The End

I think this is the end of this blog. Now that I have kept it up through the entire pregnancy and through Elsa's first year, my big plan is to turn it into a keepsake book.

Never fear, though, I will continue to post to our other blog (which this one has mirrored -- in terms of the Elsa news -- for quite some time.

Thanks for reading!

12-Month Appointment

I took Elsa to her one-year checkup on Tuesday morning, and Dr. Owen thought she looked fabulous overall. She is still quite the skinny thing, weighing in at 18 pounds, 9 ounces -- only 1 pound, 3 ounces more than she weighed at her last appointment in late June. She measured 29 inches in length (she grew an inch), and her head circumference measured 17.5 inches (up by a half inch). This puts her in the 10th percentile for weight, 50th percentile for height, and the 25th percentile for head circumference. Based on how I feel when I carry her these days, I was sure she was going to weigh at least 20 pounds, but I guess I just have that to look forward to.

Dr. Owen asked me some questions to see where Elsa is developmental-wise, and she seems to be right on track. I asked her about the cradle cap we have been dealing with for some time now, and the doctor did not seem concerned. She said it is really a cosmetic issue more than anything else, and said we could apply some borage oil to her scalp prior to giving her the nightly shampoo/scrub routine we have instituted. I also asked if I should be giving her a little juice each day, and she did not think it was necessary. So I then asked about introducing cow's milk. She thought it was fine if I wanted to try to give it to her, and once we started talking about future weaning, she thought trying to give her some cow's milk in replacement of her mid-morning nursing session might be a good idea. I've tried it, and so far Elsa is not a huge fan, but I'm going to keep trying. As for the weaning, I think I've decided to take it slow for a couple of different reasons, the first being that it is just that much easier on the baby and mother if the baby takes the lead. Elsa has dropped some of the nursing on her own up to this point, so I'm hoping that will continue. Another reason I am not in a hurry is that if this flu season is as bad as everyone seems to think it is going to be, I would rather continue to giver her all the immunities I possibly can through the winter (and my friend, Alison, highly suggested this from her own experience). That being said, I am ready to drop this 9:00 a.m. feeding and just stick with three -- first thing in the morning, before her nap in the afternoon, and before bedtime. So with advice from my mother friends, I think I will not only continue to try to give her cow's milk, but will also just start giving her a morning snack. We will see how it goes. At some point, I would like to have my body back to myself. :)

Elsa received two vaccinations -- one was what I think was her last Hib vaccination, and the other was her first dose of the polio vaccine. Our doctor does not carry the flu shot in her office and declares it, for the most part, "dirty." (After I left the office, I wished I had asked for a better definition of a "dirty" shot.) And she said she believed the H1N1 vaccine will be even more dirty considering how quickly they have tried to pull it together. She said it was completely up to me whether we get either shot somewhere else, but it was clear she did not think it was necessary. I have only received a flu shot once, and I think that was the one year I actually got the flu, so I am definitely not sold on it myself. At this point, I'm not planning on going to get the shot(s) for either of us (and I don't think Jarrett has ever gotten one, so I really doubt he will bother... besides, he seems to have an immune system made of steel [knock on wood]). I asked what I should expect if Elsa did contract the flu -- and how serious it would actually be -- and she just basically said that she'll get sick and will get through it. But she said since I am still nursing and feed Elsa well otherwise, and am somewhat cautious about where I take her, that we should be fine.

In other Elsa news, both of her first bottom molars (on either side of her mouth) are nearly completely in at this point. Dr. Owen didn't seem too surprised, but our music teacher thought it odd that she was getting her molars before her bottom two side incisors, which I had also thought strange based on what the baby books state as far as the order baby teeth usually come in. But, anyway, she now has eight teeth out of twenty. I will be so glad when all of this teething is complete!

And speaking of our music teacher, Elsa started her second round of Kindermusik on Wednesday. She went from being one of the youngest in her summer class to one of the oldest in this class, with only one girl being older than she. Elsa seemed to enjoy the class, and was flashing big smiles at everyone around her, but she did have a few outbreaks of yelling loud enough that it was difficult to hear the instructor. I just hope she does not become as picky about the music played in class as she is about the music played in the car. She loves the CD we received in the first class, but definitely lets me know when she doesn't like a song... and continues to display her dislike until I change the track. Thank goodness the teenage years are a ways off.

And -- just for fun -- here are a couple of photos I took of Elsa on her birthday.

You, My Baby, are One

One year ago today, at this exact moment, you sucked in your first breath outside my womb. And at that same, exact moment, you completely took away mine. We looked into each others' eyes for the first time, and I fell in love. I cradled you in my arms for the first time, nursed you for the first time, caressed your soft skin for the first time, hummed your first lullaby, and gave you your first kiss. And these were just the beginning of a year full of huge, momentous firsts.

From the time of your birth, our lives changed in ways for which you can never really be fully prepared. It has been quite the year, my little one -- one full of some of the most trying times, but also one full of some of the sweetest. We have cried in frustration, in fear, in hopelessness; we have laughed in joy and complete glee. At times it feels like it has been one of the longest years of my life, but at others it seems just a fleeting moment.

