Thursday, January 28, 2010

Super Star




Stasa's been having a lot of fun with the sunglasses from her birthday party. When I put them on her she immediately starts babbling either "babababa" or "mama mama mama."

Last weekend I spent my Sunday morning organizing all of the clothes that Stasa's outgrown already. This way we can pack them away until our next baby arrives (NO I'M NOT PREGNANT). Check it out - 9 full bins. The kid has waaaaaaaay more clothes than I do. We're still building her 2T wardrobe, so any time we're out, if we see a sale we scoop up as much as we can.


And here's a couple of shots of Stasa wearing her baby with a "Fauxby," my homemade Moby.


Monday, January 25, 2010

Fever all through the night


We had quite the Friday night, but first some playtime pictures. Stasa is LOVING the Busy Ball Popper and has learned how to turn it on all by herself. I love watching her little hairs blowing up when she sticks her face over the popper.



I got Tom to snap a few shots of me with the monster, too. See how she loves being forced to take a picture with mama?


I had originally planned to take part of Friday off to photograph Rob and Kristen's newborn, but Geraldine was sick so I rescheduled the photo shoot for Saturday. Stasa woke up Friday morning with a fever of 101.1, so I gave her a little bit of Motrin and monitored her temperature for the rest of the morning. About 2 hours after she had the Motrin, it was back to 98.6, so I chalked the fever up to her cutting her first year molars.

The rest of the day she was clingy and whiny and refusing food, but still didn't have a fever. At that point I threw in the towel and logged off my computer to take care of her. I finally got her to nap late in the afternoon and she didn't wake up until Tom came home around 4:30. She was burning up when I went in to get her. I took her temp and it quickly went up to 103.1. YIKES. I gave her some Motrin and water and left a message for the on-call doctor. I thought it might be higher since she had just woken up and was wrapped in blankets. I took her temp again about 30 minutes later and it went up to 103.8.

We said screw waiting for the doctor to call back and ran out to the Urgent Care. The doctor listened to her lungs: all clear; checked her ears: all clear; checked for rashes: only a fever rash. She finally told us they would need to take a urine sample with a catheter.

::sigh::

Trying to console a 1 year old while a doctor inserts a catheter is not the easiest or most fun job. The initial tests came back positive for a urinary tract infection, which is apparently very common in diapered little girls. She prescribed an antibiotic and told us we could increase the amount of Motrin we give her.

The doctor said if her fever continued after 2 days, we'd have to come back in to get a different type of antibiotic. The rest of the weekend we monitored Stasa's temperature (I've become a pro at wielding a rectal thermometer) and it would be over 102 and then down to 98.8 over and over again until Sunday when it finally regulated.

Here's the little monster up to no good on Friday afternoon.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Today, on the Stasa Channel...

Babbling on her birthday


Stasa has great plans to start her own band. She's recruiting members now, leave a comment and she'll assign you an instrument.


I love playing "fetch" with her. She could do this again and again without getting bored.


Another new favorite game.


And finally, look who's learning how to throw a tantrum.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Perspective

Now that I'm officially done with breastfeeding and pumping, I decided to look back on the year. Those first 6 weeks were hell and there were definitely times I wanted to quit, especially after being stuck using a nipple shield and having a baby with "peanut butter tongue." In those days my breastfeeding goal was just to make it to the next feeding.

After Stasa and I got the hang of things (and weaned from the shield), I stretched my goal to 3 months with my "wouldn't it be great" goal of 1 year far in the future. I was lucky and only ended up with 1 mild case of mastitis, a handful of clogged ducts and 1 milk blister.

At first I was uncomfortable with nursing in public; I wouldn't even nurse in my own family's home unless I could be in a private room. I would duck into fitting rooms while shopping at the mall like a refugee. I finally lightened up and bought a Hooter Hider and ventured out for some public nursing sessions. The first time I sat in the mall with Stasa nursing under the cover, I thought how weird it was and worried that people were looking. I quickly got over that and became oblivious to the people around me. So what if they were looking? Looking at what? Becoming comfortable with nursing in public was so freeing. It meant being able to go wherever I wanted without having to pump first and pack a bunch of bottles.

I reached my 3 month goal upon my return to work and set my next goal for 6 months, still with my eye on that 1 year mark. Getting into the rhythm of pumping at work took some time; it was like starting all over again. I stiffened every time another mother walked into the Mother's Room while I was pumping. I bought another Hooter Hider to keep at the office so I could relax in the shared Mother's Room. I learned to schedule calendar appointments for my pumping sessions so people wouldn't try to meet with me when I needed to pump. After about a month of pumping in the Mother's Room, I became completely comfortable and stopped using the nursing cover.

Six months came and went and I set my eyes on my final goal: 1 year. I had a great schedule down; nurse in the morning, pump 3-4 times a day and then nurse 1-2 times in the evening. I even made it through continual growth spurts of her eating 40-42 oz of milk a day.

And then when Stasa was 11 months old, I woke up one morning and nursed her and then went about my day. I came back from running errands to nurse her after her nap and she flat out refused. And she kept refusing every couple of hours for a week, until I finally gave in to exclusively pumping.

The abrupt end to our nursing relationship was probably the most heartbreaking thing I've dealt with while being a parent. I felt rejected each time she pushed away from me and thought "she doesn't need me as much anymore." I knew I should be happy that my little girl was becoming more and more independent, but I still wanted to feel needed.

About a week later I realized what I missed most about not nursing was the one-on-one cuddle time I had with Stasa. I quickly remedied that by spending 10 minutes each night rocking with and singing to her.

I am more than happy to not be tied to my pump and rigid schedule anymore. I like the freedom that whole milk has given me. And I love my quiet time with Stasa each night.

And in case you were curious, in the past year I produced just about 80-100 GALLONS of breastmilk. Talk about being a cow.

Monday, January 18, 2010

1 Year Old

I took Stasa to the doctor for her 1 year well baby check-up. Before we get into the details, here are her 1 year stats:

Weight: 23 lbs, 12 oz (90th percentile)
Height: 30" (75th percentile)

I think her head was 17.5", but I could be wrong because I forgot to ask for the specific measurement. She got 2 shots today; the Chickenpox vaccine and the MMR. We have to watch her for a fever over 101.5, slight body rash and redness at the injection sites. The doctor also suggested we start Stasa on an over-the-counter vitamin D, Poly-si-vol. And Stasa now has stranger awareness. She definitely got scared when the nurses and the doctor came in and started touching her. The stranger awareness only seemed to apply to the doctor and nurses because as soon as we were in the waiting room, she walked right up to a table of little boys to play with them.

The doctor asked a lot of questions, including:
What words does she say?
Does she wave bye-bye?
How old is your house?
Does she crawl? Walk?
Does she self-feed?
Is she on a sippy?
Does she drink whole milk? How much a day?
Does she have her 1 year molars?

I came prepared to listen not only the words she says (mama, dada, baby and yeah), but all of the ones she recognizes (ball, pillow, kitty, kiss, hug, no...), but they didn't ask for that. I feel like there should be a 5 minute brag session at each appointment. The next well baby check-up is at 15 months old, but we'll need to go back before that for her booster flu shot.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

1 Year Well Baby Guesses

We go in for Stasa's 1 year well baby check-up and shots on Monday. Anyone want to take a guess on her height and weight?

Here are her birth and 9 month stats.
Birth:
6 lbs 14 oz
20 1/2"

9 months:
21 lbs 9 oz
27.5"

The winner will get a slobbery kiss from Stasa.

Another new baby!

Our friends, Rob and Kristen, had their little girl, Alexandra Daley Samsot, yesterday. I can not wait to meet her!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Today, on the Stasa Channel...

