11 months and a week late

These pictures pretty much sum up the week we're having...

Dear Cassidy,

You're are 11 months, 1 week, and 2 days old today.  Normally I would fake it and try to write just about your life up to 11 months, but we've had an eventful week and I'll have a tough time distinguishing what happened when.

So, let's start with this week and work our way back...  Right now you're taking a nap on your fourth day home from daycare.  Sunday afternoon you woke up with a cough and a runny nose.  You got pretty cranky, pretty quickly and your temperature was beginning to rise, so we gave you some Motrin.  You went to bed at normal time, but had an awful night of sleep.  You woke yourself up coughing every twenty minutes.  We rotated you from your crib, to your carseat, to the bed in the guest room with Mommy.  By the time we got up for the day your fever was 100.7.  Mommy took the day off from work and made you a doctor's appointment for that afternoon.  Your fever broke on it's own around 1:00 pm and the doctor confirmed it was indeed a virus, if not the dreaded H1N1.  We had already got you the first dose of the vaccine and were waiting until next month for the second part.  Our doc says he's read that the first dose only makes you about 30% inoculated.  So that makes sense.  He didn't actually test you for H1N1, but says you matched all of the symptoms.  We left with the promise to keep an eye on you and give you extra lovin'.

Tuesday you stayed home again, this time with Daddy.  You were very sad and grumpy most of the day, refusing to take more than a 20 minute nap.  That evening your fever reappeared and we once again gave you Motrin.  Mommy stayed home again with you both Wednesday and today.  You have since been fever free since that dose of Motrin on Tuesday night, but your cough remains, as well as, your faucet of a nose.  It makes us so sad to see you this way, but are also relieved to think you're almost out of the woods.  We're going to try daycare again tomorrow.

Okay, now we can talk about fun stuff!  You're definitely a walker now.  It's a cute little cowboy strut with slow, calculated steps that swing wide, but you're steady and much more confident.  You also LOVE to dance and will do it as soon as you hear music or we ask.  It starts in your shoulders with little shrugs, then you twist back and forth at the waist, and bend your knees.  It's adorable.  We've tried to get it on film, but you always hear the beep of the camera and stop.

You're becoming more and more verbal each day.  You say mama, dada, duck, ball, and bird and are constantly watching our mouths and trying on new sounds.  You haven't actually signed for us yet, but you understand milk, eat, bottle, all done, and more.  It's also amazing to see all of the phrases you understand us say.  If we ask you to dance, you dance, if we ask you to come here, you come here, if we say no, you pretend to not hear us at all.

We've definitely met a much more strong willed Cassidy this month.  You are constantly testing your boundaries.  You love to stand up in the bath tub, climb up on things, and grab for things you're not supposed to.  It's so hard to get you to understand why certain things are dangerous or not meant for babies.  Any advice?

Up until your virus, your sleep at night had greatly improved.  We had to just throw in the towel and try the no nonsense "tough love" approach.  This entailed Daddy sleeping downstairs on the couch, Mommy in the bedroom with the white noise machine cranked, and you in your crib from 6:30 pm to 5:30 am no matter how many times you called for us.  Since you had slept through the night on more than one occasion, we knew you could do it and you got the picture pretty quickly.  Hopefully we'll get that back within the next week or so when you're feeling better.

You love daycare and playing with all of your friends.  You've gotten pretty tough and assertive trying to keep up with the older ones.  You no longer let others take your toys and are not afraid to say something about it!  Your favorite things to do are climb in and out of their big plastic car, tumble on the mats, bounce up and down on anything with a seat and wheels, and play the toy piano.

Physically, your height and weight seem to be about the same, but we'll know for sure in another month.  You have eight teeth completely through and four molars on the way.  You can feel points on the top and lumps on the bottom.  They don't seem to be bothering you too awfully bad, but this hasn't been the best week to notice.  Your hair is getting much longer and fuller and your face is thinning.  You're still incredibly beautiful!

Although it's nothing new this month, you still love to play games and act goofy.  Each night you and Daddy chase after one another from room to room after a few rounds of zerberts and whenever you're sitting on one of our laps, you lift up our shirts and plant one on our bellies.  You also know where your belly is and will pat it enthusiastically when we ask you where it is.

On your 11 month birthday we started introducing whole milk during daycare.  We still plan on breastfeeding until at least 18 months, but supply wise, Mommy just couldn't keep up with pumping so many times a day for only a few cherished ounces.  You've adjusted just fine and now have a little more belly to show for it.  Your preferences with solid foods are constantly changing but you're starting to eat more and more table food all of the time.

Well, that seems like a lot of writing!  We can't believe you'll be a year in just three weeks.  That seems ridiculous and impossible.  We love you.

Love,  Mommy and Daddy