Children's Museum

Sprinkler Fun

"Hi. My name is Willow. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Pajama family photo

We were playing with Photobooth on my computer this morning (it's kindof like Skyping with yourself!) and got one of our best smiling family photos ever - in our pajamas!!

Maymont Park

Willow experienced Maymont Park for her 2nd time. This time she was more comfortable getting closer to the animals.

Little Miss Independent was also more comfortable walking away from her mother as well!

Willow's sweet friend, Mckenzie, enjoyed watching the animals, too!

Sometimes I feel like Willow is "so big," but she looks so small in this picture!

Sharing?

WE LOVE SUMMER!!!

Summertime Craziness

The weather outside has been incredibly hot, so Willow and I enjoyed playing indoors in the AC for part of the day today. For whatever reason, Willow thought it was hysterical when I carried her while I ran around the house kicking her beach ball. And we wonder why she won't sit still?

There's a laugh in this video that we've never heard before...I love it!

(more of the same, but I couldn't pick a favorite video)

Ready for School

One of Willow's favorite things lately is to sit on the couch next to a book basket, then flip through each of the books until she empties the basket (and the leave the mess for mom or dad to clean up!). I love watching her eyes look around the pictures in the book. It makes me wonder what she's thinking! Lately she'll also (unprovoked) choose a book, walk over to us, turn around backwards, back up, and then plop herself in our lap to read the book to her. I love that she loves books!

First Writing

Willow made her first addition to the grocery list....I think it says "Cheetos."

Happy Father's Day!

The difference between Aunt Kim and Willow

You may have to click to enlarge the picture to see Aunt Kim's type-A eating style vs. Willow's abstract/random eating.

Office Life

After spending so much time with Dada at the office and working from home, Willow's decided this whole office stuff is a piece of cake!

We've been SO blessed that Willow's been able to go to work with Chris this school year! Willow's Petersburg days coincided with Joren's two days a week and I hear they've become quite good buddies. (No, they don't sit still there like little angels all day long)

Pigtails

Willow humored her mother by letting me put pig-tails in her hair this morning!

Corn on the Cob

A true sign of summer: corn on the cob!! Willow has experienced success biting into apples, pears, and bananas...so why not corn on the cob?

Willow had been trying to eat "banana style" so we stuck in the corn cob holders, but she experienced the most success when we just held it for her! One thing at a time, right?

In case you couldn't tell... yes, she liked it!

I love how big her eyes get when she takes the last bite in the video!

Chase/Scare

One of my favorite games as a child was playing Scare with my dad. We would turn out all the lights in the house, then Kim and I would go around the house cautiously, waiting for my dad to just out and scare us, then tickle us. Repeat, repeat, repeat. I haven't quite taken it to that extent with Willow yet (maybe when she's 14 months old..haha), but she does enjoy being scared as she comes around the corner and I pop out and bombard her with kisses.

The Willow-toss is always a hit as well:

First ER visit

We've survived our first trip to the ER for Willow! On Monday it looked like she had a ton of mosquito bites on her arms, legs, and belly which we figured was from being outside without bug spray on Sunday. That night she was up a couple times so it wasn't a complete shock when she slept in 1 1/2 hours later than she normally does. When she woke up though, Chris realized that they weren't mosquito bites because they had spread all over her body and onto her face! After seeing a pediatrician that afternoon, we were told that she had hives as an allergic reaction to amoxcycilin she was on for an ear infection. We stopped those meds and started giving her Benadryl. Last night (Tues) was rough for her. She was up at 1am with a fever of 101.3 then was shivering really bad. I called the overnight nurse from our pediatrician's office who said it may be chills. By the time I'd gotten off the phone with her, she'd stopped shaking and fell asleep. She was up again at 3:30 but there wasn't too much we could do since she'd had more Benadryl and Tylenol at 1:00 so we gave her more milk but she never calmed down and actually seemed really hyped up. All she wanted to do was read books and play with her shoes but she was very fussy. Around 4:30 we just brought her downstairs and played "daytime" but she couldn't get comfortable in our arms or lap, but didn't want to be put down. In looking at her in the light, though, we noticed that the hives were turning black and blue. In calling the night nurse again, she recommended we take Willow into the hospital. We began getting our bags ready when she called us back to ask a few more questions, then recommended we call an ambulance for possible meningitis. We were definitely in panic mode at that point. Luckily Willow calmed down in watching us rush around to get dressed and packed. Much to our dismay, the ambulance took FOREVER to get to the house. Willow remained very calm during the whole ambulance ride and I began to feel kindof foolish in talking with the EMT who said that her hives were not the color of meningitis and Willow was not showing any signs of an emergency. We got to the hospital and the doctor said she might have erythema multiforme due to the rash having a target-like appearance, purplish in color. We then looked at her belly, which hadn't been black/blue before but was completely, solid purple which took us all by surprise. The doctor said she'd never seen it that bad before (not very reassuring to hear from an ER doc!!). We had blood work done, which all came back normal, though not a fun process to go through. Poor Willow had an IV put in as well, but was taped to a foot-long splint to prevent her from bending her elbow, which she was NOT happy about! The pediatric ER doc came in to confirm the diagnosis but by that time her belly was back to red. She was given a prescription for a steriod and we were headed back home. Thankfully on the ride back she started talking and seeming more like herself. She took two good naps for us today, so we're hoping for a better night tonight. The hives/rash is definitely improving since we came home from the hospital. Here are pictures of the improved rash (if you could imagine it looking worse!):

Here is a pic of her face, MUCH better than it has been:

Strawberry Faire

Kim decided not to make a tradition out of carrying Willow in a wrap at the Strawberry Faire like she did last year:

But still had "hands-free corndog eating" this year:

So I guess our tradition now is corndogs, strawberry shortcake, and yummy Omish breads. Good enough for me! Willow enjoyed eating fresh strawberries again, and got a second very appropriate event to wear her strawberry dress to.

George

Willow was having yogurt for snack this morning and didn't show too much interest after a couple bites. I was trying to entice her to eat more by pretending to give her stuffed animal, George ("Curious George"), a bite off of the spoon. She thought it was entertaining and it worked to get a few more bites in her. She was concerned when some yogurt actually got on George's mouth, so I put one of her bibs around his neck. She stared at it for a second (kindof dumbfounded) then gave a huge smile and a giggle. It's fun to see her process things and find humor in playing pretend. She enjoyed trying to get the bib on and off George the rest of the day.

She later shared her strawberry with George: