Another Ear Infection - AND Pink Eye!!

OK, so in the month of January, Finley has made 2 trips to Urgent Care and 2 trips to the regular doctor. She has had 2 sets of ear infections, a consistent cold, and now pink eye to add to the list. Her mother has been to the Minute Clinic and the regular doctor with a sinus infection and her father has been struck down with a bad cold. It has been quite a month and the cold weather hasn't been helping, either! We're ready for spring.

Despite her un-wellness, Finley has been pretty delightful most of the time. She is now about 19 1/2 pounds, and 29 inches. Her new favorite thing to do is put her butt up in the air and her head on the ground. She also has really been into reading books and throwing things. While we were waiting for her prescription today at Target, she threw her straw on the ground and made her version of "uh-oh". It wasn't quite the "uh-oh" sounds, but it was definitely the intonations, and she did it over and over again.

And, anyone who reads this blog is invited to Finley's birthday party, February 17th and 3:00pm.

Happy 11 Months, Finley!

Sorry it's been so long! First, our computer had a virus and was out for a week. Then, I had a virus and was out for a week! I know you have all been in Finley withdrawal, as a result. While we were out of commission, Finners turned 11 months. Of Finley's new tricks, my favorite is actually an old trick she just keeps building on. I think I've mentioned before about how much Finley loves hats and how she touches her head when she sees a person with a hat or a hood on. Now, she's starting to take our hats off and put them on her head. Today, when I picked her up from daycare, she clearly tried to say "hat" as she put my hat on her head. She didn't quite get the "t" sound down, but she definitely got the "ha". She also CLEARLY said "Mom!" for the first time after I gave her a small taste of cookie dough, then took it away so I could eat some more. She really liked the cookie dough.

As for the pictures, you can see that Finners is really getting some hair. This shows a picture of Finley after she walked around the living room for 45 minutes with her hat on (I'm telling you - she loves them!). She's also giving one of her famous "krusties". The ladies at daycare told me they are going to start taking lessons from Finley on how to look disgusted. I told them she gets it from Dale, although now that I think about it, she could have picked it up from Auntie Megan just as easily (JK!). Finley also loves playing with the toy Great Grandma Joyce and Great Grandpa Bud gave her for Christmas. It shoots balls out the top and she laughs and laughs and catches them and tries to put them back in. She's very smart and has figured out how to put other things down the tube, like pens, too! And finally, Finley is really digging her blankies. She walks all over the house with one of her blankies tagging behind her or between her legs. She's like a little Linus. It's so cute! We can't wait to see what the final month of her first year brings...

All Better :)

So, Finley's illness didn't end with the last entry. So for those of you who didn't call already to hear the story (Grandmas!), here's the ending. On Friday, I went to work and Cam stayed home with Finn. He called around 9:15 am and said that Finley had woken up with a rash all over her body. He called the nurse and I came home since I had the car seat and we might have had to take her in to the doctor for a third time. Dr. Noll called back and switched her from amoxocillin to azithromycin and we hoped for the best. She was still lethargic and not eating Saturday morning, which made us both very nervous. My oh-so-smart big sister called and told me about the time Sadie had a double ear infection. She said she wouldn't eat or nurse either because she always nursed her laying down and the pressure hurt Sadie's ears, so I tried nursing with Finley propped up and, lo and behold, it worked! I complained that the ibuprofen the doctor told me would work better than Tylenol for pain wasn't working because Finley was still moaning. Megan told me that it was probably hurting her stomach, especially since it was empty, and I should try Tylenol again. I did and, of course, it worked, too! So, after a low-key day, Sadie and Megan and Phil came up to play. Really, I think a visit from her bestie, Sadie, was all Finners needed because she got a LOT more energy as soon as she heard her cousin's voice at the bottom of the stairs. Sadie, Phil, Cam and I went sledding at the park not too far from the house while Auntie Megan gave the tired parents a break. The park has a HUGE hill that's all lit up and a skating rink and a hockey rink and a warming house and it's really cool. Sadie was very brave and wanted to go down with her Auntie over and over and over again. We had so much fun Saturday night that Cam and I bought ice skates for Megan, Sadie, and myself on Sunday (Cam already had some and Phil didn't seem too interested...). We can't wait to go skating in a few weeks! Sadie, Phil, Megan, Cam and I stayed up late and played games, then we slept in and made a great big breakfast. Finley actually seemed halfway normal yesterday so after a long, dramatic illness, Finley was back in good spirits as she headed back to daycare for the first time in 2 weeks today. In fact, she didn't even bat an eye when I walked out the door of Kids Count this morning. She still only drank one bottle all day, but she ate real people food for the first time. The ladies wanted her to eat something so they gave her a wide variety of foods - froot loops and goulash and garlic bread and crackers - and she ate a little of everything. That's a far step from what she does for her mommy and daddy! She usually spits out anything with a texture. As for her new tricks, Finley now waves when you say "Hi, Finley" and she's all about copying whatever you do. She loves to blow raspberries when you do, she's wild about riding on her car and bouncing like a horsey, she thought she was the queen of all things when Cam sat her in the stuffed chair like a big girl, she loves to play with her drum and guitar, and -granted she was probably still thoroughly exhausted from her illness but - she slept ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE NIGHT from 7:30pm to 6:00am when we woke her up. You all know, though, what usually happens when I write those words...

Happy New Year

Before ringing in the New Year, we had some final Christmas celebrations with the Peterson side of the family and the Skancke side. Finley had a grand old time, until we came home... We went to Urgent Care on Tuesday and she was tested for strep and an ear infection. The test was negative and nothing was wrong with her ears, but she'd had a fever for 2 days and hadn't eaten any solid food since Sunday. (I think Cam could have benefited more from the trip than Finley since we celebrated the New Year at a party at Nick Danielson's!) Cam stayed home with her on Wednesday and I stayed home today. After she spent all of last night screaming and had even stopped nursing, I knew I had to take her in again to our doctor. She wouldn't wake up and when she was awake, she just laid on the floor moaning. She had a fever of 103 this morning. The doctor found 2 very obvious ear infections when we got there. Apparently, it probably started out viral and turned bacterial after the fluid sat there for so long. The doc said there's no way the other doc could have just missed this! Well, Finley slept all day long - mostly in my arms since every time I put her down, she'd wake up and scream. She did lay with me in a little nest of blankets for a long time. She hasn't left Cam's arms since he got home. I think the medicine is working its magic because she has at least sort of smiled twice in the last hour or so, although you couldn't tell it from the last picture. Cam is going to give her a little more TLC tomorrow. Happy New Year!