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www.youtube.com/watch?v=ms9ls3DWHRg

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Oh, she still won’t allow anyone else near her… even Luke at times!  My mom and I are really the only people she seems to let hold her.  And, it’s my mom as the first choice with me a close second… Fortunately, my mom is coming over every Monday now to hang out with Skye so I can get some work done.  I think they are both happy with the situation.

As for talking, she is my kid after all… she seems to pride herself on her vocabulary skills.  I think she’ll be a lot like Aidan and start rambling sentences off before we know it.  That’s the Phillips in her for sure!  Her favorite words include “dog”, “door”, “clock”, “baby”, “Aidan” and “mom”.

Now, if we could only get her to eat so we can keep her on the growth chart… she’s currently in the 10th percentile and not gaining, largely because she doesn’t want to eat anything or drink enough milk.  Again, the doctor assures me she won’t starve herself so I just continue to offer different kinds of food hoping she’ll catch on sooner or later.

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My parents, oma, Garry and Greta came to celebrate with us.  Luke grilled out in the freezing cold, and we made some of Skye’s favorites that included fruit and french fries.  Oh, how she loves the french fries!  When we got to the cake, Skye just didn’t want to eat it.  Of course, she smashed it all up and made a big mess (good photo ops), but I’m not sure that any actually went into her mouth.  Such a pity, because it was a pretty darn good cake.  A quick bath, change of clothes and a nap quickly ensued.

Although Christmas had just passed, there was no shortage of birthday presents.  She scored a new wardrobe and several new toys, including a little rocking horse that she’s terrified of.  She won’t even get near the thing, so we had to put it in the closet for now.  It’s actually pretty cute, so maybe she’ll come around at some point.

The first question from everyone I see seems to be… “is she walking yet?”.  Well, the answer is no.  And, to be perfectly honest, I’m not in such a rush for her to do so.  You don’t see many preschoolers crawling around, so I’m certain it will happen at some point.  So, for now, I’m enjoying being able to catch her very easily when she starts doing something she’s not supposed to.  As soon as she’s walking, I doubt there will be much rest as I’m running around chasing her everywhere.  She is walking around holding stuff, so it’s not like progress isn’t being made.

All in all, it was a great day.  Celebrating my daughter’s first year of life was both a happy and a sad occasion.  Knowing that we won’t have any other babies around makes it sad because I know she won’t be cute and cuddly forever.  But, I know from my experience with Aidan that each year brings new and exciting surprises that make it all worthwhile.

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This year, we spread the love and decided not to have a big celebration at our place.  Instead, we spent Christmas Eve with Luke’s mom over at her boyfriend Garry’s house.  A few other faces we hadn’t seen in a while were there as well and the evening was quite pleasant.  Aidan has a freakish adversity to Garry’s dogs, which presents a certain amount of humor for everyone but him.  But, other than that, we enjoyed a delicious meal and time well spent catching up.  We were even able to Skype with Luke’s family over in Poland, which was quite a treat!

Later that night, we let Aidan open up the presents we got him.  Skye had passed out in the car, so she kind of missed out on that part.  But, Aidan… being the spoiled rotten kid that he is, got everything he had asked for and more.

Santa did make it to our house that night and brought even more goodies.  I’m told he really enjoyed the gingerbread men Aidan had made and decorated for him, as well as the carrots he left for the reindeer.  Aidan now has enough LEGOs to touch the ceiling!  He also got the science kit he wanted and a few other things as well.  I should hope he got everything he wanted after we waited in line for over an hour at the mall to tell Santa’s “helper” what he couldn’t live without!  It turns out I’ve enjoyed LEGO Rock Band more than anyone else, so I guess I scored on that one!

Greta and Garry joined us over at my parent’s house for Christmas dinner.  Amid puffs of smoke from the poor little game hens cooking and Oma laying sickly on the couch, we really had a great time.  Never a lack of gifts at the Phillips’ house, the kids were again showered with presents that would later result in packaging filling more than two large garbage cans outside our house for pick-up.  Such a shameful and gluttonous holiday, I know.   But, the look on kids’ faces when they open stuff up is pretty priceless I have to admit.  Even Skye was pleased with her loot, although Aidan’s stuff does seem to be more appealing to her.

