all better

Check me out in Grandpa's hat!

Luci woke up this morning at 6:30a...fussing, then talking, then playing her music. When I went into get her she was all smiles & didn't feel at all warm when I picked her up. A quick check of the thermometer confirmed that she was fever free! She was still pulling on her ears though, so at 7:59a I called the doctor (they open at 8a) thinking I'd play the radio station call in game where I can't get through or sit on hold forever...but I got right through and snatched up an 8:50a appointment (the earlier the better, less chance of sitting there for hours)! Clay's mom, Barb, came with me since she & Don will be watching Luci during the big hike (thanks again!!). I wanted her to meet Dr. Bhakta & get comfortable with him in case Luci needed a follow up or something of that nature. He checked Luci over & said her ears look great, that her throat may be just a teeny bit red, but that whatever it was (maybe a throat bug, maybe a tummy bug) had likely run its course and that we should not hesitate to leave her for a few days in Grandma & Grandpa's capable hands.

He then proceeded to give Barb a number where she could reach him over the weekend! What a fabulous doctor we have found for Luci! I think the Sunidh connection helps - Dr. Bhakta & Sundih actually know one another via a relative...maybe Sunidh's cousin is married to Mrs. Bhakta's brother? I always forget. Anyway, we learned this long after we fell in love with Dr. Bhakta, but a personal connection always helps! He promptly responds to my emails, always fits us in, and usually calls me on my cell to follow up with Luci. And today he remembered all of her rashes & asked if we'd had any relapses. I wish we could all find such attentive physicians!

So, the big hike is still on. I'll be back to tell the story on Monday. We leave Wednesday, hike down on Thursday, camp, and hike out on Friday. Send positive, powerful thoughts my way...

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.

Who knew

that a cat scratching toy could be equally as entertaining to an 8 month old...
or that a laundry basket could provide hours of fun...

or that blogging would lead to a new & strange addiction for me...stalking random blogs that I come across. I have three blogs I read regularly now...and I don't even know these people...in fact, I don't even really know how I found them. At some point I clicked on some link on a friends blog, and clicked on some other link on their friends blog, and before I know it I'm super removed from anyone I know and yet somehow I find myself seriously invested in the lives of these strangers...

Eight Months

Her first opening of the cupboard door yesterday...

Notes at eight months:

-Luci is a CLIMBER. She can climb up stairs (but hasn't made it up more than one without sitting down & falling back...don't worry, we are always there to catch her), and tries to climb up things that aren't climbable (like her pull up piano, her crib, and Mom & Dad in church)!

-She's been pulling up on short things since she started crawling, but now she's pulling up on the sofa, ottoman, walls, etc. Her favorites are the stairs, a wicker box we have in the living room, and the little piano that Clara so kindly lent her!

-She has two bottom front teeth, and I'm certain the top two are on their way...the drool has been non-stop lately!

-She started eating solids 3x a day yesterday. Last night she had her very first taste of meat, a pureed vegetable turkey dinner! She pretty much likes ALL vegetables (except spinach) and enjoys all fruit except for apples. We've only done Gerber Puffs for finger food...and she loves them. She says "mmmmmmmmm" as she gums them up.

-I think she waves when she feels like it. It is appropriately timed, but doesn't happen with regular frequency.

-She LOVES to flip the light switch...but really has only mastered flipping the switch down (or usually off)!

-"Poops, poops everywhere, poops, poops, in your hair"...is my latest little diddy for entertaining her while changing her diaper. All of those solids are making for some interesting and frequent poopy diaper changes. At least 5 out of 7 mornings I wake to find poop creeping out of her diaper up her back. Once we finish up the remaining size 3 diapers we are moving on to 4's to see if we can solve the creeping poop problem.

-Her hair is just starting to stick out over her ears (very fine, tiny amount), and her bald spot is starting to sprout some nice peach fuzz!

-Based on my non-professional observation, I'd say her gross motor skills are probably developing more rapidly than other kiddos her age, but her fine motor skills are either on time or maybe a bit delayed. Her legs are moving every moment she is awake (lots of kick, kick, kicking during diaper changes) and she can & does climb all over everything. She crawls so fast I often look away, look back & don't know where she has gone...and she doesn't answer me when I call out to her. She is still working on the pincer grasp (she prefers the shovel method for puffs).

-Her schedule most days goes something like this: 7am wake, eat solids (this is new), drink 6 oz, play until 9:30a, take a 1-2 hour nap, wake 11a, drink 6 oz, 12:30p eat solids, between 1p & 2p down for a nap (depending on how long nap #1 was), sleep 1-2 hours, drink 6oz, play, eat solids between 5:30p and 6p, play until 7p, drink 6 oz, at 7:30p start to get ready for bed, in bed by 8p.

-Her sleep time routine with me is white noise on, change a diaper, put on sleep sack (no pants), turn off the light, read 2 or 3 books with the lamp, turn off the lamp, sing a song, hum the song once or twice, and then in the crib. Sometimes she cries out a bit, but rarely for more than 5 or 10 minutes. Dad has his own sleepy time routine with her that works just as well for the both of them. I believe several Hail Mary's are involved.

