Teething

She's teething her first tooth! I can see the top of her tooth. The pediatrician confirmed it. Derek has yet to see it. Penelope doesn't like the feeling so much. Since I can't capture her tooth, here's a picture of her and her monkey.

Grrrrrrrr

Be Still

Out of 17 pictures taken today, this is as sharp as they come. Is there some sort of trick to taking pictures of babies without having them lunge for the camera?

Drink Milk

Penelope knows how to drink. She can drink from a cup, sippy cup, straw, and sports bottle. She knows how, but never has interest to drink milk. We will do almost anything to get her to drink milk, even if it means drinking milk out of a beer bottle.

Annual Review

Emily: The funniest moment was seeing you jump when Pen sprayed her poop two feet to the mirror. What was your funniest moment?

Derek: Every time she laughs, though I guess that's not so much funny for me as it is funny for her. For me it's complete nirvana.

Emily: That doesn't really answer my question, but I'll take it. What new thing did she do that you found most amazing?

Derek: I find it incredible any time she does something that she couldn't do before. It seems like it just comes out of the blue and it's a reminder that when you talk to her and show her things and play with her, or when she picks something up and sees it, feels it, tastes it, that it really is soaking in, slowly wiring up her brain.

Emily: I have to say, it was her climbing onto her chair and within seconds she is standing on the window sill.

Derek: Is staying home and taking care of her what you expected?

Emily: Harder. I love it, and I'm totally grateful to be able to be home with her; I knew that, but I didn't expect to be that tired. I think that has to do with her still not sleeping through the night, trying to find ways to get her to eat and drink, and keeping her healthy.

Derek: Is there anything about the past year that surprised you?

Emily: I was totally firm about not giving Penelope juice or sugary things. She was only going to have one toy box that limited the amount of toys she owned. Ha! I gave up on those things really fast. I guess I'm more surprised with how fast I changed, or how fast I give up my goals. How about you?

Derek: I'm surprised at how hard it already is to remember what it was like to live without Penelope. I obviously remember our life before her, but it's hard to remember how it felt, to try and go back in time and feel how it was to be me before she arrived because she's just so intrinsically a part of us now. Also I'm constantly surprised or amazed at how Penelope, or any other baby, has such a completely open mind. Nothing is gross, everything is worthy of consideration. That's already been in my mouth? On the floor? Is a dust mite? I want to taste it! And how much energy babies have! Sure, they get their naps, but when they aren't sleeping they are 100% non-stop, soaking in as much of their surroundings as they can until it's time to nap again. And if they have sufficiently absorbed their current surroundings, do they just relax for a bit? Nope - they let you know, not so subtly, that they require some sort of change to their environment. And it better be good. I'm also in awe, though not surprised, at your ability to keep up with her day in and day out and still seem like you have a hold on your sanity.

Emily: Yes, it's like doing a live performance non stop. Do you really think I'm sane? Cause I think I'm crazy. I now understand why all moms are sorta crazy. Ok, what are some quirks of parenthood?

Derek: The few times I go see a movie, I get concerned when the movie gets really loud, as if it will wake Pen up or scare her. Things that I would previously have seen as trash or recycling, are now potential toys.

Emily: I listen to a lot of jazz or easy listening stuff. Her poop and pee takes up way too much of my mind. I think her farts are cute. Ok, we can go on forever. Last thoughts?

Derek: May this be the year that she starts sleeping through the night. But either way, bring it on, I can't wait.

Emily: What is she going to look like with teeth?

Derek: Yeah, is she actually going to grow teeth?

January 15th, She's One

Happy Birthday Penelope!

On Friday, she went to the aquarium with her friends, Lyla, Amy, Jeff, and Steve. Penelope shares her birthday with Amy. Happy birthday Amy! When Derek came home, Penelope opened gifts then went to bed.

On Saturday, we took advantage of the break from the rain and went to

the zoo. This was the first time for all three of us at the Woodland Park

Zoo in Seattle. At home the Millers and our friend Sam Oh, joined in on the fun of watching Penelope open more gifts and play with her ballon and cake.

First Christmas

Simply Pen

All Good

It's so wonderful to hear her laugh again. She's all smiles now!

Recovering

Resting

106.4

The evening of January 1st, Penelope had a temperature of 105. We called the on call nurse and we were instructed to go to the nearest emergency room. We were admitted right away. Her vitals and temperature were taken. Turns out she had a temperature of 106.4. She was given A LOT of tests to identify the cause of this high fever. For her urinary test a catheter had to be used. Being a general hospital and not a children's hospital, the medical staff was not very experience in putting one in. It took four nurses to put one in. I've never heard her or any baby scream like she did for what seemed an eternity. I kept hearing, "I see it, I think I got it, no, " finally after the first two, Penelope was given a break. The next two nurses took less time getting her urine out, but that was really only the beginning. Next, they had to draw blood. They were hoping to be efficient by drawing blood at the same spot her IV would go in. Unfortunately, after a bloody mess, they had to move to the other hand. They couldn't put a local anesthetic because it would be harder to find her vein. They couldn't draw enough blood on the first hand, so after her IV was going, they had to poke her again at her inner elbow. But wait, there's more. They had to do a nasal swab to make sure it wasn't influenza. It's this thing that goes way way up her nose. To make sure she doesn't have pneumonia, they took an x-ray of her chest. She wasn't too happy with that either. Fortunately her tests came out clear. The doc determined it is a viral infection. We were instructed to give her ibuprofen and Tylenol and see her pediatrician the next day for a follow up.

This was a very traumatic experience for Penelope and us. We had tickets to go see family and friends down in So. Cal. in February, but we have canceled those plans. Even if it's a slight risk she'll get sick from the plane, it's still a slight risk we want to rule out. We've created a flight ban. No flying this winter and no visitors off a plane. Oh, we found out from our Doc that the on call nurse is required by law to say, "go to the nearest hospital". Really, we should have gone to the children's hospital.

New Year