The First Beepsless Day

Adalyn has relied on a pacifier practically since day one. We call it The Bink. She calls it Beeps. When she starts to feel tired, sad, or bored, she usually starts saying, "Beeps. Beeps. Beeps," over and over again until it appears. Around her first birthday, we discussed weaning her from it. That lasted about a millisecond. Sometimes, (although I hate to admit it) it's just easier to let them have what they want than to fight them over it. Choose your battles, I say. So, we chose not to worry about it for awhile.

But, remember how almost ALL of my posts over the past couple of months have been about taking Adalyn to the doctor? Ear infection after ear infection. Poor little thing. Well, when we heard that pacifier use and drinking from a bottle in a reclined position can contribute to ear infections, we decided it was time to get serious about giving them both up. She is over 18 months old (I know, I can't believe it either!) after all. Of course the first day I decided to get serious about it, she wound up with ANOTHER infection and a fever! So, we decided to lay off it for a couple more days. This past week we have limited Bink use only to bedtime. (We plan to tackle the bottle once The Bink is completely out of the picture.)

I am pleased to announce that today marks The First Beepsless Day! Wahoo! And what a fun day it has been! (I'm not even being sarcastic!)

Today we took Adalyn to the Zoo in Boise. She seemed to thoroughly enjoy it. She scoped out the animals, oohed and aahed over all the babies in strollers, and even fed some goats! She didn't ask for Beeps one time!

After the Zoo, we headed over to the Build-A-Bear Workshop at the mall. The plan was to place Beeps inside a bear so that when she asks for it, we can give her the bear and assure her that she has it. However, after the amazingly easy Beepsless day we were already having, I was beginning to have horrific daydreams of a complete meltdown at the mall once Beeps had been revealed. So, we decided to fore-go the ceremony of putting it inside the bear, and instead just name the new friend Beeps. The problem with that? She chose Miss Piggy! A Miss Piggy puppet with a huge mop of hair, nonetheless! I was picturing some cute snuggley bear that she could curl up with at naptime. No, she chose the most materialistic looking thing there! And to top it off, she chose a hot pink Sleeping Beauty Princess dress for her to wear! Ugh! What happened to her being a tomboy?

Oh well, I'm really not complaining. The new Beeps seems to being doing her job so far. Adalyn went to bed without a fight! I don't know what will happen when I have to explain that Kermit's love interest is not actually named Beeps, but I suppose we'll cross that bridge when we get there. :) Aah, what fun it is to be a Mom!

Done with doctors

Well, I think we are officially finished with our weekly visits to a doctor's office. They've continued since the week before Christmas! Ugh! We wrapped up our 'tour' with a visit to Dr. Christie, the ophthalmologist.

Last fall, Adalyn had one eyelid that was red constantly. At first I thought it was a stye or something that would clear itself up, but after sticking around several weeks, I decided to have it checked out. The nurse practitioner at the pediatrician's office wasn't quite sure was to think about it, so she referred us to Dr. Christie. He took a look and said the redness was due to excessive watering of the eye, which was occurring because her bottom eyelashes were rubbing the cornea. The beautiful eyes she gets from her Dad have an extra fold in the bottom lid, which on one eye was causing the lashes to turn in. The doctor explained that the corneas of children are much tougher than those of adults and that it really wasn't bothering her. He wasn't too concerned, but wanted us to follow up in a few months. He said if it was still a problem at that time, we could discuss surgery. (Just a little cut while under full sedation - no big deal. Yeah, right!) Thankfully, while at the follow-up appointment this week, he said she seems to have outgrown it! Her lower lashes are no longer rubbing the cornea and the redness is long gone. He even went ahead and did a full dilated eye exam, to check the health of her eyes and her vision. He said everything checked out perfectly normal. Yay! Did you know they make those flimsy plastic sunglasses for miniature people? They do! Adalyn wasn't too fond of them, except to show off on occasion. Luckily it was an overcast day. I'll post a picture if I can get my hands on a digital copy.

Well, that's it for now. Sorry, no pictures to share this time.

Cardiology Update

Adalyn had her appointment with Dr. Walker, the pediatric cardiologist, this past Thursday. And before I get into the details, let me just tell you that everything is fine. Her heart checked out great!

We arrived at the office early, so Adalyn had plenty of time to impress the other patients. One particularly friendly Grandma fussed over her the entire time we waited. Soon enough though, we were called to the back to begin the echocardiogram - an ultrasound of her heart.

