beer bottles

Kira and I went to several halloween parties this year. She dressed as a bumble bee and I went as the flower. She loved all the attention...and she loved diggin in Andrea's beer tub. Actually, she was after the bottle at first, but then discovered that ice is COLD! She loved it! Slurped on ice until her fingers and face were beet red and would have kept right on going if it weren't for us moving the tub!

she pooped in the tub

I don't even think I need to write about this one. The title says it all.

The pacifier sculpture...more on the tales of thrush

Did I forget to mention that you have to BOIL everything that goes in her mouth to get rid of any traces of yeast? Impossible since EVERYTHING goes in her mouth! I try, though, to at least boil her pacifiers, bottle nipples, and sippy cup spouts. Yesterday, I set the stockpot on the stove with water and all the above. Apparently not adding enough water. By the time the 20-30 minute boil time was up and I went into the kitchen to drain and rinse, there was no water left! Did it boil over? Evaporate? Who knows? In any case, what was left in the pot was a melted mess. One sippy cup, her finger toothbrush, 3 pacifiers, 3 baby spoons, and the related accesories...all in a colorful, but useless mush. I did not save the sculpture, but put it in its rightful spot. The trash.

Purple Mouth

(Sorry about the lack of updates, but my computer was broken!)

One thing after the other. It all runs together. First it was the cold, which led to the drainage, which led to the ear infection. This, of course, led to the antibiotics, which in turn led to thrush. Most breastfeeding moms probably know what I am talking about, but if you don't...
Thrush is basically an overgrowth of yeast in the mouth. It doesn't seem to bother most babies, but YOWZA! it sure does bother the mom. I thought I'd had enough breastfeeding horror stories to last me the rest of my life. Ah, well. The "shards of glass" pain that most women describe is NOTHING compared to what I went through for weeks at the beginning. Plus, I figure if I've made it almost 11 months I should keep at it to the full year.
The treatment for thrush is something called Gentian Violet. It is purple. Bright purple. Stain your skin and clothes purple. Blah. She seemed to like that taste of it, and it wasn't painful at all, but...

Enough said.

How big is Kira? SO BIG!

We've been playing that game lately. I ask "how big is Kira?" and lift up her arms and yell "SO big!" She thinks it is quite hilarious!
I didn't realize how true the answer was, though. I was busy making dinner last night after the gardening afternoon. Kira was a muddy mess, so I had stripped her to her diaper and let her toddle around. When Jeremy got home he said her toes were cold and went to find some clothes for her. He disappeared for a few minutes and reappeared saying "wow! she has tons of outfits that fit her that she's never worn!" Thinking he just didn't pay attention to her clothes, I ignored it...after all, I am the queen of Kira's wardrobe and trust me, she has worn ALL her 6-12 month clothes.
A few minutes later, Kira came toddling into the kitchen wearing a perfectly fitting outfit that she had never worn...because it is a 12-18 MONTH SIZE!!!! How in the heck did she get so big without me noticing? She looked darn cute in her little sweater. Guess it's time to do the big closet shift again!

Garden Girl

It is finally cooling off a bit in our part of the world...well, if you don't count the 90 degree temp expected today (in OCTOBER!!!). So, I decided it was time to introduce Kira to mommy's favorite spot. The garden! We headed outside yesterday morning with a big quilt and a few toys and plopped down in the shade of our small but growing tree. I left her there to play and went to a close spot in the garden to weed out all the dry and dead plants from the summer. Before I knew it, she had left her blanket and was toddling all around the yard! Exploring the grass, the leaves, the dirt, and the flowers! She loved it! At one point, she discovered the driveway and went full speed ahead to the bottom and just laughed! It was a great site to see...my baby turning into a garden lover, just like me!
Of course, in the afternoon, we went to the backyard to work on the pond as we were expecting some new swimming arrivals that evening. I needed to install a new pump, and clean out some of the overgrown plantings. Kira went off, just like in the morning, to explore. I did stop her when she tried to eat a big clump of dirt (but not before most of it went in her mouth like a big mud pie!), but mostly just let her wander. She played with the wind chimes (her favorite) and tried to climb in the pond (guess we need to keep a constant eye on her!), and had so much fun! I can't wait to take her out to each new section and show her all the great things that nature has given her!