Little Princess

Little Princess
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

We had a very busy weekend, with out of town guests visiting. We took it easy on Sunday morning, but in the afternoon went to a barb-a-que. Holly had a lot of fun and was so very well behaved. She was as sweet as can be in her little knitted dress and I think the star of the party.

(I made this dress BTW - and I was afraid she had out grown it, but i discovered knit fabric is rather stretchy, and so she should be able to wear it for a long time, because even if she gets taller, she can wear it like a top with pants.) She played contentedly with the girls, and was very talkative. She loved being outside with the cool air and breeze while we made the food.

Our friends had a cat, which Holly was curious about, but since I was allergic, and worried about its claws, she didn't really get to meet it. Later in the night she was very sleepy and she seems to always get very slap happy when she is tired but too stimulated to go to bed. I tried to take her into the bedroom with the lights out to relax her but she just wanted to play, so rather then fight it, i let her play, then I gave her another bottle, but she had already eaten less then two hours previously, and she still had a cough so she spit/puked up all over my friends couch... The good news is that they are 7 months pregnant, so it was a great preview.

Holly gets so many complements on how well behaved she is, because even when she is cranky or tired she is just so happy and she is engaging and will always smile or brighten you.

We Also started to feed Holly Carrots. The oatmeal made her constipated and I don;t think she liked the rice cereal, I want to mix something into the oatmeal, but not until she has eaten that item by itself. Carrots is a level 1 food, and it is a veggie so I wanted to start with that. She really seems to like them and is getting better at swallowing and not gagging on her food. She had some Carrots for lunch on Sunday and on Monday night before bed.

Monday morning she woke up congested again and not feeling super well, but it was off to daycare for another week. She was hungry when we arrived and two of the other babies were pretty sick and whiny and crying and two other's were being fed, so I stayed extra while dropping her off and gave her a bottle, but half way through she wasn't eating it as vigorously. Since I didn't want to throw it away and wasn't sure when she would be fed again I tried to give her a little more, but she taught me a lesson and puked up half of it.

She remarkably missed her adorable outfit, It has been getting chilly, so I dressed her in something warm, and well it reminded me of her Oma.

On Sunday night, she did not want to go to sleep and was up well past 11:30, so she ended up sleeping in rather late in the morning, I think because her schedule was off, when we got home from school she was really tired and yawning around 6:00 but then didn't fall asleep, then after eating, she had energy, so when I was ready to put her to bed she just wanted to kick and kick, I swear once she is walking she will run circles around the house she has so much energy. I tried to calm and settle her, but eventually I just let her play out her energy, and she was up again until about 10:30.

She puked again this evening, it happens when she is coughing, it was less then it was last week, like it was one gag worth, versus like 3-4 where you know her stomach must be empty. I just hope there isn't anything wrong with her, and it is just a little flu running its course. Well actually I think its the cough, it has been lingering, and you can't take baby cough stuff until she is 9-12 months, so I hope it doesn't stay around for weeks.

Jumping@!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vczdavis/2862023862/
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

Here is a link to Holly hanging out in her bouncer. Everyday she is enjoying it more and more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7NCHxTT-eg

Big Girl Seat

Big Girl Seat
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

Friday was a busy day. I spent the morning working, until my boss told me I couldn't work from home, would have been nice to know that before I put in the hours. By 12:30 Holly was still asleep and Katie arrived for her Ot/IDS Session, as if on queue, Holly stretched and began to wake, so I changed and fed her and let her play with Katie. They had a great session, Holly didn't cry, and she was well rested. We practiced sitting, and leaning over to the side, and around in a twist as if she could turn into a crawl. We also had some tummy time, and standing and bouncing time. The session went well and Katie was very happy with all of Holly's reaching and exploring.

Holly was really tired but didn't quite want to take a nap, she slept about 15 minutes on the way to the Doctor's office, but that wasn't really enough rest from her session, so I was worried about her being cranky at the Doctor. She weighed in at 14lbs 14.8oz (which is 28 Percentile) and 25.5 Inches (which is 30 Percentile) Now her head, that was 43.5 Centimeters, which is actually 78 Percentile, and this is hilarious to me, because earlier in the afternoon I was commenting to Katie that she had a big head, and asking when her head and body would be in a better proportion to each other, and Katie was saying at around 2-3 years old. So indeed, like her Daddy, Holly has a big noggin.

The Doctor was amazed with her, she even left to get her camera and take pictures and video of her sitting and playing on the examination table. She reported that her hips were a-ok and that she was simply doing great. We talked about whether she needed vitamin D and the doctor said, just more sunshine, but a multi-vitamin could not hurt. We also talked about doing the High Foliate treatment that Dr. Hagerman recommends. Dr Jones had done this before with her Rhett Syndrome Girls, but wasn't sure if it was the same dosage Dr. Hagerman uses, so I emailed her to ask, and the Doctor will then call it in for me it fill. When on the Folic Acid, she is also supposed to take B6, which is in the multi Vitamin drops I got for her, so we are set to go for the moment. Also her referral for Speech Therapy went through, so I just need to fill out paperwork and make an appointment, to get the evaluation by Amy Bord, who is at the Mind.

So back to the Doctor. Even though Holly has been sick, the Doctor checked her ears and said they looked beautiful and decided we should go ahead and give her the vaccinations, after all this was supposed to be a well visit. She also wanted to give her a flu shot, and since it was early in the season, we decided to go ahead and do so. Our Doctor is very old school, and well has been in practice for over 30 years, so she is very weary of vaccinations, and only gives the ones she thinks are absolutely necessary. That said, Holly still ended up getting 4 shots. She of course cried as soon as she was stuck, but not 5 minutes later she was rocking in my arms, eating a bottle and calming herself, in 20 minutes she was asleep.

