Life with Our Itty Bitty Baby Girl

Blogs, that is!

I’m finally going to make the shift to blogger, which will give us a lot more freedom.  Wordpress, you might be good for serious folks, but my girl needs a little more fun.

PLEASE make the move with us!  The new address is http://ittybittyhill.blogspot.com . All further posts (including the one I’m about to write!) and all past posts are available there.  So go ahead, take a second, and change your bookmarks, Google readers, blogrolls, RSS feeds, etc…however you get to us.  Thanks!

We’ll see you over at the new blog: http://ittybittyhill.blogspot.com !

Becca loves standing.  We’re still really hoping that she will eventually crawl on her hands and knees because it would be better for her strength issues (and for general coordination), but given how interested she is in being vertical, it just may not happen.  We’re still working on it in physical therapy, but in the meantime, Becca’s working really hard at learning to stand.  And it’s pretty cute.  She loves being tall!  (And we’re not about to tell her that she’s not!)  She’s fairly stable when she is standing, and the fact that she has a helmet makes both her and me more comfortable with the tippiness.

Here she is standing in the jungle:

And here’s a link to a video of her practicing in the tub.  It’s a bit long (2 minutes), but if you watch the whole thing, you get to see her standing up, sneezing, and sitting down, which is a pretty funny process.

I haven’t been able to get a video of the rolling/crawling because every time she sees the camera on her, she stops and smiles, the little diva.  I’ll keep trying, though!  Lately she’s been skipping the infantry crawl part altogether and log-rolling everywhere, even all the way down the hall.  I’m starting to think that she likes being dizzy.  It’s quite amusing.

I’ve reworked a lot of the blog, mostly layout kind of stuff, and I’m ready for some feedback!

Do you like the new layout?

What would you like to see on the blog – any widgets, etc?  And what about content?  Do you like the medical info, the day to day, the photos, or what?

PLEASE comment!  Thank you!

Becca’s public service announcement:

Today is October 1st.  We are now officially back in RSV season in Tennessee.  Though Becca’s risks if she is infected are not as dire as they were last season, she is not receiving the preventative shots (Synagis) that she received last season, so, in a way, she is more likely to get sick.  Henceforth, Becca’s public appearances will be rare and ought to remain touch-free.  This especially involves crowded public places and place in which people are tempted to a) be adorable yet germy toddlers; b) be present when ill; and/or c) touch Becca.  Thus, church appearances will be rare, pediatrician appointments will be very brief (and possibly involve the back door), and grocery shopping will happen only in off-hours (particularly during school).  Your understanding and support is greatly appreciated.  If you love Becca, you will respect her needs.  And if you love her mom, you won’t give her crap about it.  Thank you.

Nancy’s addendum to Becca’s PSA:  While we will be in semi-isolation, feel free to invite me and/or John to social events.  We still need friends.  And we have some very reliable babysitters.  But please understand if we have to decline.  We still love you.

Stay posted for a video (when I get it uploaded) of Becca almost pulling herself up to a stand!  Yay!

For the first time in her 463 days of life, Becca just went to bed with no medicines.  For the first time. 

At her 15-month appointment, we decided to discontinue her Zantac, which she’s been getting twice a day for reflux since before she came home.  She’s had Tylenol the past couple of days to give her some relief from her teething (#3 has broken through now!) and to help her through her vaccine ickiness, but she hasn’t had anything in 24 hours. 

I laid out her pajamas, John gave her a bath, I cleaned her helmet, diapered and clothed her (including her “hat”), gave her Pediasure in a sippy cup, read The Going to Bed Book and Goodnight Moon, sang to her, prayed with her, and put her in her crib. 

How blessedly normal.

Just have to share this deal:  get a fancy nursing cover (the kind that lets you see your baby while you nurse) and pay only shipping!  Go to https://www.uddercovers.com/cart.php and use promo code “cafe,” and you’ll only be charged the $8.95 for shipping (which is awesome, since they usually cost $32!).  I’m getting a few for presents!

Becca had her 15-month well baby appointment yesterday, and she did great.  She had two shots (MMR and flu), and she barely cried at all – 1 tear.  Crazy.  She weighs 13 pounds, 14 ounces and is 23.75 inches tall.  Her head circumference is 17 inches, which is actually somewhere around the 5th percentile for her adjusted age (12 months).  This is odd because none of her other measurements are anywhere near the charts, but it’s not a surprise since her head has been big all along.  It just doesn’t show any signs of letting the rest of her catch up.  All the more reason to keep it as well-shaped as possible.  She is getting herself up to sitting, though mostly one-sided, and she is thinking about pulling up.  She loves to stand but can’t get there on her own. 

