Beach, Ears, and Sam Update

I haven’t been adding blog items recently, but I have been adding pictures. Be sure to check them all out (those without RSS readers, please look throughout the site since I’ve added more than the most recent 5 on the side).

I guess I’ll start with our trip to the beach. We had a great time! Samantha slept for a whopping 45 minutes in the car ride there and back. I sat in the back with her both ways so I could occupy her a little bit. And of course, I wanted to show her what she should be doing in a car, so I “pretended” to sleep a lot. 🙂 Thanks for driving, Brian! Samantha LOVED the water. She plays in a baby pool a lot (8″ deep) at home so she was used to laying in the shallow water on her tummy and floating. Thanks for all the help from MamaLinda and Aunt Lettie for watching her when my back was turned.

Her ears seems to be doing fine. She wore ear plugs while we were at the beach. She wasn’t bothered by them too much, but that could have been because there was so much else to see and do. She is teething again though. One tooth has broken through on the bottom (one of the pointy ones). She’s a bit lopsided because she has 2 more teeth on the left side than she does the right. I’m guessing they’ll come in at their own pace. Anyway, she’s been drooling, congested, and coughing a lot lately. Maybe the tubes will keep her well.

Here are some random facts about her. She is a great singer, having finished the whole alphabet song by herself yesterday. Wow! She is so incredibly independent these days too. She is learning that when we give her choices, she can say yes (and it actually sounds like yes) and shakes her head for no. She can almost put her Crocs on by herself. She opened the pantry door today (although I’m not sure if it was already cracked, but she sure was working that handle). She loves being chased by the corn popper. She can say I love you and has given several sweet closed mouth cheek kisses recently.

And lastly, Happy Birthday, Daddy!

15 Month Check Up

Samantha had her 15 month checkup a few days ago. Everything’s going well, this time. The doctor said she did have some residual fluid in one of her ears, but because she was sick for so long, he wasn’t concerned. Other than that, she got a clean bill of health. She’s in the 70th percentile for height, but 30th for weight. He said she’s got 2 molars in the back already, and it looks like 2 more are about to cut through too. I had noticed that she was drooling A LOT, but hadn’t even noticed the teeth in the back. Her mood didn’t seem to be nearly as affected this time around. We’ve tried to look in her mouth since then, but we can’t seem to pry it open.

In other news, we are smitten with a new house. We’ll see if it works out for us. More news on that later.

ANOTHER Ear Infection and Rash

So, Samantha has been sick since the end of September. She’s had a runny nose and a cough that has not gone away. This led to an ear infection shortly before her birthday, which of course, may have led to the allergic reaction on her birthday from the penicillin. But, the runny nose and cough never went away.

This past week, she’s had a rash that mysteriously appears and disappears on all parts of her body randomly. It’s strange. She’s been sleeping A LOT and is pretty irritable when she’s awake. Brian finally decided enough was enough and decided to take her to the doctor. She has another ear infection and something called Fifth’s Disease. Fifth’s disease is a viral infection that caused the mottled rash. The doctor immediately recognized it and said that it was going around. We just have to let it take its course and it will eventually go away. We got a non-penicillin antibiotic for her ear. Brian made the theory that she gets an ear infection anytime a new tooth comes in (#7 is on its way and I think some back molars are coming in too). I’ve heard a friend of mine say that her son got an ear infection anytime a tooth came through, so I think his theory is certainly possible. Maybe one of these days, she’ll begin to feel better. You can tell that she just doesn’t feel well.

In other news, we hope to see you all soon. If not, have a Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Belated Birthday, Lauren!

Sitting Up

Samantha is now 7 months old and sitting up well. She does get tired after about 15 minutes of it and is ready for a break. She still doesn’t have any teeth, but I feel like we’re so close! I think she has finally gotten over her sickness. It lasted for about 6 weeks, but I think she’s feeling mostly better now. Brian got sick too, and finally agreed to go to the doctor after about 4 weeks. He had bronchitis and is feeling better now too.