More Christmas Pictures

Mommy, Lauren, and Daddy with Lauren's 1st Snow 12-26-07

Lauren eating (and loving) cherry ice cream...15 minutes later, she was screaming because of the milk in it, which Mommy and Aunt Sherry warned him could happen with her allergy...and of course, Daddy was mysteriously not around...12-25-07

Aunt Ivy, Lauren, and Kasey (Lauren's 19 month old cousin) who seemed to get along well 12-25-07

Lauren with Aunt Sherry 12-25-07

Lauren with presents 12-25-07

Daddy and Lauren 12-25-07

Mommy and Lauren 12-25-07

Great-Grandma Bunce and Lauren 12-25-07. (This is my dad's mom.)

Lauren opening presents at her Grandparents Bernosky's 12-25-07

Grandma Wade reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to Lauren Christmas morning...Lauren fell asleep before we could read it to her on Christmas Eve!

Uncle Tony (my oldest brother) and Lauren 12-24-07. Uncle Tony just loved Lauren, and Lauren felt the same way.

Lauren with a puppy with Baby's First Christmas on it on the ride to PA 12-21-07. Someone at school put this in my mailbox without a note, so I don't know who gave it to Lauren. I do know that she loved the rattle and snuggled with it. Paul checked on Lauren while I was driving and saw her cuddled up to her puppy. He snapped a picture with his cell phone and this was the result!

Christmas Pictures

Here are pictures from 12-23-07. These are from church and the McCaslin Christmas that was held at Paul's parent's house. We had a great time. Lauren was in the best humor and did great, even with the noise of so many family members!

Lauren opening presents with Daddy at the McCaslin Christmas party (Paul's mom's side of the family) 12-23-07. She really liked the noise of the paper!

Daddy and Lauren. 12-23-07. Lauren's bib says, "Are these people REALLY my relatives?!"

Great Aunt Marsha and Lauren 12-23-07

Great-Grandpa McCaslin and Lauren 12-23-07. (I tried to rotate the picture, but it was on CD first since I took too many pictures and Uncle Luke had to help me out, so the files were read-only.)

Grandpa Wade (Paul's dad) and Lauren after church 12-23-07

Four generations of Wades at Church 12-23-07. Paul, Lisa, Grandma Wade, Lauren, Great-Grandma Wade, and Grandpa Wade

Uncle Luke and Lauren at Uncle Luke's house 12-23-07. I wasn't about to post the other picture with Uncle Luke, but I made a copy to send to him!!

4 Month Well-baby Check 12-27-07

I know, I know! I need to update the blog with pictures of Lauren from Christmas! I will say that we all had a blast with her this year and that she was SPOILED ROTTEN by all.

The last update I have was from Wednesday when I had had Lauren to the doctor for the 2nd time that week. I took her back Thursday. In less than 24 hours of being on amoxicillian and an inhaler, she was a COMPLETELY different child! She was smiling, breathing a little easier, at eating again. The doctor didn't tell me until we were about to walk out the door that he was really surprised that her RSV results came back negative because he was convinced she had it. We both agreed that we're grateful that we don't have that to deal with yet!

She's had great response from the medication and was able to have her well-baby check up and shots Thursday. She only got 2 of the 3 she was scheduled for because the batch of HIB that was sent to our doctor was recalled. They've tested all that the doctor's office has had and it has all be negative, but they wanted to be sure everything was safe. In that, we're behind on one shot until the company can send new vaccines to the doctor.

Lauren is now 25 inches long and weighs 13 pounds, 6 3/4 ounces. The doctor was as disbelieving as I was that her height put her into the 70th percentile and her weight into the 90th percentile! That doesn't seem right (though Lauren has developed a little belly and love handles!), but it is what it is! Head circumference was 16 cm.

