Dr H says, “non-negotiable”

Friday marked our 15 month well baby visit for Katherine. Hard to believe it’s been 15 months that little girl has been here. And then there are moments when I don’t really remember life before her.

So first the stats:
Weight: 20lbs 12.5oz (20th percentile)
Length: 30” (30th percentile)
Head Circumference: 44.75cm (25th percentile)

What we did learn this time around is that she’s in the 50th percentile for length/weight ratio. Good news. That was a new statistic for us. We liked it.

Now, for the meat of the visit… Katherine’s doing great. She’s forever just a little bit behind the curve in some things and this time was no different. They asked if she was speaking two words and I proudly responded YES! Meeem (aka Mom) and Daaaaad (you can figure that one out). The nurse looked at me, and said – besides that?? Hm. Okay. Apple. And… Hippo?? Stephen didn’t buy the Hippo thing so we were left with one word. *sigh* Dr H said by the next visit she should be speaking around 10 words. Ten? Really? Oh girl you better get a move on!!!

We discussed some “behavior” challenges we’re having. You see, my darling little girl enjoys kicking me in the face as I change her diaper. Sometimes it’s in a fit of despair because she doesn’t want her diaper changed and other times I really do believe it’s because she’s trying to get me going. In those instances she laughs at me as she does it and when I correct her she kicks me again. Harder. I mention this to Dr H and he said (are you ready for this… skies open up and a bright light shines upon us… aaaaaahhhhh) “That’s non-negotiable. Lay her on the floor to change her diaper and use your legs to hold her down.” Huh. Mommy got one. Of course I tried this tactic and all it got me was a tangled bit of leg. Hers and mine. It stopped her from kicking me in the face only because she couldn’t reach it. It didn’t stop her from trying to escape. Drat.

The other “challenge” we shared is that Katherine isn’t a big fan of protein. Namely meat. I try. Really I do. I try to feed her the meat just as meat. No way. I try to mix it with something… say cheese sauce, no way. I try to just straight up beg… nutah. She likes carbs. (Really, as her parents… we’re not surprised.) Dr H said this is normal. Milk, cheese, yogurt, fruits… all normally the foods of choice. Just keep trying to serve a variety. I’ll tell ya, lately I’ve been pretty impressed with my Katherine cuisine. She has a new fancy “plate” with dividers. One holds her cup, another her veggie, another either a starch or fruit and then the main section her “entrée”. Tonight it was all natural chicken fingers, peas & mac & cheese. Guess what she ate. *sigh* I’ve been giving her peas every night. I’m thinking eventually she’ll eat them, right? The other night I tried mixing them with the mac & cheese. Little bugger picked them out!!! (Alright, I’ll admit there was a moment or two that I was proud… but really, there’s gotta be a Grandpop or Daddy pea lovin’ gene in there SOMEWHERE!!!)

We asked about introducing peanut butter… Dr H said “go for it”. So we did. It was a hit. Katherine was trying to suck the peanut butter off the bread… Apparently bread is merely a delivery vehicle for the peanut butter. Jelly is superfluous.

Katherine had two shots, of which she took like a champ. I had a moment of panic when, for the first time, as she got a shot she was bleeding. And I don’t mean a little droplet. I mean it got on Dr H’s hand… but I pulled it together for the sake of the little one and held her tight and within 15 seconds she’d stopped crying and was smiling. Champ I say… Champ.

We are actively preparing for a vacation in Florida!! A family vacation! Woohooooo!!! Our first! We are going to Orlando for the event. Tootsie, Pop, Aunt Jacki and Aunt Nikki will be joining us. Aunt Nikki is flying home from Iraq in two more days!! YAY!!!! Auntie Sofi will still be in Afghanistan so she won’t be able to join us – we’ll miss you! =( We’re hoping Tio can make it, too!!

Pictures:

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When did it change?

The last few days I find myself wondering when my daughter’s cry went from wah wah wah to ROARRRRRR. Yeah, yeah yeah, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit, but it’s really only a little bit. We used to talk about when the cry would change. It would go from the cute cry of an infant to the all out wail of a toddler.

We’re there.

It’s here.

It’s loud.

I want the infant cry back.

Lately our darling Nugget has taken to, again we’ll call it roaring, in the backseat of the car all the way home. Alllllll the way home. It used to seem like a quick trip home. Now I implore traffic lights to remain green so we can get home faster and I can stop the madness that is occurring in the backseat. The only way I’ve found to get her to stop is to feed her. And then by the time we get home, she’s not interested in dinner. (Mommy Note: Gerber Cheese Puffy things = Pretty dern delicious!)

But even with the roar that is our little Nugget she is quite fun. Her new favorite word is apple. Why apple? No idea. I’m not even sure she knows what an apple is, however, it is her favorite word. Apple. Apple. Apple. Apple. Over and over and over again. We’ve started to also branch out to Hippo. Sounds very similar to apple but her lips look different so I’m going with it’s a different word. Meem (mommy) and DAAAAA (Daddy) are our other words.

