Snow Day

It's snowing in Hillsboro. So, I bundled little Parker in the bunting I bought before she was even born and took her out to play. She might have liked it, except my first order of business was to set her in the snow so I could take a picture. I never got my picture. Why? Well, you can see that the bunting is very fluffy. While Parker has been very adept at sitting on her own for quite some time, the fluffy bunting on the sloped lawn presented a challenge. She fell onto her back. That would have been a cute picture, Parker making a snow angel, except while I tried to clean the snow off the camera lens, she got mad. So I set her back up and tried again. This time... she fell forward. Face plant in the snow. That really pissed her off. There was no point even trying after that. So, this is the picture I have. Parker after her first experience with snow. I hope she doesn't hate snow for the rest of her life.

Six Months Old

Sunday was Parker's half-birthday. She's getting so big! Well... at least parts of her are :). We went to the doctor today for her 6-month check-up. She's still just about 75th percentile in height and weight, but her noggen is now off the charts!

She's really enjoying her solid foods. In fact, she likes them so much that she is taking stuff from the other kids at school... the big-headed bully. She's stolen some Cheerios and graham crackers so far. I'm told it's very funny to watch her with them. We have yet to repeat the experiment at home.

RAR!

The little monster says "Happy Halloween!!"

Saw the Surgeon

Parker and I went to see the surgeon today. This is just 48 hours after she fell over at daycare and apparently ruptured the cyst over her eye.

The surgeon said that she will not operate unless it comes back. There is a very good chance that it _will_ come back. We're supposed to go back to see her at that time. If she does operate, she said, it is a very simple out-patient procedure. It would only take about 1/2 hour. The only reason to do a general anesthetic is so the baby would stay still.

She was not at all concerned about any effect of the cyst rupturing. Parker does not seem to have any problem with it at all. There doesn't even look like there is any bruising.

Bump a Lump

Miss Parker has been learning to sit up on her own. She sits pretty well when she's got some support, but tends to fall over without it. Today at daycare, she fell forward from a sitting position and hit the hard floor. Miss Erin said it was one of those falls where you could hear the "thwack." The poor baby landed right on her lump... the one she had over her right eye... that's right, I said _had_. It seems to have mostly disappeared after her fall. We called a couple of doctors and they seem to think she'll be fine. We still have the appointment with the surgeon on Wednesday, so we'll see what the verdict is then. The dermatologist said that the surgeon may want to do something sooner now. I may have this all wrong, but their may be scar tissue from the cyst if it was ruptured and that may be harder to remove.

Feelin' Her Oats

Parker has been enjoying some variety in her diet lately. She started out as a very tidy eater. Then, she started trying to help. She keeps reaching for the spoon as it approaches her mouth. She wipes the food off of the spoon and into her hands, then rubs her hands on her face. Isn't oatmeal supposed to be good for the skin?

Parker Squeals

Parker has found her lungs. Lately, when she's in the mood, she will squeal just as loud as she can, just to hear herself. It's very funny. Although, when she mixes it with her fake cry when she doesn't want to go to bed, it sounds like she could be in real trouble. It makes you wonder if maybe she accidentally chewed her finger off; she does gnaw on it constantly...

So, yesterday she was waking up from a nap in her crib. Sometimes she wakes up happy and cooing, sometimes she wakes up crying and takes a minute to open her eyes and be happy. This time, it was the latter. When I got to her room, she still wasn't quite awake and was letting out a couple of half-hearted sobs. Since she hadn't opened her eyes yet, I put my face right down in the crib next to hers. I said softly, "wake up Baby." With that, she slowly opened her eyes and suddenly _squeeeeealed_ happily. I don't know if I scared her, if she was happy to see me, or if she knew what I was doing the whole time and wanted to try to surprise me.

Destined to be best friends

We had Parker's first parent-teacher conference today. She's doing just fine, in case you were wondering. But, something crazy happened. Yes, I know that a parent-teacher conference for a 5-month old is crazy in and of itself, but read on.

Parker was born at Providence St Vincent's on May 9, 2008. While we were in the recovery room, we found that our neighbors had also named their baby girl Parker. Coincidence? Who knows. Probably. Well, at the P-T conference today, Parker's teachers told me that there was going to be another baby joining the infant room when a couple of the older babies move on. This baby's name happens to be Parker! And, guess what, this baby's birthday is also May 9th. Wouldn't you know... it is the same baby girl that was roomed next to us in the hospital that day.

What do you suppose the odds are? Two baby girls born in the same hospital on the same day given the same name (a somewhat odd name for a girl) and going to the same daycare. If you're doing the calculations, you should know that there are only 8 spots in the infant room.

Eye Bump

We recently went to the doctor and found out that the bump over Parker's right eye is a "dermoid cyst." The dermatologist said that it is not dangerous. It will probably grow in proportion to her and will not go away on its own. She suggested that we have it removed sometime after Parker turns 2, but before she starts school. She suggested a pediatric head and neck surgeon.

I called the surgeon and set up an appointment for the afternoon of Weds Oct 29th. It will be good to have her take a look and let us know what to expect.

My first post

I'm trying all of this new social media stuff. I like the idea of a blog. I don't know who will read it... maybe those that want to know about Parker's green poo. Yup... Baby Girl has had green poo for about the last week. The doctor says not to worry, so we won't. She seems to be fine otherwise, just a little stuffy. None of this is stopping her from being incredibly cute and working very hard to suck on her own toes. She must be at the cutest baby stage ever!