Saturday, April 29, 2006

12 to 15 months.


Laura at the 12 month checkup (and shots).


I always believed that Laura would walk early b/c even at 3 months, she would always try to stand whenever I would hold her. I thought she had strong leg muscles. However, she still does the crazy side shuffle to get around and she has become quite adept and fast. The other factor that I did not forsee is that she is an incredibly careful child. She is cautious with doing any type of activity so that may have been a factor in her desire to stand and walk early.

October 29th at 8:25pm. Hubby was at work. I was getting Laura ready for bed when we started singing "Itsy bitsy spider" in her room. For some reason, she decided that this was the reason to stand. She made several attempts and stood up by the end of the song. It was phenomenal.

The impending winter of Boston approaches.

November 7. Hubby decided not to go to work tonight and spend some time with the family. This is the night that baby Laura decided to take some steps. She has been doing well standing up but was such an efficient shuffler that I didn't think she would ever walk. Well, tonight she took her first steps and hubby got it on video. She walked from the refrigerator across the floor and we were both cheering like little school girls.

I don't remember when this happened but it was around this age. Laura could walk a little bit and also cruise easily. I had just put the tray back on the high chair but I put it at the very end of the chair. Laura pulled up on the chair and the whole thing collapsed on her. Uuggh. The tray part hit her mouth and she got a small gash. I know this is just the start of all of the things that kids get into but still... it was heart stopping.

December 17, 2006. I got Laura all dolled up for a Christmas get together at our home. We had a good mix of people from all different aspects of our lives. Laura was good overall. There were a bunch of kids around Laura's age and it just confirmed the fact that I have now become a "mother" and can never go back to the carefree single days. I just looked around in amazement and thought, "dear God, I never thought that my life could come to THIS." but it has.

Christmas Eve
Laura is 15 months at this time. It's Saturday and we were having lunch. Hubby was having a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich. I figured, it should be fine to have her try it. Yes, they say to not give peanut butter till she's 2 years of age but her little friend Thomas has been eating it since year 1. Plus, we have no food allergies in either side of the family, yada, yada, yada. She must have had a teaspoon. She started crying shortly after that and I figured it was nap time and she was tired. She kept rubbing at her eyes. I took her upstairs and that's when I noticed the welts on her eyes and around her mouth. We gave her some benadryl. She was miserable and crying nonstop. He breathing started getting weezy so hubby left and get to the pharmacy. The 10 minutes that he was gone was frightening. She kept nodding off and I held her trying to keep her awake. Hubby came back with primatene mist (epi) and he gave her a dose. I pulled up her shirt and noticed a rash on her stomach and I said, 'we have to go to the hospital'. So Christmas eve, we spent at Faulkner hospital. By the time we got there (they rushed us in), she was back to her normal self, breathing better, walking around being inquisitive. By the time the doctor saw her, she was fine. She was discharged essentially with a presription for steroids and to go see her pediatrician (duh). Right out of the parking lot, we got a flat tire. What a day. Here's Laura after her nap, eating dinner with her eyes all puffed up. Poor munchkin.


It is somewhat of a tradition (since my family is NOT traditional) that we open presents together on Christmas eve vs the morning. I figured that this could continue with my new family. So here is Laura tearing into her presents after her anaphylactic reaction to peanut butter. Pretty resilient child, I must say. Thank goodness for Mr. W or she would have NO presents to open on these holidays!

Winter has arrived.

Cutie

Friday, April 07, 2006

1 year birthday

Sept 20th: Laura has a birthday party at her daycare.







All her little friends were very well behaved and sitting quietly throughout the process. Laura, however, being her "big" day, ate the top of her hat and would not sit still in her chair. She would continually try to climb up onto the table and also take away her little friend's treats. All in all, it was pretty fun. It was the first time she ever had cake. Happy birthday Laura.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

9 to 12 months

July 26th: Laura can crawl up the stairs!

Aug 5th: My sister visits for the weekend. We do some outlet shopping and my sis and Laura continue to bond.

Aug 15th: FINALLY: first tooth:top front.

Aug 21st: (where did the summer go!) Friends of mine with their 1 1/2 yo son (Thomas) as Laura calls him "Ahmi" come over for homemade pizza. Then we go to the Franklin Zoo. It is HOT and HUMID. The zoo is pretty dilapidated. The rainforest part with the gorilla smelled so bad that I was getting nauseous but Laura didn't even flinch. She was very observant but I don't know how much she got out of it being so young.

