Monday, October 29, 2007

Scooting, Twirling, etc.

Here's the first video of Adelaide's scooting forward. She doesn't scoot backward much anymore. She hasn't quite figured out the whole left, right thing yet. Unfortunately in the uploading process, the end of the video was cut off (and I'm too lazy to upload it again). For those of you in suspense, she does make it to the bow.


I remember when Adelaide realized she had hands. Well, now she's realizing she has wrists. She loves to twist her hands around. Rocky says she's gonna be a baton twirler. Also in the video you'll hear Adelaide's new favorite sound, not too cute at all.


Here's some pics from this past week. The kid's still got a rash. We're not sure now if it was indeed viral or if maybe it's an allergy to this new body wash we tried. I guess only time will tell.

Adelaide was sitting by the window and was mesmerized by the tree outside (as you tell by her zoned out face). You can see her 1 tooth really well. She's getting 3 more in right now by the way-- the 2 front teeth and the one to the side of the current tooth).



The perspective on this photo is weird I know. I was standing above her, looking down. I thought it was cute.

Rash face. Poor girl. This picture doesn't do justice to show the splotchiness. I called the doc again today and he said if it doesn't get better in the next few days, I'll need to come in. Right now we're just putting lotion on it and sometimes anti-itch cream. She's learned to scratch now; no good. Her poor tummy and back of her neck are covered with scratches.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Bumbo

Bumbo has placed a recall on all its seats. When I hear the word recall I think they are actually taking the items back and then giving out new ones. That's where I'd be mistaken. Same thing happened with my convertible car seat. It had a recall; I had to go to their website, print out directions, and manually fix a routing issue with the straps. Now Bumbo is "recalling" their products by replacing their already clear warning sticker with a new one. Consumers can call Bumbo and have a new warning sticker mailed to them. Seriously? Seriously? I figure if you've read the warning online that's good enough, but maybe I'm just too relaxed. I don't read the warning stickers on my products every time I put my kid in them. Maybe some people read the warnings repeatedly just in case they forgot what they are not supposed to do.

Here's the original warning:
“WARNING” – “Never use on a raised surface. Never use as a car seat or bath seat. Designed for floor level use only. Never leave your baby unattended as the seat is not designed to be totally restrictive and may not prevent release of your baby in the event of vigorous movement.”

Here's the new warning:
“WARNING – Prevent Falls; Never use on any elevated surface.”

Call me crazy, but didn't the original warning pretty well cover it? Anyway, want to read more? you can check it out here.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Follow Up

I brought Adelaide into the doc this morning for a follow up exam to see if her ear infection is totally gone. I was very confused about it because although I'd given her the full round of antibiotics, she was still pulling on her ears more than ever. This morning was the first morning it's felt like fall BTW so I had fun dressing Adelaide in some cute fall attire. Fall is by far my favorite season. I love the weather. I love the clothes.

Well once again my doc was full so I went to see a lady in the same practice. She was very nice, and I'd definitely be happy to see her again. The first thing she said when she walked in the room was "I see she's getting some teeth in." I thought she meant the tooth that is obviously there on the bottom, but no, she meant a different area. When she laid Adelaide down to feel her tummy and look in her ears, she used the tongue depressor to get Adelaide's tongue out of the way and showed me her two front teeth. Really. They were totally visible under the gums. She said they should come in any day.

Adelaide's ears "look gorgeous" (to quote the Doctor) which was so good to hear. I almost didn't expect this at all. She said the pulling on the ears she's been doing is probably due to her teething. Hearing that she's teething like crazy makes me feel better at least it's not another sickness. Plus it will be cute to see her 2 front teeth come in.

Mom brag moment: She also said it's got to be so difficult to know when Adelaide's feeling bad because she is such a happy baby. She said something to this effect 3 times. I feel like I really am so lucky to have such a easy going, pleasant kid.

Well, of course the trip couldn't all be good. It's the story of my life with my kid's health recently. As the doctor was about to walk out the door I asked her about this rash I noticed behind Adelaide's ears yesterday. She said it seemed like a reaction to something like a new body wash but then she looked her over to see if it was elsewhere on her body. Sure enough it was on her torso too; it was barely visible but it was there. Upon looking at the rash furthur, she concluded that it is a viral rash.

I'd like to give a quick shout out to my peeps at Salina Street Church and my bible study. I'd especially like to give a holler out to the Ronks whose kids were all over mine yesterday. I hope there was no germ exchange going on there. If so, I love you and sorry. The rash should go away in a couple of days; it's just gotta run its course.

