Today was K’s first birthday, and she had so much fun with everyone.  It was a lot of fun. We had a waffle breakfast with Uncle Rick’s famous Italian sausage and potatoes. K had her chocolate cake and it was all in her face!

After we got her cleaned up and in a new outfit she opened presents. She got some very cute outfits, a ridding/walking toy, a pink pony rocking horse on wheels, a piggie bank and a bunch of snow stuff. Also, some books, and a gift card to target, which we used for some Sippy cups, and bibs!! Thanks to everyone for loving K so much!

Weight (Just over 10%) 18#, 14oz

Height (Just under 25%) 28 inches

Well yesterday was K’s birthday! We took her for her 12 month check up, and K is 18 pounds 14 oz, and 28 inches long. She has to wait about another month or so until she is 20 pounds before we can face her foward in the car, but she doesn’t seem to mind car rides at all.

She unfortunately had 4 shots yesterday! She got C-pox, Hep A, Flu, and MMR. They also drew blood out of her arm to test for lead. She was NOT happy about any of this! I mean getting poked 5 times on your birthday is definitely no treat… but last night we gave her Shells & Cheese, and she ate some of Jason and I’s potato ole’s from Taco Johns. She liked those. We have about a sample can left of formula, and then we’ll just be on regular milk. We’ve already given her whole milk, and she absolutely loves it! Between 12 and 15 months we should slowly get her off the bottle, but we can use milk in her bottle. Right now she only gets a bottle in the morning, and at night. The rest of the day she has a sippy cup. K’s birthday party is on Saturday so that should be fun.

Kirra will be a year old in just a week and a half. I absolutely can’t belive it. Where did the time go? It felt like just yesterday I was in the cold OR, having Kirra born. Where did the time go? What happened to those late night feedings (thank God those are over!!!) or putting her on the floor, leaving the room, only to find she hadn’t moved an inch. What happened to just learning to roll over, when now, Kirra is just learning to WALK!!!!

I’m so excited to see all of Kirra’s adventures, but how bittersweet to make this new mile stone. This is Kirra’s last full week as just my baby. Next week she will be ONE! ONE! Pretty soon she will be going to school, getting her ears pierced, having boyfriends over, and getting married!

I know I am exaggerating a bit, but really! ONE! Already. If ONE went this fast, how fast will this next year go? I hope it goes slow!

Well we finally saw our pediatrician Dr. K today. She took a good look over K, and she came to the conclusion that K is stuffy and coughing because of something in the air. So either dust or pet dander or something. I am always stuffy too, so it’s probably allergies. No need to get rid of the pets or anything, but we have to clean her room out really good, and keep the animals out. When we’re not home I am going to start shutting her door, and we’ll have a gate up at night so Tyler can’t go in her room. I’m going to de-clutterize her room also, and take our furniture that we’re not using any more. If the coughing and stuffiness persists perhaps we’ll just rip up her carpeting too.

Well Kirra has been starting to walk here and there. She takes about 3 steps or so, and then decides it’s much easier to crawl! Kirra will be 1 in about two weeks, so we’ve started to give her a little whole milk in her sippy cup, instead of juice. She seems to like it. It’s probably much sweeter than her formula.

She is also eating most people foods now too. Tonight we had spaghetti and she ate it too. We have some samples of formula left, and we’re finishing up with those, and then we’re going to be done, and switch her over to cow’s milk entirely.

She is recovering from a case of bronchitis. We went to the doctor a few times, and ended up with a nebulizer for her, so that she can cough up some of the gunk in her lungs. She seems to be feeling better, and mostly coughs at night, and in the morning. The doctor doesn’t think she is contagious anymore though.

This week we have a “baby boo bash” to attend with our Mums group. That should be a lot of fun!

Kirra has been making strides with walking, little by little. She hasn’t taken off yet, and continued to walk, but little steps here and there. She now knows how to clap too, so she claps every chance that she gets!

We had a fun filled weeked with Kirra’s Godmother Pam and Grandma Theo on Friday, and Kirra boogied at Heidi’s wedding last night. Today Kirra and I went to ungle Joes to visit with the Perri’s.

