Family Fun

Rowan had a great idea to go to the playground Saturday morning. Since we're all feeling better and the weather was nice, we went. Fresh air can do wonders for your spirits. So can swings!

Climbing high

Raleigh's favorite

Rowan telling me a story about his pretend restaurant

Treasures from our adventure walk

Post-walk refreshment

Signs?

My sweet tomatoes

Oh, yeah and Jeremy's tomato plants are in the background. 


Ha ha! I just noticed that Rowan has Tow Mater on his shirt! Wow. And... get this - We were on our way to have dinner at Sweet Tomatoes!!! 


Chill bumps, y'all. I can't stand it. It's too much. 


"Is it possible that there are no coincidences?" (from Signs - Graham Hess, as played by Mel Gibson)

Summer Fun

When you can't get to the pool, the sprinkler works just fine. Hope you're having fun and staying cool, too.

Cracker Barrel of Laughs

Raleigh was coloring and drawing on the kids menu color sheet. She was talking with my mom and dad about the girl with the pigtails on one of the pages.

G-Daddy: What’s that girl’s name?
Raleigh: Sally.
G-Daddy: Sally. Like Sally Goodin?  
Raleigh: Yeah. She’s not naughty.


Later in the toy area of the store after dinner...


The hostess calls out over the loudspeaker, “Michelle, party of 4.”
Raleigh: That’s not us.
Me: No, it’s not. We’ve already eaten.
G-Daddy: And that’s not our name. Are we the Millers?
Raleigh: No. We’re done.

Stories and quotes

Here are some funny odd and ends from the kiddos.

RALEIGH
R: Can I have a popsicle?
Me: No. We aren't having popsicles now.
R: I need it! (slams door)

At the Stone Mountain kiddie ropes course playground
R: Ouchie! Stop! (to a random wild kid who was at least 5 years older)

R: Knock, Knock!
J: Who's there?
R: Johnny Cash!


ROWAN
We had kielbasa for dinner a while ago. Rowan proclaimed "I ate all my Chewbaca!".

G-Ma: What do you like on your pizza?
R: Cheese, mushrooms, peppers, and those meat discs.

In the parking lot, a noisy car drove by and startled Rowan. He yelled, "Piece of junk!" as it drove past... with the windows down.

On the way to school the other morning, I told Rowan that the name of the band playing the song on the radio was called the Beatles. He laughed and said that was a silly name. I tried to explain that they didn't mean it like the bugs, they were trying to be funny. Music has a beat, so BEATles.
Me: Those words sound the same but they have different spellings. They're homonyms.
R: No, you mean Hampton Inn.


MISC.
As I was heading into the grocery store...
Rowan: What are you getting?
Me: Just bread. Why, do you have a special request?
Rowan: Yeah! Candy, M&Ms...
Raleigh: I like Nims!

Rowan was frustrated with something Raleigh was doing or saying and started to get a little testy. I told him he needed to cool down.
Raleigh: What happened, Bub?
Rowan: You happened!

Boo who?

Raleigh's version of the knock-knock joke about Boo.


Me: Knock knock!
R: Who dare? (Who's there?)
Me: Boo.
R: STAH CRY-EEN! (stop crying, yelled)

Raleigh is 15 months old!

Somehow the month of June flew by and here we are approaching the middle of July. That also means it is time for Raleigh's monthly update. Here's what our baby girl has been up and in to for the past month.

• Likes: lima beans, purses, necklaces, shoes, the pool, bath time, bananas, walking holding hands, swings, putting her hand in your cleavage
• Dislikes: being told no, being put down when she's not ready, staying still for diaper changes
• Communication: new animal noises include "moo" (cow), "cack" (duck), "uhn-uhn" (pig); she uses the "more" sign often; she can say "Bub" (for Rowan) consistently and likes to say Elmo's name when she sees him. She can point to a variety of things in books when you ask her (examples: strawberry, various animals, banana, hat, shoes, Elmo)
• Skills: She is a lot more interested in walking than crawling, though she will still drop to all fours when she wants to get somewhere in a flash. Today she opened Rowan's bedroom door (it's a lever) without even thinking about it. Yikes! In the pool, she likes to kick her legs while she floats on her tummy with your arms supporting her. She also likes to "jump in" from the side. She has accidentally put her face in the water a couple of times and doesn't seem too upset by it.

