9 months today, a recap, and a look back at 2009...

Well, anyone who keeps track of me and mine on FB knows why this blog has been absent a post during what is traditionally our family's most active and favorite time of year. So, I'll leave the reportage to my other blog and stick to the (mostly) happy Daisy stuff on here.

Today, the last day of my ill-fated vacation, Daisy turned 9 months old. I can't believe it but she is going to be a year old in just a few short months. Hubby and I were just commenting on the fact that she has almost been outside of the womb now for as long as she was in. Which means that, for the better part of two years, our lives have been forever changed.

So, let's go ahead and fill in (most of) the blanks...

Daisy's first Christmas was somewhat of a whirlwind but was nonetheless enjoyable.

Christmas Eve we went up the hill to spend time with the Tings and Grammie, which meant we got to play with cousins Ezra and Adah. Yay!


Daddies and their daughters on a Christmas walk.


Daisy and Ezra playing "nicely" together. Yeah, alright, she was terrorizing him.

Daisy especially enjoyed the tub of snaps that the Tings bought her for Christmas and they remain her favorite toy of Christmas, undoubtedly. Proof positive that you don't need buttons, lights, and music to entertain an 8 month old (although, sometimes, I'm just going to say, they help!)


Daisy waiting for her blueberry muffin breakfast on Christmas morning.

On Christmas we started the morning eating blueberry muffins and giggling in our high-chair, as you can see, waited for Grammie to show up from Foresthill, took a nap, and then headed over to Nan's house, along with all the ingredients for our Christmas dinner - for this was to be my first time cooking Christmas dinner!

We turned dinner into a team effort, with Daddy taking care of the turkey (along with some guidance from Grammie), Grandad and Nan chopping potatoes and vegetables (the latter on her walker tray, I might add) me gaining minute-by-minute tips from Nan on how many spoonfulls of flour make a crispy yorkshire pud, and Grammie keeping Daisy amused through it all. The end result was rather yummy if I say so myself. And what did I make? Turkey with roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, roasted parsnips, brussels, carrots, brocolli, yorkshire pudding, and sausages wrapped in bacon. All washed down with Christmas pudding and custard. Delish! I think it's fair to say that, despite a change of chef, we did not go hungry. Even Daisy seemed to enjoy munching on some turkey and vegetables, as you can see below.



Finally we got to opening the gifts (by now it was almost mid afternoon - sheesh!) and, unfortunately, Daisy was not as enthralled by the unwrapping process as I thought she would be. Usually the first one to find any stray piece of paper and tear into it when we don't want her to, for some reason she turned the other way when given the opportunity to have-at-it on the gifts. She did, however, have a special liking for the bows, which she munched on with glee. In fact, I venture to say that she would have had just as much fun overall with a bag of bows as she did with all the other gifts put together.



Daisy's main gift from Daddy and I was her first trike - a 3-stage Little Tikes affair that enables her to ride now with support and safety and then, eventually, pedal her own way around. Here she is, dog-tired, being pushed around her Nan and Grandad's house.



At around five thirty, we fell back through the front door at home and were all in bed by 8:30. And yes, I mean ALL of us. I kid you not.

The next day we got to take our trike for a real ride around the neighborhood to, ya know, show it off to all the other babies. (Although it was 8am and cold, so most of them were, sensibly, still inside and asleep.)


And yes, we are missing a pedal. I'm on it.

As for New Year....

No fun pictures to share for that 'celebration' unfortunately.

The afternoon before New Year's Eve, Daisy threw up in the living room - and when I say "threw up" I mean projectile vomited. Although it seemed like a one-off thing and we held-off formula for several hours, she wasn't herself on New Year's Eve and, after we put her down, she started screaming. When Daddy went upstairs to investigate, he found that she had puked in her crib and was rolling around with it in her eyes and hair!!!! We felt like such horrible parents.

After a night spent trying to keep the dogs from reacting to firecrackers in the neighborhood and waking her up, I went back to bed at 3am with a grumbling tummy myself. By the time we all roused again at around 6am, the whole household was clearly sick. As I said, I'll leave the intricate horrors of mine and Hubby's experience for my other blog but, suffice to say, Daisy was lethargic and clearly not herself again all morning. Then, again, just before noon, she puked all over me before her nap and we decided to take her to urgent care. Urgent care told us there was nothing they could do since she didn't have a temperature and we were keeping her hydrated with Pedialyte and so just sent us home.

The rest is now, mostly, history. Yesterday was still a tough day, with trying to ease her back into regular food slowly and without initiating another bout of vomiting. It was so sad to see her just sitting there and crying because she was hungry and tired and sore but not being able to do really anything for her, except offer another sip of that sickly pedialyte and another squirt of Tylenol. Meanwhile, Hubby and I were trying to battle back to health ourselves, and didn't have much to offer her in the way of undivided attention - not that she wanted it; she's a "don't touch me leave me alone, I'm miserable" kind of baby when she's sick or upset.

And so ended our 2009 and began our 2010. Wow, what a year that was!

Our first year as parents began with a pubic bone injury (me) and ended with a hip injury (my mother) and a stomach flu (all of us.) In the middle we experienced extremes of joy, love, pain, and frustration. We also managed to meet our goal of traveling with Daisy for the first time, on her first vacation, back in August to Southern California and enjoy it - all of us, her included, I think it would be safe to say.

Not only did we become parents for the first time, we also saw babies born to Hubby's sister (just one week before Daisy), my best friend from college, Lucia (Micah born one month after Daisy), plus much-wished-for births for my friend in Austrialia, Julianne (her son, Finn) and a good friend of mine, CJ (see previous post on baby Maclay). We learned about the impending birth of another good friend, Jenny )whose baby shower I will be flying to Denver for this coming weekend) and made some wonderful new friends through our Lamaze class; friends whose own children I hope will continue to grow and become Daisy's friends throughout her life. Not only have I met some incredible women (and their great husbands) but it would be great to continue sharing this journey with them so that Daisy, Mackenzie, Sydney, Josh, and Maddy can look back one day and see themselves side-by-side, month-after-month.

During 2009, Daisy turned from an un-named foetus into a bubbly, happy, and beautiful little girl who is already crawling, (almost) walking, has teeth, is babbling like crazy, and who is an absolute social bunny.

All I can say for 2010 is, the journey of parenthood continues.... Deep breath and BRING IT ON!