Clingy

I said I was going to try to blog every day, so here goes.  This is going to be a quick one.  My poor kid doesn't know if she's coming or going.  My normally independent, loves new people, little girl has been so incredibly clingy for the past 2 days.  I think she's worried I'm going to leave her.  I wasn't with her last weekend, then I brought her right to Maine from New Hampshire without Steve.  I think she's really confused about what's going on and it makes her worried that I'm going to leave next.  I guess it doesn't help that she's in a completely different place, surrounded by people she doesn't know very well.

Yesterday I couldn't even walk into another room and she was crying hysterically.  I had to take her with me to the bathroom.  She was nervous to go to any new person.  By this afternoon she had calmed down a little.  She's getting more comfortable being at Grammy's house, and even walked around with her for a minute when we went shopping today.  I actually got to eat my lunch at the counter, and watched her play by herself in the living room.  Serious progress!

She also really misses her Daddy.  She asks for him every morning when she wakes up, and I have to tell her that he's not here.  At various points all day she asks for him.  Thank goodness she understands the phone and likes to talk to him.  I'm really looking forward to him getting here on Thursday, but I'm nervous that he's going to leave again on Sunday and we'll stay for another week without him.  Hopefully she'll be okay because Nanny, Grampy, and Aunt Kelly will be here to help distract her!

Weekend Off!

This is the third time in the last about three weeks that I've started a post.  I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.  No, that's not right.  That I am going to finish this post.  We spent last week at Newfound Lake in New Hampshire and I had made a plan to post EVERY DAY while I was there.  Unfortunately the internet that was prominently advertised with the rental didn't really work, so I was off the hook.  I mean, so I was really bummed that I didn't have to think about things to write about every day.

Today I think I'll start with what I was going to write about last Sunday when I got to the lake.  Prior to my arrival at the lake I had a WHOLE WEEKEND OFF!  I waved to Steve and Evelyn on Friday evening at 6:00 as they headed off on their way to New Hampshire, and I was alone.  It was going to be basically the first time I was alone in my house for an extended period of time since Evelyn was born.  It was glorious, especially after a tortuous week of in-service. I could do whatever I wanted, however I wanted, whenever I wanted.  So what did I do?  Plopped my behind on the couch and didn't move for 3 hours.

When I finally did move, it was right into my bed (yes, at 9:00.  Actually it was 8:45.  On a Friday.  I'm cool.).  I slept the sleep of the dead.  It was pretty much the first full night sleep I had in about 3 weeks.  Between Evelyn being sick and the stress of the end of the school year, I needed that sleep and it was awesome to know that I was going to sleep and no one was going to need me in the middle of the night or first thing in the morning.  I woke up refreshed and decided to enjoy a walk that didn't require a cuppy, snacks, toys, and a toddler who doesn't like being contained in a stroller anymore.

As I was walking, I couldn't stop thinking about what was waiting for me at home.  It was a cup of coffee!  A cup of coffee that I was going to get to drink while it was still warm.  A cup of coffee that I was going to have to worry about anyone grabbing and spilling.  A cup of coffee that I didn't have to finish in the car on my way to work.  It was awesome.

The rest of the day went oh so quickly, but was equally enjoyable.  I got a mani/pedi with my mom and we spent a little time running a few errands.  Afterwards I went with my parents to the wedding of some family friends and had a great time with them.  

On Sunday, after another great night sleep I was ready to get myself ready and hit the road for New Hampshire to see my two favorite people!

Snow Boots

Today I felt like a shmuck when I picked up Evelyn from school.  I was informed that the kids would be going outside tomorrow for just a little while.  Awesome!  My kid loves a break from the norm.  We're all in need of some fresh air.  I spend all day with 24 ten year olds who haven't been able to go outside in weeks.  Trust me, I totally get it when a teacher says she needs to get the kids out for just a bit.  But then they hit me with...

"The playground still has just a bit of snow on it in a few places, so you probably want to send in a spare outfit.  Oh, and her snow boots."