You have developed from a helpless, tiny newborn into a near-toddler. You can move on your own, you can feed yourself, you can communicate beyond crying. You are one. And you are amazing.

My life changed in dramatic ways one year ago, at this exact moment. And I thank God for sending me -- and challenging me -- with this gift. Happy birthday, my sweet. I love you.

Party Girl

Yesterday we celebrated Elsa's first birthday two days early with an extremely fun birthday party. Yes, I put a lot of effort into planning and pulling the whole thing off, and, yes, she did not have a clue as to what was really going on and will not remember a thing about it, but it was so worth it. And, besides, we tried to do a pretty good job documenting it, so she will at least have visual proof of the fabulous cupcake-themed first birthday bash.

My parents and Jarrett's dad and stepmother were able to make the trip down for the celebration, and it was really nice to have them here both for the help in preparations (thank you, especially, Mom and Susan!) and for the party itself. Jarrett's mom so wanted to be here, but she unfortunately contracted the swine flu (ack!) and was not able to make the trip. I believe she is on the upswing, which is so good to hear, but we still greatly missed her! Besides family, we invited some of Elsa's little friends (though we missed several of them too, also due to illness!) and their parents and some of our other close friends, but still tried to keep it somewhat small and contained. Elsa didn't seem too terribly overwhelmed, and seemed to have a good time.

She wore an incredibly frilly cupcake party dress that I happened to come across months ago and just had to have (despite my usual unfrilliness). I had a large cupcake-shaped birthday cake made at Highland Bakery and I made smaller cupcakes, which my mom, Susan, and I decorated with butterflies made of pretzels, chocolate candies, and licorice (a Martha Stewart idea, of course). Both turned out very cute. And probably the most fun of the day was letting Elsa dig into samples of both desserts. Normally I try to be very health-minded when it comes to what I feed Elsa, but her birthday was a necessary exception. The child just had to eat her birthday cake -- and eat it she did! Just check out the photos and video. It is kind of difficult to hear over all the other background noise, but she is actually saying, "Mmm...," once she realizes the cake is actually something good to eat and not just some piece of art we set in front of her.

After the wonderful mess of cake eating, Jarrett and I bathed her (twice), put her in a onesie, and then let her go at her presents -- or, really, let her watch her friends open her presents for her. It was very entertaining, and she received many nice gifts.

I was completely prepared for a terrible night of sleep and a really sick and wound-up child after the afternoon activities, but she slept through the night just fine. She did seem a little out of sorts this morning and did not take a very good nap this afternoon, but went to bed fine again tonight. Perhaps she was just undergoing a little bit of sugar withdrawl. Sorry, babe... there will likely be no more cake for you until your next birthday.

Last Weekend

Last Thursday, Elsa and I jumped in Tim and Kate's fabulous new truck and headed up 85 North with Kate, headed to North Carolina. Tim, Jarrett, and Jarrett's brother, Stephen, had a weekend planned to help Tim build a shed in Tim and Kate's backyard, and Kate's mom and older sister and Tim's mom were throwing a baby shower for Kate in NC. Since both my mom and I were invited to the shower, Elsa and I decided to keep Kate company on her drive, and she was kind enough to drop us in Charlotte before continuing to her final destination of High Point. My parents were, of course, thrilled to have Elsa and me at their house for three nights, and it was nice that all four of us were able to make the trip up to High Point on Saturday, the day of the baby shower.

Prior to the shower, we drove by our old house in Jamestown (which looks pretty much the same as it did when we lived there, although the yard didn't look quite as nice, and the neighborhood itself looked like it had changed quite a bit) and then headed to the nursing home Jarrett's grandmom is currently staying at, post knee replacement surgery. We were able to have a nice visit with Jarrett's mom, grandad, and grandmom, and even got to say a quick hello to Jarrett's aunt and uncle, cousin and cousin's wife, and his uncle's parents, as they were there to celebrate Jarrett's uncle's birthday.

My dad then took the opportunity to visit with some old family friends, while my mom, Elsa, and I went to the shower. It was great seeing women from our old church, whom I had not seen in years -- many I did not even recognize! Jarrett's mom and sister, Bethany, were there too, so I was able to visit with them, and they were able to spend some time with Elsa, which was nice all around. And my friend and previous coworker, Erin, who is also pregnant and due in October, was there as well, and it was so wonderful to be able to spend some time with her and chat about the goings-on in our lives. The shower was quite lovely, and it was obvious that very much work went into the fishing theme that encompassed the celebration -- it was all extremely cute!

Unfortunately, Elsa was not in the greatest of moods for most of the weekend -- especially on Saturday -- so we were not able to stay for the entire party and, thus, missed most of the opening of presents, but I was at least able to hear about what I missed on the ride back to Atlanta on Sunday. I found out late Sunday why Elsa had been so upset -- her first molar (on the bottom of her mouth) popped through. Poor girl. I don't know how anyone (and some professionals do) can say that teething does not cause babies pain. It is clear that it does hurt and, really, how could it not?

