So we officially have a sick baby. She's been congested and stuffy before (allergies, we think), and over the past week and a half had developed a stuffy nose again. After a few days it appeared to be getting better, but evidently it didn't. The verdict today: Ear infection in both ears (to quote her pediatrician, "Her ears are a mess"), and an upper respiratory infection to go along with that. Not fun. That certainly explains the sudden restless sleeping at night and bouts of crying at random intervals throughout (of course the diaper rash was not a big help either). But at least now we have the antibiotics going, so she should be back to her old self in no time.
Somehow though, she still finds plenty to laugh and talk about, so that's a good thing at least.
A few other random thoughts...after 10 months she will finally wear shoes. We had tried to put shoes on her several times before, but she just would not have any part of that whatsoever. The new ones are a bit softer, so we think that has made the difference. The bottom line though is that she doesn't mind them, so now we can stop being those parents who never have shoes on their baby in public. ;)
And for record, finally, after almost two years...we have hummingbirds consistently. Of course just in time for migration.
Whatever we were talking about was very important...
We made our annual Labor Day trip to Nana and Granddaddy's for the Doss Fish Fry, a fund raiser event for their local volunteer fire department. It is held literally in the middle of nowhere, and is attended by at least a few thousand people who gather for good times, good food (fried catfish) and interesting music (an old couple singing, one playing the drum and guitar...at the same time, and one playing an accordion). Riley was not very pleased with the event initially due to the number of strange people around...not that the people were literally strange (ok, maybe a few were)...but they were strange to her. So she wanted no part of anyone other than mommy or daddy...and mostly mommy. However, as the evening progressed, so did her mood. Eventually she perked up and was clapping and dancing (bobbing her head) to the music, and looking around and talking to everyone. Of course by this time it was time to head back to Nana and Granddaddy's house for her bedtime, but before we left she did get her first taste of the single greatest creation on earth: Chocolate. And she loved it. Next year should be even more fun, at which time she will be almost two.
She has not typically been a good traveler, and feels obligated to let us hear about it for the entire 300+ mile journey. And while this trip was not without its moments on the road, it was a definite improvement over the past few we've made. So hopefully this is a sign of good things ahead. While we were there, she discovered the stairs. And once she discovered them and realized she could climb them, that's all she wanted to do. After the first time, she had it down to a science (if stair climbing can be considered a science), and was up both sets of stairs faster than Oklahoma's football season ended on Saturday (Sorry, Sooner fans). It was a lot of fun watching her go up...and even better when she thought she could turn around and come back down face first. We'll work on coming down them at Thanksgiving. All in all, it was a very good trip, and in spite of her being stuffy (again) while we were there, a good time was had by all.
(She also saw her first deer on this trip)
(Forgive the dirty door. It's called two dogs and a 9 month old)
(First taste of daddy's...via Papa's recipe...lasagna).
So we officially have a sick baby. She's been congested and stuffy before (allergies, we think), and over the past week and a half had developed a stuffy nose again. After a few days it appeared to be getting better, but evidently it didn't. The verdict today: Ear infection in both ears (to quote her pediatrician, "Her ears are a mess"), and an upper respiratory infection to go along with that. Not fun. That certainly explains the sudden restless sleeping at night and bouts of crying at random intervals throughout (of course the diaper rash was not a big help either). But at least now we have the antibiotics going, so she should be back to her old self in no time.
Somehow though, she still finds plenty to laugh and talk about, so that's a good thing at least.
A few other random thoughts...after 10 months she will finally wear shoes. We had tried to put shoes on her several times before, but she just would not have any part of that whatsoever. The new ones are a bit softer, so we think that has made the difference. The bottom line though is that she doesn't mind them, so now we can stop being those parents who never have shoes on their baby in public. ;) 
And for record, finally, after almost two years...we have hummingbirds consistently. Of course just in time for migration.
