happy halloween - a day of many firsts

Sadie wore her first Halloween costume today.  As soon as I heard that the kids were to wear costumes to daycare so they could go trick or treating in the building, I started thinking about options.  I decided pretty quickly what I wanted her to wear - scrubs.  I figured she'd be comfortable and I work in a hospital and Sadie's grandpa is a doctor.  Cute, right?  I started searching online for children's scrubs and found a few options.  Some even let you monogram them.  Problem was they were like $40, without tax and shipping.  That seemed like a lot for something she'd probably only wear once.  If it were some intricate costume I could see spending the money (and I'll probably do it next year) but for cotton scrubs, it seemed a bit much.  Then one day, I was in the Gift Shop at work and there they were...scrubs.  They had pink and purple ones for a nurse and green ones for a doctor.  They were adorable and with my employee discount cost about $12. 

Sadie went trick or treating for the first time.  It was so cute.  I was able to go over and join them as all the classes paraded through the building going from office to office.  I was supposed to meet with my boss at that time, but she was so great and rescheduled saying I had to go be with Sadie.  I figured they'd give them stickers or raisins, but no....CANDY.  Sadie can't say "trick or treat" yet so she just walked through the halls waving at people.  People loved her costume!  One of her teachers carried a big bag and collected candy for all the kids to divvy up later.  However, Sadie started to lollygag a bit and we ended up behind the group.  As a result, people started handing her her own candy.  She individually scored a bag of gummy bears, m&m's, animal crackers, starburst and Clue candy.  Not bad. 

When we got back to the classroom, some of the kids started eating some of the candy.  So, Sadie had her first m&m's.  Let's just say they were a hit.  That's my girl!

• This is actually a reenactment after dinner so technically these are m&m's number 4, 5 & 6!

When I went to pick her up at the end of the day, the teachers had made treat bags for the kids and filled them with candy.  This is Sadie's first Halloween stash.

After work we went to Target for some diapers and other essentials then we stopped at my favorite taco place - Tito's Tacos.  It's this hole in the wall taco stand where they have about 6 things on the menu, only take cash and you usually have to wait in a long line to place your order.  I haven't been since before we went to Vietnam and I've totally be craving their tacos.  Sadie had her first Tito's.  She had a bean and cheese burrito and some Mexican rice.  She seemed to like it. 

After dinner we went up for a bath and while waiting to get into the tub, Sadie peed on the bathroom floor.  Another first!  Poor thing.  She felt the puddle and kept trying to get away from it but obviously it followed her where she went.  Thankfully she missed the rug by about 2 inches so it was a pretty easy clean up and she just got dunked in the tub. 

This is how my girl fell asleep.  I think it's fair to say she had a pretty exciting day!

sadie is 17 months old!

We celebrated Sadie's day with a trip to the shoe store for some real shoes.  Until now, Sadie has been wearing mostly Robeez or Pedipeds which are cute but not the most supportive shoes.  Sadie scored 3 new pairs of shoes, some slippers and some socks. 

In addition to the new shoes, Sadie got 4 new Sandra Boynton books:

But Not the Hippopotamus, Blue Hat, Green Hat, What's Wrong, Little Pookie? and Snoozers

She also got a Push and Pop book: Things People Do.  She already has the farm one and loves it so I knew she'd like this one too.

My mom and I took Sadie to Babies R Us to return the travel stroller I bought for our trip to Arizona.  While there, of course Sadie ended up with a couple more treats.  We love watching Handy Manny every day and as soon as I saw the Talking Toolbox, I knew she had to have it!  She loves it!

But that's not all!  My mom saw the new Elmo Live and showed it to Sadie.  It was so cute, grandma felt Sadie had to have it!  Elmo moves his arms, legs, mouth and head and tells jokes, sings songs and says silly things.  He came with a little blue seat to sit on, but Sadie thinks the seat is for her.  You should see her trying to sit on this tiny blue stool.

After she played with her new books and toys she decided it would be fun to climb on momma's back.  My mom got some great pictures.  Sadie was laughing so hard.  Such a sweet sound!

 

hsm3

I was the first one in the theater for the first showing on opening day.  Embarrassed?  A little but I loved it. 

There's just something about watching this boy sing and dance that makes me smile.

cute pics from the last few weeks

My sleepy baby

Look who's a fan of Sadie's chair!

