13 months and 6 days

Dear Annie,
You turning 13 months snuck up on us a bit. I debated on if I should continue these updates now that you are big 1 year old, but you are changing so much now and I still don't have a baby book (hush, Mom) so this will have to do for documentation for now.

You are officially getting your third tooth. It is the top right (your right) and it is taking its sweet time coming in. We thought this might be the source of the diaper rash poopapalooza from last week, but since Rick and I also got a touch of a stomach bug (and as far as I know, teething isn't contagious-but I am not a doctor), I don't think that is it. I think you might be getting a big group of teeth here soon because your gums are a bit more white right at the surface and look like something is trying to break through.

You are so full of personality. You captivated a small group of adults at your friend Charlie's birthday party. The gracious hostess aptly referred to your rolling around, flailing your arms, and mugging at anyone that would make eye contact as your "interpretive dance". It was very entertaining. Not sure where you get this extrovert personality. Must be all those dance parties with your Dad.

You are in size 4 diapers, your clothes are still 12-18 months but I will probably switch to buying 18-24 the next time I buy something as most of your shirts ride up now. You are in size 4 shoes. The great butt chafe of June called for you to eat starchy and salty foods (doc's orders), which kind of derailed your excellent eating habits, but we are getting you back on track. Your favorite foods are grilled cheese and cubed ham. And just about any fruit. You will shovel them in by the handful and somehow manage with just 2.5 teeth.

You are walking up to around 10-15 steps now, pretty much all of a sudden. And you can crawl with break-neck speed. So if you want to get somewhere fast, crawling is your mode of choice. If you are really determined, you put your head down and crawl "battering ram style" straight towards your target. It is both hilarious and terrifying to watch as I imagine your eyes are closed in extreme concentration under that tucked head. Luckily you seem to have a good handle on obstructions in our house and have yet to run head-long into anything. Somehow.

You have a few tricks that you have learned:
What does a doggie say: "oof oof!"
What does a monkey say: "ooo ooo!" not to be confused with oof oof, mind you.
You can point out your belly button
You play "where are you" (which could also be named "Annie Keeps Her Head Under a Blanket for an Uncomfortable Period of Time")
You can blow kisses and sometimes, if you a person is really lucky, you'll give an actual kiss. If a person is really, really lucky, it will be of the french variety. Oh la la!
You give out high fives and high tens. Sometimes entire lunches are occupied with the giving out of high fives.
You can say Daddy, baby, duck, dog, gib (Jen's dog), and you chat what we think is "Annie", though it sounds a bit like Ellie (Jen's oldest daughter). I like to think that you are chanting your own name. No lack of self esteem there.
You have started sleeping with a blanket and bunny is as present as ever. You have even taken to draping bunny across the top of your head during some meals. I figure this keeps it out of the danger zone. You are still sleeping 12 hours a night, and taking 2 naps on most days.

In 20 years I want to remember the feel of your sticky hands (and razor sharp nails) on my legs begging to be picked up, how you only let me cut those nails when your big cousins are dancing like wonderfully distracting monkeys in front of you, how we know you are done eating when you start giving away your food, how you "play chase" with us in your crib in the morning and laugh and laugh at how funny you are, how you will drop it down low and shake that diaper when you hear a song you like (currently "Call me Maybe"), how you insist on "brushing" your own hair after I have already brushed it, usually resulting it looking like this (or possibly worse):

I want to remember how sweet you are when you want to do something yourself, and how frustrated you get when you can't do it without our help. I want to remember how hard it is not to laugh at you when you spit your food back out (which is a messier way you show us when you are finished eating). I want to remember the feel of your heavy head on my shoulder as I put you to bed and how your little hand tightens on the back of my arm when I am holding you and you want to be held a little closer.

I want to remember everything. We love you so much, sweet girl.

Love,

Mom

The Joy

I took a stand against a certain candy a few years back. Also here and here. Needless to say, there was a bit of a fallout from all the Almond Joy lovers out there since then. Well, the AJ lovers in my friends and family. No one else reads this thing.

The fam was at the grocery store last night and Rick snapped a few pics of Annie pillaging the candy aisle.

We've made a selection.

Closer inspection.

Aannnnnd it's the Almond Joy bag.

Rick gloated at what good taste she must have in candy. I like to think she's on a mission to keep quality candy on the shelves.

#2

So the title has a dual meaning. It's the second post about poop, or the #2. I have recently wondered why it's secondary to the pee because anyone who has ever experienced any difficulty with the poop knows that it is muy importante. It's certainly becoming #1 in our house.

After the last post about Annie's frequency of pooping, I got a call from Jen during the day to inform me she (Annie, not Jen) had major diaper rash. Annie has had only one brush with diaper rash thus far, and that was due to some rogue sand that stayed too long in a swim diaper. That cleared up fairly quickly.

I don't know if she has a bug or is teething or both, but the frequency of the deuce has led to some of the saddest looking diaper rash I have ever seen. Granted, I haven't seen much, but when your little baby winces in pain when you go to touch her and holds her little lady parts away from you when you hold her, it breaks my heart.

So we are on day 3 of poopapalooza and spent the majority of the day diaper-free, letting her business air out. And somehow there have only been three #2s on the hardwood. The first time it happened my only thought was how thankful I was that it wasn't in a diaper that smushed it all over her, thus requiring a hellish and wailing diaper change. It was a very "I am officially a parent" moment. And, thanks to Bexar, I can handle accidents on the floor. It's the uncomfortable and hurtie baby I can't take much more of. Any and all recommendations for diaper rash treatment are welcome!

Let It Flow

Warning: Poop Talk Ahead

It's no secret in our family that some of us have issues with the deposits not matching the withdrawals, which is code for constipation. Yes. This is being discussed. Primarily because poop has become about one degree off the center of my universe these days. Annie and Rick are the center, and just to the left of that is Annie's poop schedule.

