Week in Review ~ 8/21

This week marks the last of my summer vacation. Where has my time gone? Other than spending lots of time with Avery and doing lots of relaxing, I haven't gotten much on my summer to-do list completed.

Monday got off to a very strange start. I got up with Avery and when I put my contacts in, I noticed blood on my face. Upon further inspection, I found blood on my pillow, hands, tongue, etc. I will spare the bloody details, but it was enough to be concerned about. My initial thought was that I had a bloody nose that drained down my throught. That thought led me to the pregnancy thought...yikes! I realized it was not a nose bleed though and was a little panicky. I finally discovered it was a small cut in the top of my mouth that was still bleeding. I had done it Sunday eating a chip. I knew from the amount of blood it had been bleeding for awhile, and I had no idea how to stop it. I got Ned up so he could get Avery and turned to Google for some trusted medical advice. By then it seemed to stop. It never bled again all day, and I have NO idea what made it start in the night. I've never had that happen before. As I'm sharing with Ned all of my OCD thoughts about what could have happened, he tells me that I wouldn't have bled to death but I could have aspirated. Thanks dear.

Our day was very uneventful after that. Avery and I went out and got lunch for Ned then went and got groceries after her nap. When we got home I saw Avery take one step as she lunged for the couch! We had zucchini cakes again for dinner which seem to be a hit with everybody. The ingredients in them aren't terribly bad, but I doubt the frying does much for the nutritional value. Avery did a few more step-lunge combinations after dinner for Ned to see. I guess it counts as her first step, which is all I wanted to see before going back to work!

We didn't do much on Tuesday. This household is certainly ready for fall, minus the whole back-to-school thing. Ned is ready for hunting, but Avery and I are ready for temperatures more suitable for strolling and swinging. We also need those pesky mosquitos to go away. Even tiny bites on Avery get a large red area around them. We have seen a pile of them lately and have had to keep her inside. Ned had a city council meeting, so after I put Avery to bed, I worked on my picture order and an order for a bow party next Saturday. If you have a little girl, check out Cat's Clips (on Facebook) for the cutest, cost-friendly bows. I don't do many bows on Avery because she doesn't have that much hair on her head. Cathy makes smaller bows called clippies that are a good size for Avery's age, with or without hair. Sometimes big bows are cute on babies, but I think you have to really watch out that it doesn't make the poor child look like a present or take away from their already sweet face.

Avery and I worked around the house Wednesday morning. Ned had a lunch meeting so he got home after Avery was napping. When she woke up I ran out to get some squash for dinner. It was a cloudy, rainy day. Ned took Avery for a walk while I cooked, then he took her to Mimi's after dinner. It was storming again by the time they came home, and a huge limb fell on top of Ned's truck as he was driving home. Ned was very thankful that it didn't shatter the sunroof, and it ended up not doing any damage to his truck. My mom is always afraid of trees falling while she's driving, so I haven't told her this story yet.

Thursday was another dreary day. Avery was up by 6:30 and not pleased to stay in her bed until 7. Not sure why she's always up earlier on the days I get up with her. I put her down around 9 then heard her about 30 minutes later. I never know if she's been asleep or not. I let her sleep until 10:30 which was probably a mistake. She had been fussy on and off during the week, but entertained herself well while I got ready. We were going to Lolli and Poppa's for dinner, and I planned to go to school after her afternoon nap. After lunch I felt for teeth and discovered her top 2 molars breaking through. She has been chewing her fingers all summer, and the lumps from these teeth have been evident for awhile. I'm always happy to discover teeth after fussy spells. I put her down around 1:30 for a nap that never happened. I thought she was asleep once until FedEx came and Sammy went nuts. I tried going back in to return the pacifier and Giraffi, I tried Motrin, I even rocked her again. This kid wasn't sleeping. We hopped in the car and I was sure she'd nap then. Nope. I stopped at school to get a few things to help me wrap my head around 3rd grade, then we headed to Lolli's. She did fairly well through dinner considering she'd had no sleep. She was out within 5 minutes of riding home though. I had decided that she would not get a bottle. We gave up the other 3 quickly but I had really stretched this one out so she wouldn't be up hungry in the middle of the night. We had done 2 ounces for awhile so I knew it was time. I hated to do it while she was teething and when she wouldn't have her normal routine because we were coming in late. But, we got in jammies, read a book, and turned off the light. She started crying when I walked to her crib. She calmed down but got the sad lips when I zipped her into her sleep sack. There were tears before I was out the door, and on and off tears for about 15 minutes. This is not unusual when she's overtired, and now she has 2 gigantic teeth breaking through. Ned was at a dinner so I played on the computer and laid around. The blah weather had made me feel bad. I hoped for no wakings due to hunger or pain.

