Big Girl Bed

Gampa came over tonight and changed Adia's crib into a toddler bed. She's more than excited. She kept climbing in it, then getting back out. She seemed very pleased with herself. Hopefully she'll be more thrilled to sleep in it than she was her crib. She was really good about climbing off backwards and not head first. We'll be keeping some padding on the floor for a little bit though, just to keep her a bit more safe. Or should I say, make us feel safer.




climbing in


climbing out





Before Gampa arrived, Scott and I took her outside. She wanted to walk around, touch the trees, pick up pine cones and feel how wet the grass was. We wandered around for a little bit before going back in for dinner. Adia didn't eat much but I did make her a quesadilla, using corn torillas instead of flour. She seemed to like it at first, but soon discovered that if you peel off the corn, you can just have cheese. She started stripping the pieces and throwing the tortillas on the floor.


playing peek-a-boo with Daddy




Adia's been a serious walker tonight too. At first she'd just walk short distances, maybe 2-3 feet, but it quickly turned into 6 feet or more. I'm not sure you'd call it walking either since she really builds up the momentum. It quickly turns into almost a run. She showed off her new skills to Gamma and Gampa and even let me get it on film!

And on a side note, Adia's bloating has gone down so much that she now has an innie belly button. All her life it's been an outtie, but it most definitely was supposed to be an innie. Se also only pooped once today and it was mostly solid. Hurray!

I'm so excited!

Adia had an absolutely normal poopy today with no butt burning! Her diaper rash is almost gone and her eczema has certainly improved. I picked up a couple gluten free cookbooks so I'll have more ideas on what to feed her. Once I bake some bread, I think Adia will be happier with her food choices too.

We ran a bunch of errands today. Adia took a nap from 10:30-12:30 and gave me plenty of time to unwind. She woke up at 6am, drank a bottle and went back to sleep until 7:30. She was really happy to see Scott this morning. She's hardly had any daddy daughter time lately and she misses it. We had breakfast, yogurt and a buckwheat eggo for her. Then she had a baking soda bath, a shower with me and then her nap. She was definitely ready to sleep when I laid her down on her couch and handed her the bottle. She didn't even try to get up.

I woke Scott up when Adia woke up so he could get dressed and we could run errands. We made a quick stop at the dentist office to settle a bill and then headed to Borders. Adia insisted on walking. If you ask her if she wants to walk, she actually tries to get down so she can. She walked around holding my hand and then transferred to Scott for a little bit. They came and found me later because she had been "looking" for me. Adia and I wandered for a little bit before buying our books.

We got back in the car and Adia started fussing. It was about the time that Adia usually gets a snack. We wanted to go out for a late lunch though. We dropped by the house and I packed some food for Adia, gluten free crackers and cereal, string cheese and chopped up grapes and strawberries. We ate at P.F. Changs. Adia was really excited to see the string cheese. Cheese is definitely one of her favorite foods. We ate and when Adia was ready to go, she started waving and saying "bye bye." It's her signal that she's finished with what she's doing and wants to leave or do something else. It's rather effective.

Adia played a little bit when we got back to the house. I read her a few books. She started to get cranky around dinnertime. She definitely has an internal clock. I had no idea what to feed her for dinner though. She ended up eating a bunch of cheese and half a gluten free eggo. She started waving when she had enough. Scott gave her a bath and got her ready for bed. She played, had me read more books and then signalled it was time for bed. She guzzled 8oz and probably could have drank more, but that's all the bottles hold.

She was fast asleep by 8:15. I tried laying her in her crib, but she always wakes up as I'm trying to set her down. Hopefully we can change it into a toddler bed soon so I'll be able to lay her down easier. I was able to get her to sleep in the bed though.

I've been thinking, Adia stopped sleeping well around the time I broke my arm. That's also the time when she started eating things like cheerios, puffs and biter biscuits. All contain wheat and gluten. Do we think there could be a correlation? I certainly do. Her poop started to get strange then too, but I thought it had to do with solid foods, not a food allergy/intolerance. Her yogurt also had wheat, among other grains, in it since it was the fruit and cereal yobaby. She's back to sleeping well and her poop's finally solid. She's also not so bloated anymore. Scott noticed the difference today.