The past 2 times I went to the doctor's office they've asked me if Adelaide is in child care. I feel like a loser every time they ask me that. They are questioning just how much exposure to germs my kid has. When I say no they don't seemed surprised but then they ask how much we're out and about. I'm really realizing that I've got to be more cautious now when we're out in stores or around other people. Don't be surprised if you're around us in the near future and get karate chopped if you try to touch my kid.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Our First Family Camping Trip

Yes, we are weirdos. We debated all Thursday night and Friday morning whether or not we should actually go on the New Parents' class camp out last night but I'm so glad we did. Like I mentioned in the previous post, Adelaide doesn't seem to be getting better. I called the doc yesterday, and they want to have a follow up exam on Monday morning to see what's going on with her ears. So despite this ongoing illness and the chance of a miserable night, we decided to, in true Conly fashion, just do it.

It was a fun time. Very different from what it used to look like before kids. There was a time when no one was around cause everyone was putting kids to bed. Then the general bedtime was a bit earlier which is weird for us 'cause we never go to bed before 11. Luckily the Lloyds are ok with late nights too. We hung out with them from awhile which we've never really gotten to do before now. I love talking around a campfire and eating smores.

I do have to say I had a horrible night, but I was the only one. Adelaide did wake up 3 times between 7 pm and 9:15 am but was never awake more than a few minutes. Really not too bad considering she's sick, was outside, and the temp got down to about 55 or so. I couldn't sleep at all which is weird for me when camping. I can usually sleep just as well in a tent bundled up in my sleeping bag as I do at home. Well that was not the case last night.

The second time Adelaide woke up it was about midnight. I just figured she was cold. She was wearing 2 sleepers, a regular one and a fleece one, and had blankets available to her, but she was still cold. So I slipped her into the sleeping bag next to me. Within a few seconds she was out. This definitely showed that she was tired and cold. The kid, like I also mentioned in the last post, never sleeps with us.

I at first laid there savoring the coolness of having my baby and my hubby both sleeping on either side of me, but then realization hit that this was gonna make my own night a little rough. It's really amazing how much of a thermarest and a sleeping bag a 18 lb, 27 inch child can take up. It was just even that I didn't quite fit on the mat and couldn't quite close the sleeping bag. I moved her. I moved the mat closer to Rocky's. I shared Rocky's sleeping bag. I turned to the side. I turned to my back, the front, my other side. Again and again. Nothing.

Finally I got Rocky's phone and started reading just to kill the time. All the while Adelaide and Rocky snoozing contently, oblivious to my struggles. Finally around 4:30 I fell asleep. Ah! I was awakened by Adelaide for the final time of the evening only 30 minutes later. Of course. This time it took a little more work to get her to go back to sleep but Rocky took over this time, unknowingly embarrassing himself by singing to Adelaide loud enough to where the Lloyds sleeping next to us heard every note. She still went to sleep pretty quickly and stayed asleep through the sun blazing through the tent, kids playing, Rocky getting dressed and leaving the tent, etc. It was amazing. I even got to sleep off and on between 5 and 9.

When I finally woke up to the sound of a laughing kid (maybe because she say me laying there near her), it was a beautiful morning. As I picked Adelaide up to get her dressed, I noticed she felt a wet. We've been having an issue with leakage. No matter what diaper we use, she leaks at night. I'm not sure what we should do. Double diaper? Cloth diaper around the outside? This was by far the worst yet. Poor kid was probably freezing 'cause of it. It had leaked through the diaper, 2 sleepers, a blanket, and her swing!

After cleaning up the pee and getting dressed, we ventured out of the tent and were welcomed to warm breakfast tacoes. We had and lazy morning and then took a little hike before we left Inks lake.

Adelaide played on a blanket alot of the time. She has a great time watching people so it worked out great for her.

Here she is playing in the tent on my Thermarest. Such a happy girl! If you look carefully, you can even see her showing off her tooth.

Above she's checking things out while on a hike with Rocky.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Just when I think it's over. . .

