, not happening today.

Finger foods day two = fail.

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July 19, 2010 - You Take Your Fingers and.... No Thanks.

Gulp. Has it really come to this? Well of course it has, I just talked about the actual milestone almost a week ago. Today was Georgia's nine month check up. She weighs 19.3 ounces! So that's why my back has been hurting lately... sheesh. Baby + baby carrier = too much weight for mama. (and don't laugh, yes, we're still using the baby carrier. I mean, come on, what do you expect from someone who's still using the co-sleeper? I hang on to things too long... and I ain't going to change!)

I also had to arrive 10 minutes early to fill out a development questionnaire. Really, enough questions for 10 minutes of my time? Oh course, between feedings and naps and "why aren't you crawling" time and fighting the feeding and washing bottles and (we'll just put "unending list" here), I was not 10 minutes early but only three. So in addition to lugging a heavy baby in a heavy carrier along with a heavy purse into an exam room, I got to add long questionnaire on a clipboard to my overburdened arms.

But yeah, I was able to answer every question with a "yes," which is a good thing. It means my little lovely is, well, perfect. Duh! I didn't need a five-page questionnaire to tell me that.

Along with the measurements and the exam and the questionnaire and the shots at the nine month visit, also comes another push from my daughter's pediatrician. Yeah, I need the pushes, otherwise I might try to keep Georgia a newborn until puberty. Awwwkwardddd! Purees are no longer enough of an enticement to try to steal my little from my bosom, Georgia must now starting eating finger foods. Fine.

There, some of those puff things I hear moms raving about their kids loving. OK, this must include all kids except Georgia.

I mean, they make great toys. Fun to grab at...

And they stick to everything...

But alas, none were found sticking to her tongue or the insides of her belly. Although I hear there's a great home for puffs on the side of Georgia's leg.

Finger foods day one = a big, fat fail. Five page questionnaire though... ding, ding, ding... we have a winner!!!

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July 18, 2010 - We Can Take Baths in the Backyard?

I mean, it must have crossed her mind. After all, typically when Georgia's playing with running water it's while she's splashing and laughing and styling a crazy shampoo hairdo in the bathtub. Oh but today, we discovered the hose!

And this was after we watched daddy torture the dogs with a bath. Have you ever seen a dog frown? I have. So if dogs get baths in the backyard, why not little girls?

Georgia sure did like feeling the water rush between those tiny, little fingers of hers.

My water sprite: add water, get smiles.

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July 17, 2010 - To Hold or Not to Hold?

Georgia really won't take a bottle from me. I mean, she'll do it if she's starving and that's all I'm offering, but she'll let me know she's not happy. When it comes to mommy, bottles don't cut it, she wants another "B" word.

However, since my husband lacks those of course, it's all bottles when Georgia gets hungry, and he has been on a mission to get her to hold her own bottle. I don't really understand why, but perhaps that's because I don't do the whole "bottle thing." And Georgia, well she'll hold her bottle, just not up to her mouth.

No bottle here, I just thought she looked cute. Then again, when don't I?

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July 16, 2010 - Forward, Reverse, Forward, Reverse

There's probably a really scientific reason why we don't have long term memory when we're nine months old. Why Georgia won't look back on these days one day and remember every detail... or even any detail. But I think another reason must be that we can't let these frustrations follow us the rest of our lives. Being a baby is so darn frustrating. I mean, you don't know ANYTHING, and learning everything takes a lot of practice, mistakes and sometimes screaming. (yes, my little angel screams)

This is Georgia trying to crawl:

Of course, she's trying to crawl forward to get to whatever thing is holding her attention for the moment.

But my little lovely seems to have her gearshift stuck in reverse, because every time she tries to go forward, she's goes backwards.

Oh, and it makes her so angry, over and over and over again. Poor girl backed herself right into the coffee table.

Good thing she won't remember all this in 10 years. Imagine that therapy bill!

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July 15, 2010 - Back Here Again?

It still makes me laugh. Of all the things, who would've thought a kitchen floor could be so entertaining? I'm sure if we give it a week or two, this will change. But with her new discovery of this "slip n slide" floor, Georgia can't get enough our our kitchen floor.

Have at it child!

Um, yeah, notice that remote? It's still her favorite toy.

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Trendy Treehouse - Faces

I had a hard time deciding which picture to use for this week's entry. I LOVE everything about my daughter's face, so you can imagine I've taken a ton of pictures emphasizing it. I narrowed it down to about five (OK, it was more like 10) and just picked one.