New Words: Head
New Accomplishments: Grabs her head and says, "head" when you ask her where her head is.

Bye Bye Wheat and Gluten!

So we've officially cut out wheat and gluten from Adia's diet. She hasn't had wheat since early Friday morning and it's already making a difference. Her eczema is slowly disappearing. It's now only in the places where it first appeared, her legs and lower back. She does still have a few spots on her arms and neck, but no longer on her face. It's such a relief. At least it was never an itchy rash.

Her three poopy diapers today were normal Adia diapers. The poop didn't cause her skin to react either, which was very reassuring. She normally doesn't go that often though, but that could be the grapes. I will have to start making her bread to eat though. I bought a loaf of rice bread for her and it's disgusting. There's no way she'll ever want to eat that. We'll be heading to Borders today to find a gluten free cookbook.

Adia's been really silly lately, now that she's feeling better. DiDi gave her her birthday trike early because DiDi had been carrying it around in her trunk. Adia loves it, but we need her to stop eating the streamers. She occasionally tries to flip it over too, but mostly fills the back up with toys.


Adia really likes to investigate her dresser. Her favorite drawer is her shoe drawer and I'm fine with that. She likes to pull out her shoes, put them back in and sometimes leave them laying on the floor. They're much easier to clean up then the clothes from the other drawers. I hate having to refold everything.


Adia's been taking baking soda baths every morning. She seems to enjoy them. Now if only I could get her to stop trying to drink the water. It can't taste very good. She was being silly before her bath though. I was on the other side of the gate and she wanted to play peek-a-boo with me.


Dinner last night was interesting. Adia suddenly started screaming in her high chair. We still have no idea what happened, but we think she bit her tongue. I held her in my lap for a little while and she ate whatever I gave her, but she soon saw her high chair tray was sitting on the floor. She lunged for it so I set her down. She started eating off of it like nothing had ever happened.


She slept well again last night. She's been going to sleep by 8:30 every night and sleeping until 6 or 7. She did pee out both sides of her diaper though. She managed to get a diaper wedgie sometime in the night. She probably would have slept longer if she hadn't been all wet. Now we're getting ready for breakfast. Adia's giving Scott lots of hugs and kisses... and bites. She keeps biting and it HURTS!

ugh!

We're back to dealing with a pretty nasty diaper rash along with full body eczema. On Thursday, she ate 1/2 a mini whole wheat bagel for breakfast. Right before dinner, she had a green, clay-like poop that caused the diaper rash to return immediately. By the next morning, the eczema has spread up her legs, up her back, all over her chest, on her arms and to her neck and cheeks.

I called the doctor's office on Friday morning. The triage nurse told me to give Adia baking soda baths and mix desitin with Maalox to help get her bottom's pH back to normal. We've been doing the baking soda baths, but have you ever tried to mix oil and water? That's essentially what happens when you attempt to mix Maalox and desitin. She also managed to kick the container and shoot the lovely mixture everywhere. Her tush is looking slightly better today, but it's a minimal change.

DiDi and Tanae arrived Friday afternoon. Adia was happy to see them and had a blast with Tanae. We made a trip to the grocery store. I'm trying to remove all the soy and gluten from Adia's diet. Easier said than done, but there the only foods that could have possibly caused the allergic reaction. She now has some gluten and soy free frozen waffles for breakfast. Their blueberry flavored too. She also has a low gluten, soy free bread. I'm still looking for a soy free bread that she'll like. I also found some gluten and soy free mac and cheese. We haven't tried it yet, but we will soon. She hasn't had another bad diaper, but she has been very gassy, irritable and seems bloated.

DiDi went to her doctor's appointment Friday afternoon and left me alone with Adia and Tanae for 3 hours. It was quite the adventure. Overall they were pretty good with each other, but it was bad when Tanae wanted to nap and Adia wouldn't let her. Tanae really likes that Adia can chase her.










