Merry Christmas from the Beach Baby

This South Beach Babe is headed to the West Coast for Christmas, but don't worry she will not be far from the beach. Although, I doubt we'll be getting in that cold Pacific water. We don't even like to get in the Atlantic in the winter...burrrr. Happy Holidays Everyone!

Watching A Heat Game

Sonja Clause

For Lexi, this weekend was all about Charlie the Rocking Caterpillar. It started Friday night with a fun evening at my friend Sonja's house. Sonja was so kind to take care of her, while we went to Steve's company Christmas party. When we came to pick Lexi up, Sonja Clause sent us home with the most WONDERFUL gift ever - Charlie. As you can see, Lexi really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the video I took was too dark. If not, you would see a maniac rocking back and forth. She only stopped to sleep, eat, attend my company’s Christmas party, and go shopping with her dad on Sunday (note the Dolphin dress).

New Things

Over the last few weeks, Lexi has started doing a lot of new things. I’m sure I will not remember to list all of them, but I’ll try.

1. She is now waving like a beauty queen with her fingers very still.

2. She started playing catch with me. When she was sick, we didn’t have a ball, so we started tossing a plastic block back and forth. I put her about 6 feet away from me. Half the time she throws it right to me. I usually toss/roll it back to her.

3. Her temper tantrums have increased and last longer. When she is tired, she throws little fits over everything.

4. She is singing funny little songs now.

5. She is clicking her tongue a lot and will often look at someone very seriously and start doing it.

6. She says, “ut oh, ut oh, ut oh.” over and over and over again.

7. She hates the baby food lasagna and spaghetti, but can’t get enough of the Italian food I make for us.

8. Her appetite has finally returned after last week. Actually, it has returned with a vengeance and is making up for lost meals.

9. She is even more playful if that is possible. All of the doctors and nurses were so surprised that a baby as sick as she was would still play peek-a-boo with them.

10. She is also saying, “dog,” whenever we see a dog. However, it sounds a lot like the way she says duck.

Funny Tantrum

Tantrums can be quite funny.

Hair Surprise

Yesterday, when I arrived to pick Lexi up from Daycare I was surprised. Before dropping her off, I put a cute little clip in her hair. As usual, the clip has disappeared, which is why I rarely put one in (and never put cute bows in for daycare). ....But this time, her hair had 2 very funny pig tails. I started laughing because suddenly she looked like a reindeer to me.

Her dad and I were laughing even harder, when I took them out to give her a bath. She looked a little more devilish. So...we took another video:

Trip to the ER

We have learned something new about Lexi. She is allergic to Augmentin. In fact, I wish this medicine had never been prescribed. Looking back, it was not meant to be. When we went to pick it up, all of the pharmacies on the Beach were out. When we finally got it, she hated the taste (she is now protesting all medicine). Then, it made her nauseous to the point of volcanic vomiting. When I finally figured out how to keep it down (still no appetite), she broke out in a rash. New Nick Name: Miss Spot. I called her doctor. Being the very helpful take her to the ER for everything kind of doctor that he is, you can guess his recommendation. This time, I said fine because it is much closer than Urgent Care. All she needed was a dose of Benadryl and a new prescription. I will definitely be looking for a new doctor. I also happen to be looking forward to the appointment with the ENT on Monday.

Back At It Again

Friday morning, Lexi finished off her last teaspoon of Ceprozil (antibiotics) and I foolishly thought we would have a breather. Unfortunately, there wasn’t even a chance for a half a breath. By that evening, she was running a fever. The next day, the fever was about 101, so I kept her on Tylenol. Saturday night, sleep was merely a dream that kept getting interrupted by painful screams.

...Sooooo... Sunday, we went back to Urgent Care. When they finally took us back to a room, Lexi’s temperature was 104 degrees. Yes – very scary. They gave her Motrin and discovered that both ears are infected. They also did a chest x-ray just to make sure she didn’t have bronchitis (she didn’t). The doctor also wanted a urine sample. The medical assistant (who looked like he was 12 years old & was afraid of babies) gave me a little plastic bag with an opening to tape on her. I stuck it on then fed her a bottle followed by a cup of water. After that, we waited and waited and waited, but Lexi would NOT go. We were waiting over an hour (had been there a total of 5 hours), when they finally gave up and released us.

We headed back towards home and stopped at Walgreens to pick up her prescription, Augmentin (commonly used for pneumonia). They were out, so they called the one up the street to discover they were out too. We went to CVS and got the same story (also called the other one). Fortunately, they offered to place an order and said it would be in the next day. We accepted.

I dragged her to work for half a day yesterday to get a few things done and pick up more work. She has been extremely clingy, sensitive, and moody although she is still trying to be her happy and playful self. She isn’t eating much and has begun protesting food and medicine. I think she vomited on me a total of 4 times yesterday. The worst one was right before I was about to put her in bed. I had given her a bath and a bottle. I held her while Steve squirted the medicine into her mouth and suddenly she erupted like a volcano. Poor Steve had to clean up the mess in the kitchen, while I stripped both Lexi and me and hoped into the shower. I am going to call the pharmacist today to see if I can mix the medicine in her formula. By the way, I also made an appointment with an ENT for next Monday.

For now, Lexi and I are staying home and dreaming of a time when sleep will be possible again.