Katherine appears to be catching on to sign language. "The finger" is not the only sign our wee one can give now. (I'll add that her teacher had a conversation with me about it the other day - I had to share that she's been doing that since she started pointing and NO, we don't do that at home!) Anyway, Katherine will now sign more & eat. We think she may also be understanding "all done" but that's iffy.

I think she’s also getting some connection between things. For example, she knows when she puts her shoes on she’s going to go bye bye. Whether that’s just outside, in the car, for a walk, etc… Doesn’t matter. She knows she’s leaving the house. She’ll bring you her shoes if she feels a need to leave too. Not only that but she’ll start waving bye bye. I’m thinking this is a result of being in the house for a week while Stephen was recuperating. She’s also started bringing us her changing pad & Desitin if she wants/needs her diaper changed. She’ll haul it across the first floor if she has to. Funny little girl.

Speaking of Stephen… He is recuperating well. Last week this time it was a bit rough. I can admit it now, but I was terrified. It’s amazing what a side effect of a medication can do to you! And after 10 years!! Fortunately that medication is by the wayside. We’ll have to figure out a new medication; but for now we’re just glad he’s feeling better every day. He’s even been to work every day this week!

Katherine completed her second 5k run last weekend! This time we actually RAN the whole thing and Katherine stayed awake for the first 2.5 miles. She was snoring at the end but it didn’t make the finish any less rewarding! The course was through a very hilly neighborhood in Raleigh. Pushing Katherine up those hills was quite a challenge but it made the downhill fast! She pulled me along!! I’m looking forward to our next run. We shaved 18 minutes off our first 5k… maybe we can shave another 5-10 off of the next one?!

This week’s pictures are a mix of various things. Some are a “dress rehearsal” of her Halloween costume. Yes, it makes me laugh. And if you recall my mother gave me a mullet haircut; permed my hair to the point of burning it and my grandmother cut my eyebrows off. That was far more scaring than my costumes. :P

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My Baby & her Bear

It’s been a rather quiet week in the Aleksza house. Quiet, but not uneventful. Really, they are two different things.

Last Saturday we were fortunate enough to experience box seats at the Durham Bulls game. We were invited to go as I’ve volunteered (and Stephen by proxy) to be a team Captain for our company’s annual fundraiser for JDRF. Awesome cause!! (Note: Most of my loyal readers should have received an email from me regarding a donation OR your ability to join my team… For donations, any amount would help.)

Katherine seems to be a fan of baseball from an air-conditioned box that permits her to run free and play with other kids – all of whom seemed to enjoy playing with her. She even managed to snarf some of our friend’s little girl’s goldfish. Their little girl understands sharing… ours understands HER version of sharing. (I’ll give it to you; you give it back to me.) We have no idea who won the game. We left at the 7th inning. Which, mind you, was the longest we’ve ever stayed at one of the games. I mean, those things last FOREVER. I thought football was bad. Apparently the game went on to 1am, or something crazy like that. Nugget is not equipped for that kind of night out. Heck, neither is Mommy or daddy.

Monday & Tuesday I wasn’t feeling well… we then seemed to rotate illness through the house. Although it morphed into a variety of things. Katherine had a diaper rash (caused by some rather nasty stuff) that woke her up in the middle of the night screaming in pain. It broke my heart. Poor little girl. We spent much time that night in the rocking chair cuddling. Fortunately she still believes Mommy can fix just about anything. I’m grateful for powder with cornstarch, desitin & lotrimin. Mommy’s magic potions. =)

By Thursday it was Daddy’s turn. Only his version of the illness is far different than ours. Poor Stephen has been stuck in the house for days with what we think might be a side effect of a medication he’s been on for years… A trip to the primary tomorrow we’re hoping will shed some light. The trip to Urgent Care today wasn’t all that insightful, but from Stephen’s perspective was worth it since it came with Vicodin.

We’re hoping this week holds less illness for the Aleksza house. That is, once we fix Stephen. And I don’t mean fix as in… oh, nevermind. You know what I mean.
Yesterday I took Katherine to the mall for a little escape from the walls of the house. While we were in the dressing room (I was trying on a dress) I asked her what she thought. She shook her head no. Next dress, still No. Last dress, No. Does my daughter have fashion sense that she’s trying to impart or is No just her new favorite word? I’m going with the latter since we were in Macy’s in the Juniors section. It couldn’t be THAT bad, could it?? She did play a pretty awesome game of peak-a-boo with the clerk which won me a 15% off coupon. That’s my girl!!! =P

Tonight Katherine was playing with the giant panda bear that Aunt Patty bought for her when she was born. I look at the pictures of her playing with the bear compared to those right after she was born and Oh-my-goodness. She still seems rather small to me, but she’s grown up sooooo much. I was thinking earlier today about how grateful I am that all of her “firsts” (so far) have occurred with us. Not in daycare. It was one of those things I was worried about being a working mom. Fortunately, we haven’t missed those things. And every night we get our quality family time on the floor in either the playroom or family room to hang out. Katherine loves to play ball with Daddy & play with the house stuff with Mommy. Then my favorite time comes… story time & song time before bed. She’s so cuddly & sweet!!

Yeah. I’m a lucky Mommy. =)

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