They really got silly after dinner and before Adia's bath. For some reason they both wanted in the crib, the crib that Adia refuses to sleep in. I put them both in there and chaos erupted. They would run and jump from one side to the other, chasing each other. Adia got knocked over numerous times, but didn't seem to care. That really surprised me. Just a few weeks ago and she would have been hysterically crying. Now she giggles, gets back up and off she goes.






I eventually had to end their fun because Adia needed a bath. Tanae was upset she couldn't join her, but the last thing we need is Adia sharing her yeast infection. Adia's bath was pretty short because she wanted to play with Tanae. She got out, got dressed and went crawling after Tanae. They were both soon cranky and the amazing DiDi held them both at the same time, with bottles. They were both out by 8:30! I took Adia to bed. I was hoping for a good night's sleep, but Adia cried every 2-3 hours, all night long. DiDi hypothesized that every time she peed, it would burn and it would wake her. It's very likely. I changed her in the dark around 4am and she was up for the day at 7am.

After breakfast this morning, I gave Tanae a bath. She wasn't too happy when I washed her hair, but it needed it. Then it was Adia's turn. She had her baking soda bath, followed by a shower with me. I lotioned her up afterwards. She has so many lotions and potions right now. Her eczema cream, Aveeno lotion, desitin, anti-fungal and hydro cortisone (if needed). It's hard to juggle all the tubes and make sure they end up in the right places.

We then headed out to Walmart for more Desitin, some Benadryl and a few other odds and ends. Adia spent most of the time walking, holding my hand or pushing the cart. She's getting really good at it, but it's painfully slow. I grabbed two new pairs of shoes for her. They're hard soled and have plenty of growing room. After Walmart, we went to Costco. We mostly wanted to go because Adia and Tanae could sit next to each other in the cart. They hardly noticed each other until Tanae leaned over and gave Adia a hug and kiss. Then Adia started crying. I ended up holding Adia or letting her walk most of the time. She did enjoy the free sample of gogurt though. In the future I'll be buying her YoKids squeeze tubes. She wants to feed herself and that's a perfect way to do it. Adia got some new pjs and a dress at Costco.




Both Adia and Tanae fell asleep on the way back to the house. DiDi took my stuff inside while I stayed with the girls. Then DiDi and Tanae left for home while I brought Adia into the house. Adia stayed asleep and is actually still sleeping! Hopefully she wakes up happy and refreshed.

We have a walker!

It's official, Adia walked from the couch to the TV! She did it twice in a row and looked mighty proud of herself. Too bad she didn't keep it up though. She suddenly turned into Miss Cranky Pants. Maybe it was too much for her. I don't know, but after tons of fighting, I got her to sleep. Hopefully she sleeps well tonight and repeats the walking tomorrow.


She had a busy day today. We roamed outside since the sun came back out. There were a bunch of kids outside so Adia didn't get to swing or go down the slide. Instead, she just watched them from the distance. She wasn't too sure about all the commotion.


It was so warm that I took off her shoes and socks so she could walk in the grass. The last time she felt grass on her toes was almost 6 months ago. Now that she's a much better walker, I think she enjoyed it more. She was a little confused by it at first and her feet got damp, but she was much better walking barefoot than with shoes. She soon found a pine cone. Never once did she try to eat it and it even made it back to the house with us. I'll have to save it.




can't beat baby toes in the grass
We were outside for quite awhile and when we got back in, Adia was hungry! She ate almost an entire string cheese, some grapes and strawberries and a little bit of banana bread. She had just finished eating when Scott woke up. She was happy and surprised to see him. She nearly jumped on his back so he treated her with a pony ride.


After he got dressed, we headed outside to grab the mail and possibly get in some swinging. Adia was happy to be outside again, especially with Daddy. They investigated the trees for a bit before I took her on the swing and slide. She also got in more bare toes on grass time.










