Soggy tags

Sophia's favorite new comfort item:

16"x16" fleece blanket with plenty of tags to suck on.

~Mommy sewed this for me last night.  I tried it out today and I LOVE it~

Mama Bird

Sophia has recovered from the chickenpox.  She had a very mild case of them.  They didn't even scab over or leave marks.  I kept her home from 'trial' daycare yesterday to give her one more day to heal... or was it so I could have her all to myself for one more day?  In any case, today was her first half-day at Montessori.  I dropped her off in the morning with enough food for two feedings and drove to my hair appointment in downtown Seattle.  (I have been getting my hair done at Halo Hair Studio for a couple of years now and figured since I am going back to work, I had better get my emergency-mommy-hair-cut looking  a little more professional.)  

It was a very surreal experience to be without my little tag-a-long for more than an hour.   I thought about her the whole time I was away.  At one point a fire truck went speeding by the salon with it's sirens blaring and for a split second I thought about covering her ears so the sound wouldn't hurt them, but then I remembered she was not within hearing distance.  A little while later I experienced a split second of panic and had to remind myself that I left her with someone who is taking good care of her.  This last thought was exacerbated by the fact that a couple of weeks ago I woke up crying from a nightmare where I had accidently left her at home by herself and I couldn't get back to her.  

I think the separation anxiety is getting to me right now more than it is affecting Sophia.  This morning when I left, I gave her a kiss and told her I would see her later.  She was sitting (yes, she is sitting by herself now) on the play mat on the infant room floor and she had already found a toy to play with.  She hardly gave me a second look.  When I went in to pick her up, she was jumping up and down in the jumper saucer and laughing like I have never seen her laugh before.  She was thoroughly enjoying herself.  

Ana is the head caregiver in the infant room and she told me that she did very well.  She ate a little in the morning and then took a half an hour nap.   A couple of hours later she took a full bottle and then she played in the jumper saucer and that is where she was when I walked in the room.  I scooped my little baby up and gave her a big hug and kiss.  We were both very happy to see each other.  

As I was putting her in the car to take her home, I leaned over to give her another kiss and in that instant I felt what momma birds must feel when they come home to their nest and realize that someone other than themselves had been handling their eggs.  It was disconcerting.  Sophia smelled different.  She no longer had 'our' smell on her.  She had spent time in someone else's arms and their scent had transferred to my little baby.  Luckily in the human world we can get past this and not abandon our young, but it's going to take some time for me to get used to letting someone else spend this precious time with her.  I love my baby bird.  

The view out our window

This was the view out our front window a few weeks ago.  Today, although not as colorful since all of the leaves have fallen, the time Sophie and I spent watching the wildlife out this same window was just as beautiful.  This is my last full week with her all to myself before I go back to work and I revel in each and every minute I get to spend with her.  When she lays down for a nap, I am anxious for her to wake up again so I can spend more time with her.  

She will be 6 months old on Friday and I wonder where the time has gone.  She can sit by herself now and I watch her decide which toy she wants to play with next.  To get anywhere on her own she rolls and inch worms on her back.  I can tell when she has made up her mind to traverse the living room floor to be closer to me.  My heart just melts when she snuggles into my neck and mommy is the only one who can comfort her.  

We sat at this window hanging over the back of the couch for about a half an hour this afternoon.  We saw a woodpecker pecking for bugs in the grass.  We saw two squirrels burying food for the winter and chasing each other around the cul de sac.  We saw crows watching the other animals and scavenging for the food that the others were hiding and finding.  Whenever one of them would move they would catch Sophia's eye.  I would tell her the name of the animal she was looking at and I could see the wheels turning in her head.

I have a new window to this beautiful world and her name is Sophia.  

Quarantined

Just one week shy of turning 6 months old, our precious Sophia has gotten the Varicella Virus, otherwise known as Chickenpox.  Today is day one with chickenpox spots.  She woke up in the middle of the night with a cry that said 'I am very uncomfortable.'  I went in to her room to comfort her and I knew something was wrong.  I thought it was only a stuffy nose because she has woken up before when she can't breath.  I cleaned out her nose, changed her diaper and fed her to try to calm her down.  She is usually satisfied by this routine and will fall asleep while eating, but this time it took about 45 minutes for her to calm down enough to fall back asleep.  

