10 months old!

Here is our big girl this past weekend. She visited her Grandma CeCe, Grandpa Joe and Great-Grandma Rosalie on Saturday while Dada shot a wedding. She is cruising all over the house on the furniture with her curious hands and mouth on everything. Needless to say, gates are in effect, and the cats are learning to run when she squeals near them. She is feeding herself finger foods and even liking meat now that it is not pureed. Cheese, yogurt and Cheerios are among her favorites.

On Dada's first Father's Day, she helped him open his gifts and presented him with this poem:

Thank you, Dada
for cleaning my poo
like you so often do,
for playing me Dvorak, Beethoven and ZZ Top—
they rock!

Thank you, Dada
for taking me out to play
or just finger painting on a rainy day,
for tossing me up in the air
and blowing raspberries to show you care.

Thank you, Dada
for carrying me on your shoulders so high
that I nearly touch the sky,
for knowing just how to clip my nails
and tickle my toes.

But not everybody knows
that you hold me when I cannot sleep
and soothe my tears when I weep.
You bathe, burp and feed,
adeptly caring for my every need.

You teach me--
to talk,
to walk,
to laugh,
to gently love animals (whether Roxy, Kanu or a baby calf),
to eat healthy foods,
to not be rude,
to trust and let go,
and to watch a garden grow.
And so I wanted to say thank you, Dada,
for showing me the way
on this your first Father’s Day.

Medical Decisions for your Children.

The case of Minnesota 13-year-old Daniel Hauser and his parents recently thrust the issue of religious/parental rights vs. a government's right to intervene and prevent child medical neglect in the national spotlight. This article summarizes other, similar cases and their outcomes throughout the years, making it abundently clear that the issue is far from black and white. I found it especially interesting in the article above that one set of parents would get their family dog vaccinated regularly due to legal mandates but would opt out of vaccinating their children and seeking medical treatment based upon their religious convictions.

In my opinion, there needs to be a multi-pronged approach to this medical, ethical and legal question. If the child is mature enough to understand the treatment options, risks and benefits, then the court should defer to the child's preferences as expressed through his own legal representative. However, if the child is too young, uneducated or immature to make this decision for himself, his own legal representative should, together with medical professionals and child welfare officials, collaborate to develop the appropriate treatment plan, regardless of the parents' religious beliefs. To me, doing otherwise is child neglect and endangerment.

Of course, my opinion is colored by the fact that I do not belong to a religion that eschews traditional medical treatment. But I agree that a line needs to be drawn between parental rights and state rights where medical treatment and other issues are concerned. There is a potential slippery slope if the line hovers too far toward state rights. For example, should the state intervene to require vegan parents to feed their children foods it deems more appropriate to sustain their growing bodies? Should the state be allowed to forbid a parent from homeschooling their child or treating a non-life threatening illness with homeopathic or alternative medicine rather than traditional drugs? There are already state mandates regarding child car seat use, school attendance and some vaccinations are required before children can attend daycare or public school.

What concerned me most about the Hauser case was that, although he was 13, Daniel was homeschooled, illiterate and could not even identify the word "the" when tested by a teacher for entrance into a charter school. In addition, doctors testified that chemotherapy had an over 90% success rate in curing his type of Hodgkins lymphoma. In fact, the cancer was responsive to the one treatment he previously had and grew larger once treatment stopped. I think the judge in this case did an excellent job of weighing the issues and crafting a reasonable resolution that did not separate a scared child in extreme pain from his concerned, but perhaps misguided, parents during his next set of chemotherapy treatments.

9 months old.

Kate turned 9 months old yesterday. Here she is on the swings at Patriarche Park in East Lansing last Sunday. Today, she had her 9 month well-baby visit and continues to thrive. Her iron and hemoglobin levels were excellent, and she did not have to receive any vaccinations this time. She is 22 lbs, 4 ozs (93rd percentile) and 29 inches long (91st percentile) up from 19 lbs, 11 ozs and 27 1/4 inches 3 months ago.

She is cruising on the furniture and standing alone for a few seconds at a time. Walking cannot be all that far behind. We are working on waving and feeding herself bite-sized foods. The girl loves her oat puffs and Yo Baby yogurt, fruits, veggies and some table foods but still looks at meats with derision. And, much to our chagrin, she does not understand the concept of "no!"

