Almost 18 Months

More Park

Tree full of elves. Shhh - they are sleeping!

Monkey Do

This is her first real attempt at a slide - it's been so hot, then rainy, then muddy, then mosquito-ey and then back to hot and so on. I feel bad that we haven't been to the park more than a few times this fall, but the weather is nice now, so we'll definitely start going more often.

An added bonus was that the boys actually asked if they could go to be early. Seriously - you cannot get any better than that - and they were out by the time their heads hit the pillows. Brilliant.

Guess who Peed on the Coffee Table?

No, not me!

It's been one of those days - Her Highness Babybeast climbed onto the coffee table (not a problem), took off her diaper (small problem), and took a massive wee on the table (bigger problem). By the looks of it, she had been saving it up for days.

I was in the kitchen organizing the cupcake sprinkles (No, not kidding, yes, I know, my life is so glam), and heard squeals of delight coming from the living room. Of course, I didn't realize it was because she was happily splashing about in the sogginess of a pee puddle. Awesome.

Here's hoping the day improves. Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Halloween Flower Fairy 2009

I see that the slideshow tends to cut off her head...I think if you click on that "see all images" button it will show you the full photos, if anyone is interested.

The Kittysuit

By request, here's the babe at the neuro appointment. Full body shots with tail will have to wait - she wouldn't look up when I tried to take some outside today. Far too busy gathering acorns - you would have thought she was wearing a squirrel suit by the way she went about collecting them in her little paws.

No!

Mr. Lawyer asked me, "Why does the baby keep yelling "No!" at me and whacking me in the face?" (He's not kidding - for the record, she wields a mean uppercut.)

Me: "She's showing you your nose, honey. Isn't that sweet - she has a new word? Just acknowledge it, tell her she's smart, and she'll move on to poking you in the eye instead."

Mr. Lawyer: "Why can't you just teach her about belly buttons?"

Noggin Report II

We (finally) had out consult with the pediatric neurosurgeon today about the Baby's head. The good news is that - most likely no surgery will be needed. Babybeast has a CT scan on Monday to make sure her brain has enough space, but that seemed like a formality more than anything. I'm not sure how I'm a) going to get downtown by 6:30am with a baby that normally sleeps until 9:30 and b) how I'm going to convince her not to eat or drink all night. We may seek a second opinion, as a matter of course, but I'm very pleased with the news from today.

Amused?

Why, yes.

Amused?

No. Not even a little.

Hair Doodads

Oh my. The baby is obsessed with barrettes. I'm not a fan of those ridiculously big bows people sometimes buy for babies, but little bitty ones and little flower barrettes are pretty cute. And I'm a sucker for cute.

She has a not small box of them - I went a little mad buying them some time back plus we've had several packages given to us. My thinking is that they are essentially disposable products; not by design so much, but as a practical matter they don't tend to be long-lived items for picky-fingered silky-haired babies, so we have lots of them.

She got ahold of the box of them yesterday and insisted that each and every last one be affixed to her head. You may recall that Babybeast is not exactly gifted in the hair department, which presented a bit of a logistical challenge. The result was just awesome.

I didn't have enough time to grab the camera, but imagine her in a diaper, six multicolored sparkly strings of necklace beads, handbag in hand, and about 40 barrettes on her head. A few wiggles later and they had all but fallen out, but for the previous seconds, Miss Glamourpants strutted and pranced around absolutely thrilled with herself.

It was hilarious in so many ways and a little scary to see her showing such self-awareness. Now the question is how to keep that sense of pride and confidence in herself and her appearance from waning. I guess we'll tackle that one day at a time.

*Photo above is from Nattybratty.com

Dear Baby Clothing Makers

I'll admit it - your stuff is cute. REALLY cute. I almost died of cuteness overload during a trip to the Mall today. Gymboree - you guys are pros at cuteness. And you know it. Children's Place, Old Navy. All cute.

Here's my problem, though: now that you are getting in your adorable long-sleeved clothes in. NONE of it fits my baby. None! Why not? Because she's too darn fat to fit in the shirts with sleeve lengths that don't droop down to her knee rolls. And shirts with appropriately-length sleeves are so tight, they turn her into a little sausage. Because she is a baby - and some babies just weren't designed to be aerodynamic. Babybeast, in all fairness, is one of the least aerodynamic toddlers you are likely to see.

