11 Months

Kinsey turned 11 months old yesterday!  WOW!

This ENTIRE last month was all about being sick.  I have very little to report on fun things we did because we were all too sick to do much of anything but stay home and try to keep our germs to ourselves.  Today is actually the 4 week mark since the sickness arrived at our house.  Kinsey started with a clear runny nose that later turned green for a day, then yellow, then clear, then yellow--well, you get the picture.  The worst of it was her cough that was causing her to vomit about 3 times a day. 

Taking care of her really wasn't all that difficult; she wasn't overly fussy and still could play for at least some of the day.  The hardest part was not being able to go anywhere so we could stay home and rest and also try to prevent anyone else from getting sick.  We didn't go to church or small group for the entire month, and the only outing we did was go to a couple superbowl parties.  At that point Kinsey seemed to be doing better so I just kept her away from other kids at the parties as best I could.  However, she took another turn for the worse after that.  I ended up taking her to the doctor three times.  The first week we both had pink eye with our colds, so we had to go to urgent care to get antibiotic drops.  Then the third week I took her to the pediatrician who said her ears and lungs were clear, and to wait it out a little longer.  By the end of the third week she (and I) were not getting any better so we went back to the doctor to get antibiotics.  She is still on them now.  She has a bit of a runny nose but hardly anything to speak of, and not coughing anymore.  Whew!

She is now walking about 75% of the time.  It's awesome!  People said to watch out once she starts walking because she can get into everything, but it isn't any different than when she was crawling.  The bonus is that she gets less dirty!  Only the bottoms of her feet get very dirty from walking on the tile instead of her knees and the tops of her feet.  We've been walking her down to the mailbox in the evening which is neat.

She is also making new sounds so I keep wondering when a word is going to pop out of her mouth and surprise us!  When we ask her to, she can still clap, splash in the tub, and wave.  She can also flap her arms to "fly", point out Elmo in her book, raise her arms for "all done!" when she's finished eating, lay down and lay her head on the floor when we say "night night!", lean in for a kiss when we ask, and bounce when we say "jump".  I just started teaching her to touch her ear when I ask, and she picked up on it pretty quickly.  The other day she could also go to David when we said "Where's Dada?" and go to me for "Mama".  Along with identifying her bear and the kitty, she can also get her doll when asked, and I pretty sure she knows "doggie" and "book".

Valentine's Day was special because she spent the day at Chris' (babysitter) since I was working.  Chris and Pam (her sister/my co-worker) of course spoiled her with gifts.  Then David had a rose for her and a rose for me when we got home.

I'm getting plans together for her birthday party...and you're invited!  And all we want you to bring is yourself, because the day is not about presents, it's about celebrating having had her in our lives for the last year!  (Oh, and it's about eating cake, too, hehe)  Email or message me for info if you want details!  I'm still getting some invitations together for people who don't have access to Facebook, so I can send you one or give you the link to the event on Facebook.

Here are the pictures from the last month!