ABC's

I feel that in the very near future Toni will be talking. I mean she's talking now but mostly in blabber. But more and more that blabber starts to make sense with her pointing and tone of voice and the few words she does know. But his last week her speech is even better and understanding is outrageous! So she knows were her body parts are. Head, ears, eyes, nose, feet, etc. You can ask her where a body part is and she will point to it (assuming she's in the mood to entertain). But today, voluntarily, she walks up to me with her hands on her head and goes, "head." Of course it sounded a bit more like "ed" but still.

Her ABC's are better too. She doesn't say the ABC's from start to end but if you sing it with her she can hit some of the letters and she's pretty goob a-d. The best is the end when you sing "next time won't you sing with me" she says "me" and points to herself with such conviction. I love it!

I just can't get over how fast she's developing. And she's only 18 months! I think she's recently gained and inch too because her jeans fit her fine last week but yesterday she looked like she was flooding in them! Maybe not and inch but a significant amount. I'm so excited and sad at the same time. Excited my baby is growing and developing well. But sad it's all flying by so quickly!

Even her sleep routine doesn't even need to be as long anymore. So I quickly learned when she was just a couple months that routine means EVERYTHING. I honestly believe that had I not got her into a routine, life might be hard in that aspect. Anyway, we have a bedtime routine that we stick to and as she gets a little older it changes a little bit here and there. So for a couple months now the routine is after dinner she plays a little and at round 8 she has a bath and we go to bed. We watch a few Pajanimals songs (they are the best for night time!) and then shortly after she will fall sleep... between 8:30-9:00p. Well this past week once we get into bed and get ready to watch her Pajanimals, she'll instead already start to put herself to sleep. Sometimes she'll watch the first song or two, but the last song is always the lullaby song and she hasn't been watching that one. She already proceeds to go to sleep and to me that is just a sign of her growing up. Like she doesn't need to see them now.

By the way, watching the Pajanimals on On Demand TV is GREAT! They sometimes have tips for parents on how to help your kids to sleep and tactics too. And it's not just by any people. They are actual sleep experts with clients. So they've done the research. it's great! So in between songs, there will be a maybe5-7 min clip for parents... I love it! I'm learning a lot. I recommend you check it out of you are a parent... and have on demand on video on demand!

Bite me.

Today was quite an interesting day. I had it all planned out. Watch Merrill's game at 9am, Go shopping for food for the party we were going to tonight, come home and put Toni down for her nap. In that two hour frame, I'd cook the food for tonight and get myself ready for the 2:30p babyshower.Then after the babyshower head to the party.

So Toni and I went to Merrill's football game and it was really fun too! It was a really nice day out, and I am so impressed that these 6 year olds comprehend the game so well! They won, so go Merrill! But it was fun watching Toni and Madeline play on the sidelines and even cheer for the team.

Afterwards we were headed to the store and asI pulled into the parking lot got a call that the party was postponed. I thought, "Then I can just go home and put Toni down for her nap and then relax a little before I have to prepare myself for the babyswhower.

I was getting myself ready while Toni was napping and she woke up about 15 mins earlier than she usually does and I wasn't done getting ready. But she normally wakes from her naps happy so I figured I'll sit her down next to me while i get ready.

Not today. She woke UPSET. I mean I couldn't put her down for anything! And trust me.. I tried it ll. So we instead ened up about an hour late to the babyshower.

But we're there finally and it's the last item on the list. We get there and make way to say hi to the mommy to be, Angie. There's a little boy sitting on a woman's lap that immediately is excited to see Toni the minute she gets there. Mind you we've never seen this kid. But I figure it's a kid thing... one toddler sees another toddler and immediately is intrigued. But Toni is desperately trying to get me to hold her. I figure she's just not warmed up yet and maybe still in a bad mood from earlier. But she immediately gives Angie a hug. So we're on the other side of the room and Toni is as happy as can be! She is going to anyone and everyone and using all her charm.. blow kisses, hugs, winks.. she pulled all the tricks out. So we're sitting at the barstools and the little boy from earlier runs up to her and is trying to get her down. She doesn't seemed interested. But I put her down on the ground and tell her to say hi and play with him. He pulls her near him and she is resisting and then starts to cry really hard. I thought he was trying to kiss her and she was just in that don't-touch-me-mood. As soon as I pick her up, I see teeth marks on her cheek!

That boy was biting her cheek! omg! The teeth indentions were pretty deep and the marks really dark red. I almost thought he broke skin. Luckily he didn't and Sofia rubbed ice all over Toni's cheek to help it. Let me tell you Toni loved that! hahahaha.. she sat still like she was getting pampered (well she was) and she just enjoyed it. It was kind of funny.

Luckily the red marks and indentions went away. The mom of the boy turns and asks if Toni is ok. I say she'll be fine. And for a good while there Toni seemed perfectly fine. I was a little weary of putting Toni down after that and really just made sure that boy wasn't near her. Well as some time passes, the bruises start to appear. :( My poor baby has teeth mark bruises on her cheek. Fortunately it doesn't seem to bother her when I touch it and is really more just unappealing to look at. So I'm glad that at least that is the only problem I have and not an actual open wound.

Ok... so how do I feel about that? Honestly, I'm happy about it. But really what mom would be. Of course I didn't get upset at the mom of the boy because I guess they are just kids and don't know better. But I have to be honest and felt like the boy needed some sort of punishment at least. Though at the time of the incident I was focused on Toni so he may have been scolded, I don't know. Also later, the mom came up to me to apologize again and I told her Toni will be ok. I didn't say, "It's ok" because it's not. So I just said that Toni will be fine. But then she proceeded to tell me she didn't know what over came him and he's never done anything like that before. That she left his pacifier at home and that he just jumped off her lap and ran straight to Toni and he must have been looking for her pacifier. I kind of just nodded my head because I really didn't want to hear it, but I'm thinking... that is really strange and doesn't make sense. You mean he jumped off your lap, ran straight to Toni with intentions of biting her cheek because he wanted his pacifier? And mind you, when he first got to her he tried biting her head and she was starting to get upset. But I didn't realize at the time.. I thought he was trying to give her a kiss. So he tried biting her head, was unsuccessful so bit her cheek instead. I think I'm just having a hard time believing this is his first offense. Also, I don't know how old he is but he appeared to be either around Toni's age or older... and has siblings older and younger. At least there was an older boy and a younger baby girl with them so I assume they are his siblings. So its not like he's never around kids to not know.

I don't know... the explanation just seemed a bit bogus to me. But nevertheless, Toni is fine and that's all that matters.

picutres to come.

Tee A Tee!

That's Toni's "Trick or treat!" Last night was pretty good! I really thought that we'd start trick or treating around 6pm but there were no kids out! come 7pm and STILL no kids. It really made us start to wonder if there were really going to be any trick or treaters. Around 7:30p I was like.. whatever... let's get this started. Cousins Brian and Rachelle came over to be there for Toni's first trick or treating.

So what was Toni for Halloween? She was a princess fairy! technically the costume was just a princess; a hand-me-down from her cousin Madeline. But the the princess hat was too small for Toni's head. hahaha.. I know. So instead, I bought some purple wings to add to her costume and she had a wand too. Of course she was a "cool" princess fairy because she had her hot pink chuck's on too! The dress was purple and pink. I'll have to upload pics later because my computer crashed and I have no where to upload pictures for now. Yes... I'm using my work laptop to blog. Techinically a no-no but at least I'm home and not doing it at work!

