Hurricanes

Not of the child variety, although Angelina is sometimes her own little hurricane, but I'm talking about Dean. Category 5.


Until last night it was expected to hit the Texas coast. Since I work for the state, we have to prepare for an emergency response. We're much better prepared than we were for Katrina and Rita in 2005. So we're on the plus side there. Teams have been working frantically for the past few days and I was preparing for a long week of many long days and nights, on the heels of another work crisis with long nights (and another urgent situation which had to take 2nd priority to Dean). Today we learn it's heading south instead, straight at Mexico. On the one hand I'm personally glad I now can breathe a bit and sleep more this week, not to mention get started on the other issue. San Antonio is still digging out from Tropical Storm Erin's flooding. But I feel for Mexico and Belize. Right now it's aimed at Chetumal and the Belize/Mexico border. I'm reminded of some lazy days spent in Xcalak, a tiny town just south of Chetumal on the border (no pics, that was pre-digital days for me). With 150-200mph winds, not much will be left standing. In a place where the people have so little to begin with.

So a short prayer and many thoughts for the people in Dean's path.

Brilliant but Lazy Still and a Proud Mommy Moment

We finally got around to our one year old appointment, a month late. We also had the visit to the specialist. Verdict? She's perfect!
Stats:
height: 76cm (75-95th percentile) 29.9 in
weight: 8.8kg (25-50th percentile) 19.5lbs
head: 46cm (50-75th percentile) 18in

No, she doesn't walk. She doesn't even crawl. She scoots on her bum. She can pull herself up, but then looks around and if someone is watching, quickly sits back down. Why get up when someone can do it for you?

She's a thinker though. The specialist was doing all sorts of 'games' to test her skill level, and she's 6+ months beyond what she 'should' be doing. It's so fun to watch her try to figure something out, she's a real problem solver. So the conclusion was she's super smart, just lazy - or maybe that's smart, she knows she can get us to do something for her, so she can't be bothered to do it herself. ;)

On a pround Mommy note, we make all her food. She's not keen on the jar stuff anyway, so for 6ish months now we've been pureeing foods and freezing, and more recently giving her stuff off our own plates. Knowing the nutritionist would ask what she eats, I made a list beforehand. She took one look at said "WOW!" and then WOW a few more times adding "If I had to create the perfect menu for a baby, this would be it!" That was a great pat on the back!

So what does she eat? Everything....Some combination of any of the following:
beets, carrots, spinach, mustard greens, kale, squash: acorn, butternut, crookneck, zucchini, and assorted other types in season, eggplant, peas, broccoli, cauliflower,
beans (pinto, red, white), asparagus, tofu (occasionally)

breads/grains: whole grain, french bread, whole wheat cheerios, museli, multi-grain cereal, pasta

peaches, pears, plums, prunes, pineapple, papaya, mango, blueberries, blackberries

yoghurt (sometimes Papa's homemade stuff, otherwise organic full fat yoghurt), cheese (she's partial to gruyere), Breastmilk (yes, she still nurses all the time), some cow's milk, goat's milk, soy milk although she's not fond of any of those non-human milks.

And probably some other stuff I'm forgetting. She doesn't like bananas and avocados have been hit or miss (more for me!). She basically eats everything that is on our plate, minus the hot peppers....The best part for her? Feeding herself!

A month of relatives

Angelina has been having so much fun lately. First her Atlanta soon to be Indianapolis cousins Richard, Grace, and James, along with Aunt Theresa came to celebrate her birthday party. She got to spend a whole day just hanging out with them.


The next week her Swiss family came for 2 whole weeks, after a quick side trip to NYC. Fredo has all the pics so I can't post them til he gets done with his crisis-mode work hours. Cousines Megâne, Maël, and Gilles had so much fun with her. Megâne took care of her as much as possible and just loves her to pieces. What surprised me a bit was Maël and Gilles. Being boys I didn't expect them to be too interested in a baby girl. But I was wrong. 4 year old Gilles saw her as an equal playmate and other times as a toy, evidenced by Maël saying "Gilles, she's not a toy! Stop doing that!"
Maël was her little protector and entertainer. He was always either taking care of her or making her laugh. She got spoiled with so much attention. Then of course there's Tonton Philippe and Taunte Sophie whom she adored.