My wacky girl

Wearing Minnie in the carrier we used in Vietnam

Knowing full well that she shouldn't be there

Precious!

what a difference a week makes

So we saw the doctor for the third time in a week last Friday.  She said the new rash was from the virus and that "viruses are contagious."  Great!  She also said that her skin was really dry and suggested I put lotion on her.  That's when I told her (the 4th doctor that week) that it was the lotion that started all of this the week before.  She suggested Eucerin and said she had to stay home as long as she had the rash.  The weekend was rough.  She was still so congested and was coughing more and more.  Her skin looked awful.  It was so sad because since the day she was put in my arms, we've always commented on how lovely her skin was.  Sunday night her skin started looking better.  The Eucerin really seemed to be helping and she loves when I give her a little massage. 

I kept her home with my mom on Monday because I really wanted her to be 100% before I sent her back to the germs at daycare.  By Tuesday her rash was finally gone.  She still has a cough, but I sent her to daycare and she did fine.  She was so exhausted at the end of the day when I picked her up.  When we got home we went upstairs so I could get out of my work clothes and she took her lovey blanket, laid it on the floor in the bathroom and laid down.  Poor baby.  She had a quick bath and dinner and was asleep before 8pm - unheard of for her!  She's been doing well the rest of the week.

Today her daycare had a field trip to the local pumpkin patch.  I took the morning off to go with them.  It was a tiny pumpkin patch, but it was fun.  Honestly, she wasn't really impressed.  She didn't like the hay on the ground and walked funny the entire time we were there.  I took a bunch of pictures but didn't get a single one of her smiling.  She just wasn't sure what to make of it.  They had a ball pit so I put her in and she just sunk to the bottom.  It was so funny.  The other kids were flailing around and she just sat there.  Eventually, she moved around a bit and seemed to enjoy herself.  We bought a little pumpkin and some Indian corn and then walked back to daycare. 

Understandably, she was not happy when the time came for me to go to work.  She cried a little, but was fine shortly after I left. 

When I went to pick her up at the end of the day, she was sitting at the table finishing her snack - this girl loves to eat!  When she turned to look at me, I laughed out loud.  She had white stuff all over half of her face and all over her clothes.  Turned out they had a big table with flour and a bunch of toys and apparently she was enthralled with it for 40 minutes!  She looked like the Phantom of the Opera with half of her face covered in white.  I don't think these pictures do it justice but I tried to capture the cuteness. 

I have the day off tomorrow because I have to work this Saturday.  I'm taking Sadie to daycare and having a "me" day.  I'm going to see "High School Musical 3"  in the morning (yes, I'm 40 years old and LOVE HSM!) and then plan to clean the house and get caught up on my thank you notes.  My volunteers have been SO GENEROUS to Sadie and I just haven't had a chance to get the thank you notes out.

Sadie's school is having a Halloween parade so I got a very cute costume for her.  I promise to post pictures next week.   

oh how it sucks to be sick

This is life with Sadie over the last week:

Thursday - Sadie woke up with red blotches on her back.  It didn't seem to bother her so I figured I'd wait and see if it just went away

Later that day I got a call from her daycare.  Seeing that number on my caller ID really freaked me out.  They were calling to tell me that she had a rash all over her torso and back.  I picked her up and made an appointment to see the doctor the next morning.

Friday - Her regular doctor wasn't available so we saw one of her colleagues.  He felt that the rash was an allergic reaction.  I thought about it and figured there could be two culprits.  I had given her strawberries in her lunch the last two days and prior to that she had only had strawberry flavored things.  OR, I had put baby lotion on her back and torso (exactly where the rash was) the two previous nights because her skin seemed dry.  I had used the lotion before, but I think I had only put it on her arms and legs.  The doctor told me to give her Benadryl if it was bothering her and to call if it got worse.

Saturday - Sadie woke with a disgustingly runny nose.  Words cannot describe the grossness. 

Sunday - The runny nose continued and the rash was still there.

Monday - The rash was less red but the bumps were still all over her chest and back.  I took her to daycare, because the doctor cleared her, but didn't like that the bumps were still there so I left work at noon and took her back to the doctor.  After waiting an hour and a half, we got to see the same doctor we saw on Friday.  He felt pretty confident that it was still an allergic reaction.  He asked if she'd had any fever and I said no.  He asked one of his colleagues to come in and take a look and he concurred that it was an allergic reaction and said it was normal for the bumps to remain for a while after removing whatever it was she was allergic to.  OK...that was good to hear. 

Monday night, I started to feel sick.  Not fun!  Sadie also started coughing.  Great!

