Though we purchased it a few weeks ago, we had not yet used your big girl car seat.  Well, that all changed today.  You seemed to think it was alright!  You can definitely see more of your surroundings now and I think you like that.  However, you fell asleep on the way home and there is no doubt your baby girl car seat is much more comfortable for snoozing. 

Your dad accidentally cracked your nogin on the garage door.  He thought he smelled a poopy diaper so he hoisted you up so that your butt was even with his nose.  Then it happened – CRACK!  He didn’t realize that there was only about 1 foot between his head and the garage door.  Needless to say you cried big crocodile tears and he felt absolutely horrible.  Unfortanely, I am pretty sure that won’t be the last time that happens.  🙁

We are amazed by each and every day! You are blossoming into such a grown up little baby! You are happy, good natured, and that smile is to die for!

I realized it’s been a month since our last entry – unacceptable! This has been an interesting 30 days. You have continued to battle that same darn ear infection. The doctor finally put you on the “last resort” antibiotic and referred us to an ENT. You are scheduled for tubes on March 26th.

We also went to see an pediatric pulmonologist just to make extra sure there is nothing going on with your lungs. You passed that test with flying colors; of course you were feeling really good and on an antibiotic at the time. We are keeping a close eye on you but I am sad to report that you finished your meds on Thursday and started coughing again on Friday. Poor baby!

You are still enjoying daycare. Everyday when I come to get you, you are playing with some toy, or other baby, and totally enjoying yourself. By genes alone you are destined to be a social butterfly, but daycare has helped you develop those skills – even at such a young age.

We are in the beginning stages of palnning your 1st birthday party. It’s sooooo hard to believe that is coming up! Everyone said it would, but man, it’s gone by so fast!

I am taking a mommy-vacation the first week in April. I am going to Playa del Carmen with my friend Christi. The trip is sponsored by her work and she gets to bring someone. Since she will be in charge of coordinating everything (parties, events, packets, meetings, meals, etc.) for the attendees she decided she should bring somone who’s as organized as she is to help her…..she chose me! 🙂

While I a SUPER excited about having a much needed break, I am already getting anxious about being away from you for that long. The longest so far has been one night in the same city….this will be 5 nights in a different country! Ay yi yi! Just practicing up on my spanish! 🙂

Your grandma Karen is going to come down to spend time with you & daddy while I am gone. Well, probably you more than daddy, but don’t tell him that. Anyway, I’ve said it before and I mean it again. I am going to blog more often! Even if it’s just a sentence or two. Love you baby girl!

I am pretty sure you said Dada tonight!  You and I were playing after your bath and you were making sounds so I decided to start saying mama and dada to you.  It wasn’t long before your dad swore he heard you say mama.  I wasn’t so sure so I started saying dada to you and sure enough!  At just 9 months and 2 days old you said dada!  But we are going to call it a tie though as to whether you said mama or dada first.  🙂

It’s soooo hard to belive you’ve been outta the oven as long as you were in it!  Luli says we need to start pre-heating the oven for baby #2.  Mommy & Daddy say we should just wait and see about that one! 

I didn’t think it was possible, but I must admit, you are getting cuter by the day!  You are so brighted eyed and curious.  You get so much attention – where ever we go people are commenting on you. 

You are able to crawl on all fours now and you’ve figured out how to use stable items (ottoman, couch, mommy or daddy legs) to pull your self up to a standing position.  You are “talking” now – lots of different noises, sounds, and letters.  You really can use your vocabulary to get your point across – it’s obvious when you are mad, happy, excited, or bored. 

You are such a big girl!  You completely fill up your car seat…we’ll be switching over to the big girl seat very soon.  Everytime we tell someone how old you are they get big-eyed and comment on how big you are.  You really are proportionate, you’re just stout.  Oh, and you have a cute little belly!  I am anxious to find out your height/weight percentiles at your 9 month checkup on 2/25.

You’ve had a pretty rough few weeks.  You’ve been battling an ear infection and yucky cough for about 3 weeks.  After 2 rounds of antibiotics and 3 doses of steroids you seem to be on the mend. 

You’re learning to clap your hands and do it mostly when you are excited.  You love it when we feed you cold water from a straw…usually at a restaurant.  You adore Maddison and get excited and happy anytime you see her!  You are still just as curious as can be and have to constantly know what is going on at all times!  You are very social and love going to daycare. 

You are truly an angel.