Luke is off for the remainder of the holiday and doesn’t return back to work until after the New Year.  So, we’re making the most of our time and trying to combine relaxation with entertainment.  We’re hoping to have a date night this weekend, and Luke is planning some fun stuff for Aidan as well.  I think they’ve got laser tag and geocaching on the agenda, as well as many hours spent with LEGOs, of course.  Skye’s got Gymboree going on and maybe a trip to the park or two so she can play with her new bubbles.  I swear that girl said “bubble” the other day… but, I can’t get her to say it again!  At some point, we’ll have to get everything together for her birthday on January 9th.  I can’t even believe she’s going to be one! Before you know it, Christmas 2010 will be here!

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And, she’s getting in two more teeth up top and has finally started eating food with a little texture to it.  I’m going to dabble with the food processor at some point to try and whiz up some culinary creations.

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So, Greta and Garry appear to be doing very well… Greta’s recent neck/back laser surgery seemed to really be helping her out.   And, Oma joined us this year with my folks and they are all doing well too.  Kelly and Lance even joined us this year, which was a very nice addition.  Aidan felt really special to have his former teacher over… he’s such a ham!

Oh, Aidan and I actually made the napkin rings and centerpiece leaves this year.  It really turned out pretty cute.  When asked what he was most thankful for so we could write it on the back of the leaves, he responded “birthdays, nature & the sun, family and the house.”   Of course, Skye supervised the process.

Time with spent with family and friends always seems to be an adventure, which makes Thanksgiving up there as a holiday favorite.

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Anyway, so what’s going on with the Stepniowski family?  Halloween, one of our top picks for holidays, came and went.  Skye kind of got the shaft because of her quirky need to get to bed by 7pm.  We got a few pics of her in a pumpkin shirt and that was about it!  As for Aidan, he was supposed to be a clone trooper but later changed his mind after we had purchased the costume.  How could I resist him making a special request for me to make him a pirate?  We trimmed up some jeans and a white shirt, ironed on some patches, applied tattoos, an eye patch and some fake cuts and scratches and were ready to go.  It turned out quite cute, if I do say so myself.  Aidan and I scoured the entire neighborhood and scored a whole bag full of candy that will probably still be sitting in our food closet come next year.  But, it sure was fun collecting it.  We stationed Luke outside so no one would wake up Skye.  We both came to the same conclusion that our neighbors aren’t the friendliest of folk, but whatever.  We usually go down to Gulfport to see my friend Karen and her family, so hanging out in our hood was somewhat of a change.

Speaking of Skye, she is growing at warp speed.  Much unlike Aidan, she gets into absolutely everything and can’t sit still for a moment.  I’m glad Aidan is such a cuddler because we’re not getting any cuddle time from her anytime soon.  It’s all go, go go.  At ten months, she’s not walking but she is scooting across the furniture.  It won’t be long before she gets the courage to let go.  And, then all hell officially breaks loose!

As for Aidan, he’s still doing very well in school and seems to have all of the teachers wrapped around his little finger.  One of them stopped me the other day just to say how lucky I was to have such a smart and sweet little kid… ha ha.  Another one calls him the “Mayor of Hunter’s Green” because he personally greets everyone and hugs the teachers.  I won’t bring up the debacle at the HGE Hoe Down here because it would certainly change the tone.  I’ll just say that the night ended with Aidan screaming about how much hates me on his hands and knees through the school.  Fortunately, the teachers didn’t notice and only the moms caught sight.  I can’t tell you how excited I am to see them all again tomorrow at the Pow Wow… woo hoo.

Hmmm… as for Luke and I, same old stuff I guess.  But, there’s no complaining there.  The same old stuff is pretty good if you ask me. 

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But, seriously, it’s so hard to believe that my little girl is almost a year old.  And, she seems to be perfect in every way.  She’s crawling around, waving hello, clapping, lifting herself up and getting into as much trouble as she possible can.  The “trouble” part was inevitable considering her genetic make-up.  Neither Skye nor Aidan were going to be able to escape that one!

At nine months, Skye weighs 17.5lbs, which puts her in the 50th percentile.  She’s also 28″, which puts her in the 90th percentile for height.  Of course, they can’t really predict height until they’re two but she is getting pretty up there.

I’ve got some video that I’m hoping to post soon.  And, I admit we have been slacking on the updated photos.  It seems so much easier to snap shots with the iPhone rather than lug around a hefty camera all the time!  Since Skye isn’t big on strollers and still insists on being held, taking photos is especially difficult.

