Double Post Friday!

Special bonus feature! I have been delinquent in posting this week. TOO much going on and too much to do to get ready for all the stuff that is about to be going on. We have had or will have soon: a baptism, a wedding, several baccalaureates, grandparents in town, a grading period ending, a car show approaching, a pumpkin patch to visit, and a beach to collapse on when its all finished. In the mean time, its raining and turning cold in Knoxville. Lydia decided to cheer everyone up by wearing her tutu today. Not just CUTIE, but SUPER CUTIE if you asked me!

Oh Brother!

Lydia has this great shirt from Yee Haw Industries. I love everything about Yee Haw and think this color combination is super cute. Unfortunately, while wearing her trendy blue and brown, she gets asked if she is a boy... A LOT! My favorite was the little old lady who admired my adorable "boy." After hearing that she was a girl, the lady remarked..."She must have an older brother!"

Hands, meet your face. Face meet your hands.

We are still working on the hand thing. The ALMOST fit into that mouth. We are also still working on the sleep thing. She ALMOST sleeps through the night. I recognize that waking up at 5 am when I do seems like middle of the night to you day-walkers with your 9-5 jobs. However, recently the 1am feeding is shifting to a 4am feeding. A good sign in general for eventually sleeping until I get up, but it is a rough day when I have to feed her at 4 and be up for work at 5. Anyway, here she is trying to eat her hands.

Renal Reflux Diagnosed

Lydia's tests came back positive for renal reflux in her left kidney. According to the Pediatric Urology website I found "The condition is more prevalent in females and in children who have red hair." Darn! Just one more place where red heads are weird."

Apparently reflux is caused by a blockage that prevents urine from flowing normally, so it backs up into thekidneys. It can be caused by a UTI or there can be an anomoly in the eureter that is often genetic. Seeing as her cousin Gracie had this, my bet is it runs in the family. Either way, the result is that you get UTIs, so the idea that i get is that she has probably been uncomfortable for a while.

She is being put on an antibiotic until we can meet with a specialist. Her cousin just had to be on antibiotics for a year and then outgrew it. Hmmm. I wonder if they miss out on being sick during cold season because they are already on anti-biotics? We should know more soon.

Fun in the Sun

Just a few hours after her kidney ultrasound and catheterizing at Children's Hospital, Lydia was playing like a champ at home and at Miss Nancy's. Notice the sundress. It hit the mid-eighties in TN today, so Lydia got one more chance at some of the cute summer stuff that just started fitting her correctly. Also notice the hands. Lydia has discovered her hands. She still doesn't have complete control, but she tries to get them to do her bidding and they are beginning to comply. Also notice the belly button. If you haven't seen it in person, that is the herniated umbilical chord that has been with us for almost two months now. Seeing as it may be with us for several more months (it should go away as her stomach muscles strengthen) I think it deserves its own name. That way when people ask... "WHAT is that THING?!?" We can nonchalantly say, "Oh, that's Fred, or Harold, or Henri (the Hernia)" Any suggestions?

The Return of Giraffe Girl (The Sweater Strikes Back!)

I kept getting weird error messages yesterday and thought the blog post never uploaded, so I stopped writ ting yesterday's post mid-thought. Here goes attempt part deux. I spent yesterday putting away Lydia's summer cloths. It was bittersweet seeing as her summer outfits were the first she ever wore and we waited so long for those to fit. But now she is three months old and we are relieved to see that her 3-6 month fall and winter attire look like they will fit fine. It is fun to see Lydia in some of the outfits that I bought when I first found out I was pregnant. I didn't know yet what we were having, but Gymboree was having a sale...dangerous territory for the newly hormonal! So here is Lydia in her Gymboree Giraffe sweater. No, this isn't her Halloween costume. This is everyday dressing in my house.

Giraffe Girl

Lydia is wearing a giraffe sweater that was one of the first outfits that I bought for her. It came from Gymboree last fall.