Terrible Teeth

I know I've been blogging about it a lot lately-- but Cate's teething has been terrible this time around. She's getting her incisors (I'm pretty sure that's what those pointy teeth are called) and it's the worst she's ever been. All of her other teeth popped in with relatively no problems (she got one ear infection in an earlier round of teething and usually has a runny nose). This time though, she's been crankier, fussier, pickier...everything -ier. Yesterday she started in with some messier diapers (I'll spare you the gross details), which led to bad diaper rash when she woke up. She's also been waking up with green "gook" in her eyes. In fact, this morning she woke up crying. Something she never does. Daddy was quick to comfort.
**As a side note, doesn't the antique photo-finish capture the sunlight well in this picture?

Anyway, during her diaper changed, she screamed like she was in the worst pain in the world. And then she continued to cry off and on through breakfast. I called the pediatrician since this is not even close to Cate's normal, bubbly, smiley, go-with-the-flow personality. Our pediatrician is wonderful and was very concerned about Cate, so she scheduled an appointment for later in the afternoon. In the meantime, Cate was distracted by playing with her friends Tessa and Anna at Gymboree class. She was okay during lunch, took a two-hour nap, and woke up screaming. She pretty much screamed off and on for the rest of the afternoon until we got to the doctor.

The doctor's diagnosis? Double ear infection that has also semi-infected her eyes with a bad diaper rash/yeast infection. Poor Cate. She's now on an antibiotic for the ear infection, eye gel for the eye "gook," a restricted diet (but only until her diapers aren't quite so messy), and some great home-remedy bottom cream the pediatrician told us to make (Maalox mixed with talcum powder to an icing like consistency spread on affected area and then covered with a layer of Desitin). She gets that lovely mixture at every other diaper change (the other diaper changes we're supposed to use Lotrimin, which is a remedy for athlete's foot).

I feel completely and horribly bad for Cate. I hurt with her. While picking up her prescriptions, the stuff to make cream for her bottom, Lotrimin, rice cereal and yogurt at Target, I also picked her up these: Color Wonder Markers with a doodle pad and...a little Thomas the Tank Engine set. While Cate doesn't watch a lot of TV, we've been trying to get her interested in a few little movies and cartoons that she can watch on the DVD player on the way to Hilton Head. She seems to have an affinity for things that go right now. She loves her Automoblox and gravitated right towards a board book about trucks at the library last week. We tried out a few Thomas the Tank Engine DVD's and she loves them. Each story is short, so it keeps her attention. The Color Wonder set (which she loved and which we will definitely be buying more of for our budding little artist) and the little train set (which set me back a whopping $12 since it's not the wooden-train-table type of train set) made Cate do this:
But just in case those teeth and ears were still hurting her after being pumped full of medicine when we got home, we walked up the street for ice cream too.Man that girl takes her ice cream eating seriously.

~Melody :-)

Did I Shave My Legs For This?

You better believe it! As a side note though, I really am a clean and hygienic person who does shower and shave regularly.
This is my skirt- my first project made for me during my sewing lessons with my grandma. It actually wasn't too difficult. Now I just need to get a top to match it (I will not be making one as I do not have nearly the confidence or skill required to make anything remotely resembling a cute top).

Let's review this summer's sewing lessons/projects.

Outfits 1 (top) and 2 (bottom)- both made in sewing lessons with my grandma. They followed the same pattern, but outfit 2 is slightly smaller. Both will more than likely fit Cate next spring/summer (unless she grows a lot), but I'll probably have to make bigger bloomers to go underneath. Or redo the elastic in the bloomers I already made and that fit perfectly right now. Next year though, the dress part will be more of a top.
And the crayon rolls. I made these on my own at home, following instructions from a website.
My next project is already more than halfway done. It's part of Eric's birthday present, so I guess you'll have to wait until Wednesday to see it.

In the meantime, we're at the end at what has probably been our busiest summer week so far. Multiple small group get-togethers and goings-on. A wipes study and a diaper study at P and G (the latter consumed 4 hours of our morning on both Tuesday and Wednesday, but paid well). Other outings and get-togethers with non-small group friends. And we're deep in the trenches of some horrible teething. You know the kind. The kind where your kid is a picky eater, cranky and fussy, creating messy diapers, and won't go to bed without Tylenol. One incisor has poked through. Her gums are a swollen mess. Hopefully the other 3 incisors will make their appearances before we hit the road for our trip to Hilton Head.