Anyway, so first stop Brian and I took her to the most festive looking house on the street since no houses we're really decorated (guilty) and we were wondering if anyone was really participating in handing out candy. So anyway we get to the first house and ring the doorbell. I give Toni her Elmo basket and she takes it but kind of has this attitude of like... what are we doing here and why do I have a basket? It was funny. She looked a bit confused. So when complete strangers opened the door and all gathered to look at how cute their first trick or treater was (she was pretty damn cute!) she looked confused. She actually started to walk into their house! I guess her train of thought is... usually when I go to a door and it opens, we walk in. hahaha! So I had to stop her from going into their house. Mind you this will not be the last offense!

So they held out a basket of candy for her to pick candy out. Of course she just looked at it and looked back at them like.. what? hahahaha! So I grabbed a couple and put it in her basket. I said trick or treat! And of course Toni is still standing there trying to absorb all that is going on. As we leave, she excited that there is stuff in her basket and she keeps taking it out to look at it. So we go on to the next house and let me tell you.. she was a pro already. We're walking up the drive way and Brian is holding her Elmo basket. As she gets closer to the door, she turns around and holds her hand out to Brian as if to say, "Give me my basket." Our neighbor, after adoring her fr a minute,gives her come candy and Toni say's he thank you which is, "Tha-to." Somedays it sounds like "Thank you" and others it sounds like "Tha-to." From this point, she starts to say "Tee-a-tee!" and holds her basket out for candy. our next door neighbor (an older couple who she loves) just looooved her in her costume.. so much they took pictures of their own! hahaha! I'm telling you, my daughter is adorable. haha!

We only did two streets which is pretty good, I think. Maybe only half of the street (if even) participated in giving candy out. She got a fairly good amount I think. But I think we overbought the candy to hand out at our house that we have a ton of candy left! So I guess I'll have a lot to snack on at work now. Good or bad? Both. Oh well!

We did find out we had more filipino neighbors than we thought. So that was cool. Junior asked if they handed out lumpia. hahaha! Stereotyping our own ethnicity!

All in all I'd say this Halloween season was a sucess! The adults had yet another successful murder mystery party last weekend and Toni's frist trick or treating experience was a success too. Can't wait for next year! Now let's gear up for Thanksgiving!

Back on Track

Wow! Been a minute since I've blogged, huh? Tell everyone it's back!!! Well I have to say I actually started an entry just a few weeks after the last one, but never finished it and never posted it. And I'll tell you why. Toni had a seizure. At the time, I thought I need to blog about this to record it because even though it's a bad memory it's still a memory... and also a reminder of how lucky we are. But at the time, i don't think I was completely over it... and maybe I didn't really get over it until recently. So not to dwell on the past, let me just summarize what happened.

We had our housewarming party July 18. Toni had a slight fever that night, 100.7. She had a seizure because of it, there was freaking out and crying, an ambulance, a trip to the ER and all tests came back negative. She was absolutely fine. So what happened? They think that this fever spiked in temp which caused the seizure. Not so much the temp itself b/c her temp was pretty low grade... but just that it spike from one temp to another. Apparently in kids 5 and under, it's not uncommon for a seizure to occur if there is a spike in temp. They couldn't find any infections, though, that caused her fever. Honestly, I was attributing her temp to her teething b/c that day and the days before she had a lot of drooling and running nose. Well bottom line, she's fine. We left that ER with her saying bye to everyone and blowing kisses!

So fast forward to today. Toni almost 18 months! 17 months and 3 weeks to be exact. Wow! time flies. It's amazing how fast kids develop! She's her own person now. She's very happy, funny, outgoing and loooooves to dance. AND ADORABLE!!! hello! I'm biased. I know. But whatever. you know you think so too! And now that we have Rockband, I think she likes to sing too... though I'm not sure if that is due to Rockband or the Beatles!

So I entered Toni in the gapcasting call for this year. There were thousands maybe millions of entries! It's insane. And the Gap judges will narrow it down to 20. Five in each category, boy, girl, baby boy, baby girl. Toni is in the baby girl category. She HAS to be picked for top 20! I mean the pictures I submitted (seen here, Thanks Byron and Michelle!) show her personality and how adorable she is! Plus it's time they get some diversity. Anyway, we find out out Dec.7 who the top 20 are.

So times are hard (financially) and we want nothing more than to offer and provide the best for our baby. I got Adsense on my blog and hopefully that will help (hint hint!). but aside from that I felt some motivation today from watching Jon & Kate plus eight. Ok I know... there is probably a lot to be said about that show. But that is besides the point. In tonight's episode, it was a Q&A that fans submitted and Kate answered. One question asked was is there money set aside for the kids education. And she talked about how there was money, untouched, set aside soley for the kids education... and that the show made that possible. despite all the controversy of that show, she probably wouldn't have been able to have money set aside for all those kids without it. Soooo...

No, I dont have any reality show and I'm pretty sure no one would be interested in seeing my life everyday. But, I am hoping at the very least to get Toni some exposure and hopefully this gapcasting call will be the beginning. Anyway, that's my goal for Toni. I mean really.. she's adorable AND outgoing! She reminds me of my dad, a social butterfly!

My little.... toddler?

I tell you time flies. I'm still trying to get over the fact that my little Toni is 1 year old and now, techinically, she's 13 months. Doesn't seem like much of a difference but it's not far from that 15 months mark... then the 18.... slow down! So, new things?

The day after Toni's birthday party I noticed that my little munchkin, again, had the hand foot mouth disease. Ugh.... and this time although not necessarily worse than the last, it was harder to deal with because... well.. she's older. Let me tell you she screamed and cried and screamed some more. I felt so bad for her. She usually snacks all day long and she took a teddy graham cookie, popped it in her mouth as usual... then just cried and cired. Now that she's full on eating solids (unlike her first account) it hurt more when she swalloed. And I can't imagine. When I get a sore in my mouth it's painful. Imagine having several of those and even down your throat! ugh.. i felt soooooo awful for her. It's horrible when she's in so much pain and there's nothing you can do about it. At least the affected areas around her feet and hands didn't seem to bother her.

Well, she had her second part of her chicken pox shot due the following monday. I knew that wasn't going to happen since she had the hand foot mouth. But at least the doctor prescribed her a magic mouth swizzle to help numb the areas in her mouth so eating would be a little easier. After about a week she was back to her normal self and eating like crazy.... poor thing.

Toni has her SIXTH tooth coming in! It just broke skin. I KNEW it was coming in because the past couple of nights she has been waking up at like two in the morning! ugh... now you know i'm the one that gets up right? It's ok... I make junior get her milk. haha.. but he does get to go back to sleep after that. I have to wait until she goes back to sleep and well.. that could be another hour.

Other new things? I can feel it... Toni will be running pretty soon! She walks faster and faster these days. I'm sure one day soon I'll wake up and she'll be running around like crazy. Exciting and scary at the same time! She talks more... not whole workds yet but her babble is more in the form of a conversation. OH.. and you have to see. She has facial expressions during her "talks" it's sooooo funny!!! And soooo adorable!

So we've moved into our new house and I was going through a few things and found some baby pictures of me and my brother, Mark. Well she looks like me.. but there is a picture of my brother with a HUGE cheesy smile and OMG.. that is SO Toni. I always say she has this little kookiness like my brother has, but now I have proof. hahahaa! I'll have to scan and post those pics up.... when my scanner is hooked up. haha... maybe a few months. ha!

