Jumpin' Jellyfish!

Brrrrrr! I stepped out my back door this morning with one toe to yell at my yappy pooch and was completely caught off-guard by the frosty chill in the air! Not that I should be...it IS already the 18th of October. Sprout is 11 months old today. So hard to believe. I look back at pictures of myself pregnant, and it seems so surreal already. Was I really that big? Sigh. One more month until her BIG birthday party! We've rented a hall. Our families are huge, and we have people coming in from out of town, so I figured it would be best to just have a super gigantic party - especially for her first one.

This blog will be a short one today, just because I'm venting about something I don't really want to spend much time on.

'J' is for Jealousy

**By the way, if you know where the title for this blog came from, I will give you 500 points. I don't know what you could redeem those points for...maybe a hug?**

We have a dog. I know that I have mentioned her before, in a previous post where I discussed when we got rid of our other, bigger dog. Thus far, I really haven't been able to complain about Roxy. You couldn't ask for a better dog for Sprout! She lets her roll on her, kiss her, hug her, pull her hair and her tail, and she never growls or anything, just looks at me with this disdainful scowl that seems to say "Really? You're just going to let her do this?". I always respond by saying, "Yes. She is the boss of you." This weekend, however, and lately when we have had other people over, we've had a bit of a jealousy issue.

My dog is a female, but she is always trying to...well...*ahem*...dominate everything and everyone that takes attention away from her, if you catch my drift. Everyone always asks me why she does it, and it is purely an act of dominance, and jealousy. Gross still - she 'dominated' Sprout's little friend's head a few weeks back, and I was mortified. So we had a house full of people this weekend to celebrate my 25th birthday, and the whole time, Roxy was either getting in everyone's face, shoving her way in front of Sprout, or trying to 'dominate' our guests AND our baby. Unacceptable. I was so mad, I could have tossed her out the front door to fend for herself. I never would, actually, she just drives me bonkers sometimes.

So while she is a good dog, and very good with Sprout, we've got an obvious jealousy issue that needs to be addressed. I will be watching a LOT of Cesar Millan this week to try and get some solutions. Maybe I'll even send an email. Nobody wants a dog 'dominating' their child when they come to visit, or their leg...or arm...or foot. It's ridiculous. I know they have instincts, but seriously. Ew.

Sprout has her second cold, already, only a week after finally shedding the last snot ball from her first cold. I am battling the same thing, but seem to be doing much better than her. She's got the stuffy, runny nose, chest cough, fever, super flushed cheeks, and a rash on her back and down her arms. Thus, I am not spending much time blogging today, as I fear that her nap is going to be fairly short-lived. I hope you have a wonderful day, and that you weren't bored by my puppy rant.

Brace yourself, Sprout. Mommy's coming upstairs armed with Q-Tips, Boogie Wipes, and Tylenol. Let the hog-tie begin.

xoxoxo

Mommy

Ha ha ha ha! Inconceivable!

I fear that this alphabetical theme of mine is moving forwards rather slowly. Therefore, today I will be cheating and doing both 'H' and 'I'.

'H' is for Health

My poor little Sprout got her first real cold about two weeks ago, and as mild as it was, I couldn't help but baby her and feel horrible about the fact that she was sick. As a mother, I think I always wonder if there wasn't something I could have done to prevent an illness, injury, etc. Silly, I know, but I keep thinking..."what if I would have doused the handles of the grocery basket with hand sanitizer?" Her little stuffy nose is what got me the most. Here's my dilemma: I can handle most bodily gross-outs from any baby, child, or adult - it doesn't have to be my own. Vomit, poop, blood, cuts, childbirth...anything goes. The one thing that will drive me to toss my own cookies (or just dry heave with my hand clamped over my mouth) is...*shudder*...SNOT.

That's right. The green, yellow, and white strings of mucous that stream from a child's nose (even my own) in that ever-disgusting number eleven down to their upper lip make me lose my cool. I had to look away every time Sprout sneezed out another snot ball, which made me feel bad, because she didn't like having her nose oozing out boogers either. Or having her nose wiped, for that matter. So began the battle of mother, daughter, snot, and Kleenex. I tried using saline drops and suctioning out her nose, but then she just screamed like I was about to club her over the head with a piano - I'm sure the neighbours would have thought something was up if we continued that. When she had her three daily bottles (nap, nap, bedtime), the sound of her trying to breathe and slurp back her milk was heartbreaking. Thank goodness colds don't last for very long, or else I would have lost my mind.

Now, I know I shouldn't be complaining about Sprout's health, and I'm not, really. It was just the first time that she has ever been sick with something "normal", instead of her allergies or the episode of baby measles a few months ago. I am very fortunate to have a healthy, happy baby, and feel so awful for those who have to deal with days, months, or years of their child's hospitalization, treatments, and testing. I don't know how I would hold up in that kind of a situation. I'm already a sucker when she's not feeling good. The one night, I even went and took her into the spare bedroom to sleep with me because she was awake for hours and couldn't sleep because of her cough and stuffy nose. Poor kid. Anyways, now her cold is just about completely gone. All that is left are the remnants of early morning snot battles characterized by a crusty little nose that, as per usual, she HATES having wiped.

'I' is for Intelligence

Okay, I know I'm a little biased, and I hate to brag here, but...seriously...Sprout is amazingly intelligent. She blows me away every day. At 10.5 months old, here is her list of steady words that she can say (and usually does, on command):

Mama

Dada

Ba Ba (bottle)

Pup-pup (puppy)

Nona (my mother insisted on being called Noni, but Sprout is even smarter when she tries - Nona is Italian for Grandmother!)

Grandpa

Pah (she says Up backwards...)

Num-Num

Banana

Hi

The list could probably go on, I just can't think of any more that she will say on a regular basis. If she points at something and looks at me, I always tell her what it is, and have always told her to look at my lips when I say it. Now, every time I do that, she makes a very concerted effort to say the word herself. It is amazing! I'm sure there are a million kids who talk early, and Sprout won't be walking early or anything, but it makes me so damn proud to see her accomplishments! Not only the talking, but she waves hi and bye, claps, blows kisses, points, shakes her head no (in context), opens and closes her hands when she wants something, and has now started walking around the furniture when she pulls herself up. This year has gone by so fast, I just can't believe all of the changes in the last couple of months, and how much she has grown and learned. Like I said, I don't like to seem like a braggart...but she IS really, really smart!

Alright, now that I've puffed up my little Sprout's teeny ego, I should really go and do some housework. Homemade chicken noodle soup for supper tonight, Sprout. Mama's going to be busy working magic in the kitchen!

xoxoxo

Mommy