Mildly Spiced?

Raleigh is our little firecracker. When she's having a good time it's magical. When Raleigh's not happy, boy she will let everyone know about it! She seems to have a natural talent for tantrums. Her favorite move is to march in place really fast whilst yelling. (I like this move myself. Or a good stomp with one foot. That's a good one, too.) She will also retaliate when you tell her no-no. A common repercussion is a smack/slap/scratch to the mouth. If she is especially displeased she might throw in a lip twist. These moves are done with extreme dexterity, precision, and speed. You would think that I at least would be hip to her ninja moves by now but she still manages to catch me off guard.

Don't get me wrong; Raleigh can be sweet as candy, too. You know that saying about girls being made of sugar and spice? That is certainly true for Raleigh. I think her spices tend to be on more of the hotter end of the spectrum (think cardamom and chili peppers). I wouldn't have it any other way, though. My favorite tea is cinnamon-cardamom, with a little splash of cream. Pair that with a brownie (double chocolate Ghirardelli, please) or gulab jamun and there you have our Raleigh. Sweet and spicy goodness! I don't call her yum-yum for nothing, y'all.

Happy mirthday wishes, baby girl!

Raleigh is 14 months old!

Raleigh turned 14 months old yesterday. What an adventurous month it has been! She has learned to walk, but still prefers crawling when she wants to get somewhere quickly. All four of her one-year molars came in - all in the same week. Raleigh went on her first trip to the beach (actually in the sand and water, not just the beach town) and visited the ER on the same day. (More details below) Whew! I sometimes wonder what she must think about all the hoopla. So far, she has been pretty adaptable. These are the things which make us stronger, no?

• Likes: floating in the swimming pool; playing in the sand; her teacher, Jessica; reading; swinging; brushing teeth
• Dislikes: being sick, emergency rooms
• Communication: New words/signs – “bock” (book); signing “more”; “uhnck-uhnck” in a nasally tone (knock-knock); “bot” (drinks); “ooo-new” (Lulu). She can make noises for certain animals “eee-eee” (monkey), “ooo-ooo” (owl), “rerr” (lion), “eeeee” (kitty), “ba” (sheep), eet-eet-eet (bird)
• Skills: Raleigh can blow her nose semi-consistently now and doesn’t fuss as much about having her nose wiped.
• Miscellaneous: It appears that the bath strike is over. The past few nights she has eagerly sat down in the tub, with Rowan, tolerated being cleaned, and played with toys.
• So big!: We learned from all the doctor visits that she now weighs 20lbs. She is wearing 12-month clothes mostly but can still wear some larger 9-month ones. She wears a size 3-4 shoe, depending on the style and brand.

Beach Trip

Since Rowan’s school is closed the week of Memorial Day we decided to get away to the beach for a few days. We stayed in a condo on Jekyll Island and had a good time the first couple of days. By Wednesday afternoon, Raleigh was not feeling well. She had had a runny nose and her teeth were coming in so I didn’t think too much of her 102F fever. I gave her some acetaminophen and we went to dinner. A couple hours later, her fever had risen. By 11:00 that night, her fever was almost 105F. Jeremy and I decided we should head to the ER on the mainland. He and Rowan stayed in the van while I took Raleigh inside.

Her fever was still climbing. The highest reading I saw was 105.7F. The doctor ordered a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia. She barfed all over herself, me, and the floor just before the x-ray tech wheeled into our room.

