Butterflies!

On Saturday I took Maia to the Gardens to see the flowers and the butterflies. The butterfly exhibit doesn't officially open until next weekend, but they said they were already starting to "bloom" as they call it. So I'd hoped this would be a good time to go without it being absolutely crazy. Last year when we went, it was so full, they weren't allowing strollers in the tropical conservatory, and it was still difficult to move through the room. So we walked through the cacti, carnivorous plants and Victorian gardens. Maia thought this photo op display was great though... Maia was really excited to learn that the butterflies were eating... and that sometimes they eat fruit. "Fly... Eat fiieewwt!" Toward the end of our visit, we found a friend from daycare, Ella, and her parents. Maia and Ella recognized each other, and followed each other a bit... ... but we finally left when Maia was mostly interested in playing in the dirt and running away from me. She was ready for lunch and a nap. And she did take a great nap!

18 Month Exam

Friday was Maia's 18-month well child exam. Looking for stats, aren't you? Well. She's still tiny.
21.14 lbs: 15%
32" tall: 56% (I knew she was getting long!)
18.75 head circumference: 77% (I think she's finally starting to grow into her head!)
That said, her pediatrician has absolutely zero worries. She has been staying "between the red and green lines" on the growth chart, and staying on the same path since nine months of age. I also had to complete two surveys about her growth and development... the first specific to her age, the second was an autism screening. Some of my favorite questions:

• Does your child speak at least 6 words? a second? yes!
• Does your child want to help around the house? I keen it?
• Can your child point to at least 1 body part? I'd say about 20.
• Does your child show interest in a doll or stuffed animal by hugging it or pretend feeding it? In addition to routinely hugging and kissing her toys, she actually played "This little piggy" with one of her dolls today, excitedly tickling the baby's tummy at the end. Tried to get it on video, but no luck.
• Does your child know the names of his favorite books? Hopopop!! (Hop On Pop) Ham-Sam? (Green Eggs and Ham)
• Is your child spontaneously affectionate? My favorite... when she's said, or has just fallen or bumped her head, she will walk over to us and ask "Hug?" with her little lip sticking out.

And from the Autism screening...

• Does your child enjoy being swung, bounced on your knee, etc.? jump, jump, jump!
• Does your child ever bring objects over to you to show you something? Every book we own!
• Does your child look at your face to check your reaction when faced with something unfamiliar? Ah, well, see below.

At the exam, the nurse had left and Maia was happily running around the room in just her diaper (yippee!!) and pointing at the animals on the wall, talking up a storm. As soon as the doc walked into the office, Maia stopped playing and talking, frowned at her, ran over to me and climbed up into my lab to give me a huge hug around the neck. Well, says the doc, I guess she's passed her autism screening with flying colors! Maia has her face pressed up against mine until I turn her around and encourage her to say "hi" to Dr O. The doc and I discuss her stats, and soon Maia has warmed up and is talking to her, reaching for the stethoscope. She always does so well during her exams. Sits pretty still, and was great about saying "Ahh."

Dr O. and I talk a little about what to expect over the next few months with potty training, eating habits and behaviors. She advises me that "no" will probably make a pretty strong showing around 24 months, indicating she will go through a phase of saying "no" to pretty much everything, even if she wants it. Ah yes, we're actually seeing this now. A LOT. We talk about her sensitive skin (diaper rashes are too common, and have been since she's been on solid foods. They are, however, mostly avoidable if we keep a good diaper cream on her all the time - which often isn't necessary for other kids her age). The doctor comments on Maia being quite a character as of course, now that she was comfortable, she started talking non-stop and was "reading" one of her books by herself by narrating what the baby in the picture was doing "dink mii-oook" (drink milk).

So back at 24 months. Whew! Boy, is time flying. I do tell the doc that I'm sure we'll be seeing her in June for our newborn checks. Then today I was reading a little pregnancy status update which advised me only 2 more weeks and I'll be in my third trimester. Holy cow!! I don't even have my work-plan figured out yet (details on covering my leave, how to arrange my time when I return: I've got plans A, B and C but haven't presented them to HR yet - although my boss is supportive, my plan may ultimately need to go to the CEO. Sigh.)