My sister's children, one of them specifically, had significant issues with "the movements" as a child. I have also heard co-worker's tales of woe involving mineral oil, surgical gloves, home enemas, and trips to the ER for "relief". So to say I wanted to avoid this at all costs is an understatement. I was worried that Annie would also have issues with this given her family history, so I have made sure that she has a diet rich in fruits and veggies and that she is always well-hydrated.

A few weeks ago she had some trouble in this department. Just once (as in one diaper), but it sent me into a super-vigilant anti-constipation campaign. Likely because I am insane. I ramped up the veggies, cut out the bananas and rice/pasta, and made sure she got enough fluids. It seems I might have over-corrected.

Now we are having the opposite problem. Like 3-4 times a day. Is this normal? It seems pretty excessive. And all the pooping seems to be interfering with her napping, which is my other great obsession. Turns out Annie hasn't mastered the art of sleeping with a huge diz-ump in her shorts. I guess her abilities do have limitations. Oh, and it's also becoming a great expense what with the billion diaper changes a day. We've even had to PURCHASE our own diapers instead of using the generously provided diapers from Papa Erwin. We just go through them so quickly.

I guess I should be thankful that we don't have the opposite problem, and I am sure Annie will be thrilled that I am publicly discussing her pooping habits when she is old enough to read this blog. But the blog is supposed to be about our lives, and these days our lives are all about the poop.

Summer Scramble

Apologies for the lack of posting over here. We have been taking advantage of all the fun, free activities around St. Louis in the summer. As a result, not a lot of time to post. 

We've hit the Webster pool a few times. Annie and I enjoy "toddler time" when I am home during the week. The pool is only open to little kids between 10-11:30 and it's nice and quiet.

We enjoyed "Jungle Boogie" at the zoo on Friday nights. They allow you to bring in your own refreshments and Annie loved seeing a live band.

We've tried to perfect our summer "look".

We show off our guns at Tilles Park.

And we are FINALLY starting to dig our sunglasses that Aunt Chaney got us. I showed Annie herself in the mirror when we both had our glasses on and off and I think she finally got it. Then she didn't want to take them off. She played around the house in them for 20 minutes.

We've had lots of adventures so far and more to come. Or more of the same adventures as I am sure we will hit the pool and the zoo many more times before summer ends.

Info Friday

I recall a time in the fairly distant past, but still embarassingly recent time, when I was at my desk (see, told you it wasn't that long ago) pondering where raisins came from. Raisins. RAY-SINS! You see, I am prone to these mental breaks when there is something painfully obvious in front of me, but I can't figure it out. I tried to remember seeing a raisin tree, or shrub, or if they grew in the ground. Thankfully this was pre-internet (so this can be narrowed down to like 98-99) in my office so I didn't actually google it, and then suffer the injury I would undoubtedly have incurred by banging my head against my desk. I think I figured it out on the drive home and had a good laugh at what an idiot I can be.

Some of you will also recall a previous post where I pondered the correct spelling of the plural of bus and where garbanzo beans come from. Deep stuff, people.

So the other day, Rick and I were toodling around somewhere and I dropped another bomb on him. You see, I have spent lots of time on and in water in my days, and I had never seen this particular thing in any of my travels. Rick can be a font of knowledge sometimes, or he can make stuff up quick enough to sound like he knows what he's talking about, so I went to him with this pressing issue first.

K: Where do goldfish come from?
R: .....The pet store? (internally wondering why he is married to someone that has the inquiries of a 3 year old)
K: No, where does the pet store get them? I've never seen one when we snorkel or on any documentary.
R: .....................

I think he walked away at this point and I knew he was stumped. Turns out, he took the inquiry to brother in law, Dan, who has books like "Why is the Sky Blue?" scattered about his side of the bed.

R: So, Kaly was wondering where goldfish come from the other day.
D: We got ours at Petsmart.
R: No, like where they come from, in the wild.
D: Hmmmm. I don't know, but I feel Asians have something to do with it.

Ah, good ol' Dan. Never one to shy away from a racial stereotype in the pursuit of knowledge.

Well, turns out DAN WAS RIGHT (info from here):
Goldfish as we know them do not exist anywhere in the wild state. They are a product of long years of selective breeding. The wild fish from which goldfish were developed belong to the carp family and are still numerous in the streams of CHINA. They do not naturally have the golden hue, but are dark in color, much like ordinay carp. Centuries ago the Chinese fish culturists interbred light-colored specimens and produced many beautiful varieties. Fanciers further induced and strengthened the golden and silvery colors by regulating the quantity of minerals in the water.....A 150 acre hatchery near Frederick, Maryland normally productes five million goldfish a year.

Now you know. I have no idea what a "Fancier" is, but is sounds, well, fancy, and something I want to be when I grow up.

STEPS!

I guess it took calling Annie out on the not walking yesterday to motivate her to take her first few steps last night. She had bunny in one hand and a silver cup from great grandma Edith in another. Keeping it real and classy. Real classy. She took two steps and then fell to her knees. Rick and I exploded into screams and clapping. It's a miracle we didn't scare her to tears and thus prevent her from walking for the rest of her life. I think the key to preventing the "cruising" is having things in both hands. You established Moms of walkers out there will probably say a huge DUH to this one, but I never thought of it. And YOU never told me. So it's practically your fault.

Of course there are no pictures as it was pre-bedtime technology-free time so I will throw in this pic, which was also taken yesterday, to document Annie's wild curly hair.

Hopefully the curls pick a direction one of these days, but I think she pulls it off quite well.

Way to go, baby girl! We are so proud of you. Rest assured your Dad will have you on a strict training regimen this weekend and you will be running by Sunday.