I dropped Joel off at work and went to Babies r Us to pick up some baby Motrin, the Vitamins, and some more Formula. She slept the entire time, and woke as we were heading home.

And we had an exciting evening, Joel's Friend from High School was visiting and is thinking about moving here to SF. He was with his girlfriend, two other friends that moved her a month ago, and a third couple that we both know, who now works with Joel. So the 4 of us girls (wives & Girlfriends) sat in the living room, we talked about Nursing, The Peace Corps, Babies, and other fun stuff, while the Boys went into the Computer room to talk shop, check out spore and discuss projects. Holly was a little star, she was so cheerful, and I plopped her down on a big quilt in the middle of the floor, and she sat and played and watched us talking, and made lots of fun contributions to the conversation, just like one of the girls, she made her mommy proud, and the Boys, all came in and saw babies in the eyes of the rest of the girls.... Actually one of our friends we found out is pregnant, 30 weeks along, so it will be exciting to know more people with kids.

After a bit we decided to go to dinner,, and went to public market were we could all eat whatever we wanted, and it was more casual and cheap. Holly fell asleep in the car on the way to dinner, but while we were at dinner she was such a good girl and just played in her car seat / stroller. She woke up and was a bit cranky after dinner, so with her last bottle of the night I gave her some Motrin, she didn't want to sleep because there was so much going on Once everyone left around 10 she fell asleep right away.

We were supposed to go into the city to the science museum or DeYoung on Saturday, but it was crazy busy, reported from our friends who got there in the morning, so they didn't go, and decided on the Exploritorium instead. By then it was already 3:00 and we had errands to run. Since we were planning on hanging out on Sunday, we decided to pass. A 4th couple drove up from LA to visit, and they are staying with us. They drove in to meet the rest of the group around 5:00 at a Sushi Dinner. We opted to go to best buy and shop for a new laptop for me, and look at some other items we have been talking about getting.

Afterwards we decided to go and eat dinner at Pasta Pommodoro, I had a gift Card that I hadn't had a chance to use yet. Holly slept the entire hour we were in Best Buy, but she woke up on the way to dinner.

On Saturday morning, we had a lot of fun sitting, and playing, and Joel took out her piano and she was playing with that (video to follow soon) and she had a lot of energy all day, and was very cheerful, so she spent a lot of time hanging with dad, as he missed the cheerful holly. At dinner we put her in the high chair, as pictured but she was really way to little for it, Joel was afraid she would slip and slide right through. So we put her on the table while we waited for our food, and then in her car seat, sitting up right, but boy I was worried several times that she would lounge forward right out of it. She turned and was feeling the texture of the warning tag and was very intrigued.

Joel said all morning she has been very interested in textures, and was feeling all the different ones around the house, and in the ABC Animal Texture Book we have for her. Once Joel finished eating, which was fast, he picked her up and sat her on the table looking at me while I finished. She was fascinated with the paper ring that goes around the silver wear and one of the triangle folded paper restaurant info signs. She had her Pacifier, so she could play with them without putting them in her mouth, so we let her. It is amazing how she was reaching all the way across the table to try and get things, she was such a rambuncious little monkey.

Afterwards we walked over to the bookstore and it was very nice and cool weather, which Holly really enjoyed. While Joel browsed around we went into the kids section and read like 8 books, it was a lot of funny, holly was very intrigued with the little boys and girls who were toddling around the area, but also enjoyed Reading the other texture books from the store. It was a lot of fun, and kept us entertained for about 45 minutes. Holly is so social, at the restaurant she would engage everyone she saw and the couples sitting next to us could not stop looking at her and making faces and watching her smile. Joel read somewhere that a baby's smile is addictive because seeing it releases serotonin, and I can tell you, it seems that way, when you observe how enthralled people are with Holly, and how she makes everyone brighten wherever she goes.

So it was getting late and I went to change Holly before going into the car to go home, and in the bookstore bathroom, she decided to pee all over her changing mat and mommy. It was a mess, I had to hold her up with one arm and try and clean and dry her off, and then take off her outfit with pee all over it, which got on her, and then try and dress her without being able to put her down because of the pee. Then Joel had left his phone at home so when I called him to come and take her so I could clean up the diaper bag and stuff, he obviously wasn't getting the call, so it was crazy, but I eventually was able to get everything clean. I however just realized i forgot to through the changing pad into the washed when we got home, So I am going to run and do that now.

Holly fell fast asleep after her bedtime bottle and is in bed now.

I Like to Eat... Eat... Eat...

I Like to Eat... Eat... Eat...
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

Here is a video of a Grumpy and teething Holly eating a bowl of oatmeal for dinner. This is the previously unreleased, uncut, director's version, (so it's long) - Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSYlIhG-l8g

Happy Girl

Happy Girl
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

So tonight I was tired of being overwhelmed, stressed, and worried about Sick, Holly, The Economy, My job, or the World in General. I decided I wanted a happy baby, and Holly Obliged. She was so full of energy this evening, that we simply had to "run" around the house. Daddy came home late, and then we remembered he had to go to Dream Dinners, and Rushed off, Mommy was sad to see him go, and Missed him. So what do we do to take our mind off of everything we... "Dance Dance Dance" and blasting on the stereo Holly and I listened to not Green Day, but Dean Gray, American idiot, the Mash-up Remix of Green Day's Album, mixed with all kinds of fun Snippets. We did back bends over the bolster, played the tickle monster game, chewed on holly toes, had some tummy time, and rolling time, and sitting time, and we played with the little ball, the blue ball, and the big holly sized ball, we rocked and we rolled we bounced and we jumped, and we learned how to clap and dance.