By the way, Toni is looooving the new house! Probably because she can walk fast all over the place... and especially since we don't have much furniture at this point. Aside from the teething, she sleeps better too.. AND in her own room! Even our dog, Jake, is loving the new house and I was a little worried about that. A new place.... he may not take to right away. But he did with no problems. Probably because he too has a ton of space to run around not to mention a whole backyard. Plus... we got Toni a high chair (wasn't really room for one at the apartment, plus it was all carpet) and he loves "guarding" the ground underneath her chair because he knows he's bound to catch something. I think Toni is starting to realize that when she throws food over the tray, Jake eats it. So I think now, sometimes anyway, she purposely throws food just for him. Lucky dog. And I know he appreciates it because anytime she's around, he starts doing all his tricks for her in hopes he gets something in return. She, of course, gets a kick out of it. OH! I have to mention. so one day Toni is walking around eating her cracker. Jake is following her... because she has a cracker in her hand. I turn away for a second and when i turn back, Toni is staring at what is left in her hand and Jake is munching away. So of course, I react and yell, "Jake!" and I think I startled Toni because she dropped what was left in her hand and just started to cry. That darned dog. I admit it was funny though. But now I have to watch him around her when she has food in her hand.

Oh I should mention how well Toni is understanding things lately. For sure she knows yes and no... although no is more obvious. When she's eating if she doesn't want anymore, she shakes her head no. And if it's yes, she opens her mouth. Sometimes if she's asked a yes or no question (outside of eating) she'll let you know if the answer is a no by shaking her head. It's really cute. I'm sure I say that now but later I'm sure it will annoy me at some point! haha

Toni's First Birthday Party

The day has finally come and gone. And regardless of the weather (the pouring rain for about an hour), I still consider the party a success. I admit it did not go quite as I had imagined. I imagined a sunny day (which the forecast called for until 4pm so I thought we were good) and in that time there would be playing in the park, cooling off in the water areas, kids playing in the playground, adults (ugh.. that's us!?!) hanging out where there's shade but nearby the kids... eating. hahaha...

Well it started out that way. Junior and Brian were able to find several tables under a covered area by one of the green areas. So some of the guys and kids were playing football. The bubbles were a success too! Thanks, Irene, for the idea! We got the kids bubble wands and Kathy also brought a huge container of bubbles too. So once the bubbles came out, it started to draw other kids around... kids we didn't even know! Toni enjoyed walking around the grass freely... well with her cousin Marivic following her... it was going well. Then it started to rain. So for about an hour, everyone stayed under cover to wait it out. Up side to this? It wasn't hot and there was a nice breeze. At one point, Merrill ran in the pouring rain across the field and back just for kicks. It was really funny! And we all cheered him on. He's growing so fast! Once the rain let up, all the parents (my parents generation that is) took off. But the rest of us with kids stayed and enjoyed the rest of the day. There wasn't much playing in the water anymore until the very end after several people had already gone. Sean and Mikealla ran in and enjoyed. Sachin eventually ran through a few times and Toni? Well I swung her in for a bit, it shocked her and she cried. hahaha.. but she was also already so tired by that point that I think the water did not sit well. She fell asleep right after.

We got home and Rachelle and Brian were with us since they helped us out that whole day (thanks guys!). So Toni "opened" gifts and played with some. We kept most in the boxes still since we're still packing and getting ready to move.

OH YEAH! I don't think I've blogged that yet. We finally bought a house, halleujah! We close tomorrow (techinically today, Tuesday) and plan to move most everything on the weekend. So yipee!!!! Goodbye apartment life!

However, admist all the exciting things going on Toni has once again come down with Hand Foot Mouth Disease. Sigh... my poor baby. And since she is older, she is able to communicate how unhappy she is quite well! Maybe not with words, but continous crying and screaming gets the point across. Last Friday she had her 12 month check up and shots. However, since she had the TB shot the doctor gave me the option of either waiting until today (Monday) to also get her chickenpox shot since she had to come back anyway to check up on the TB shot or get all shots in once visit. I figured since we had to come back, we'd wait until Monday. Well Saturday passes and come Sunday I notice the bumps on her. And they are starting to resemble what we once went through. Junior even made the same comment, "Looks like a lot of little bites." Ok... really? THAT many bumps? Again? Anyway, I suspected HFMD, and today when we went back to the doctor to check on her TB (which came back negativem, yipee!) he confirmed it to be HFMD. So... we must again wait it out for about a week. He did prescribe the magic swizzle for her mouth to help numb the sores in her mouth and throat so she could hopefully eat better. Yeah.. that is a HUGE bummer. She's not eating so great. She still managed to snakc on some things here and there and still have a good amount of milk so at least there's that. But still not as much as usual... and not without crying either. Poor thing. I hope today was the toughest day and that tomorrow will be better. Especially since we close tomorrow and since she has HFMD, we can't take her to the school. Really she shouldn't be out at all. But we have no one to watch her. Times like this you wish you had the luxury of parents/grandparents. By the way, we just happen to be closing on my dad's birthday (May 26)! So... that's nice. Almost like a present for him. I know he'd be proud.. especially since we did it all on our own. Plus he's always talked about getting a nice, small, one story. And that is what we got. I really think he would have liked it. And I know my mom would have just been happy we got a house since she had been talking about it since before Jun and I were married (obviously)... since before my dad was sick let's put it. She used to tell me on our drives (me taking her to work), "When you and Jun get married, maybe we'll sell the house and you can get a house of your own and we'll just live with you if that's ok." Such a nice gesture. She said as a wedding gift. I told her she didn't need to do that... I mean that is a huge thing to give your child. It was then she told me she had always wanted all ehr kids to graduate from college and to have their own house. since my brothers already had their own homes, this was her way of getting us one. Well... as life would have it... things didn't quite work out that way. Most of you know, but she passed before we got married.. or even planned to. Needless to say, us getting our own house was a long time coming. But at last... the day has come. So I know she would have been proud and that's enough for me.

Toni's One Year Old!

I totally did missed my chance to blog on Toni's first birthday! But I'm telling you... as she grows more, learns more, and walks more... I am finding less time to blog AND I'm tired all the time. I'm tired as I blog! But really I made myself stay up to watch game #6 between the Rockets and Lakers. And well... I am female and I can't just sit here and watch the game... I must multitask. So why not catch up on my blog!

So Toni's first birthday was this past Tuesday, May 12, 2009! She wore her birthday girl dress (as seen in the pictures) to school and even had a matching bib with it. We sang Happy Birthday to her the regular way and the Sprout way. Unless you watch sprout with your kids, you probably have no idea what I'm referring to and well... I can't sing it to you! So you'll have to use your imagination. She was sang to at school and they say she really enjoyed it. Even when we picked her up she was really happy. AND.. they have been allowing her to spend some time in the one year old room! They say she has been doing really well and that they plan to switch her rooms permanently, but are just transitioning her right now. Well today they said beginning tomorrow she is in the one year old room permanently! Well until she gets older anyway. So that is a huge thing! yay!!!

Ok so back to her birthday. We didn't do anything too big since we plan to celebrate later. We had dinner at the Olive Garden since she likes to eat the food there, and had some cake too. Rachelle and Brian came too. Not only did she eat well (breadsticks, lasagna, alfredo!) but she made a new friend too! There was another baby there that apparently just turned one the Friday before. Needless to say, they were both really excited to be in each others presence! It was really pretty sweet. We had a candle lit for Toni and sang her happy birthday. She didn't blow the candle out, though she does know how to blow! She just didn't, so Junior did it for her. We tried to get her to stick her hand in the cake but as soon as her hand touched it, she retracted like, "what is THAT!?" She did that twice. So no mess there. I have to say I was a little relieved she didn't get messy although I was ready for her to get messy; it is her birthday after all! She had a little bit of cake and OH MY GOODNESS... talk about a SUGAR HIGH! She was crazy! But I guess she served as entertainment for those around us AND she got the other little girl all riled up! hahaha... it was funny but cute! I would say she had a successful birthday AND she knocked out in the car!

