Thursday, November 11, 2010

The past few weeks

We have had a busy few weeks. Since my last post, we went to my friend Brooke's little girl Olivia's first birthday party. Kerrigan was really interested in watching all the little babies and other kids play. She was really into watching Olivia open her gifts too! We stayed for a bit to visit with Brooke's family, Lexie and Addie and my friend Amy. Brooke, Lexie, Amy and I all went to UAB together and had lots of classes together before student teaching. It's crazy that three of us have babies now! It was nice to get to see all of them.

Brad left for a week long mission trip in Costa Rica back on October 22, so we went and ate at Buffalo Wild Wings the Thursday night before he left. Before we got to the restaurant, Kerrigan and I stopped at Academy Sports to get Brad some rain pants for his trip. Daddy met us and we were getting ready to ride over to BW3s. But as soon as I tried to start my car, it wouldn't crank! I knew it would come soon enough because I had noticed that it was having trouble starting up. So we just left it in the parking lot and headed over to eat. Brad, Megan and the boys got Kerrigan some Halloween socks and a Halloween bib with a bat that said "Bite Me"--too cute! We wished Brad farewell and then headed back to tend to my car. We jumped it off and then Aaron and my dad went around Hoover and Vestavia to find a place open so they could get a new battery. They tried several places, then found the BP station in Vestavia was open.

We went to the Pumpkin Patch back on October 22nd. We rode the train and we picked out two pumpkins--one big one and one little one for Kerrigan. She was more interested in the pumpkins on her socks though! A few people came by while she was sitting by the pumpkins and said they found one... Kerrigan! Ha!

Kerrigan's follow up doctor's appointment from when she had her ear infection was October 28. Dr. Dudgeon checked her out and he said she still had some fluid in her right ear, but he said that it was not infected and that it was totally normal. It was 17 days between appointments and she had gained 1.1 1/2 pounds!! She was already up to 13 pounds, 13 1/2 ounces. I was a bit concerned that she had gained that much but Dr. Brian said that it was normal to gain about an ounce a day, so I guess she was right on track. We go on December 20 for her six month checkup.

On Halloween day, we went to Lily Field (where Altamont plays soccer) for a soccer golf tournament. Aaron helps his friend Matt coach the girls team and the tournament was in honor of one of their players who passed away from a brain tumor last year. Kerrigan wore her pumpkin costume and we strolled around, ate and watched some soccer golf. When we got home, Bebe and Pop came over to bring Halloween treats and then we headed to Brad and Megan's church for Trunk or Treat. We saw Brad for the first time since he got back from his mission trip and he was fully bearded! Carson and Parker were dressed as a mouse and cheese. But they didn't want to wear their costumes that long. :) Carson soon took Kerrigan's pumpkin hat. He and Aaron went to the potty and the hat did not last long--it fell in the toilet. So the rest of the night, Kerrigan's pumpkin top was missing. After watching the boys in the jump house, eating some hot dogs and getting some candy (for Daddy of course), we decided it had been a long day and headed home.

Kerrigan had her first basketball game experience last Friday night. UAB played West Alabama in an exhibition game. The people who sit next to us at the games were probably nervous when they rememebered I had had a baby. But they quickly saw how laid back Kerrigan was. She was actually really good. She never cried. She just jumped when the crowd would cheer loudly, the band played or the announcer got loud over the speaker. She loved watching the Golden Girls and cheerleaders pom poms. We'll defiintely have to bring a shaker to the next game! She sat with Bebe for a while, then she sat with Pop. She took Pop's glasses off and dirtied them up. :) At halftime, we went to see some of the coach's wives. Then she chowed down on a bottle and then fell asleep the last half hour of the game. We go back for the first game of the season this Saturday night. So hopefully she will do just as well.

Today I am off for Veterans Day and soon enough it will be Thanksgiving break! I can't wait... I'm in need of some days off!

Kerrigan will be 5 months old on Monday! I can't believe it! We have been doing rice in her bottles at night time. I think we'll try it with a spoon tonight to see how she likes it. She'll probably start fruits or vegetables after her next doctor's appointment, so I want to make sure she knows how to eat with a spoon.

She is also really close to sitting up by herself. We got a new learning kitchen toy that we have been sitting her up to use. Sometimes she'll be able to sit up for a few minutes by herself, then she will fall down into a hunched over position before falling sideways. We also got her exersaucer put together and she loves playing in it! She loves lying down and grabbing on to her feet. She has also been on her tummy a few times and stuck her butt in the air... getting ready for that crawling position! It's crazy how fast this time is flying by, but it has been a blast. It is so much fun seeing her learn new things.

Hopefully it won't be almost 4 weeks between updates. My computer was being fixed for about a week and half so that was a big reason why it's been a while. Here are some pictures from the past several weeks!

Kerrigan and Addie at Olivia's birthday party


Bebe and all her grandkids at Buffalo Wild Wings


Mommy & Kerrigan on the train at the Pumpkin Patch


Daddy & Kerrigan on the train


Pumpkin Patch adventures!


















Our little family


Trying to situp!


Chillin' in the Boppy


Holding that head up like a big girl!


