Mommy's a "horrible blogger"....

Ok, according to Aunt Ann, Mommy is a "horrible blogger". Fine, I'll concede to that. But I'm back now with tons of updates.

Firstly, little Frass is in occupational therapy currently for her sensory integration issues. Now, let me just say that I feel really blessed that she doesn't have some of the bad symptoms like I have previously described in posts (i.e. can't have certain fabrics touch her skin), BUT she does have significant oral sensory issues hence the picky eating. There are some foods that she still cannot physically be at the same table with, for instance, fruits. I will say that through "brushing", "bone knockers", and immersion in new foods, she is definitely coming along, but we still have a way to go.

Secondly, swim lessons have proved wonderful! After just three lessons, she now tries to jump out of my arms in Aunt Ann's pool and "do it all by herself". This of course does not work out too well for her!

Lastly, Frassy is getting a new little cousin. Gus (Aunt Annie's six-month-old black lab) is getting a new little sister at the end of August. She is an adorable chocolate lab. Ann is going to name her Nola because New Orleans, LA is her favorite city! I suggested the middle name Nibs because the "nib" is the meat of the cocoa bean used to make chocolate! Mommy is so clever...Nola Nibs. Hah!

So here's some new pics of Nola and some of Frassy will be soon to follow! (Nola in cranberry collar)

Twinkle, Twinkle....

Has my child truly received the gift of vocal performance? Could she have owned up to her genetic background? Will she follow in the footsteps of her Great Aunt Gingy, Great Grandmother Dorothy, Big Papi, GJ, Aunt Ann, Mommy, and Daddy? I think so. My little Frassy has been serenading us for a week now with her delightful version of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". It goes something like this:

"Twinkle Twinkle ittle ar, Ow I, Uh Pa Buv"

Needless to say, we need a little work on the verses. :)

Summertime and the livin's...easy?

Wow, do we have a tyrannical toddler on our hands or what!? Frass has discovered not only her independence but also her inner mean *ss! Of course, I don't have any idea where she would have gotten this temper and drama-it certainly isn't hereditary. Anyway, her brain and her wants go much faster that her mouth can communicate them. Thus, she gets very frustrated with me very quickly. Apparently, I need a crystal ball so that I may oblige her every whim on her time frame. It actually is very hard not to laugh at her when she's mad at me. She is hilarious when her temper flares! Poor Frass, being a toddler is so hard some days. :)

We have gotten to do some cool things so far this summer (despite the temper). We walked with the NICU team in the March of Dimes Walk America. Frassy LOVED it! Her daddy and I pushed her little derrier in her big cadillac-esque stroller for three miles! By the end, she made David walk beside the stroller and hold her hand. I think she thought I'd leave him behind! We also got to go to the Newport Aquarium and to Ian's great-granddaddy's 88th birthday party in Pikeville on Memorial Day. I will post aquarium and birthday pics as soon as I get them!

Bestest Buddies...

Frassy finally has a friend at Aunt Ann's house that loves her! He even cured her little sensory integration problem with the grass! YIPEEEE! As long as we can get through the initial pile driving, they get along smashingly (yup, first five minutes in the door he launches through air to tackle her). Anyway, this is GUS.

Hi Kitty!

Poor Frassy. Poor kitties. Ann was on a hunt at her Aunt Ann's house last night to love on the kitties! Tailypo and Boo were not amused. "KeeKee?" "KeeKee?" (pointing at the kitties) "No, Ann, those kitties don't want you to love on them!" (hiss from Boo) "OOOhhhhhh, that's a mean kitty, Ann, leave it alone." "KeeKee!"

Alas, my poor child will not be convinced of the non-love of the kitties. Oh well, she always has her doggies..."Hi dog!"

Sensory Issues...

Well, it's official. Ann is going to have occupational therapy related to her sensory integration issues (i.e. not being able even look at wet food, not walking on anything but concrete while outside). A nutritionist, a speech therapist, and an occupational therapist evaluated her while she ate and played for almost 1 1/2 hours. They think that with play therapy that her sensory issues will be helped tremendously. We should start in about 2 weeks!

