Well we’re just getting ready for the Christmas season, which is definitely upon us! I’ve taken some time off work, for a much needed holiday break! I’m off now until January 5th, 2009. My house alone is happy I’m taking some time off, and I’m already so enjoying my time with Kirra.

Well perhaps by the power of medicine (the Zpack) or by chance Kirra stopped coughing. Her Whooping Cough test also came back negative. Kirra has been walking all over the place, and has really developed an appetite! We got a new computer and high speed internet now, so I should have no excuses for lazy blogging.

Thanksgiving went really well. I ran a 5K in the morning, and then went home to make a rutabega, and some Jello. Kirra had lots of turkey and stuffing, and absolutely LOVED pumpkin silk pie!

Well Kirra had still been coughing, and despite what Dr. Kuku said, I still did not feel like Kirra’s cough could just continue without any treatment. So we decided to go back to Dr. Evans on Friday (11/28) our origional pediatrician, who we really did/do like. Dr. Evans differential diagnosis was either Whooping Cough or allergies. We took the test for both, and today we got word that she does NOT have allergies. So now we’re just waiting to hear if it was Whooping Cough. We went ahead and treated her for it, since she had all of the symptoms. Kirra’s cough has actully gotten a lot better! I will post more when we find out about the WC test.

Kirra’s been really practicing for walking lately, and has been doing a wonderful job. She can walk clear across the living room, and down the hallway, even though she still prefers crawling. She’s drinking regular milk,and eating everything that we do. Things are great! Kirra’s hair is starting to get longer, and curl up. It really curls up when its wet, I can hardly wait to see what its going to look like when it’s even longer!

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.