Asleep in her robe


Trying to grab her bottle


Little pumpkin




Little pumpkin with her Daddy






Brad, Parker, Kerrigan & Carson at Trunk or Treat


Parker wanted Kerrigan to wear his cheese head


Carson wanted to wear Kerrigan's pumpkin hat (this was before it fell in the toilet :))




Cheese and Mouse


Happy to be trunk or treating!


Cousins out getting some candy


Long day... Kerrigan was exhausted :)


Playing with her new learning kitchen!


She was washing the spoon


Having a great time with the learning kitchen!!






First UAB Basketball game!! :)


Happy girl!


Yay for the exersaucer!!


Kerrigan loves her Bumbo chair


She loves the noises it makes


Wow, look at what this thing can do






Until next time...

lj

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Trying Cereal & Four Month Photo Shoot

When we were at the doctor on Monday, Dr. Brian told us that we could start Kerrigan out on rice cereal and baby food. But he said most families wait until 6 months to start baby food. So I think that we will go ahead and wait as well. After the appointment, when Kerrigan and I went to the grocery store, I went ahead and picked up the cereal. We tried it out on Wednesday night. She did not seem to like it so much...

After we tried it with the spoon, I put the rest in her bottle to feed her. She ate it in the bottle. I guess the spoon threw her off a bit...

Here's the first try:


Not really into swallowing it :)




Let's try it again...




Okay, I think she was done...





We will try again soon, but I'm not sure she's quite into it yet. :) She's sleeping fine through the night, so I see no real rush.

Yesterday (October 15) was Kerrigan's 4 month birthday! I can't believe that she is already 4 months old. Time sure does fly by. We did her monthly photo shoot last night. Here are some of the pictures from it:













Here are some other pictures from the week:

Kerrigan & Marley


Kerrigan in the Bumbo


Hello down there!


Checking out her red socks... she's used to white and light pink ones :)


There's those red socks again! Daddy dressed her in Reds gear during the playoffs... it didn't payoff.


Holding on to Daddy's arm




Already talking on the phone...




Luckily, Kerrigan is feeling better. Her fever only lasted the day after her shots and she is not coughing or congested anymore. Her schedule was altered a bit this week, so hopefully she can get used to it soon. She was at Jenni's Monday and Tuesday (left early since she was sick) and then stayed at my parents' house on Wednesday. Then she stayed at home Thursday and Friday. Our childcare circumstances have changed, so it looks like she'll be staying at home with her sitter for the rest of the year. I just want everything to work out for the best for my daughter. She's my #1 priority.

We are getting ready to go to a birthday party this afternoon.

Until next time...

lj

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

4 Month Doctor Checkup In the Books

Kerrigan and I went to the doctor this past Monday to see Dr. Brian for her 4 month checkup. She weighs 12.12 pounds (50th percentile), is 24.5 inches long (80th percentile) and has a head circumference of 15.5 inches (25th percentile). Dr. Brian was happy with her growth. He asked about her development and asked if she was laughing (yes), holding her head up when she's on her tummy and pushing her arms up in a pushup position (yes), rolling on her side (yes) and I threw in that she's rolled over from tummy to back... he was impressed. He didn't have to ask if she followed objects around and focused on things because she didn't take her eyes off him once he came in. I told him that she had had congestion and some coughing/sneezing. When he looked in her ears, he saw "goop." She had the beginning of an ear infection. So he prescribed her to amoxicillin. He thought we had caught it early enough and that the medicine should do the trick. We go back to get checked out on November 1. He said he was okay with her getting her next round of shots even though she had been a little sick. So she had to get DTaP #2, Hib #2, Prevnar #2, IPV #2 and Rotateq #2.

Here's Kerrigan after we met with Dr. Brian and were waiting on shots:


The nurse came in and gave her the oral vaccine first. That went down okay... then on to the big shots. :( Kerrigan had a delayed reaction, got a super red and wrinkled face and let out a big cry. But it wasn't one of those ongoing cries. There were 4 separate ones--one for each shot. Mommy held up strong, though, because it probably lasted a total of 20 seconds.

We went to the grocery store and got Kerrigan's prescription filled. She did okay Monday night after we got home. But she did NOT like the medicine. Pink dribbled down her chin and she had the most unpleasant look on her face. Tuesday's 2 doses were about the same, but this morning, I think she finally started to get used to it because she got most of it down.

Tuesday my class went on a field trip and I got a text from Angie that Kerrigan had a 101.4 fever and was crying really hard. We were about to get on the bus to come back to school so I got a sub and left work early to go get little KJ. I took her home and she napped for a bit. I took her temp again and it was 101.7. I gave her some Tylenol and her fever came down to about 100.4 a couple of hours later. I had to go back up to school for our 1st grade PTO Performance, so Kerrigan stayed with Bebe and Pop while I was there. Last night, we skipped out on bath night because you could just tell Kerrigan did not feel well... poor baby. But luckily her temperature was back down to 98.8 right before bedtime. We decided to have Bebe and Pop watch her again today in case she were to start feeling bad again. But she had no fever and did much better today. I think it was just a combination of the vaccines and having the ear infection that made her feel so crummy. But I think we are getting back on track to feeling better. It's hard to see your baby sick.

Until next time...

lj