. . .something else happens. I think I've actually posted twice that I think Adelaide's about to get better. Now I'm beginning to wonder if she ever will. She's been on antibiotics now for 1 week and the past two nights she's been fussy again, had a slight temperature, and is still pulling on her ears. :( I don't know if it's from the darn flu shot or what but I hate that my poor kiddo's having to deal with sickness for so long (and winter hasn't even arrived yet!). Granted none of it has been life-threatening or even that bad. The new thing now is diaper rash. Thank you amoxicillin. It's a love/ hate relationship. Well the good news is maybe I can write another review, this time on diaper creams. We've actually been letting her air her butt out and play on a waterproof pad. That seems to help more than any cream. Oh for things to be normal once more.

On to more upbeat news, Adelaide crawled yesterday. OK, so she really only moved a couple of inches but she moved one knee forward then the next. This is progress from just the rocking and push ups we've grown so accustomed to. She still doesn't know what to do with her hands besides hold her self up, maybe she's just working on the hind end first. Everyone tells me not to rush her, just to savor the moments while she's not mobile, but for a first time mom the milestones are just so fun to see.

Speaking of savoring the moments, Adelaide fell asleep on my lap tonight while I was rocking her. I held her for awhile there and then moved her up to my shoulder. I just rocked and really enjoyed the moment. For those of you that have spent time with Adelaide, you know she's not the kind of girl that likes to sit still and cuddle. She's an independent kind of kid. Usually when I try to rock her she squirms and squirms until I put her in her crib. So when she just relaxed and fell asleep, I knew I better relish in the experience. They are already few and far between right now; I'm sure they'll just get harder to come by.

Monday, October 15, 2007

I love shots--shots, shots, shots

Today went in to get Adelaide's flu shot. She frowned for a second as she got it but then immediately smiled afterwards. I didn't even want to smile after mine. Funny kid.

It so weird that Adelaide's really starting to learn things. I mean things other than physical stuff. Sure she's working on the beginning stages of scooting, can sit and stand, but I've been so impressed recently with her "reading" skills. There's one book in particular that she loves to read. It's Little One's Bible Promises. I think she's preferring it now because of the pictures of babies and animals. She can help me turn every page and (this is the cool part) she will immediately touch the face of the person or baby on the page. I didn't notice this right away but then caught on after a few times. So now I'm actually talking to her about what she's doing. Anyway, thought that was pretty cool.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Ears, Nose, and Teeth-- Oh My!

I'm one of those moms that's paranoid about being paranoid. I don't want to bring my kid to the doctor only to have them say, "oh, it's just a cold; just wait it out" or "I don't see anything wrong." I'd rather not bring her than get labeled paranoid. However today after seeking advice from Rocky and a friend, I decided to bring Adelaide in to get this cold checked out. The thing that made me finally admit it was time to make the visit was when I saw Adelaide tugging on her right ear yesterday.

My doc was booked today but a doc that a few friends of mine use was available so I took her there. Adelaide was perfectly happy the whole time we were there and the doc said she seems she's got a great personality (especially for being sick). Well, good news, the congestion is only in her head. Her lungs were clear. Bad news-- Adelaide has a slight ear infection. She said it is just the start of an infection so we caught it just in time. She prescribed amoxicillin, alot of it. 4ml 2x a day. 4ml seems like a ton to me. Everything else she takes like tylenol is so small in comparison. Hopefully the antibotics will have her feeling better very soon.

We've got to keep up the saline drops, aspirating, humidifier, and probably tylenol. We've really go to have a night time routine now just to keep everything straight.

Funny things about the visit--
The doc said her daughter used to have hair just like Adelaide's. Poor girl!
Remember the paper towel incident, well, that's pretty much what Adelaide did with the paper on the table when the doctor set her there.
Adelaide weighs a whopping 17 lb. 12 oz. now. What a chunk!

Monday, October 08, 2007

Not quite 100% but alot closer



Adelaide woke up Sunday morning happy as can be. She's had a couple of difficult times over the past 2 days but nothing like Friday and Saturday. I'm SO thankful to see her smiling face again. Thanks for all your prayers and encouragement over the past few days. Here's some pics from yesterday when we were on our way to Bible study.








I'm very grateful for great friends that have let me borrow their kids clothes. I haven't had to buy anything for Adelaide so far. It's a good thing but it's also hard to resist the temptation to buy some of the adorable things that are out there. So when I had an Old Navy gift card for Adelaide I was so pumped to pick out something on my own. So I picked out these shoes. I love them! I just got them a few weeks ago and on her first time to wear them they're already getting tight!