This was scary stuff, y’all. I did not have a lot of confidence in the doctor there. I figured he didn’t see a lot of babies AND he was wearing clogs without socks. (Dr. No-socks, I get that you are in a “beach town”, but this is not Miami Beach and you are not Sonny Crockett.) I guess I am spoiled by the children’s-only ER here in Atlanta. They totally know what they are doing, have all the right equipment, and understand kids. Not to mention that it is quiet there. You may hear bits of random crying once or twice but it is nothing like the regular ER. Raleigh and I were treated to a symphony of delightful sounds like the very old man coughing up his lungs, a younger man violently vomiting up his intestines and then groaning, nurses speaking very loudly to a senile woman, the floor cleaner, and squeaky gurneys being rolled up and down the corridor. I was on edge, to say the least. Poor Raleigh was in a fevered daze the whole time and didn’t get to enjoy it as much as I did.

We ended up leaving around 5:00am with a tentative diagnosis of “possibly the beginnings of pneumonia”. The doctor also thought Raleigh might have a UTI (I never believed this to be a possibility and have no idea why he would think of such a thing.). Because she was a little dehydrated from the vomiting, she wouldn’t pee and they couldn’t do a test. Poor love. He sent us away with a prescription for antibiotics (more on that later).

After catching a couple hours of sleep, we packed up all our stuff and headed back to Atlanta, with a layover at my parents’ house. (Thank you, parents!) Raleigh seemed better. Her fever went away; she ate; she played. Later that night, the fever came back. My mom and I stayed up with her from about 1:30am to 4:00am. Later that morning, Jeremy and I took Raleigh to see our regular pediatrician.

The doctor said Raleigh probably had the same virus that had sent us to the ER with Rowan just a week before. But, to be on the safe side, she recommended an antibiotic for Raleigh’s cough. I showed her what the Jekyll doctor had given us and she threw it away. (I KNEW it!!!) She then wrote an appropriate prescription and sent us on our way.

Saturday morning, Raleigh’s fever broke. Sunday morning she developed a rash. Dr. Mom here thinks she had roseola. The nurse said it could be that or a mild reaction to the amoxicillin. Either way, there was nothing to do about it and no way to confirm it. Whatever. I’m just very grateful and happy that our baby girl is well and that nothing serious was going on.

We’re going to try to do a make-up vacation later in the summer. Hopefully the next trip won’t be as crazy!

Happy 14^th mirthday, baby yum-yum! Let’s try for less drama for the 15^th.

Yaaaaayyy!!!

Raleigh started walking last night. She’s been thinking about it for some time and has gotten very proficient at navigating her way around the room by holding on to pieces of furniture or what-have-you. I guess she finally felt ready to let go. The funny thing is that she yells “yaaaayyyy!” the whole time with a big smile on her face. I wonder who she could be modeling? Hmmm…

In other big Raleigh news, her eleventh tooth has erupted. The tips of her lower right molar are showing. What an exciting week, and it's only Wednesday!

Uh-oh!

Raleigh loves her new word, uh-oh. So do we. :-)

By the way... new photos are up.

Raleigh news

It's been a busy month for our baby girl. Since her mirthday she has learned to crawl. I don't know why I bother putting down a blanket on the floor; she just crawls away. And, two more teeth have emerged. She now has 6 teeth in all. We also bought a high chair for her and she really likes it - except when you leave her in there while trying to do dishes or prepare food. She prefers to be held so she can see what's going on up close. I guess I would like it that way, too. :-)

Belly laughs

Raleigh thinks Rowan is funny. He was goofing around tonight doing somesaults and jumping jack legs. Every time he did the leg thing she would belly laugh. It was too cute and very funny.

She's pretty funny herself. Her way of communicating is to make raspberry noises to get your attention. She really likes it if you do it back to her. Sometimes she'll go on like that for a few minutes at a clip. Such an interesting way to interact with world.

Pffftttt!

Tell Tchaikovsky the news!

Raleigh can roll over all by herself! Last week she rolled over from her back to her tummy. As of Thursday night, she can roll over from back to tummy and then tummy to back. She can also stop on her side. Watch out, world! Raleigh is on the move.