Friday was my last official day of vacation. Avery made it until 6:30 without having a bottle the night before. That will be her wake-up time on school days so I can't complain. I hope she'll either start taking some milk from a cup before bed, or we'll have to try a little snack since she eats dinner pretty early. We had another morning where I'm not sure if a nap took place. I heard a little noise every so often throughout the nap. My 13-months Pampers e-mail said sleep schedules take a beating at this age but to keep putting them down for regular naps. This restored a little of my faith in Pampers, since it was the 12-month e-mail that scared me to death. After Avery's "nap," we worked on labeling all the boxes with her baby items. I had everything packed away that she had outgrown/stopped using, but I hadn't written on the containers. I certainly don't want to give her things away, but I have to wonder how much I'll use if I have another girl. At any rate, our storage is filling up fast and each season brings one or two new sets of clothes. Avery couldn't even make it to 1 pm without laying her head on Giraffi, so she went right to bed and slept for over 2 hours without her pacifier. The pacifier isn't even helping the naps lately, but I think we'll try to stop it when she goes from one nap to two. After her nap we went to Walmart to get a baby shower gift. That place was a zoo. We stopped at the bank on the way home and the teller gave me cash back when I wasn't supposed to get it, so Avery and I got to visit inside the bank too. We had dinner at Applebee's where she discovered that her dancing got the attention of another couple. We have a show-off on our hands. Eating yogurt melts and playing with her Tiny Diner placemat were much more fun than eating her healthy pears. The tears started at bedtime when I turned the light off and only got bigger as I zipped her into her sleep sack. She cried harder than Thursday night but for a shorter amount of time. I guess that's why our pediatrician said to get rid of the bottles when we were done so there's no temptation to go back. Ned and I watched The Last Song. It was good but not as good as the book.


Ned played golf Saturday morning and Avery and I stayed home. She had another questionable morning nap but was quiet for a bit. She went down very easily for her afternoon nap, and I went to a baby shower for Ned's cousin. When I got home we left for dinner at Lolli and Poppa's. Avery ate well and enjoyed some of my catfish. After dinner we found the Hot Dog Dance on YouTube, and Avery showed Lolli and Poppa all of her moves. In addition to dancing she now pats both hands on her knees. I got Lolli's opinion on a fall and a Christmas dress for Avery while we were on the computer. We were past Avery's bedtime at this point, but I still played the piano for a bit before we left. Good gracious I am rusty. Avery had either found her second wind or doesn't need to go to bed as early as we think. She was constant motion and chatter. She slept on the way home, and I was nervous about getting her back to sleep. She got right in her pajamas and went to bed without a peep. Ned watched the race and I rested my eyes on the couch.

This will probably be the last of these detailed reviews (hip hip hooray you think). You may have been bored, but I'm glad I could do it to remember our summer a little better. And, if it's boring or silly, you really shouldn't be ready anyway, right? Blogging will probably slow down a bit as I make the transition to 3rd grade. I hope to still post weekly with pictures and anything exciting that happened during the week. Avery goes back to Jen-Jen's tomorrow, and I will head to school to work on my room. We have inservices Tuesday-Thursday, and Friday is still up in the air. I may work at school or I may take a mental health day while I can. Students don't come until the Tuesday after Labor Day. Think of Avery and I this week as we ease into our school year routine. She'll be thrilled. Me...not so much.