Day 11: One year ago today....




If we were living in modern times then we would probably have lost our little girl to Mastoiditis. You can read about that here. November had been such a crappy month because Morella refused the bottle at the beginning of the month which was cause for concern because I didn't know how else to give her thick liquids. I was able to get her to drink straight up EBM from a sippy cup but even then she was only averaging 6-8 ounces a day. She had a cold at the time I switched pediatrician's so they said it was that and a combination of teething. She got over the cold, but two weeks later had another slight sniffle (much like today) that cleared up in one day but then turned into her first and very massive ear infection. Of course, after that whole fiasco, Tim left for Seattle - I found out I was pregnant (a post for another day) and then we had her big first birthday party and gave everyone the violent Norovirus. Good times!

Even though she had the sniffles today, she had no temperature, took an okay nap and was in relatively good spirits for the afternoon. Athena however, has been a fussy little mess for the last two days. I blame the cheese I had in yesterday's sandwich for today's colicky behaviour. That on top of what I am sure is a growth spurt. I mean, I have had to use both sides several times just to appease the little tanker. But just in case it wasn't just a coincidence, I didn't take another claritin today. I get a little paranoid about milk supply sometimes. I blame it on that year of pumping.

Now one year later I have the coolest of little girls. The following three are from today:

Helping me in the kitchen. First she went through this whole horse and pony show about clearing a path to the counter and dragging a chair. There was an apple slice, a sock and a toy that were on the floor -- all of which she put away with a continuous chatter. Oh wait, you can see the apple slice there. Well, she was scooping tablespoons of flour into that pie pan (failed pie sugar strips) and helping mix up the crumble for the crisp. I got the point where you sprinkle it over the apples and asked her to help me. She did and then pretended to eat a bite. I said "You can try it if you want to. Go ahead." She picked up a piece and cautiously put it in her mouth. As soon as she realized it was butter, sugar, a bit of flour and oats she started gobbling it up like Tim does cookie dough. Sheesh. Talk about ruining your dinner. After I popped the crisp into the oven I let her continue to "cook" and even offered a tablespoon of sugar to throw into her concoction.
Earlier in the afternoon, I was cleaning the couch and had taken the cushion off to get underneath it. I hadnt' gotten far before Athena woke up and wanted a diaper change. When I came back not five minutes later, she was gleefully shouting and jumping up and down on the cushion. Not on that, but managed to find time to set a bomb off and undo all the putting away of flash cards I had put away ten minutes earlier. I felt like it was a right of passage for her to discover the joy of couch cushions.

A few hours into the morning I caught her on the couch reading to her baby. This baby is an Anne Geddes monstrosity that I wanted to get rid of as soon as we had gotten it. I had put it in a box with a few other stuffed toys and forgot about it in her closet until one day a couple months ago she bounced into the kitchen to show me her finds. I think this doll looks the closest to a newborn out of all of her dolls (and like Athena) so she has been a great Mommy to this doll all week. The only thing that sucks is when I have to take the doll with us on car trips in it's doll car seat carrier, change it's diaper multiple times because it peed and went 'poot' (to give her credit she has tried to change it's diaper several times as well and even wiped the baby), put a shirt on it, and later pants so it could go outside. Soon this baby is going to need shoes, a hat -- wait it has a hat -- a cheetah hat... anyway. Morella doesn't care which way the book actually faces, she still enjoys looking at pictures of animals. I like to think she's a super genius because she can look at things upside down.

Since she only weighs about 23 1/2 pounds (I hope!) she can fit into Athena's swing. For a little fun, here she is at 5 months the day I returned that swing to the person I had borrowed it from. I thought she was big then!


Which (man this post is starting to take forever thanks to all the digging around...) is huge compared to when she was two months...


Oh that swing saved our hides and made three of her first five months bearable. We use the swing daily with Athena, but now it's more like putting her in a safe spot for 10-15 minutes while I do something else, or when she has fallen asleep for quick nap.

Okay, I gotta get to bed. I leave with you a photo of Morella's baby. All dressed up and forgotten in the doll stroller. I guess Tim forgot that Morella prefers to cosleep with the baby like she did for the last two afternoon naps. Baby has to be tucked in right next Morella. It's just so stinkin' cute I tell you.