Well, not the same halves actually. Lucy has had a pogo-ing fever for about a week and a half now. We thought it might just be teething at first (her top two are starting to come in, which is objectively awesome), but she’s also developed a cough and has a runny nose and eyes. I took her into the Dr.’s office on Monday and they said she didn’t seem to have anything other than a garden variety bug, which is good, but it hasn’t made her any happier. I’m going to stay home with her tomorrow and let her get some rest and love.

Of course, it’s good that I’m staying home because it is 2:40 something in the morning and I can’t sleep because, being a family, we share and Lucy was sweet enough to give me some congestion and a sore throat. The good news is that I don’t think I’m teething.

So, it’s me and the cat hanging out in the dark listening for signs of baby fuss from above and whiling away the hours writing emails and blog posts.

Lucy is 10 1/2 months! She’s not quite crawling yet, but definitely can get herself around. She moves through a series of scoots and lunges across the floor and if you are not watching closely, she’ll move 4 feet across the room as soon as your back turns! I’ve heard that some babies never crawl and since she can get around just fine without doing so, I’m thinking she may be one of those babies.

She also still hasn’t cut any teeth but I think they are coming any day now. I kept looking at the bottom gums because I was told those usually come first. When she was laughing at me yesterday, I noticed she’s got two bumps coming through on her top gums. So again, she’s going to rebel and not be like other babies. She’s definitely my daughter.

First words? I think she’s had a few. The other day while I was playing with her at day care with a ball, she definitely said ‘ball.’ Of course I ran out to the store and bought a bunch of balls for her, hoping to recreate the scene for Kevin at home. I can say for certain that she is in fact saying ball and definitely only when the ball is present. Also, when I was leaving her on Friday, I said “Bye bye, Lucy” and she definitely said “Bye bye.” She did it twice! I haven’t got her to do it again, but I’m still not convinced it was a coincidence. And of course, she’s been saying “Da da” for months, but no definite “Ma ma’s” no matter how much I try to hear what I want out of her little noises. I’m sure she knows who I am regardless.

We are looking forward to our big week long Alabama visit coming in November! We were recently up there to visit the Derryberry side of the family and so I could go to a conference. Above is a picture from that weekend with all of her cousins. Good times.

I hope I bought it big enough because let me tell you, this baby is a hefty one. At her 9 month check up last week she weighed 22lbs. I kid you not. Her pediatrician says this is no big deal so I’m not worried about it. Plus, who doesn’t like a chunky baby thigh? Delicious.

And yes, bring on your Blind Melon comments. I welcome them.

Last weekend I went to an expo for Breastfeeding Month at the Capital Regional Medical Center. A Moment Captured Photography was there and was doing free photo sessions for babies 3 and under. They posted 1 photo from each session on her site and are holding a cutest baby contest. The winner gets a free photo session and free 8X10. You can vote once per day per IP address and the voting ends at 7pm this Friday. Vote for Lucy today!

And for those who read this on Facebook and Twitter, I promise my campaigning will only last for a couple more days and then I’ll quit bugging all of you.

Lucy’s Grandma sent her this Alabama outfit and we couldn’t wait till football season for her to try it on. After all, she’s growing like crazy and we might not get the chance. Lucy’s getting bigger by the day and is just about ready to outgrow her swing. She’s sitting up, eating veggies and fruits, and chanting DaDaDa!

Now we just have to work on MaMa and roll tide.

So I’m a big fan of Etsy.com. I am constantly window shopping on there and finding these cute handmade things that I am just a click away from buying for Lucy. This was potentially going to break us financially. I got to thinking, I have a sewing machine. Why can’t I make Lucy things? So after my mother in law gave me a refresher course on my sewing machine I was on my way. First, I made bibs, then pacifier clip, and now dresses. My mom came and stayed with us this weekend and helped me put together two dresses for Lucy. The first one was a pillowcase dress that I kept seeing people sell on Etsy in really cute designs. I found some cool retro looking asterisk fabric and mom and I literally stayed up all night working it out. We had a pattern, but it was pretty weak and the directions were ridiculous. We used the armhole guide for it but that was it. Mom had some cool ideas for how to make it look really finished and showed me how to finish my edges, hide my seams, and generally make it look like something I probably would have paid $30 for on Etsy. Then today we made the little jumper with a slightly different retro fabric. We used a pattern I found at the store for this one. It called for big appliques, but instead I thought it would be cute if we did a contrasting fabric across the bottom. So mom basically showed me where to sew and what to do and I was able to put it together. Amazingly, it was easier than the pillowcase dress. The pattern also came with this little hair kerchief that at first, I wasn’t going to bother with, but the more I thought about it the more I thought it would probably look adorable on Lucy, so we went ahead and made it.  I was right, freaking adorable. She didn’t even mind wearing it and kept it on until I changed her clothes.

After mom left today, Lucy modeled the jumper for me outside with her daddy. Pics are up here. More views of my dresses and other crafts are up here.

So Lucy has been hit by some especially runny diarrhea. I hear another baby in her room at daycare also has it. She didn’t poop constantly or anything. The past two days she has pooped 3 times and all three times were, as my friend Tracy would call it, major hatch detonations. Her poops are normally pretty liquidy, but this time it was really watery. She doesn’t seem to not feel well though, she’s still eating OK and not running a fever so I’m not too worried, but if it continues tomorrow we’ll need to call the doctor I think.

She also must be starting to really teeth. I can’t see them yet, but all weekend she was whimpering and chewing on anything she could get her hands on. I read online that excess saliva from teething can cause diarrhea, so maybe that’s all it is.

We are experiencing a little trial and error with the rice cereal intake for sure. The first two nights we gave it to her she ate it great. The third night she acted like she hated it and by the 4th, I couldn’t get her to eat it at all. It seems the conditions have to be just right. You have to catch her when she has the perfect balance of good mood and hunger, maybe an hour after she’s already nursed and definitely after she’s had a good nap. The consistency of the cereal has to be  somewhere between mush and slop and the temperature needs to be warmer than room. Today we got it all just right and she ate nearly all of it. The rice cereal just seems really gross. I will be happy when we can move on to fruits and veggies where at least she’ll have some new things to taste. Angela gave me an article to read that claims that the idea that babies need to start on rice cereal is a myth, but it is what our doctor and baby feeding class both recommended so I guess we’ll keep with it. I think maybe if she had been formula fed, I would be OK with skipping over the cereal sooner and going to solids, but since we prepare the cereal with breast milk, I think this might be at least an easier digestive transition for her.

Lucy turned 6 months last week and we decided to embark on a weekend of firsts. Prepare to be bombarded by home movies.

Lucy’s first new experience was trying out solid food. Rice cereal, to be infact. She didn’t seem keen on it at first but after a few bites she decided she was into it.

Friday night we got a call from my friend Sarah who invited us for a spontaneous trip to Destin, FL to stay in the house she rented. While we were there, Lucy had her first trip out to the beach as well as her first swim in the pool! First though, she decided she wanted to get up at 5am and mom and dad needed to be up too. We sat her up in the bed with the support of a Boppy behind her to see how long she would last sitting up. She did great! All smiles and giggles and really didn’t fall much at all. Must be nice to have that much energy so early in the morning.

By the time we got up and out for quick walk at the beach, Lucy was winding down. She got to see it, but she seemed less than impressed.

And finally, we spent a little time in the pool. Lucy got to hang out with her friends, Mila and Joseph, as well as my old friends Jessica and Sarah. Sarah gave Lucy Joseph’s swimming pool float that he outgrew and after a little struggling to get her in it, she finally relaxed and floated around the pool with Daddy. It was fun watching her sort of freak out and then be at ease with the whole idea of the pool. At first, she wanted to be held really close and whimpered a little if we tried to let her float out. After about 15 minutes though, she let Kevin extend her out so she could float her legs around. It was pretty awesome.

So that about did it. We got in around 10pm last night and have been dragging today, but it was worth it to have a nice vacation and to see old friends. I’ve known those girls my whole life and it is pretty cool to now have our kids hanging out together.

One last little note. I forgot to mention that Lucy had her 6 month check up. She now weighs 19lbs 10oz! Now that she’s starting to eat solid foods, I’m sure she’s going to be rounding 20 in no time! I luv my chunk!

]]> http://screamingphotos.com/lucy/?feed=rss2&p=111 0 http://screamingphotos.com/lucy/?p=107 http://screamingphotos.com/lucy/?p=107#comments Sat, 16 May 2009 18:22:17 +0000 Shekira http://screamingphotos.com/lucy/?p=107

I present to you more Lucy! You know you can’t get enough of it.

Also, new pics are up at Flickr. Nothing too exciting, just extra adorable Lucy being extra adorable.