One sick little girl

Rosie's streak of no sick-baby doctor visits is over
On Saturday, Rosie woke up with a rash across her face. She wasn't in a very good mood either. Things went from bad to worse very quickly and we spent most of Saturday morning holding Rosie as she cried. Her cries and screams could split your heart right in two. She tried to nap, but could only sleep for about an hour at a time, waking up drenched in sweat, crying like crazy. She spent a lot of time sleeping in my arms.

We were pretty sure it was a reaction to either the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps, rubella) or the chicken pox vaccine. She seemed to get better in the afternoon, so we hoped maybe it was going away. Well, the night was very bad. She woke at 1:00 with a fever of 102 and just screaming and crying. We got her back to sleep, and she slept till about 5:30. Two tired parents drug themselves to her room, for more crying and sweating. Her temp was 101. Her rash on her face was worse.

After her morning nap, she was just getting worse so we decided to take her to the doctor. Her rash had spread to her back (and chest we noticed later). Her fever was under control with Tylenol. The doctor said it was not a viral rash, and looked like a measle-type rash. A reaction to the MMR vaccine. We aren't 100% sure, but that seems the most likely diagnosis. She told us to keep giving Rosie heavy doses of Motrin, and watch her closely.

The good news is that her ears are clear, her lungs are perfectly fine, the fever is controlled, and her heartrate is fine. If it's a reaction, it is a mild one. But don't dare tell her it's mild because she feels like total shit!

This evening she perked up and we think she might be turning around. We hope.

And, if it could get any more difficult, she is cutting her canines, or "eye teeth." Supposedly these are the toughest teeth and are very painful. AGGGGHHHH! Once these 4 new teeth are in, Rosie will have 16 teeth and we should have a reprieve till her 2-year molars come in.

Water dish mystery

Hmmm....



Huh?



Oooooh

Finger Painting Fun

Today Rosie experienced her first in true mess-making joy: Finger Painting. Given that she's 13 1/2 months old, I thought it might be a good idea to start out with edible paint: colored pudding. I whipped up some vanilla pudding and used food coloring to make 3 paints: yellow, red, and blue. Here's how it went:

At first Rosie was a bit tentative.

"Surely Mom can't be allowing me to smear food... can she? I think I'll start out with some colored blobs:



Hmmm.... let me think about this for a moment



I think I want to go comedy. Yeah, a funny picture.



Oh this one is funny! You guys don't even know!



Seriously, I can't stop laughing!



Add the final touches....



Mmm mm! This is some tasty paint!



The finished product."

Have you seen that Cheerio anywhere?

There was a Cheerio on the floor.... I wonder where it could be....

Vacation Time!

Camping in the Oregon Rainforest, I mean, Oregon Coast
Every year we go camping on the Oregon coast with the whole family. Everyone brings their boats and each morning we head out to catch some salmon. And, every year we take a chance with the Oregon Coast weather. This year, we were not so lucky. One day, it rained for 24 hours straight. At one point there were 3 inches of standing water in the campsite, and anything not in the tent was soaking wet.

I do wish we'd have taken more pictures. But honestly it was so wet it was hard to pull out the camera, and when it wasn't, let me tell you, chasing a 13 month old around a campground who is learning to walk is no easy task!

When we went stir crazy in the tent, thank goodness for my Girasol baby carrier, because Rosie spent a lot of time in that thing! There were a couple nice days though, and we did have a chance to go to the beach.

Rosie LOVED the beach! The first day I took her it was too icky to go to the water so we stayed up in the dry sand. She giggled at the sand and loved feeling it in her hands. A couple times she tried to snuggle with it by laying her head down into the sand. Cute little thing was covered in sand.

When we did finally get to the water, it was amazing.


Rosie just loved the ocean! We were not expecting her to want to get in the water so she was wearing jeans!
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But she literally ran toward the water, and would have kept running into the ocean if we hadn't stopped her! She really adored the waves crashing in and the water going under her feet. She made many trips up and down the beach with her Dad.
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It was windy, and in Oregon Coast fashion, there were a ton of kites. Of course, Rosie waves at anything that flies and kites are no exception.
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Our only regret was that we didn't put her in a swimsuit that day!
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Back at camp, Rosie was a fabulous camper. We camped in a tent and she slept in her pack n play. She slept like an angel every night, despite all the sounds of a busy campground. She went to bed at her regular bedtime (sleeping through the night without fail), napped at her regular naptime, and ate all her meals like a champ. She really shocks me with her amazing ability to adapt to any situation.

When it was nice enough, we laid out a tarp so she could hang out on that and play with toys. Toys? This girl knows what's important in life.
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She was disappointed there was no cell phone service though.
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Back home, there was one thing she was waiting for. To hug her best friend Cino.
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Just before leaving for the camp trip, Rosie experienced her first sprinkler play time on the 4th of July.
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She loved dancing in the sprinkler! Look at our little girl go!
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One-year Checkup!

I am so happy to say that Rosie made it through her first 12 months with nothing but well-baby doctor visits. She is such a healthy girl! Today was our one-year appt., and it went really well!

First off, her stats:
Weight: 20.5 lbs: 25th percentile
Height: 31.5 inches: 90th percentile
Cute factor: 100th percentile

That means if you lined up 100 random 14 month-olds, Rosie would weigh more than only 25 of them, be taller than 90 of them, and be cuter than all 100 of them. Ok, that last one I may have made up myself.

The doctor said she is really doing well with her walking, and her vocabulary is excellent. She even said "hi" to the doctor. Rosie is way ahead of herself with 12 teeth, and before long she'll be getting another 4 teeth - the "eye" teeth. Soon we will need to brush her back teeth for her, as this is very important and she said 18 month olds cannot get their back teeth clean enough but thorough brushing early on can prevent early dental problems. When she is 3 she will start seeing a dentist.

The doctor said Rosie is "one of the healthiest babies I've ever seen." Aw, I bet she says that to all the babies. The only milestone Rosie has not met is pointing. Isn't that strange, she doesn't point. She waves at things she wants. I think she knows it's rude to point ;-).

The shots were just terrible. They were very painful for her, and the MMR shot (the most important vaccination in my opinion) is bruised pretty bad. Of course, Rosie handled it like a trooper and was hardly phased. She did take a pretty long nap today though.

The doctor remembered that we mentioned we were going to try to have another baby last time we were there, and congratulated us on my big belly! She is happy to take on her upcoming miniature patient coming this Christmas.

I always say this after every appointment, but once again, I love our pediatrician.