It was soon dinnertime. I made homemade mac and cheese and Adia gobbled up every piece on her tray. She also had more grapes and strawberries. Then it was bath time. It was a fairly short bath because she was already acting sleeping. It took me another 2 hours to get her interested in bed though. At least she showed off her walking ability while Scott was still home.

Adia hasn't had another nasty diaper since Monday. So it really was a virus or she's allergic to something that's in both mac and cheese and goldfish. I've been too chicken to give her either of those again. Once her butt's all healed, maybe I'll be braver or we're closer to her 1 year appointment. Her butt is looking remarkably better. The Lotrimin is doing wonders. Now if only I could get her to stop peeing out the side of her diaper at night. I guess I need to buy some overnight diapers for her. It was a family day yesterday. We had a lazy morning. Adia fell asleep on me and napped until almost 11. She never normally does that. We ate lunch when she got up. She was very silly and ate quite a bit. When you say, "Boo!" now, she grabs her face. It's hilarious. I also learned that she really really loves string cheese. She makes a mess with it, but couldn't eat it fast enough.






I had an orthodontist appointment in the afternoon so we quickly took our shower. I was hoping to get a nap in for Adia, but it never happened. She just wouldn't settle down enough to let it happen. She smiled and showed off her teeth at the orthodontist. They recommended a pediatric dentist for her so we stopped by his office to find out when they would like to see her. They don't see kids until at least 2 years old unless there's a problem! The APA recommended kids be seen by 1 year, but I don't think we're going to find anyone that will. So frustrating! After that we headed to the store and Walmart. Adia fell asleep in her carseat. She passes out quick in the Marathon. I bet it's much more comfortable than her old one. She stayed asleep when we went in the store, but slowly woke up. We picked up more string cheese for her and some strawberries and grapes. She'd never had grapes before and I was curious. It was then a quick stop at Walmart. I showed Scott the trike that DiDi bought Adia. They no longer had the pink and purple one, but Adia didn't care. Scott pushed her around on the red one. She loved every minute and was even trying to use the pedals. Her legs are just a little short. It was then back to the house.




I guess it's a teether too!Scott tried to get her to nap when we got home, but it just wasn't happening. She was awake until bedtime and even then she wasn't happy to go to sleep. She had a great dinner. She loved the strawberries and grapes. She gobbled them up. She also had cheddar cheese since she wasn't eating the grilled cheese I made her. She also ate some homemade banana bread. I was hoping the grapes wouldn't come back to haunt us later and they haven't yet! She soaked Scott in the bathtub. His shirt was so wet you could wring it out. Then it was off to play and play and play. She's started to walk her truck into the kitchen and fill it up with tupperware before bringing it back to the living room. Last night she was filling it up with anything she could find. She was also being a monkey. She crawled up and over Scott, into her chair and then over the chair to get to her dollhouse. It would have been much easier just to crawl around, but of course she wouldn't dream of that. She likes to stand IN her truck too. That's how she's hurt herself in the past, but I guess she forgot.




We played ball for a little bit. She's just started to throw it back. She used to only kick it. Now she'll throw it back and start clapping, like the video shows. It's too funny and she gets so excited. I can support her while standing and she'll still kick the ball too. She even says "Kick!" when she puts her foot out.



Around 9:30, I was dragging and Adia headed down the hall into the bedroom. I took that as a sign that she might possibly want to sleep. I wrestled her into staying down and she quickly went to sleep. She slept until 6 and then went back to sleep until 8. She's been kind of whiny today, but she did eat breakfast. It was more strawberries and grapes with a few spoonfuls of yogurt. Adia just became interested in Barney. They're playing a clapping game and she's clapping along. Her attention span isn't very long or she has to multitask because she moves from one toy to the next while watching TV. I guess she's like her Mommy. I can never seem to do one thing at a time. It's cute to watch though. Each time Barney claps, Adia copies! I'm really starting to love this age. Uh oh! She's rubbing her eyes so I'm guessing a nap is in the near future.