Snow boots?  What snow boots?  We've been living in a polar vortex for the past three months.  I don't care how fun snow is, I'm not going out with a one year old in 8 degree weather.  Plus, she doesn't know what she's missing yet, so I never bought the snow boots this year.  For the 10 minutes we spent in the snow I wrapped her up really well and put her in the sled.  Boots not necessary.

Me: Um, well.  We don't have an snow boots.

Teacher: How about rain boots?

SERIOUSLY???  I don't take my kid out in the snow, you honestly think I threw down $25 for a pair of rain boots instead?  So we can frolic around in the rain?  For all of the stomping in puddles we do?  IN THE MIDDLE OF WINTER???

Me: Well, we don't have those either.  I'm good with you just sending her out in her sneakers and if they get wet could you just take them off when you come back inside?  Would that be ok?

Teacher: Oh, sure!  We could just do that!

Me: Great.  Thanks.  We'll be sure to put extra clothes and socks in her bag.

Naturally, the minute Steve got home I was out the door to Target on the very off chance that they still have some form of boot my kid can wear out on the playground tomorrow.  Naturally, no boots.  But if tomorrow were beach day at school she would be good to go because they had every kind of sandal, flip flop, bathing suit, and sunglasses imaginable.
 

Snow Day

I love a snow day as much as the next person.  But when you're on your fifth or so snow day of the year, with a one year old, snow day takes on a whole new meaning.  Don't get me wrong, I love the extra days with Evelyn.  What I don't love is being stuck in the house with her.  She really likes to be on the move and it's always better when we can get out somewhere, anywhere.

I seriously look forward to the day when she is a little older and we can do stuff like I did when I was a kid and had snow days.  I am imagining making bread (my mom is a genius with that one...between the mixing, rising, kneading, rising, rolling, baking, eating - it's an all day project!), snowmen, hot chocolate with dipping toast, it's going to be legend-waitforit...  Going to be waiting on this one for a while, because when your kid is just one, snow days take on a whole different tone.  And when your snow day starts the way that ours did, it's a whole different, different tone.

Imagine if you will being awoken at 2 am, but not by your child.  This time it's the banging noise coming from the heat pump outside.  The thing is rattling and shaking like it's about to explode and I was convinced we were facing some cold days ahead.  I woke up Steve and we checked it out, only to discover that it was covered with about an inch of ice.  He proceeded to bundle up and headed out to start breaking off the ice.  I "googled it" and discovered the best way to go about this was to turn off the heat and pour hot water over the ice.  For the next 45 minutes I handed pots of hot water to him out the window.  Thank God when we finished and turned the heat back on the shaking and rattling had stopped.  Unfortunately though we were both too on edge worrying that it was going to happen again or that it was something other than the ice causing the noise that neither of us could fall back asleep.

The lack of sleep helped us both to notice immediately that the power went off just before 5 am.  At this point I was praying for a two hour delay so I could try to doze a little.  Thank goodness for cell phones because I was able to check the school website to learn about my delay.  At that moment I started planning what hat I was going to wear to school because without a shower, it was going to be a necessity, and I really still wanted to get to work (the number of snow days is starting to make me really nervous about a vacation we have planned!).

Evelyn woke up and was not very happy with her cold milk, but dealt with her cold oatmeal.  We got through a few hours, and were absolutely delighted when the power came back on around 9:00.  We took that opportunity to clean off the new ice that was forming on the heat pump.  About 10 minutes after we finished, and before we managed to make any coffee, the power was back out.  Out of sheer desperation, we piled into the car to go to Wawa for coffee and something hot for lunch.  And let me tell you, 20 minutes playing with Evelyn in the car while Steve dealt with the crowd in Wawa was almost like a trip to the playground.

It was back to the cold house after that.  And when you're stuck in the house for the second time in a week, there's only so many new toys you can create...

Busy beads can keep you busy for only so long...

There's only so many times Daddy can run you back and forth between the chimes.

Only so many forts you can crush...

And only so many reinforcements Mommy can call...

So when the word started to spread tonight that there is another snow day tomorrow, I did the only thing a normal mom can do.  