I did start to put together baby registries, mostly so we can get the Babies R Us 20% discount on everything off the registry after the baby's due date to stock up on basic supplies. We really can't think of much we need (although there is a lack of baby boy clothes in the house, should we need them - but onesies and baby-legs should get us through most of the summer, really.)

More Recent Vids

A weekend lunch that was running a little too close to naptime... poor thing can hardly keep her eyes open! One of Maia's favorite songs (complete with the extra verses they sing at daycare) is Row, Row, Row your boat. She asks for it fairly often. So here I am singing it while she rocks on her horse. Also this week: - Maia peed on the potty for the first time at daycare - Ray felt June Bug move a few times this week. He was very excited. - I made blueberry pancakes and bacon over the weekend and managed to tip the pan as I took the bacon out of the oven, pouring 450º bacon grease on my arm. That was not nice. It is, however, healing nicely, and more more tolerable than the sprained ankle I had with Maia. - Several days later, following that slick move, I managed to slide my car into the snowbank at the turn of the road 2 blocks from our house while bringing Maia home from daycare... 30 minutes later than usual. A very kind neighbor (Meredith?) was shoveling her driveway and came right over to help, even though her 6 month old was napping. Ray walked the two blocks also to help, and since I couldn't get any good traction, we ended up putting a re-usable grocery bag under my tire to finally get me out. Whew! - One evening as I was preparing dinner, Ray was changing Maia if she wanted dinner: Ham, cheese, bread... Maia said "Sandwich?"

Resourceful Girl!

Monday nights are rehearsal nights for Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus, which means I'm leaving for rehearsal at Maia's bedtime. So we often do a simple dinner on Mondays. So I call for a delivery, and the three of us are playing in the living room. When at least the doorbell rings, Maia yells "Peeesssa!" Sigh. A proud moment for sure. My child has come to associate the sound of the doorbell with pizza. Does this mean I need to tell all visitors to come prepared, and bearing pizza or fear the disappointment of Maia (who does, as it happens, LOVE pizza). So Tuesdays was left-overs. As Maia and I were eating together, I realized that I had to run to the bathroom (go figure, pregnant woman having to pee... again). So I leave Maia with a little food and tell her I'll be right back. Alas, she runs out of food, and as I am not available to get her more, I yell to her she needs to wait... and when I come out:

She has pulled a catalog off the table and is leafing through it... "I weed it?"

And, for your enjoyment: 3 minutes of watching Maia play... and talk and talk and talk!

"It's coming" is one of those things we say when she is very hungry and I am working on getting her food ready. We also recently switched over from using the fan to the sound machine she got for Christmas for white noise at bedtime. That noise machine makes a rain sound and she loves that.

You'll also hear her going through the middle part of the alphabet after identifying some of the letters on the front of her book before moving on to play with her "pea-tot!" (teapot).

Getting into Stuff

I don't think a day goes by when Maia doesn't put on a pair of our shoes and say "I wah-keen?" (I'm walking)

She's also quite fond of seeing how much she can get out of the fridge before it closes or she is shooed away. This day, she got ahold of several varieties of cheese (sheeez!), one of her favorite foods.

Love This!

Just thought I'd share a cool little article I read today, which I'll post below with my comments in italics.
http://www.babycenter.com/0_your-amazing-child-wow-worthy-development-facts_3654901.bc?page=1

It was probably clear to you that your child was a miracle right from the first ultrasound. And since then your little one has been growing, learning, and changing at an astonishing rate. But we'll bet there are still a few things even you don't know about your child's dazzling developmental feats. Read on for a collection of fascinating child development facts sure to make you say "Wow!"

 

In the womb: Sensing the world outside
You scared me, Ma! Your baby will startle in utero when she hears a loud or sudden noise. This ability appears around 23 weeks, as any pregnant woman in her second or third trimester can attest; if she sneezes, the baby jumps.