Moving to the beat of the music Holly was fascinated with mommy clapping her hands on her legs and together, holly wanted to do this too, and would hold mommy;s hand, so that her own would go up and down to the beat. She watched the different clap patterns I made in fascination. Then I took her hands, and to a slightly slower song (for green day anyways) we swayed back and forth to the music, but Holly figured this out, and started to actually move back and forth on her own, when we swayed we did so in an exaggerated way, so her would tip up from side to side, and eat time her little tush left the floor, she would giggle and laugh, ten we would rock all the way tot he other side and she laughed some more.

All this dancing and playing eventually exhausted the poor girl, so we took it down a notch, and after a few big yawns, I rocked her to sleep to the gentle sounds of Dark Side of the Moon. Surprisingly the clocks ringing, calmed her fussiness and put her right to bed. Just as she was settling dad came home with meals for the month, and took her off to her crib.

She seemed less Snotty today, and did not puke, so I think she is getting better. But she has a Doctor's Appointment tomorrow, and is scheduled for vaccinations, so she is likely to be grumpy again for a few days, but I have high hopes it won't last long... because, well... she likes to play!

Yawn - I'm TIRED!!

Yawn - I'm TIRED!!
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

So the night didn't get much better, she was up two more times after I posted, and she puked in the morning when Joel fed her. I have temporarily stopped giving her breast milk because it is very rich, and she is puking it all up. I fed her oatmeal again tonight, but after this evening we are going to stop that too. This morning she was very phlegmy and grumpy and I had to go to work for 3 meetings, so Joel stayed home with Holly. She took a long morning nap and had her PT session, and she was up for it, she has some energy and was playful and did really good work. She is twisting and turning, and righting herself into sitting, and we practiced standing, and crawling stances and she worked really hard. At the end she got cranky and was just really hungry, and then she was wiped out and sleep another two hours. I got home at 4:30 and Joel went to work for 3 hours, she still is having wet diapers so I am not worried she is dehydrated. Her PT thinks she is teething in the back, and it is really hard to tell or get our fingers back there so we gave her some Hyland teething tablets, they dissolved quick but it was hard to tell if they helped. She had a 99 fever so very low grade, and was just super cranky all night, she did not want to go to sleep and nothing would sooth her or make her happy, and she puked her Motrin bottle. She seems to do this often right after we change her diaper, like the laying down, sitting up makes her somehow cough and then gag and puke.

Some have suggested that it is acid reflux, but she never seems to be in any pain when she is puking and often just smiles and laughs afterwards, for such a sick and miserable baby, she tries to stay cheerful and in high spirits. Someone else said it may be an intolerance to milk/formula, so we will mention it to the doctor on Friday. My mom told me that when I was a baby I had that problem, so perhaps. she does too. Tonight, Holly finally went to bed around 10:00 but woke up at midnight, crying for no reason, just crying and crying, and even though she had not eaten in like 2 hours, she puked, from the crying. It took me about 30 minutes to get her back to sleep and I gave her a dose of Tylenol watered down, since it is syrupy. This might not help, but if she is having any ear or teething pain then it will help her stay asleep and get the rest she needs. We are out of the gripe water, which worked yesterday when I was home with her, but Joel was not successful with it today.

I have a meeting tomorrow that I can not miss in the morning, so Joel is staying home with her again until about 1:00 and then I will come home, and then stay with her on Friday and take her to the Doctor. Joel really doesn't want to give her the vaccinations on Friday, but I don't know if we can squeeze in another well visit before we leave for Virgina, and I want to give her time to recover before the trip. I think if the doctor thinks she is up for it, we should just get it over with.

I took a long 7 minute video today of her eating her Oatmeal that I will try and post in the next few days. I also took some picks with the camera, but no picture of the day on the phone today, so this is a picture of Holly Yawning from last Night when she woke up.

Huh?

Huh?
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

Just a quick note about our day today. Holly stayed home sick. She was puking up her food last night and tonight, and Joel really didn't want her to go to daycare. She needed to eat like 1-2 ounces every hour, and really wanted to be held and comforted all day. So I worked from home, she did sleep a lot, and she didn;t puke once I was feeding her small amounts and giving her some gripe water, but they would not have done that at daycare. She was good all day, so we decided to go to the baby brigade, and saw pineapple Express. it was funny, but the best part was playing with all the other babies, I saw two moms that I know from Swim Class, and Isla, one of those babies was sitting next to us, and she is 6 months old also, and her and Holly kept looking at each other and reaching across the couch to play.

