MONTANA DAY 1: Travels & Settling In

Our flights to Montana went smoothly. The people at the airports were very helpful, and we had no problems going through security, even with the new "no liquids" measures in place.

Andrea was incredibly well-behaved on the plane trips. There was barely any time between our initial and connecting flights, but that was okay--it kept us moving. Andrea had no reaction whatsoever to take-off or landing; and she fell asleep on Daddy twice!

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Grama Marty and Grampa Rick met us at the airport in Montana, and then we brought our luggage out to the truck. I joked that we should throw Andrea in the back like all the Montanans do with their kids. A man overheard me and said, "We just tie 'em to the back of the truck--it toughens 'em up!"

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When we got to Grama and Grampa's, Andrea was pretty worn out, so Grama cuddled up in a chair with her, and rocked her to sleep.

Then, she put Andrea in her own special toddler bed. It was in the same room as Mommy and Daddy's big bed, and we pushed the beds together, and against the wall, so she wouldn't fall out. It worked fairly well (she only crawled off a couple times!).

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When Andrea woke up, we sat outside and enjoyed the surroundings. It was hot and sunny, so Grama brought out a hat she had bought for Andrea to wear. Our Canadian Baby didn't tolerate it for too long! She kept throwing it on the ground! (Nice try, Grama!)

We also introduced Andrea to the dogs. Grama and Grampa have three dogs; two are shown in the picture below. The little one Grama is holding is named Dixie, and she lived with Mommy and Grama in Canada before Grama moved to Montana. Dixie is 17 years old, deaf, skinny, and wobbly-legged, but it was so great to see her again. :))

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Andrea tried lots of interesting foods at dinner time. She had strawberries, cucumbers and dip, "Gotta Have It" corn (off the cob for her), and got to gnaw on her first BBQ chicken bone!

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Later in the evening, we sat outside and enjoyed Grama's back patio. It has solar-powered twinkle lights of butterflies, dragonflies, and hummingbirds that change colors at night! They also have a fountain that has colored lights and fog at night. Andrea was mesmerized!

Soon it was bedtime. Andrea fell asleep at about 9:30 Montana (Mountain) Time (which would be 11:30 at home!)

Family Wedding Shower

Daddy's cousin, N., and her fiance, T. are getting married at the end of December, in a tropical locale. Also, because they live in the Toronto area, they had a big wedding shower/family BBQ down here, so everyone could celebrate with them.



Unfortunately, Andrea wasn't her usual, cheerful self today. She was restless and whiny throughout the party. I think some of her back teeth may be getting ready to come through. Anyhow, it was a bit difficult to keep her content. I also wonder, now, if maybe she was a bit restless because she's getting pretty independent in her crawling, and people were holding her all afternoon. Then again, she doesn't crawl on anything other than carpet, so it's her own fault if she wouldn't play in the grass, or on the deck, with the other kids!

Andrea did find some things to entertain her:

1. Her first corn-husking: Well, a bunch of us sat in a circle and did the work, while Grandpa G. held Andrea and supervised. Andrea was interested in the new texture of corn silk.
2. Her first Oreo cookie: Yum! It started off well, with Andrea biting off the cream filling and nibbling at the cookie; but then she decided to get greedy. She bit off a huge chunk! Gram G. tried to make her spit it out, because we were afraid she would choke on it, but Andrea refused to give up that cookie! She fought and howled and would not let anyone take it out of her mouth!
3. Her first Butter Tart: You must understand, this was a momentous occasion. You see, the G. Family brothers and sisters are known for their love of home-made butter tarts. Andrea proved herself to be one of the family, as she truly enjoyed her first butter tart!:)) She liked it so much, that when Gram finished it off, she started eating the crumbs off the table! Great-Grandpa G. got a big kick out of that. "That girl is hungry!" he proclaimed. "Give her another one!"

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Meanwhile, Daddy was off having fun with the kids. Several people asked me, "Did you bring a change of clothes for your other child?" because Daddy got soaked in a water-gun fight (which he, of course, started)!