     This actually happened for june bug about 3 weeks ago now... at about 19-20 weeks.  Maia was opening the cabinet doors in the upstairs bathroom and letting them slam closed, which was pretty loud.  June bug gave a pretty good jump the first time!

But if the same noise is repeated frequently, your baby will get used to it and stop responding. No need to worry — that's a sign that the brain is developing normally, says Lise Eliot, an associate professor of neuroscience at Chicago Medical School and author of What's Going On In There? How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life.

Breathing underwater. Your baby begins to "breathe" while he's still in the womb, even though his lungs aren't taking in any oxygen, says Eliot. At around 27 weeks, his fluid-filled lungs will start to expand and compress due to the rhythmic contractions of your diaphragm and chest muscles, which help him develop the muscles and motor circuits necessary for actual breathing. So by the time your newborn takes his first gulp of real air, he'll have had plenty of practice.

    That's why our little June Bug needs to stay in there!

Scent from beyond. Starting around 28 weeks, your baby can smell in the womb the same things that you're smelling outside. Some of the evidence about fetuses' sense of smell comes from preemies: In one study, peppermint extract was held under the noses of pre-term babies. Those younger than 28 weeks didn't respond, while the older ones reacted by sucking, grimacing, or moving away.

Your baby's sense of smell is actually enhanced by the amniotic fluid she's floating in, says Eliot, because we're better able to smell things after the odor molecules join with a liquid (like nasal mucus). During the third trimester, the placenta also lets odor molecules pass through it more easily. So when you order that chicken vindaloo in your ninth month, your baby is taking in the aroma right along with you.

Babies: Transforming before your eyes
Leaps and bounds. Your baby is growing, but by how much? After some initial weight loss, newborns typically add one ounce a day for the first three months, then two-thirds of an ounce daily until age 1, says Robert Needlman, former associate professor of pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and vice president of developmental and behavioral pediatrics for the Dr. Spock Company. An average baby doubles his birth weight by 4 months and triples it by his first birthday. He also adds 1 to 1.5 inches every month in height.

      I don't think Maia did this exactly, although she gained VERY quickly after birth as she was nursing so well.  You'll have to check out her growth charts on the side there...

If you were 8 pounds and 20 inches at birth and continued growing at the same rate, by age 20 you'd be about 25 feet tall and weigh nearly 315 pounds.

Young salts. Though your baby can detect sweet, bitter, and sour tastes right from birth, she can't taste salt until she's 4 months old. This is when sodium-sensitive receptor proteins begin to emerge in the taste buds. The ability to taste salt may be related to the development of the kidneys, says neuroscientist Eliot, which start to use sodium when your baby is about 4 months old. This appears to be hardwired in the child development process and totally unrelated to the volume of Cheetos you consumed while pregnant.

Eyes just for you. At birth, your baby's eyes are already 75 percent of adult size but his vision is a blurry 20/2400, which means he can only clearly discern objects about a foot away — precisely the distance to your face during cuddling or feeding.

By 6 months, your baby's vision should improve to 20/20. That's why providing your baby with lots of visual stimuli is important and helps the eye-brain connections develop correctly, says Scott Jens, an optometrist in Wisconsin and chair of the American Optometric Association's InfantSEE program.

Toddlers: Soaking it all up

The vocabulary explosion. Children understand language much earlier than they can speak it. By age 1, your child typically understands about 70 words but speaks only a handful of them, says neuroscientist Eliot. At about 18 months, your toddler's spoken vocabulary starts to explode and she adds new words at the astonishing rate of one every two waking hours. By the time she's 6, she'll probably understand about 13,000 words (compared to your 60,000 or so), though she's not likely to speak that many.
    One word every two waking hours?  I'm absolutely sure that's true for Maia.  She learns them, repeats them and incorporates them into her daily usage!  We have seen a vocab explosion over the last 2 months.