Oh yeah! So her birthday gift? So... this past Saturday she lost an earring. I was pretty sad. It was anything expensive as we got it at Claire's but they were her first pair of earrings. Regardless, I wanted to get her new ones because I don't want her without earrings in her ears for too long. I know she's had them in long enough, but still. Just want to be on the safe side. So we went back to Claire's to get another pair. Except that her first pair was the piercing kind, so it's pointy and sharp in the back. I didn't want to get another pair like that because they sometimes poke her neck. So I wanted one just like it but not the piercing kind. I thought she had surgical steel, but it turns out the posts were 14k gold (white) and a CZ. Well I couldn't find another one like it and one small enough for her ears so it didn't look like huge rocks on her ears. And I'm sure they had one, but the sales girl wasn't very helpful. So oh well. Lost a sale. So I went to Macy's and what do you know? They are having a HUGE jewelry sale! Turns out they are changing jewelry vendors and so they are trying to get rid of the stock they have now. So I got 14k gold (yellow) earrings WITH diamonds (not sure of the carat but they are really small and perfect for Toni's ears) for $30. yup! It was 80% off! Wow... I don't even own diamond earrings! So Toni got diamond earrings for her first birthday!

The day has come!

Toni is walking!!! She's been on her way there. One day it was two steps. Few days later it was four steps.. then six... and now I can't count! She still prefers to crawl as I think it's more efficient and faster for her but she can walk and with much more confidence now! Now, we don't even have to prompt her to walk. She'll just do it on her own. Yesterday seemed to be the breaking point. Usually when she starts to take any steps, she'll do it slowly and with caution. Yesterday it almost seemed as if she just threw that out the window and decided, what the hell let me just go for it. And she would just let go of me and go with it like she knew she wouldn't fall. And sometimes she didn't and sometimes she did. I'm so proud of her!!! Today I was deflating the guest bed (My 2nd cousin from Ottawa came to visit) and was on one end of the bed (queen size). Toni was standing by the TV which was maybe around the middle of the bed. Without question, I look up and she is just walking towards me without holding on to anything AND she made it all the way without falling!!!!! My little princess! She's growing so fast. I have video of her taking her 5-6 steps that I'll have to upload later. The pictures are from today. She got her first pair of shades. What a little diva! haha!

Uh-oh!

I got Toni to say, "Uh-oh!" hahahaha... i love it! She doesn't always get it so perfect each time, but she's working on it. I think it all started with one day we were in the car. Junior was driving and I was in the backseat with her. That song by Beyonce, All the Single Ladies, came on. When that part came I sang to Toni, "Uh-uh-oh! Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh! Uh-uh-oh!" You know what I mean. And then Toni goes, "uh-uh-uh!" It was so cute! Then it occurred to me that saying "Uh-oh" is probably hell of a lot easier than saying "mama" or "dada." Don't get me wrong she says both but indiscriminately right now. And I don't think she can say it on command. So I decided, let's start with "uh-oh" since it's easier. And it proved to be a good decision b/c now when we try to get her to say it, she'll copy. I have a great video of this! I'll have to upload that when I can. I'll load it to the entry so stay tuned for it!

Other new things? Yesterday she discovered her nose. Yes like that. See she has her pointer finger working pretty well now in that she can't point it. So far she hasn't specifically pointed at just one thing, but she points... and pokes... and yesterday... it was in her nose. yep. Mind you.. after she had her hands in her mouth AND she wanted to put them BACK in her mouth after she discovered her nose. Sigh... that weird phase begins. Don't get me wrong. All phases are exciting, but still this one is also weird. Luckily we caught her hands before they went into her mouth and cleaned them off. But I'm sure we won't be able to do that every time.

She's also learned to copy the breath in and out action through your nose. So if I do it to where you can hear it, she'll do the same. We'll go on for about a minute sometimes just doing that. hahahaha....

ALSO, she's practicing to blow. Sometimes I blow on her and she likes the wind effect. Just the other day, she tried to copy me. And though she hasn't perfected it, she's getting there. YAY! Hopefully by her first birthday she can blow out the candle!

I can't believe her first birthday is in about a month and a half!!!! And yes... you have been reading my blog THAT long. I thank you. :)

Throwing Phase

Toni has reached the throwing phase, definitely. And I think we reinforce it by picking up what she throws and giving it back to her. Initially I thought she was dropping toys. Now I see she is throwing stuff and is probably obeserving the parent picking it up, giving it back to her and she throws it again. How many times will my mom or dad pick it up? Yeah... I caught on after a while so now I leave it. If she's playing in her crib and she throws a toy out, it stays out. I have found myself bending over and picking things up several times so now i leave it. She has this train toy that her Ninang (Godmother) Rachelle gave her and it comes with blocks witht he alphabet so there are 26 blocks. It's a great toy but since she is in the throwing phase... you get my drift. The other day all her blocks were in the little car of the train. She would take one out and throw it at the amoir and watch it bounce off. There are 26 blocks. You do the math. And I... left it all out to lay until she took her nap. hahaha! Are you kidding me? Clean that up and watch her do it all over again? But it's cool. It's another milestone in a way. She's learning cause and effect. However, there is a time when it's a no win situation. When we're at the store, and she's sitting in the child seat (with her cart cover of course!) and after a few minutes she gets ansy. usually giving her a toy or merchandise will keep her happy and occupied. But NOW since she is in this throwing phase... yep you guessed it. She tosses it out of the cart. Well I HAVE to pick it up. And giving it back to her... just tosses out the cart again. I try to catch it before it falls and sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don't. And if I just don't give it to her and put it in the main cart area, she'll whine. Sooo.... you get my drift. BUT still, she isn't half as bad as some other kids I've seen. So I'm thankful for that.

She's still as happy as ever too. And quite the social baby! When we're at a store and someone comments on her, she just has this HUGE smile but she gets a bit shy and she'll kind of hide her face on me but enough to where she can still peek at the person that said something. People love it too. Sometimes she'll interact with them and babble a bit or make some faces. She's so social. It was kind of funny b/c today we were at Target and this couple was saying, "how cute.." etc, etc. She smiled, buried her face in my chest and then made a few faces at the couple. Right after that, this old lady was looking for something in the aisle we were in and Toni kept smiling at her. The lady was so happy to see Toni just smiling at her she said, "what a smily baby!" So the funny part... next this guy is walking by us and so Toni looks at him and starts smiling... and he's just walking by and she has the cheesy smile following him walk by. Poor thing. As he was walking away, her smile dropped and she had this look as if, "what just happened?" since he didn't even seem to notice her. hahaha it was funny to see her try and process that. But yes, definitely a social baby!

Is she walking yet? nope but she is walking more when we hold her hands or when she's holding onto something. And she is trying more and more to stand on her own without holding anything. I really hope she can walk by Easter so she can easter egg hunt! But if not, it's ok... I can at least hold her hands.

Almost a toddler

Holy smokes! I'm getting really bad at this. I don't know why so much time lapsed between this post and my last. It's been over a month!!! I think for a while we were so focused on Toni's road to recovery and that bundled with work just took over our free time. I've been so exhausted that I've been sleeping early these days. Once day I put Toni to bed around 8pm which is normal for her. The abnormal part is I went to bed too. And I STILL got up late the next morning. It's crazy. But today she was dead tired. It was a bit strange. But allowed me to do some things I never have time to do. But we'll get to that. Right now it's catch up time!

So after Toni's sickness things just started happening one right after the other like she was trying to make up for lost time! She was crawling much, much faster and started to pull herself up on furniture. Then she started eating twice what she was eating, babbling more, laughing more, playing more... and now pulling herself up to stand on furniture is a breeze. I really think she doesn't need the furniture for help. Its'more like security to her. But she does try standing on her own. It's soooo cute to see her try. I think it's because the act of her trying or practicing to do anything is amazing in itself. It's its own milestone. And then when she does stand on her own for a few seconds it becomes a a big deal to her. She claps or laughs and smiles or all of it! She's still such an amazingly happy baby. I love it!