Eczema, Yeast and a Doctor Visit

Adia started the day with two very nasty diapers. One was when Scott had her, the other happened right before our shower. My thinking is that the mac and cheese from last night didn't agree with her. It caused the diaper rash to flare up full force again. The rash has also spread to her back, just under the top of her diaper. I made a call to the doctor's office and talked to the triage nurse. I ended up making an appointment for the afternoon.

Adia and I then went outside to play on the swings. She had fun for a little bit, but couldn't go down the slide because it was wet. As we we were headed back in Gamma and Gampa pulled up. Adia stuck close to me for a little bit, but slowly opened up to them again. We went to lunch. Adia ate a fruit and yogurt parfait and the crust of my bread. She was being really silly, playing with a spoon.


It was soon time to leave for her doctor's appointment. We didn't have to wait long and Adia played with the toys for the first time. She started crying when I laid her on the scale. She's now 17 lbs 10.5 oz! She's gained 1.5lbs in 2 months. That's very exciting for me since I thought for sure she wasn't growing too much anymore. I guess I should have known better since she can now wear 9-12 month clothes. Her doctor looked her over, asked a bunch of questions and tried to give us an answer for the diarrhea and rash. The rash is eczema, but she's not sure why Adia's having on and off diarrhea like she is. If she continues to have nasty diapers in the next couple days, I have to get a stool sample to test for parasites and microbes. If that comes back negative, she'll test for food allergies. As for the diaper rash, it's become a yeast diaper rash. We have to slather her with anti fungal cream 3x a day until it goes away.

After her doctor's appointment, we met up with Gamma and Grampa at Jiffy Lube. They paid to get our car serviced and then we headed to Borders. Adia held my hand and walked from one side of the store all the way to the children's section. There was a big bin full of board books with wheels. Adia went nuts. She started pulling them all out and I would roll them around. Gamma bought her 4 new books. I can't wait to read them all to her. Two of them are peek-a-boo type books, one has a mirror and the last one is Wheels on the Bus with actual wheels. It was getting late so Gamma and Gampa had to leave.



We went back to the house. I left Adia with Scott so I could go to the store. While I was gone, Adia played for a little bit, but then fell asleep on Scott. When I got home, they were both asleep on the couch. It would have been a priceless picture, but I didn't want to risk waking them up. I did happen to wake them when I went to start dinner. I opened the cupboard and the pans clanked. I felt bad, but Adia was easily placated with dinner.

I made Adia a mini hamburger for dinner. Scott and I were eating hamburgers so I thought she'd like one too. She did! She gobbled up her hamburger, along with some cheese and 1/2 a slice of bread. She wasn't too interested in her yogurt though.


She took a quick bath and it took both of us to get her dressed. We had to cover her in anti fungal cream, desitin and lotion, but she wanted nothing to do with it. We were eventually successful, but before we could get her pjs on, she took off. Scott chased her down and I was able to put the pj top over her head. Scott finished dressing her. She's now playing with her thermometer. She keeps taking it out off its plastic case and then putting it back in. If she's not doing that, she's trying to take Scott's temperature.



New Words: sippy cup (said at dinner when she wanted her milk), five (counting with her driving toy)

DiDi came to visit on Saturday. Adia was very happy to see her. DiDi watched Adia so Scott and I could go on a belated Valentine's day date. Adia had a fit right after we left, but soon mellowed. She had fun with DiDi and when we came home, Adia was in the tub. She was very surprised to see me. I know she has object permanence, but it's definitely out of sight, out of mind. If she doesn't see me or knows I'm not in the house, she doesn't think about it. We played a lot before she finally went to sleep at 10.


Today we went for a walk to the mall. Adia got some new clothes (like she needs any) and had a surprise visit with my cousin. Adia wasn't so sure about her, but enjoyed munching on my sandwich crust. She did show off by clapping and pushing chairs around. We went to Walmart afterwards to look for two piece pjs for Adia. The one piece sleepers just aren't cutting it anymore. Most of them are way too fat and just don't fit right. The two piece ones fit much better. She can also crawl and walk around in them.

