Adventures of Ainsley and the Water Cooler

In our kitchen, we have a water cooler. We use it for drinking water, as our water in the sink is through the water softener, which adds salt to the water. No so good for drinking. Anyway. Ainsley has discovered that she can push the button and make water come out. GREAT! So, earlier tonight, she took one of her tea cups from her play kitchen and walked over to the water cooler. Can you see where this is going???

I walk into the kitchen behind her to see her standing there at the cooler, with her cup poised under the spout and she is releasing water into her cup. She is just beaming, she's so proud. She then takes the cup, that is full to the brim, and walks across the kitchen and into the living room with it. Seeing as how she is a little person and still walks recklessly, water was splashing out onto the floor the whole time. She got into the living room and went to take a drink. Well, all of the water that she had worked so hard to get, had spilled out onto the floor. She held the cup up and looked at it like, "What the heck happened to my water?"

So, she goes back to the cooler for another cup of water. Except this time, when I walk into the kitchen behind her, she is not pouring the water into the cup. She is pushing the button and letting the water just pour out. There is a puddle at her feet, meaning the bottoms of her shoes are wet. She then decides to turn and walk across the tile floor with wet feet......

What happened next was like a slow motion montage of people slipping and sliding and falling. She very comically preceded to slip and slide across the floor, finally falling flat on her bum. She got up and slipped and slid again. Steven picked her up and put her on the carpet so that the bottoms of her shoes could get dry. She then steps onto the tile floor and finds the one wet spot left and slips in it. And falls right on her bum AGAIN!

She was not hurt in any way, as her diaper pads her bum and protects it. So, now we have to figure out a way to keep her from constantly pushing the button and letting water pour out.......

She made it........

The 4th pair of panties lasted 45 minutes! We were actually on our way down the hall to the bathroom to try and go pee pee. She almost made it. I do know that she does not like the plastic waterproof pants very much......

On to the 4th Pair.....

The 3rd pair of big girl panties lasted 30 minutes. It seems like we have a pattern going on here....30 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes. I will have her on the potty seat in 10 minutes this time. We shall see how it goes.......

Our Trip to Babies R Us/Toys R Us and Big Girl Panties

Yesterday while at Walmart buying groceries, I purchased a total of 32 pairs of BIG GIRL PANTIES!!! Not for myself, but for Ainsley! They are the CUTEST things I have ever seen. So, having bought all of these big girl panties, I now needed waterproof pants to go over the panties. The only place I have ever seen these sold is Babies R Us.

So, I loaded Ainsley up in the car and off to Babies R Us we went. We found the waterproof pants right off the bat. Ainsley held the packages to her chest like she was so PROUD that Mommy was buying these for her. She was showing them off to everyone that would look. She was saying, "This Mine, this mine!"

So, having some time to kill, we meandered on over to the Toy R Us side. I was looking for some Wonder Pets toys for the uhhh, Easter Bunny to buy to put in someone's Easter basket. In my search for these toys, we walked past the Sesame Street toys. Ainsley pointed at the Elmo dolls and asked, "Who that?"

I told her that is was Elmo. She responded, "Amy." I said, "No Elmo." Again, "Amy."

So I guess Amy=Elmo......

She then went the rest of the trip yelling, "Want Amy! Want Amy!"

It is now 8:10 pm and Ainsley has been in her big girl panties since 7:10 pm. She is on her 3rd pair. The first pair lasted 30 minutes. The second 15 minutes. We are still counting on the 3rd pair. I will keep you updated, as I am sure that you will be on the edge of your seat, waiting and wondering :)

Ainsley's Doctor's Appointment

Ainsley had her 18 month Well Baby check up today. I know that she is just days away from being 21 months old, but with her having been so sick for so long, she was unable to have the appointment until now.

She has reached all of her major milestones; such as stacking blocks, forming simple phrases, following simple directions, and having a vocabulary of at least 10 words. She weighs in at a whopping 26.5 pounds, which puts her in about the 65th percentile. Height wise, she is 33.5 inches tall, meaning she is in the 79th percentile. I thought she was pretty short, but I guess I was wrong. Maybe all of these people that have been telling me that she is big for her age have been right???