She can mimic some things we do and responds. She even initiates conversation, though it's babble. But it's like she's really trying to say something to you (or sometimes to Jake) or question something. It's great. My goal? To get her walking by Easter so she can easter egg hunt!!!

It never ends

Holy smokes! So, so much has happened that I haven't even had the chance to post a blog. So today (while Toni is taking her nap on this Saturday afternoon) I decided to post one and realize the last one I posted was jan 26!

So basically, Toni's been sick since last Friday night. Friday night (not last night) she threw up and had a fever. So Saturday morning I took her to the doctor. She has, yet, another ear infection. He said the beginning's of an ear infection, but an ear infection nonetheless. It never ends. I think I blogged about her first ear infection. Well then soon after that she caught hand foot mouth diesase (i think i blogged about that too) and then 3 days after she's back in daycare, she starts coughing. That was last wed (before the friday she threw up). It was a small dry cough at first so we weren't too worried, but more just something to keep an eye on.

Thursday came and it got worse. So we decided to keep her home Friday so that she would at least have Friday plus the weekend to get a little better before going back to school that Monday. Plus, That Sautrday was our big 30th birthday bash. And I didn't want to send her to my brother's sick. Well, we ended up staying home and missed our own birthday bash! It sucked but I really wanted to stay home with her; I was pretty worried. She seemed much sicker than her first ear infection. That saturday the dr prescribed her a new antibiotic for her ear infection. For the next two days she continued this routine of vomiting with fevers. It was really worrying us that she would become dehydrated b/c she couldn't keep anything down. Her diapers were smaller than usual and her urine had a stronger smell. All signs of dehydration. Pedialyte, milk, nothing. She couldn't keep it down (well just a little but not much). Monday we call the dr and he switches her back to the antibiotics she had with her first ear infection since we know she did well with that and thinking that this new antibiotic may be too strong for her.

Well, nothing changed. Monday night she seemed ok but early Tues morning (this is now the feb 10) at around 3-4am she woke up vomiting again with a pretty high fever. 102. Mid morning she still wasn't keeping much down so we call the dr again and he see's us late morning. He tests her for RSV, the flu and both came back negative. She still has an ear infection but her fever was now 103 and her heart rate and her breathing are both elevated. He orders us to go to the hospital.

We head to Texas Children's ER where she's now 104 and while they SAID they were going to give us something for her fever while we waited, we got nothing for 2 hours. She's burning up and so fatigued and uninterested in anything. Very unlike her. So Junior basically goes up to the front desk to basically say what the hell? At least take her temp again b/c she's burning up. She's now 105. They are surprised no one gave her anything when we got there. yeah. don't get me started. Stupid ER. So they give her something and we have to force feed pedialyte by a syringe b/c she would gag on the bottles.

We spent 8 hours in the ER and all they did was a UTI test which also came back negative. They believe she must have a stomach virus of some sort and that since it's viral, all we can do is treat the symptoms of fever with some Motrin and let the virus take it's course.

So that's what we have been doing since Tuesday. It's saturday now and she's doing much better although not yet 100%. It's been a whole 24 hours at least since she's vomited. But yesterday she did have a slight fever of about 99. So we gave her Mortin anyway. Now I think her coughing is what's tiring her out (and us) b/c she can't sleep well at night. But at least her appetite is slowly, but surely, on it's way back. Dr. predicts she should be well by Monday/Tuesday. We shall see.

So that's pretty much taken up all of our time lately. This viral infection combined with an ear infection. It's daycare. I know it. And no one is really to blame. There are a million and one germs in daycare with all those kids and with the season of sickness, it was bound to happen. I'm just really hoping it won't be this bad after the sick season passes. otherwise I won't know what to do. We have no one to look to to watch her while we are at work.

So yes. My 30th birthday just flew by. For a whole year I imagined having this huge celebation... actually celebrations but came no where close. haha! It's ok though. I wouldn't have cancelled for anyone but my baby. I was really worried. I'm just glad she;s on her way to recovery.

Go Baby, Go!

I swear I feel like just four days ago, Toni was barely crawling. Crawling, but still new and moving slow. Yesterday she mastered it. In a blink of an eye she was from one side to the other. Here I am getting up to get her away from this and from that. Mind you, her toys are everywhere! And she has TONS of toys but somehow... she's more curious about all the other things in the room. I found her by one of our side tables with the drawer open going through it. It was cute I have to admit, but oh man! It's exhausting making sure she doesn't play with something she shouldn't be playing with or CLIMBING something she shouldn't be.

That's right. Climbing. She hasn't mastered that... YET, but if her progression in crawling is any sign of things to come, I don't forsee her mastering climbing too far away! First off, she can pull herself up on anything with no problems and no help. She can even lower herself where as for a few days (yes just a few days) she could pull herself up, but couldn't get back down. She'd either plop down and cry or just cry like she was stuck. Not now. She can bring herself down. Not just that, but when up and holding onto something she can take a few steps so long as she is holding something. It's amazing the progression. I feel like just a week ago she was a completely different baby. But when it comes to climbing. She'll hold onto something and start pulling herself up and actually get her feet off the floor. She'll have a foot trying to get a hold of something. It's cute... now. haha... and she bounces/jumps a lot now. When she's standing and holding onto something, she'll bounce up and down. Very cute! when in her exersaucer, she just jumps and jumps and jumps! I have a vidoe of that as a matter of fact!

She's become very vocal too. She always has been but it's more so now. She'll do it while she's playing, when she is communicating with you. The other day she even babbled to be in a questioning tone! I was like wow she's smart. She knows what questions are already. And if she wanted something, she'd put her hand out and whine. And once she got what she wanted she'd go, "da." As if to say, Thanks. She's a genius I tell you.

But, with the good must come the bad. Not really bad. More like a bummer, or a downer. And I think I may have mentioned this in a pervious blog, but it's getting harder to put her to sleep. I attributed it to her illness and what not before and I'm sure that did play a part. And though she's not 100% yet she's doing much better. However it occured to me tonight that you know, I think this is what it's going to be for a while. I TRIED putting her to bed at aroung 7pm. And lately I've been letting her go to bed later like 8-9pm because she was staying awake much longer in between naps so her second nap was falling around 4pm and she would sleep until 6pm. So anyway, she did take her second nap earlier today since her first nap lasted a whole 30 mins. yeah. anyway, so she takes a nap at around 3 and is up by 5. So I'm thinking, ok I'll put her to sleep around 8. But by 7 she was already wanting me to hold her and laying her head down on my shoulder and sucking her thumb. I gave her milk and she usually has it right before she sleeps. So I thought, well I guess she's ready for bed. I changed her into pjs w/ the footsies and diaper change of course. Granted that may have woken her up a bit but I figured it was ok. She's tired enough she'll fall asleep.

Well normally it wouldn't take me longer than 30 mins to get her to sleep. And that's max. On average, usually 15 mins and she's down. So I take her to be, lay down next to her and have her milk to finish off. She's in position, she drinks her milk and turns towards me to suck her thumb and go to sleep. The usual. Then she starts tossing and turning and crying and whining and I'm thinking ok... she's been doing this the last week or so. She usually will get tired and fall asleep quick. I swear she must have gone through 101 positions from top to bottom of the bed and NONE suited her. I really believe she was trying to go to sleep but just couldn't find that position that comforted her enough to go to sleep. Honestly I remember that feeling as a kid. Granted I wasn't 8 mos, who remembers that? But as a kid I remember kicking, tossing and turning b/c I just coudln't find that position I was comfortable enough in. So I let her go and do that for about an hour. Yes an hour. So by 8 I figured, this girl ain't going to sleep. All I can do now is let her play and tire her self out.

