Well, she’s eight months old folks, going on 15. She has decided that crawling is out of style and walking is the way to go. She can push herself up to stand independently for quite some time and even takes a few steps before falling down. If she has a piece of furniture to pull up on, she’s up in a flash and cruising alongside of it. I often walk out of the room for a second and leave her sitting only to come back in and find her standing. Everything seems to be about motion now and she rarely stays in one place long. Up, down, up, down, repeat. The WMD and I are both ecstatic about and terrified by this new development.
Little E is also babbling away like there’s no tomorrow, so she better say it today. Her favorite is the mamama sound, much to the WMD’s chagrin. No dadada yet, but lots of bababa, gagaga, nanana. She LOVES other babies and young children and talks to them nonstop when they are around (and tries to climb them like they’re Mt. McKinley). She’s also has become quite the comedian and loves to make us laugh, as well as herself, which she does on a regular basis. She loves to be in a sling or the Beco carrier for walks, shopping or while I’m cleaning around the house. She is playing more independently for longer periods of time now, which is nice because it allows me to get more done, like typing this out. She finds it hilarious to hit things together to make noise and to “clap, clap, clap.” She is still not that interested in solids, although we have tried a variety of foods with her. We don’t force the spoon in her mouth and instead prefer for her to explore and try food out at her pace and let her self feed. Avocado, yogurt and hummus are favorites right now, probably because they are so messy and fun to play in. We’re okay with her slow pace since food before one is just for fun anyway. And no teeth yet, which I’m a-okay with since she is getting most of her nutrition from nursing.
Little E had a rough month in February. She was hospitalized the last few days of January for a high fever with vomiting, which turned out to be from a kidney infection caused by a severe UTI. After a lot of tests, poking, prodding and appointments with all sorts of doctors, we were told that she has urinary reflux, which means her ureters are allowing urine to flow back up into her kidneys, bringing bacteria with it, which can cause kidney infections and, if left untreated, kidney damage. Apparently this is the most common type of birth defect and a lot of kids outgrow it by age 5. Little E’s doc said that she has a 50-80% chance of outgrowing it. Otherwise, it’s surgery when she’s older. She has to be on a daily antibiotic to prevent infection, which can lead to its own issues. We have her own a probiotic to try to counteract the negative effects of the antibiotic. We also have her on a supplement called D-Mannose, which helps prevent UTIs naturally. We’re grateful for a diagnosis that is not horrible and easily treatable.
The doctor was pleased with her strength and attentiveness. She did have to get a few shots, which she wasn’t happy about, but as is the case most of the time, I think it was harder on me than it was on her!