Doodlebops Rock!!!

Well, after much trepidation from her mother, we made the trip to Louisville's Palace on April 1st for the Doodlebops Live! Part of Mommy's trepidation was that she wasn't sure if Frassy would love the Doodlebops or be scared to death of sitting in the dark with loud music. Well, fear no more, Mommy! Ann loved the "Bops". She danced in the aisle and screamed and clapped and loved on her friends Ella and Ian. Then she danced some more!! More importantly, Mommy actually liked the Doodles. I thought they were incredible live performers--no lip-synching there! Plus, I give much props to anyone who can gyrate and dance like they can and still manage to talk-much less sing! Needless to say, we are now DVRing the Doodles. I will post pictures of the concert when Aunt Kristi downloads them!

Playdate...

Frassy was at first not quite so sure about all these children playing with her toys! We had a few drama queen tears to prove it, but she soon perked up when the "Chickie" (chicken nuggets) came out. Chicken makes everything better...

Young love...cont.

A bicycle built for two....well, sort of...

More like a carrier built for two with poor Uncle Dean (the sherpa) to pack them around!

Young love...cont.

Swinging is more fun when two can swing!!

Young love...

Ian and Ann on the slide...You go first, No you go first...

March...Out like a...lion?

Okay, I LOVE thunderstorms....in fact, my favorite weather...NOT when they wake me at 0230 from my lovely Nyquil induced coma. Oh well, no sleep for me. March was a crazy month busy-wise. It was my birthday, Papi's birthday, and Great-aunt Lynn's birthday. I got to go visit my friend Steph in her new house near Nashville. We had the March playdate at GJ and Papi's house. Frassy and I kept Ian all day for the first time while Aunt Kristi was working! It was a very busy month. I wouldn't really say out like a lamb....
(pics to follow)

March...In like a lion....

March came in roaring on Thursday and so did Frassy. She woke up screaming in the middle of the night and had to come to bed with Mommy and Daddy. This however did not stop her frassiness and she continued to scream any time one of us would move. She has proceded to scream between 1am and 3am through last night. AAAGGGHHH!! Finally last night she found her paci and went back to sleep on her own. Hallelujah! Today she is galavanting around the countryside with her Daddy. They are going to visit her "uncle" Larry and to Crestwood, KY to be queen of the Glock shoot. Hopefully, she will be good for Daddy while Mommy's at work. Since she has been a complete and utter Daddy's girl lately, I'm sure she will!

Wintertime Frass!

Frassy has absolutely loved her winter clothes....as long as she's inside! When she snow got on her she went ballistic. Needless to say, she likes to wear her Frassy Hat indoors.

Happy Birthday to GJ!

Happy 54th birthday to Grandma Jane (GJ)!! Frassy was a little angel at the birthday table until she found out we had served her peas, carrots, and potatoes. She promptly through half on the floor and refused the rest. Then she ate her usual, chicken bites. BLEAH. I can't even look at them anymore! Oh well, I get to call tomorrow for our OT consult. Frassy and her daddy and I got GJ the first season of Murder She Wrote. Her and Papi were watching it as we left tonight. Frassy also wore her Happy Birthday barrette.

Naked Frass!

Frassy escaped from me last night before I could get her to the bathtub. She ran into the living room in a little naked flash and streaked past her dad and the Bhodi the dog. Well, Bhodi, ever the helpful brother, began his own bath licking her up and down and ALL around (naked bottom included) before I could rescue her! Needless to say, I wrangled the naked hussy and got her in the tub. One clean Frassy!!

Poor Baby Frassy...

