A trip to the doctor

Yesterday when my little girl woke up, Nate brought her into our bed for some cuddles. She felt a little warm to me and I asked it she felt yucky. She said, "No, I feel fine." (She's so cute.) So I figured she was warm because she just woke up.

So then she was in her high chair and about to eat some cheerios when she started crying and saying she felt sad. Then she puked all up in her cheerios. I got baby cleaning duty and Nate tackled her high chair. When I took her jammies off, her skin felt HOT. I took her temp and it was 101 degrees. OF COURSE it was a Sunday yesterday. That's just how she rolls.

I gave her motrin and tylenol yesterday to keep her fever down. At one point it got up to 103 degress. She told me her throat hurt and that there was a frog in it. I wasn't even sure she knew what a throat was, but when I asked her to show me, she opened her mouth and said "ahhhh!"

So today we went to see her doctor. She looked oh-so-sick as she ran around the waiting room like a crazy person. Playing games, laughing, running some more. Then the nurse called her back and she got weighed like a big girl. 29.5 lbs!

There have been a couple people in our lives that have had strep lately, so the nurse wanted to do a strep test. Lizzie did not care for it, to put it mildly. Luckily Nate was able to break away from work to come help us at the doctor appointment. (He only drove 85-90 mph following a black SUV for about 1/3 of the way from Elkhorn. That black SUV ended up being a K-9 unit police SUV. Oops.) BUT he made it. So he held Lizzie's head still and I held her arms down while the mean nurse (who is actually super nice) stuck a giant Q tip down my daughter's throat.

Lizzie sobbed and sobbed and puked and sobbed some more. She kept coughing and throwing up phlem. It was pretty gross. To distract her from her sobbing, I started telling stories about a beautiful little girl named Lizzie and all of her wild adventures. She got pretty into the stories and would turn and repeat stuff I said to Nate. It was pretty cute. The whole time she was holding kleenex up to her mouth in case she started coughing again.

The nurse poked her head back in the room and said she was glad we did the strep test, because it had already come back positive. Well... crap. Poor kid.

So I finally get her in a good mood with these stories and then Dr. B comes in. Lizzie immediatly started sobbing and jumped in my lap and put a death grip on my neck. That kid was glued to me. After a lot of coaxing on our part and sobbing and coughing on her's, we finally got her to show Dr. B her pretty eyes. Then we tried to get her to show him her teeth and she freaked and turned around again. FINALLY we got her to say "ahhh" (while still crying) long enough for him to get a quick glance in her mouth.

Then since she was such a good girl (ha), the nurse gave her a Dora and Boots sticker that she really, really wanted on her tummy.

While Lizzie and I strolled the aisles at Walgreens waiting for her prescription to be ready, she said, "Mommy, Dr. B fun!"

I was shocked and said, "You had fun at Dr. B's?"

Lizzie: "Yeah!" *starts sobbing hysterically* Yeah, sure you did, kid.

( My "baby" will be two and a half in 4 days!)

April 30, 2010 - Day 1

So I have decided to try to post a picture of Lizzie every day. I doubt I'll stick with it for a year or anything, but hopefully I last longer than a week or two! I couldn't decide if I wanted to make a new blog for these daily posts or to just keep them here. As you can see, I decided to post them here and just keep everything together. Plus I couldn't think of cute name for a new blog that hadn't already been taken. So here goes!

Today Lizzie had her 18 month checkup. (18 MONTHS!) She weighs 24 lbs and is approximately 31" long. She was pretty dang squirmy when the nurse tried to get her height measurement though. They laid her on the same table that they lay her on when she she gets her shots. She freaked out even though she didn't get any shots! Such a punk. :)

On the way to the appointment, I would say "Dr. B" or "potty" (not sure why) and she would burst into these wonderful little giggles every time. That girl cracks me up.

In this photo, Lizzie is reading a book to her daddy while they snuggle on the couch. ♥

Fifteen Months!

Elizabeth turned 15 months old last Friday and had her check up today. I hate hate HATE when she has to get shots! But these were the last ones until she's FIVE!!! Not counting the annual flu shot and the Hep A shot whenever we decide to do that. But other than that... FIVE!


She is such a big girl now because she was weighed fully clothed on the big girl scale! She weighed around 22 lbs - which is about the 35th percentile!! That is a huge improvement from being under the 3rd percentile not so very long ago! I am so proud of her for gaining some chub. And she was about 30.5" long. She's grown a little over 10" in 15 months. What a good girl! =)

Doc said everything looks good. She's not really talking yet (well, using real words anyway - she "talks" a ton) but he's not concerned. Said we'll see how she's doing at 18 months. At her 12 month check up, she sat on my lap and let him look her over without so much as a fuss. Today however, she wasn't as easy going. She cried and squirmed and tried to get down and run away. Little punk.

As far as everything else that's going on with my little Lizard, she's doing wonderful. She finally got her two front teeth. One came in on New Year's Eve and the other came in a week or so later. I have the exact dates in her baby book. So now she has four teeth! And oh boy does she grind those teeth. Wow. Funny thing though is that it drives her daddy way more crazy than it does her mom. hahahahaha....

She is still doing really good with putting herself to sleep. Naptimes are getting a little weird. I think she's transitioning to one nap a day instead of two. But then the last few days she's taken two naps (although not as long as usual) so I don't know what she's doing. She is also sleeping in a little later (Thank You God!), waking up anywhere from 7:30 - 8:45 am! Sooooo much better than 6:30!!

Updates

It hit me recently that I need to start seriously planning Elizabeth's 1 year birthday party. Huh? How can that be?? She will be 10 months old on Saturday - in 2 days! It is so weird to me that she is getting so old. She's like this big girl now instead of my tiny baby.