We put you in your crib yesterday afternoon with the hope that you would find a nap appealing.  It became quite obvious after a few minutes of off and on crying and noise making that you had no interest in sleeping.  So, I opened the door to come get you and what did I see?!  My baby girl STANDING in her crib hanging on to the rail for dear life.  Your response to my shock and disbelief?  You laughed…a big, hearty from-the-gut laugh.  Gotta love it!  🙂

Not many parents can say that their baby didn’t vomit for the first time until they were over 8 months old.  Luckily, we are those parents!  Yesterday morning you ate a full serving of of applesauce and were washing it down with your bottle when all of a sudden you had a major cough attack.  I guess the coughing set off your gag reflex and there it was…all of your applesauce and formula back up – on your jammies, on the floor, and on my foot!  🙂  Hopefully it’ll be another 8 months before the next episode.

You are starting to fill out your car seat so we started looking at big girl car seats.  We went to Babies R Us yesterday and they were having a sidewalk sale.  We found a seat that was regularly priced at $170 on sale for $50 – simply because they came out with a new fabric this year.  After we used our 20% off coupon the total came to just $40!  What a deal, what a deal!  We also talked them down from $65 to $40 for a really nice umbrella stroller.  Can you say bargain shoppers!?

Poor baby girl, you’re sick again.  Over the last 5 months you’ve had the croup, a throat virus, and now it looks like just a case of the crud.  When mommy picked you up from daycare they said you had a fever of 101.5.  That means they won’t let you go back tomorrow.  You’re such a little trooper.  You’re definitely a little fussy, but even being sick you’re still such a sweet little angel. 

I hate that you’re sick, but I actually got some great QT with you tonight.  You’re always on the go.  You and I rarely get quality cuddle time.  You always play with mommy and I.  We all have lots quality time, but you’re just so curious and active that you’ll rarely just hang out in our laps.  You were such a sweet little cuddle bug tonight and actually feel asleep on my chest and laid there for almost an hour.  You hadn’t done that since you were about a month old.  I’m sorry you’re sick, but I cherished our time together tonight.

Love you and hope you feel better really soon,
Daddy

You made your way into this world exactly 8 months ago today.
Happy Birthday Angel!

It’s been too long! We’re already into 2010 and one of my commitments is to blog more often…even if it’s just a sentence or two! Let’s see, a lot has happened since the last blog entry.

Thanksgiving – Jeremy, Stacey, Grant, and Molly drove down from Iowa. The dads went to the Dallas Cowboys game on Thanksgiving day. The girls and Grant decided to do a little tailgating with them so you can officially say you’ve been tailgating!

Christmas – You took your first flight (outside the womb) to Iowa. You had a 10 minute crying fit (you were just absolutely exhausted) on the way home, but even with that, you did great on the plane! You got lots of good gifts from your grandparents and got to see your first snow. Ironically enough, it actually snowed more at home in Dallas than it did in Iowa! It’s was Texas’ first snowy Christmas in 30 something years…and we missed it!

New Years – very sadly, your great-grandfather (Daddy Dann) passed away on New Year’s Day. He lived a long, healthy, happy 90 years, of which he spent 66 years married to the love of his life, Mama Lou. Luckily, you were able to see him quite a few times since you were born in May. We have a couple of great moments of the two of you captured on video and picture. Cherish them always.

Milestones – you’ve accomplished quite a bit since the last time I wrote. Though you are not crawling quite yet, you are definitely mobile. You are able to get up on your knees and rock back and forth so it won’t be long til you are actually moving on all fours. In the meantime, you’ve mastered the art of the belly crawl…you can spin a full 360 using just your arms and you can move your legs enough to make strides across the room. It’s only a matter of time til all of our lives change forever.

Your hair is ridiculously long. Your bows and barrettes have begun to serve the purpose of function, not just fashion. You are growing like a weed and are already into 12 month pajamas! Most of your onesies and shirts are 9 – 12 months. It’s absolutely amazing how much and how fast you’ve matured!

Your motor skills are developing nicely. You can grip things and use your hands/fingers with more precise purpose now. You are sooooo curious (or as the girls at daycare say, nosey). You constantly have to know what’s going on around you and are constantly taking in your surroundings. I sometimes think your neck can turn a full 360 degrees!

You have four teeth now! The two bottom ones came in first, almost at the same time, and then your top left broke through. The top right was soon to follow and just recently broke the skin. You’ve become much more vocal in recent days. You make this really cute hissing noise, mostly when you are smiling or happy. You’ve also learned to let out a little yelp when you want attention and you are known for just chatting away when you are bored.

About a month ago you ventured into the land of baby food! Squash was your first taste of something besides formula…and you actually liked it. Since then, you’ve had all kinds of fruits and veggies. You don’t seem a big fan of bananas and peas make you gag. Other than that, you’re much less picky than either me or your father!