As for life in general with Skye, it’s getting much easier.  We tried taking her off the Zantac but ended up going back on it.  It seems she’s still got some reflux issues.  And, she’s getting up once a night which is mostly my fault.  I could let her soothe herself back to sleep, but I know she’ll want to wake up for real around 4am and that’s just not cool.  I’m already addicted to Benadryl just to get 4-5 hours a sleep a night so I don’t need to be waking up that early!

Wherever we take her, she’s just as well behaved as she could be… I mean, that’s much different from Aidan who used to be a real screamer.  But, Aidan never went for socket plugs and stereo equipment either so it’s a toss-up as to which one is preferred.

All in all, she’s a keeper… And, I can’t wait for her birthday!  She really is our little princess, even though I said I would never say that and dress her in pink all the time.

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And, she's sleeping through the night… well, she would probably sleep through the night if I didn't wake up around 5am every morning frantic that she's going to starve to death!

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My parents and I, as well as Skye, picked up Aidan and headed over to Ybor.  We were nice enough to drop off my dad in front, considering the gimpy knee and all.  The parking garage for Centro is actually quite a stride.

Aidan has been going to Gameworks for a few years now.  I’ve seen him go from just banging on buttons and controls to actually paying attention and kicking butt on some of the games I would consider to be harder.  He did really well today on the Star Wars Trilogy Arcade game, and I honestly don’t think that I would have gotten any farther!

After playing for about an hour or so, we took a break and had dinner.  It was actually my first time getting any kind of food there, and it wasn’t so bad.  Aidan actually munched through almost two small hamburgers and some fries.

Around 6pm or so, Skye let everyone know that she was tired, so we decided to call it a day.  As a big finale, Aidan got to play Rambo.  Luke and I had originally said he would only play shooting games when it involved targets or zombies or something… no real people.  But, somehow he has ended up playing pretty much whatever he wants with the exception of any that have bad language.  Who knows… maybe we’ll give on that next!

Anyway, all in all… good friday… good day!

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Everything went very smoothly.  I did explain to Dr. Hoyos about the continued spitting up and he convinced me to finally try the Similac Sensitive formula.  He's actually suggested that several times, but I stayed with Earth's Best milk-based organic as long as possible.  If it's a lactose sensitivity, I should know right away.  Oh, and he made kind of a good point about the corn syrup I was worried about.  It turns out the brain runs off glucose, which we can't actually make ourself and must get from food.  Corn syrup serves this purpose and should not be confused with high fructose corn syrup which actually requires a lot of additional processing that may or may not be so good for you. He also pointed out that we were raised on Similac and don't have any serious issues… or, is that true?

Anway, I bribed Aidan to come along with us by letting him play the DS all the way there and back.  His addiction to video games is insane… but, he is so focused and dedicated that I somehow feel it must be better than watching television.  A half an hour of DS time is worth almost anything to Aidan.  I've got him practicing and writing two sight words each day and spending a little time outside.  I guess it's kind of a win-win.

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I took her to see Dr. Hoyos, and he has started her on 1ml of Zantac three times per day.  I’ve decided twice a day is better, so I’m going with that for a while to make sure she’s handling it OK.  You just hate to give an infant any kind of medication unless it’s totally necessary.  We don’t expect the Zantac to reduce the amount of spit-up, but it should reduce the amount of acid she is producing and make her a little more comfortable.  I’m giving her a little bit of cereal or fruit after each feeding to try and “weigh down” the breast milk.  I haven’t actually done any weaning to bottles yet, but I’m working on it.  They actually have bottles that feel more like boobs now, so I’m going to try one of those and see if she’ll cooperate any better.  I wanted to give her a little break and make sure things were going OK with the reflux relief plan.

Interestingly, there’s a link between lactose sensitivity and reflux which I’m somewhat concerned with.  She did exhibit signs of eczema when I was eating dairy in the early days.  I’ve since stopped and have seen the eczema disappear.  But, all formulas except for the Earth’s Best Organic milk-based have corn syrup solids and sugar as the primary ingredients.  So, I’m not comfortable feeding her sugar water either.  It’s no wonder kids grow up addicted to sugar… we start them out on it and get them hooked!  If I don’t see the reflux improve in the next few days, I’ll consider switching to a more “sensitive” formula.  I’m not interested in going the soy route yet.