Lauren has been eating solids since November 10, which the doctor gave me the LOOK for doing, but I told him that she showed all the signs except doubling her birth weight, so I wasn't going to hold back. She's meeting all milestones appropriately and he said Lauren looks great! We're scheduled to go back for her 6 month shots February 29.

Lauren Update

Lauren was at the doctor on Monday and was found to have a virus. I was out of work a half-day with her Monday and all day Tuesday because she wasn't any better Tuesday. I had to go to work on Wednesday for meetings, but I called daycare while I was at work and she was fine. Just before Paul picked Lauren up for her doctor's appointment on Wednesday, however, she spiked a fever, the first time she's ever done this. Two hours beforehand, she was inconsolable, crying, not eating, miserable. Paul got her to the doctor and I met them. Lauren looked so wretched! I felt horrible for her!

The doctor ran another bloodtest, this time showing elevated blood levels to indicate a bacterial infection. He sent us to the hospital for a chest xray and nasal swabs for RSV and the flu. (Two students in Lauren's class have viral pneumonia and one has RSV.) The results for the RSV and flu were negative (thank goodness!!). We haven't heard on the chest xray yet.

I'm taking Lauren to the doctor at 11:30 on Thursday for a check. The doctor called in a prescription for an inhaler for Lauren to help with the cough (as her lungs are clear--but when she has coughing attacks, they take her breath away!) and amoxicillian for the bacteria. She slept MUCH better Wednesday night than she has over the past week. She's been in a really good, happy mood this morning, so I'm hoping that we're nipping this nasty sickness before it got really bad!

Lots of Changes!

Lauren with Mommy at Golden Corral after Harris's baptism 12-16-07


Sitting up (with a little help from Daddy) 12-15-07


Baking peanut butter kiss cookies with Mommy 12-15-07

(trying) to drink from my new sippy cup 12-15-07

I bought this for Lauren after she spent the previous night staring at and crying for my water glass!

Lauren in her exersaucer 12-15-07

She wanted to stand, so we brought this out of the attic for Lauren to try. She really enjoyed herself (but needed some help to get her feet to touch the bottom)

Sick baby 12-18-07

Lauren had been fussy since Saturday night. She's been stuffy and had a runny nose. Daycare called me at school on Monday to let me know she was crying (that sick pitiful cry!) and had vomited mucus. I took her to the doctor--another virus, so nothing to do but wait it out. We got for 4 month shots Wednesday. If she isn't better, I plan to ask for a decongestant.

Photo Update

Paul's cousin, Missy, holding Lauren 12-08-07. Missy came to NC to run a half marathon in Charlotte on Saturday and came to stay with us a few nights to visit. We had a good time!

Lauren having tummy time. Look how well she's lifting and holding her head! She's really proud of herself! 12-08-07

Paul holding Frosty the Snowgirl...I mean, Lauren! Lauren's school hosted a Christmas play for each of the classes. Lauren's class, the infants, were dressed as Frosties and held by parents or teachers while the song played in the background. This was taken before the play. Lauren had a rough day and fell asleep as I was trying to dress her in her costume. 12-09-07

Paul holding a former Frosty who woke up as soon as she sat down with Daddy! 12-09-07

Daddy, Mommy, and Sleeping Frosty before the play 12-09-07

Reaching for toys while playing! This is a new skill within the past two weeks that has gotten more deliberate. Lauren spent a good 20-30 minutes playing on her mat with her bugs.

12-12-07

Some kids like thumbs...if Lauren doesn't have her pacifier, she prefers two fingers in her mouth! It's usually her pointer and middle fingers. However, I think she got mixed up!

12-12-07

Lauren drooled as I ate my pizza then honed in on a bag of Oreos. (Yes, we ate poorly tonight! It's all the stress of the pending holidays.) I figured she may want something solid herself, so I tried green beans...and she was happy to see the bowl and spoon...and, surprisingly, ate her green beans without much mess until she GRABBED THE SPOON FROM MY HAND AND GUIDED IT TO HER MOUTH! I called Paul in to watch her do it a second time! His mouth fell open. Then she pulled the spoon to her forehead where there is a gob of food...then her cheeks and mouth...and shirt...then hands! See that grip she has on that spoon? She's getting ready. (We gave her a bath after this and she's grown so much that she's almost too long for her tub! She isn't quite ready to sit up in the tub, but she can do it with support.)