Aug 28th: The family flies down to DC/Baltimore area to visit hubby's friends (they have 3 boys: Jonah, Yisrael, and Noah: ages 2 1/2 to 6).

Aug 29th: Hubby, Laura and I go to Baltimore for an Orioles game. We get very good seats b/c they are currently a terrible team and can't fill the stands. It's a hot muggy day. We end up walking around a lot after the game to find someplace to eat. We end up at ESPN restaurant which is pretty bad but baby friendly. We go back to the hotel exhausted.

Aug 30th: We and hubby's friend's family go to my Aunt's house for dinner in Silver Springs. My parents have also come down. A big Korean feast in an adult house with 4 young kids. It turns out to be pretty low key and a good reunion. Laura is an angel.

Back to Boston on the 31st. I took more vacation days through to Labor day. It's nice to relax and just hang out at home. Laura is able to slide down by herself on the slide. I don't know about other kids but Laura is particularly cautious. She does not leap or dodge like other kids.

Sept 3rd: Friends of mine with their 2yo daughter (Adrian) go to the Children's Museum. We get there late afternoon on Sat. There's a new Clifford exhibit which was perfect for Laura. The rest of the museum seemed more appropriate for older kids. I let her wander around on her own, scooting on her rear. At this stage, she can scoot pretty quickly.

Sept 16th: My sister comes to visit, then my brother the next day for Laura's birthday weekend. We end up doing some shopping and then Bugaboo creek for dinner. Laura passes out during dinner and doesn't even get a birthday cake. My mom sent her a traditional Korean dress for her birthday. She looks so uncomfortable.

Laura eating a block of tofu at a local sushi restaurant in Roslindale.

Saturday, April 01, 2006

6 to 9 months


Beginning of 7 months: the cycle of sickness with fevers and cold continues.
April brings in better weather and more activity outside. Boston winters are just so brutal and long.

April 28th: Laura and I go to a get together at a bar (yes a bar) for a coworker who is leaving. Laura tries lemons for the first time and she is hooked.

May 6th: My cousin came down from Toronto to visit Laura for the first time. They are kindred spirits since they were both born on the same day. We don't do much since the weather is cold and rainy. We window shopped at Burlington Mall and I got a large tub of Legal's Seafood clam chowder which my cuz chowed down on.

May 12th: Family trip to NYC. Drive down but leave in the evening at 8pm so Laura slept the whole way down. We stayed at the Iroquois hotel which was pricey and the room was the size of our bathroom. Very small. Laura woke up once we got to the hotel and we had a tough time getting her down since she was not familiar with her surroundings.
We went to the MOMA the next day which was fun.
On Saturday, met up with my sis for some shopping. Dropped off the child with her. My hubby and I met up with some friends and went out! Went to a jazz club (which was already over by the time we got there), had pizza and ended up at "W" for drinks.
Left for Boston at noon on Sunday.

May 21st. (Saturday) Laura and I with a friend and her 2 year old go to the NE aquarium. It's a cold rainy day and we are not appropriately dressed. Laura's not that interested (at this stage of her development) in the penguins or the fish. I also see how incredibly rude people in NE really are. Here we are, 2 women with 2 strollers trying to go to the bathroom and no one, I mean NO ONE, helps with the door. MANY people are seeing us struggle and essentially pass by without even a glance and women are walking through the door, THROUGH THE DOOR, without helping us.
Afterwards, we stop at Legals and it's packed. We end up going to a small cafe near my home (Italian) for dinner with our 2 small children. It was complete chaos with broken dishes and all. We paid and left a large tip and walked out with our heads bowed.


It's hard to remember her eating pattern. Early on, she was very finicky. I tried pureeing a lot of different stuff, tried the store bought jar stuff but she didn't really like that either. There was about a month sometime around this age where she wasn't eating that much and looking rather thin. However, once she started real food, this girl showed us that she could EAT. Unfortunately, her teeth weren't cooperating since she didn't even break in a tooth until 11 months! Oops, I'm jumping ahead.

June 10th: My good friend from CA came to visit for the weekend.

June 12th: Laura says "MAMA"!

