just like her dad

Luci has had a few 'firsts' in the last 24 hours. Last night was her first high fever - 103.5 degrees. Freaked me out and thankfully Luci's Aunt Dr. Brooke (and her Godmother...which title comes first??!?! Maybe she can be Godmother Aunt Brooke, MD...hmm) was available & helped to calm me down. I stripped that baby down to her diaper, cranked on the AC, and gave her some Tylenol. Two hours later the fever was down to 100 or so, and I decided it was time for Luci to go back to sleep. Don't get me wrong, I had been trying to get her to go back to sleep since about 12:30a (our ordeal began at 11:30p), but she was perfectly happy to hang out in my lap, chatting away, pulling & biting on her paci, and playing with my hair. I tried to sleep on the floor next to her crib...but she was having none of that. I tried to co-sleep with her in the guest room...but she was having none of that. All of these attempts lead to loud screams...which I was trying to avoid since my sweet husband had to get up at 5a for a long day of flying, and Luci's ordeal started just as we were falling asleep for the night. So finally at 3a I had to do something...so I did her post-bath night-time routine so that she knew it was time to go to sleep. Who doesn't want to read Guess How Much I Love You & The Best Mouse Cookie at 3a? After that I just had to let her cry herself to sleep. After a few very short shout outs followed by silence, I knew she was not up to sleeping in that crib...nope, she was standing up playing her music thingy. A boom came 10 minutes later, followed by lots & lots of crying. I went in to make sure she was okay, tried to calm her by rocking her, and then left her again. We played this game twice more (except I didn't go in after the subsequent booms), and then she FINALLY fell asleep. Clay woke me up at 5:30a to say good-bye, and I trudged back to bed. I woke up at 8a when Luci did, but she played happily in her crib until 8:30a when I had contacts in & clothes on.

So that was quite a night. She felt a little warm this morning, but acted just fine, so she ate pears & cereal for breakfast and then had a bottle of milk. She only drank about 4 oz, which is odd, but I thought she probably just wasn't feeling 100% yet, so I wasn't too concerned. About 20 minutes later she started to get really fussy, so I decided it was Tylenol time again. As I was leaning her back on my lap to give her the Tylenol, she burped & spit up...then choked a bit...then FULL ON projectile vomited, caught her breath, did it again, caught her breath, did it again, started to panic because she couldn't breathe, and then vomited AGAIN while snorting pears & cereal out of her little nose. Then she vomited again. My poor little baby was so scared she was crying & grabbing around my neck...there was vomit everywhere...in my shoe, on my pants, on my shirt, in my hair, on her pants, on her shirt, on the floor...poor thing...

After that we cleaned up (I really am a mom...the vomit didn't even bother me, I just wanted her to feel safe), called Godmother Aunt Brooke MD again, and gave Luci some more Tylenol. She took a great morning nap, and then proceeded to TAKE HER FIRST STEPS while hanging onto/pushing something (a diaper box that hadn't made its way to the garage yet)!! What a kid!! She certainly doesn't get that can-do even though I'm sick attitude from me...when I'm sick I just want to stay in bed & have my mom bring me 7UP & crackers...and I'm 30. What does Luci do? She takes her first few steps. Good heavens. My loss of sleep due to this kid is just beginning, I'm convinced. She's got her dad's adventurous spirit.

After that exhausting workout, she drank 6 oz of watered down milk (4 oz formula mix with 6 oz water, per Aunt Brooke) and was ready for a nap again...and she's still sleeping now.

When I called her dad to catch him up on the days events, he informed me that he isn't feeling too hot himself...but is he letting that get him down? Nope...he's on his way to DCA where he'll meet a bunch of friends out. Like father like daughter...

I'm going to make an appointment for her at the pediatrician's office on Monday. Turns out her little playmate Rachel had a similar fever last week a few days before our play date on Tuesday. Rachel got a tooth a few days later so we assumed the fever was because of the tooth, but it probably wasn't...she is now on antibiotics after a trip to the pediatrician. Let's hope Luci is feeling better by Wednesday or the big hike will have to wait another few months (it takes 4 mo. to get a camping permit). I am sneaky tough in lots of ways, but leaving my baby girl when she is sick is not one of those ways.