Giant Gerbil Balls and Bookworm Billa

It's not everyday that one can claim to have had the worst day of their life, but seeing as how Billa is only 7 months old at this point, she could definitely say that yesterday was the worst of the 219 she's experienced so far. (And in case you're wondering, yes, I really did spend time calculating that out)

Our tale starts when I left Billa asleep on our bed, surrounded by pillows, while I went to the bathroom. I finished the first most important task, checked on her and she was still asleep. I had just finished my second most important task, washing my face, when I heard a thump followed by a scream and crying. Mommy's worst nightmare became reality.

I ran into the bedroom to discover that my child had woken up, crawled over the pillows to my bedside table to play with the alarm clock and had fallen off the table, presumably when it slid over from her scooting onto it. I couldn't see her at first which almost made me lose it altogether, but I managed to remain calm enough to see her little hand from behind the table. I yanked the table aside totally forgetting that the aforementioned alarm clock was still on it, and still plugged in, so it came hurtling down onto poor Billa's head. Granted, it doesn't even weigh close to a pound, but no one likes being kicked when they're down.

She finally calmed down after a few minutes and many tears on both sides and we started to go about our business. I've always said kids were resilient, and she was up and scooting about in no time, but I still felt leery (and very guilty) so I looked in the Baby 411 book and decided to call the doctor. They weren't open yet (this was 7 am) so I talked to a nurse on call who sounded confident that the baby would be ok, but that if we saw any signs of bleeding, vomiting, etc to call Dr. Patil immediately.

Of course, when it rains, it pours and Billa bonked her head again a couple of hours later while playing downstairs in front of the living room windows. She was crawling to the window and lost her footing and smack! hit the windowsill with her forehead which is at her waist level. More tears and now we had a total of 3 goose eggs, 4 small bruises, and 1 unhappy baby. I decided to take her to the doctor to make sure everything was ok, especially since it was Friday and I'd rather avoid the ER over the weekend if I could.

The doctor made me feel better by telling me that I wasn't the first, nor would I be the last, parent to have this happen to them, and that in fact, her son had done it several times. Still, no one likes to deal with it. She gave Billa a clean bill of health and also recommended that while we were there we get the first of our two flu shots since they actually had some in stock. (On a side note, I have to take her back in a month from now, but I can't make the appt until two days prior since they don't know when or how much flu shot they will be getting. Lovely.)

So all in all, Sybilla had a terrible day what with multiple head bonkings and shots. I swear, I really need a giant gerbil ball for her so she doesn't hurt herself. Someone could make a killing selling those to paranoid parents!

Developmentally, she's gotten really good at crawling fast and pulling herself up to standing. Now she is learning to balance and lets go to stand still for several seconds! I'm certainly convinced that she'll most likely be walking by Christmas. Ah, how quickly babies grow! [sniff] Our little chunky monkey is catching up to Gumerry; she's only 3 pounds shy of his weight now. They weighed her at the doctor's office and she is 19.8 pounds. I had to buy her new clothes the other day since it's still so hot and we don't really have any good 12 month clothes for her. Yeah, you read that right, 12 month clothes. We have tons of cute dresses, but it's hard to crawl in those without tripping. (For anyone who ever considers giving clothes to parents for a new baby girl, here are two suggestions: 1. don't buy anything smaller than 3-6 months; 2. buy for the appropriate season and age! and 3. skip the cute dresses and give 'em cute seperates instead...it will cut down on the accidents as they get older and move more!)

Well, it is definitely bed time, and I leave you with a short clip taken about a month ago. I've been slow at editing the videos... I am hoping to make a compilation DVD for all of the grandparents as part of their Christmas present this year, but other things have cropped up. This one is short and sweet and cute... enjoy, and as usual,

Until next time,
K & Co.