She's Definitely Our Kid

As Evelyn gets older it becomes more and more apparent that she is most definitely our child.  Not like there was every any kind of doubt, but honestly.  It's getting a little scary.

Here are some of the top reasons I know she was meant for us:

1. She loves to read bookies.  For hours at a time.  And by she, I mean she loves ME to read her bookies.  The same 5 books over and over and over again even though she has about 50 that she could pick from.  One snow day I quite literally read her Brown Bear, Brown Bear 6 times in a row.  Then we moved on to But Not the Hippopotamus at least 4 times.  Don't get me wrong, I love that she loves reading.  She points to things in the pictures, she holds the books correctly, she turns pages.  She's definitely going to have her concepts about print mastered by the time she goes to school.  
2. She's getting a little stubborn.  When she wants to read books, there is nothing going to get in the way.   When she wants the paci, hand it over.  She doesn't want this cup, she wants the other cup.  It's getting a little crazy. This is quite obviously a trait she has inherited from her father.  :)
3. She cleans up after herself.  I have tried to get a picture of it, but she then wants to play with my phone and we're trying to put a stop to that (but it's really hard...the stubbornness you know.)  After dinner if you hand her a paper towel she will wipe off her tray.  This is another one that she gets from her dad.  
4. She's not the best sleeper, like me.  She often wakes up a few times a night and has trouble falling back asleep.  I attribute my sleep troubles to stress, I really wish I knew what a one year old could be stressed about. 
5. She spends her snow days eating everything she can find, mostly cookies.  She knows exactly where they are and walks over to the pantry and points and screeches until you give in.   
6. She gets cabin fever, just like her dad.  Neither of them like being stuck inside for too long.  The cold weather and snow has been really hard.   I have had to make up countless errands to run so that we can get out on these freezing days we've been having.  We've made many trips to Target and made a few trips to the Exton Mall's indoor playground.  
7. She likes the cold weather like her mom!  Apparently we could have been spending time outside instead of on pointless errands this whole time.  In an effort to change the scenery today we finally bundled Evelyn up and packed her into her little sled to try it out.  She LOVED it!  She waved at the other people shoveling and at me across the yard.  We even went out again later this afternoon for more sled fun!

 

I know it doesn't necessarily look like she's that into it, but as soon as I took the camera in out of the snow she started smiling and laughing!

I was going to try to make this list even between how she's like both of us, but it has become very lopsided.  I decided that's okay because I'm the one writing, so if it's more about me then that's just the way it's going to be for the time being!!  

One Last Post that Mentions Feet

So this will hopefully be the very last post that mentions feet for quite some time, and I promise it won't be all about feet.  Just one little blurb kind of in the middle.  It's going to mostly be about vomit.

Steve and I have been pretty lucky so far in regard to Evelyn's health (I am currently knocking on everything wooden within arm's reach).  We have had two cases of sickness, one back in October and the other about two weeks ago at this point.  The thing about Evelyn getting sick is that it doesn't seem to just be that she gets sick and then starts to get better.  There are always multiple components to her illnesses and it just gets worse and worse.  In fact I wanted to write this blog during her illness, but every time I thought it was safe to write, the next layer of sickness would begin.

The first week brought us a cough that just got progressively worse.  By Saturday she had a pretty bad diaper rash, similar to when she had a yeast infection.  We went to the doctor, where we were lucky to see our favorite pediatrician.  Diagnosis: mild croup and a yeast infection.  Not much to do for the croup other than lots of liquids and steam to help break up the gunk.

I took the opportunity to ask about her turned in feet.  She basically told us everything we had read/heard.  The turned in feet results from the way babies are positioned in the uterus.  It has to do with the muscles on the inside and outside of the feel being used to being in that position.  In general the feet straightened themselves back out 6-12 months after beginning to walk.  She checked that they can be pulled straight, and said that indicates no bones out of place.  She finished with the comment I have heard from more doctors lately..."I'm sure everything is fine, but we will keep a close eye on it in future appointments."

