Happy Ten Months Birthday!

here's a list of things you did today, to commemorate your 10 months birthday:

you shopped (twice!)

vomited (once. but you are definitely feeling better and didn't have a fever.)

tried raw onion for the first time (you liked it?)

played with some beads with Bella (and only fought over them a little bit)












ate some antibiotic (3 tsp total)

dove off the couch and got your first bruise on your forehead

chilled out in your walker on the back porch until a mosquito bit you

cried yourself to sleep for a few minutes, because i couldn't stand there any longer while you insisted to hold my hand. it was kind of awful, but i think it might be better for both of us in the long run if you can get to sleep better on your own. it's the first time i've let you cry like that in a long time, and it made me pretty sad. but it's the first time you successfully fell asleep on your own, so maybe it's something that will just have to happen for a few nights.

so it was a day of ups and downs. all of this happened in the midst of/before/or after
more unpacking at new house. someday it will all be out of boxes and orderly, and easier to enjoy by everyone. oh, how we all look forward to that day.

i sometimes worry that you don't get as much attention as you should. i mean, you're with me all the time, and lately usually on my hip or person somewhere. but being carried around while i do other stuff, or being driven here or there, or whatever, is not the same as the interaction that i haven't really been able to give you lately. (the same is certainly true for sam lately as well.) someday soon we will be on the floor in your room playing with your blocks together more. and reading books in the big chair more often. until then, i will have to be confident that you are developing fine, and you are happy. you crawl and pull up, and you talk to us in your little sweet voice, and you are beautiful. i can't believe you will be a year old in just a couple months.

sorry if this post seems like a bit of a downer. i think we all need a vacation. good thing we're going to silver dollar city tomorrow!

love, mom

today's been fun for all!

i jest. it's actually been pretty rough.

you woke up at 4am with an axillary temperature of 102.3, which is quite high. this morning your temperature was down to 101.2, but you threw up again. then you fell back asleep and woke up seeming pretty fine, no fever or anything. then you took a nap and woke up super hot again, and you threw up all your lunch.

we went to the doctor, and he said you have an ear infection starting in your left ear, but that your lungs sound clear. that was super good news, since i had been fearing pneumonia. so the fighting the ear infection, plus the teething (according to the doc you have some "big upper teeth" coming in... i hope that doesn't mean you're going to have horse teeth) made your fever run pretty high. and the not feeling good and high fever is probably what caused you to throw up. despite the throwing up, you've gained about 5oz. in the past week and a half, up to 18lbs. 7oz.

so, we got you a giant bottle of antibiotic that you somehow have to choke down in the next 10 days. you've been pretty clingy and have had a hard time going to sleep tonight, but we'll try again pretty soon. right now you are looking pretty pitiful on daddy. you try to crawl higher and higher up onto us, like you're perching under our necks and clinging there like a little tiny sick monkey. it's all pretty sad. and we hope you feel better soon, because it is super hard to see you so sad and feeling so yucky.

a white onesie seems like a good outfit to wear when you're sick.
love, mom

you are 43 weeks old.

life has been hectic lately.

unpacking has been a bit of a difficult thing. i don't think you like it very much. or you don't like to let me do it, anyway.

this picture actually looks slightly more pitiful than you really seem, but i do think you are a sick little girl. i called the doctor's office today, and the lady said you might just be teething, but if you still have a fever to call back in the morning. well, tonight after that, you threw up, and your fever got higher than ever. it's odd, because you seem fine most of the time, and you still have a good appetite. anyway, i think a trip back to see dr. weeden is in your near future.

right now, we try to sleep.

love, mom

we failed to catch up!

so yesterday was supposed to be your week 43 post. i remembered after i got you to sleep that it was monday, and we hadn't taken your picture. so we'll do that today, maybe after your nap.

speaking of napping, you've been sleeping in your crib in your new room a lot! i was afraid it would be a horrible transition, but i think you actually like it in there.

sometime in the last day or two your 7th tooth finally came through! you've been having lots of fevers and a little bit of crankiness lately, and i don't know if that has been tooth related or not. sam has been sick, so probably not. every time i get ready to call your doctor, you seem magically better.

you have been more clingy than ever, but i guess i can't blame you, what with the not feeling good, and also all the unpacking and general unsettlement that comes with moving. i don't think 'unsettlement' is a word, but that's okay. mommy is a little bit tired.

