Holidays and general craziness...

The last month or so has been hectic, and full of changes in little Miss Marissa! First, We spend Thanksgiving down in Florida with my parents. It was a really nice trip...relaxing, and good to spend time with them. It was Marissa's first trip on an airplane, and she did great. I went ahead and bought her a seat, which I'm glad I did. We were able to put her in her carseat and she slept the whole time...both ways!! Woke up right before landing. Pretty great. Here's a picture.

So Marissa went through a phase where she refused to be fed the Stage 3 baby food anymore. During that phase, I decided to start trying more table foods. She is almost totally on table food (instead of jarred baby food) now. She loves feeding herself the little chunks. So her typical meals involve 2-3 of the following: chicken, cheese, avocado, sweet potato, carrot, pineapple, canteloupe, banana...you get the idea. I usually do a protein with either a fruit or veggie at each meal. I can't believe how big she's getting. So grown up.

She is now also doing what's called "cruising." She walks holding onto furniture. She will even move from one piece to another (say, from the coffee table to the couch) without any help. Leads me to believe walking may be soon...then watch out!! Not ready for that. She has stood for a few seconds on her own, without holding onto anything. Super crazy to see that.

The teeth have finally come, too. For the past couple weeks she's gone through the process of "cutting" them...so there are two on the bottom that are peeking through her gums. They are not fully "risen" yet, but they are definitely there.

Christmas was hectic and a little bit tiring, mainly because Marissa was sick. A little over a week before Christmas, Marissa had some goopy eyes so I took her to the doctor. Sure enough, she had an ear infection (the last time she had goopy eyes it was for the same reason) and was put on Amoxicillin. That was on a Tuesday, I think. That Saturday, Matt and I got home from being out and she was very hot...I took her temp, and it was 103. We gave her some motrin and I was up a few times that night comforting her but in general it seemed OK. I called the doc on Tuesday and we decided to check her out, since Christmas was on Thurs. Unfortunately, after having 7 does of the antibiotic, her little ears were still infected. So, we switched her to a stronger antibiotic but it was basically like starting over on the treatment. So, her illness dragged on and she was pretty miserable over the holidays. It was too bad, but what can you do? She was so much better a day or two after Christmas...now she's back to being her usual, playful, fun self! She's so fun. I, however, have gotten sick (this happened last time, too). I am really susceptible to getting sick after she's sick because I am pretty much the one who is closest to her when she's sick (she becomes quite the mommy's girl when she's ill) so I'm very exposed to all of the germs...AND, I don't get a lot of sleep when she's sick, so that lack of sleep also leaves me vulnerable. Of course now I think I have a raging sinus infection...because I rarely can just get a cold...it always turns into something more serious. If I don't feel better in the next day or two, I guess I'll have to go to the doctor for an antibiotic.