I swear we haven't had a night like last night since Ann was a little baby. She woke up at 11:00pm screaming bloody murder like she was having a pylorospasm. I don't think it was a spasm-that would be the first in 5 months if it was. Even rocking and Tylenol and Ibuprofen didn't help. We brought her in the bed with us and even that didn't keep her from crying all night. I think it is her teeth not her ears. She hasn't been bothering her ears and she has no fever. She seems fine today, if not a little tired. Duh!! Mommy is too! Here's a picture of poor pitiful Frassy when she was 6 months old having a lovely stay in the hospital.

Food Update...

Well it seems that Mommy goes to Sunday school with an occupational therapist and didn't even know it! She told me today to sweep my thumb across the roof of her mouth three times and push on her teeth twice before every meal. She also said that there is a surgical brush protocol I can use. It helps with textures. Apparently, you take a surgical brush and sweep it over their arms, legs, and back. I am ready to try anything at this point! I am definitely going to try the mouth thing starting today!

Mystery Food...

As you all know, Frassy has major food issues. The only table food she eats for me and her father is dry food like bread, crackers, breaded chicken, pancakes, etc. However, Miss Marilyn says she eats "whatever the other kids eat". Hmmmmm.... I sent Daddy to investigate this matter. Apparently she eats mashed potatoes, peas, carrots, beans, and spaghetti. Spaghetti??!!!?!?!? What!?? Okay. I guess Daddy and I are incompetent to feed our own child. She's going to have to go to daycare every day just to get a square meal!

Frassy, Frassy, Frassy.....tsk tsk.

Sassy

Well, my Frassy has turned Sassy! She now wags her finger and talks back when I tell her "no no". Of course, it doesn't help that Papi laughs hysterically at this. Last night she kept feeding Cinder her crackers. "No No! Don't feed the doggie!" (I say apparently to myself as she wags her finger at me and shakes her head). Again, she feeds the dog. "No No! Don't feed the doggie!" (handslap immediately followed by finger wagging and head shaking; Papi laughing hysterically). Finally on the 3rd time she saw me coming after her and jumped up and wanted in Papi's lap. I guess Papi is home base!

15 Month Check-up

Today Ann Elizabeth had her 15 month check-up.
Stats: Weight-22lbs 45% Height-30 1/4 inches 50% Head circumference-48 1/2cm 90%
(Head has not been <90% since birth--thanks Daddy for the big noggin!)

ALSO.........

Allegedly:

1.) Her 42 days of congestion with sporadic cough/fever just has to "run it's course".
2.) Her congestion most likely has to do with the fact that "all her teeth are getting ready to come in at once".
3.) Her textural issues with wet food are all "normal" and if she hasn't improved at 18 months that she will be "put on vitamins" and until then it's perfectly okay that all she eats are bread, chicken nuggets, and crackers.

AAARRRGGGGHHHH!! Possibly a new pediatrician in our future? I don't know!!

Terrible Twos Already?

Uh-oh. We may have seen a faint glimpse today of what lies in store for two parents of a Frassy! She has been a complete tyrant ALL day. There are only a couple of things in the house that make us tell her "No No!". One is touching the electronics around the TV and the other is playing with electric cords (lamp cords, appliance cords, etc.) because she puts them around her neck! Well today she touched every cord and electronic in the house! No No! didn't work and making her sit for one minute didn't phase her either. She would laugh and wag her finger back at us. Distraction wasn't much better. This is NOT good. If we can't make a 15 month old mind, what are we going to do when she's three! Yikes. How young can you ship kids to boarding school?....

Oh well, maybe Great-Grandmother Greene was right. The kids act up when the weather turns bad. Let's hope that's it.

Shake that heiney!!

Frassy has a marvelous new dance. She stands with her hands on a table or other sundry piece of furniture (as in the picture) and wildly swivels her hips and shakes her butt side-to-side hulahoop style!! It is exceedingly fun to watch. She especially likes to dance to the Backyardigans theme song! Of course, I can barely watch because the entire time I'm hearing Mystikal's "Shake Ya *ss" in my head. I know, Mommy's sick.

Opposable thumbs are great...