We actually moved on to the next step just this week. The ladies at daycare said you were stealing Cheerios off the other kid’s high chairs so I figured we better get you some of your own. We’ve since tried Cherrios and puffs – some sweet and some cheesy. You’ve got the hang of hand to mouth, but the minute those puffs get moist they just stick to your hand so you spend more time passing it from hand to hand than you do eating it. You had juice for the first time today…we started with apple and you sucked it down. Guess that was a hit!

It’s absolutely amazing how much you’ve changed and how fast time has flown by. You are one very lucky little girl…and we are two very blessed parents. Our love for you is simply boundless.

In August of 1998, just 2 short months after I moved to the “Big City”, I decided to adopt a cat for some companionship.  I went down to the local no-kill animal shelter, Operation Kindness, and after spending quite a bit of time in the cat room, became particularly drawn to this one tabby black/grey/brown tabby cat named Jasper.  He was full grown but no one had the exact information on his age or history.  He had simply been left there by his previous owner.    

I filled out the paperwork and took him to my apartment.  He was very timid and seemed a little anxious about all the changes and after hiding under the covers for a few hours decided to come and check things out.  So began our friendship, me & Jasper. 

He moved with me to a new apartment about a year after that, and in September of 2000 I introduced him to the person that would become my future husband…and your future father.  Though he was a little upset at the thought of having to share me with someone else at first, eventually, he warmed up to Brad.  And so began their friendship, Brad & Jasper.

Over the next 10 years, Jasper would become a different cat!  He went from shy and timid to curious and head strong.  He used to hide from strangers but began to embrace their presence.  In the beginning he would sit next to you but not in your lap but eventually his favorite place would be on my lap…especially anytime I had the laptop computer in my lap.  It was a challenge to navigate the computer with him basically sitting on top of it, but we always managed.  I remember just a month or so ago, he would burry his face in the middle of my hands as I would type…the motion of my fingers would rub his little cheeks and make him purr.  His favorite place to sleep at night was at the foot of the bed in between my legs.  All was right with the world when he was there. 

When we brought you home 6 months ago, his little world was turned upside down; though he did much better with all the change than either of us anticipated.  You really started to show an interest in him the past couple of months.  Watching him as he walked across the room.  Reaching out to touch him when he was nearby.  He was actually more accepting of your curious advances than I imagined he would be.  And so began your friendship, you & Jasper.

Unfortnately, that friendship came to a very untimely end.  Jasper had lost quite a bit of weight over the past month or so and went from a spry and happy kitty to lethargic and skinny kitty – he was bascially not eating.  I took him to the vet (Banfield at PetsMart) on Tuesday only to discover he was down from 13 pounds to about 8.5!  It seemed to happen overnight.  They did some testing but couldn’t find anything particular to be the cause.  So we narrowed it down the possibility of a sore tooth and began feeding him canned food, which he ate very little of.

By Saturday morning (yesterday) his situation had worsened so we took him back to Banfield.  It was a horrible experience and they basically said they were not sure what the problem was but they could tell that he was dehydrated.  They pumped some fluids into his skin to hydrate him, force fed him a couple of syringes of food, and sent him on his way. 

By 9pm Saturday night, I was truly worried.  Your dad and I were feeding him and noticed that his breathing was labored and he was particularly lethargic.  I got scared.  We made a couple of phone calls and decided that your father would stay home with you (you were in bed asleep) while I took Jasper to the Emergency Vet Clinic down the street. 

Immediately, the vet there provided an educated assesment.  She was having difficulty hearing his breath sounds at the back of his lungs…especially on the right side.  She let me know that symptom, combined with rapid weight loss, usually indicated something really bad.  I agreed with her suggestion of  a chest X-ray and a few minutes later she showed me the results.  Poor little guy had fluid in his lungs brought on by a mass in his chest.  Kitty cancer. 

I called your father.  We considered all options, and given the fact that he was obviously uncomfortable and had been deteriorating so rapidly, we made the very difficult decision to end his suffering by putting him to sleep.  Your father made a few calls and found someone to come over and stay with you (Thanks Jessie!) and headed up to the clinic to be with me.  

We spent some last minute alone time with Jasper…just holding him and loving him until the vet came in with the medicine.  I made the decision to hold him while she administered the drugs…I wanted him to feel as comfortable and loved as possible.  It was quick and it was painless, and in an instant he was gone.  No more suffering, no more hunger, no more trouble catching his breath…just peace. 

I knew Japser for almost one-third of my life!  For 11 years he brought me joy, comfort, companionship, and love.  I will always remember the good times and I am so thankful he was able to meet you, even though your time together was brief.   

 Though he is gone physically, his memory will continue to live in all of our hearts….for always.

Hailey and Jasper

Maddison and Jasper