I have tons of pictures of Georgia smiling or sticking out her tongue or making silly faces, but for some reason the honesty in this picture jumped out at me. It's the real side of life in the day of every parent. Not that the others aren't - Lord knows Georgia is a HAPPY baby most of the time. In fact, maybe that's another reason this one of her right after a temper tantrum jumped out at me. It's a side of Georgia I don't see that often. The red-rims around her eyes haven't even faded completely yet. But daddy had picked her up at this point and soothed away the screams and tears. And then there are those clear, beautiful brown eyes.

Go check out some more pictures:

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July 14, 2010 - Just a Spoonful of Sugar...

You know how that song goes... helps the medicine go down.

Georgia is just finishing up 10 more days of a stronger antibiotic than the Amoxicillian she was on a couple of weeks ago. And this stuff smelled so good... like Pina Colada! I don't remember medicine smelling and tasting so good when I was a kid. And wait a minute, should I be worried it smells like an alcoholic drink? What a flavor to pick for a child. And no, this alcohol-deprived mommy did not pick it... but if they had had a pinot noir flavor... well, I couldn't say who would have picked (and drank) that one. "Yeah, just give us the flavor on the side, yeah, I'll add it to her medicine at home. Of course I will." ::wink, wink::

So why are we finishing a SECOND round of antibiotics? That cough that I mentioned before that would not go away. But it's now gone. We need to put a cape on this Cefdinir stuff. Also, Georgia was diagnosed with a mild ear infection in her left ear. She's been less fussy, so hopefully that was knocked out as well. Poor little kid. Let's hope daycare learns to keep it's colds to itself.

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July 13, 2010 - If Time is Water, Does Anyone Have a Big Freezer?

Has anyone ever figured out why tiny toes and tiny fingers and tiny smiles and tiny babies grow so quickly? Or why is it once we're old enough to become parents, time just slips through our hands like water, and no matter how hard we try to hold onto it or close it in our fingers to slow it down, it finds a hole, a crack, a crevice to run out of and keep on moving. Forget world peace and the U.S. economy and life on other planets - I want someone to figure out how to slow down time!

My little lovely turns 3/4 of a year old today. Really? Is it possible that I already need to start thinking about planning a first birthday? My memories are still sharp of the first time (of MANY to come) that I felt her hiccuping in my belly. Or the first time I tried to guess if that was her kicking or just gas. Or all the times I sang to her while rubbing my belly. Or how she seemed to like it when I took showers and the water pounded against her warm, snug little home. Or how I felt my heart grow day by day, right along with my belly. Can we really be closing in on one year outside of my belly?

I'm so anxious to see what every day holds for us, what new discoveries Georgia will make, what new move she'll figure out today, what new adventure we'll have tomorrow. But at the same time, I'm anxious for it all to slow down, relax, take its time and just live each day twice, or maybe three times. Every time I look, it seems like she's become a big girl all over again today. Yesterday we thought she was grown up, but look at today! It's even more so.

I know it's the conundrum for every parent - you want to see your baby grow up, see what she will do, be, become. But at the same time, you want to hold on to the innocence of youth, the sweetness of today, its ripe taste of childhood. We love the memories of our own youth that our children bring back to us. Memories long-since covered in dust, but brushed off and taken off the shelf with the arrival of our own little. They're feelings we want to hold onto - but time keeps flowing out of our hands.

So my little lovely, you will keep on growing - the leaps and bounds kind - and I will keep on trying to hold those moments in my hands. You are beautiful.

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July 12, 2010 - She Just Wouldn't Stop Rolling...

... until she got somewhere new. Maybe Georgia woke up this morning and realized the living room was not the "in" place to be anymore. It was time for bigger and better. But how to get somewhere new when you don't walk, don't even crawl? Hmmm, rolling it is. The kid rolled some 15 times continuously to reach... ::drum roll::... the kitchen! Ta-da!

I thought she would start screaming the moment her head rolled onto the hard linoleum floor, but baby, she hit it and you'd think the kid had found baby slip-n-slide heaven. She just giggled and laughed, guffawed at times really, as just kicked and pushed herself all over that slippery floor. She did 360's and figure eights and roll-overs and every movement she could think up in that fabulous little mind of hers. My goodness she had fun.

And there were moments to pause and reflect, but that only led to trying to figure out how to get into the refrigerator...

Or the cabinets under the sink...

So forget the cardboard boxes and empty water bottles and crumpled up pieces of tissue, and definitely forget the store-bought toys. Give my little one a linoleum floor and you might as well have laid the world at her feet. At least for today, I'm sure tomorrow holds the promise of a wonderful, new discovery.

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