Recap!

Once again, it's been quite some time since I devoted any time to this blog.  The last few weeks have been the "one step forward, two steps back" kind, and the blog has taken a backseat to other things.  But so much has happened in the last few weeks that if I don't take a minute to update now, I'll have to make multiple posts just to put it all in!

First off, for those of you wondering, I got my biopsy results back and I do NOT have melanoma!!  You have no idea how relieved I was to hear the doctor say those words over the phone.  I hung up and said to Bailey, "Mommy's fine!  Mommy's fine!" much like I say to her when she falls or is fussy.  And Bailey, intuitive one that she is, looked at me and started clapping like she had any idea what I was talking about.  It was an interesting moment, and I didn't realize until then just how nervous I was about getting those results back.  They weren't perfect, unfortunately.  All three moles that were removed were, in fact, dysplastic and changing.  But, the good news is that the surgeon removed everything and the margins are all clear.  I just have to see my dermatologist for a mole check every six months for now...which I will gladly do.  What a relief!

Now on to my Bailey.  She's come quite a ways since my last post, and I hope I don't forget to put anything in here that she's begun to do.  Let's see...she's still clapping, though more frequently these days, and she seems to really understand that we clap when she does something "good".  Every time we say "Yay, Bailey!" she smiles and claps in response.  She's standing like a pro, though not completely on her own yet.  She has to hold on to something.  She's trying to pull up on things and getting closer and closer to actually doing it every time--she can get to her knees before she gets this confused look on her face and just balances there.  She's rolling all over the place, and can crawl backwards.  Yes, you red correctly.  My girl crawls backwards.  She can't go forward yet, but she's trying.She'll get to her belly from a sitting position and will pump her arms and her legs...but she doesn't get anywhere yet.  I've got to give her points for persistence, though.

We still can't get her to take a sippy cup, although we haven't been trying all that hard.  She's holding her own bottle now, and likes to hold a sippy cup and put it in her mouth, but she refuses to drink any juice or water from it.  She likes her formula!  She's trying new foods, and really loves to eat!  Her favorites are still sweet potatoes, but she also likes chewing on soft pretzel sticks and cut-up apples (without the skin).  And I'm pretty sure she'll be eating Gerber yogurt bites in college.  She LOVES banana-flavored yogurt, but is not a fan of peach.  She'll occasionally drink from a straw but, in typical Bailey fashion, will only do it when she feels like it.  She's a stubborn one!  One of her absolute favorite snacks are Weight Watchers strawberry smoothie popsicles.  Yes, I let my 9-month-old eat popsicles and she loves them.  She splits them with Scott, and as soon as she sees him take it out of the freezer she gets a huge smile on her face and starts leaning forward trying to get to the popsicle.  Here's a picture of her enjoying one with Daddy...

Bailey and Daddy sharing a popsicle

And here's a picture of Bailey when the popsicle is all gone...

Yep...clearly she hates when there's none left.  And, sympathetic mother that I am, I grabbed my camera and took a picture of her crying over her finished treat before consoling her.

Bailey is doing a lot of pointing now, too.  We have pictures of Scott and me in Aruba that are hanging on the wall as you walk downstairs from the bedrooms.  Every time Bailey and I come downstairs, she starts pointing to the pictures.  We always stop and I say "There's mommy and daddy!" while she points at the photos.  Now, she's saying Mama and Dada more frequently, and I honestly think she associates me with Mama and Scott with Dada.  When she wants me to pick her up or play with her she'll hold out her arms to me and say "Mama, mama" over and over again.  Same with Scott..."Dada, dada" when she wants him.  Some might say that she probably doesn't associate us with those names just yet, but I'd like to believe otherwise.  She waves hello and bye-bye, too.  Sometimes when we're walking in her stroller, she throw her hands up in the air and just start waving at anyone that comes our way.  She's quite the friendly baby these days.  And she gives kisses now!  It's the absolute most adorable thing to watch.  We'll say, "Bailey, give daddy kisses" (or whoever) and she leans over and opens her mouth super wide for a kiss.  I love it!