Besides her first molar, there were a couple of other important firsts that occurred on Sunday and Monday. While waiting for Kate to pick us up at a Wendy's off 85 near Charlotte, my mom, dad, and I threw a blanket out on the grass with some toys and played with Elsa. After awhile, she became quite lethargic, sitting in my lap, and her eyes (and head) just continued to follow airplane after airplane as they descended quite closely overhead, bound for the nearby airport. It was the first time she had really noticed airplanes, and she seemed quite intrigued by them. So now that she has both tasted a donut and has witnessed airplanes in flight, I can hardly wait to go as a family to watch airplanes take off and land while enjoying a good weekend breakfast of donuts, a favorite childhood pastime of mine. The other first was a perfection of "cruising." On Monday, she started actually rounding the corners of the coffee table, which only lead to moving over to the couch. She is getting around quite well now, as long as she has something on which to hold.

Mastered Skill

Elsa mastered pulling herself to a standing position on Monday. She was doing this occasionally on certain objects around the house before, but now she can crawl over to any ole' structure and pull herself right up. This, I have found, makes her much more of a walking disaster-waiting-to-happen, so I have to keep my eye on her. Yesterday I sat her down in her room to play with her toys and left her for not more than two minutes to run and do something in another room, and by the time I got back she had crawled into the living room, pulled herself up on the coffee table, and was standing there flipping through the stack of magazines. We have definitely entered a new chapter of life with baby!

Another Important First

I am a little behind in my blogging and, as a result, am just now reporting another one of Elsa's important firsts, which took place last Wednesday -- her first taste of Dunkin' Donuts baked goods. She had tastes of both my sour cream and old-fashioned donuts, but really did not seem too overly impressed with either. I would say she might take after her mommy and daddy and not be much into sweets; however, both of us thoroughly enjoy Dunkin' Donuts, so maybe it will just take her some time to realize their yumminess factor.

Elsa graduated to her new car seat a couple of weeks ago. I picked it up while we were in Charlotte last since the Babies R Us there is much closer to my parents' house in comparison to the distance separating our house and any of the locations around here. And I had already been to the Lithonia location twice trying to figure out the answer to the Great Car Seat Debacle. I won't get into all of the details, but we basically ended up purchasing and attempting to install two seats and returning them both before settling on this one. I even ended up calling the manufacturer of this seat to make sure it was going to work. The main problem was that the convertible seats are rather cumbersome, especially when trying to install them rear-facing (it is now recommended babies stay rear-facing as long as possible). We don't have a small car, and yet it still seemed difficult to find a seat that would (1) fit in our car rear-facing and (2) not eat up two-thirds of the back seat. The Safety First Air Protect seat is a bit more slender than some, and their side-impact crash test videos online were very convincing. Elsa seems to be pretty comfortable in it, and us parents at least feel like she is fairly well protected.

Mmm... Wood Chips

What is this interesting find?


Hmm... I wonder if it is as tasty as it looks?


Are Mommy and Daddy paying attention?


Yes! Daddy's attention is turned toward the skateboard park.


And into my mouth it goes!

(Don't worry... we didn't actually let her eat any, much to her chagrin.)

First Pair of Shoes

I took Elsa into Downtown Decatur yesterday morning to a local children's store that carries toys (mostly of the classic variety) and clothing -- including shoes. Now that she is crawling and attempting to pull up on various structures, we have run into a few instances where it would be nice to let her get on the ground and explore, but perhaps not with bare feet. So I broke down after holding out these 11+ months and purchased her first pair of shoes. See for yourself in the photos I took today at the park, but I think they are incredibly cute. Let's just hope they last for more than a month!

The Zoo

On Friday morning, Elsa and I met Shelly, Christian, Alison, Finnan, and Jude at the zoo. This was Elsa's second visit to see the animals, and this time she at least showed some interest in the flamingos and the panda bear, who was doing some somewhat sad-looking pacing very close to the window. I was telling Jarrett later in the day that I really have a love/hate relationship with the zoo. I think it is wonderful that we are able to take our children to such a place and let them see animals you just cannot see on an everyday basis, but at the same time I feel bad for them because they're so penned up. The kangaroos don't have room to run and jump, lions and bears pace, and don't even get me started on my childhood favorite -- the elephants. I know the animals are well taken care of, but it is just the lack of space that kills me. But, alas, I am sure I will continue to visit because it is still just so darn cool to see these animals up close.

It seemed like the monkey pictured above, however, along with his monkey buddies, were free to escape, if they so desired. There did not seem to be any sort of cage or netting around them -- just a few zoo staff standing around. Did they really think they could catch these guys if they decided to jet?

Besides looking at the animals and joyously snacking from her stroller tray, Elsa also had quite a fun time inspecting various tree branches and pointing out the vegetation in the snake and turtle tanks. I think she did actually spot a couple of the turtles moving around, but for the most part the reptiles were a little too camouflaged. She did, however, really enjoy my imitation of a hissing snake combined with very much tickling.