And since she's the only child in the universe (per the retail evidence) with these particular dimensions, she's very hard to fit into anything but summer styles. She is currently sporting all 4T shorts and capris and all but a few 4T t-shirts. She is fairly tall for her age, but not extraordinarily so.

So my choices are, apparently:

~ To clothe her in short sleeves all winter (not entirely impossible - this is a fairly tropical clime, after all);

~ To put her in ill-fitting long sleeves that are sure to get sticky/wet almost immediately;

~ Or to put her on a diet, which has been suggested by several well-meaning but idiotic passersby, but for many reasons will not be happening, not the least that it is not only preposterous, but unhealthy. Sorry, baby - no milk for you today, it's Slimfast in your sippycup from now on!

So, Baby Clothing Makers, I went to the mall today planning to shop and came home empty handed. Mr. Lawyer thanks you. However, you may need to rethink your collections somewhat to encourage me to part with my dollars.

Please consider, for example, adding more 3/4 length sleeves. They are cute, stylish, and perfect for Babybeast. More capri pants would be fantastic as well - no rolling or jacking them up to her little armpits to force them to fit. And they wear just fine through the winter - it's not cold here, but even if it were, that's what layering is for.

Until I see some changes implemented, I will be sitting here, wallet in hand, not spending money on your products, despite desperately wishing to do so. Because I'm a sucker for cute. Please take my requests under serious advisement, on behalf of fat babies everywhere.

Noggin Report

On September 18, I took Babybeast in for her 15month well baby visit and pointed out the funny ridge on her head to the pediatrician. I had consulted Dr. Google beforehand, naturally, and had an idea of the possibilities. Babies have skull plates instead of a solid skull - the spaces between the plates allow for the brain and head to grow properly. Sometimes that doesn't happen like it should and one or more areas close too soon.

Xrays were taken immediately and she was diagnosed with Metopic Synostosis, or premature fusing of the Metopic suture, which is roughly the middle top of the head down to the forehead.

Sometimes this condition just causes a ridge with no other effects, which is essentially cosmetic and requires no treatment. Sometimes it is present at birth and causes a deformation of the head called trigoncephaly (triangle head) and is very obvious. If left, it can cause pressure to build up in the fluids around the brain and surgery is typically required.

Babybeast has a much milder version, which, in my nonexpert opinion, has caused her forehead to be narrower than it should and pinching her temples, though none of this is obvious by looking at her, unless you are looking for it. My concern is that her head may become deformed as the brain pushes in other directions, in order to grow. The only treatment for this condition, if it needs treatment, is surgery.

She will be seen by a neurosurgeon and craniofacial specialist later this month - hopefully we will have more information then.

Molars: The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Teeth

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

What a difference a year makes.

Here's Babybeast a year ago in her July 4th outfit at about 1.5 months old:

And here she was earlier today, July 3:

One

Last night before her Birthday:

Smiling pretty for the official Birthday photo:


"What? I got an ear infection for my birthday?"

Peekaboo!

And it's two days later now and I'm going to sneak in this little slideshow I just sent to Mr. Lawyer:

Babybeast: Creeping Toward 12 Months Old

Here's my girl. She's modeling the very latest in vintage early-1970's baby fashion courtesy of Mommy's old wardrobe. That blanket is also mine - my grandmother made it and I was brought home from the hospital in it.

I'm planning on having another go at this, but this is what I have so far. For the record, wiggly babies are not so easy to capture on film unless you want your car keys in the shot also. Yes, I know - the blanket makes a really annoying background, but my mom is happy, so it is what it is. The next effort will probably just have a plain black background.

Night Waking

When she wakes at night, I go up to her room and calm her, nurse her, check her diaper, wrap her up in her so-soft blanket and then rock her, petting her fuzzy little warm head and humming to her. I often rock her mindlessly, enjoying her warm baby form on me until I realize that she has been sleeping for ages and I'm not rocking for her benefit any longer. And then I rock for a few more minutes anyway because I now that this won't last much longer and I need to savor every single minute of sweet sleepy babyness that I can.

A Few More

OK just a few more that I edited today. The last one cracks me up. For some reason they are all darker here than on my computer....I'll blame blogger. They even look better in photobucket. Hmm.