The pizza was so very good, and I also got to talk with a few other new moms, so I had a lot of fun. Sadly when we got home, Holly puked twice, and hasn't eaten. She just work up after only 2 hours of sleep, so I am going to try and feed her again, wish me luck. ---- sigh, she puked

Concentration

Concentration
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

This is a toy we got for holly a few months ago, that she hadn't really played with, but now that she is bigger she really likes it. She is in this video chatting with her mommy about her day, and tiring herself out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU2akKX1ZME

Little Angel

Little Angel
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

I am continued to be PLAGUED by the horrors of Daycare, and alas I think Holly may never be "well" This morning she was very stuffy and snotty, and I really wasn't sure if she should go to school or not. I had three work meetings, that while I could reschedule, it would have been difficult, and I don't have any time this week to reschedule. Joel also could have stayed home, but has a huge deadline at the end of the week, and a meeting himself that he didn't want to reschedule. So our morning began with, do I stay home, or take her to school, will they take, her, and even more importantly, does she really need to be home with mommy, even if they would take her. She hasn't had a fever, or puked her food since Friday, so there is only the question of mucus, she woke up very snotty. Well according to the school, clear snot is ok, its usually caused by teething, and they deal with it, but green mucus is a sign of an infection and they send her home.

I decide to call the doctor, now the advice nurse says this is ridiculous, and that when one begins to recover from a cold there mucus turns green, and at that point they aren't even contagious, because they really pass this along by sneezing and coughing, before they even "feel" sick or have symptoms. So off to daycare I am told. This rips my heart out, as my child is grumpy and obviously sick, but I need to be at work, and if she gets worse, i need to have sick days to stay home when she really needs me.

We have not had a Happy Holly over the weekend, since Daycare began, as she has the uncanny ability to get sick on Thursday night, in-time to be sick for my play date with her on Friday, to miss swimming, and to spend the weekend sick with mom and dad, if I wasn't so selfish, I would say this was a good thing, but I miss the playful little thing, and would like the weekend to go on play dates and take her out on fun activities.

So, this Friday I am looking forward to a "well" doctor visit where she will get her six month vaccinations, and a flu shot, now this is assuming she is well by Friday, so my option is, a sick child who can;t get her shots, or a happy baby, who will now be miserable the next two days precisely because she got her shots, lucky me.

Off to daycare we go, she is on the up, as I gave her some more Baby Motrin, now Joel keeps telling me not to do this, since she doesn't have a fever and thinks it does not help, and that she will build up a tolerance to it, so when she is older, or an adult (like me) it won't work at all. Well, true as that may be, I know from my own horrible sinuses that when they are stuffy, your whole face hurts and is in pain, there is a horrible pressure, it causes headaches, and your jaw can hurt, and I know this, cause it is how I feel this week. So I give her the Motrin, and within 30 minutes her spirits are raised so she at least can take a comfortable nap, and play some.

I get to school and find in her folder the following flyer:

Dear Parent,

Your Child may have been exposed to Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (Coxsackle Virus. in the Infant/Toddler room. Symptoms begin with sudden fever, then with small painful sores in the mouth and throat, followed by a blistery rash on the hands and feet. Symptoms may also include stomach ache and diarrhea.

YEA ------GROSS-----Is there ANYTHING?? She isn't going to catch in the first month of Daycare? its STILL September...


{Sigh} I don't know if I mentioned this, but the week she was at orientation, there was a meningitis exposure..... So this is why I say I am PLAGUED by daycare, they really are the black death of sickness there, but I am told every daycare center is like this, and that she needs to strengthen her immune system, and if it wasn't now, it would be at three when she starts pre-school, or five when she starts kindergarten, and I suppose the older they are the harder it is to deal with a sick child.

In Reality, I doubt she will get this, but if she does... I will NOT be a happy camper.

Anyways.......

So actually seemed to have a pretty good day, she was fast asleep when I arrived to pick her up, officially 3 minutes late, but I don' think anyone noticed, I am actually having trouble getting to her by 5:30, which is very frustrating, today my guilt was abated by the fact that she was sleeping for the past hour, so I didn't miss out on spending time with her. I realized the following.. I used to be in meetings from 10-5 every day, and actually got my work done from 5-7:30 every evening. before, Joel didn't get home until 7:30, so I stayed at work until then, and those last two hours are when i got my work done. Now a sensible person might say I should get off of any committees and not have meetings, but that doesn't stop the constant interruptions, the phone calls from faculty needing help or training, and those hours, would fill up with faculty training, and I still wouldn't have time to do anything else.

I haven't seen the Therapist since I started work, not sure if I mentioned this, but the regional center provides one for free, I guess to help families deal with the fact that there child may have delays. I think it was helpful, but I also think I was dealing with things very well, so i only saw her twice monthly, and often less then that, but once I started to have anxiety about going back to work, she was even more helpful, and it made a difference. So I really want to see her again now that I am trying to manage being back to work, and have so much more stress, and I am short tempered and cranky all the time, but I have less time, because during her hours I am well, at work, and if I am missing an hour of work, I would want to spend that will Holly.. So I am still trying to figure that out.

As far as that goes, I am trying to come to terms with the whole thing, it is not practical for me to not work, particularly with the state of the economy, not only can we simply not afford it, "making it work" would require us to use up our entire savings, and leave me without great insurance and a job, so that if the market goes even further south and i need to work later, there may not be jobs for me. So I am not trying to simply get it out of my mind as an option and live in the real world, but sometimes when you want something, no matter how unrealistic it is hard to let got of the idea, especially when you are a determined person like me, who always gets what they want.

The thing is, I don't want to be home 100% of the time, even thought Daycare is a death trap, I think it is good for holly, and if she could be there 2-3 days a week, it would be great, being around other babies is a good thing, but even if she wasn't in daycare at all, without my income, we could never afford the things I would now have time for like, swimming, gymboree, mom'sgroups, YMCA memberships, toys, cloths, ect. And we would go from a Family who has never had to stress about money to one that was always clipping coupons and living paycheck to paycheck,I don;t think I can trade that stress for this one, I wonder if those circumstances would leave me as happy as I think. The last 6 months was a gift, but it was from the state of California, paying me to be home, my entire income from Family Medical Leave, and well, yeah my 400 hours of saved vacation time.