On the vaccine front, she was scheduled to get the first dose of the MMR vaccine. That shot scares the HELL out of me. It just gives me this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I have done tons and tons of research since Ainsley was born regarding the vaccines she has to have. This is the ONLY one that I have any problems with. I won't go into details, as I want people to do their research and know what they are getting into before they vaccinate their child. Choosing to vaccinate your child is a very personal decision, not one that should be taken lightly and definitely not one that can be made for you. Please know your options.

I opted to postpone the MMR vaccine to a later time. Instead, she got the 4th DTaP and the 2nd Hepatitis A vaccines. Poor baby girl got both shots in her little left leg. She SCREAMED like you wouldn't believe. This is the part of the appointment where I have to fight the urge to hurt the nurse because she is hurting my baby. The shots were over in 2 seconds flat, but the tears kept coming for several minutes. She just threw her little arms around my neck and cried into my shoulder. It breaks my heart when she cries like that.

The doctor did hear a heart murmur for the very first time today. He said that it sounds like a Grade 1 Systolic Ejection Murmur. Grade 1 meaning "Very faint, heard only after listener has "tuned in"; may not be heard in all positions." Systolic Ejection means that the murmur is occurring while the heart is contracted, just as the blood is being released. Make sense??? Yeah, me either. Cardiology was NOT my best subject in Nursing School. basically what it means is that is not really anything to worry about.

They will have her come back in about 3 weeks or so and see the same doctor again. If he hears it a second time, he will have her come back again in another 3 weeks. If he hears it a 3rd time, he will refer her to a Pediatric Cardiologist for an Echo cardiogram. 9 times out of 10, he says it will come back as nothing. I had a Grade 1 murmur when I was a baby, not sure if it was systolic though. Steven had a murmur when he was a preteen. We both outgrew them and I believe that Ainsley will too.

So, because of getting 2 shots in the late afternoon, Ainsley was sort of a pill tonight. I can't blames her. vaccines make you feel like CRAP. But, she has fallen asleep on my cchest for the VERY first time today. She had no nap at all. She was EXHAUSTED. And she looks SO peaceful right now.

For All of The Parents With Little Ones

Extended Rear-Facing for toddlers.

This is something that I feel VERY strongly about.

They may look uncomfortable, but they aren't.

Their little bodies are made for folding up and being squished.

Think of how they were in the womb.

I look at it this way......

Would you rather your child have a broken leg or a broken neck???

Here is an article regarding the AAP changing their recommendation for rear-facing. It used to be one year of age and 20 pounds. Now they are recommending 2 years of age and the maximum weight limit for rear-facing on your car seat. It's about time. Maybe more parents will begin to participate in Extended Rear-Facing and more lives will be saved. Please read the article if you have a little one, and pass it along to anyone you know that has a little one. I know that as parents, we get excited about our children reaching the next milestone. This is one that is worth you and your child, both taking your time on.

http://aapnews.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/30/4/12-a

How to say Love You, Ainsley's Babycakes and Zavi's 1st Birthday

Seeing as how Ainsley has started putting together simple 2 and 3 word sentences at times, I have begun to try and teach her some important ones. Today the sentence was, "Love you." I figured it would be an easy one since it gets said so many times throughout the day. SO, this morning I set out on my mission of getting Ainsley to say it. Here is how it went EVERY single time.....

ME: Ainsley, Mommy loves you. Can you say Love you?

AINSLEY: Bye bye.

ME: Say Love you.

Ainsley: Bye bye.

ME: Ainsley, say Love you.

AINSLEY: Bye bye.

ME: No, say Love you.

AINSLEY: Bye bye.

So, I am guessing that when she walks through the house saying, "Bye bye." all the time, what she is really saying is, "Love you." Wouldn't you come to the same conclusion???

One of Ainsley's favorite things to do is to pull CDs off the shelves and throw them in the floor. She was engaged in this very important task this morning, when she came across and Elvis CD. She opened the case, saw the pictures of Elvis and said, "Awwww, that my Babycakes."

Evidently, this is just one more way that she is like her Mommy. She finds Elvis to be quite attractive :)

Tonight, we went over to some friends' house for their daughter's 1st birthday party. Ainsley adores Zavi, so it was a treat for her to go over there. She loves playing with the toys, and now that Zavi is walking, playing chase around the living room. She also had a good time watching Zavi tear into her cake.