I officially have a TODDLER!!
Age: twelve months, five days (pictured).
Weight: 16 lbs and 12 oz.
Height: 28 inches.
Favorite food: cheerios.
Loves: playing with her blocks, banging the dog's food bowl on the floor, and riding in her car.
Dislikes: getting in trouble and vegetables.
How many teeth: I now have SEVEN teeth!
Avalyn turned one on August 16th.
I can't believe that we have made it through her first year; it was a tough year full of months in the NICU, a trip to Illinois, a PCS move, and numerous doctor's appointments. There were several moments when I didn't think that we would make it through the week, but we made it and here we are!
So what is life like with a one year old?
Well, it is still pretty much the same as life with a eleven month old, except I feel like now I am doing more chasing Ava around. She is so quick! And so very curious! Her curiosity continues to grow and she is constantly finding something new to get into; something that I never would have expected her to find. Her new favorite thing to do is hunt down the dog's food bowl and bang it on the floor. It really is pretty cute and the dog never seems to mind.
Ava had her twelve month well visit on her birthday and it was definitely an interesting appointment. I learned that she had Impetigo and the beginning stages of strep throat. I felt like the world's worst parent when I heard this news because I had no idea Ava was even sick! She did not have a fever and I associated her behavior with teething; the only thing that I noticed were the blister like sores that began popping up on her face. They showed up two days before the appointment and I had thought that they were an allergic reaction to something Ava had eaten. I called the doctor's office the morning of the appointment and told them and they told me that as long as she did not have a fever, the doctor would be able to check it out during her visit (we were at the well clinic and I was worried she may be contagious...turns out I was right!). I asked the doctor how Ava could have gotten this and I was informed that this is one of the most common infections among children and that she could have picked it up from another child or from just being out in public. Someone could have sneezed near her or coughed near her and well, we all know how this works. Needless to say, I blame those trips to the store when I had forgotten the cart cover. I was very upset about learning that Ava had something contagious because her first birthday party was the next day and I couldn't cancel. The whole situation really bummed me out.
That aside, Avalyn is 16 pounds, 12 ounces and 28 inches long! Adjusted, she is exactly where she needs to be. Her lead test came back good, but her hemoglobin levels were low again; because the doctor was not sure if the finger prick had produced a bad read, Ava had to go and have her blood drawn to make sure she is not anemic again. I am still waiting on those test results, so I am hoping she is not anemic again.
This particular well visit required shots and as always, I was not enthused. I hate vaccinations and if it were left up to me I would not vaccinate. But because Brian and I couldn't come up with an agreement, I settled for allowing Ava to be vaccinated. I can't stand having to watch someone inflict pain on my child while I just sit there or in this case, hold her. I wanted to slap the nurse for asking me to hold my child's arms down so she could inject her with the chicken pox and MMR vaccines. It was pure torture.
We were given antibiotics for the Impetigo and strep and then sent home for a night of low grade fevers and extreme irritability from the shots. Can I just say again how much I hate shots?!
We were also told that Ava needs to stay on her formula for another three months, just because adjusted she is only nine months and she still needs all of those calories.
I am okay with this because I feel that she is not ready to make the big switch to cow's milk. And to be honest, Brian and I don't really want her to have cow's milk. We made the decision to ditch the milk about three months ago and switched to rice milk and almond milk. Why rice and almond? It really is only because of taste preference. Between Brian and I we just couldn't drink the milk quick enough before it spoiled, so we just decided to switch. So it only makes sense to us that she would drink what we drink. But we are going to deal with all of that at a later date, until then, it is formula for preemie babies until she is at least fifteen months old.
Ava had a Frenulectomy and Lingual Frenulectomy on the 29th of August.
What the heck is that, you ask? A Frenulectomy is a procedure of removing a fibrous tissue between the upper and two front teeth aka an upper lip tie. A Lingual Frenulectomy is removing the tissue attached under the tongue. She had both done so as to make it much easier for her to eat and help her gain a little more weight. Of course I was beyond nervous about it, especially since it was done in the operating room, due to the risk of bleeding with the upper lip tie. Ava was given an anesthesia in the form of a gas and was under for no more than 10 minutes, but that didn't make me any less worried over the idea. The entire procedure itself only took about 12 minutes and the recovery time was 30-40 minutes. We arrived at the surgery center at 6:30 am, we were back in the pre-op area around 6:45 am, we met with all of the O.R staff and Anesthesiologist and spoke with her doctor around 7:10 am, and they took her back at roughly 7:25 am. The nurse (who was so sweet btw!) took Ava and as they were walking away to the O.R Ava looked over her shoulder and I waved "bye-bye" to her and she gave me the biggest and most adorable smile ever. It broke my heart watching her leave and I cried despite telling myself not to.
Brian and I were in the waiting room for an entire 12 minutes when the doctor came back out and told us she did great and was in recovery. I was beyond impressed! Everything went as they said it would, but Ava did have more bleeding than they had expected so we did have to wait a little longer than usual in the recovery room to ensure the bleeding would stay under control.
Within minutes of having the surgery we noticed a significant change! She was drinking out of a sippy cup without any issues! Usually she has such a difficult time drinking out of them that she loses interest in them and tosses them aside. But she was drinking from it with no problem.
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| Ava Bug while in recovery after her surgery! |
UPDATE: After about two weeks post-op, Avalyn has gained an entire pound! This is amazing news because it usually takes her some time to gain that much. She no longer wears half of her bottle on her face and chest and she is drinking from a sippy cup several times a day! Also, when she smiles you can see her top teeth a lot better!
We still have an eye exam scheduled and aside from that we are winding down on all of our appointments. It is about time! I have never seen so many doctors in my life! But I can't complain because all of the visits and meeting new doctors has helped Ava tremendously. I am very thankful that she doesn't have any problems that we know of due to her prematurity.
So, all of that aside, who is ready to hear about some new milestones?!
Ava has mastered crawling and pulling herself up and is now cruising furniture and standing on her own every now and then. She has even started doing this strange half crawl, half walk sort of thing. It truly does resemble a crab walk! She is also getting more and more brave with standing up all on her own. Every now and then I will catch her standing up without holding on to anything.
I keep waiting for the day that she decides to take her first step because I have this feeling it is going to be happening VERY soon.
She now knows what "Dada" means (we are working on "Mama"), understands and tries to say dog and cat. Knows that saying "Ba Ba" gets her a bottle or sippie and that "Na Na" is night-night. She can wave "bye-bye" and is starting to wave "hello" if she is coaxed into doing it. She shakes her head no if she hears the word "no" and we are working on shaking our head yes. She has also started signing for "more" and we have been working on the sign for "all done". Her finally understanding the signs that we have been practicing with her since she started eating is a huge accomplishment! I wasn't sure if she would ever understand it and I am so glad we have stuck with it. I hope to teach her more! I think sign language is an awesome way of communicating with a toddler; especially since Toddlernese is a complicated language to learn.
Because Ava has so many teeth, we have been working on brushing her teeth. She loves it! She will let us brush her little toofers and then when we let her take over she does her best to brush them as well. I mean, she pretty much just gnaws on the brush, but I think she gets the idea. If anyone is looking for a good toothpaste, I would highly recommend Earth's Best tooth paste because it is Fluoride free and safe if swallowed!
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| Brusha, brusha, brusha! |
Now that Ava is one years old, I look forward to all of the new adventures to come. I still can not believe that Infancy is gone and we are working our way into Toddlerhood.
I sure do miss my itty bitty baby, but every day Ava learns something new and being able to watch her grow is the best thing I have ever experienced.
