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Birthday Brunch

A little late, but here are some photos from Garrett and I's birthday brunch.  We had a lot of fun.  We went to Salty's with both sets of parents.  Afterwards we all walked Redondo Board Walk, and took some photos at the end of the dock.

Isabella's First Snow

Yesterday, January 15th was Isabella's first time in the snow.  At first she was perplexed, then happy, and then eventually I think the cold got to her and she had enough.  The first photo below is her first time experiencing it.  The second photo was taken today.  She was enjoying it until she tried to crawl and face planted into the snow.  Definately didn't like that experience.  And lastly we posted a video of Isabella experiencing the snow for the first time.

Crawling

Isabella started crawling on January 7th, 2012.  She was playing in her room, and daddy was in the rocking chair watching her (i.e. reading some paperwork).  He noticed movementout of the corner of his eye and when he looked up he found Isabella crawling towards him.  What she was really after was her clown "Gymbo."  I had stashed Gymbo next to the rocking chair earlier in the day.  She loves this clown to the extreme.  You might say a clown...that is quite odd.  Well they use this clown in her gym classes, and it was in these classes that she grew a deep love for him.  She could be screaming and crying, but if you pull Gymbo out, a smile and laughter will immediately appear.  Here is a video of her second time crawling.  Obviously once daddy had noticed she was crawling he immediately ran to get the camera and tried to re-create the scenario.  Remember this is her first crawl, so it is a bit strange.  However, she has now perfected it and is hard to keep up with.  The dog actually wants to go outside more because Isabella will not leave him alone. 

Hives Cont.

An update to the previous hive story.  That same night around 1 am, Isabella began running a fever and definately wasn't feeling well.  We noticed she again had hives on her face so we inspected everywhere.  Below is a picture.  Her legs were completely covered in hives.  Poor girl.  We decided it was best to see a doctor.  The doctor believed the hives were a reaction to the viral infection Isabella had caught.  The doctor also said her throat looked very painful.  For those that know Isabella, it was so bad that she had almost lost her voice entirely.  Yes that also means her amazingly high pitch scream.  There wasn't much we could do besides keep her dosed on Tylenol. 

Isabella's 9 Month Photos

Here are some of Isabella's 9 month photos.

Hives

Tonight I had one of my first health scares with Isabella.  When picking her up after work I noticed she had a red bump/welt under her eye.  So I asked her caretaker if she had hit something (which is highly likely now that she is becoming more mobile). The response was no, and that she had a similar mark earlier in the day.  So we proceeded to check her body.  She had a small mark on her hip, and a larger mark on her chest.  We wondered if it were a rash.  I decided I would stop at Rite Aid on my way home to pick up some Benadryl. 

By the time I had arrived at Rite Aid (15 minutes), the mark under her eye had spread.  It now covered half her cheek and was moving to the other side of her face.  I asked the pharmascist what type of allergy medicine he would recommend.  He wasn't sure it was an allergic reaction.  He thought it could be a fungal infection.  He suggested I call the on-call doctor or try a walk in clinic, and to always keep Benadryl on hand.    

When I arrived at home another 10 minutes, I decided to check her body again.  It had spread all over her body.  She had a huge hive covering her whole shoulder and part of the arm, hives all over her legs, and arms.  I immediately called the on-call doctor.  The hives were spreading fast.  The on call doctor called immediately.  She said it sounded like hives and to try the Benadryl.  The Benadryl began working almost immediately.  What a relief. 

According to the doctor the hives could have stemmed from the following: medicine, food, or a viral infection (i.e. cold).  As luck would have it Isabella has started coming down with another cold and the only new food I have tried lately is yogurt.  So we aren't quite sure what caused it, but hopefully it won't happen again.

Here is a photo of her shoulder/arm hive and leg hive.  The photo doesn't clearly depict how awful the hives looked.

9 month stats

Isabella had her 9 month check up on December 30th.  Both Garrett and I were able to go.  Everything checked out good.  Her stats were as follows:

• Height was 26.5 inches (25th percentile)
• Weight 14lbs 11 ozs (5th percentile)
• Head Circ is 16.75 inches (15th perentile)

As you can tell from her stats, she is on the small side for her age.  Her next check-up is at one year.