1 Month to Go

Until Taylor turns one years old that is.  What?!?!  It's time for the 11 month update!

Let's see....Taylor will take a few steps by herself but it has always been quickly followed by a flop down to the floor.  I think the most steps she's taken at once has been 7.  So will she be completely walking before she turns 1?  Eh....I kinda doubt it.  Honestly, that is A-okay with me because she gets into enough stuff as it is!  And also in the physical development (and I guess cognitive) Taylor is starting to "experiment" with clapping.  She loves when other people clap but has been slow to do it herself.  Literally!  When she claps, she brings her hands together verrrry slowly and she watches both of them like "slooowwlly, sloooowly.....line them up....make them touch...."  It is actually hilarious to watch her concentrate so hard.  It's like she wants to do it just perfectly!

No words yet either.  I mean we get lots of "mama"s and "dada"s but does she really know what she's saying?  I have to be a pessimist and say no.  But I have heard that babies either work on the talking thing or the walking thing, not both at the same time.  So maybe she'll say her first word after she gets this walking thing under control? 

I think she's doing well cognitively.  She loooves looking at herself in the mirror and at pictures of herself.  I think I wrote that in her last update but honestly, I feel like she enjoys it even more now.  Oh such a narcissist!  She is also starting to learn cause and effect.  Her latest discovery is that Sadie (our new dog) will bark at her if she pulls on Sadie's fur.  Taylor loves it when Sadie barks; she laughs hysterically.  So what does Taylor do whenever she gets near Sadie?  Pull on her fur of course!  To be honest I'm not thrilled that Taylor doesn't understand that Sadie is warning her.  Taylor has got to learn that not all doggies just bark and never bite like Sadie.

And another tooth cut through last week so that brings us up to 7!  I was hoping it was a molar but no such luck- it was an incisor.  I know Taylor is anxious to start eating table food.  She watches us eat very intently and the other day I had a cracker hanging out of my mouth (I was making funny faces at her) and she broke the cracker off and put it in her mouth!  I do like trying new foods with her.  I'm proud to say that she tried hummus over the weekend and liked it a lot!  (She also liked the chocolate ice cream I let her try last week- shhhh!)

Overall she is a very happy little girl (who by the way now sleeps from 6 PM to 6 or 6:30 AM- it is wonderful!) and I can't believe in less than a month she will be one years old.  Birthday party plans are in full swing!

It's a.....

We had our "big" ultrasound today.  Everything with baby looks great- already measuring at 14 oz.  My midwife (who actually is moving away- sadness!!) said our ultrasound could not have looked more perfect.
But we found out that Taylor's going to have a little sister!  I see lots of matching dresses in my future.  =)  Now the hard part....the name....

How Easily We Forget

Okay moms, do you remember the floppy newborn stage?  I hate to admit it, but I had totally forgotten about it until this past weekend.  I went to visit my best friend and her adorable baby boy who will be 1 month tomorrow (sheesh already?).  I loved seeing her and meeting him but I realized that I just didn't remember what they were like at that age.  All squirmy and squeaky....and every time I held him, he started rooting around.  But I guess he does that to everyone who holds him!  Must be a boob man...haha!

Anyway, while I was holding precious little Zach, I just kept thinking oh my goodness I'm going to have to do this alll over again in a few months.  I have to admit, I'm a little apprehensive.  And why is that?  I've done it before and I obviously survived (and more importantly so did Taylor).  There shouldn't be anything to be nervous about.  Is it the fact that I'll also have a toddler?  Or that I dont' want to make the same mistakes I did before?  Gah!

Oh one more thing: last night was the first night I spent away from Taylor and it was incredibly hard.  I really didn't think it would be (I actually was looking forward to it!) but as I was laying there in bed, I couldn't help but cry because I hadn't been able to kiss my baby goodnight.  Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who is an even more wonderful father; that knowledge definitely helped.

Zachary

Food Poisoning and Diaper Rash Woes

2:00 AM Friday morning: I woke up feeling pretty nauseous.  I figured I had bad heartburn again because I had eaten right before bed (I know- so bad!) and it's happened a few times this pregnancy.  No matter what I did, the feeling would not go away, even after I swigged some apple cider vinegar (blecch!).  So I finally gave in and got sick.  Now usually, if it's heartburn, I'll feel better after doing that.  Not this time- that nauseous feeling came right back.  I knew I couldn't sleep so I watched TV.  Cut to 4 AM and I had to run to the bathroom again.....and again at 5 AM.  By this point I knew I wasn't going into work.  Even if I had not thrown up a 3rd time, I was going on 3 hours of being wide awake and I still felt so awful. 
You know the worst part about being a teacher?  I had to drive up to Rantoul at 6 AM to make sure things were ready for my sub.  And I had to do it that early so I could be back in time for Walker to leave for work.
Anyway, I felt pretty awful the whole morning; I tried eating crackers and drinking ginger ale and could not keep those down.  All I could do was lay on the couch and watch Taylor play.  It was like a total flashback to my first trimester of pregnancy.  Speaking of which, thank goodness I had a prescription for my morning sickness because taking that medicine on Friday totally helped.  I was finally able to keep some water down.
As the day wore on I was more and more convinced I had the flu because I was becoming increasingly achy, particularly in my back.
Well around 3:30 my school nurse called me and told me to call my doctor because she thought I had food poisoning.  Apparently 6 other staff members were out or went home early on Friday and another 2 complained of feeling bad, plus more teachers from another school in our district!  And it just so happens that all of us ate at Pizza Hut on Wednesday for lunch (ugggh just thinking about it makes me feel sick again).
I felt better Saturday but I didn't do a good job at replenishing my fluids and I didn't stick to bland foods so by Saturday night I felt pretty bad again.  However, I'm happy to say today was much much better.
So that was my fun bout with food poisoning.
Now here's what Taylor was dealing with:   the worst diaper rash I've ever seen.  I don't know what to do for her.  On Friday, her butt was so red it was practically purple and there were bumps all over.  I know what the problem is- she poops all the time!  She goes at least twice a day, usually 3 times.  And it's not like we let her sit in dirty diapers.  Trust me, we change her right away because the smell is awful (especially to this pregnant lady's nose!).  We were using the butt paste but we switched to triple cream.  That seems to be working a bit better; her butt is not as red, but it's still pretty bumpy.  We did let her go naked for a little while this afternoon but I'm not sure if that made a huge difference.
I feel like we're doing all the right things to help the rash but it's not going anywhere and honestly I feel if she stopped pooping for a few days that would help greatly!  But how do you get a baby to stop pooping?  Especially when she eats a lot of fruits and veggies?  I don't want to stop the fruits and veggies because they're good for her and she likes them.  I have tried giving her more yogurt since that obviously doesn't have as much fiber in it but I'm not sure how much that is helping. 

On a good note though, sleep training is going splendidly and I'm so glad we are doing it!