No sooner did they leave and a few days later Nanny came to visit! Now she has Nanny's undivided attention every day for a week. Lucky little girl. She's going to be bored with just Mommy and Papa.

Since Mommy and Papa celebrate two wedding anniversaries

Angelina celebrates two birthdays. A year ago today we were celebrating a very important event - Angelina came home! After a rough 17 days in NICU then Special Care, our little Angel was released (or maybe unleashed)upon the world. And now look at her. Can you imagine someone so perfect?


She's amazing. So full of life, so happy, and so much fun. It's been a weird mix of feelings these past few weeks. We're just thrilled we have her in our lives.

Yummmmm. Beets!

I'm not a big fan of beets, but they're good for you and Angelina loves them. Alas, she also loves them on her clothes.

Papa and his little clone

Who would have thought you could love someone so much?

Like Mother like Daughter

At least she might get some traits from me. Her favourite position in the stroller, in the restaurant high chairs, wherever it's possible is kicking back with her feet up. Fredo says "it's a girl thing." Either way, she's cute!

Dinner time is Play time!

7 Teeth!

FIVE of which came in all at once!



She's had 2 teeth since about 7 months. We could tell there were others trying to make it to the surface, but nothing. By mid-June she was not a happy camper, but didn't have the usual teething signs apart from occasional fever (no drooling, no diarrhea). She didn't like drinking from her sippy and was cranky at nights, but that was all. Suddenly, 5 teeth popped up at once, seemingly overnight. Now she has 4 on top and 3 on bottom. She LOVES having her teeth brushed. What's funny is when I try to use just my finger she refuses to open her mouth, but when I use the little finger tip tooth brush (it goes over the finger) she puts her mouth forward and sticks her teeth out. It helps if we brush hers right after we do. She likes imitating Mommy and Papa!

I also learned I was a bit spoiled, as she had never bitten me.
Until now. Ouch!

Look who has a Birthday!

One year old. I can hardly believe it. A year ago today was the start of the most wonderous thing in our lives. It started with some major challenges.
I've been so emotional lately, remembering all the excitement and anticipation, and then the fear of seeing her all full of tubes and wires. And now look at her!

Angelina is an amazing little girl. She so full of life and happiness and joy. We feel like the luckiest people on earth, having her in our lives. I wouldn't trade all those sleepless nights for anything!

And a special THANK YOU to all of you who remembered her birthday! It was so nice to hear kind wishes for her.

Tupperware Party

A certain little someone is approaching her First Birthday, and Mommy and Papa are planning a big party. We debated having a theme - Dora? Ariel? Cinderella? but at this point she's not really into anything in particular.


So Fredo said "Let's have a Tupperware Party, that's what she likes the best." So don't send her toys, send Tupperware. Or toilet paper rolls (with the paper gone, just the cardboard part), she loves those too. Oh, and empty water bottles.

One year ago today

We were celebrating the impending birth of this little creature we had yet to meet. The gang threw us a Soccer themed shower, as it was amidst the World Cup. We already knew it, but this reminded us of how lucky Angelina is to enter this world with such a wonderful group of friends around.


And I can't believe I was actually that big!

Un bateau and a trip to Toulouse

Alas, only Papa went on the trip while Angelina stayed home with Mommy. Frédéric had yet another meeting in Europe, this time in Toulouse, France. We'd hoped to join him, but it just wasn't feasible, so off he went for 8 days. Not a long time, but long enough for me to wonder how single parents manage. It was hard! Didn't help that I started my new job that week while he was eating foie gras and having wonderful wine all week. But the little munchkin and I managed, and Papa brought home a very cool present. Angelina just loves her new bateau. She never wants to get out of the bathtub now.

So she has something from me afterall!