There's still definitely something going on with the girl cause today she didn't want to eat nurse or eat solids at all. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills sometimes. She wasn't too fussy today though so that was good. She only slept 30 min. this morning but then took a crazy long 3 hour nap this afternoon. She seems to like those afternoon snoozes much better.

Thanks Hampie for the wooden blocks. Adelaide LOVES them. We stack 'em up; she knocks 'em down. Here she is trying to stuff 2 in her mouth. Also notice the gigantic full belly. Rocky fed the kid around 10 plus ounces of solids right before this:


Here's some pics from tonight when I let her play in her "toy box." Sometimes I'm just so struck by how big Adelaide is. This was one of those times.






Saturday, October 06, 2007

Adelaide's hardest days

The past 28 hours have been the absolute hardest of Adelaide's life thus far (maybe besides the whole being born thing). She's been miserable. She's got the snottest nose you've ever seen. The tooth that we've been so frustrated with for the past 2 weeks is finally breaking through. I'm not sure if that's it or if there's more.

Whatever's going on, the combination is not a good one. Adelaide cried for 3 hours yesterday! 2 hours before nap one. I tried everything I could think of to get her to calm down-- her crib, rocking, the swing, waiting a little while, walking around, trying to feed her again, suctioning the snot, tylenol, teething tablets-- and nothing worked. Finally she fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion in the swing after being up for 4 hours. She did sleep almost 2 hours so that was good for her. The day didn't get much easier after that though. Before her second nap, she cried and cried again. This time for an hour. Once again tried all the same things to comfort her to no avail. This time when she fell asleep, she only slept 45 minutes though.

Rocky watched Adelaide last night so I could go to the movies with my friends Cami and Erin. Erin's due today with her second kiddo so this was like one last hurrah for her. Hopefully. She was like me with her first, 2 weeks past her due date. I fully expected that Rocky would have a crazy hard time with Adelaide but he said things went pretty smoothly. She only cried 20 minutes before falling asleep in her crib. She woke up once for a few minutes and Rocky went in to rub her back and it worked. She went right back to sleep for him. She'll never do that for me. Maybe it's cause I'm a walking milk machine.

Then at 2:30 am, what a lovely hour, Adelaide woke up screaming bloody murder. It was horrible. I went up promptly and picked her up. This just made her cry harder. I haven't been feeding her in the middle of the night for awhile now but I broke my own rule to settle her down. She did nurse on both sides but as soon as she was done she screamed again. This went on for 2 hours. Once again we tried everything. Even though she was utterly exhausted, her sleep was short lived.

She woke up at nearly 7 am, which is early for her, screaming once more. She screamed for pretty much the whole time she was awake and then went back to sleep at 8 in the swing in our room. Rocky and I took the opportunity to go back to sleep ourselves. We were absolutely exhausted as well. She woke up again at 10 am, not bad, and was not nearly as upset. Now I just had another 45 minute cry fest for her to go down for her next nap. The kid's all thrown off and tired and not feeling well. Poor girl. She's never been so upset before. If this is still going on on Monday, I may bring her to the doc to make sure there isn't something I'm missing. I really hate how much of parenting is a guessing game, all of it.

I don't know if it's acceptable to solicit prayer on blogger, but i'm gonna do it anyway. Please pray my little girl will feel back to her sweet self very soon. It seems as if it's always hardest when Rocky's the busiest. He worked late a few nights this past week and is working for a few hours today too. I've been feeling pretty worn down with the emotional and physical work it takes to care for a sick kiddo. Thanks for reading my lamentations and caring for us. Oh dang. I hear her. She's waking up for a whopping 20 minute nap :(.

Friday, October 05, 2007

Happy Birthday Grandpas

Wednesday was Sampaw's birthday, he's now 63, and Thursday was Rocky's dad's birthday. I asked Rocky how old he is now. He said, "I don't know. 40?" He actually 47. Here's a little shout out to the Gramps from Adelaide.

Happy Birthday Grandpa

Thursday, October 04, 2007

What do you think?

Should we baby proof this weekend? Here's some videos of her over the past few days.







She's also started this new thing. If she's sitting on my lap, she can rock forward and stand up. Of course she'll fall over unless I catch her but she can go to sitting to standing without pulling up on anything!

Also I think her tooth is finally coming in. It's just been sitting there right below the gums for weeks. Then yesterday I saw a little hint of white and this evening I felt the tooth-- it's finally breaking through. Hopefully it will be a real tooth tomorrow and she won't have to deal with the frustration of cutting this stubborn tooth much longer.