Who needs pockets?

All I have to say is - dear God I hope not. My kid loves her animals too, but this is a bit ridiculous. Cute kid though!

~Becky

She had to do it herself

Allyson still gets cereal and baby food in the mornings. My independent child likes to feed herself at every other meal but has continued to let me give her breakfast. I like it. It's a nice and calm time of our day. Well...this morning...not so calm. She decided she had to feed herself breakfast. Cereal and Pear/Pineapple baby food ALL over the place. Oh the joys of motherhood.

I guess now I should mention the giant bandage on her forehead. Yea...well...this was from a trip to the emergency room last night after she tripped at my in-laws' house and split her forehead wide open. Lovely, I know. Even better was the fact that I was getting my hair done at the time. My once every six weeks splurge by myself with my great friend Ginne at the helm - ruined by a then mad dash to the ER. I was able to sit under the dryer for a few so I could continue processing before running out the door. No way in hell was I going anywhere with foils in my hair lookin' like the flying nun - even with a child in distress. Maybe I'm a bad mom, but I have my limits. I talked with Steve on the phone, she wasn't crying, she didn't black out, the bleeding had stopped, just looked like it needed stitches - okay I can rinse and then go. So I rushed out the door with a towel in hand to try and dry off on the way.

She was such a trooper at the ER. They got her in right away. And she was such a good girl. She only got a little pissy cause she wanted to get down and run around but there was no way I was going to let her down on the floor of an ER - I don't think so.

The doc and nurses came in, decided that the gash lined up pretty well, wouldn't need stitches, and glued her back together. And that was pretty much it. Now I just have to prevent the dogs from licking her face for the next two weeks. Awesome - she walks right up to them and practically begs for it. Good luck to me.

So...that was our first (and hopefully only) trip to the ER with Miss Allyson Jae. I'll take the bandage off later today and take some shots of the lovely gash for show and tell.

~Becky

Maybe not everything's funny

Last night was rough. We haven’t had a night like that in about six months – as in before Allyson was sleeping through the night.

Allyson’s got diaper rash. Horrible, terrible diaper rash. Diaper rash that wakes her up in the middle of the night screaming bloody murder. Diaper rash that makes my normally happy little girl a screaming, heart wrenching painful little thing to watch.

She’s never had this happen before. I’m not one of those Moms that lets her sit in wet diapers. I’m pretty anal about it if you ask me. So I was at my wits end trying to make her feel better and every time the solution I came up with failed I could feel my heart break that much more.

It started when I got home from work. Steve said her had changed Allyson and she fought him the whole time he was doing it – her bottom was just red all over. She’s usually pretty good about getting her diaper changed. When it was time for bed and I was putting on her PJs I noticed that she was still dry so I just peeked and saw the same thing. I figured I’d just let her be…no use in making her feel any worse.

Bedtime was 8 pm. The screaming started at about 10:15. Thankfully Steve and I were still up watching TV. Usually when the kiddo cries once she’s in bed I let her go for a few minutes – she usually goes right back to sleep. This time things were different.

Picking her up out of her crib I noticed that she was jerking backwards any time I put any pressure on her bottom. Poor thing – I knew she was in pain. I could tell that she went number two and took her to her changing table. Here’s where it got really bad. She wouldn’t let me near her with a wipe. Kicking…screaming…crying big huge tears. She was in so much pain. I tried a warm washcloth, a cold washcloth. I yelled at Steve to draw her bath…I needed to get the yucky stuff off of her somehow. The bath was even worse. Hot water and hot baby bottom was not a good combo. By now Steve and I were feeling like the worst parents on the planet.

When I got her calmed down, naked girl in my arms wrapped in a blanket, she seemed to be doing a bit better. I let her run around the family room sans diaper for a little bit. Things were better…until she peed. Oh lord…screams all over again. I called my Mom, hysterical, who prescribed hydro cortisone cream (which I had Thank God) and cornstarch (also had it – YES). Steve and I laid her down and administered the remedy. The cortisone cream seemed to help. We were able to get the diaper and PJ’s back on.

