1 year check-up

I had my 1-year checkup last week at the doctor's and I'm still tall and skinny!

I weighed in at 18 pounds, 15 ounces (25th percentile) and was 29.5 inches tall (70th percentile). My head circumference was 17.25 inches (20th percentile).

At the beginning of the month, Mom and Dad were concerned because I only had my two bottom teeth at that point. But then I got in three more teeth in the past two weeks (though still no top middle ones)!!! See, don't worry...I get things done by their deadline, even if I do have a tendency to put them off until the last minute. Three teeth in two weeks is painful, but at least the doctor didn't call me dentally retarded.

My last taste of breastmilk...

We had trouble with breastfeeding from the very beginning. First there was the fact that because I was a premie (which remember, stands for "premium"), I wasn't strong enough to latch on for long enough to get any food. While in the hospital, I had a feeding tube for 24 hours and then learned to drink formula through a bottle to gain precious weight those first few days. By the time we left the hospital, I was on only breastmilk, some of which I got from nursing and the rest that I got through a bottle with breastmilk that Mom had pumped for me.

During September and October, we continued to work toward getting more milk from nursing and less from the bottle and by mid November, we had mastered it!! We didn't need the breast shield anymore and didn't need to wash pump parts and bottles everyday! But then a couple weeks later, I got thrush (from all of the antibiotics I was on) and shared it with Mom. So, back to the pumped breastmilk we went until everyone was cured. Unfortunately, it took us until the end of December to find a medicine that would make my thrush go away, and by that time I had no interest in relearning how to nurse and Mom had to go back to work soon anyway. So, we just kept on with the pumped breastmilk.

Mom kept pumping breastmilk for me until August 6th (so she could go to England pump-free!), but she had stored up enough milk for me in the freezer to last me until today. Here is a picture of my last 5 oz bottle of breastmilk.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I did some quick math and figured out that over this past year, Mom spent approximately 500 hours doing nothing but pumping. That's 21 entire days - 3 whole weeks!! And that doesn't even count all of the time it took Mom and Dad to wash and sterilize all of the bottles and pump parts every day and all of the time spent FEEDING ME!! I also calculated that Mom pumped about 50 gallons of breastmilk for me - WOW! Not only was it healthier for me than formula (and tastier, too), it saved us almost $1000.

If Medela needs a spokesperson, my Mommy's the one! From a breastpump and a breast shield to bottles and nipples to freezer storage bags and microwave steamer bags, our family is QUITE the fan! Although some might say that our method wasn't the "ideal" or "most natural" way to feed a baby, the pump-and-feed method actually worked really well for our family. Mom had a lot of flexibility in when she pumped each day and I got lots of wonderful bonding time with Dad who helped feed me. Thanks Medela!!

Happy Birthday!!

Can you believe it? I'm 1 year old!!!

Mom started my day off great by coming in my bedroom and singing happy birthday to me to wake me up. Then when I got downstairs, she let me open one of my presents. What a fun toy...and what a great way to start the morning!!

Mom couldn't decide whether to make a cake or cupcakes to celebrate, so she made BOTH!! And then she couldn't decide whether the make vanilla or chocolate icing, so she made BOTH!! Yay for indecision!That evening, I had a wonderful birthday dinner with three of my favorite foods - hamburger, cheese, and black beans. Hooray for birthday tacos!!!! Then after some delightful singing and candle blowing, I was on to the cupcake.

Then I opened up the rest of my presents (all of which said they were for children ages 2 and up...um, did I miss a birthday or something?). I got these 2 adorable baby dolls. That's right - TWINS! I love them so much!!

I also got this great set of colorful wooden blocks!

I was so busy playing with my blocks that I didn't notice that one of my babies needed a diaper change. Zoli noticed, though...

Grammie got me this wooden puzzle to help me learn my shapes.
It's always helpful to have a math teacher nearby to help out (especially since the baby dolls weren't helping much)!

But my favorite gift of all was the beautiful flower that my daddy got for me. A single rose for a 1-year old Rose.

What a wonderful day!! (And infinitely less traumatic than last year's birthday...)

At last! A Third Tooth!

But you'll never guess where...


It's on the top, but it's not one of the middle two. And it looks like the fourth one is coming in on the opposite side. So, basically in a month or so, I'm gonna look very vampirish...I guess I know what I'll be "dressing up" as for Halloween this year.


That reminds me of something I wrote almost 3 months ago:
"It turns out that my pasty white skin is due to the fact that I'm the world's cutest vampire." (6/16/09)


And you thought I was joking...

Kaira Walking!!! (almost)

Socks and What?

Shoes! What a concept!

What'll they think of next?

Welcome Home, Mommy!

After being in Kentucky for 2-and-a-half weeks and away from Mommy for 10 whole days, we are all finally reunited back at our home in New York. I missed Mommy an awful lot while she was in England!!! I heard that she missed me, too - she even sent me a postcard!!