Until then, we wait it out and in between everything keeping us busy I attempt to get things done on my before vacation to-do list.
~Melody :-)

300

I haven't blogged for a couple of days because I was hoping I would have something better to say. You see, this is our 300th post! And I knew that was coming. And I was hoping something cool would happen or well, I don't know what I was really hoping for. I realize 300 posts isn't a big deal for some uber-bloggers who write daily, sometimes more than once. But for me, it's a big deal. You've been with us through ultrasounds and car accidents. From job changes to vacations. And you've watched Cate grow. So thanks for sticking with us for 300 posts! It's taken nearly two years to get here since we stay pretty busy outside the blogging world. And even after writing this paragraph, I still have nothing cool to post, so I guess this will have to do for a 300th post celebration. This is outfit #2 that I've made for Cate. It's the same as outfit #1, only one size smaller and different fabric.
And it's freakin' adorable...even when given an antique photo finish. Don't you love Zoey in the background of that one above? One of my favorite details of this dress-- the buttons on the straps. So cute!
And speaking of dresses, we took a short trip to Hudson this past weekend so that I could get together with one of my best friends (we've officially known each other more than half of our lives) to try on bridemaid's dresses. I'm the matron of honor (makes me sound so grown up) in her wedding in June! I'd post a picture of the dress, but the only one I have also has my friend in her wedding gown and we don't want the groom getting a sneak peek. But here it is on the website. I'm not sure if I'll leave it strapless or have spaghetti straps put in (the bride left it up to each of us what we want to do).

We're off to a cookout with our small group this evening. I made this yummy California BLT salad to bring. Yum! I had to try it out because a.) I never bring a dish somewhere that I haven't tried and b.) we haven't been to the grocery store in awhile (except to buy what I needed for this salad and some milk), so I didn't have much else to eat for lunch.
~Melody :-)

Pure Joy

Pure Joy. I think that pretty much sums up how Cate felt at Parky's Sprinkler Park, the wet playground at Woodland Mound park. We headed there yesterday after Cate's Gymboree class and met up with the other moms and kids from our church small group. Woodland Mound is one of the Hamilton County Park, so the $5 annual parking pass that is good at other Hamilton County parks is good here. Since Cate is under 2, she gets into the sprinkler park for free. Otherwise it's $2 for admission (parents are free though). You can also buy 3 admission bracelets for $5 (good to know for next year).

And not only is the sprinkler park fun and wet and yes, pure joy...it also affords a great view of the Ohio River.

When I was younger and my parents still lived in Cincinnati, we used to spend a great deal of time at Woodland Mound, often ordering pizza and bringing it with us for a picnic. I think it's going to be another place around Cincinnati that we frequent.

~Melody :-)

Welcome New Friends

Cate has gained two new friends in the last week. Collette Elizabeth was born to one of my best friends, Jane, earlier this week. Her other new friend is also her new cousin. Caroline Blythe is the daughter of my cousin (well, third cousin really), Ben, and his wife, Sherry. She was born at the end of last week.Looking at their pictures, it's hard to remember Cate being that new and small. And it kinda makes me want another one...but only for a few hours or something. I'm not ready to have another one full time. Cate is enough.

~Melody :-)

I Can Tell That We Are Gonna Be Friends

My friend's daughter is about 15 months older than Cate. Cate still doesn't really "get" how to interact with other kids. Sure, she plays, but she doesn't understand things like sharing and taking turns. We're working on it though. Yesterday she had a pretty successful playdate. As Cate catches up in maturity and socially, she has better and better interactions with other kids. I think they're going to be great friends.
And speaking of development, Cate is getting pretty good at feeding herself oatmeal with a spoon. Her control of the spoon isn't steady enough to try things that won't stick to the spoon. But oatmeal is definitely a start.
Like the Paddington bib?

~Melody

More Sewing...More Summer Reading

With one outfit for Cate and a few crayon rolls under my belt, I headed back to my grandma's yesterday for some more sewing. I'm making Cate another outfit like the one I just finished (and showcased in this post), except this one is a size smaller (so the top will be more of a shirt and less of a dress).
I love the bright fabric! Another cute outfit for the beach. I just have to sew the elastic into the bloomers (which I can do here at home). Next week my grandmother will help me do the ric-rac (I forgot to buy some this week) and the buttons/buttonholes. That should probably take me all of 20 minutes to do and then we'll have another finished outfit.

I'm also getting ready to start work on this skirt for me (pattern picture on the left in the photo below) with some cute chocolate brown and pink fabric (on the right in the photo below, blending in with my kitchen table). My "homework" this week is to trace and cut out the pattern.
Why trace? Because my grandmother has a seemingly endless supply of tailor's tracing paper and because then I can reuse the pattern if I want to make the skirt in a different size (my sister has already requested one-- she has way too much faith in my ability to learn to sew). My grandmother traces a lot of her patterns so she can use all of the different sizes and make things for both herself and for others. Good idea! Time consuming at first though.

In rifling through her sewing closet, my grandmother also came across these preprinted, quilted Paddington Bear bibs.
Just add a back to them, a little bias tape to make the ties, and voila! You have a bib!
So I have exactly 19 of these that I can make. Once they're cut out, they seriously take 5 minutes to sew (in addition to her regular sewing machine, my grandmother has an overlocking--serger--sewing machine, which makes sewing the bibs go so fast). Not only will a few of these be great--and washable-- for Cate, but will make some great additions to baby gifts as well.

Clearly we kept busy.

I also managed to finish another book this week. Dune Road is Jane Green's newest novel.
Jane Green is my go-to author for semi-trashy, but mostly tasteful, chick lit. I've read every novel she's written. Her early books have some passages that would make even seasoned romance writers blush, but her last few books have been much less sexy and much more focused on plot (this one being the first to have an element of suspense and mystery to it). I loved it! It was definitely time for a kind of mindless read and this fit the bill perfectly.