I know we will figure this out, and I need to give myself time to adjust, I have never had to make an adjustment like this before, one where I was not in complete control of everything, and everything was on my terms, and I was the master of my own destiny, so i need to learn to let go a little bit, and let what happens happen, do what I can and what I can;t well, I have to not be so hard on myself.... But that is easier to write and know then to do and feel.

My poor baby is coughing in her sleep again, last night she woke up twice, so I better go and check on her and get to bed myself its late.

Oh Yeah - The rest of our day was uneventful, we didn' have time for oatmeal tonight, but the last two days of oatmeal gave her very stinky farts and poopies. We did watch us some Yo Gabba gabba, and we did practice sitting in Ocean Time for a little bit, but she was tipping over a lot becasue she is sick and doesn;t have a lot of energy, she also started to whisper Baaaaaah again, which I was excited about. She was pretty mellow, not wanting to do much, and was happy to just cuddle with mom or day most of the night, she was asleep by 9:00 later then usual, but she also wasn't very active most of the night, she didn't have a lot of energy. I didn't give her Motrin this evening, which I should have, cause now she isn't sleeping very restfully.

I'm Grumpy & Sick

I'm Grumpy & Sick
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

Sunday was a busy day. Holly fell asleep pretty early last night, but then woke up around midnight, and was up for a bit, not wanting to settle down. We all woke up at around 9:00 and mom got to go and get a massage, so it was a relaxing morning off. While away, Daddy took care of a sick and cranky Holly. They took a nap and watched myth busters. She was really grumpy when I left, and didn't want to do anything, eat, play, swing, or sleep.

When I got home Holly had just woken up from her second nap of the day, and was so adorably cute and in a better mood. We read some books, and watched some Baby Einstein. We practiced sitting in ocean time, and had a whole new world view, where there were toys hanging all around her, and she could easily reach out and get them. Then she played with balls, and blocks. Sitting took a lot out of her, and she started getting very tired.

It took me forever to help her fall asleep, finally cuddling her soft bunny rabbit did the trick. Since the whole family is sick and short on rest, I took her whole nest, rabbit and cuddly holly and all and brought it into bed, and the three of us took a nap. We slept about an hour.

Then we had a very busy night, first a big bottle, because Holly was so starving, she demanded it, and then we had some oatmeal. She is doing great Joel thinks with the eating and all, she gets several bites and swallows some of it, I made it a little thinner today to start so that she wouldn't choke or gag with her congestion. It really helps if I let her play with one of the spoons and then try and feed her with the other. Also, I realized why the airplane trick works, when I say vroom vroom, and swoop in, it makes her smile, when she smiles her mouth is open, and I can sneak in a bite, I rub it against the top of her lip, so it stays in her mouth, then she dribbles some of it out. I also thickened the oatmeal so it would stick to the spoon, and let her play with that spoon, which she liked to chew so she was basically feeding herself, and getting the thicker oatmeal in her mouth, she liked it.

After she finished her oatmeal she got a bath. We filled the sink up to the tippy top, and put down the bear sponge cushion, since Holly can now sit on her own, we let her sit in the sink, of course we had our hands there so that if she tipped we could hold on to her. She played with her rubber duckies, two of them, and splashed. We soaped her all up and cleaned her off, she was a mess from eating and being sick, very snotty and hands sticky from oatmeal. We washed up her hair, and then dried her. Wrapped her up, and then she got a fun relaxing baby massage (like mommy). This relaxed her, and she was super tired, but she did not want to go to sleep, she didn't want to do anything, she was simply blah - and miserable. I put her in some light cosy pj's and let her lay there while we ate dinner, she just watched her mommy. Once I finished eating dinner, I held her, and eventually was able to gently rock her to sleep.

All Tired Out

All Tired Out
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

Today was a pretty good day, considering how pitiful Holly was last night. Mommy was up till 5:00 AM with her. She was waking almost every hour, very whimpery and completely congested and stuffy, and drooling everywhere, she wheezed in her sleep, but it wasn't like Asthma, more like I have mucus in my throat that I don;t know how to get rid of. We tried using the nose bulb in her throat as the call nurse had suggested, but that didn't work super well, or at the time we tried it maybe there wasn't much, we were also able to clear her nose like once.

We gave her Baby Motrin early in the evening, but it didn't seem to help much, she slept maybe two hours, but then by around 10:00 was up again. Most of Friday Night she slept, we skipped giving her any real food, and Daddy went to be early. The only reason Mom was able to get to sleep around 5:00 was because I gave her a second dose of Motrin around 4:30 and it must have kicked in then, but she only slept till 7:45 and Dad got up with her then, and spent the morning with her, napping, cuddling, and taking it easy.

A few times we did practice sitting, and I actually did that when she was getting really fussy, to help get her out of her funk, give her something to concentrate on, and it actually helped. Today we watched 4 baby Einsteins, when mom got up at 11:00, Holly was crying in distress, and upset and it woke me, and by then she just had enough and missed me, she soothed once I took her, but didn't want to do anything, and didn't want to nap,l so we watched baby Einstein. We did Monet, Bach, Mozart, Neptune, and started DaVinci when she fell asleep. Her nap was short lived, and all last night and today it has been elevated, otherwise she coughs.