Look, Ma, two hands. Most 1-year-olds are ambidextrous, or use both hands equally. Your toddler will likely start showing a preference for his right or left hand by age 2 or 3 — and in about 90 percent of kids, it'll be the right. Why so many righties? No one really knows for sure, says neuroscientist Eliot. Genetics plays a role (southpaw parents are more likely to have kids who are also lefties), as do social norms — there are more lefties in the United States than in cultures where left-handedness is deemed unacceptable.
     Also currently true for Maia.  She has a chance at being lefty... my sister is lefty and my father's mother was ambidexterous.  I believe she wrote with her right hand, but preferred to do everything else lefty.  There is probably a good chance that she was really lefty by nature, but was forced to learn to write right-handed.

There's also a theory that says your toddler is more likely to start preferring his right hand because three-quarters of fetuses spend the last weeks of gestation with their right arm facing out, allowing it to move more freely. Another holds that it's because newborns are more likely to turn their heads to the right than to the left (though the reasons for this are unclear). Still others say it's simply a learned behavior — you hand things to your child with your right hand, and he follows suit.

Brain gain. Though your toddler's basic brain function was developed at birth, her cerebral cortex — the part of the brain that experiences thought, stores memories, and controls voluntary muscle movement — only kicks into gear after experiencing the world outside the womb.

Between ages 1 and 2 the cerebral cortex adds more than 2 million new synapses — the connections between brain cells — every second, according to Zero to Three, a nonprofit educational group. By age 2, your toddler will have more than 100 trillion synapses — the most she'll ever have in her life, and part of the reason why she has such an incredible capacity to learn.

This period of "synaptic exuberance" can last until age 8, but it's also accompanied by the constant pruning of unused synapses. By the time your child reaches adulthood, more than 50 percent of those neural pathways will be gone.

Preschoolers: Becoming aware

Eureka, I'm me! Kids this age can be a handful — not because they're deliberate trouble-makers, but because they're going through an amazing period of development known as "primary individuation," says Jackie Gotlieb, a pediatrician and spokesperson for Kids Health First, an alliance of primary care pediatricians in Atlanta. "It's when kids begin to understand that they're separate from adults and are trying to define themselves."

When your preschooler announces, "Mine!" while clinging to his truck in a playgroup, this isn't so much a selfish refusal to share as it is a cognitive achievement. He's now able to see himself as an individual and, as such, capable of ownership. His declaration of "mine" is his way of saying he understands that you — and the other children — are separate from him.

    We're seeing a bit more "mine" behavior now, although she also likes to share certain things (food) with certain people (mom and dad)... but I think that has to do with the egocentrism of her developmental stage.

Kids really do forget. Your child probably won't remember her best friends from preschool — or much else before the age of 3 — due to what psychologists call infantile amnesia. Many people assume the reason we can't remember things from our youngest years is that even though the memories are in there, we just can't access them. But what's more likely, says neuroscientist Eliot, is that "early experiences never make it into the long-term memory banks because the brain's recording machinery isn't yet functional."
     While these things may not be in the "long-term" memory banks, her capacity to remember things that happened days or weeks ago does continue to surprise me.  We'll be settling down to bed and doing our "bedtime sweet talk" and she'll start rambling on about "Neeooo... issssseeping... SHHHHH" - which is something we observed two weeks ago: One of the babies in the infant room at daycare (Neil) was sleeping in the crib when she went in to visit the babies, and she was asked to be quiet.

But that doesn't mean the things your child experiences before age 3 don't have a profound effect on her development — they do. It's just that she probably won't be able to recall them later.

On a different wavelength. Preschoolers simply don't think the way adults do — they aren't yet capable of logical thinking. Instead they think very literally, which means they can't grasp abstract concepts, and egocentrically, meaning they can't imagine anyone's perspective but their own, says Wendy Ludlow, a licensed clinical social worker and child and family therapist who runs Therapy With a Twist.

"Four- to 6-year-olds really believe that you can keep monsters out of their room if you put up a sign on their door stating: 'No Monsters Allowed!'" says Ludlow. And if you're sad, your preschooler might give you his teddy bear because that's what would comfort him and therefore — he reasons egocentrically — that must also be the thing you need. He simply can't understand you might prefer a spa day.