~Melody :-)

A New Playground

Okay, so the playground at the elementary school up the street really opened last year (when the new school opened). Here's my post about the school that I wrote last year when we toured it at the open house. The playground is new to us though; we haven't taken Cate there until this week. Cate won't be in kindergarten for a few more years--thank goodness, I already think she's growing up too fast. So this post is just about how we have been enjoying the playground there lately.
The playground is fenced in-- a bonus for Zoey who always accompanies us. Every time we've gone, we've been the only ones playing there, which means Zoey can get let off of her leash to run around. She even follows Cate up into the play area. Cate seems to have more confidence playing here as well. The community center park, where we usually go, is also usually crowded. Cate doesn't normally mind, but sometimes I do-- the older kids like to run around and have knocked her down a time or two. It's really not a big deal and she does usually get back up, but we tend to avoid certain parts of that playground because of the older kids. With no older kids around, Cate takes off on her own to climb and explore.
This week she surprised me when she went up the steps, sat down, and....
...went down the slide all by herself. It wasn't a fluke either. She continued to keep doing this over and over again until she was just plain worn out and it was time to head home. The result of all that sliding......awesome static electricity!

~Melody :-)

Not My Child Monday

Today brings a new twist on Not Me Monday, the blog carnival started by the blog-famous, MckMama. Today's twist--- Not My Child Monday. Because we all know that our kids aren't always the little angels that they seem like on our blogs. I am going to add another little twist and include pictures of my baby wearing the adorable little outfit that I made her in my sewing lessons with my grandma (I had help on the ric-rac though-- that's hard stuff people). Don't you think it turned out cute? And the best part is...she'll wear it as a dress this year and then we'll adjust the buttons next spring and it'll be a top w/matching bloomers (you can't see the bloomers right now since the dress is so long). But I digress...
My child has NOT taught herself how to do a fake burp (more like a squeak) so that she can say "excuse me" (comes out as "me me") over and over again. This is probably NOT the result of too much parental praise when she actually does burp and remembers to say "excuse me." She does NOT say "excuse me" when other people burp or sneeze too.
My child did NOT climb up into the rocking chair at the church nursery yesterday and did NOT proceed to then stand on that chair and rock. She is well-behaved and NOT a climber.
My child does NOT have a new found fascination with sticking her hand near any dog's mouth because she wants the dog (especially ours) to lick her. That would be totally disgusting.
And speaking of disgusting...my child does NOT have some weird fascination with opening both the garbage can lid (we have one of those tall kitchen cans with a pedal) and the toilet lid (when she's in the bathroom with one of us while we're brushing our teeth or something). We are NOT constantly washing or sanitizing her hands as a result.

Come play along this week. What have your children NOT doing? Or if you don't have any, what have you NOT been up to?

~Melody :-)

Weekend with My Sister

My sister, Catherine, (Cate's named after her), came down this weekend for a visit. I was so glad she was able to abandon her busy life of working at Panera, living in the DG house, coaching kids at a summer sports camp, and catching up with all of her friends who are home from college, to spend some time with us.

We hung out on Friday evening when she got her. Eric showed Cate how to play Wii (Lego Star Wars if you're curious as to the game) while we waited for Catherine to arrive. Later, Eric and Catherine played some Wii together.
Saturday morning we were up semi-early to head to our favorite weekend market, Findlay Market.
Cate was mesmerized by the saxophone player...
...intrigued by the lobsters...
...hungry for pasta...
...but had to settle for some bites of one of these...
...mmmmmm- Belgian Waffles. Whatever they make these guys with, they are perfect plain. Or you can add syrup or fruit or whip cream...whatever.

After naptime, we headed to Trader's World. It's a huge flea market that Eric's family has frequented for years. I had never been despite passing it numerous times on the highway.
We didn't really get to look around too much though. We were trying to get Cate to burn off some energy (she did), so we could put her to bed early and my grandmother could sit with the monitor while we enjoyed Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (we did). Cate did enjoy the myriad plastic animal decorations that abound at Trader's World.
I think I'd like to go back at some point when I can look around a little more. We stopped at Ikea on the way home from Trader's World. Catherine bought a few things since she's moving/moved (she's kind of in between right now) into her sorority house. It was so weird watching her pick out a comforter and a desk and surge protectors...it doesn't seem like I was doing the same thing only 9 years ago as I prepared to move into my dorm room. Cate had fun riding the furniture dolly.
And as I said above, Eric, Catherine, and I all thoroughly enjoyed the new Harry Potter movie. I think a re-reading of the series may be in order sometime this fall.
Today was spent at church, eating some of the yummy, fresh goods from the market yesterday, and saying goodbye to Aunt Catherine. Come visit us again soon!

~Melody :-)

P.S. Yes, we really did have unseasonably cool weather for a Cincinnati July-- hence the pants and occasional sweatshirt in the pictures above.