Toddlerhood.

The Miss is quickly morphing into a fully fledged toddler. She no longer smells like a baby. She has taken on that odd toddler smell of left over snacks with a whiff of milk. She throws tantrums when she's told no. Especially when Daddy says no. She refuses foods (and by foods I mean anything green that is not directly from our plates). She will take a bit but then spit it out again. All. Over. My. Floors.

Look at that girl. Clearly baby-dom is quickly becoming a thing of the past. 

It has also brought on some great and glorious changes too. She is more independent during the day. She wants to walk everywhere by herself. She is attempting to repeat words. She can say duck and tries hard to say quack. She's also starting to pick up the word no.

With Daddy at the beach

Miss Independent at the Aquarium

 We have been having great adventures lately too. We've gone into Boston to the Aquarium and on a duck boat tour. We play outside with some local friends when the weather is nice. When she wants to go bye-bye she grabs her shoes and walks around with them or whatever jacket happens to be still unhung from the last adventure and throws it over her head in an attempt to put it on. She really loves to get up and go lately.

This is Dahlia. They were fighting over the sand rake because clearly it's the only toy to use in the sandbox. 

It took Noella a while to finally warm up to the swings. I'm so glad she did though.

All these changes lately have been so fast that it's hard to keep up with her. I am feeling a little more frazzled by the end of the day and I can see it's wearing on Jason too when 2/3 of her dinner is on the floor or when we've had to remove her from playing with the wires under his desk for the 15th time in an hour. Who knew that this much independence could lead to so much more stress? 

I keep telling myself that this is for a short time and that in a year from now when I look back I'll laugh because this stress, these worries, these were the easy ones.

Oh the Spring!

Around here we've been pretty excited about the spring and the sunshine that's finally deciding to stick around.

Friday of last week was so gorgeous we decided to take the Miss to the local beach and have some fun with the sand toys. Noella wasn't so sure at first but she warmed up after a few minutes. She loved to try to shovel sand into the pail and watched Mister sift sand to find a million little rocks. It was a lovely way to spend the evening as a family.

Sometimes I look at that little face and my heart is so full of joy I think it's going to burst. She is growing so fast and learning so much. She loves new experiences and never ceases to surprise us. I so look forward to watching her grow everyday and seeing life through her eyes. 

April 5th

Yesterday was my birthday. I am 23 now. One year older and one year wiser.

It was also a very difficult day for me. I spent the first hour and a half of the day (from 12am to 1:30am) in the ER with the Miss. Well, we left at 9pm the night before it just happened to take that long for us to be seen and discharged. As it turns out her fever of 104 and listlessness is due to a double ear infection.

She was given a prescription for amoxicillian and sent on her merry way. Too bad that girl hates all medicine when she's sick. To the point of puking it all up again. It's a good thing that at this point I've figured out how to trick her into taking it.

I was home and in bed to snuggle my hubster by 2:45 ish. It took me a long while to get to sleep though. I don't know if I was hopped up on the adrenaline of being terrified for Noella or simply just at that point past tired when you've gained your second wind.

And then the phone rang at 6am. Who guessed it was my mom? Cause you're right. And no, it wasn't a call to tell me about the latest and greatest whatever or to simply say hello. My Madam had a stroke.

For those of you who don't know who my Madam is, she is kind of the third member of my personal trinity. In no particular order, it's Noella, Jason and Madam. These are the people who will forever keep me moving and striving in life. So for me to hear that she's sick, my stomach dropped into my toes and my mind went spinning.

As it turns out, as far as strokes go, she had a fairly mild one and caught it in time. Of course, we didn't know that at the time. I was hysterical all morning. And to have a sick, miserable baby on top of that I was sure it was going to be the worst birthday ever.

My parents came down to get me so we could go see Madam. I needed to see her to be sure she was okay. I couldn't just take the phone call updates. Boy am I glad I did because no matter the circumstance I have a horrible habit of thinking the worst and it gets me all worked up.

While I was waiting for my parents to arrive I had to keep myself moving. If I didn't I sat and cried and wallowed and cried some more. I became a do-er.

By the time we reached the hospital Madam was doing well but exhausted. It was amazing and so relieving to know that she was going to be okay. Of course, Madam being Madam, the first thing she said to me was "I didn't forget it's your birthday. I have your card at home. I told Helen I couldn't forget it." Even when she's laid in a hospital bed hooked up to all sorts of monitors and IVs that woman was worried about ruining my day.

Madam with the Miss on her first birthday.

Seeing her and being able to hear her voice put my mind at ease and I was able to relax and enjoy my sick baby as much as you can enjoy a sick cranky baby.

When I compare this birthday with the one I had last year, I'm so glad that last year's birthday was so super special. It gave me something to reflect on when I was wrapped up in my own head filled with worry and helplessness. I am so blessed to have so many friends who wished me a happy birthday because settling down for the evening and seeing how many people wanted to wish me well on that day really turned my birthday blues around.

This morning my mom is making me breakfast in her new home and letting me lounge in my jammies while Noella, who has made a miraculous recovery, is happily banging on pots and pans in her kitchen. This morning is so drastically different and it's glorious. It forces me to realize that no matter how bad yesterday felt, that every other day of my life, though boring and somewhat predictable, is grand and full of happiness.

For that, I am thankful.