Garbage Pail

Just because I named my youngest child "Garbage Pail," she decided to go and change her habits on me. After she realized that there is more to a baby's diet than peas and green beans, she started to have an opinion of her own.

I used to always have the camera and video camera in action whenever I gave Sophia a new food just to capture her expression on camera. She always gave the same face, with absolutely no expression, every time we gave her something new. So we named her "Garbage Pail" for a few days because she'd eat any and everything we gave her.

But, apparently, she wasn't such a big fan of the name. And she learned that there is more to life than peas and green beans. Now she refuses to eat anything green. She loves her yellow veggies and almost any fruit. Mango included!

As for the plain Cheerios and scrambled eggs, she is not a fan!




At least I finally did get that funny expression that I wanted so badly on camera on Tuesday. Notice the scrambled egg in mid-fall in the second picture.

And before you go and judge that I'm feeding my 8 month old scrambled eggs (Gasp!), please realize that the doctor said to start feeding these allergy prone foods earlier rather than later because the American Academy of Pediatrics has changed their take on it. They now think it is better to have those allergy prone foods earlier.

The good news is that she did not have an adverse reaction to the eggs as her sister did when she was a baby.

If it was perfect

I wouldn't know what to do!

I am slowly trying really, really hard to let go of the need for everything in my life to be picture perfect. Because it hasn't been...in quite a long time...if ever! But definitely not since either one of my girls entered into my life.

I have always tried hard to succeed at everything I do, and not just succeed, but succeed with flying colors. And I have failed miserably. Because you cannot be good at everything. It just isn't possible. There are not enough hours in the day.

So, while looking through some pictures I took today, I decided to enjoy the less than perfect shot and see it for what it is. Just another typical day with loving sisters. These girls truly do love one another, but they often do not want to be bothered by the other.

And as I found this picture, I remember taking a family shot for a family at Wills Park in Alpharetta on the 4th of July this year. I took one picture with a digital camera. I then asked the grandmother if she would like for me to take another picture of all of them. She responded, "No, if it was perfect, we wouldn't know what to do." And for some reason I have not forgotten her response to me.

And my heart melted

Sophia took off crawling for good on Monday as there is no stopping her now! She officially started crawling the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but she's been pretty lazy since that Saturday and until Monday would only scoot a few feet if she really wanted something. And, scoot is the key word as she learned to crawl up on her knees the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but she pretty much resorted to scooting until Monday.

Despite her new found independence though, she still needs her mommy! On Sunday, I left the room while we were eating dinner. Her eyes followed me as I left the room and she babbled "Ma-Ma." She had babbled "Ma-Ma" months ago although it completely had no meaning to her. And then she stopped babbling for awhile. But, she's really been babbling quite a bit lately. It has mostly been "Da-Da" with an occasional random "Ma-Ma" though.

Though I'm not certain yet she knows her Daddy is "Da-Da," I am fairly certain she meant to say "Ma-Ma" as I left the room on Sunday. Or perhaps it was just a coincidence.

But, my heart truly melted last night when this sweet girl who was oh so very sleepy started fussing and babbling "Ma-Ma, Ma-Ma, Ma-Ma" as she crawled her way across the room to find me. She still needs me, and I love it!

I don't remember Annabelle ever doing that, although I am sure she probably did. But, that Sophia of mine truly melted my heart last night! It is still smiling!

As I rocked a fussy Sophia to sleep last night, I smiled and wondered why my heart was so unsure of this child a year ago. And last night my heart actually ached at the thought that God could possibly make this our last child. Although there are many days that I feel I am not worthy to raise any of His children.

All I want for Christmas

is my two front teeth! Sophia can now wish you a Merry Christmas!

Tooth #2 officially popped its way through on Tuesday, a week after the first tooth.

In a Nutshell

Here is a recap of our week:

1. Annabelle had skin tests done on Monday to test for allergies. As I suspected, she is allergic to pistachios. Cashews actually came up clear, but we'll still stay away from those as the doctor said the two nuts typically go hand and hand. In other words, if a child is allergic to cashews, they are more likely than not allergic to pistachios. The coconut skin test also caused a tiny mosquito type bite as well, but the doctor didn't seem too concerned and said that a coconut allergy is very rare. He said she is one of the rare few who is allergic to a tree nut, but not allergic to all tree nuts. Most kids are allergic to all tree nuts if they are allergic to one. I have to schedule to have some blood drawn to confirm her allergies to the tree nuts though. That should be fun.