Unfortunately, the only time my kid will sit and cuddle with me is when she’s not feeling well. I love these times, but hate that she has to suffer for it to happen. We rocked in the chair and watched Private Practice until she decided it was time to go to bed. (She’s been telling us “buh-buh” and waving when she’s ready to sleep – adorable). I put her in her crib on her side and let her fall asleep.

Then I broke down. Hysterical – seeing my kid in that much pain was the worst. Steve was able to talk me down but… 3 am – it started all over again. At least this time we knew what to do. I was able to get her changed and calmed down a little quicker but –UGH–it was bad.

The morning was better. We’re slowly getting there. Her poor bottom is improving, but this has been a real rotten 24 hours. You win some, you lose some while parenting. This one we figured out a little late. Thank goodness she’ll never remember it. Maybe only ready Momma’s blog sometime. :-)

~Becky

Latest stats...

Here's the stats from Allyson's one year appointment. Lindsay - your girls will be here before you know it!

Weight : 20 pounds 11.5 ounces (43rd percentile)

Height: 28.75 inches (32nd percentile)

She's inching up in that percentile scale. She started out at such a peanut (I thought any child of mine would be off the charts like I was as a baby) but she's finally creeping up. Bad news were the five shots she sustained. Darn - I hate having to hold my child down while she screams. Thank goodness we're still using the binky (the one thing I haven't succeeded in breaking yet - more on that another day).

Allyson also graduated to the forward facing seat with these digits. Yahoo! Here are a few pics of the kiddo in her seat facing the front. She loves it!

More to come...

~Becky

Par-Tay!

The party's over. My little girl is officially one. We blew out the candles and opened the presents. Toys R Us has officially blown up my house.

We had an awesome time. Lots of family and friends there to celebrate the day. Here are a few of my favorite pics.

Allyson did a great job with opening gifts. She paid attention through most of it - albeit perusing a few empty bags, envelopes and bunches of tissue paper in the process. Thanks to a glorious group of family and friends the kid is set with clothes for the next two sizes and has enough toys I can rotate through from now until she's nineteen. SWEET!

Did you happen to see the cake that I'm holding? My sister-in-law is a fanstastic baker. She can get really creative with things (and has WAY more patience with this stuff than I could ever dream of having.) She made a special monkey-shaped banana cake for Allyson. It was A-dorable! The other cake (see below) was awesome too. Marble cake with chocolate mousse filling courtesy of Cake and Candy in Citrus Heights. (This bakery did my wedding cake and a few other cakes I've purchased - they are amazing!)

All in all it was a good week. I had about a week and a half vacation time off from work that I got to spend with my little girl. We did lots of great Mommy/Daughter things like sleep in and stay in our PJs all day.

Allyson is officially a toddler now. I can't believe how fast it has gone by. It's all true what they say (whoever they are) that time flies when you have a child. I get so excited for every milestone that she makes but then so sad for all the little things she has grown out of. She even goes for her one year check up tomorrow. She's gonna hate me when its "shot" time. Uh-oh!

~Becky

Happy Birthday baby girl!

Yesterday was Allyson's birthday. Steve had to work so we spent the day hanging around the house and then going out to lunch with the family. Here's a picture of Allyson and I at Claim Jumper (love that place even though I worked there for six years - Yum-O!)

Can you tell she's my kid? She looks so much like her Daddy. I swear I was there for the birth - oh man was I there! :-)

Even though we just had baby toy explosion at our house from Christmas she got a few more things on her actual birthday from Grandmas, Grandpas, great grandparents and an aunt and uncle who joined us for lunch. She got this adorable Precious Moments figurine from my in-laws. Love it! I'll just need to find a spot for some more shelves in her room.

She also go this cute monkey sweatshirt from my brother and sister in law.

There are a few more pics of Allyson destroying a cupcake that friends of ours made (we had a quiet New Year's at home with our buds who have a little girl about four months older than Allyson.) But they're on her camera. Steve was manning the video and I was trying to keep frosting out of my kids every orifice. I'll post those soon plus more from her party we're having on Saturday.

Hope y'all had a safe and happy new year!

~Becky