Running a temperature

As to be expected after her shots, Marylin is running a low grade fever. I'm not too worried about her as she typically runs a fever after her shots, but it is still sad :( The injection site is quite swollen as well (a big red lump has formed). I hope she is not having an allergic reaction to one of the shots. Time will tell.

12 Month Visit to the Doctor

I took Marylin to her doctor today to have her 12 month check up and shots (chicken pox, measles, mumps, rubella and pneumonia). She got poked 3 times and we both cried :( It was one tough morning. Marylin has such horrible stranger anxiety (well, if they try to touch her. She is fine if they keep their distance) that she cried every time a nurse or the doctor touched her. Trying to look into a 1 year old's ears when she is screaming cannot be easy. Good thing our doctor is patient (must be because he is so short, lol).

Anyway, Marylin is as healthy as they come and is as smart as they come, too! Here are her stats:

Height: 30" (75th percentile)
Weight: 21 lbs 14 oz (50th percentile)
Head cicumference: 47 cm (90th percentile)

He had a look at her eyes (she has had this little pimple like rash around them since labor day weekend) and was not concerned due to them not being red or gooey. He said give her some Benadryl to help the rash go down. I'm going to give it another week and if she still has the redness, I'm taking her back for a second opinion. Allison told me that Avery had the exact same rash and her pediatrician gave her a prescription for it. Marylin has had this rash for a couple of weeks now - poor thing.

The highlight of the trip was how impressed the doctor was with Marylin's verbal ability. Not only that she could say so many words but the fact that she has been able to put a sentence together ("bye bye da da"). he said he would not expect to see that until she is 18 months. I dare say, that big head is working over time. I think we have a genius on our hands.

Although it was a tough morning, I'm very happy that she is healthy both physically and mentally and that the shots will ensure her not having to endure the dreaded chicken pox or any nasty chicken pox scars on her beautiful face. Why didn't they have that vaccine when we were kids?

Modern Baby

Marylin thinks everything is a cell phone. She is currently sitting at my feet with a book mark up to her ear talking away in it. I think she is waiting for it to ring. It is funnier than hell - she does this with everything! I guess it is time to go get her that little 5 dollar princess cell phone down at the Disney Store. How old do you think she'll be when we give her a real one, 5? Sheesh!

So Marylin turns one and now she is just way too smart for her own good. Here she is blowing her party favor. Once she figured out how to blow, there was no stopping her!

New Word

Marylin now says "cat." I thought she was saying "that" when she saw Bella this evening so I said "cat?" and she kept saying "cat, cat" so, cat it is! I wonder when she's going to start calling her Bella or stinky kitty ... only time will tell.

Back of the pinata. A picture just for our friend Lara. Good luck!

The birthday girl with her BFF Avery Jane. Avery, that face is priceless! More pictures of Marylin are coming soon!

THE pinata. The thing took me far too long to make! It used to look like a typical party pinata (with lots of shiny stuff!) but I stripped it all down and covered it in moss and flowers along with one of our favorite pictures of Marylin. Obviously, we didn't let the kids smash this one and no it wasn't full of candy :)

A shot of the yard, awaiting our guests!

The two tables where our guest sat and the mat was brought out for the babies to all play together on ...

We were supposed to have fresh flower center-pieces but the florist messed them up and I refused to have them on the table. So instead we placed large butterflies at the base of the pole ... you can kind of see them in there ...

Here are SOME of Marylin's gifts. This picture was taken before any guests arrived ... you can only imagine!

The food table (with no food, obviously). We placed a couple little butterflies on the canopy to add a touch of whimsy ...

Daddy and Marylin - Early Saturday morning. Mike is wondering what the hell is going on to his back yard, I'm sure :)

Marylin's First Birthday Party!

We celebrated Marylin's first birthday today with friends and family - it was a blast! Marylin was a perfect angel as were her little friends. Auntie Niki has all of the real pictures from the party but I have a couple of the yard which I will post on her blog now. Check back soon for the rest of them :)

Marylin was spoiled rotten with some awesome gifts (outfits, furniture, toys, etc etc) and cards which we will keep in her special keep-sake box for her to enjoy when she grows up. Thank you to all who participated in making it such a wonderful event. Mike and I both really appreciate all the kindness that was shown towards Marylin today. Thanks to Mom for her hard work in setting everything up, and Auntie Niki with her hard work too. A special thanks to John for taking care of Trini and Tony and Tim (lol).

Here we go ... year two!

Finished the day off with a little bit of cake

Well, the party is not until Saturday but we thought we should have a little celebration with Marylin since today is her special day. Tim and I went and picked up a tiramisu cake from the local store (no, it's not THE cake, it was just a quickie) so that Marylin could dig into it and enjoy her 1st birthday to the fullest. The cake was a hit (of course) but remind me to tell the lady to not write in red colored frosting next time. The stuff is HARD as hell to get off. Regardless, it was totally worth it. Here she is, enjoying her first official birthday cake :)

Happy Birthday Baby Sprite!

Today is Marylin's first birthday and it is hard to believe she is already one! I looked through some of her baby pictures last night and was hit with a bout of nostalgia! I think I'll sit down some time today and write her a letter about her life thus far and how much we adore her. I'll seal it and let her open it when she is a teenager and hates me :)

OK so the day started off with Daddy singing her happy birthday more than the ears could take. We then let her open some presents that arrived in the mail (although she has already opened ALL of her presents from us! We just can help it!). She had a blast pulling off all of the wrapping paper ... funny how babies are.

The plan is to spoil her rotten all day (does that mean she gets to nurse whenever she feels like it?) and then have a small celebration this evening. The big party is not until Saturday and oh what a party that will be!

Happy Birthday baby girl. Mommy and Daddy sure do love you.

Tell us how you feel about turning ONE after you think about it for a bit ;)

Marylin's sore lip.

Marylin fell face first on one of her toys today and had a swollen upper lip for the afternoon. Poor little thing. Here is a picture of her and her boo-boo:

First Steps!

Two days before her first birthday Marylin has decided to take her first steps. No, she's not walking but she is certainly getting close. This evening she took 2 solid (although wobbly) little steps towards me. I was so excited I was practically jumping for joy - I got to see my baby girl's first steps, that's a first no mom wants to miss! I guess it really is time to finish child-proofing our house!

This is a very special picture for Auntie Niki and Grandma Marylin. Grandma bought Marylin the Oxford sleeper while she was in Oxford to see Auntie Niki graduate! It's a keeper!

Marylin's early birthday present from her dad ... a Froggy Sand box

Marylin in her new froggy sand box

She still looks adorable in a hat

Fangora no longer

Marylin has been such a GRUMP lately (and we're talking serious grump who nurses all night long!) ... She is cutting tooth number 5! That's right folks, her top left (front) tooth is coming in. I saw it today during one of those brief moments when she was laughing instead of crying. :) Poor little baby girl. Hopefully her two front teeth will be here by her birthday so she won't be such a grump at the party.

I just can't get enough of this face! Marylin makes it whenever she is happy about something, which is pretty darn often. I'll be so sad when she is over this goofy-face stage!