     Maia is starting to get a little of this understanding of comforting others, and will offer hugs to crying friends or us.

Big kids: Turning a corner

Moral fiber. Psychological changes in a grade-schooler's brain let your child begin to draw moral distinctions based on internal judgment, say Charles E. Schaefer, professor of psychology at Fairleigh Dickinson University, and education and parenting writer Theresa Foy DiGeronimo, authors of Ages and Stages: A Parent's Guide to Normal Childhood Development.

Before this age, your child obeyed the rules (well, most of the time, anyway) because she feared getting in trouble; now her own conscience is growing and she can see the difference between right and wrong, consider another's viewpoint, and feel sympathy and concern for others. She's able to feel guilty about breaking the rules — even when she doesn't get caught.

Enter the inner monologue. At around age 8, your child starts to internalize his imaginary play, say Schaefer and DiGeronimo. So instead of making his rabbits (or pirates, stuffed animals, or cars) talk to each other, it's his internal voice that replays events, comments on new experiences, or practices dialog with friends and family. You may find this frustrating because it's hard to keep the little daydreamer focused, but this behavior is just as normal (and beneficial) as the public play that preceded it.

Mastering memory. Your child is getting a feel for how to handle her own memory, says Jane M. Healy, educational psychologist and author of Your Child's Growing Mind. Until now your child has been able to remember things, but not to use strategies to make her memory work for her. By about age 6, however, she'll start rehearsing material so she can remember it, and by age 7 she's able to group things into patterns and organize information so she can better recall it later.

Dan Tynan writes about parenting and technology for a wide range of publications; you can find his blog at Dantynan.com. Christina Wood is a magazine writer and author of Every Woman's Guide to Technology . She blogs at Geekgirlfriends.com.

Ponies and Play-Dough

Recently, I picked up Maia from daycare and she was proud to be sporting "ponies" in her hair. Apparently the T2 teacher, Jessica, was doing the hair of some of the bigger girls (who actually have hair that requires doing - although Maia's hair is getting longer and thicker) and Maia was insistent that she get some ponies too.

On the Friday before Valentines Day, Maia came home with a valentine for us, and a few valentines from her friends and teachers. The story from her daily sheet is that she did not need any help when painting her valentine. She knew exactly what to do, and did not wait for help to get started!

One evening while getting dinner ready, I sat Maia in her chair to play with some play-dough (the same play-dough I made earlier this winter, which has been holding up nicely in individual air-tight tubs).

Peee-dooh?

The best part was putting it in and taking it out of the container...

... and trying to get the top on.

The Week(s) in Review

A couple weeks ago, we hosted a small Super Bowl party, for which Ray asked me to make the Ultimate Chicken Sandwich, and Garbage Bread. It's very difficult to find pre-made pizza dough (unless it's in a Pillsbury tube) around here... it's everywhere in NY! Fortunately, it's easy to make if you have the time. We did... so we pulled out Maia's "steps" so she could "help." So here she is, greatly enjoying playing with a spoonful of flour... ... and a wooden spoon, which made a nice gong sound when she it it against the side of the mixing bowl. By the time we were done, she was wearing a lot of the flour she had played with.

I have started to realize that Maia watches what I do every day (better be careful!) and will start to imitate me more and more. One of her new things is to put water on her hands and run it through her hair (like I often do, with this particular hairstyle). So I added to it, and we gave her a bit of a mohawk.

We let daycare know that she is starting to show interest in using the potty at home, and asked how that would be handled at daycare. They said they would be happy to ask her throughout the day if she would like to use the potty (they won't push the issue either). So the next day, the asked Maia if she would like to use the potty (which is right in the diaper changing area, and so not far removed from the rest of the classroom). She did, and friends Celia and Claire decided they too wanted to use the potty (their parents had not mentioned interested to the staff yet), so Maia became an unwitting trend-setter!