This upcoming week is Halloween, and we’re taking Kirra out. Well more or less driving her around to see her aunties, uncles, grandparents and a few key neighbors.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Of course she will always be my baby, but really… where did my baby go? The year has just flown by. I was at the playgroup tonight [which we’ve cleverly named MUMS for Mercy & Unity Moms], and realized that we don’t have little babies anymore. We have older babies, and some toddlers! It was entertaining watching them explore their own little world, and discover eachother.

Kirra has been pretty healthy these past few weeks which is wonderful. I hope she stays that way!!! She competed in the Diaper Dash this past weekend for my work at Twin Cities Marathon. She did rather well, except she was mad at me for taking a snack away from her. I will learn my mistake for next year. She can compete in the Toddler Trot then!

We’re taking Kirra out for Halloween, which actually means that we will go to the “important” neighbors, Grandma & Grandpa’s, and Aunts and Uncles houses to show off Kirra’s costume. Which is absolutely to die for! We will post pictures after halloween! Of course she doesn’t need any candy yet, but we can and will eat it for her!

We’re slowly weaning Kirra off the bottle, so that she can go to the sippy once her first birthday hits. We gave her a teeny tiny taste of milk too, and she liked it. We’re not planning on really giving her milk until her first birthday though. We are using the Avent Sippy Cups, and you can also use the Avent nipples on them, so we use them as bottles as well.

Kirra is now standing for several moments without assistance. She has “thought” aobut taking a step, but hasn’t quite got there yet. We know that it will be sooner than we think, or probably want. Then it’s time to baby proof the house again!

Well yesterday (Tuesday) Kirra had a really rough day at daycare. We immediately knew something up when Kirra cried blue-bloody-murder when I handed her to Tally. She was very fussy all morning, and didn’t want to eat or play. She napped most of the day, and when she was awake she was very withdrawn and sad. Tally called me at about 2:30pm to pick Kirra up. She spiked a fever (which she did have the night before), and was making a strange face once in a while. Kirra even threw up. I wasn’t able to get her in at our regular clinic, unless I wanted to sit around and wait in Urgent Care. Instead I made an appointment at the clinic Jason and I go to, which is open late for appointments.
She saw a family practice doctor named Dr. Severt, and he was really great with Kirra. Her ears were kind of pink, and she had a really red throat. The doctor ordered a CBC (which came back slightly elevated with WBC, but was still WNL). She didn’t even cry when they pricked her finger. He also ordered her a throat culture. Kirra didn’t think that was too awesome, but she was a trooper. It came back negative for rapid strep, and the 24 hour test came back negative too. So she has viral pharyngitis. I feel sad for her. Poor thing. Hopefully her ears are just a part of her throat, and that it doesn’t turn into an ear infection.
I was really satisfied with the Dr. Severt, and decided it might be worth swtiching clinics, because this one is open so late. During my lunch break today I met with the only pediatriian there, Dr. Kuku (even tho it sounds the same no, she is not Coo Coo). She seemed really nice, and really to the point. So even though we really like Dr. Evans, I think we’re going to switch. She is even there until 6pm on Wednesdays, and Dr. Severt is there until 8pm most days, so tha is very helpful! Now all 3 of us will be at the same clinic.

Well poor Kirra has a bad diaper rash. It came on suddenly at daycare yesterday, and Kirra even cries when we whipe her bottom. We feel so sad for her. Yesterday she was in a daze, and was just sad for most of the day. We’re going to try soaking her bum in a baking soda bath to see if that helps her out at all. As you know we’re camping day after tomorrow, and we hope that it clears up mostly by then, so that she is more comfortable.

I’m grocery shopping tonight for our camping trip, and tomorrow I will pack! We’ll load/stage everything next to the opening of the garage door, so on Friday we can just pull it all out, and fill up the truck and be on our way hopefully by 6pm at the latest.

We’re going to just grab some fast food on the way up so we don’t have to worry about setting up our tent and cooking all right away. I’m very excited to get into the great outdoors and enjoy myself. We might have to stop by Fleet Farm and grab a life jacket for Kirra, or perhaps I can see if my co-worker can borrow me one again. Now that Kirra is more visual, and can do more I think she would LOVE going out in the boat and seeing the fishies!