My favorite part of the appointment was when Dr. Collins asked us if we tell her “no.”  (We do.)  She said that Becca is “at a high risk for having behavior problems.”  When we asked her to explain, she said, “Well, when parents have been praying every day for their children to survive, they are sometimes hesitant to set limits or correct them.”  So what she was really saying is that we are at a high risk of causing Becca to develop behavioral problems.  That kind of made us chuckle because we get that – especially given Becca’s stubborn and determined personality.   Dr. Collins is great at advising and listening to us without making me feel silly.  It was a helpful caution, and we are already working on a couple of issues, namely staying out of the dog toybox and not giving all of her food to the dogs.  So far she receives correction well, but immediately goes back to do whatever she was doing in the first place.  Toddlers are fun.  I think I’m going to start saying, “Not in your mouth,” in my dreams soon.  But she can also entertain herself for quite some time, which keeps me sane while I’m trying to fix supper or clean up.

Becca still loves her bathtime, but now she’s moved up to the big girl bathtub!  It’s so much fun.  She’s able to splash even more and play with more toys at once, which is way fun.  Since she has the helmet, she’s picked up this move that takes her from sitting to lying on her stomach (ready to army crawl) by putting her head on the ground and balancing on it so that she doesn’t have to use her arms as much.  It’s cute, but her physical therapist (Jane) is NOT a fan of the move (as it only keeps her arms weak), and it really causes problems in the bathtub where she ends up with a faceful of water.  Maybe the tub will help her learn to use her arms, then.  Here she is in the big girl tub.

We still work with the wonderful Ms. Cindy once a week through Early Intervention.  Today we fingerpainted for the first time!  Here are Becca’s masterpieces (with some help from Mommy and Ms. Cindy).  We are working on getting comfortable with different textures, so one of the pictures has oatmeal mixed with the paint so that it was gooey and chunky.  Pretty gross, but very fun!

Becca has grown into one her big Christmas toys (from last Christmas – it took a big longer for her to be able to use it than anticipated).  She LOVES her Crawl and Cruise Jungle, and when she hits that ball that makes everything light up and and play music, she looks at you and claps, as if to say, “Look at what I’ve done!  I’m amazing!”  I love it.  Here’s a cute shot daddy got peeking through the jungle.  Note the green bow.  I made it today, and it’s one of my best!

And like any good toddler, she’s learned how to make a mess of her play area.  I swear, I walked out of a nice, picked up room for 30 seconds and came back to this:

“What, mom?  I didn’t do it!”  Mmm-hmmm.  Sure, Becca.  Good thing you’re cute.  And wearing leopard print.

While we were gone, Becca had her second first birthday!  The one year anniversary of her due date was September 14.  Now she is undeniably a one-year-old.  Remember, we pay the most attention to her adjusted age, which is her gestational age based on her due date.  Theoretically, then, she “should” be doing everything a 12-month-old does, not everything a 15-month-old does.  Make sense?  Of course, in reality, she’s on her special Becca schedule – Becca does it when Becca wants to do it.  And she always has, hasn’t she?  We’ll continue to “adjust” her age when looking at developmental issues until she is around 3, when the differences between a 36-month-old and a 39-month-old are negligible – or within the same range.

Of course, I had to celebrate her “extra” birthday when we got back.  I snagged this Publix cake for cheap (yay for coupons!), and let her dig in.  She wasn’t as thrown off by the texture this time around, though she still didn’t eat very much of it. 

She’s been in her helmet for almost a month now – do you think she’s made progress?  I think so! 

Her hair is growing fast now – I don’t know if it’s because of the helmet (Kathleen said it may) or just because it was going to anyway.  At any rate, it’s coming in a really pretty color (colors, really), and she loves to feel it when you take her helmet off.  Then she grabs for the helmet to play with it, of course.  I love the scottie dogs on this jumper, which was given to us by our friend – you guessed it! – Scottie.  Becca got to be good friends with Nana and G-Diddy’s scotties, Katie and Wes, during Nana Camp, so I think she likes this outfit, too.  Of course.

Becca’s somewhere down the hall.  Better go check on her.  I love having a crawling kid (seriously)!

….

In the bathroom, of course.  Where she knocked over the dogs’ “other” water bowl.  (No, not the toilet.  I gave up and put another water bowl for them next to the toilet to discourage toilet-drinking.)  Why do kids all love bathrooms?

Note: baby-proofing includes closing bathroom doors.

And we are off!  John and I are heading to the airport now, and Becca officially begins Nana Camp.  I’ll try to keep you posted on her adventures, as well as a few of ours…wish us all well!

Thanks SO SO SO much to Nana Dana and G-Diddy for taking care of our princess while we are gone!