Bailey Ballerina

At the rec center close to our house, Bailey is taking preschool ballet. She had her first class this week, and it was pretty much the cutest thing I have even seen. Her teacher, Miss Brittney, asked the parents to leave so she could see how they would do. I can understand why she did it, but I was sad not see my little ballerina dance for the first time. Mike and I peeked in when they were stretching. It was adorable. The girls, including Bailey, were mostly looking around at their classmates instead of actually stretching. And when she did stretch, it was too cute. She is growing up too fast. What a beautiful ballerina!

Avery is one!!

At long last, here are pictures of Avery's first birthday. I can't believe that she is one already!

Bailey, being a sweetheart, was sad that Avery didn't get as many presents and she did for her birthday. However, as you can see, Avery got a big present instead.

Once she opened the baby, which also happened to be the first present, she didn't want to open any of the others. She only wanted that baby! Hopefully, now that Avery has her own "special" baby, she will leave Bailey's alone.

Like I said, she loves that baby!

I amazed even myself by making and decorating this cake. It came with great directions. (:

Notice the baby again.

My complaining post

I am really discouraged. Yesterday, Avery was officially diagnosed with a milk allergy. The doctor said he's not sure if it is a lactose intolerance, or a milk protein allergy, but it looks like an actually allergy. She gets hives every time she eats cottage cheese, has had diarrhea for the last two months and has had a horrific diaper rash complete with blisters and open sores. Poor baby!

I'm mostly frustrated because we have worked so hard to get her to like eating. Because of her severe reflux and long memory, she did not want to eat because it caused pain. Months on Prevacid had made her happy to eat again, but now she flat out refuses anything because her stomach has been bothering her for so long.

I feel like I'm back at square one with her. I guess I wouldn't worry so much if she wasn't so tiny. At her last appointment she was 1st percentile for weight. She used to be in the 80th. She has crossed so many growth lines that she meets the criteria for failure to thrive. How am I supposed to not worry?

I am really overwheled by this right now. Even that makes me feel guilty. My Avery-won't-eat-just-like-Bailey trial is so small compared to what it could be. She is relatively heathy. My life really is great. I just feel so frustrated that I have to keep doing this over and over again. First Bailey. Now Avery. Do I have to do this with a third child too?

I hope she eats something soon...

August in review

This month, I have obviously not kept up with the blog. Here are the highlights of this last month:

• Avery took her very first steps! She really wants to walk, and practices standing all day long. I'm sure she will be everywhere soon.
  
  
• My toothless baby is toothless no more. (Maybe she'll start looking like her age). Poor thing had six teeth coming in all the same time.
  
  
• Avery finally slept the entire night long- from 8:00pm to 7:00am. Yeah! And we didn't have to let her cry it out! She has yet to repeat the performance, but we are getting close.
• Avery has also found a new favorite game:
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• Bailey got her second ever haircut- from her two-year friend, Bailee. Luckily, even though the trash can was full of her beautiful curls, her hair is so thick you can hardly tell. One side is noticeably thinner. Oh well. I think it's time for another haircut.
• Mike and I had our first full day sans kids at King's Island, an amusement park in Cincinnati. We had a great time.
• Mike thought he had decided on general surgery, but is having a hard time letting go the great hours and equally great pay of orthopaedic surgery. He's doing radiology next month, and that specialty is still on the table. He's seriously thinking about interventional radiology because of the lifestyle and pay. Applications can be submitted Sept. 1st, only a few days away. Hopefully a brain wave will come his way ASAP. Maybe I'll set up a poll and take everyone's opinion...

The joys of parenting

Today I took Bailey and Avery to Papa Murphey's while Mike tried to "figure out his life." There was a line, so a young professional woman in very nice clothes moved over on the bench to make room for Bailey and me. Bailey promptly said to me, in a rather loud voice I might add, "Mom, you have lots of boogers all over your nose!"

Nice. I didn't actually have boogers all over my nose. I've had a wonderful summer cold this week so my nose is chapped and sore. On top of that, who knows when I last brushed my hair. Or how long the boogers have been on my shirt (and no, I have not been wiping my nose on my shirt. They belong to Avery who has the same cold as me). Needless to say, I was relieved when the fancy woman got into her fancy Honda SUV and drove away.

All I can say is, you don't know until you've been there.

American Idol

Bailey is pretty famous for her singing. Here is a video of Bailey singing a few of her favorites. Watch out American Idol!

Mommy's make-up bag

I'm sad that these shots are blurry. I turned the flash off, and then I couldn't get the picture to sharpen. Oh well. Bailey and Avery had a great time playing in my make-up bag. What a beautiful finished product!