Frassy has a wonderful new trick. She ate her pancake yesterday with a fork. Granted, she held it way down on the tines, but she nevertheless "stabbed" and ate pieces. She was also extremely proud of herself and grinned excessively. It was at this point that we noticed a new toofer!! She has been a two-toofered Frassy from 9 months old, but it seems now she will be a multi-toofered Frassy very soon. She has two top teeth trying to break through! It's amazing what excites you with a 14-month-old!

Back to Miss Marilyn's...

Well, Frassy went to Miss Marilyn's today without a fever so far. David was totally irritated this morning about the fact that he had called in sick to work and then she woke up with no fever. WEEELLLLLLL, sometimes that happens! So needless to say, she is at Miss Marilyn's and David is at work. I hope she isn't as irritable and dish-raggy as she was last night! If she can just make it to 3:00pm then GJ will rescue her! YEA!

Flu Shot Sucks continued (AGAIN)

6:15am: Frassy with fever of 102. No daycare with fever. GJ has to babysit. People on triage line last night say 18% of kids get fever for 2-3 days post flu shot. Great. Poor Frassy trying gallantly to be in good mood, but quickly resorts to limp dish rag status. Flu shots suck!

Flu Shot Sucks continued...

99.4 degree fever 4 hours after shot and AFTER bath and irritability...

Sick for 3 weeks after 1st shot...

We hate the flu shot...

It's better than the flu... I guess!

Flu shot sadness...

Poooooor little Frassy. She got flu shot #2 today. Thank God for watermelon suckers...somehow shots hurt a lot less.

(We won't tell her she gets her 15 month shots in 2 weeks! Bring out the suckers!)

Bedtime Blues...

Our bedtime routine has gone to you-know-where in a handbasket. We always have our bath at 8:30pm, jammies by 9:00pm, and milk/bedtime story/in bed by 9:30-10:00pm-ish. Well, no! Now Little Miss Walker has decided to be a wild woman after her bath and practice her walking forever. Now by 10:00pm I am holding her down and rocking her while she SCREAMS her fool head off. Then I go lay her down at 10:30pm and she cusses me for 5 minutes before falling to sleep.
This sucks.
Firstly, I thought a 9:30pm bedtime was bad enough, but it worked for us. She would sleep all night until 8:00am or so the next day. (Put her to bed any earlier and she was up screaming all night!) So, 9:30pm worked. I think I'm going to have to go hard-core on Frassy. No more ba-ba's cold turkey has worked okay, so now I think I'm going to put her in her bed and tuck her in at 9:30pm and if she wants to scream for an hour-so be it. We'll see how this goes.

(P.S. My readership can comment on these posts. Any advice would be appreciated.)

Christmas Pictures!

Finally G.J. has gotten Mommy the Christmas 2006 pictures....

Here's a few...

No More B-O-T-T-L-E-S

Sippies all around! No more "Ba-Ba's" for Miss Ann. I had her weaned about the time she turned a year old, then she became a limp dishrag with a fever and wouldn't take anything except a bottle. This time around, I'm going cold turkey. Out of sight, out of mind. I'm going to do "tough love" like our neonatologists do---they'll drink or starve. Well, not really. Anyway, so far, so good.

Sweetness...

Aaaaaaahhh...If I could freeze a moment...

I was rocking Ann tonight and I kissed her on the forehead.

She grabbed me around my neck and buried her face in it.

My non-cuddly child cuddled me.

Sweetness.