She layed on the table perfectly still and quiet for the entire procedure. The technician took video of her heart from every angle then weighed and measured her. She weighed in at 22.1 lbs and measured 32.5 inches tall. (This was the first time she was measured standing up!) Then we waited for the doctor. We played on the doctor's stool, we played on the exam table, and we played with Dad's phone.

When the doctor came in she took a thorough past medical history for Adalyn, as well as a family history for both parents, and a history of present illness. She focused for awhile on the fact that we've had one doctor's visit each week since the week before Christmas, and there hasn't been a span of more than 10 days in a row since then that Adalyn has been well. We talked about Adalyn's sleeping habits and the fact that she slept 18 or so hours out of 24 a few weeks ago. She then went on to discuss the results of of the ECG. She observed no fluid around the heart, no structural damage or abnormalities, and no functional concerns. For these reasons, she has deemed Adalyn's murmur innocent - a functional murmur that just happens to occur because of the particular way Adalyn's heart beats. What she did see on the ultrasound was a very slight leak in the aortic valve, completely unrelated to the murmur. It's so slight that she's not concerned, but it's present enough that she's not yet willing to completely rule out aortic insufficiency. Because she doesn't want to peg a presumably healthy child with a diagnosis that will follow her the rest of her life, she's going to wait and see what happens with it and take another look in a year or so. She said the aortic valve is functioning normally and she doesn't observe any structural abnormalities.

I was very impressed with Dr. Walker. She interacted with Adalyn so well, but also explained everything to us in a way that didn't seem too dumbed down. I appreciated that she explained things somewhat medically. She had nothing but praise for Adalyn and even went so far as to tell us that she "made her ovaries hurt." Apparently that totally appalled Adam because as soon as we made it to the car he asked me what the heck she meant by that. Adalyn must have liked her too because as the doctor headed out the door, Adalyn insisted on giving her a hug.

We both breathed a sigh of relief after the appointment. Even though we knew the chances that something was wrong were slim, it felt good knowing for sure that everything is fine with our little Toots.

17 months old! (Tomorrow)

Adalyn will be 17 months old tomorrow! 17 months on the 17th, that makes it a golden Birthday, right? Anyway, I thought I'd give a quick update on her milestones to commemorate.

Potty:
Adalyn has continued to use the potty this weekend! We bought a potty chair and some pull-ups and she seems to be figuring it out. The most fun is jumping up and turning around to see if anything is in the potty, then waving bye bye as we flush it down. The chocolate chip reward is also fun.

Play:
Adalyn loves music and dancing. She asks for music or to be sung to multiple times per day. She has been using her dino rocker more, and enjoys the rocking horse and spring horse at the respective grandparents' houses. She loves books! She'll sit quietly and turn the pages herself, or will ask to be read to. She loves her dollies and often offers them her bottle, pacifier, or whatever she's eating. She often says "Ssshh" around them so we know they're sleeping. None of them are allowed to wear clothes (we're not sure why) but if you question her about it, she'll go get a blanket for them and wrap them up. She also rocks them a lot. Perhaps her FAVORITE way to play is riding the four-wheeler! She rides with Papa at his house, but she also now has one of her own! Some family friends gave us a little kids one when she was still just a little lump. Ad tuned it up last weekend and now she BEGS to go outside and ride it. (He rides with her of course.)

Communication:
Adalyn primarily uses signs to communicate, but she's becoming more verbal too. Her latest word is "Uh-oh!" She says Mom "Mum!" fairly regularly, and can say Dad, but thinks it's funny to say "Mum!" when asked to say Dad.

Sleep:
Adalyn sleeps through the night most nights, usually 10-12 hours (aren't we lucky!). She goes to bed willingly most of the time and usually lets us know when she's ready. She still naps twice most days.

Eating:
Adalyn's not a picky eater (lucky again!). She eats most things we give her and especially likes cottage cheese, string cheese, and pickles to name a few. She still drinks milk from a bottle three or four times per day, but it may be about time to move away from that.

Well, I know there were some other points I wanted to highlight, but I can't think of them now! I'll update if I remember.

Happy Monday!

