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
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