Look Who's Standing!

This morning Riley was in a great mood and was all about getting herself into a standing position. I think maybe her ear is feeling better too so she's more willing to try to stand by herself. This was the first time Marc got to see Riley consciously try to stand without pulling up on anything, I think she would have even been more successful if she was on the ground. I figure standing on the bed is a little harder since it's not solid but probably a good way to strengthen her tendons, like running in the sand or something! She was very pleased with herself! Marc thinks she will be walking in no time, I was hoping she would be walking by this Friday since we have our check-up with Dr Hoffinger but I don't think we're going to make it, oh well, definitely by our next appointment!

Brush, Brush, Brush

Marc and I have been meaning to get Riley some toothpaste for a week now but every time we are at Target we have forgotten. So fortunately, or unfortunately, the ENT prescribed another antibiotic for Riley on Monday (yep she has the ear infection that keeps on giving) so we took a trip to Target to get that and while I was there I picked up some toothpaste for Riley. Our dentist had given us some toothbrushes for Riley at our last visit (I guess he was optimistic about the fact that she would have teeth sooner!) so I was just going to pick up some toothpaste. Well Momma made the mistake of picking up the toothbrush/toothpaste combo with Elmo on it in the baby section. When I made my way over to the toothpaste section to look at the infant toothpaste there I tried to take the Elmo set away from Riley to compare and it was a major meltdown. So we came home with an Elmo toothbrush and toothpaste. I figured it was ok if it encouraged her to brush. I think my strategy worked! Riley has brushed her own teeth the last four nights!

Everybody loves...

CHINESE NIGHT!

Rainy Day...

What to do on a rainy Sunday? Gymboree of course! Since Riley is finally healthy and it is raining today, we decided to take Riley to a Gymboree class. We always forget how much Riley loves Gymboree until we actually go there. Marc and I were talking this morning on the way over and Riley has been in such a great mood this weekend, we think that everytime she gets sick and then better her personality intensifies and gets that much better, she has just been a riot the last few days. Of course she was the most enthusiastic and energetic kid in the class today. One woman even asked me if she was this talkative and active at home! We tried to get a video of Riley singing but it was hard to hear her over the other kids but if you listen closely after the second set of bouncing you can hear her saying "lalalalala" along with the music while we turn in circles.

I spy...

TEETH!!!!






















At long last (at just about 13 months) Riley cut two teeth! I am officially able to cancel the dentures that I ordered for her! She cut them last week but since she wasn't feeling well she wasn't smiling much, she's been all smiles since I returned from my business trip and I was finally able to get some pictures of her cute little chompers!

Family Fun Time

We had a long weekend, although it seemed too short now that I'm getting ready to leave for a 3-day business trip in the morning (boo!!!). Riley's day care was closed today so I took the day off from work, I didn't know Marc had it off until late last week so I figured I would just take it off anyway since I have to go away. I am so glad I did, we have had BEAUTIFUL weather and Riley is FINALLY back to her normal self. Today we had a high in the mid-60s and it was sunny out for the first time in months, it was like a little slice of spring in the middle of February!

Saturday Riley and I ventured out for a walk with our neighbors, I think we both needed to get out of the house. I'm beginning to realize that Marc and I are not as exciting to Riley as I would like to think we are and I think she was ready for a change of scenery. We had fun getting out and doing our walk since the weather was finally nice. After Riley took her nap we headed to the mall to look for a Valentine's Day present for me from Marc. I didn't have any luck so Sunday we went up to Walnut Creek to look. It was a beautiful day up there as well. The morning kicked off with some present opening. Riley got two new DVDs and two new books. She decided to open our presents as well, she was pretty excited about the whole presents thing. We have really noticed a huge developmental change in her, today she really looked like a toddler to me rather than a baby. I even packed up her bottles, ironically when she was sick she weaned herself off of the bottle and is now only drinking from sippy cups. After her nap on Saturday we headed up to Walnut Creek and had some lunch and walked around. It was great to be outside in nice weather, I found a present and then we enjoyed the remainder of the day together. And today we walked down to get some coffee this morning and then stopped by the park on the way home to let Riley play on the swing for a bit. She was a little tired so it wasn't quite as exciting as it used to be but it was great to be outside and get some Vitamin D and fresh air! Now that the weather seems to be turning I think it's time to buy Riley some outdoor toys for the backyard!

