Our Poor Little Chickie has been Sickie‏

This past month has involved a lot of sickness for Margo. She has been well most of her 1st year and now that I am exposing her to the germs of The Little Gym, she is sick one week after another it seems. She is currently suffering from a cold that has lasted over week so far. Her little nose is raw and I feel sorry for her. The two weeks prior she had a bad sore throat and high fevers that resulted in a lot of traumatic testing by the doctor. I am wondering if putting her through all of that was really necessary. I guess I better get used to it since she will be going to daycare two days a week starting in January. In the mean time, please pray that our sweet girl can get a break from all of this illness.

This past month has been a ton of fun too! Whoa, it is amazing how many new things she has started doing. It seems like I get a new surprise every day! One day Margo was in her highchair doing something funny with her arms. I could not figure it out until we were in the bath later and I realized that she was rolling her arms as part of patty cake. When I started singing it she started doing it over and over—it was so cute! She loves to clap, wave, jump and dance all the time. Our girl is full of energy and her little arms and body are constantly on the move! Pushing her various walkers and toys are still her favorite thing to do.

Just after her 1st birthday she took her 1st steps… about four steps to me. We were so excited and she kept trying, but got sick a few days later and kind of regressed. She was tired and just didn’t feel like putting the effort or bravery into walking. About three weeks later she started walking again. This time we caught it on tape and she seems to get stronger and more confident each day. I imagine that in a another week we will have a full-time walker on our hands… watch out world! When she first started walking I decided to go shoe shopping which has turned out to be a challenge. Margo does not like shoes… at all! She cried in the shoes store and then had a few fits when I tried to put them on her at home. I keep showing her everyone’s shoes and put them on briefly, without tears, with the hopes she will get comfortable with it. She loves to be outside, so she’s got to start accepting those shoes if she wants to be mobile.



We also had a hard time introducing milk which surprised me because Margo loves all things food and will eat just about anything! What I have concluded is that Margo’s terrible sore throat may have been the primary culprit. When she was sick, I could barely get her to drink 8 oz. of formula a day and she would eat virtually nothing. She has definitely thinned out a bit, but still has beautiful chunky arms and legs. Getting back on track, Margo would not drink her milk, even barely mixed with formula. I gave up and went back to formula until she was well. We started slow by mixing 4 oz. formula with 2 oz. milk. We are now down to only milk--yaay--and she is drinking better than she has in months. I am so relieved that it turned out to be easier than originally expected! She is also taking two servings of milk from a sippy cup and I am still doing a morning and bedtime bottle. She likes her cup, so I don’t think it will be a problem, but I must say I am sad to stop the bedtime bottle. I feel like this is my bonding time with Margo where we sit quietly together and sing and pray. I have treasured this time so very much and find that letting go of my little baby is so hard and painful! Nonetheless, my plan is to have her completely off of bottles in time for our Thanksgiving trip to the beach.

Since my last post, Margo has gotten over the fear of washing her hair and has gotten much more steady in the big girl bath. She actually LOVES her bath again and even wants to lay back and put her head in the water. She also likes to put her face in the water and drink the water and taste the bubbles—yuck! I just let her do it with the hope that she will outgrow it soon. Margo also has six teeth now, four upper and two lower. We started brushing her teeth which she thinks is a hoot!

Our favorite day of the week is Wednesday when we get to go to The Little Gym. To say that Margo loves it is an understatement! She laughs almost the entire time! She has also proved to be very strong! On her first day she hung the longest from the bar and even did a mini pull-up! Her teacher was very impressed. She loves the freedom of moving around such a large space and likes to watch the other kids. I am so glad I got the nerve to take her, with my sister’s urging, because she has such little interaction with other kids and I can see how good it has been for her!

As always, this past month has been fun and wonderful despite Margo being sick so much! Life takes on a whole new meaning as a parent and I truly look forward to each and every day with our girl!