What I Did Today....by Ann Elizabeth

6:15am.: Got up. Made googly eyes at Daddy while he fed me my morning BaBa. Scrunched nose at Mommy while telling her "Hi-eeeee"while she got dressed.
6:40am: Practiced my consonants and vowels on the way to take Mommy to the really big building with the revolving door-I think Mommy calls it "work". When Mommy goes to the big place I get to go to Miss Marilyn's house.
7:15am: Arrived at Miss Marilyn's. Played, ate, and napped. Probably made Miss Marilyn and Mitchell crazy.
3:00pm: Daddy came to get me! I screamed at the top of my lung's from my favorite seat until he retrieved me. I had to make sure he knew I was there.
5:55pm: Arrived at what Daddy calls West Roll Call. There's lots of food and cheese and friendly people there. Some of the people like to wear special costumes like Ian's daddy. Daddy made me listen to a lady talk and talk, but I got to eat cake and goldfish crackers! Daddy was very important. I had to help him announce the winner for the Cop of the Month! I led the applause in the front of the room and greeted everyone. Somebody had to entertain these people!
7:30pm: Got very sleepppyyyy....
8:00pm: Woke up in the car. Mommy was there! We must have gotten her from the big place with the revolving door. We got food at the place with the pretty neon and a little person that talks in a box. We don't even have to leave the car!
8:45pm: Mommy and Daddy finally got done eating and Mommy put me in the Big Water! I love the Big Water! I play with soft colored foamy things that Mommy calls "letters". She tries to stick them on the wall to make "words". She laughs but I don't see what's so funny. I tried to show her how to play a rousing game of "Pea-Pie", it's much more fun. My favorite toy is my pirate ship!
9:15pm: Mommy smothered me in all this greasy stuff that she calls "Lotion and Badger Baby Balm". I hate it! I love to put my jammies on, though. I put my arms and legs through the holes all by myself! Mommy says I'm a big girl.
9:30pm: Decided to really freak Mommy and Daddy out by walking from Bhodi's couch to Daddy's couch. Mommy started crying and Daddy was giddy. I don't see the big deal, but I liked being clapped for so much that I started walking all over the living room! If I had known it would be this much fun, I would have walked a long time ago! I made Mommy and Daddy very happy.


10:30pm: I can't walk anymore. My legs are tired. I think I'll let Mommy rock me for a while. I hate going to sleep!
10:35pm: Mommy is saying what she calls "prayers". I don't really understand, but I love listening to Mommy saying prayers.
10:57pm: Don't want to go to sleep, don't want to go to sleep, don't want to go to sleep...
10:59pm: My dark room, my comfy bed, Mommy laying me down....Niccccccccceeeee....

SCARY!!!!

Ann Elizabeth's boyfriend, Ian, has RSV bad! He and his parents, Dean and Kristi, were at the ER last night with a fever of 105 degrees and a crappy chest X-ray! I totally know how they feel. Everything GI that comes along completely wipes little Ann out, and it looks like respiratory things are going to wipe poor Ian out. I know that he is in good hands. Kristi is a Neonatal Intensive Care nurse like me. I just hope they hang in there. I know how draining it was when Frassy was in the hospital last summer with her pylorospasms. Everybody out there say a special prayer!! Here's a pic of the cute couple in their younger days...

Miss Marilyn, I'm Baaa-aaack...

Frassy went back to Miss Marilyn's this morning. She was so excited! When we went to pay the bill yesterday, Frassy got so mad that I was holding her and wanted down to play. She just loves Marilyn, Mitchel, and Ronelle. We are sooooooo blessed to have a daycare that makes Frassy WANT to go!! I hear so many horror stories about childcare. To know that Ann is happy when we drop her off and happy when we pick her up is such a relief. Miss Marilyn is our hero!

Mommy loves Frassy naps...

I don't know what I'll do when the day comes that Frassy abandons her nappies. I love to have the hour or so of free time when she is snoozing. BONUS: She is SOOOO much happier when she awakens. When I went to get her from her Pack-n-Play a moment ago, she gave me a big cheesy grin and patted me on the back as in "Good job, Mom." I love it! GJ just uploaded some super cute Christmas photos--I will post ASAP.

Frassy's New Year's Resolutions...

1.) Quit being a chicken, let go, and figure out this walking thing.

2.) Eat table food other than bread, crackers, and chicken nuggets.

3.) Learn some new words.

4.) Continue being a super-cute sassy-frassy!