Teething is hell!

There is one milestone we have been waiting for. We had no idea when it would come, she hadn't even been close before. But then last weekend, it hit .... Nina's first trip to the urgent care! Early Saturday morning she was running a fever of about 102. We gave her Tylenol, and she seemed ok in the morning. Then as the day progressed, she went from cranky and fussy to just plain miserable. She wouldn't eat her solid food, wouldn't nurse and was crying like crazy. She seemed like she was in real pain. First we were thinking teething, but then as she got worse we thought maybe an ear infection, so we made an appointment at the urgent care for late Saturday afternoon. Poor baby cried the whole time in the doctor's office. There was no consoling her. The doctor on-call checked her out, no ear infection, no UTI and her lungs were clear. So Nina got some more Tylenol and home we went.

Saturday was the worst, but she was fussy for a couple more days. Wouldn't eat her food and wouldn't let you get anywhere near her mouth. So in the end, we're guessing teething. Although here we are a week later and no new teeth yet, so hhmmm.... It was so sad to see her in so much pain.

But now we are so happy to have our little girl back! So on to the good stuff.

This picture was taken the day before the teething hit:

There she is! Our standing girl! She can stand now for about 5 or 10 seconds. Or more accurately, until she realizes that she is standing. I guess she has fallen so many times in her attempts to pull up that she is a bit weary of this whole standing unassisted business. She is most likely to do it when she is distracted - for example, she has a toy in each hand and doesn't have a third hand to hold on with. Then when she realizes she standing, she gently bends her knees and lands on her bottom. Silly girl.


Oh and she can clap now!! That is a super fun one. And for several weeks now everything is dadada.

She's getting good at opening the cabinets. Sometimes she just likes to open and close them and listen to the doors squeak, but sometimes she like to explore a little further. Whatcha looking for there, Nina?


Fall has hit here is California. Perfect weather for Baka Dragica's sweaters....

Busy Bee

Ok, time for an update! Where, oh where, to begin? First with her hands - Nina has begun to figure out how to manipulate toys in new ways. Before she would grab toys and maybe shake them or eat them. Now she figured out that some things can be opened and closed. Here she is with her little farm set. She has figured out that when she opens the doors, the Old MacDonald song plays. She loves it! She goes over, opens the door, and then lifts her arms and dances. Unfortunately, this also means she has figured out how to open the cabinet doors in the kitchen and bathroom. (I don't even know how to begin to baby proof the kitchen!) She has also started to touch things with just her index finger.

And of course her mobility continues to be out of this world. Even though she has learned how to sit, she prefers these crazy other contortions while playing. Sometimes she kneels, sometimes she does this:


Anything just so as not to sit still! Standing, however, is still king. She'll often be standing somewhere holding on something. Then she'll see a toy on the ground, go down to get the toy, then stand up again. She prefers to play with the toy while standing! She has started to cruise a bit too - sliding along the edge of the coffee table (usually trying to grab some forbidden object that we left unattended!).

I noticed that she seems to like the big play structures at her daycare, so after a trip to Target I made some use out of the diaper boxes. Fun for her to explore and work on her balance.


Yep, she is a busy girl, but she still makes time to stop and smell the roses...

or at least eat the leaves!

:::

So, the big revelation of the last poll is that Nina looks like both of us (5/8 votes). Big surprise. ;-) Well, polls are fun so be sure to vote on the current one at the top of the page