2. The allergist wrote her a prescription for an Epi-Pen which I am thankful to have based on the last time she actually had a pistachio. I didn't think she was allergic to them because she had them in the past, but after a sample at Sam's, she started getting a rash around her lips along with a cough, and her throat started to swell. I called the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta hotline, and they told me to call 911 immediately. I had already administered Benadryl, but the nurse said we needed to hang up, dial 911 and to not attempt to even drive her to the hospital. Fortunately, the swelling of her throat was already decreasing when I hung up the phone, so we didn't end up dialing 911. However, after a scare with cashews while visiting Andy's Granny in TN, I am thankful to now have a prescription for an Epi-Pen. After we had all been snacking on some popcorn, I looked at the package and noticed that it contained cashews. His Granny lives in the country, and I had left the Children's Benadryl at home. Fortunately, she didn't have a reaction at all.

3. Annabelle also had skin tests done to test for allergies to molds, cats, dogs and dust mites. He tested for dust mites since I told him we lived in an older home and that it seemed to me she is allergic to something in the house. Unfortunately, she showed no signs of allergies to any of those. I say "unfortunately" because I was really hoping she would be allergic to cats.

4. Annabelle has been doped up on antihistamines all week to reduce the itching caused by her extreme case of eczema. On Friday of last week, the dermatologist diagnosed her with nummular eczema which he said is difficult to treat. She also has Gianotti-Crosti Syndrome. It sounds rather life threatening if you ask me, but it is actually just a rash caused by a virus that she has apparently had recently. Per the dermatologist, it just has to "run its course." The rash related to the Gianotti-Crosti Syndrome could last for 1-2 months.

5. Annabelle's behavior is quite extreme as a result of the antihistamines. Atarax to be exact. The dermatologist wants her to continue on this medication until we see him again in January. I may lose my right mind! Her terrible behavior is really driving my patience. 4 year olds are not supposed to act like this on a daily basis.

6. Sophia's first tooth shined its way through officially on Tuesday! It is her middle, bottom, left tooth. If you are looking at her, it is her middle, bottom right tooth.

7. Sophia was very constipated Wednesday night. I called the Children's Healthcare hotline again when it seemed she was never going to push that mess out all on her own. The nurse on call recommended Fleet Pedia-Lax which is a liquid glycerin suppository. Since it is for ages 2-5 years, we were to use only half of it. I sent hubby to the store while I stayed home and tried to comfort a screaming Sophia. She finally fell asleep nursing in my arms. But, it did make administering the suppository that much easier. We went through this with Annabelle too when she was a baby, but Annabelle wasn't even in quite as much pain as poor Sophia. It is either that or Sophia is just a wimp! Poor baby! I hate to see them hurting! With Annabelle, the rice cereal caused her constipation. But, Sophia didn't start having constipation issues until I started her on the sweet potatoes, squash and green beans. Now does that make any sense at all?

8. Sophia is such an angel baby! An angel baby with a very definitive temper! I'm not sure what that means for her toddler years. Of course, her nights are still rough, so she ends up in the bed with us before the evening is over. I've never really wanted my children to co-sleep with us, but Sophia is making her way into our bed very quickly as her Mommy needs a little shut eye!

What's in a name?

Who'd thought we would pick the most popular baby name for any of our children? We definitely were avoiding a popular name 4 years ago when we picked Annabelle. And oddly enough, Annabelle is now listed as one of the top 100 baby names for 2010, with a rank of 69 to be exact! Seriously folks? You couldn't be original when you chose that name? I never knew another Annabelle until after Annabelle was born!

http://www.babycenter.com/top-baby-names-2010

We were definitely not going with the popularity of the name when we chose it 4 years ago. I always hated that I was one of 4 _ _ _ _'s in every class, or so it seemed.

But, we chose Sophia because it is such a beautiful name, and we just liked the antique charm of the name. And since Annabelle has its own antique charm, Sophia was a nice match. And, honestly, we already knew it was on the top 10 list for 2009. Who'd thought Sophia would be the #1 name for 2010 though! I think we'll definitely start calling her Sophie now as Sophie is ranked way down on the list to #45.

Of course, I think all of my favorite names are on the top 100 list because apparently antique charm is the rage.

I am going to seriously have to think up something original before our next girl comes along? Hmmm. How does Drucilla sound? I don't think we can get much more original! And it still has a little antique ring to it, doesn't it?

I bet that name will never top the top 100 list! But, I bet she'd be one sweet and determined young woman one day! Because you see, that was my grandmother's name. And you cannot get any more precious than her. Annabelle was almost Samantha because my grandmother's name was Drucilla Samantha. Unfortunately, hubby butchered the name Samantha long ago so I had a hard time getting past his sense of humor. And he had to butcher it pretty bad for me not to want to use the name because I absolutely adored that woman!