I was recording something of her the other day on the video camera and the tape ran out. It rewound to the beginning and I pressed play. Up pops little 8 week old Elizabeth. How is that the same child who is practically climbing up the walls now?? How did that little baby on the camcorder grow up so fast? I was watching the tape as my mom and I were trying to get her to laugh on film, just mesmerized by how little and different she was then, when big girl Lizzie pops up in front of me and says, "Uhh!" As in, "Pay attention to me, woman!" How is this the same child??

This girl is everywhere now. She is the world's fastest crawler. She gets into EVERYTHING. She climbs up anything that is taller than she is (which is pretty much everything because she's pretty short). Her favorite things to play with are non-toy items. She bops along to music. She STILL doesn't have any teeth! I'm afraid that five are going to come in at once. And I think that changing her diaper really should be considered for an Olympic sport.

As far as the sleeping situation goes, she is doing better (this week anyway). She goes back and forth. Some nights she'll sleep all night (like last night - 10 hours straight!) and some nights she'll wake up in the middle of the night and won't go back to sleep for 2 hours. And getting her to go to sleep is quite a chore sometimes. Especially for naps. We still have to rock/pace/hold her until she falls asleep. I long for the day when we can give her a kiss and put her in the crib where she falls asleep on her own. I really hope this day is in the very near future.

I took some tips from a few different baby sleep books and those have helped tremendously. Her bedtime routine before included nursing to sleep (or drowsy and then pacing or rocking until asleep.) But we wanted to get away from that. We don't want her to think she needs to eat in order to fall asleep. So now she eats out in the living room, then gets her diaper changed, put into jammies, then story time, then pace/rock to sleep. I do think it has gotten better, with some exceptions here and there.

I am still breastfeeding and am still planning on weaning around a year. My goal was always to go to a year and I am proud of myself for making it this far. It is hard work! Not that I don't love it. I am just looking forward to having my body to myself again! But I am sure I will miss it like crazy once she is done. That's how I roll.

Elizabeth is still eating the purees I make for her. She has done great with everything she's given (except recently she spits out her bananas). She is a champion eater so far, but I know that won't last. So we are enjoying it for now! With as much food as that girl eats, I don't understand how she is so little!

Speaking of which, she had her 9 month doctor appointment on July 28th. She weighed 15 lbs 10 oz, which is in the 6th-ish percentile and was 26.5" long, which is in the 20-25th percentile. Her doctor said she is doing great! Everyone was happy that she didn't have to get shots at this appointment. Not looking forward to her 1 year checkup...

One last cute thing: She is still using 0+ month pacifiers. When we stuck a 6+ month one in her mouth, she looked perplexed and spun it around like it didn't feel right. Now she just spits it out. What a weird kid. =)

Somewhat less scrawny

I took Lizzie in for her weight check today and she's up to 14 lbs 11 oz. So now she's in the 5th percentile instead of below the 3rd percentile. Her doctor was very pleased! He said this is excellent and that she's back on the charts!

My shrimp of a daughter

We went to Elizabeth's check up today. She weighs a whopping 13 lbs 4 oz. Apparently that is less than the 3rd percentile. 97% of babies her age are bigger than her. She is 26" long though. We are going back in a month for a weight check. So for now we are trying to get some more chub on her legs!

Shrimpy

Apparently I have a little shrimp for a daughter. I weighed myself and then weighed myself with her, and the difference was only 11 lbs. I got the same answer several times. Then I got 11.6 lbs several times. I know its not the most accurate way to weigh, but she's somewhere around there.

So why isn't she gaining weight?? She weighed almost 12 lbs a month ago. She's gaining inches though. She's approx 24" long. So she's tall and skinny!

She's also doing this thing where she won't sit or bend her legs. She'll just be stick straight. Nate says that her bend is broken. And she's been spitting up a lot more lately. Not large amounts, but more frequently. She also looks like she's always chewing on something in her mouth. So all this on top of a little extra fussiness makes me wonder if her reflux is getting worse.

So good thing her appointment is on Feb 23rd. Oh, oops, no its not. Stupid me called and changed it to March 6th because I didn't want to be alone when she got her shots. That was before I realized how much she weighs and before the extra spit up and broken bend. I tried to get her appointment back but no such luck. So we're going to keep calling and hope for a cancellation. Otherwise we have to wait almost 2 more weeks. =(

4 months, 5 days

I miss sleep...

Dang do I miss Lizzie being able to sleep on her tummy! Long gone are the days where she slept 5-6 hours at a time! The last few nights its been closer to 2-3 hours at a time. I think she's also going through a growth spurt, so she's eating constantly. I bet she grows a foot this week.

My milk supply still isn't where I want it to be, but its better than it was. I went back to the lactation consultant this week - Lizzie weighed 11 lbs 7 oz and ate 3 oz pretty quickly. A lot better!

By the way, my favorite sound ever is Elizabeth's laughter. I could listen to that all day long.



Here is Elizabeth's 3 month picture!



13 weeks, 1 day (Three months today!)

Two month check up

Elizabeth had her 2 month check up today! She was weighed and measured first - she weighs 11 lbs. 3 oz. and 23 1/4 inches long according to the nurse. Although when we measured the same lines she did, Lizzie was only 22 1/2 inches long. Hmm... Then the doctor came in and checked her over. He said that she's wonderful from head to toe. I agree!

And then the mean nurse came in to give her shots. =( I stayed up by her head and the nurse said to keep my hands up because she goes fast and doesn't want to poke me. And she did give the shots (two in the right let, one in the left) really fast.

My poor baby. She SCREAMED. Like I've never heard her scream before. It was so horrible. She kept crying when I picked her up and even when I nursed her. She would drink a little and then start screaming again. My poor little girl. After she calmed down, she slept a lot for the rest of the day.