She loves to be sung and read to, be hung upside down, to dance with Mama or Dada and to play on the swing or slide at the playground. C takes her to an infant play group and to storytime at the public library once per week. We cannot believe it is already time to plan her first birthday party!

First Mother's Day

Grandma and Kate Mama & Kate

C bought me a dozen orange roses and three cards for Mother's Day--one from Kate (with her finger painted autograph), one from the cats and one from C. We then had brunch at my Grandma's with my Mom, Stepdad, aunts, uncle and cousins. What a perfect first Mother's Day!

Happy Anniversary to us!

Happy 2nd Wedding Anniversary to us! What a year together it has been. C surprised me at work today with pink daisies and lavender tulips, and we went to lunch together as a family. We will not get to see much of each other tonight, as C has orchestra rehearsal. Fortunately, we already had our fancy night out 2 weeks ago at a steakhouse at the MGM Grand, Detroit while my Grandma Rosalie and Aunt Elaine babysat Kate.

I love you, Sweetheart! I remain grateful that you chose me.

8 months old!

Our little girl is 8 months old. Last week, she began crawling forward and gaining more independence. So far, she is a vegetarian, as she gags on the pureed meats. Based on the way they smell, I would, too. However, she loves rice cereal or oatmeal mixed with pureed fruits.

She constantly scans the room with her curious eyes and enjoys being in new places with new people. When comfortable, she displays her budding linguistic skills with all sorts of babbles, laughs, grunts and squeals. She circulated happily at Easter dinner in her poofy, pretty party dress.

Yesterday, we went to a Lamb Festival on a local farm, and she observed the scene seriously and quietly not sure what to make of all the "maaaaas." Soon after her tour of the barn, she fell fast asleep in her stroller.

She uses her hands in a raking manner and adeptly picks up her pacifier and places it back in her mouth when it falls out. She is also loving "Peek-a-Boo," the "Itsy Bitsy Spider," and "Pat-a-Cake" in addition to nearly any other song. She laughs with joy when sung "You are my Sunshine" and is starting to enjoy storytime more and more--especially rhyming books like Dr. Seuss or Mother Goose.

We visited her Gram and Uncle Bill in Virginia and DC in late March. Unfortunately, she had her first stomach virus her first few nights there while staying at a friend's house. Fortunately, they have a 3-year-old daughter, a scotch-guarded couch and some Pedialyte. A few days later, C also got violently ill for one day, followed by Gram and me with less symptoms. Kate had a blast playing with 3-year-old Ivy who could not stop hugging and kissing her (photos on C's camera.) She also enjoyed all of the one-on-one time with her Gram who played with and sang to her tons.

She is starting to say "Dada" and "Mama" more frequently and sometimes with apparent meaning--sometimes not (C claims that she called the cat, her toys and most other objects "Mama.") We cannot wait to see what her 9th month will bring....

Seven Months Old.

C did a great job with this photo yesterday. I have been a bit recalcitrant in posting monthly updates and have 5 month professional family portraits still waiting to be posted.

Kate is 7 months old today. At her 6.5 month check-up, she was 19 lbs, 11 ozs (94th percentile) and 27 1/4" long (88th percentile). She started cutting her first tooth (bottom front) last week, which explained her recent night owl activities.

She is attending a bi-weekly play group in Lansing with her Daddy and other stay at home parents we met on the Lansing Moms Like Me site. We also signed up for a weekly swimming lesson at the local YMCA, but she has not been enjoying it (possibly due to the cooler water temperature than expected.) We left after 5 minutes last week during "Simon Says" in complete meltdown mode.

She is not yet crawling but pivoting and rolling around the room rapidly like a chubby bowling pin. She also pulls herself to a standing position with assistance and is able to briefly stand on her own while holding onto furniture. The nurses guessed that she would be walking by 9 months.

She now takes her baths in the big tub surrounded by toys and has eaten carrots (loves), green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, peaches, applesauce (loves), and prunes (loves--great!) She is not a fan of sweet peas.

In comparing her growth and activities to my own (thanks, Mom, for maintaining a baby calendar), we grew at about the same pace, but I was startled to see that the pediatrician back then had my Mom starting me on solids at 1 month old! I did not respond well, so that was delayed for a few more months, thankfully.