Then he played some baseball games with the boys.

I had to laugh. Daddy is so silly! He's such a kid at heart. :))

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Andrea was worn out by the end of the evening, but she still had energy enough to enjoy swatting at the balloons decorating the tent.


She fell asleep in the car on the way home. ;-)

Bathing Beauties

Despite the daycare woes, it was a gorgeous day out! Wish I could be as carefree as my little Bathing Beauties. :))

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Andrea and Brig had a great time in the pool this afternoon. We haven't played in our backyard in over two weeks; between a monster heat wave and me being sick, we didn't feel like going outside. So it was great to get out there today and enjoy the sunshine--warm, with a nice breeze--perfect! The girls had a lot of fun playing with the extra boats and squirter from Andrea's birthday party.

"Hi there!"

Andrea got the giggles, because she was having so much fun!

[The video below is a bit messed up, because it had some weird lines in the middle of the screen, so I had to crop it up a bit. Oh, well.]

http://media.putfile.com/Giggling-In-the-Pool

Daycare/Back-to-work RANT

I am SO frustrated and SO upset right now. And these words are SO inadequate to express what I'm really feeling: angry, scared, confused, worried, disappointed, anxious, depressed . . .

Guess what? I called the daycare today to see if Andrea was accepted for September. HA. The lady was quite nice, but she was sorry to inform me that there was NO space for Andrea, that it didn't look like anything would change soon, and we would be lucky to have a place there by January at the earliest. Oh, and by the way, Andrea's on the third page of the waiting list!

I am such an IDIOT!

LEARN FROM MY MISTAKES:

1. SIGN YOUR CHILD UP FOR DAYCARE THE DAY YOU FIND OUT YOU ARE PREGNANT. I am not exaggerating. I know people who have put the baby on a daycare list way before they are born, as "Baby (insert last name here)." It works. We didn't do that. Look what happened.
2. HAVE A BACK-UP DAYCARE PLAN, OR APPLY TO SEVERAL DAYCARE CENTRES. Makes sense, doesn't it? Don't make the mistake of counting on one centre to come through for you, even if you've been on the waiting list for a year or so. DON'T do what we did!

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Quite frankly, this situation just SUCKS. Even if we're lucky enough to get someone to babysit for us a few days a week, it still messes up my going back to work. I really wanted to go back 5 days a week because a) it's obviously more money, and would likely outweigh childcare costs in the long run (especially with the new Canadian monthly childcare benefit) and b) as an Occasional (supply) Teacher, I'd be able to apply for a Long-Term position, potentially being able to work for full-time pay for up to a year. For that matter, c) having another messed-up year within our school board is likely going to put the final nail in the coffin of my potential chances of earning a permanent position! (Remember: 2004-2005: I resigned the one Long-Term after three weeks, and went off sick for much of my pregnancy, so barely taught for 3 months; 2005-2006: off the whole year on maternity leave. 2006-2007: ???)

And on the subject of Long-Terms, the postings went up yesterday for the ones available in September, and frankly, they are amazingly few and far between in my subject areas. In 2004, I was able to apply for five postings. In 2006, there are three English postings total, and each has a problem with it. The best prospect (I'm using the term "best" very loosely) is . . . well . . . at guess which school? The one I resigned from in 2004, of course! Even if they didn't laugh at my application to work with them again, I would never accept another long-term there! It's two years later, and I figured it out--I'd be teaching the same group of students I had last time. NO WAY!

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I know the work-related rant might not seem to affect Andrea, but it does. If I'm not happy with my career, I'm going to bring that home with me. I'm not the type of person who can just brush things off.

And in terms of the possibility of giving up work and staying home--well, it's just not possible. Not for the type of lifestyle I want for myself and my family.

Speaking of family, I'd like to have another baby within a few years, too. Children, as much as we love them, are very expensive little creatures. Staying home, or working part-time, do not seem like options to me right now, because I need to put some savings away for the things I'd like to have in the future. And that includes a sibling for Andrea.

