BEDTIME??

The dreaded "I don't wanna go to bed" stage is fast approaching. The past few nights Alida has been difficult to put down. She is like the Energizer Bunny when it comes to bedtime. It's hard to know when it's really time for her to go down...she's so happy and plays so nicely! We keep trying for the 7:30 or 8:00 bedtime but the way things are ending up these past few nights we are lucky to get her down by 10 or 10:30!!! We are hoping this is a phase! It has to be!! How can anyone get anything accomplished with a one year old running around?? Did you ever try to clean a toilet with your baby at your heels? It ain't happenin'!

10 of Alida's favorite things...

The following is a short but descriptive list of Alida's top 10 favorite things (order is completely random):

1. Shoes....wearing them, carrying them and taking them off. Again and again and again....

2. Blowing raspberries on mommy's belly.....she is sooooo good at this! This makes daddy laugh every time! Poor Mommy can't lay down on the floor without being attacked these days!!

3. The "I'm gonna get you" game....it throws her into fits of giggles and makes her run somewhat lopsided since she keeps trying to look back to see how close you are to actually getting her.

4. Going outside....once you say it you better do it or else.....

5. Giving kisses....just ask and you shall receive! And sometimes there's no need to ask!!

6. Mom-Mom.....poor mommy is a second rate citizen when Mom-Mom is around!!

7. BLUEBERRIES....still her favorite and a staple at the Lewandoski household.

8. Grabbing things she isn't supposed to have then running away with them as quickly as possible, she looks back to see if you are about to grab it...realizing she can't get away fast enough she throws the item across the room before you can get it!! This drives me CRAZY...but it's so darn cute (and smart!)!

9. Dogs, cats, cows, etc, etc......she always has a smile for them even through her tears.

10. Carrying a purse.....so adorable. She'll load her arm with bags bending her elbow to keep them on and walk around the house with a look of triumph.

She melts our hearts and pushes our buttons ever day!!!

All better!

Alida’s neck is 100% better!! Thank God! I felt as if it was never going to heal. The doctor ordered an X-Ray and we put it off until the end of last week. On Friday morning Alida’s neck seemed so much better! So, we skipped the X-Ray. It looks as if she has made a full recovery. It was seriously starting to scare me! A doctor that works with my mom pulled up some information on torticollis (aka wry neck)…it is caused by an underlying illness. It doesn’t make much sense to me but we administered some Benadryl (relaxes the smooth muscles) and continued with the Motrin. Not sure what did it…time, medicine, prayer…maybe all three! We’re just glad it’s better!!

Poor little stiff neck :(

She will be going for an X-Ray of her hand in the coming weeks. The hand therapist didn’t think it was trigger thumb which is good to hear. She seems to think that over time it will get stronger…that we need to encourage Alida to use it more and correct her when she holds things awkwardly. I do notice that she sometimes uses it the right way…more often than not she tucks it in and makes a fist though. So…we’ll see what the X-Ray says and we will work on some play therapy!

Let's play peek-a-boo.....

Alida has started carrying a purse around. It is the cutest thing! I guess she is so used to seeing me carrying different bags on my shoulder that she wants to do it too! It all started will her small cooler bag…she has been dragging that thing around for a few months now. I pulled out an old purse of mine and ever since she loves to carry it around swinging from her elbow. SO cute! She has also become obsessed with shoes…she tramps around the house with one shoe on a good amount of the time. She will come to me bringing one shoe with her and point to her foot; she will then sit down waiting for me to put it on. She rarely brings both shoes so being the lazy mom that I am…I put one on and don’t worry about the other!

Look how long her hair is getting! Time for pigtails!!

We are still waiting for the little lady to start yapping away!! We thought she’d be spitting out all kinds of stuff by now….but it’s still just ‘mama’, ‘dada’, the occasional ‘ball’ and lots of whining! Last night during a thunderstorm she sat on the floor with me staring out the sliding door at the rain coming down. She was very still and quiet….when the thunder would crash she would look at me very serious in her expression and say a different nonsense word each time….”bauble”, “daba”, etc….it was adorable! I wish I had it on tape!!! She has also started singing! SOOOO adorable! Words cannot describe how cute it is to listen to a little baby try and sing a tune! HAHA!!

Alida is always reading...she even babbles as she turns the pages! :)

No more searching the NET!