What a busy week, and it's not over yet!

16 Weeks

This was the first time she smiled when I told her to smile for the camera! I hope this continues!

Getting ready to roll!

We've certainly been blessed with our little one! Lauren's such a joy! However, she's been battling yet another diaper rash/yeast infection! I took her to the doctor today(Friday) to get another prescription. The good thing is that she is gaining weight! She was 11 pounds, 6 ounces the last time we went to the doctor (about a month ago) and she now weights 12 pounds 13 1/4 ounces! WOW!! She's still skinny, but she has filled out and is really doing well. Her appointment was right in the middle of her PM nap time (4-6 PM) and she didn't appreciate being woken up. She didn't cry when we weighed her. Actually, she started to cry when her doctor said, "I never had a little girl and I just want to hold her!" He said to Lauren, "I just don't know how it is to hold a little girl. This isn't part of your visit today, but it's a bonus for me." Lauren commenced crying! She's never done that before when a stranger has held her! I"m thinking that she really knows who "her people" are! I hope that this isn't a new thing.

Lauren has decided that she likes to suck her pointer and middle fingers at the same time and the part of her palm under her thumb. I guess that she doesn't have a meaty enough thumb to make it worth her while.

She continues to grow longer than around. She keeps growing out of her 3-6 month clothes. A lot of things just keep getting too short! It's like she's wearing capris in the middle of winter! All of the Christmas things we have have been worn once and put up in the attic with the other clothes she's outgrown.

Lauren's been rolling more, too. She looked like she was trying to break out of her sing this morning when I left her at school. It made me nervous. Then her teacher, Miss Shelly, said that Lauren rolled over for the first time without getting her arm stuck while in her crib! (Shelly said that she was able to snap a picture, too.) Lauren almost rolled off the kitchen counter when we were giving her a bath on Wednesday (even with my hand on her to keep her from rolling!). I now fear that we're in for a ride in the next few months...she'll be tottling around too soon!

Photo Update 12-01-07

Lauren sleeping while holding onto her Daddy's finger. Paul tried to unattach her grip to move her to her crib, and Lauren woke up...fell asleep again when Paul let her hold his finger.

Watching Mommy wash bottles. Lauren got restless, so Mommy gave her a plastic spoon to play with. She LOVED to his the animals on her toy bar with it!

Tummy time!!

All grins...

Lauren has had a really rough time with diaper rashes. She gets them constantly! I think she's had at least 8. Her last one was so bad that none of the diaper rash creams helped. (We tried Desitin Clear, A and D, and Aveeno.) I ended up taking her to the doctor for a cream that helped treat a yeast infection and diaper rash at the same time. (Hers was so bad that we couldn't tell if it was just a rash, a yeast infection, or both.) The prescription took a long while to work, but we finally got rid of the rash. On Tuesday, it was back. We even tried changing her diaper brands from Pampers Swaddlers (our favorite) to regular Pampers and generic diapers with no relief. (I change her at least every 2 hours at home and she gets changed every 3 hours at school.) Lauren's teachers told me to try Triple Paste that CVS carries. It was $10 for 2 ounces and $20 for 8 ounces...I opted for the larger tub given our history. The cashier told me that if it didn't work, I could return it for a refund. (THAT was a shocker.) In just 24 hours of using this paste, just enough to cover all the red, the rash is virtually GONE! So if anyone has any issue with diaper rash like I think Lauren is destined to have, try this stuff before going to the doctor. Between my copay and the prescription (which was 1/5 the size of the 8 ounce tub), I saved at least $20 and two hours of my time.