Saturday evening continued with her fever going up slightly, and Mommy headed out for a night out with friends!  Poor Daddy dealt with a sick baby, who just didn't want to fall asleep.  When I got home I received the ultimate baptism into Mommyhood.  Projectile vomit.  When the vomit starts you would think like a normal person you would make a run for the bathroom, the sink, at least the hallway where there is hardwood floors that are much easier to clean up.  All I could manage was to cup my hands in front of her mouth and yell for Steve to come figure things out.  He managed to carry her into the bathroom, while I tried to contain the vomit to my hands and pj's and avoid the rug and vomiting myself.

Got baby girl cleaned up, calmed down, and back to bed.

By Sunday we thought everything was good.  The rash was clearing up, she was still pretty congested, but seemed to be ok, although not eating much.  I decided to try to get her out of the house a little and we went over to my parents'.  Evelyn saw an avocado on the counter and was reaching for it and whining, so I thought maybe her appetite was coming back and cut it up for her.  She scarfed some down, and finally took a little nap on me.  She woke up from the nap coughing, and proceeded to throw up the avocado.  Once again, I just totally panicked.  There was just nothing I could do other than cup my hands and hope I caught everything I could.  This time my dad saved the day by grabbing a towel and helping me catch.  Once we cleaned her up and calmed her down, she was pretty happy.  She ate a little dinner, and we headed home.  The minute we got her out of the car she started vomiting again, only this time neither of us were in a position to catch anything, and I ended up covered from head to foot.

On Tuesday it took me an hour to try to get her to go down for a nap.  I finally just decided to let her cry it out.  As soon as I got downstairs the crying turned to the tell tale coughing that signaled puke was on the way.  I naturally didn't make it in time, and opened the door to a baby and a crib both covered.  Poor, poor baby wouldn't let us put her down for the rest of the day.  She dozed on Mommy, she napped with Daddy, but she would NOT sleep in her crib.  She was lethargic, pale, and warm.  If it hadn't been for the snow storm outside, I would have been very close to making a trip to the ER.  I finally got some PediaLite in her and she made a turn around.

It was a slow recovery from Tuesday, but we seem to have made a full recovery at this point.  We're just back to sleep training because we did some serious coddling while she was sick and our child suddenly thinks it's okay to wake up at 4:30 in the morning for a cup of milk.  It's really, really not.

More About Shoes

Since my last post I've been on a roller coaster.  Two days after getting those darn shoes on her feet in 30 seconds, I spent 20 minutes one morning trying to get her shoe on that left foot.  I cried all day, convinced that her feet are just a mess.  (It didn't help that things have been a little stressful at work...)

When I picked her up from Steve's aunt that day, she had managed to get the shoes on, but said the left one had been a little bit of a struggle.  I was just beside myself again.

At daycare the next day I told Evelyn's teacher what had happened at the shoe store, and asked her to watch her walk for me a little today to see if she noticed anything.  She didn't even have to think about it, she said that she had just noticed a little turn in the week before.  She was also very reassuring in that it's not uncommon, it generally corrects itself.  Ugh.  Another day spent on the verge of tears.

Steve and I spent days watching Evelyn's walking and came to the conclusion that her foot is definitely turned in.  He did what he always does with any kind of ailment, and WebMD-ed it.  I did what I always do...call my mom.  Steve's research reinforced what Evelyn's teacher said, that the turned in feet are very common in infants/toddlers, and it often corrects itself.  My mom was reassuring, too, but reminded me of my awesome insurance, and said if I was really upset about it, call the doctor and take her in if they want to see her.  I've calmed down a little, and haven't made the phone call yet.  I may wait for her 15 month appointment.

Since last week, some days I can get her shoes on no sweat, others are a little harder.  If I struggle, I put them aside for a while and try again later.  I've discovered a few things.  The socks make a difference.  They need to be very fitted.  Often the day after she's worn them for a while, it is harder to get them on (is it possible her feet swell??).

To finish off, Steve and I took Evelyn into DSW last weekend because we needed to look for some shoes ourselves.  Evelyn acted like she's been shopping for shoes for years.

She knew exactly what section to go for!

And loved checking herself out in the mirror!