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You might think I'm overreacting, and I've got myself skidding down a slippery-slope of hypothetical fallout of Andrea not getting into daycare. But that's how my brain works. I'm a planner. I think ahead. I need to get the worst-case scenarios out in words so I can analyse them and prepare for the worst. It's just how I do things.

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In closing:

• Learn from my mistakes.
• My mom says I get all freaked out like this, every August, before school starts. And she claims things always fall together just right for me. Well, I sure hope she's right!
• Daycare availability in Canada sucks. Thanks, Canadian Government, for the extra $100 a month; but I really need a quality daycare centre to be available for my daughter, so I can go back to work!

Gram's Lunch Party

We went to a lunch party at Gram G'.s today. She invited over two of her co-workers with their grandchildren, as well as Aunt Steph and I to bring her grandchildren (Andrea and Izzy). So, in attendance were Gram G., Aunt Steph and Izzy, one lady and her granddaughter G., another lady and her daughter S. with her two boys K. and L., Mommy with Andrea and Brig. It was quite a crew! Brig was the oldest by far (she's 7). I think the next closest was 4 years old.

The one little boy, L., is only about a week older than Andrea. She's never played with someone so close to her own age. Well, I'm not sure they really played together. They kind of checked each other out, and grabbed at each other's toys. I guess sharing isn't exactly on the agenda. We tried, but I don't think they understand it yet!

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Izzy was the youngest one there, and the older kids were very sweet with her. But L. and Andrea had different reactions to Izzy. L. cried when his mommy held her for too long and wouldn't pick him up; Andrea basically ignored her. I guess they're still pretty self-centred when they're 12 months old. :))

However, Andrea did enjoy playing with Izzy's toys. That got a smile! ;)

Needless to say, Gram had a very busy bunch of little visitors today. But it was a lot of fun to see all those cuties together in one place, and to be able to talk to the moms and grandmas about all our babies' quirks and stories.

Umm... is that yummy?

Andrea likes to play with socks. And that's okay.

My issue is when she plays with the socks that Daddy just pulled off his feet after a long day at work, and she puts them in her mouth! Ewwwwwww . . .

I say, "No, Honey, that's yucky!"

Daddy says, "She likes it!" (A phrase he frequently uses.)

Well, I guess he's right. She does like it. She gnaws on lots of things, but never hesitates to go for Daddy's worn socks.

Ick. :p

Milk Monster

This image does not do justice to my Milk Monster.

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She has small, red plastic cups that she likes to drink her milk out of. She was doing really well before . . . we had to hold the cup, but she was sipping very nicely.

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This weekend, she started up with some irritating behaviours in terms of the milk cup. Now she bites the lip of the cup, and won't let go of it. She tries to slurp the milk up at the edge of the cup, like it's a bottle. She sticks her fist into the cup, and swishes her hand around in the milk. On Sunday, she shoved her hand in, swirled it around, pulled it out, and licked off the milk, like a cat! (Okay, that was funny. But I didn't let her know that.) She takes huge gulps, and then coughs, so it splatters all over her tray. Then she spreads it around her tray with her fingers (as in the image above).

What am I going to do with this child? Ack! ;P

Silly Girl!

Yesterday I got a bunch of videos of Andrea, because she was doing lots of silly things:

1. http://media.putfile.com/Ah-Wa-Wa-Wa Andrea can hold the "Ah" sound for an incredibly long time, without taking a breath. People picked up on this at the family reunion on Sunday, and they were trying to get her to clap her hand on her mouth, to make that funny noise. She didn't get it then, but we've been practicing. She's getting better--but sometimes she claps her hand on the wrong body part! (Ears, cheeks, head...) LOL
2. http://media.putfile.com/No-Kisses Andrea is actually getting very generous with her kisses and hugs, but she'll let you know when she doesn't want one. She's not shy about pushing someone's face away if she's not in the mood. But this time, I think she was busy practicing her new trick (see 1.) when Brig tried to get a kiss. The result was comical!
3. http://media.putfile.com/Move-to-the-Music I know we already have a video on here of her grooving to a toy's music, but this one makes me laugh because she's moving to Classical! And sometimes her arm/hand gestures look like she's trying to "Raise the roof!"
4. http://media.putfile.com/I-Wanna-Bounce-It We got Andrea a big ball for her birthday, and she just started showing some interest in it this week. She pushes it around with her head, or nose, as she crawls! But the funniest thing is how she flails her arms when someone else is bouncing it. She gets all excited, and it looks like she is pretending to bounce the ball along with the person who is really doing it (in this case, Brig). :))