Miscellaneous Favorite Things and Funnies:

- Maia is now calling blueberries "boobies" which I can't help giggling over. So the blueberry pancakes I made, were "boobie cakes." Hot dogs are "ot god!".
- She is very fond of playing little tricks, playing peek-a-boo or hiding something and grinning at you: "I funny?"
- She is now saying "I wuv oo!" with frequency. Who doesn't love that? "Wuv oo dada!"
- She likes to share food with you: "I shaawwe?" And you will get a big grin in return for eating what she is offering you.
- She loves to walk up and down the steps like a big girl ("beeeg grrr-oh!")as long as you hold one of her hands (she can't quite reach the hand rail). If she decides she'd like to go downstairs, she will grab your hand and say "Teps!" and lead you to them, where she will go down (or up) alternating feet, holding onto your hand.
- She has also discovered the book Llama Llama Misses Mama (and the series) through reading time at school and loves it. She often asks "llama llama?", and it may be rivaling Seuss' One Fish Two Fish and Hop On Pop ('op-pop-pop!) as favorites. Unfortunately we don't have the book, so this request has to be turned down, but she's been pretty good about it.
- She loves to jump on the couch or ottoman and jump into our arms. When we do this on the ottoman downstairs (for example while watching Olympics), she will even take turns... "Daddys Tuuwn!" jumping to Ray, and then when she gets back on to the ottoman and stands up "Daddy... Momma tuuwn!"

- She is very pleased when people have large writing on their shirts, as this gives her an opportunity to find letters she knows well. She pretty much knows all her letters by sight - upper and lower case (they don't need to be in order) but does get Us and Vs along with Is and Ls mixed up. She will often should out "G!" and you'll look around and see she saw it on a box of Huggies.

- Last week on Friday I didn't have to go into work, so I thought we'd spend a nice day together. We did spend a quiet morning, and after breakfast when I asked her what she'd like to do today, she said: "Ceeeelya? A-dia? Ceeeelya?" (Celia, her friend, and Andrea her teacher). I asked "Do you want to go to school today instead of playing with Momma? " "YES!" And she rushed off to get her shoes. So I brought her to school, and we got there they were eating their breakfast/mid-morning snack. When she walked in, it was an absolute chorus of "MAIA!" which was pretty cool. She happily walked in and started "sharing" her friends' snacks.

My Little Banana

This is day number 166 and you're 23 weeks pregnant! You have 114 days or 16 weeks left, and are 59.3% of the way there. Baby's age since conception is 152 days or 21 weeks. Your baby now weighs a little less than one pound, and is about 8 inches from crown to rump. He or she is continuing to develop facial features and you are probably feeling a lot of movement as your baby continues to explore its body and world in the comfort of his or her own personal "living womb." Your baby now has eyes that open and close, ears that can hear, and a thumb well worth sucking. If you notice feel your baby making regular, jerky movements, don't panic - your baby has the hiccups!

Yesterday was the joyous glucose testing. I'm generally such a hard draw I discussed my options with the doc at the last visit. He said one of the nurses is better at getting the difficult draws than the other, or I could just head over to the hospital lab and get the draw done there. I waffled for a while, but decided I will just suck it up and deal with being stuck twice, or bruised... and to give us our best chance, I drank so much water, there was just about no color in my urine sample. Baby is measuring right at 24, doc felt like my weight gain was good (still higher than I would have liked, but no chance of me loosing it now!) and my BP was higher than my pregnancy-normal, and just marginally higher than my non-pregnant normal. Which was actually still good.

Prior to this OB visit, I had been having lots of low back and middle pelvic pain, which I think had a lot to do with how the baby was laying: ridiculously low. I would have sworn that I was walking around at zero station with a 7+ pound baby, rather than a 1 pounder the size of a banana. Fortunately, a few nights of smooshing baby upwards I think helped that, as I was much more comfortable this morning. No more waddling! The OB did advise me that what I was experiencing was relatively normal for subsequent pregnancies as everything is much easier to stretch and move around, and I was experiencing some cartilage trying to stretch - which it doesn't really like to do. So, unfortunately, I think there is a good chance this will return once the baby starts to run out of room (if not sooner).

