Natalie’s Blog

If I believed in that sort of thing, I might think that reading Ellie’s latest blog post jinxed us…

Yesterday Natalie was grumpy all day, even after taking a 3 hour nap. I attributed her lousy mood to teething, since I noticed right before her nap that she just cut two more teeth—the top molars. She has had a mildly runny nose since last Friday, but again, I thought it was teething…

Then last night Natalie was awake and tugging on her ear from 1 am to 4 am….the only thing that kept her from screaming uncontrollably was watching sing-along videos on TV. Normally she doesn’t watch TV at all, but when she’s been sick, it offers a comforting distraction from her pain.

We went to the doctor this morning, who confirmed our suspicions—another dreaded ear infection. Luckily, this cold is more mild than the last one, so during the day, Natalie’s symptoms are much more manageable. I think we caught this ear infection earlier than last time, too.

The doctor gave us a ray of hope by saying that most babies outgrow the “getting an ear infection every time they get a runny nose” phase by the time they’re 2. She said we just need to get through this winter and hopefully next winter won’t be as bad. We’ll keep our fingers crossed. In the mean time, we’re stocking up on Infant Motrin.

Natalie is finally on the mend…things got worse before they got better and she was diagnosed with an ear infection on Friday. Sunday was the first day in a week that Natalie woke up happy.

Natalie’s illness really took a toll on all of us…Chris and I both had mild colds, making taking care of a sick child even more tiring. And Natalie wanted to be held by me all. the. time. If I got 1 foot away from her, she screamed, so it was difficult to do basic things like go to the bathroom, get dressed, or shower. Plus she’s heavy—my back is sore after a week of carrying her around nonstop. Thank goodness for family, who helped us through it!

It’s nice to be able to share pictures of her smiling again…

Natalie prefers to drink from a real cup these days, and I was letting her since she was so sick, even though she spills most of it all over herself:

Smiling and happy to be eating bread with butter on it (and getting grease all over her face):

And tears. Lots of tears. Poor Natalie is sick with a cold and she’s absolutely miserable. Plus she’s teething—her first molar broke through right before Christmas and she’s working on 5 more. It’s so hard to watch her in pain and not be able to do much to console her. Natalie usually gets a big smile on her face when she sneezes, but since she’s sick it must really hurt to sneeze. Every time she sneezes, big snot bubbles come out of her nose and she cries hysterically. She’s upset that she has boogers all over her nose and lip, but cries even more when we wipe her. Even Puffs Plus with Lotion doesn’t make the wiping any easier. And she cries when she coughs. Thank goodness for ice–she’s been eating ice chips by the tray-full, which seems to help sooth her gums and throat. Tylenol, a humidifier, and a blend of essential oils Uncle David made to ease congestion are also helping. Natalie had the sniffles last year on New Year’s too, but this is by far the worst cold she’s had. We’ll keep you posted—hopefully she’ll be better soon!

The first “uh oh” is Natalie’s new phrase. I have to get it on video so I can share just how adorably she says it. It seems to have two meanings. One is to indicate that something is on the floor. For example, if Natalie throws her mouse on the ground while she’s nursing, she sits up, points to it and says “uh oh” over and over until I pick it up. She also says “uh oh” if she discovers something on the floor, like a stray cheerio that rolled under the table, or a toy that one of the cats took out of the toy box.

The second meaning relates to wanting things, as in “uh oh—I see something I want and I can’t reach it” or “uh oh—I want something that you won’t let me have.” Today we were in a store and she saw a box that for some reason struck her fancy. She kept pointing and saying “uh oh” until I figured out what she was pointing to and let her examine it before putting it back on the shelf. Until I get a video, you’ll have to take my word for it—it’s unbelievably cute.

The second “uh oh” is a gross one, so feel free to stop reading if you’re squeamish. Natalie threw up (twice) for the first (and second) time last Friday. She did a couple of really big spit-ups as a newborn, but no actual throw up since she started eating solid food. I guess we’ve been pretty lucky to have gone a whole year without any puke. I had heard that dealing with such bodily fluids isn’t as bad when it’s from your child. Whoever said that was obviously lying…vomit is still vomit. And vomit coming from my little angel didn’t make it any less disgusting. Natalie and I (and her car seat, which really bore the brunt of the vomit) survived, despite the grossness of it all. I think the episode was teething related—apparently vomiting is a symptom of teething! Babies swallow so much drool when they teethe that it causes stomach problems. We will all breathe a sigh of relief when these teeth come in. Poor Natalie has 6 teeth trying to break through at once—it must be so painful. And poor Chris and I have been dealing with the teething symptoms for over a month now.

I realized in writing this that I must have reached a new level of mom-confidence. Over the past year, I’ve called the doctor’s office over far less concerning events than vomit. But this time, I felt secure enough that I skipped the call to the doctor and just consulted Grandma & Nama. Since Natalie only threw up the two times, had no fever and was acting more or less okay, I figured she was not gravely ill. Her appetite for solids was low for a couple of days, but she nursed like crazy. I’d forgotten how exhausting nursing every 1.5 hours is!

In sum, “uh oh” the phrase is cute. Uh oh as in vomit is gross.