miserable :((

Mommy is very sick right now, and that's throwing us all off track. Mommy has a horrible infection in the ear canal, that sounds like cotton stuffed in and feels like a migraine of the neck and ear. Mommy is grouchy, so Andrea is grouchy.

I guess Andrea got tired of my lying around and complaining yesterday afternoon. I was trying to get her to relax and snuggle with me on the couch, but she didn't want to. I had my arms around her, so she leaned down and bit me!

My first response, on instinct, was to slap her hand and yell "NO!" Then she started to cry, and I got upset, because I never, ever, slap her or yell at her. I don't think it's right. So, I kept her close until she calmed down, then I gave her a hug and a kiss. Tough dilemma. I did want her to know what she did was wrong, but I wanted her to know I didn't mean to hurt/scare her.

Then, I noticed she was eating fuzzies off the carpet (and gagging on them) again, so as crappy as I felt, I had to vacuum. well, you know, Andrea is on the move now. So she kept following me around, and grabbing at the vacuum cord. Gee, that's a nice safe plaything. And the word "NO" does not work with this child yet. It's meaningless to her!

http://media.putfile.com/080806-Vacuum-Stalker

(By the way, I hid the camera behind me while taking this video, so Andrea would not see it. Don't want her to think this is cute berhaviour!)

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The only positive of the last two days: today she said "Ball" for the first time. It sounded like "Balle" (French pronunciation). :))

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OMG, I am in so much pain. No wonder babies freak out when they have ear aches. Thank Goodness it is me who has this, and not Andrea!

Andrea's First Fireworks!

[I'M HAVING A PROBLEM WITH UPLOADING MY PICTURES FOR THIS ENTRY. I'LL PUT IN LINKS TO THE ONES THAT WOULDN'T UPLOAD.]

Let me start off by saying how amazing Andrea's progress has been, just over the past few days. She was only crawling a little bit four days ago. Then, Sunday morning, she started crawling six or seven paces at a time! It looks like she really can crawl when she wants to. :))

http://media.putfile.com/Really-Crawling

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Sunday afternoon, we had the yearly family reunion for Daddy's Grandma's family. It was bittersweet, because it was Andrea's first time there, and we got to see almost all of the family, but they have decided that this reunion will be the last one. They got a great group shot of the whole family.

http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=main/8/21916375379.jpg&s=f10

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It's such a fun gathering, with a big BBQ out on Andrea's Great-Gram's farm. We visited, went swimming, and got to watch fireworks at night! (More on that later.)

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While we were sitting under a shade tent, I was holding baby Izzy, and Andrea was sitting on Grandpa G.'s lap. I said, "Andrea, look who I've got! It's Izzy! Look at the baby! Who have I got?"

Andrea replied: "Itsy!"

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Now for the fireworks! Andrea has never seen/heard fireworks before. Add to that the fact that she'd had a long, exciting day already, and her reaction wasn't that much of a surprise. I had her sitting in a chair on her own at the start, to capture her reaction to the first fireworks she'd ever witnessed:

http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=main/8/21917064996.jpg&s=f10

http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=main/8/21917071291.jpg&s=f10

What WAS that?!