Present-opening fun!

Reading our cards:

Doing a breathing treatment:

So tired after a hard day of shopping:

Getting in the spring mood with her outfit:

Swinging at the park:

Riley and Dadda at the park:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mystery Solved

Well today was trip #4 to the Doctor for the week (and trip #3 to Target for those of you counting)! Marc was on Daddy day care and I got a call at work that Riley had broken out in a full body rash and they were on the way in to the Doctor. I packed up my stuff and rushed over there, we were worried that she was allergic to her anti-biotic. They checked her out and her ear is clearing up and it turns out she has roseola. Mystery solved! It basically starts with a high fever (check), cold-like symptoms (check), fever breaks (check) and then a full body rash appears (check)! It becomes non-contagious once the rash appears and the rash should be gone within a few days. And it can't be diagnosed until the rash appears. We're continuing with breathing treatments because they seem to be helping her out a lot but personality wise she is totally back to normal and she ate great today!

In all of this crazy sickness, I nearly forgot that it was her 13 month birthday today! But fear not, I remembered in time and was able to continue the tradition.

Riley was not so into sitting in her chair today but we figured it was a good way to mark the transition from peaceful infant to busy toddler. This month has flown by and Riley has matured so much in the last month. She can now stand from a sitting position without using anything to pull up on. Once she realizes she's standing she sits right back down so we need to work on her confidence. She loves to climb, we think she's part monkey, and climbs to the top of the stairs and also frequently gets caught trying to climb onto the table at day care. She sprouted two teeth in the last week (I'm still working on trying to get a photo). She sings along with songs (still working on a video). And she LOVES to say "uh-oh." She throws her cup on the floor and says "uh-oh" or she stands up and isn't quite sure how to sit down she says "uh-oh."

Valentine's Day Came Early

Valentine's Day came early in the Zimmerman household. Daddy brought Mommy flowers, her favorite - Gerber Daisies, to thank her for staying home with Riley the last two days and for running her back and forth to the Doctor (we went again yesterday) and daddy brought Riley a huge heart-shaped Mylar balloon which totally cheered her up.

Riley seems to be doing better, the Dr we saw two days ago called when her RSV test came back negative and so we went back in yesterday for a recheck, his appointment after us was a no show so he spent two appointment times with us. The good news is, Riley's ear infection is not getting worse so we are sticking to the antibiotic she's currently on. The bad news is, he heard wheezing and felt like she wasn't moving enough air around in her lungs and her heart rate was really fast so they tried a breathing treatment on her in the office. That went over about as well as her vaccinations, if not worse. It was pure screaming match, which the nurse assured me was ok since she was taking bigger breaths and the medicine was penetrating her lungs better. Riley has also take to straightening her arms and wiggling out of your grip when she doesn't want to do something so that you have no leverage. It was a lovely experience. It worked even though she screamed the whole time and so we were sent home with a nebulizer and and medication for breathing treatments three times a day. I did two yesterday and she did better at home, she sat on my lap and we watched Sesame Street and read books, at one point she even put the mask up to her nose and mouth. They seem to be working, Riley slept the whole night and her fever was low-grade last night so I am very encouraged she's on the mend. She even laughed a little last night! He felt the breathing issues were whatever respiratory virus that she had and would go away when the virus moved through her system (so she doesn't seem to have asthma). And now we are that much closer to our deductible! We're working on getting a hearing test scheduled and then hopefully we can get her in to an ENT to get his/her opinion on her ear infections and what if anything needs to be done. Daddy certainly cheered Riley up with her new balloon, once she realized that it was for her she was elated!