After her nap I decided to let her wear herself out, and we practiced sitting some more. She did a great job, and she even did a twist, turn, reach, grab sit that is pictured. With her left had she is supporting herself, so she needs to reach across her mid line and twist with her right hand to get the toy, then she rights herself with a slight push on her left hand. Its amazing. She sat for maybe 20 minutes without falling, then she fall backwards I think because she was tired and I just let her stay there and play, didn't even react, so she didn't get upset, just a bit of a startle, then moved on to playing with her loopy toy while on her lap.

I was reflecting back today over the last several weeks, and I am amazed at how good she is and picking up and putting her pacifier in her mouth, not too long ago, she could barely keep it in her mouth, with a strong enough suck, then I watched as if it was nothing to grab and hold her feet, she holds them all the time every day, as if it was what she always did, yet not even two months ago, she didn't even know those feet existed. I am just amazed at her curiosity, her smile and laugh, her ability to make me smile, and how much she learns and absorbs each day.

We decided to give her oatmeal today. I think she is either getting better at eating, or she likes the oatmeal better. It wasn't that she was any less messy, it did get everywhere as usual, but I thinks he actually swallowed more of it, and made less of a face when I put it in her mouth. So we are going to give her oatmeal for the next five days, maybe throw in the rice cereal also if there is time, and then next weekend add another new food. Squash, or maybe Carrots. Not sure yet what.

She is tired again and fast asleep this time in her swing. Mommy should be taking a nap, but has been on the phone with the cable company for 30 minutes setting up her new tivo, then has to add in all the shows. Today we need to go to the grocery store also, but I doubt that will happen, there is just too much to do and too little time, the job thing is really encroaching on my life...

Sick Day

Sick Day
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

SO I continue to be neglectful, or at least let work get in the way of being the best Mommy I can be. Today I had a seminar I needed to attend from 8:30-1:00, so in the morning I was rushing out of the house, not getting to spend any time with Holly, and she is sick again, so she is rather pitiful, with her stuffy / runny nose, overall congestion and cough, watery eyes and her breathing was raspy just because there was that phlegm caught in her throat. Since we still haven;t figured out a good Friday Solution, Joel stayed home with her today. He reported that she fell asleep just after I left and slept most of the morning, until 12:15ish. He fed her a big bottle, and then Katie Arrived. I had hoped to get home for some of Katie's Session but my meeting ran long, and I didn't get out of there until 2:00, then there was horrible traffic on the highway, detaining me even further.

I called Joel to check how her session was. He said she woke up less pitiful, and was pretty active and in good spirits, since he didn't say she cried upon Katie trying to handle her, I assume it went well. She sat wonderfully, and they worked on trying to get her to reach to her side and turn onto her belly. So if you put a toy to her left or right, she will twist and get it, if you then put it just out of reach, the arm on the side of the toy, would catch her, as she began to tip. Ideally, she would then reach across with the opposite arm getting the toy, or thus encouraging her to turn onto her belly, eventually to crawl.

I don't think they were super successful, but she was supporting herself in this tipped position, and she was able to push herself back up to sitting in some cases, so they thought it went really well. Joel then had to change her, and I guess the up and down of that was too much, and she puked up all her food, even though it had been an hour since she had eaten. So at that point she was done for the day.

She was over tired, and very sleepy. She fell asleep in the nest but for only about 20 minutes and woke up again, so we played for a bit, mostly I read to her from the Animal, Tail, Alphabet book. Its our favorite, and she is getting really good at feeling the textures on the page, like the wrinkly rhino, and sticky octopus. She likes the Yak's Hair, and the Tamarind's tail especially, and she likes the Jumping Kangaroos. She explores the entire page of the book, and she will notice where the texture is different, or if there is hair, like on the hog's tail, and hold and touch it, even with just two fingers, which I think is amazing. Since we like the book so much we read it 4 times.

She was getting rather fussy so I gave in and fed her, worried each bit that she might spit up or vomit her food. a few times she threatened too, but I was able to upright her lean her forward or pat her back and prevented it. She started getting even more cranky after eating, and was just so winey that I new she was tired but didn't want to sleep, so finally i swaddled her and waled around the house, once she was calm, and sorta spaced out but still not sleeping, I put her in the swing with a little extra head support and let her relax. She stared at me across the room from her swing I think for maybe 30 minutes before she actually fell asleep, she didn't want to do anything, but wasn't quite tired yet.

I had called the advice nurse who said there isn't much to be done, Motrin for fever, and use the bulb syringe in both her nose and throat to clear it out, especially before she eats, as she might be swallowing mucus, which upsets her belly, thus the vomiting. But since she has a wet diaper like every 1-2 hours she isn't that concerned with her despite puking all her food twice. So I have to keep an eye out for rapid or difficult breathing, regardless of fever, and high fever, neither of which she has at the moment. Needless to say, we sadly will not be swimming today, and the pool is closed tomorrow.

It is funny how we revert when we are sick, she is like her 3 month old self, needing to be swaddled, and rocked and walked, my poor sweet sick baby.

Look At Me - Big Girl

Look At Me - Big Girl
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

Thursday - Today was another long day, I picked Holly up at just 5:30 exactly. She was sitting, in a Boppy, next to Henry who was sitting, and the two looked so cute in Parallel play. I had another log day of meetings at work, and I come home tired, and with more to do then there is time for in the evening. I feel like a ad mom again today, because I did not feed Holly any Rice Cereal, just a bottle, that said, she is getting sick, and has a cold again, and puked up half of her bedtime bottle, so I don't think it would have been the best to give her cereal anyways.