As for Aidan, that poor kid got his cough back.  He’s had it for about a month but didn’t seem that affected by it.  Hoyos prescribed some more Albuterol, which is what relieved it last time.  He also came home from school last Friday after puking up his lunch and then later followed that up with a regurgitation of his crackers.  On Sunday, he puked all over papa at the pool.  Hoyos says it’s probably related to the drainage since there are no other signs of infection, like a fever or runny nose.

It’s been such a fun week… all I can hope for is that the meds work quickly enough for Aidan to stop coughing and Skye to stop being in so much pain.  With her feeling better, maybe she’ll start sleeping better, which will also result in me sleeping better.  Ah… now, that’s a nice thought!

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After the second birthday party, we rushed back home, packed Aidan up and took him over the grandparents' house for a sleepover.  And, Luke and I deemed the evening a movie night and watched a Swedish vampire flick called Let the Right One In.  Very interesting, indeed.  We've decided we can consider ourselves cultured now and simply end it with that.  I guess the Greek take-out kind of adds to that!

Sunday was monumental because we fed Skye food for the first time.  All I can say is that it went so much better than with Aidan.  Of course, Aidan didn't want anything to do with food and quite honestly still doesn't.  Skye, on the other hand, was very pleased with the new fare even though she hasn't quite figured out what it means to swallow yet. 

Also on Sunday, after picking up Aidan, we headed over to Chris and Heidi's for a pig roast.  Once Luke heard they were roasting a pig, there wasn't anything that could keep us away.  Fortunately, Aidan was feeling better, so we gave it a go.  Needless to say, we had a great time and Luke actually ended up with two huge plates of food.  As for Aidan and I, we stuck to fruit and cake… lol

Oh, Aidan spotted the Mathey's X-Box right away and wanted to play Rock Star.  Now, that was entertainment.  And, he did a few dances and made a few new friends as well.  He's such a social little butterfly.   As for Skye, she held her own for as long as she could.  But, the noise and chaos finally got the best of her and we headed for home.  She passed out promptly at 6pm, and we haven't heard anything from her since.  A few minutes ago, Aidan heard me playing Super Mario Brothers on his DS and came out to ask me about it.  Hopefully, he's finally asleep.

As for tomorrow, I'm not sure yet what the day will have in store for us.  I'm sure more cereal for Skye will be involved and more video games for Aidan.  We'll be happy to have Luke around on a weekday.

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So, aside from the four shots she got in her legs, the visit was quite pleasant. 

I'm also determined to get her into her own bed at night and start weaning her off the boob.  I said I'd go six months, so I've got a little time there.  The bottle section of Babies R' Us was a little overwhelming today.  I don't remember there being so many choices with Aidan.  What I do remember is his solid protest against anything superficial.   I think Skye will be remarkably similar.

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As for sleep, Skye is doing great.  The last few nights, she's slept from 7pm until about 1am and then sleeps through until about 6am.  And, that's without the terrible early morning tummy aches she was having.  I'm so relieved that my diet adjustments, or something, has given her some relief from all that gas!  Unfortunately, my diet adjustments haven't resulted in any weight loss on my part, but I'm hoping this new Skye will allow me to start exercising a little. My goal for this week is to finally use the Wii Fit.

The sleep situation is kind of funny.  With both kids, I found myself thinking things were so easy that first week.  And then as I moved into the weeks that followed, I entered a kind of delirious state that was obviously caused from my inability to sleep any longer than 2-3 hours at a time.  The other night when she slept until 1am, I woke up and finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel.  I really felt like everything was going to be OK now that sleep was an option again.  Even though she's getting a little big for the bassinet, I'm going to keep her in our room for another few weeks.   It's just so convenient to have her right there next to me.

Also, we're working on a pretty good nap schedule.  She'll go in her bedroom crib around 9am and sleep for about an hour or so.  We're still working on the afternoon naps, but it's actually kind of hard to maintain any kind of regularity with two kids.  When it was just Aidan, Luke and I would plan our days around his naps and made sure he was in bed at 10am and 1pm.  Now, poor Skye has to catch naps whenever she can while we're holding her.

As for regular activities, we've pretty much resumed our normal lives.  This weekend, we had double birthday parties on Saturday and Skye handled it like a real trooper.  She actually shines whenever we're out.  I think she enjoys the stimulation over the quiet of the house.