Adia started to get cranky after DiDi left. I was cleaning out her dresser and Scott got her to fall asleep. When she woke up, she screamed for 30 minutes. We gave her Tylenol, but she continued to cry. It was dinnertime so we headed to the kitchen. She started to calm a little and eventually wanted to eat. I didn't know what to make for dinner so I pulled out a box of mac and cheese. Adia's never had it before, but I thought I'd give it a try. I put a scoop on her tray and she went nuts. She started shovelling it into her mouth with a big grin. She ate a bunch of it along with half a yogurt. Now I just hope it doesn't make her sick.






Then it was bath time with Scott. She had cheese goo everywhere. Her whole face was orange. Scott cleaned her off and dressed her in her new pjs. There wasn't much of a selection at Walmart since it's the end of the season, but I thought the dinosaurs were cute. They've also got plenty of room to grow.



New words she said today: car (while pointing at the tricycle she wanted), liar (copying daddy)

New accomplishments: climbed onto the swivel chair to get into my lap by using her chair.

Playground Fun

I took Adia to the playground for the first time yesterday. There wasn't much there since it's only the one by the apartment complex, but she seemed to have fun. I tried the slide first, but I think it scared her a little bit. It's not big enough for both of us so I had to hold her from the side. She still went a little fast. After a few times she started to smile.


We then went on the tire swing together. I wish they had a infant swing. She loved swinging. She had the biggest grin and kept squealing. She'd look around and point at everything. It was just the two of us so the pictures are close ups. I think they turned out pretty good though.


Adia's really getting good at walking while holding my hand. She's still a little hesitant after falling in JC Penny and the shoes complicate the matter, but she still likes to walk. Now if only I could get her to keep moving. She likes to stop at every blade of grass (not kidding!). I need to remind myself that she's seeing it all for the first time from a different perspective and soon enough, I won't be able to get her to slow down. It's not like we have anywhere we need to be at any particular time.


She became very interested in our shadows. So interested that she started waving at hers and saying "Bye Bye." I did get some of it on video, but I wasn't close enough to really record her voice. You can see her mouthing the words though.

She quickly realized that I wasn't holding on anymore and I got in trouble. From then on she wouldn't walk and only wanted to be carried. She's smart like that.

She spent some time in the jumperoo once we got back in the house. I was amazed she wanted in there because it's been months since she's even shown interest in it. I set her in it and she jumped like a madwoman for a good 30 minutes. She was fascinated by the toys and was happy to yank on the frog and bird. Who would have thought that she could still use it at 11 months, 8 months after she sat in it for the first time. She still has room to grow in it even.

Scott woke up while she was jumping. We played for a bit, I attempted Guitar Hero and Adia danced with me. Then it was an unsuccessful dinnertime. Adia has not been interested in eating lately either. I don't know what's been upsetting her tummy so I started a food diary today. I won't be feeding her goldfish or bagels until I make sure the milk is ok. Her diaper rash seems to be getting better. Hopefully it will go away and we can figure out the allergy. Fingers crossed that it isn't a wheat, soy or milk allergy.

Adia took a long bath though. She had lots of fun with Scott. When she got out, Scott dressed her in her Love Bug pjs. We bought them right after she was born because they were on sale at Gymboree. I never thought she'd be big enough to wear them and they finally fit. She looks so cute in them! I wish I had more pairs. Scott prefers to put her in two piece pj sets. I'm starting to prefer them too since she can move around in them better. Too bad she still has a million sleepers, some of which she hasn't even begun to grow into.


She played for a long time before getting kind of cranky around 9. Her night time bottle was sitting on the floor by the couch. She grabbed it and handed it to me. I picked her up, expecting her to fight, but instead she snuggled up, closed her eyes and started drinking. She drank almost 8oz before falling fast asleep. I put her in bed right before Scott left. She slept until about 5, when she wanted to lay on my chest. We then slept until 7.

She woke up in the greatest mood. She gave me the biggest smile before then giving me a bug hug and kiss. Then she started clapping! If you say patty cake, she starts clapping and if you ask, "Where's you head?" She grabs both sides of her head. It's so funny. Hopefully I can get some good video of it.