She has been really vicious with her bottle nipples, she takes them and ferociously rubs them back and forth against her gums and I think she has some new teeth ready to pop any day. She took a short nap in the evening in her swing, and then woke up again, and I cuddled her and rocked her and sung to her and played with her, she laid there looking up at me, and just touched my face, it is the sweetest thing ever. Finally Joel took her and she drifted all the way to sleep.

After I picked her up we decided to go shopping. We went to Babies r Us and Holly was such a big girl, she sat up completely in the Cart, as Pictured here, and after we left, she fell right asleep in the car seat, it was a lot of work to stay sitting up and playing for an hour. We decided to upgrade to level 2 and 3 nipples on her bottle, which we should have done when she was 3 months old and never did, and I also got some oatmeal cereal, as it was recommended to introduce her to both rice and oatmeal so she doesn't show a preference.

We also, of courses, got some more cloths, I got two 5 pack sets of colored onezies in Carters, that were 1/2 off. These are the ones that were made really long, so they fit her when all the other's have outgrown her, so now I have ten in various colors, I also got two more sets in white, one long sleeves, so she can wear the white onezie underneath a summer dress or tank top, and still wear some of her summer cloths before she outgrows them.

While Shopping I let her play with the different toys, and she had fun. I also got her a book, and a little gift for Lucian. We enjoyed the outing, but she was ready to go and get a quick nap. Another thing I did today was pick up a veggie box, we are ordering these weekly and they deliver at my job, and they are from River Dog Farms, it had Green Beans, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Peppers, Squash, and a few others items. Joel was so very excited. Part of why I am happy, is because I was such a flake, I was supposed to go and pick this up yesterday, and with Missing Holly's PT, I never got to that building, and forgot it was waiting for me, so I was afraid it would be gone today. But YEAH! It was still there. Joel even made himself a squash tonight, that he really liked.

I guess the final news is Holly said Ma Ma!! I guess perhaps I should have started with this, but it makes you read to the end ;-) This morning before taking her to daycare she very distinctively said Ma.. Ma! And while she wasn't exactly saying it to define me, or know it is attached to me. It was a clear sound and we were so excited and gave her such positive feedback that she is sure to say it again. It was cool, but I am sure it will be even better the first time she says it, but means it.

If I could Just pull up

If I could Just pull up
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

Holly plays on her quilts, in her pretty Blue Hawaii dress, she likes her Blue Ball, and her Bright Lights Rattle, and her Prism Toy. She rolls back and forth, and turns to look at me when I call her name.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2HEK0Oo7uk

She is my Roley Poley Bear!

Picking Daddy Up at Work

Picking Daddy Up at Work
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

Wednesday - So today was a very long day, and I feel like a bad mommy. I had a big important meeting at work in the morning, and during my lunch break I was supposed to meet Sally, Holly's PT at Daycare for her Therapy Session. Well, firstly my meeting ran long, and then I had to do a post-mortem meeting with the Committee Co-Chairs, afterwards, so that by the time I realized it was time to go, it was like 1:15. So in retrospect, I think Sally started around 1:00, not 12:30 and I could have went then, but in my mind I was 45 minutes late, and it takes me 15 minutes to get there, so I didn't leave, and stayed another 45 minutes in the meeting. We were still there, when Sally called me at 2:00 which was when the session ended. Thinking back, I think it ended up being a good thing that I didn't go, because I learned some stuff, but that didn't make me feel any less guilty.

So, what did I learn you might ask, well this is what Sally reported. When she arrived, Holly was happily playing outside with her Teacher, her teacher gave her to Sally, upon which she crumbled and started to cry. This tells me that transitions are what is causing her some problem, as Sally is not a Stranger, and she isn't taking her from "Mommy" Sally tried to soothe her for about 5 minutes, with no Success, so then her teacher cam over and she calmed right down. This tells me that her teacher has learned how to soothe her, and Holly trusts her, also that her teacher is responsive to her. So her teacher sat with them, and they began the session. once she was calm, she didn;t start to cry anymore and she sat very well for Sally, and was reaching left and right, doing good twisting. Then her teacher told Sally how she doesn't like Tummy time, and asked what to do. Sally showed her many ways in which she could get tummy time around the classroom, that may not upset her, and also let her know it doesn;t have to be forced, to the point of her crying, but these alternatives were good also. Another teacher came over and wanted to learn about Tummy Time as well, so Again, they are engaged and have an interest in her development. Then Holly became Fussy, and her teacher said, oh she is Hungry, and got a bottle for Sally to feed her - So that means her teacher is learning the difference between her little cries, and also paying attention to that.

All in All, there session went well, and she got a chance to work with the teachers which I think is excellent.

When I picked Holly up, she was sleeping and I did not want to wake her so i chatted with her teacher and with some of the other mom's then we went to pick Daddy up. Daddy wasn;t ready to come home, so we hung around the office, said Hi to his Co-Workers, practiced sitting on various tables, and desks, and played with all kinds of cool stuff.

When we got home, we were all tired, and really only had enough time for Holly to have some Cereal, a bottle, and she was tired again. But I did get a lot of time waiting for Joel to play with her. We tried the rice cereal think and sticky, and then ticklish with Apple Juice, and then thin and watery, and then in the middle. mom was in an experimental mood. I still don't think she is getting much, but I let her make a big mess, getting it all over her fingers and face, so when she put her fingers in her mouth she got more cereal, and when it was think, twice she almost gagged or spit up, but I distracted her from it by going la a La, and making noises and then she was able to swallow. So I am not sure what that Gag Reflex this is all about. Mom went to bed early, and didn't have time to blog, cause she was so tired form a long day.