Jewish Penicillin

Well Riley and I ended back up at the Doctor this afternoon, she wasn't eating or drinking well and I was super worried about her getting dehydrated, especially since her fever spiked to 103.6 last night! We saw another Doctor today, he's been practicing longer, our neighbors actually use him for their son so I was hopeful. I wasn't impressed at first, he was very rushed and didn't seem to listen to my concerns. He did swab Riley's nose goop because even he thought it was disgusting and a lot of it and tested it for RSV to get an official diagnosis. He told me that she would probably lose some weight because with all of the mucus she probably had a tummy ache and no appetite and told me I had to force liquids. Easier said that done with a very head-strong 13 month old. He suggested juice (which I was trying to avoid until she was like 2) and soup. So I stopped at Safeway on the way home and got her some juice and told Marc about the appointment and he suggested what else, Jewish Penicillin, otherwise known as Matzo Ball Soup! So when I got home I whipped up a batch for Riley!





I added a little juice to water (1/2oz of juice with 5oz water) and gave it to Riley and that perked her right up. She went back to playing and standing herself up from a sitting position. I was feeling a bit encouraged so I decided to give Riley the above bowl of soup. It took her a few minutes to figure out how to eat the broth but once she did she was loving it! She kept pointing to the bowl whenever she wanted more! She ate the entire bowl and then drank some milk, I was very encourage. Unfortunately when I took her out of her high chair she was feeling warm so I re-took her temperature and the fever was back up to 101.6. Urgh! She had been fever free pretty much all morning! But she was smiling for the first time in days!

It pretty much went downhill from there, she threw up all over herself right after I had gotten her shoes on, her fever went up to 102, and she was so tired that passed out on my chest before Marc got home. My faith in the Dr, however, was renewed when he called to see how the afternoon went with Riley. After I told him everything he told me the RSV test came back negative and that he wanted to re-check her tomorrow since her ear still looked bad and she still had a fever, today was day 4 of fever. So, back to the Doctor we go tomorrow, this will be our 3rd trip this week. I hope I get that VIP parking spot really soon! But the good news is, Riley ate this evening, drank about 5oz of milk and finished her entire bottle before bed. Progress! I hope the Motrin lasts the night since we had a rough night last night and I now have a cold.

Again...

Riley is sick yet again, or still, we're not quite sure. Sunday she had a low grade fever and I figured it was because she cut her first tooth on Saturday and it looked like another one was about to pop through so I didn't think much of it. I planned to keep her home on Monday anyway because she had had a fever on Sunday and couldn't go to day care. Sunday she developed a horrendous cough, to the point where she turned dark red/purple and proceeded to throw up after each fit, and on top of it her fever spiked to 102. Great here we go again! Luckily I have the Motrin and Tylenol quite handy these days. And I am really glad that we sported for the in ear thermometer. The cough really had me worried so Monday I spent an hour trying to get through to the Doctor, I finally got through and they assigned us to a doctor we had never seen before. Riley was pretty fussy most of Monday morning and her appetite has not been good which is a clear indication that something is up with Riley, the girl loves her food.

We had a 2:30 appointment so we headed over, fortunately Marc had the day off so he was able to go with us. I swear, I should get VIP parking at the Doctor's office I have been there so much in the last month, I joke that I've been there more than Target in the last month. It's a sad but true comparison. We saw a new doctor this time and I actually really liked her, she was a little older than most of the Doctors there and seemed to have a lot of experience, right off the bat she had a few idea of what was wrong with Riley. Based on the shear amount of drool coming out of Riley she thought maybe she had a throat virus, that idea came back negative since her throat was clear. She did confirm that Riley did indeed cut her first tooth, that one was about 5 seconds away from popping through and there was at least one more ready to come through as well. Tus all of the drool. After that she listened to Riley's lungs which were clear (and her blood oxygen level was 100%), so she was fairly certain that Riley's cough was due to RSV. She checked Riley's right ear and immediately said it was swollen, pussy, and there was no other way to describe it other than highly infected. Urgh! While we were talking about Riley's ear infection, which she's pretty much had since at least her 12 month appointment, Riley had a coughing fit. This was good because it confirmed the Doctor's diagnosis that Riley does have RSV, which is very common in kids. Unfortunately since it's viral we have to just let it run it's course. So we are on Round 3 of antibiotics for her ear infection, if this round doesn't work there is one more antibiotic we can try. If that doesn't work then we go for 3 days straight of injectable antibiotic administered by the doctor and most likely a visit to the ENT to discuss the possibility of tubes. The doctor has another patient who has a similar case, they just did the injectable antibiotics and went to see an ENT, he said to just watch it for her since this is her first ear infection. The patient is also the same age as Riley. So hopefully we can avoid tubes in the ears, not that it would be completely horrible. It's just that after everything she's been through with her clubfeet (which the doctor said looked amazing!) we want to avoid another trip to Children's for tubes.