She was really startled, and a little bit upset, so we decided she might feel better watching the fireworks in the security of Gram G.'s lap.

http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=main/8/21816192140.jpg&s=f10

As you can see, and will hear, it didn't help all that much. Andrea didn't like the loud ones. Gram said Andrea's heart was pounding like crazy, and she kept kicking her legs out stiffly in shock, every time a big one went off. She also cried out a few times. But we think that was almost as much due to being over-tired as the fireworks. Poor little baby!

http://media.putfile.com/Listen--Andreas-First-Fireworks

But, as you can also hear Gram say in the video, Andrea wouldn't look away! It was like she was watching a horror movie--she was scared, but didn't want to miss a thing! :))

After the fireworks were done, the kids were given sparklers. Daddy and Grandpa G. brought some over to show to Andrea. We thought she'd like them, but I think she was just worn out by then.

http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=main/8/21816200690.jpg&s=f10

http://putfile.com/pic.php?pic=main/8/21816203532.jpg&s=f10

Babysitting Josh

Andrea had a new little friend to play with on Friday afternoon. Our cousins' little boy, Josh, came over because his daddy was on vacation, and his mommy had to work.

Admittedly, Josh (who is three years old) was more interested in playing with the adults, but he paused now and then to kindly place one of his toys in front of Andrea, to make sure she had something to play with, too. :))

Andrea was happy to sit back and enjoy our interaction with Josh. She squealed when Daddy was throwing and bouncing the big ball back and forth with Josh, and she also thought watching Josh and Daddy race his toy Hummer across the kitchen floor to each other was really silly and exciting!

http://media.putfile.com/Zoom-Car-Funny

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After dinner, we took the kids for a wagon ride to the convenience store. Andrea was really happy to have a companion in the wagon with her. :))

She kept playing with his legs and his sandals, because they were right in front of her nose! It was a bit tight for them in the wagon, because Andrea has to sit in the middle until she gets a bit bigger. :)) Josh was a good sport about it all.

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Andrea went to bed at her normal time, but Josh stayed up until his mom got here, at 10:30 pm! We played the whole time! So, when his mom got there, he suddenly cried, "I want to go home! I'm tired!" Poor Josh! I think we wore him out with all the fun. :))

New Words

Yesterday, Gram and Grandpa G. took Andrea to visit with them for a few hours, since they're both on vacation right now. When they brought her back, they told they were amazed by how much Andrea is moving around now. They just babysat her last week, and she wasn't moving like she is now--using rolling over to get around, sitting herself up, up on hands and knees, rocking, stretching, pushing and crawling backward, and even crawling a few paces forward! They noticed that she's getting into everything now, too.
[Here's a video of Andrea on the move; of course, she got distracted by the camera, and it slowed her up a bit! http://media.putfile.com/Pre-Crawling ]

But what was really exciting was that they got her to say two new words! She said them at their house, and then they got her to say them here, too. One was kitty ("kee-kee"), and the other was Andrea ("Ann-ie-ah" or "Anne-yah"). Later, she also tried to say Brigitte ("Dih-dih"). Wow! Something must have clicked in the speech department yesterday. :))

Of course, knowing Andrea (and from what I've seen today), the words will disappear entirely now that she's tried them out; but, they'll probably return in a month or two! Remember quack and duck? I haven't heard those since the first few days she said them. But Mama seems like it's finally here to stay!

Oh, and I guess yesterday wasn't really the first time she tried to say her own name. On the weekend, Daddy was holding her, and they were looking in the bathroom mirror. He was pointing at himself and saying Daddy, then at her and saying Andrea. Then he pointed at his reflection in the mirror and asked, "Who's that?" Andrea said, "Dada!" So, he pointed at her in the mirror and asked, "Who's that?" She answered, "Anne-ya!" :))

I Get it Now!

To all of you who have been saying, "Enjoy it while it lasts . . ." in reference to Andrea's lack of mobility: I get it now!

Although Andrea's still pretty slow, she is now starting to get into everything! Her favourite is the fan cord (and plug!) in the living room. I tell her "No!", I move her away, I try to distract her with toys . . . no way. She makes a beeline for the fan!

And today, while I am on the computer . . .

"Woohoo! Mommy's magazines!"