Oh, we did have her two month doctor's appointment last week.  She's almost 12lbs and in the 90 percentile for both height and weight!  The doctor did have some concern for a rash that's on her face and indicated we may be facing eczema again like we did with Aidan.  He told me I really needed to watch my diet.  Between Crohn's diet considerations and the breastfeeding considerations, there's really not much that I can eat.  I'm left wondering why I'm not dropping the pounds, but junk food is most likely the answer there!

Poor Aidan also went to the doctor for his last two immunizations but couldn't get them because it turns out he has bronchitis.  And, he's dehydrated.  So, we've got him on ten days of antibiotics and lots of fluids.  As a side note, it turns out the poor kid was getting high from the cough medication the doctor prescribed.  His teachers told me he was spinning around during circle time talking about everything being imaginary.  And, he came out and told me and Luke that he didn't feel like himself.  Needless to say, we're just letting him cough and hoping the antibiotics work very quickly!

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He's turning out to be quite the big brother.

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So, I feed Skye and she seems all happy and well.  We arrive at the mall and I find she's fallen asleep during the ride.  I continue to Macy's and find some clothes for the kids and a few things I wanted to try on.  The second I close the door in the fitting room, her eyes pop open.  A second later, she's screaming at the top of her lungs.  I scramble to get somewhat dressed again and pick her up.  At first, I thought the moisture was sweat.  But, on closer examination, I realize that she's head to toe in poo.  It was all over her,  the car seat and seemingly everywhere.  Still screaming, I try to quickly get the changing area setup and move the clothes out of the way.  What I found was the largest explosion of poo I had ever seen.  It took my entire supply of wipes just to get things under control.  Fortunately, I had a back-up outfit and made the decision to continue through the mall thinking Skye would enjoy the fresh air.  Macy's could wait for another time.

It turns out everything is just kosher with little Skye while we're moving around outside.  But, the minute I would walk into any store, she started expressing her opinion in such a way that others were not appreciative of my presence there.  After a few tries, I heard a pretty loud sound coming from the little peanut.  It turns out that poo explosion number two was happening.  This time, I had no wipes or backup outfit to save me. 

We rushed back through the mall and to the car.  I did my best to control the mess with her lying on the changing pad in my trunk.  I strapped her into the car seat and she cried the whole way home.

Granted, once we arrived back home, I changed and fed her.  All was well again.  But, it turns out that she just might have Luke's genes when it comes to shopping!

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I’m glad that we decided to switch back to our original pediatrician.  I’ve determined he’s worth the forty minute drive simply because of the care and time he takes each time we see him.  After looking Skye over, he determined she was in fact full of air.  And, that would even cause an otherwise healthy adult to want to cry I suppose.  But, the kicker is that the air is likely being caused by my diet.  So, he’s asked me to eliminate dairy, tomatoes, citrus, chocolate and peanuts.  Now, I don’t have any problems with eliminating dairy, citrus and peanuts but I can say that it will be very difficult to quit eating pizza and pasta, not to mention how nearly impossible it is going to be to not eat chocolate.  Also, Dr. Hoyos prescribed some drops (Levsin) that eliminates spasms in the intestines.  He was confident we would see an improvement in 3-5 days if I followed his advice.

I do kind of feel bad that I waited so long to take her to the doctor.  Aidan was also very “colicky”, but it turned out he had reflux.  Once we had him on the right medication, he was a different baby altogether.  But, he also spit up often and Skye doesn’t.  Her symptoms seem very isolated to the abdominal area.

In any case, the past week or so hasn’t been the most stress-free time.  While I understand her need to communicate when she’s not feeling well, a child that’s screaming for that long in your ear will tend to cause some anxiety.  Things tend to be accelerated by a lack of sleep as well.  But, we’re getting through it and I do see some relative improvement already.

Oh, it also turns out she’s eating too much.  I’ve been asked to cut her back to every three hours now, which she hasn’t appreciated thus far.  It’s kind of hard to believe she’s already 10.5 pounds, but I guess that’s what happens when you’re eating all the time.  I think the poor thing was just trying to eat so she would feel better. 

Further investigation into Skye’s symptoms seem to indicate a peak of digestive system distress at six weeks of age.  And, significant improvement is often seen from there up through three-four months.  She’s six weeks old today, so we should be looking at sunny days ahead.

Another positive aspect to this, aside from Skye feeling better of course, is that I should lose my last twenty pounds much quicker with such a restricted diet!

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