The Best Cookies I've Ever Made

Have you heard of Pinterest? Do you pin? I have, and I do. It's my newest time waster. Pinterest is described as a virtual pinboard, but I think of it more as a glorified "favorites" or "bookmarks." It's a way to collect photos, ideas, recipes, and helpful hints from the internet to one spot. Under your Pinterest profile you create categories or boards then "pin" things you like under those headings. You can go back and look at them at anytime, and clicking the photo takes you to the website from which it originally came. You can also browse other people's pins and "repin" them to your own boards as you like. It's a lot of fun and provides some great ideas! I'm still learning the ropes, but have already tried a few of the things I've seen. The cookie recipe I'm about to share with you is one of them.

So, the title of my post indicates that these cookies are out of this world. Don't let me steer you wrong, if you've ever tasted cookies I've made, you'll realize the title isn't saying much. However, these are the best cookies I've ever made and as far as cookies go, they're pretty good. What I liked most about them is that they didn't get flat, and they stayed relatively chewy. However, I think what ultimately led to them being the best I've ever made, was this little beauty. I received a cookie scoop similar to the one in the link for Christmas, and I'm sure it's the reason I finally baked something successfully. It worked wonderfully! I'll never go back to hand rolling cookie dough again!

Okay, enough chatter. The recipe:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar or 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 to 1 tablespoon milk (add this at the very end just to make dough smooth and creamy)
• 1 to 2 cups semi-chocolate chips (I used mini chocolate chips)

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl beat butter and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. 

2. Add the granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. 

3. Beat in the egg and vanilla until combined. 

4. Beat in the flour.

5. Add milk (from 1/2 Tablespoon to 1 Tablespoon just enough to make the dough moist and creamy.) 

6. Add chocolate chips and mix till just incorporated.  

7. Cover and chill dough at least 1 hour or until easy to handle. *This is essential to make non-flat cookies!*
8. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  

9. Using your awesome cookie scoop, drop cookies onto the baking sheets.

10. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until bottoms are light brown. 

11. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. 

Enjoy!

I tried my hand at food photography and realized those foodie bloggers really know what they're doing! What I've learned is that I have A LOT more to learn! So please, excuse the novice photography mistakes and instead focus on the awesomeness of the cookies.

Murmur/Potty Time Already?!

Adalyn has been to the pediatrician once every week since the week before Christmas. : ( It started with a nasty sounding cough, then became a double ear infection. During the follow-up appointment to be sure the ear infections were cleared up they detected a heart murmur and asked to see her again a week later to see if the murmur was still there. It was. So now, we're being referred to a pediatric cardiologist. We have an appointment January 26th. Fortunately the doctor comes to Fruitland occasionally, so we won't have to drive all the way to Boise!

As far as heart murmurs go, I'm told and have read that most of the time they're nothing to worry about. A heart murmur is actually a third heart sound. So instead of the normal lub-dub sound to the heart beat, it can be more of a lub-a-dub sound. It means that blood is moving through the heart in a less than typical way. While most of the time they pose no danger, some of the time they are indicative of heart valve damage. That's why we're getting it checked out further, just to be sure. I'll keep you updated as we learn more.

Moving on to more happy news...Adalyn peed in the toilet last night!!! I know, I was as shocked as you are! We haven't even mentioned potty training to her, and I doubt the babysitter has either, although I don't know for sure. Last night Adalyn brought a couple of her diapers to me. I asked her if she needed to be changed. Then, she walked into the bathroom, put her hand on the toilet, and did the sign for "please." She even started trying to climb on! "Okay," I thought, "we'll give this a try." I put her on the toilet and she hung out there for a while, then wanted to get down. She wandered around the bathroom a minute then started climbing back onto the toilet. I held her there again and next thing I know, I hear a tinkle tinkle! I was AMAZED! She was rewarded with LOTS of praise and a Hershey's kiss.

I don't know a thing about potty training and hadn't even thought about reading up on in yet. I guess at this rate, maybe she'll just potty train herself! We'll see what happens!

 Ready for a playdate with Papa!

 The dollies at our house are not allowed to wear clothes. (We're not sure why.)

Adalyn whistles!

How Does She Know?

I'm continually amazed by how much Adalyn's little brain has already absorbed! How does all that information get in there so fast?! The other day we were flipping through one of Adalyn's favorite books; it has real photos of everyday objects that are each labeled. She points to an object and I tell her what it is. When I said, "artichoke," she started fake coughing and choking. Really? She knows what the word "choke" means? What?! How? Where did that come from?

And since I despise pictureless posts, here's one from our trip to McCall last weekend. Adalyn LOVES sledding!