This past week, Bailey had yet another illness issue.  Roseola this time, and it was the worst one she's had yet, in my opinion.  Coughing and congestion I can handle.  Vomiting I can handle.  Teething, gas, fussiness...I can handle.  I absolutely could not handle the roseola, and I felt terrible about it.  She started with a fever of 102 on Friday afternoon.  She was fine otherwise, just more tired than usual.  I chalked it up to teething, although she didn't get a fever when her first two teeth came in.  I gave her some Infant Advil and put her down for a nap, thinking she'd be fine when she woke up.  Not so.  She woke up and her fever had only gone down to 101.2.  I gave her more Advil.  Over the weekend, her fever was anywhere from 102 to 104 degrees, and Advil only brought it done for a little while.  She slept a lot during the day, ate very little, and was generally miserable.  Bedtime was a nghtmare.  She was up just about every hour from Friday through Sunday.  It wasn't like when we were sleep-training her and could get her back to sleep in just a minute by giving her a bink.  No, she woke up screaming, writhing around her crib and NOTHING we did calmed her down.  It was horrible.  Finally, late afternoon on Sunday her fever broke.  Two hours later she broke out in a rash that covered her belly and back.  Then, it spread to her arms and legs, all the way up to her ears and scalp.  We called the after-hours line at the doctor's office, and they were no help at all.  At this point, she had no fever and didn't seem all that bothered by the rash, but she was definitely fussier than normal and just wanted to be held.  

At 2am Monday morning, Bailey woke up screaming again.  We brought her into our room, gave her Advil in case she was uncomfortable, and tried to get her to sleep in bed with us.  No go.  She continued to scream and flail and writhe around for over an hour.  I called my mom and, after an hour of Bailey screaming and flailing around, we took her to the ER.  Now, I've been to the hospital so many times it's almost like a home away from home for me.  But going in as a mother with your child is an entirely different and frightening experience.   Bailey had calmed down by the time we got there and they took us back to a curtained room.  They tested her for both types of influenza and strep (both all clear), then took her to get a chest x-ray.  I got the unfortunate job of having to hold her still while they took the x-rays, and she was not happy.  By the time we left the x-ray room, Bailey was in tears and I was close to it myself. 

Three hours after we had walked in the ER, were on our way home with instructions to follow up with Bailey's doctor the same day.  The ER staff didn't know what it was.  Fast forward to her appointment with her doctor (she looked awful and the rash was still all on her face and body).  They told us there that she had roseola, which is characterized by a high fever lasting up to three days followed by a rash once the fever breaks.  The good news was that the rash didn't hurt her and she wasn't contagious at that point, but being sick in general makes Bailey miserable, and this is the worst I've seen her since she was an infant.  She cried whenever she was awake, and if she wasn't crying then she was constantly fussing until she worked herself up to a good cry.  She just wanted to be held, and all hell broke loose if she was put down.  I ended up wearing her in a chest carrier all day Tuesday because she just wanted to be held and I needed my hands free to take care of the daycare kids, too.  It was crazy.  And she still wasn't sleeping at night (or during the day, for that matter) which meant that Scott and I weren't sleeping either.  We both felt like zombies all week.

She's FINALLY starting to feel better, and I couldn't be more relieved or grateful.  Last night was the first night in a week that she slept well and didn't wake up inconsolably screaming.  She's starting to eat more now, and while she still has her fussy moments, they seem to be few and far between.  Today, at least.  She's slowly getting back to her happy self, and I'm so happy about that!

Tonight we have her 9 month well-visit with the doctor.  No shots at this appointment, so it should go pretty smoothly.  I'll update with her height and weight later on.  For now, I'm going to enjoy the peace and quiet while she naps...and I get to enjoy one more cup of coffee. 

My happy little girl!