Tuesday - I woke up feeling like crap so I showered, put on jeans and a sweatshirt and packed Sadie up to go into the office so I could cancel my appointments for Tuesday and Wednesday (just in case).  She was such a trooper.  She ate snacks and played with my magnets while I got things in order.

Tuesday afternoon, Sadie started running a fever.  Her first fever - scary!  It didn't go over 102, but she felt so hot and just wasn't herself.  I gave her Motrin and eventually her fever went down.  I called the doctor because he kept asking about a fever and now she had one.  This time I spoke to her regular doctor.  She thought that since the fever had gone down, she was probably at the end of the virus.

Wednesday - I decided to stay home again.  I was still feeling crappy and Sadie's nose and cough were no better.  On a positive note, her rash started looking better.  She had another fever Wednesday afternoon, but again, it went away with a little Tylenol.  I had to go to work the next day because I had to reschedule all of the appointments I had canceled earlier in the week.  We were leaving Friday for Arizona for my cousin's Bar Mitzvah and I couldn't put it off until Monday.  Thankfully, my mom said she'd come stay with Sadie Thursday so that was the plan.

Thursday - I went to work, still congested and now coughing.  Nice, I know.  Did I mention that I work in a hospital?  Oh well.  I stayed in my office all day.  My mom stayed with Sadie and she did pretty well.  She didn't eat a lot and she was itching, but my mom gave her Benadryl and she seemed OK.  When I got home, we went to give her a bath and noticed that she has a new rash on her back, chest and neck.  Are you freakin kidding me?  It looks different than the original and it is definitely itching her.  We gave her more Benadryl and put cortisone cream on the really red areas.  I called the doctor again, and this time got the colleague that the second doctor called in to see her rash on Monday.  He recommended that I bring her back tomorrow to see the 4th and final doctor in the practice. 

So, Sadie is asleep next to me on the couch.  I have to call the doctor's office at 9am and hope to get squeezed in and will be going to the doctor for the 3rd time in a week and speaking to the 4th doctor about my daughter.  To say that I am worn out would be an understatement. 

The worst part about all of this (aside from the fact that my baby feels so crappy) is that we had to cancel our trip to Arizona.  We were really looking forward to it.  I bought a new stroller and Sadie got a new dress.  I so wanted the rest of my family to meet her. 

I know that kids get sick when they start school or daycare, but Sadie has been sick every week since she started.  It never occurred to me that I would get sick.  I don't know why, I just hadn't thought about it.  Let me say that to date, that has been the hardest part of being a single parent.  Being sick and taking care of a sick baby is not easy.  Unfortunately, my mom couldn't help before today so I was truly on my own.  The good news is we got through it.  I just hope we don't have to do it again anytime soon.

my mommy injury

Wait till you hear this.  Just about a week ago I started having a shooting pain in my right wrist when I move my thumb.  I thought maybe I just slept on it weird and figured it would just go away.  Well, several days later it was no better so I got a recommendation for a hand guy at my hospital.  I couldn't get in to see him until today so I went and bought a brace on Monday and wearing it has helped a bit. 

Well, today I saw the doctor (actually I saw his PA) and she asked me to tell her about my symptoms.  I explain that I'm having severe pain radiating from my thumb.  That it hurts when I do things like pull my hair into a pony tail or pick up my daughter.  She stopped and asked, "How old is your daughter?"  I told her and she proceeded to tell me that I have deQuervain’s Tendonitis.  Apparently it is common in new mothers.  It's from picking up and carrying Sadie around.  She gave me an anti-inflammatory cream and told me to continue wearing the brace.  Then she told me that I may very well develop it in my left hand because I'm depending on it more now.  Ugh.

firsts!

First haircut - August 16th

First trip to Disneyland - September 7th

We thought we'd go for just a few hours but Sadie stayed wide awake for 6 hours and rode the carousel, Flying Dumbos, Jungle Cruise and the Pirates of the Caribbean.  She fell asleep the moment we pushed the stroller out the main gate and slept the whole way home!

 

Meeting Mickey Mouse.

Just after her first parade and strawberry ice cream.

First Mouse Ears

First time wearing a pair of her Vietnam pjs

First Ranch Dressing - LOVED IT!

First daycare boo boo - October 7th

3 months

We have been a family for 3 months today.  I can't believe how quickly the time is flying by.  Even though it is hard at times, and I'm dog tired most of the time, becoming Sadie's mom is the best thing I will EVER do.  She is such a blessing!