It was kind of funny actually because when I brought her out of the room and sat her in the middle of all her toys, she just had this look of confusion and disbelief on her face. I sat on the couch and said, "what? play." She just stared like she couldn't believe I took her out to play and she wasn't sure what she should do. She just sat there. She didn't play. Junior came home and so for about half an hour she stodd up holding onto him or the table. Then she was ready for bed. When she did go to bed, I laid there for maybe 8 mins before she was out. She's so adorable though. I can't get over it. I can stare and watch her all day long.

Videos will be added later. I'm exhausted.

Clapping

So amidst all the craziness with her HFMD illness and the lack of eating and vomiting (today), she learned to clap all on her own. We always clap her hands for her or clap our hands to show her and she's attempted... but never quite got the palms to clap. Well today was a tough day for her and me. Tough for her b/c I think the blisters in her mouth are starting to affect her more than yesterday. She hasn't eaten much and threw up twice! So that's rough for me because I'm worried about dehydration, starvation and don't want her ending up having to go to the hospital to get an IV. But amidst all that, I was holding her (she needed some comforting) and out of no where, she just starts clapping her hands! And with my nifty, handy flip video I was able to catch for all to see!

At least something good came of this day.I'm wore out.

HFMD

That stands for Hand Foot Mouth Disease. Yep. Toni has it. Poor thing. And she JUST got over her ear infection. So last night after her bath i noticed all these red pimple like bumps all over her knees. Freaked me out. I pointed it out to junior... we could figure it out. It didn't seem to bother her. So we figured, maybe since she just started crawling and she got some sort of rug burn? I didn't know. Figured, we'd wait until morning before really worrying. If it didn't get worse, then we'd just wait for it to go away.

Well she woke up around 4am which normally she doesn't do that anymore but since her ear infection, sleep isn't as great as before. Anyway, so i get her from her crib and take her to our bed. Usually she'll fall right back asleep. She didn't this time... even after a bottle. I was trying to rub her back and legs because that usually helps and i felt it. I felt the bumps all down her legs and on her ankles. I felt her arms, but they were fine and so was her back. I didn't get it. I couldn't go back to sleep myself I thought about it for about an hour and half before I went back to sleep and had to get up in 30 mins! She finally fell asleep thanks to Junior. He held her and bounced her around until she fell asleep.

So morning came and she was dead asleep. We got ready for work and let her sleep until we were ready then we'd get her ready for school that way she could sleep in a little. So I hear I am undressing her and holy cow. the bumps on her legs and ankles are also on her feet and soles. Oh man... at this point I'm freaking out for her and for me... I've never had chicken pox! But Junior makes a good point. It's not on her arms or chest or back and chicken pox usually first shows on the chest. So Junior thinks maybe it's something in the rug... maybe she's getting bitten by dust mites. But I'm a little weary... that's WAY too many bumps to be bites. Junior thinks it's fine... she has an appointment on Saturday anyway to follow up with her ear infection. I start to go along with what he says... he is the nurse. But it just doesn't seem right to me. So he says, "If you're so worried, see if Dr. Hsu will see her today to give you peace of mind but I think she's fine." Hmmm... so I'm going along with what he thinks and then I think... I know he's a nurse and he knows way more than I do, but I think there's mothers intuition and you know when something is wrong. So I told him, I'm going to take her in. So he's all ok, let me know what he says.

I call him and tell him what's going on and the dr asks if the bumps are on the palms of her hands too. I say no. Just legs and down. So he schedules me in for today so he can take a look. After I get off the phone I think... well I didn't notice it on her hands... let me check. Duh.. I should have done that when I was on the phone. Sure enough, she has them there too. Oh great. So I call him back and tell him that she does have them on her palms. He says he thinks it may be hand foot mouth disease and that is the very first time I've ever heard of that! I was thinking hand what? He says it can be very irritatable and has she been eating well. Actually she hasn't. He says it can cause her to not eat well b/c of the pain in the mouth. Great. But at least now I know why she hasn't been eating well. I thought it was just because of ear infection and teething at the same time.

So I take her in and he looks at her and yup... it's hand foot mouth disease. Which, before the appointment, I researched because well... that's what I do. Here's a link in case you are interested to learn more: http://www.babycenter.com/0_hand-foot-and-mouth-disease_1614.bc?page=1 But he presses on a spot and says he likes the blanching (when pressure turns it white). I don't know. He inspects her mouth and yup... there are spots in there too. I would have never known. So there's not really a cure for it. All he can do is prescribe something for the pain in her mouth so that hopefully she'll eat more.

So that's we are. Is she doing better? She's doing the same. But since it's contagious, we have to keep her home which means I worked from home today and will tomorrow too. I think Monday too. Junior's off Tuesday so he can stay home. I'm really hoping I don't catch it but it almost seems like there's no hope. You catch it from contact with drool and secretion like poop and boogies. So.. she's teething and drooling all over the place and she poops like every other baby and still has a runny nose from before. Sooo... hmmm. I mean I'm washing her hands and my hands all the time cleaning her toys... but you can only do so much. Hopefully that, plus a stronger immune system, will be sufficient enough.

Buttinair

As in butt-in-air. So Toni's crawling but she still hasn't reached that speed everyone talks about. Better than when she started, but still a bit slow... for now. We'll see how that long that lasts. But she loves pulling herself up to a standing position while holding onto something. So what is buttinair? That's my new term one of Toni's positions; one I happen to remember liking as a child.

It's getting harder to put her to sleep. Compared to most, still pretty easy, but compared to her regular ways... harder. And I think it's because she's becoming more mobile, she's so fidgety and restless. So when I lay down with her in the bed to help her fall asleep, she tosses and turns and flips and sticks her butt in the air and sometimes stays like that and falls asleep. So that's buttinair.

Yesterday was my friend Jamuna's birthday. So we went to her house just for some cake cutting and usually when we go there, Toni (loving kids so much) is always so fascinated with Sachin. She'll watch his every move and always reach out for him. He usually gives her this look like she's crazy or tries to get away from her. Well last nbight was different I wish I would have caught it all on camera. But I did get some of it. So Toni was sitting on the floor on the rug. Sachin was playing with the rug and for whatever reason it made Toni laugh and laugh and laugh... I mean she was laughing so hard and loud that everyone was watching her. And Sachin was getting a kick out of it. I think her laughing egged him on so he kept doing whatever it was he was doing over and over again.

I didn't get the camera in time to catch it though. I did, however, manage to catch Sachin give Toni hugs and a kiss. It was sooooo cute!

Milk Only

Ok. So Toni is down for the night already... a bit early but she's had a big day what with starting to crawl and all! But all day she didn't want to eat. She ONLY wanted milk.... wtf? haha! First she was refusing her milk and eating her food and today was total opposite. I'm thinking it's a phase... one I hope doesn't last too long. We shall see.

Earrings

The earrings are back!! Was it easy? Hell no. Did she cry? yes. Did she top as soon I was done? Yes. In fact, I think she forgot about them again. WHEW! I was scared they were closed. I'd try to put it in and it would start to go in but I couldn't find the back. Junior was holding her down so she wouldn't move so she was crying like crazy. So then I tried to do it through the back and it'd go in all the way. SO... I just needed to find it's way from front to back. It was hard partly b/c she was crying so much. I thought... am I hurting her? But then Junior didn't hold her down really and she stopped crying. So I think her being pinned down made her cry more. We have to do that when suctioning out her boogies. She cries then too. I'm still scared though. I don't want it to get infected so I'm going to clean her ears constantly with alcohol. She never reacts to it anyway so it must not hurt her. Man I hope all is well!