-She generally sleeps through the night with a few shout outs around 10:30p or 11p, and then again between 4a and 5a. Rarely do we have to go into her room in the middle of the night...although there is always an exception (last night she was up from 2a to 3a! what is up with that?!?!?)

-She LOVES to talk to her dad on the phone when he's gone on a trip. I put the phone up to her ear & she just LIGHTS up...it is adorable to watch. She doesn't really talk back to him yet...she holds the phone out to look at it almost as if to say, 'where are you dad? you in there?'

-Her new favorite thing to do is to extend her arm out holding a toy, and then shaking it.

-She loves to bang two things together, although occasionally misses & hits herself in the face.

-I pick her up & move her away from the TV stand about a THOUSAND times a day!

-Her little feet are always either cold & clammy or hot.

-She still loves her paci. She especially loves to pull it out & bite down on it over & over again.

-She loves to swing & watch big kids at the park. She's still not sold on the slide.

-She LOVES the cats!! She starts talking to them as soon as she sees them, and then takes off after them. Milo won't let her get near him, but poor Tallulah just barely moves & we start the whole chase all over again. I'm tired of it...you think the two of them would be too!

-She is in mostly 12-18 month gear, and can also wear 18-24 shirts and pj's.

-She loves the wind in her face.

Happy Easter!

sweet dress

The burp cloth just happens to look like a funny bonnet of some sort! She's making lots of funny faces these days...I think usually because of teething.

Luci's first Easter basket...the little chick was a big hit with her...less so with Mom & Dad - after awhile it started to remind me of a car alarm that wouldn't shut off!

A very funny face at the annual Cottage Green Easter Egg Hunt captured by Amanda!!

Me with the two sweetest girls around...

Luci & her dad...hunting for eggs!

Woohoo! Found one!

She wasn't very into putting them into her basket...she wanted to eat them all!

Sneaky Dad put one in the tree so he could be sure that his little girl could find at least one!

Truckin

Our Luci is EVERYWHERE these days... Please pardon my messy closet. It is becoming a 'craft closet'. Don't you like how we have to name each space & give it a specific function?!?! ;)
Looking out the window at the street.
Hanging out in what will soon be her dedicated playroom.

Chillin with a bird in the mouth, standing at the stairs...her new favorite place to pull up! And finally, checking out the pantry & the cat food area!

Congratulations Brooke & Sunidh

Congratulations to Luci's Aunt Brooke & engaged-to-be Uncle Sunidh. Sunidh proposed on Saturday morning after Brooke got off of a long night shift...and she said yes! No specific plans for the wedding just yet...one thing at a time Brooke tells me. Feel free to email her your well wishes at brooke.rosonke@gmail.com; and don't worry...I got her permission for the post...and for including her email address!

Spring in The Woodlands

Luci loves her new toy baskets...as her friend Clara would say, Luci likes to 'dump it out'...or really, dump it all over her lap! Once we put the finishing touches on the playroom I promise to post photos. Sweet baby playing with her dad. She just loves to hang out with toys or socks in her mouth!

We had a wonderful weekend with Clay's brother Keith and my mom & sister Baylee in town. I even did some baking...in my Weight Watchers cookbook there was a recipe for a Boston Cream Pie...it took hours to make...and then didn't taste that great...BOO. Note to self...if taking the time to make a labor intensive Boston Cream Pie go for the real deal! Even though it didn't look so great, I was very proud of myself...as you can see here...even though the pie doesn't look so perfect...I crack myself up!
The men made breakfast on Sunday...it was wonderful! Much better than my pie!

Luci loved having Aunt Baylee, Grammy & Uncle Keith here to play. There were LOTS of kisses for Aunt Baylee...Luci really loves all of her Aunts & Uncles & Grandparents...but she seems to have a special fondness for Aunt Baylee. The feeling seems to be mutual! Sadly we didn't get any photos of Luci with Grammy or Uncle Keith! Shame on me!
Clay & Keith went saltwater fishing, but Keith had very limited luck & poor Clay came home with only a sunburn to show for the day. Maybe they'll have better luck next time! Mom, Baylee, Luci & I just hung out around the house & did a bit of shopping at Marshall's yesterday before they headed to Tucson to see Brooke & Sunidh. It looked like there was no way they'd make it to Tucson before Wednesday based on the stand-by flight availability, but sure enough they did! Selfishly...I'm a bit bummed!

In other news, it is our FAVORITE time of year here in The Woodlands! Look at all of the beauty my hard working husband has created around our yard...come on down anytime & see for yourself!!

Busy, Busy Me!

Clay calls this her punk face....she's looking at us as if to say, 'you punk, stop takin my photo'.

I love her in little hats!

Clay is home for the entire week! Each time this happens I get SO excited and look forward to all of the relaxing family time we'll have...and somehow it never happens. We always take on too much when he has big chunks of time like this. Our current projects list is 15 items long...ugh.