The new way to use a straw...


MERRY CHRISTMAS!



Mama Stasa, strolling along...


Her new obsession: climbing in and out of her chair.



Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd stuffing herself into a shoebox, size 11.

Friday, January 8, 2010

50 & 51 Weeks Old




As of today we're exactly ONE WEEK away from Stasa's FIRST BIRTHDAY. I am still in denial that a whole year has already passed and feel blessed to even have her. Tom and I miss her every single day while we're at work and coming home to pick her up is the highlight of our day.
Yesterday Tom picked her up and said that she got excited and "ran" over to him. It really is the best feeling when she hugs both of my legs and nuzzles my knee.
Stasa has an oral vocabulary of 4 words: mama, dada, baby and yeah/yes, but she understands so much more. She knows what ball, baby, kitty, daddy, pillow and many more words mean. She also actually plays with her toys instead of just eating them and tries to stack her stacking cups. AND one of my favorite things she does is "rock" her baby to sleep and give her baby kisses, but she only does it every now and then. Most times she's sitting on her baby or throwing her baby.
So, the official countdown begins today. Seven (SEVEN!) days until Stasa is ONE.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

How to entertain yourself in a child's playroom

Now that Stasa’s into independent play, she doesn’t really “need” us to play with her. Most times she actually pushes me away or takes the toys away from me. Independent play doesn’t mean she’s content playing in the room by herself, so Tom and I still hang out in the playroom with her, but we find ourselves getting bored just sitting there. Instead of just watching mindless television, we’ve come up with some fun “games” using her toys.

Game 1: Ring Toss
Toy used: Fisher Price Brilliant Basics Rock-a-Stack
How to play:
Place the base between Players 1 and 2. Using only the bottom 4 rings, Player 1 tosses the rings onto the peg. If Players 1 or 2 successfully get a ring on the peg, play continues with the rings that are left until all of the rings are stacked on the peg. If your child removes the rings during play, you must start over.

Game 2: Hallway Bocce Ball
Toy used: Fisher Price Roll-a-Rounds
How to play:
Players 1 and 2 sit at opposite ends of the hallway. Haphazardly toss 4 of the 6 balls into the middle of the hallway. Player 1 starts with 2 balls and rolls the balls to knock the 4 in the middle toward Player 2. Player 2 uses all of the balls that roll within his/her reach. Play continues until all of the balls are at one end. If your child moves/kicks any of the balls during play, you must continue playing wherever the balls are dropped.

Game 3: Stack ‘Em High
Toy used: wooden alphabet blocks and container
How to play:
Divide the blocks evenly between Players 1 and 2. On the count of 3, begin stacking your blocks in a single block stack. The player that stacks the most without it toppling over wins. Extra cool points if you can successfully stack all of your blocks before your child knocks them over.

Game 4: Shoot It Through the Hoop
Toy used: Ikea’s KORALL SKÖLDPADDA Storage basket and many many stuffed animals
How to play:
Place the basket between Players 1 and 2. Players 1 and 2 take turns tossing all of the stuffed animals into the basket. Play continues until all of the animals have successfully been tossed into the basket. Increase the difficulty level by moving farther away from the basket. If your child empties the basket, you must start over.

As you can see, we’re pretty nerdy and entertain ourselves with ridiculous games. There are never any real winners, but we end up having a lot of fun. And most times Stasa joins in and then walks around clapping if she throws a ball or tosses a ring. And she always smiles while knocking over our stacked blocks.

Monday, January 4, 2010

First birthday photo shoot

Here are just a few pictures from Stasa's first birthday photo shoot. She was not in a good mood at all. I chalked it up to a slight cold, but no, it wasn't that. I spotted the problem while brushing her teeth the other night. There it was, high up in her gums, shining like a beacon of pain. Her first molar.

First Birthday 1
First Birthday 3
First Birthday 11
First Birthday Cake Smash
First Birthday Cake Smash