Sophia has a very consistent internal clock.  She falls asleep every night around 7:30 and wakes every morning around 7:30.  Sometimes she might wake once in the middle of the night, but mostly she just sleeps through until morning.  She loves to go to sleep at night and is very happy to wake up in the morning.  Her smile was there this morning, but as soon as I picked her up she nuzzled into my neck and that's where she wanted to stay.  She did not want to lay down on her changing table so I could change her diaper and take her jammies off but she did want to eat so she had her breakfast.  

We welcomed in the day like we do every morning by opening up the blinds in her room, the living room and our bed room.  Only then was she was ready to change into her day clothes.  The plan for this morning was to drop her off at daycare for an hour with a bottle to make sure she would take a bottle from someone else besides her daddy or mommy.  When I took her jammies off I noticed a few bumps on her tummy and her leg.  I thought that a bug might have gotten into her crib last night and munched on her.  After I put her clothes on she started to whimper again.  She nuzzled into my neck and hung on to me like she has never done before.  

I noticed that she had a runny nose this morning and was sneezing.  She felt a little warm to me too so I took her temperature.  99.1, then 100.4 and then 100.6.  It kept going up.  I gave her some Tylenol, to see if that would help her fever.  She whimpered for almost an hour straight so I decided to call her pediatrician.  I told the nurse about her runny nose, fever and continual crying.  She was going to put me on hold to ask the doctor if he wanted me to bring her in. Just before she was about to put me on hold I mentioned that Sophie has some spot on her that looked like bug bites.  She said, "Now that you mention the rash, guess what?  You need to bring her into the office."  We set up an appointment.  I called daycare to let them know not to expect us this morning.   

As soon as her nurse saw the spots she said, "I'm afraid that might be chickenpox, but the doctor will take a look and let you know for sure."  In the back of my mind I was afraid that was what they were going to say.  Sophie was just too irritable for it to be nothing.  Sure enough, her doctor came in and said that he was surprised to see chickenpox in someone so young, but that is what they are.  He laughed and said, "Well at least she won't need to be vaccinated for them now."  (She would have been vaccinated for them in another 6 months.)  He also said that he hasn't seen a typical case such as this in about 5 years because of the vaccine.  He prescribed some medication that will help reduce the affects of the virus, plus benadryl, calamine lotion, oatmeal bath and tylenol for comfort.   

I spent the rest of the morning calling her daycare and other friends and people with babies that we have come into contact with over the last couple of weeks.  She has only spent a total of two hours with her daycare class this week, but a letter will be sent home to each of their parents so they are aware that they may have been exposed.  

I wracked my brain trying to figure out where we could have come into contact with the virus and I finally resolved that we will probably never know.  We had spent time at the laundromat, had a couple of play dates, had breakfast with some friends, and spent time with other kids at baby bootcamp.  Of course at this age, EVERYTHING goes in the mouth, including licking tables at restaurants and all the communal toys she could get her hands on at daycare.  Finally, after talking with one of our friends, we concluded that she may have gotten the virus from someone who had a bout with shingles last week.  

RELIEF:  at least we have an idea when she may have been exposed and we can narrow down the list of people she has been around since then.  Plus, it makes me feel better that she got it from someone we know and not from licking something that she shouldn't have.  AND it's one or two less shots she will have to get at her one year checkup!  I will have to let you know if I have kept this positive outlook in 3-5 days when she hits the pox peak.  

Stay Well.  

Pappy Sings!!

I'm just now getting to some video material that was shot during my trip at the beginning of October to Kansas and Memphis.  First victim of these video's is Pappy.  In this one he's singing along with me and my favorite CD.  The CD comes with a book so he can read along and sing along with the music.  Well, that was the intent anyway . . . check it out :)

Oh, and pay attention to the astute observation that Neenee makes at the end of his "song".

Who's gonna be the next one to be seen on SophiaTV????

Happy Halloween

Today was my first Halloween and I dressed up like a lobster.  The day started off rainy, but as evening rolled around the sky cleared and the temperature warmed up so it was perfect for being outside.  This afternoon mommy and I went to the Edmonds Halloween Celebration where the Downtown Merchants hand out treats for safe Trick-or-Treating.  I got all bundled up in my costume and we met some fellow baby bootcampers down there.  I had lots of fun looking at all of the funny looking people.  I got lots of compliments on my costume.