In summary, Riley has the trifecta - RSV, ear infection, cutting 3 teeth! She's one big hot mess!

Since she's been pretty crotchety we've been letting her play in her diaper - she's taken to taking it off so we don't let her just hang out in her diaper too much any more. But Sunday we let her because it seemed to make her more comfortable. Sunday she seemed to have located her belly button (or "bee bo" from this really cute book my brother and sister-in-law sent Riley). She kept touching it and trying to pull it off of her. I showed her mine which made her even more confused since she has an outty and I have an inny!

Standing, Climbing, Sleeping

Riley is quite the busy bee these days and since I had to pick her up a little early from day care today to take her to the Dr. I got to observe her in action. I'm happy to say her ear infection is finally cleared up and she checked out 100% perfect. We even saw our favorite nurse who has known her since her first Dr appointment at just a few days old, she couldn't believe how big and pretty (her words) Riley has gotten.

I could tell Riley has been feeling better because she has been working very hard trying to master her new trick...standing without holding onto anything! The other night while I was making dinner, Riley was playing in the kitchen with some paper plates I let her have, all of a sudden I hear "uh-oh, uh-oh" and I turn around and Riley is standing in the middle of the kitchen with a plate in each hand, and her arms straight out and she was trying to figure out how to get back down. Of course, my camera was NOT handy! I semi-caught her standing on video this afternoon. You can see when the video stops that she's actually standing, I thought my phone wasn't taping so I stopped it too soon, darn! She doesn't stay up for too long, we're still working on the confidence thing with her, once she realizes that she's standing she immediately wants to sit down.

Riley is also into climbing these days, she tries to climb on the tables at day care (which gets her in trouble), into the bath tub at home, on her stools, chair, the stairs, and into her block wagon which she loves to sit in:

Tonight after I put Riley's "night night shoes" on, she was trying to climb up the stairs. I told her "Riley, you can't climb the stairs in your night night shoes." She turned around climbed up the first stair and turned around to face me and shook her finger at me. I replied "You're right Riley, I should rephrase that, you shouldn't climb the stairs in your night night shoes." She then climbed down and went back to her toys. Don't tell Riley she can't do something because clearly she can do anything!

Riley has always loved her books but recently she's taken to actually looking at them rather than eating them. Her favorite is "Hippos Go Berserk" but tonight she was really interested in "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." After we read it once and looked at the pictures a few times she leaned back on the couch to look at it herself some more and she fell asleep, just like Momma, except swap the caterpillar book with a "Twilight" book (I'm finally on my last book and can't wait to see what happens!). She looks like such a big girl sleeping on the couch!

Banned from Blocks!

I got another call today. I immediately said "Uh-oh!" to my co-worker, Lori when I saw "Kindercare" pop up on my phone screen. This time it was the center director. The conversation was pretty similar to the conversation from the block-head conversation. Except this time Riley was playing with a friend and they were each holding onto a block. The blocks became separated (they were like the Duplo interlocking blocks) and her friends block somehow scratched her face. No blood, I'm not sure she even cried, she got ice, and was already outside playing with her class on the playground.

When I picked her up tonight they were very apologetic again and sure enough there was a huge scratch on her face. I told her teachers maybe she shouldn't be playing with the blocks anymore! :)

It was hard to get the lighting right and to get her scratch in the photo, Riley wanted to follow the camera but it's on her left cheek and covers most of her cheek, I'm sure it will be gone by the morning, she heals so fast!