June 13th: Laura is now able to stand herself up in the crib and putting her down to sleep is now a problem. She just stands at the crib with her little fingers clutching the bars like a caged animal shrieking. We endure this for several days but my heart couldn't take it. I'm so weak. So, I started to put her in our bed until she falls asleep, then pick her up and put her in the crib.

June 25th: Trip to Martha's vineyard with friends (the one with the 2 y.o.) sans my hubby who was working. Nice daytrip. Again, didn't dress appropriately since I figured it's the summer and it would be hot but the ferry ride was chilly b/c of the constant wind. We walked around and went to a small beach, rode the ferris wheel. On our return, we missed the ferry (b/c it leaves at a different site!) so we ended up getting on the last ferry home (9pm) andI didn't get home till midnight! It was freezing by then but the girls were knocked out. Overall good trip.


July 3rd: Take a day trip with a friend of mine to Rowley to a huge flea market. I bought a small adorable toddler rocking chair. Stop off at the Clam Box in Ipswich for clam strips. YUM. Laura would rather have the french fries!

July 7th: Hubby's close family friends arrive and stay with us for5 days for their son's wedding (July 9th). It's wonderful having them stay with us. We don't see much of them b/c they are so busy with the wedding but it's still a blessing to have them with us for for that duration.

The wedding was nice and Laura was a doll the whole time. So well behaved. There was some drama right after the ceremony. We went to the reception for a few hours and went home early to put Laura to bed.

July 13th: Laura starts crawling. Initially, I was trying to show her how to crawl by going on all fours and crawling. However, Laura decided that that was not how she was going to do it. She scooted instead. We figured she would grow out of this but from this time to the time she started standing, she would sit on her behind, her scoot along. It was very cute. Only one side of her pants would wear down.

3 to 6 months

Jan 3, 2005
Start back full time at work. Uughh. Laura's dad takes over the care during the day and works at night. I take over when I get home from work. This goes on for the majority of 2 months and then we started transitioning her to parttime daycare down the street.


Jan 14: Pediatric 4 month appt: 25 1/4 inches and 13 lbs 6oz. She gets shots which wipe her out for the whole day so we took advantage of it and went to see a matinee: "Million Dollar Baby". She slept through the entire movie.



Jan 23 (Sunday): In Boston, we get a blizzard. 2 feet of snow. Laura turns onto her stomach for the first time.


Feb 4th: Put a bid for new home. (Let the nightmare begin)

Feb 6th: Superbowl XXXIX. NE vs. Eagles (NE wins, I'm a Philly girl so I was bummed)

March 11th: Pediatric 6 month visit. 27 inches, 15lbs.

March 16th: Closing of new home ( 2wks past the closing date with LOTS of hell)

March 20th: Laura first fever/cold. 100.3, 101.7, 102. Go to doctor's next day for antibiotics. The cycle of being sick every 2 wks begins at this point with cross contamination and misery for everyone in the household (especially me!).


March 29th: Start partial move to new house. Laura is a little spooked at the new environment and does not sleep well.

Some things about Laura: Since birth she has been an astoundingly good baby. She started sleeping through the night at 3 months for 8 to10 hrs. It was so startling that initially I would keep checking on her to see if she was still breathing and sometimes wake her up to feed. (She definitely gets the sleeping gene from her father)

I pumped for about 4 months and stored a lot of milk in the freezer after trying to breastfeed the first week of her life and failing miserably. I was a good pumper and she would also go back and forth with formula as well. She was never fickle about that.

After starting work, I tried breastfeeding again. Just 2 times a day: before work and in the evening till she was 6 months. This brought me so much joy and I felt a real sense of bonding with her. After 6 months, I pretty much dried up. She had enough frozen breast milk for another couple of months where I would mix some into her formula.

At 6 months, she started waking up in the middle of the night so I fortified her milk with powdered cereal and she was sleeping through the night again. With the introduction of food, she still continues to sleep like a champ.


The only other problem that I can remember Laura having was the chronic cheek/ear itching problem. She never had an ear infection but she would just scratch her cheeks raw. We tried everything: gloves/mitts at night, salve, even putting adhesive on her face so that she wouldn't scratch through it. She eventually stopped at maybe 7 or 8 months without rhyme or reason.

April 7th: My parents came up to visit and stayed for 6 glorious days. My sister came up for that weekend. I wish they lived close by. I never realized how important family was until having a child. You can't just dump your kid on some friends but you can with your family. Oh, to have just a few hours of time for oneself. I missed it so much during the first year.