It Hasn’t Been Easy…

Merry Christmas! I point and smile at the tree every time I step in the living room.

Everything went crazy this week. Lauren came down with a high fever for three days. (I took her temperature under her arm) Luckily I only missed a day of work. Lauren rejected her milk and simultaneously increased poop production, causing Kaye to over-worry she was lactose intolerant (We are using soy to appease Kaye but plan to give cow’s milk another try over Christmas break). By December 14th, our Christmas decorations were not up. Shopping didn’t seem fun, but with help from Amazon.com’s free shipping plan, I finished. I’m such a control freak normally, so I did get frazzled, but now it’s time to sit back and enjoy the season, with a decorated house and a happier baby.

When she was sick, Lauren wanted to snuggle, and slept as much as a newborn. It made for a cozy weekend, but it was very different from the nonstop activity she usually pursues. Tonight, she was back to eating a full dinner, “helping” with the dishwasher, and fast-track crawling across the room.

Over Christmas, we’ll take her sledding for the first time, hang out with Grandpa T, and all five aunt and uncles will be visiting up north (in one house! Kinda like the Brady Bunch). Peace to all!

Happy Birthday, Lauren!

We celebrated Lauren’s 1st birthday on the Saturday before the actual day and invited family, friends and neighbors for food, cake and fun. I made a chocolate cake and had plans to also serve a white cake, but at the last minute I had to buy one. Lauren picked at the cake with her fingers, taking tiny crumbs, until finally someone held up her piece for her, and behold – a messy face.

Everything went off without a hitch: we had just the right amount of food, the baby guests got along (at one point we had five children under the age of 15 months!), and Lauren stayed alert until her presents (I tried an early morning nap, but the excitement wore her down). A perfect day.

This week, we had two food-related close calls. On Monday night, I gave Lauren her first small peanut butter sandwich (no peanuts until age 1, so it was a celebratory thing…I thought). An hour later, she had hives all around her chin area. I watched her closely that night, and they faded, so the allergy wasn’t severe, but I will mention it to the doc. Last night, I gave Lauren some cantelope for supper, and she started choking on a piece. I turned her over and patted her back and it come up, but not before she was in hysterics (me, a little, too). Both incidences, Nick was gone. I’m hoping the rest of the week brings us safe dining!

Milk Love

At 10.5 months, I had to stop breastfeeding due to limited supply. We put Lauren on formula and knew that she could go exclusively whole milk at 12 months. Nick and I worked with her on sippy cups and let her experiment with whole milk. She received one cup at dinnertime each night.

Kudos to Kaye for taking the iniative. She noticed last week that Lauren didn’t seem interested in her bottles anymore. I said, “I’ll bring in some whole milk Monday, and you can experiment.” Today, Lauren takes whole milk at all feedings and hoists sippy cups like a pro. As an added bonus, her irritability has decreased. She definitely had a cold in November, but with other behaviors (diarrhea, reluctance to eat) it could have been resistance to formula as well. I feel incredibly blessed to have a caregiver who will help us through these milestones. I was also frustrated with leaking sippy cups, but on a tip from my neighbor, I tried BornFree Drinking cups. Best cups ever, and my kitchen is a lot cleaner!

My eye doctor also offered Lauren a free check-up this week, so we went in. (Their infant program is called InfantSee, ha ha.) Her vision is where it should be. I learned that babies are naturally a bit far-sighted (her vision is 20/50) until they get a bit older. That makes sense, considering how “blind” they are as newborns!

Thanksgiving & Our Reunited Family

I will post our picture of Lauren sitting on Santa’s lap at the St. Joseph’s holiday bazaar later. She was calm, but not exactly sure who she was meeting!

Nick left for a week of deer hunting before Thanksgiving, giving Lauren and me three days of “girl time.” Day 1: Boss is in town from Washington D.C., and our audit project for the magazines was missing crucial paperwork from the USPS. I tackle the Govermental Goliath and get what we need. Lauren, fighting a cold for the third week in a row, pulls on her ears all day and refuses to eat much. Kaye convinces me to make a doctor’s appointment. We take it easy and bond that night. Day 2: Doctor appointment. I snagged the last opening before the holiday weekend. Doctor examines Lauren’s throat, ears, and nose and pronounces her healthy. I am relieved. Day 3: Lauren has a great day at daycare. She passes out cold after I pick her up, and I have a sudden impulse to make a break for it all the way to my Thanksgiving destination, three hours away. She doesn’t wake up once, and we eat a late supper in her Grandma and Grandpa’s kitchen. Daddy has not gotten a deer (kill rates are down 25 percent across the board), but has finished two books.

So many developments: Lauren can get down from my lap and stand holding my knees, then lower herself to the ground. Her tantrum reaction to the word “No” has intensified; according to babycenter.com, it’s OK to reassure her and offer a replacement toy in exchange for the forbidden item. She can stand on her own for about a second. She put a ring on her stacking tower for the first time (thus far, she’s only been good at pulling them off). She looks through books page-by-page. She enjoyed her first taste of Thanksgiving: turkey, sweet potatoes, green beans, stuffing (the favorite) and even a little pumpkin pie. Lauren makes the holidays a little sweeter. And she turns one exactly a week from today, so we’ll have some great pictures here next week.