DayCare

DayCare
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

Here is a picture of Holly at Daycare, just after I have dropped her off.

I wanted to share this post from Basically FX "Who is On Your Team"

I left an extensive comment, with my thoughts/fears on how all this is going to work... Life has been too easy so far, and I just keep my finger's crossed that I stay this lucky!

Pj's

Pj's
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

Holly Yawn's (Double Take)

I can not believe how big Holly has gotten. She certainly has a mind of her own. Sometimes when she gets tired she goes off into her own world and is fixated on a little detail. While Mommy can distract her by being quite silly, she won't be deterred.

Holly 6 months

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2hZHi4_t1c

In this video, you can see her cute little yawn, she is in her PJ's and ready for bed, but some toy has caught her eye, and she simply must pay attention to it.

Holly 1 month

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WKPeqSJJyI

This video shows how much Holly has grown and change since she was 1 month old, short and sweet, you can see her yawn, and what a little baby, my big girl once was.

Rattle Feet

Rattle Feet
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

It seems that many of you have already found this video, before I even had time to post it (the magic of the related video's button) This Video is from Saturday. Holly received a package from her Oma in Florida, it has a gift from her Tanta kat, a cool Red Shirt and some Azeri Knitted Boots, and it had two cute overall outfits. It also had a fun waddle duck with teether hands and feet, and these fun socks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYkJkk-qnkM

I particularly like the white and orange stripes, which I think are quite fashionable, Holly of course loves the Monkey and Elephant heads that she can grab, giggle, and her favorite pastime - Chew!

In the video, we are practicing Holly's sounds, like Gee, Bo, Ba, and Ma, and I also entertain myself tickling her. (Mommy does like to torment baby)

Chewy Tubes

Chewy Tubes
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

Holly's fine motor skills are developing so nicely. Here is a short video of her playing with her chewy tube. It is fun to manipulate, and explore, tasty and feels good on hurty gums when teething, but there is one thing that can certainly distract her from this fun tool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fde3zFuf3bI

Officially a chew tube is used for Oral Exploration, and helps for those who might have sensory sensitivities, since this is a common Fragile X symptom, we started exposing Holly early to all types of sensory input, to help build up tolerance, so she will hopefully not develop any aversions.

You can get chewy tubes here:

http://www.beyondplay.com/CATALOG/ORA3.HTM

Yeah, I can sit now!

Yeah, I can sit now!
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

So this is a long Video, for the grandparent's out there, I am sure you won't mind watching 5 minutes of Holly Exploring a toy, and precariously teetering back and forth as she learns to sit, but for the rest of you, be careful not to let the adventurious plot, and amazing stunt falling draw you in :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0kfpM7bEOE

Relaxing in Daddy's Chair

Relaxing in Dady's Chair
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

Holly is now in the habit of petting her daddy's scruffy chin, everytime he feeds her, she is so very cute!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uywfOLPqRaM

Do I look Tired?

Do I look Tired?
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

While we were waiting to see the Radiologist, for over an hour, Holly started to get fussy and cranky, she hadn't had a nap for over 3 hours, sometimes when she is really sleepy, she gets slap happy and laughts at everything I do. All I said was bop bop bop.

Here is a Video of Holly laughting at mommy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqo87mXv8zQ

Its a Fishy

Its a Fishy
Originally uploaded by vczdavis

Monday - Today Holly had her Ultrasound at Children's Hospital in Oakland. Her Doctor was worried that her hips might not be socketed correctly because she gets a slight resistance or clicking when she presses on them, and her tone is very high. I was more worried about her shoulder, which I still think was stuck above her head in the birth canal, preventing her from progressing.

She doesn't seem to have great range of motion there, and doesn't stretch very often or extend her Shoulder above her head. At the last minute the Doctor added her shoulder to the order, but then when we got there radiology would not do it. They said they typically do an x-ray for the shoulder, and that we need a separate order for that, but since they are open 24 hours a day, we don;t have to make an appointment or anything, and can go at any time. Since Holly goes in for a well visit at the end of the month I will bring it up again, if it seems she isn't using her arm.

I worry that it is preventing her from pushing herself up in prone and eventually crawling. The Radiologist could not give us the results, but told us not to lose sleep over waiting, so I am guessing her hips are fine, mostly because Holly sit today! I took a long 5 minute video of this, and you can see her teetering, and sorta fall once, but that was the first time, as the minutes ticked by she got better and better. Several times she caught herself when she tipped, and she would be leaning on one hand, I could imagine thinking, what now, my hand is holding me here, and I don;t know how to get up again, but I can;t use it to get toys, but if I let go I fall.. After a few second,s I would give her a little push.

She sat for about 45 minutes, and then got tired, so we took a break for a story, then when Daddy got home we practiced again, and she went about 10 minutes without tipping at all, she would make lots of little adjustments and would right herself is she started to slip either way. It was amazing, I was so excited, I was beside myself. Just on Friday when she was practicing with her OT/PT she was not able to sit on her own, then it seems like over night, well quite literally, she learned how. This goes back to my theory on burst learning, she suddenly, can sit, balance, reach and hold toys while sitting, everything all at once, she never ceases to amaze me.