Poor Miss Alida. We start off addressing her hand problem and make a few appointments to deal with that. Then this past week she starts to act a little funny. On Thursday I was home with her…I worked Wednesday instead…and she was refusing to sleep for me. Not very unusual but she was so tired it wasn't even funny. It was late afternoon and I decided to put her brand new shoes on so she could walk around and try them out. She was clunking around the hall and I thought she was walking funny due to the shoes – much bigger and heavier than she is used to. I looked a little closer and noticed that she was holding her neck funny, her shoulders were hunched up and she couldn't turn her head very far in either direction. The poor baby could not look up at all! So…I ran next door to get the opinion of my nurse neighbor…she agreed that a phone call to the doc was needed. Well….apparently it was a pulled muscle because she had no other symptoms. I talked my mom into asking one of the doc’s at her work this weekend to take a look and she noticed that Alida’s lymph nodes were a bit swollen…which could cause the neck stiffness. Nothing too serious…we should wait it out and it should improve. One bottle of Motrin and 5 days later and here we are with a neck that is still stiff. She will be going to see the doctor this evening. I have been driving myself crazy by looking online to see what it could be….not a good idea! Meningitis, Cerebral Palsy…a bunch of other things I can’t pronounce or spell! No more Internet searching for me! I hope this neck problem isn't anything to worry about…. I know that God is watching over her and I pray that he will keep her healthy!

A Quick Recap...

I took Alida to see the hand doctor the other day. He wasn't entirely sure what was wrong with Alida's hand so we have to go and get an X-ray and then make another appointment to see a Certified Hand Specialist. He doesn't think it looks all that serious....he mentioned "trigger thumb" but expressed that if that's what it is then it's a very slight case of it as there was no "clicking" when her thumb was moved and there was a wide range of motion.



On another note...we just got back from the beach! A mini gal's vacation. Alida did wonderfully! She ate lots of sand and drank lots of ocean water.....isn't that what all 13 month old's do? She was a handful though....she wanted to walk EVERYWHERE!!! She was so sick of the stroller! We tried to let her walk as much as we could but with the crowds it was somewhat difficult. Being the independent little girl that she is every time she was returned to her stroller she would play the "stiff as a board" game. So much fun!! On vacation she seemed to babble more than ever and now that we are home she seems to be saying "ball" (or some form of that word) and "dog" or "down". It's so cute to watch! I have also been teaching her some more sign language....she knows milk and all done. I am currently working on "please", "thank you", "more" and "drink". Either she'll say it or sign it! That's what I figure!


Lounging on one of our MANY walks.

Not sure if she likes her hands to be sandy!


Enjoying her beach toys!


She LOVED the birds! AMAZING!


All tuckered out after one of her MANY rides/walks!

PARTY TIME!

First of all I would like to send out a HUGE thank you to all of you that helped me with Alida's party!! Matt and I are so incredibly lucky to have friends and family like all of you!!

The party was a success! The balloons were deflated when I arrived in the morning....who knew that helium wouldn't last over night??!! i was tempted to run out and get more balloons but there just wasn't enough time! The day started off with some family pictures (the Lewandoski side) taken by my friend, Suzanne Collier. The picture process reminded me just how hot it was outside! UGH! It was pretty humid which made matters worse. Alida was quite clingy and not her usual self throughout the pictures but she didn't meltdown, which was good! The rest of the day is quite a blur. I'm not sure if I sat down or even got to talk to anyone. I felt like I was running around with my head cut off before the party even started. This is apparently common at first birthdays! Thank goodness it only happens once for each child :-) I think (at least I hope!) everyone enjoyed themselves, the food and was able to keep at least somewhat cool. The kids kept themselves busy in the baby pools....thank goodness we had them! We only forgot two things all day...the ice cream and the DVD. Considering the cake was huge and my wonderful sis-in-law, September, baked some absolutely delicious desserts I don't think the ice cream was missed. As for the DVD...since no one really knew it existed it wasn't a big deal. But we really wanted to show off our hard work in creating a slide show for her first year. I am hoping to figure out a way to download it to the blog....haven't been able to do it yet. But...all in all the party went quite well.

Alida held herself together quite well. She didn't nap as perfectly in the morning as I had hoped...I knew that would happen. But, she pulled through.....I don't remember any tantrums!

The little bubble blower