Today she started to crawl!!!!! It was funny how she got there, though. At first she was on all fours. Then she'd move her left knee forward and instead of then moving her right knee forward, she get her right foot up on the floor. I call it cralking (crawl/walk). But then eventually through the day she just started using both knees!!! YAY!!! But she is still excited to be pulling herself up and standing so I don't anticipate her crawling for too long before she tries to walk.

No Milk?

So it's strange. Yesterday Toni refused her milk all day until I gave it to her after work and then before bedtime... without a fight. Today I pick her up and they tell me she refused her milk 2 out of the 3 times she gets it while there. She's still eating all her babyfood and even yogurt, but refused her milk twice and the one time she had it only had 4 oz. Hmmm...



I get home and let he play a bit. After awhile she gets clingy and then starts sucking her thumb. I feed her babyfood and she eats it, but not all of it. She starts getting cranky and looking tired so I get her ready for bed and get her bottle ready. When I give her her bottle, she drinks all 6 oz of it. I mean downs it. I was so tempted to get more milk but she passed out. She's dead asleep at 7pm. It's very weird.



So I'm researching and find MAYBE some possibilities as to why the sudden change. It could be teething, or that she's ready to crawl/walk; she's so interested in her new discovery and the world that is opened up to her who has time to eat. Junior also thinks maybe it's the antibiotics she's taking and maybe it's leaving a bad taste in her mouth. However, that doesn't asnwer why she doesn't give me any problems when giving her the milk. Maybe b/c I'm her mom? But I don't think it has to do with comforting... I don't think. I don't know. I'm stumped. Whatever it is I hope it goes away sooner rather than later. I was ready to up her food intake before this and now I just want her back to what she was doing.



Ear piercing. Can't remember if I blogged about it or not and as you know I have no desire to go back and check. So here it is. This past weekend I was check out her ears as I normally do every so often... just to make sure all is good and that the locks are neither too loose or too tight. Well I notice her left ear looks on a bit tight. The right ear looks fine, but the left one looks a bit tight. Which is odd b/c if anything, locks usually get loose. Not tighter. And I'm pretty sure no one messes with her ears but me, maybe. So I decide to loosen it. But when I do, her ear is bleeding and looks pretty bad. And it's kind of bulging in the back like it was on so tight. Freaked me out! So of course, I take it out and clean with alcohol expecting her to howl from the sting. But she didn't react at all. I was surprised. So I continued to clean it and applied pressure trying to stop the bleeding. It wasn't gushing or anything, but I just wanted to stop it. I ended up putting a tiny band aid on it. I left it like that over the weekend, but before school on monday I decided to take off the other earring b/c I didn't want her going to school with one earring while the other ear healed.



I know. I hated that I had to take her earrings out. I mean, they've been in long enough (well over 6 weeks) and so I'm hoping the holes don't shut. Anyway, today I notice that her ear has healed perfectly fine and so I want to attempt to put her earrings back. But it's so darn hard. I THINK the holes are still there. I started to put one in, but I cannot keep her still. Plus she can feel me doing something and so that's not going to work. I read also that you need to keep the earrins in 6 weeks after the piercing so they don't shut and after that you can change them out but that you need to continously wear them for 6 months so the hole size stays the same! oh man... I hope this week without earrings hasn't done that. I'd hate to get her ears repierced at this point where she may be old enough to remember there are earrings there and mess with them. But then what? Wait until she's old enough to know not to mess with them? That's like 5 or 6 and then she'll really know the pain! Please oh please oh please don't close!

First ear infection

My Toni has her first ear infection. :( I know it was bound to happen but there was actually a side of me that truly believed that she would neve have one. I mean she made it 8months without one so... I thought... but no.

Monday after Junior picked her up from school then me from work, I could tell she was a bit different... not quite herself. Usually she falls asleep during the ride from her school to my work and when i get in the car she wakes up and we play. But that day when I got in the car she didn't even open her eyes for even second. That and her cheeks were flushed, but she didn't feel warm. Then Junior tells me that the school said she threw up some.

Well I left work a bit early that day because it was my mom's 5 year death anniversary (can't believe it's been that long... seems just like yesterday) and I wanted to visit her before the cemetary closed. So anyway, on the way to the cemetary I wanted to take Toni to the doctors. I'm pretty sure he's open until 7 or 8pm. Anyway, we had to update him on her thrush which went away thanks the Diflucan. So Junior calls him and her doctor wants to see her at 8pm.

By then she was awake, and herself for the most part. He's examining her, checks her ears and... there's fluid in her ears. My poor baby. And she had a low grade fever of 99.5. He said she has the beginning of an ear infection. So at least there's that. At least we caught it earlier rather than later. So he prescribed her some antibiotics (Cefdinir) and told us to keep the Diflucan in case her thrush comes back because of the antibioctis. I hope it doesn't!

So Monday night he fever goes up to 100.5. So we give her some infants tylenol and it breaks the fever. But she didn't sleep well and kicked, tossed and turned so much. I stayed home with her Tuesday; took a sick day. Didn't even attempt to work from home because she was so fussy I knew there was no way I'd get any work done. Her fever was up and down Tuesday up until maybe evening and then she was pretty good since. She still tossed, turn and kicked (I actually have a bruise) throughout the night though. Junior was off today and was going to stay home with her, but he decided she was ok and took her to school. Apparently she didn't drink any milk while at school but other than that was ok. I, personally, don't consider that ok. He tried giving her milk in the car when they picked me up from work but she wouldn't take it. Odd thing is, as soon as I got in the car and she was her happy self, I took the bottle and gave it to her and she drank it all. So I have no clue what was going on there. Maybe she preferred me to feed her? But she ate all her baby food so I don't know. And then she ate her food and had her milk before bedtime too. So not really sure what happened there.

Anyway, we have to do the antibiotics for 10 days but she is definitely doing better I think.

Developmental milestones! She passes items from one hand to the other! I know that may seem so minuit to most people but it's a big thing. Even thought she's used both hands, she now knows she has two hands! Does that make sense? Well anyway... it's a big thing for me! She's also trying to crawl more and more. She seems so overcautious though. Too smart. But I can tell she wants to do it so bad that she starts getting frustrated she isn't. She can pull herself up while holding on to things sometimes. She'll even lean up against something so she can let go and use BOTH hands to grab things and what not.

Here's the best part. She plays peek a boo! Obviously she doesn't say peek a boo but if you throw a blanket over hear head, she'll pull it down and you say peek a boo! Then she'll pull the blanket back up and wait for you to say somethine like, "Toni, where are you?" or "Toni? Oh Toooniii???" and then she'll pull down the blanket again and she has the BIGGEST grin on her face... and it's even cuter now that her teeth are showing more. I need to get pics of this so I can post them. It's way too cute!

So I know I have four months, but I've somewhat started thinking about her first birthday! Any ideas would be great! It's funny because here I am so excited to plan her 1st birthday which is four months from now and in 3 weeks is my 30th birthday and I haven't a clue what to do. hahaha! What can I say, baby first!

Seeking Representation

OK... so Junior and I have been talking and thought maybe we should look for representation for Toni. I mean... I know we're biased and so Toni is just about the cutest thing in the world, but a lot of people (strangers) will come by to tell us so when out in public. And it's not just a, "aww...." it's, "awww... she's adorable" "gorgeous" "cute" "precious" "Happy!" So... we thought well maybe she is! I mean we know she is, but maybe enough for the public. So anyway, we're looking. If anyone has any ideas and/or tips please share! We have some, but still any input would help! She's such a social, happy baby that I think that will help.