Since she was born, Angelina has had a sort of 'lazy left eye' - this picture is from November (4 months old) but you can see it clearly. At first we thought it might have something to do with the sedation, but then it persisted. Her whole left side of her body was sort of smushed in utero, as her foot was turned in a bit and her arm and lef veered in (hard to explain). Only just slightly, but obvious to us. All of it improved with time, but we've noticed in the last month or so the left eye still drags. She can open it fully, and once open it's not obvious, it's only when she just starts opening her eyes that you can see it.

I got a new ID picture at work, and was looking at it the other day. What did I notice? The exact same eye! My left eye is also 'lazy'. It opens big and wide, but when I'm tired (or smiling, apparently), it doesn't open fully and lags behind. When I got home I showed the ID card to Fredo and just said "look at this" without saying why. Took him about 1/2 a second and said "That's where she gets it! She has your eye!" 37 years, and I never noticed this. I hope she doesn't get any other of my body parts!

One year ago....

We were frantically working on the bedroom so we'd have one room in the entire house that was a 'safe'zone when this then unknown baby arrived. Given that we planned a homebirth, we needed at least one room in decent shape. It was horrific. Thanks to some great friends (Ann, Garth, Kyle, Marisa), we managed to get the house into some sort of order. It's hard to think it's been nearly a year.



Work on the house has slowed substantially, but that's because a certain little someone occupies our time.

New beginnings for Mommy

Another new start for me. Now that Mommyhood is here (and wifedom too), no more world wanderings for me. I confess I miss traipsing off to tropical jungles, but I happen to like being with the husband and kid too :). A couple of years ago I moved from working on international infectious diseases to those a bit more local, with the local health department. Now I get to broaden my horizons a bit. It's not quite international, but one element is. I've been offered a new opportunity with the state health department, a regional office based here in San Antonio, but covering 29 counties, including a number of border counties. That means I get to do some work
on the US-Mexico border. Not the same as the Thai-Burma border, but it'll do.

Helping mommy file

I'm finally trying to organize. Angelina decided she wanted to help...

Santé!

Angelina has said her first word!

We're teaching our kid well. Her Swiss GranPapa will be proud! Last night as we had dinner, Fredo and I clinked glasses and said "Santé!" Angelina smiled (she likes the sound of the clinking glass and the sound it makes afterwards) and said "Santé!" Then she picked up her sippy cup, hit my glass and said "Santé!"

Then of course she wouldn't stop :) (We do also say it when she sneezes, so it's not all wine related!)

Spoken like a true French-Swiss.

And another new friend

Update: Angelina was rather friendly with Juan, they shared mucus :(. Little Juan had a very slight cold when he was here, so his mom, Nicole, suctioned his nose. She wiped off the suction thingy, and was holding it. Well, she must have put it down because before we realized she even had it, Angelina had picked it up, put it in her mouth and was sucking. Great way to transmit bugs - boogers! Sure enough, about 55 hours later, she had a runny nose and was coughing. :( Fortunately it didn't last long and she's fine now.

Ah, sharing boogers!


Angelina is used to being the 'baby' and the star of the show. She had to share the spotlight this weekend with little Juan Manuel, our friends' 2 month old. Angelina was quite intrigued by little Juan, but not sure he felt the same. She did really well, even though the concept of 'gentle' doesn't mean much to hear yet.

Angelina has a new friend

Although Chakapu isn't so sure....

Our neighbors went away for 2 weeks so we took care of their cat, Perseus. Now, we know Perceus well as this is the cat we brought home from the babysitter, then gave to the neighbors. Percy often goes outside and plays with Chakapu, he even comes in our house. Chakapu normally doesn't care. That was until she had to put up with him overnight. Chakapu was NOT happy. We awoke often to crashes in the night from two cats fighting.

Perceus, however, is excellent with kids. He's used to the two older kids (2 and 5) playing with him. Chakapu, on the other hand, had not been so interested in Angelina. So when Perceus let Angelina "pet" him (more like grab his fur) and was clearly getting lots more attention, Chakapu started coming closer to Angelina and letting Angelina grab her fur. Chakapu still isn't so sure about all this, but Perceus could care less, he was having fun with Angelina.