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!

Recommended Reading

Looking for something good to read this summer? Here are a few reads we've enjoyed lately.

For the kiddos:

• Birds by Kevin Henkes: The illustrations are really neat. This is one of Raleigh's favorites.
• My Hippie Grandmother by Reeve Lindbergh: My mom found this one. It's good to know a librarian.
• Who is Driving? by Leo Timmers: It's fun to look at the clues to figure out who's driving.

For the adults:

• Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout: Each chapter is a stand-alone short story but they're all tied together by one woman, Olive Kitteridge. Sometimes she's the narrator or a main character. Other times she is mentioned in passing. It's a neat concept with great writing.
• Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand: You'll wonder how one person can experience so much adventure in one lifetime. It's a long book but a fast read.
• Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs by Molly Harper: This is the first in the Jane Jameson series. Jane is a former librarian and new vampire in rural Kentucky. You're intrigued already. Admit it. These are quick, fun books. Don't expect enlightenment, but do count on a chuckle or two.
• My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales edited by Kate Bernheimer: Modern authors adapt classic fairy tales from across the globe. Some are even more creepy than the original versions. At the end of each story the authors briefly describe their inspirations for their new tales.

Cruel Summer

"This heat has gone right out of hand..." Preach it, Bananarama. It doesn't help when the air conditioning unit for your house is broken. I think I must be getting soft in my old age. The central Florida house I grew up in did not have central a/c until I was middle school. (There were window units in the living room and my parents' room.) And, my first dorm at UF had no a/c. In both of these situations I survived just fine. Oh, the adaptability of youth!

Our a/c unit was fixed this afternoon (Thanks, Dan!) and I feel like singing and possibly dancing about the house. Meh. Maybe I'll wait on the dancing bit until the temperature in the house drops below 80F.

Rowan's mirthday

Rowan is the big 4-0! Forty months, that is. Here's what he has been up to for the past month.

Preschool started at the beginning of the month. He has a new classroom, new teachers, and new classmates. It's hard to tell what he thinks about all the newness. His good friend, Danny, is in the class with him - which is good. His old teacher's daughter is also a classmate. Ms. Carletha told me that Rowan seems to be enjoying the Oak Room. And, his new teacher, Ms. Rachel, said that Rowan is her new favorite. Jeremy and I are still unsure about some of the kids in the class and the skills/talents of the teachers. But, I remember feeling the same sense of uneasiness when Rowan first started day care. We'll just have to see how it goes these next couple of weeks.

We've been going to the pool as often as we can. Rowan likes to practice swimming and is getting used to putting his head and face in the water. He is very interested in jumping off the diving board. We told him he needs to practice jumping in from the side of the pool and going under the water before we try the diving board again.

He has taken more interest in playing with his Thomas trains, train track, and his matchbox cars. He is insistent that Raleigh not play with these things. Of course, she wants to do whatever he is doing. And so it begins...

Another new favorite thing that has emerged this past month are knock-knock jokes. It all started on our trip to Jekyll Island. His favorite is about Boo. Boo who? Aw, quit yer cryin'! (Ba-dum-bump) He also likes the one that ends with "Orange you glad I didn't say banana?". If you've got any good knock-knock jokes, please pass them along.

I'll leave you with some of the latest Rowan stories. He definitely keeps us all laughing. What a marvel and delight he is. Happy mirthday, sweet boy!

R: When I turn 16 I'm going to have a car. Then Danny and I are going to drive to G-Ma's house and play with toys. Danny can't drive, though. He's just going to ride.

Me: Rowan, do you want to be a daddy and have kids one day?
R: Yes. I'm going to have a little baby when I turn 5.
Me: That seems a little young. Maybe you should wait until you're at least 25.
R: Yeah. Then I will have a car and a knife.

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.