the big barf theory

We hit two unpleasant milestones in one day: the first scary choking-on-food incident, followed by the first toddler barf. Sure, she spit up as a baby, and I remember her gagging on her breakfast the day of her first birthday and puking, but that didn't quite match up to this.

Olivia had a dentist appointment, and I promised her a stop at Dunkin' Donuts on the way home for a bagel. I also got us some Munchkins and let her have one in the car. She was eating another at the table when she got quiet. This girl doesn't get quiet ... like, ever. I looked at her and her facial expression was one I hadn't seen before. She made a little gagging face and I realized that she probably stuffed the entire donut hole into her mouth at once. I'm embarrassed to admit that I wasn't quite up on my toddler choking protocol -- I know what to do with infants, but I couldn't remember back to the infant CPR class I took before Olivia was born.

I grabbed her out of her chair and whacked her on the back a couple of times (note to anyone reading this: I've since learned that you're supposed to do the Heimlich on older children). I asked her if she was ok and she didn't answer. My terror level shot up even higher at that point, because like I said, she doesn't ever stop talking. I swept her mouth with my finger and couldn't feel anything, so I whacked her on the back while asking her to talk to me. She croaked, "Talk talk" in a pathetic, quiet voice ... and then proceeded to hurl all over the kitchen floor. Strangely and thankfully, she seemed entirely unfazed by the ordeal. I helped her rinse her mouth out in the bathroom and then she asked to watch TV. Typical Olivia.

Have I mentioned how I feel about vomiting? Emetophobic would be a good way to describe me. It ranks up there in my top five fears, maybe even above general anesthesia and bees. If someone merely mentions that their stomach hurts or lets out more than one sigh that I interpret as the pre-puke style breathing, it's enough to send me into a panic. So you can imagine how well I did with this. I'll spare you the details, but I survived. And I became even more thankful for my new Hoover Floormate. ;)

smile (7 weeks)

[* smile obtained by grinning like a maniac and saying such things as "wubba nub nub!" in a loud and high-pitched voice]

ah-day ---> ok

Olivia seems to be getting more and more grown up every day. She's always been a big talker, but she's expanding her vocabulary and some of her cute mispronunciations are starting to fade away. "Ah-day" for "ok" is one of them. And instead of always saying her name as OE, she'll sometimes say it as Oh-wee-ah. Thankfully, she still says dah-der-roo for kangeroo, which is probably my favorite word of hers. Editing to add that wick-wick is now music. She's growing up too fast!

Olivia has a follow-up dentist appointment tomorrow and has been saying "no dentist" every night when I brush her teeth. Yes, that will be a lot of fun. And her 2-year-old well baby visit next week on the same day as Audrey's 2-month checkup (and first vaccinations - ugh). That should be interesting. Shall we take bets on who will start crying first? ;)

6 weeks old!

Can you tell I'm almost never on my laptop these days? If only blogger made an iphone app ... ;)




You can see her giant cephalohematoma -- which has thankfully gone away -- in the 2- and 3-week photos. It was quite the enormous goose egg, causing everyone to ask if she was a forceps/vacuum delivery (she wasn't).

Here's proud big sister Olivia with Audrey. She's doing so well with her and doesn't seem super jealous (so far). When Audrey cries, Olivia enjoys saying, "Wah! Wah! Wah!" in a totally monotone voice. I haven't had a chance to get a video of it yet, because, you know, when one is screaming and the other is faux-crying, I'm generally sweating and twitchy and don't think to reach for the Flip camcorder. But it's pretty funny.


We're doing really well overall! I wish I had more time to post here -- I still need to post Audrey's birth story, for instance -- but hopefully that will change at some point.

1 month old already

That whole "time flies" thing is really true. I'm not sure where the past month went! The newborn phase this time around doesn't seem as acutely exhausting -- probably because I've already lived (suffered? :P) through the Big Life Change from an adult able to do whatever I pleased whenever I pleased to someone living with a tiny, squalling dictator who is unable to do things like take showers without a lot of planning. But getting online other than to quickly check email on my phone proves to be difficult most days. I know it'll get better as she gets older, so I'm trying to enjoy the needs-to-be-held-nonstop phase we're in now.

Audrey had her 1-month appointment today. She went from 7 pounds 9 ounces at birth (and then 7 pounds 1 ounce at discharge from the hospital and 6 pounds 6 ounces two days later) to 8 pounds 3 ounces. She's 21 1/4" long (was 18 3/4" at birth) and her head circumference is 37 cm. According to the babycenter.com percentile calculator, that means:

Length = in percentile 25
Weight = between percentile 10 and 25
Head Circumference = above percentile 95

Unlike Olivia, who has consistently been in the 95th-98th percentile for height since birth, we have a little shorty on our hands. Apparently with a big noggin to boot. It's so hard not to compare the two of them.

Speaking of Olivia, she's 23 months old today! Preparation for her big second birthday bash has begun. I asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday -- not imagining she would have an opinion -- and her reply was "Have a Dora party!" I didn't think I'd have to worry about a character/theme party so soon, but a Dora party she shall have.

Pictures to come. Really. Soon (hopefully).