Topping the list is turning what used to be our office into Luci's playroom & turning the Harry Potter closet (our closet under the stairs) into our office. The dilemmas and complications are never ending...with the worst being what happens to all of the 'stuff' that was stored in the Harry Potter closet when it was just a closet? Purge & find new nooks & crannies...that is what we are trying to do anyway. We wanted the room to turn into our adult room...where no kids & cats were allowed. However after a bit of a reality check from our dear friends with little ones & visits to their playrooms, we realized this was just not to be in this smallish house. And so Luci will have a super fun playroom and we will re-gain a family room that isn't totally over-run with toys. We also want the playroom to function as a guest room in a pinch...like this weekend when we'll be blessed with a visit from my mom & sister Baylee as well as Clay's brother Keith. Clay & Keith are going saltwater fishing this weekend, while we girls are just chillin. So much to do!

A sudden, new addition to the list is some dental work for me. Double ugh. I had a regular cleaning scheduled (hoping to cross something OFF of the list), but I went too long between appointments and sure enough I have 2 cavities (my 2nd & 3rd EVER). I also have some early gum disease! So I'm freaked out & full of anxiety about the pain I'll endure tomorrow while getting all of this taken care of. I hate hate HATE going to the dentist. So my attempt to get something crossed off of the list actually added to the list. But at least they could fit me in tomorrow & I can just get it over with.

And on that note, I need to go load up the car with items for Goodwill.

Busy, Busy Bee

Sweet baby. Luci misses her dad...he's doing a Navy stint at the moment...each morning she kind of peers out the door as if to say, 'Daaaaddd....where are you???' Then when we walk out of her room she looks down into the living room expectantly...then she realizes it is just me...I think she might be bored with me!
She pulled up all by herself today!


Here she is climbing onto her table. My my our little girl is busy!!

Toothy grin

I left to run errands today for a few hours...and I came home to find that my baby now has a tooth that shows every time she grins. I swear...this happened over the course of a few hours! So our sweet baby girl has a front bottom tooth that peeps its pearly white top into her grin.


We (or maybe better said, I,) are (am) having a hard time transitioning from 3 naps to 2. Sometimes it is obvious if she needs that third nap...and some days it is questionable. For example, her 2nd nap today was cut a bit short, and she woke up at 2:20p after about an hour. Tonight at 5p she started yawning, rubbing her eyes. So I decide to bite the bullet & put her down for the third nap. She could have stayed awake until 6:30p or so and just gone to bed early, but then she's up at like 5:45a, ready to go. So I thought I'd put her down & just keep her up a bit later tonight. But now she's been crying for over 10 long minutes & I'm sitting here wondering...should I go get her? Maybe she doesn't really need to sleep. But all of that crying has probably made her more tired. Yes, she's asleep now. Ugh.

Anyway...here is another fun video. She LOVES to play with her socks, and has been beating things against her chest for over a week now...but usually just with one arm/hand. This was a first...

Clay's Daughter

Working hard before she even has her breakfast! And later in the day...same position.

Luci was super cranky today...I think that second front bottom tooth is pushing through...but she didn't let that get her down...this child has her daddy's adventurous spirit.

So tonight she was hanging out on her bedroom floor while I prepared her bath. She used to hang in her crib, but in the last few weeks she's been having NONE of that. So she's hanging out on her floor. There is a plastic container that we use to put trash in. It is probably 2 feet tall, and 14 inch wide and 4 or 5 inches deep. Before I go into the bathroom to fill her tub, I see her push the container over onto its side. Okay by me (the top clicks shut, she can't open it.) I go to fill the tub. I come back. BABY IS CROUCHING ON TOP OF THE CONTAINER!!! Like she somehow climbed up the 4 or 5 inch ledge and was crouched on top of it!! Good heavens!

Here she is checking out the door jam. I have another fun video but it won't let me post it...will try again tomorrow!

The week in pictures...

A photo of me with my new 'natural' hair...I am trying to break my uber-expensive highlight habit...so I opted for an $11 box of brown hair color en route to my natural color. We'll see!Playing with Grandma & Grandpa Pierse by pulling up on the walker!Sitting with Grandpa & her favorite Uncle Keith Bear. Crawlin around...
and clownin around...she is very entertained by laundry baskets.
Sitting in the laundry basket!
Her favorite table! Just her size!
Another day, dusting her favorite table with a burp cloth.

And yet another day...hangin at her table!
Socks in the mouth while crawling...she loves to put things in her mouth & carry them that way while she cruises around!

Well the last week has been a busy one. Grandma Pierse arrived last Tuesday and Grandpa Pierse joined us down here in SE Texas on Friday. We had a wonderful week with them and now that they've left Luci is looking at me as if to say, "where did everybody go?" She also seems to know that Clay's uniform means that he's leaving; she won't smile while saying goodbye and gets my 'emotion suppressing frown'. I can already tell it is only going to get harder & harder for Dad to leave.

Teething is the new disruptor of sleep and cause of fussiness. She's pulling on her ear & itching the back of her head a lot, which I've learned means her mouth hurts. We can clearly see her bottom left tooth, and we catch glimpses of white under the gum on the bottom right. I think the days of her big open mouth tooth-less grin are limited!