I have a pretty good notion of June Bug's sleep/wake cycles, and how well those correspond with eating, or drinking something cold. I did feel hiccups a few days ago, which was fun. Because baby was so low, Ray still hasn't gotten a good chance to feel movement yet... well, that, and all the Olympics watching.

Playing in the Snow with Papa

Maia loves to play in the snow... and so does my dad. So I thought I'd bring Maia over to my folks' to play in the snow together on this Saturday morning (and hopefully set her up for a nice afternoon nap!) It was a little warm and the snow was rather slow and sticky... so it ended up being easier to pull her in her sled on the icy driveway. She LOVED it! Lots of smiles and giggles.

They also walked around the house and played in the snow together.

While exploring, Maia discovered that Papa had a tractor (tactoh?), which she was very excited about. So Papa took her on a ride down the street, and she spent the rest of the afternoon talking about it. Woke up from her nap... "Tractor?"

Art O' The Month

Currently, she is so into coloring, that the front of the piece of paper

simply could not contain her artful impulses! Bunny! Construction paper with cotton balls. I love this snowflake! I'm not sure what the texture is caused by, but it's actually really cool looking!

Pics from Daycare

I am delighted that the daycare has started posting digital pics online, so not only do I get to see some of her activities while she's there... but I can share them with all of you! Maia is the one in the lavendar coat, facing away.

Here are two of Maia's teachers: Miss Maria (left) and Miss Andrea (right), holding her friend Roman. Maia's friend Celia is in aqua on the ground. Painting with chocolate pudding! YUM!

Landon, Claire and Maia Her daily sheet told me that Maia kept looking at the teacher, as if to say... can I really put this in my mouth? So often, that answer is no... She was delighted!

Sick Pumpkin!

Almost a full year since the last one, but Houston... we have an ear infection. A double, actually. I got a call on Thursday afternoon that Maia was running a temp and I needed to pick her up from daycare. They did say she was acting fine... just... well... "Maia in slow-motion?" I asked. Yeah, that was a good way to describe it. I wasn't terribly surprised, her nose has been runny for weeks, and her cough has been getting worse. So I left work a bit early, and she ate very little dinner and went to bed a little early.

On Friday, she was remarkably good natured (as is her habit), but not eating well, and not drinking as much as I would have liked. Her temperature remained low-grade, in the between 100-101º but as she was acting fine, I wasn't terribly worried. Ray asked me to call the pediatrician to see if there is anything we could do for her cough so she could sleep better and they asked me to take her in.

She wore her squeaky shoes and talked a LOT to everyone, and the nurses and PA seemed delighted by both. Weight: 22 lbs, 2 oz (fully clothed, minus squeaky shoes!) The PA took one brief look into Maia's left ear: Yeah, well that one's infected... and the right: that one too, but not as bad. Lungs are clear. Omnicef was prescribed. So Maia and I went to the grocery store to pick up the script, she ate a sample of pizza, and we headed home. By the time we pulled into the driveway, her little eyes were just drooping. She didn't nap all that well, and was absolutely miserable when she woke up. Poor punkin!

Today, I had to go into work to make up for the time I couldn't spend earlier this week. So it was just Ray and Maia. Maia had a very rough day: miserable and clingy and refusing to eat much or sleep at ALL! She did color for a while in the afternoon.
"I wite?" She's not sure if she's left- or right-handed, yet. She tries both! Beneath her fingers here is her "Cir-co?" (Circle) And a closer view... We spent LOTS of time trying to convince her to nap (major failure) but I ended up getting her in bed for the night at about 6:30 pm. She was so exhausted! But she did manage to pee in her potty again. She's now doing this about 3 out of 5 times she sits on it. Usually before bath or bed. We're not pushing it, but I think she's really starting to get the idea.

Here, we're on our way to say goodnight to daddy, but she's rather attached to her book. Keeping our fingers crossed for a good night's sleep, and a better day tomorrow!