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So, I put her in the Jolly Jumper to keep her in one place! (And it's still lots of fun and exercise.)

http://media.putfile.com/Jolly-Jumper-92

New Toy/Saturday Afternoon Fun

New Toy

On Friday, we decided to visit Toys R Us. I thought that we should buy Andrea a musical activity walker, because it might encourage her to stand up more, and help steady her first steps when she's ready to take them. Actually, the toy is more of a gift from Andrea's Great-Grandma M. and Grandpa Vic, because it was their gifts of money that we put toward the toy. :))

Daddy had to help her a lot with the walking. I don't think she's ready for it yet. And I'm not going to rush it. :))

Actually, it seems to me that Andrea is going to crawl first. She has really started to pick up on it this week. I have even seen her move a few inches forward! I've noticed she also has another way of crawling: she sits up, then goes down on her hands and knees, then stretches out as far as she can, then goes down on her belly, then sits up, and starts again . . . almost looks like an inch-worm!

In the meantime, she loves her new toy anyway, because it has lots of music and lights. I caught her on video, dancing and singing along. When she saw me filming, she got even more happy! What a ham!

http://media.putfile.com/Dancing-Ham

Saturday Fun

Well, Mommy and Daddy don't find doing laundry very fun, but Andrea seems to enjoy it.

At least, she enjoys unfolding what Mommy folds, and pulling items out of the basket!

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Brig came over for the afternoon and evening, while Uncle C. worked overtime. She was in a really silly mood, and it was contagious! She was laughing like a crazy child, or a demented bad guy. It was kind of like Jekyll and Hyde! Then, Andrea caught on, and started imitating Brig!

http://media.putfile.com/Crazy-Laugh-Girls

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After dinner, things calmed down a little bit. Brig was writing secrets in a diary she got in her Happy Meal, and she made a fort to hide in so Uncle Rod and I couldn't see what she wrote. Of course, Andrea wanted in on the fun!

12-month Check-up

Everything went well at Andrea's 12-month check-up yesterday morning.

She weighs 25 pounds, 4 ounces!

The doctor addressed all my concerns about Andrea's development. She said if Andrea is at least trying to crawl (which she is), I have nothing to worry about. :))

I also talked to the doctor about allergies. Andrea sounds stuffed up a lot; she rubs her nose and scratches the inside of her ears quite a bit, too. Also, she had some hives on her thighs from sitting on the grass at her party on Sunday. Plus, Rod and I both have allergies. The doctor said we can't test her until she's four years old, but it sounds like she's inherited our allergies. The best we can do is make her comfortable (Cortaid cream for itches), and keep an eye on her symptoms for the next few years.

Andrea was so cute with the doctor--smiling, and grabbing her stethoscope, and chatting away. That is, until immunization time! Once that one-year booster shot went into her thigh, she howled for a few minutes straight. At least the doctor had warned me this one would hurt, so I was expecting Andrea's reaction! But within 5 minutes she was completely back to normal.

Last night, though, she went to sleep around 7:30 pm, and then woke up at 8:30 pm. She felt a bit warm, so Gram and Grandpa G. (babysitting while Mommy and Daddy went out to celebrate their 2nd anniversary) gave her some Tylenol drops, and let her get up for a bit. When we got home, I changed her from pajamas into a cooler t-shirt. We tried laying her down again around 9:45 pm, but she wouldn't have it. She wailed. So, Daddy got her up and cuddled with her in the living room. We gave her ice water to drink, and sat up with her until about 11 pm, when she finally went to bed. Poor little thing! Between her whirlwind weekend and her booster shot, her normal routine has gotten really off track.

But today (Tuesday) she is feeling much better, and seems to be back to her normal self--except she had a 2.5 hour nap this morning! I think she needed to get caught up on her sleep. ;))

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Lookin' good--new outfit, new chair, new drums!

Birthday Party--Guests

Here are some pictures of Andrea's guests. Looks like they enjoyed the party!

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Umm . . . at least, we thought they all enjoyed the party . . .