here is a picture of you sitting on the chair in your room. you can sorta see the pink and yellow walls.

love, mom

you are 42 weeks old!

well, that was yesterday. but we're almost caught up!

last week was obviously a big one, what with the moving and all. you did a pretty good job with it all, but you are definitely more clingy the past couple days. it's hard to put you down to get any work done, but we could all use the break.

you got to do a lot of fun stuff while we were moving last week, including play with sugar, and bella, and abby, and ivy! it was super nice of abby's mom and ivy's* mom to watch you while we worked, and of bella's* mom and dad to help us with the packing (and now unpacking) and the flooring. and sugar's mom and dad (grandma and papa) to come and paint your room so pretty!
it is pinky and yellow, and it matches your quilt nicely. when we get the 500 boxes moved out of there and get it looking like a real room, we'll post pictures. it was also super nice of everyone else who helped us load boxes and unload boxes and borrow trucks and fix up the house and bake us food, etc. etc.

you like to share stuff now. by share stuff, i mean offer your food and drink to others by way of putting it directly into their mouths. that's what you were trying in the top picture with your water.

yesterday you went to the doctor for your slightly late 9 month checkup. you have a little bit of this croupy coughy thing that's going around, so it's not just teething that's making you snotty. but otherwise you're very healthy.

you weigh 18lbs 2oz, which puts you in the 50th percentile for weight.

you are 29.5 inches long, which puts you in the 95th percentile for height.

the doctor said you are "tall and skinny," which doesn't seem like a quite right description. but your mom has never been accused of this, so enjoy it while it lasts!

love, mom

** check out the links (highlighted names) for ivy and bella's blogs, and more pics!

you are 41 weeks old!

well, you were 41 weeks old almost a week ago. the post is way late, but the picture is from that day, anyway. it's the last 'weeks' picture that you'll ever have taken in the old house, because we moved! (that's why the post is so late) sadly, we still have the same couch, so the pictures will probably look pretty similar. but the wall behind you will be green instead of white! hooray.

some things you did that past week include a lot of having your routine disrupted. here's a picture of you riding in the back of the van, failing to be consoled by a cheese wheel during a day of furniture shopping with me and your grammy misty and britney and bella.

oh, and you also got your 6th tooth! that probably helped with the snot and the anger issues. really, though, despite teething and moving, you were a good good girl.

tomorrow's post will be at new house!

love, mom

you are 40 weeks old!

this past week has been a big one! we bought our first house on friday. you were such a good girl through the whole process, starting months ago. you were calm and sweet and happy when we went to look at houses, and you were a good girl again on friday when we went to sign about 8 million pieces of paper. you will get your very own room, and this will be super exciting! i have big plans. we'll see if they come together.


yesterday in church, you were chewing on my finger, and i felt that your 5th tooth (the bottom second-right incisor) had come through at some point. that explained all the spit-soaked shirts and night wakings of late. i think there's another one coming soon, as last night wasn't much better.

we went to see nany today in fort smith and ate at Marketplace. that's where i was working when we found out you were on your way! anyway, you got to use those teeth to try lots of fun food, like chicken and strawberries and chocolate mess. you loved it all!

your new favorite thing to do is clap. you're doing it in the picture, and you smile real big when i see you doing it and say, "clap clap clap!" i think it makes you happy when we understand and acknowledge what you're doing.

you are much much much less anxious with strangers lately, and this is a big relief to everyone. the past two sundays at church you stayed in the baby room and played with the other babies without crying at all when i left you there.

daddy has a new nickname for you. he's coming out of the "betty" phase and is transitioning to "libby." i think that elisabeth has more nicknames than any other name i know, but i hope that someday we'll settle into "ellie."

love, mom

nobody should be this excited at 4am.

love, mom

you love baths!

even more than just regular baths, you love to take baths with your brother. i figure one or both of you might be angry about this someday, but i had to post a video, because it is too cute. okay, two videos.

in the first one, you and sam are singing, and daddy is standing up behind me, directing the orchestra. or something.



i took a picture of your long hairs in the back. there is one little tiny section of your hair that has always been way longer than the rest, but i've never gotten a good picture of it. this one isn't great, but at least you can see the hairs.

after your bath, you like to kiss that baby in the mirror. she's a cutie!

love, mom