Toni's First Accident

Toni had her first accident tonight. Well not first, but first major accident. Major to me anyway. Luckily she's alright but it did not sit well with me much longer than it did her. And I feel I'm to blame on some level. She was sitting on the bed, in the middle playing with her toy while i changed out of my work clothes into my pjs... all of which i do in front of her so I'm near. I should have known better. I looked away for a split second and she had rolled herself off the bed and I did not get there in time to catch her. My poor baby. I'm still beating myself up for that. Fortunately she is ok... and our bed is fairly low. She didn't hit any edges and didn't fall on her head. She cried and cried and cried though. Breaks my heart. But after she cried, we applied pressure and things all over her body and she was fine. She even went back to her happy self like nothing had happen. So that was good! But until now it still weighs on my mind when I'm sure she has forgotton it by now.

New Room

Yay!!! So Toni was moved to a new room today... she's growing so fast! I need that remote that Adam Sandler had in that movie 'Click' not to fast forward but to slow time down. haha! ANYWAY... so I picked Toni up from school today and they moved her up to the "transition" room. It's not the infant room, but it's not the toddler room either. It's for age 7mos-12months. They moved her and two other kids her same age... Garon and Kendall. It's so cool watching these other kids grow as well. Flips me out almost just the same. ANYWAY, so she was in this room when I cam to pick her up. They have this little "house" made of that mat type material they use in gyms, but it just has a floor, two walls and one wall has a window, no roof. But it's all mat, the floor and walls. So Toni was in it on her tummy and she was watching the older babies play. The other one's could either just walk or crawl. When I got there, I called her name and normally she'll hear me right away and turn towards my voice and get really excited. This time she was so into the other kids playing that she didn't hear me right away. So I watched her for a bit and this kid threw this little soft toy he had and it landed a couple feet in front of him and also in front of Toni.

Well Toni can't crawl or walk just yet, but it's coming I assure you! I can feel it. It's right there! So as soon as this toy lands, she starts heading for it. Mind you she is still on her tummy so she's wriggling as fast as she can. hahaha! It was a bit hilarious but oh so cute. of course the other kid got it before she did, but she still seemed to happy as if they were playing together. I swear my baby is going to be a social butterfly just like my dad was, her Papa.

So then I call her again and she did her turn like normal like 'whoa i hear my mommy' and got really excited. That gives you one of the best feelings. And she ate ALL of her solids and had ALL of her milk today too! Woo hoo!!! My baby is on her way to chubby! She's such a small eater. When she first started having solids at school, she would eat the stage 1 foods. Stage 2 came and she should only eat half of the food and half to three fourths of the 4 oz milk. After a while I noticed she can definitely drink more milk. So I upped it to 5 oz. So up until today she was having half baby food and 5 oz milk. Well she's been having that pretty consistently and I noticed at home she's been finishing ALL of her baby food with ALL of her milk... sometimes 6 oz milk. So yesterday I told her school to feed her all of her baby food plus still the 5 oz. So today Miss Cynthia tells me she had it all! YAY!!! So I think if she keeps this up consistently I'll up her milk as well since she's not always consistent with that at home.

Sigh.... my baby is growing so fast! Oh yeah. So Lately I could tell that it's a close race between: Will crawling come first or will she skip to walking? She works hard to try and get on all fours and when she does she rocks. But then she's already pulling herself up to standing positions and one time took a step towards the video camera. SO... I know it's coming. And now that she's in the new room, I just know she's going to flourish. My friend Muna tells me that little Sachu was like that and so when he crawled it wasn't for very long before he started walking... like crawling was a very short stage. So she may be like that as well. I know I say I can't wait but I may take that back once she gets there too. hahaha!

I always hear that time flies when your baby is growing up and I knew it did... I could feel it some, but I think this stage is where it blows you away b/c she's going to crawl/walk/talk all in another 6 months or so. Those are huge and in such little time! Good thing I have that video camera now!

Discovery Green

Today we went to Discovery Green for the first time and the weather was PERFECT for it! I mean I know it's January, but this IS Houston and weather is never consistent. So today with it being a high of low 80's with barely any clouds in the sky... oh man it was great! The wind was blowing but it wasn't cold wind.... just wind and Toni LOVED it! That's this picture right here.

This pic was the end of "airplane" where Junior holds her face down and swings her like she's flying like an airplane. I took a series of continuous shots all of which she had these huge grins but the end shot is the best because you can see all of her face.

This shot I took of Junior playing with Toni. No this wasn't staged. He really was playing with her like that and again I took a series of continuous shots and this was one of the good ones.

This shot I just like. We were sitting by the area where the water shoots out from the ground and all the kids were playing in it. It was tempting to let Toni play in it, but with her still with a bit of a cough, wind blowing and no towel we thought, better not. But we did run into this one lady with her 10 month old daughter (Juliet) who was sooo cute. I was tempted to take a picture but thought the mom may not appreciate it... even though we talked for a bit and Toni played with Juliet. Anyway, in terms of height Juliet was not much taller than Toni. Maybe not even a whole inch. But she could walk! So she was playing in the water. She was so cute! I'm definitely taking Toni back when she can walk.

And this picture was just another shot of her smiling she enjoyed today so much! But with this picture, you can see her tooth!!!! You can't see the other one right next to it as it's barely breaking surface right now but that first one I discovered a few days ago is really visible!

My Baby's Growing Up!

Somebody stop her! hahaha... I love it and then I wish she would stop. She's growing so fast. It's been about two days (well it really would have been more like near a week if I didn't give in two days ago!) since I last breastfed her and no engorgement. I think this may be then end of that. I'm a little sad and a little happy too. Sad because it's such a great bond and to know your baby needs you and you can provide like no one else can is really nice. But I guess I'll have to find other ways now. She struggled one night with it when I took her into our bed late one night and wanted to breastfeed and I didn't. She was a little unhappy and really so was I. But I was hurting still from the thrush and hers was getting better and I didn't want to mess that up. But happy because I can do whatever I want now and not have to worry, can I eat that? Will that affect her?

Now she has been sleeping through the night for the most part. I haven't really had to get up at 3 or 4 in the morning to get her and bring her into our bed. She's been sleeping through the night for the most part. I think all the toys she has and the more active she is now causes her to tire and therefore she sleeps WELL. Fine by me! She gets her rest, we get ours... everyone's happy!

Her other tooth has broken surface as well!!! It doesn't show nearly as much as the other one, but I can see two white dots right next to the other one. I can't believe that fairly soon she'll have a toothy smile! awwww... I can imagine! My smiling, laughing baby.. with teeth! It will change everything! So it's funny because I knew all the symptoms of teething but didn't know or was really sure she was teething. Runny nose... well maybe that's due to the cold she has. Putting everything in her mouth... don't babies explore with their mouths? Drooling... isn't that because everything is in her mouth? So yeah... I didn't think.. oh she's teething. When people would ask if she's teething I'd say, "I think so..." but mostly because everyone would always say she must be teething and well... they've been saying that since she was four months! And I think maybe then she really was just exploring with her mouth. ANYWAY... she's teething.

So my sister in law, Lisa, gave us this learning table where you can detach the legs so the baby can sit on the floor and play with it, or keep the legs on and baby can stand and play with it. Sometimes Toni plays while sitting, but the other day I decided to put the legs on and let her stand. She held herself up VERY well. All I had to do was sit behind her in case she fell back which really never happened. But better safe than sorry. Well I video taped her and she was trying to grab for the camer and took a step (with the help of the table of course)! However, she's trying to crawl too. She's at a rocking point and can't always get her knees under her but more beside her like when sitting indian style and just leaning forward. So right now I think it's a close race between crawling and walking. But I can tell. If she could have it her way, she'd skip right to walking. I can tell she gets frustrated that she can't just get up and go. Her mind is there, her body hasn't caught up yet. But soon, very soon I can feel it!