While Mommy was in England, she spent some time with our good friend, Alana, who lives in Guildford. Did you know that Lewis Carroll (author of "Alice in Wonderland") wrote the sequel "Through the Looking Glass" while staying in Guildford? Mom bought me a copy of both of these books from a bookstore in Guildford for me to read when I get older. Mom tells me that Guildford was mostly beautiful although a bit brillig from the slithy toves that were gyring and gimbling in the wabe.One day, Mommy and Alana took the train in to London and saw the sites. Mind the gap!Mommy took advantage of being "baby-free" and climbed the 600 steps to the top of St. Paul's Cathedral! Here's the view from the top. Wow - London sure is beautiful. Will you take me there someday, Mommy?Daddy and I had some great bonding time together in Kentucky. He took me to the Brownsboro Festival with Gram and Grandpa. I liked listening to the bluegrass band!

Have you driven a Ford lately?

I couldn't wait to get home to show Mom my new trick! I learned how to drink through a straw!

Excuse me...may I have a little more to drink?

And maybe a bit more bread?

And finally, I discovered that they have McDonalds down in Kentucky, too!

Happy meals can be very addicting...

Summer Vacation #4 - Kentucky

The day after Mom's summer collaborative research program was over, we jumped in the car and headed to Kentucky to visit family and friends before the fall semester starts up. It was a long drive (through the night!) for Mom and Dad, but I slept the whole way!

Since I was going to be down here for almost 3 weeks, we packed a lot of things for me. We brought Zoli, my stroller, reusable diapers, all of my clothes, the new carseat, and about half of the toys that I own, but we weren't quite able to fit my entire crib and mattress in the car. No worries! I can sleep in the crib that my daddy slept in when he was a baby!

While in Kentucky, we ate with Gram and Grandpa at a Kentucky Fried Chicken! Afterall, when in Kentucky, do as the Kentuckians do! I loved the colonel's buttermilk biscuits!

Even the box that they came in tasted good! Hmmm...I wonder how it would taste deep fried?

One of the first days that we were there, we went to the Newport Aquarium! That makes 3 aquariums for me this summer! This must be the age of aquariums, the age of aquariums, aquariums!

The jellyfish exhibit was beautiful and eerie, all at the same time!

There were a lot of other animals at the aquarium besides just fish. Like horseshoe crabs...

Alligators....

Otters...

and Porcupines?

And guess what! They had tomato frogs there, just like they did at the Echo center. I'm telling you, they DO live in more places than just Madagascar!

No fair! That shark was standing on his tip-toes!

Here we are on the pier after our day at the aquarium with downtown Cincinnati in the background. On another day, I went to the park with Grammie and Grandpa. I wasn't too interested in the swings. Instead, I wanted to play in the DIRT! There were all sorts of things to explore on the ground!

Um...Does this mean I have to take a bath tonight?

I LOVE spending time with family while in Kentucky!! Gram had a bunch of fun toys at her house that I liked to play with, though I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to do with this one.

Kissy Kissy!

Giddy up, Grandpa!

Hoorah for cousins!

How do I look in Maggie's hat?

Maggie and I had fun playing with her Little People toys. Thanks for sharing!

While we were in town, we went to one of Tyler's football games. There he is...number 48!

My cousins and I had a fun time cheering on Tyler's team. GO EAST!

Man, I could really go for some Powerade right about now!

Besides spending time with family, Mom and Dad and I got to spend a lot of good time with friends while in town. One day, we got together with our great friend Brian and had dinner at Lynn's Paradise Cafe. I had a lot of fun and ate so much that I didn't have any room for a Derby Pie Milkshake.The gift shop was loaded with fun toys. I almost convinced dad to buy this inflatable moose head. I mean, who doesn't need an inflatable moose head on their wall!? I can't believe we don't have one in our house already!

Another afternoon, Mom, Dad, and I went to General Butler State Park to meet up with Becky, Mom's dear friend and roommate from college. Becky's daughter, Emma, was born just 8 days after me and it was great to finally get to meet her. (We've been blog buddies since before we were born!) It had been so long since Mom and Becky had seen each other. Mom even teared up in the parking lot when she saw Becky which of course, totally embarrassed me in front of my new friend.

Emma Kate is UBER-sweet and UBER-cute!Here's us showing off our adorable little feet!We had a great day in the park! Mom and Becky chatted the afternoon away while Emma and I attempted to eat bark and grass without getting caught.
In this picture, we were all supposed to act like we were really scared. Becky must not have been paying attention to the directions because she looks way too beautiful!

Then, we played on the playground. I wasn't quite sure about the swings at first, but Emma showed me just how much fun they can be.

Um, Emma...you're going a little high, don't you think?

It was a wonderful day and SUCH a blessing to see Becky and Emma!! I hope we can see them again really soon!Finally, one evening, Mom and I traveled down to Grant County to visit with Betsy and Jacqueline and their families. It was so nice to get to see them again (I had grown so much since Christmas). Jacqueline's son Darius (4) and I had a great time playing together. At one point I thought he might even have a crush on me. That is, until I found out that he has a 10-year old girlfriend. I guess I'm much too young for him.

Here's me and Betsy:

And me with Jacqueline:

While we were there, a stray cat came onto Betsy's back porch and so Darius and I gave it some food and water. Hmmm...I wonder why it keeps coming back to Betsy's house?

I'm having a great time here in Kentucky! Daddy, Zoli, and I are going to stay here for another week or so while Mommy goes to England for a research conference. I sure will miss her while she's gone!!! Don't worry, Mommy! I'll take good care of Daddy for you!