Poor Baby

I have been pretty busy the past few days. Alice has a cold. Which isn't that bad, really. She has been really cranky and fussy. Plus the usual... runny nose, fever, etc. I ended up taking her to the ER on Sunday morning at 2 am because she woke up about 12:30 screaming, crying, and writhing in pain. Of course, by the time we got to the hospital she was fine and running around and dancing. The doctor told me she had acted like that because of her fever (which she was NOT running, and hadn't been for at least 4+ hours). I didn't buy it, but they wouldn't do any tests or anything. So we went home and back to bed. About 2 1/2 hours later, same thing. Screaming, crying, and writhing in pain. She was literally flinging her body all over our bed. And an hour, went to bed. And about 2 1/2 hours later, same thing. Then the day started and she was mostly fine. A tad more fussy than usual, but generally in a good mood. So what is wrong with her? It isn't an ear infection. It isn't teeth. There is no swollen/red gums. Perhaps it was gas, but that doesn't last that long. My best bet is growing pains? I'm still unsure, and since she can't tell me then we will all remain in the dark. Last night, she had another bout for about 20 minutes, but it was not near as bad as Sunday morning. Any ideas? She is not running a fever. Her cold seems pretty much gone. No more runny nose. And I don't buy the whole it is because of a cold thing. That doesn't cause (what appears to be) severe pain. So we have started my SAHM adventure with this weird thing. She has been more tired than usual and fussy, so I'm leaning more towards growing pains.

Randomness

I'm going to do a very random post today, as I have many things that I would like to talk about. And since tomorrow's Friday Night Leftovers will be the Birthday Version, I feel I should address everything else that I would have normally done then.

So...

• To answer Megan's question, we have: 3 rabbits (JackieBlue, Roxanne (Roxy), and Janie -and yes, I love rock. If I have any other female animals in the future they will probably be named after songs as well); 1 rooster and 5 hens (they are not named, but we get 6-7 eggs a day, so obviously one or two of the hens are very fertile); 5 cats (actually one mama cat-whom is probably off getting knocked up again-that slut! and 4 kittens)
• The thing I love about chickens is that they will eat just about anything. Seriously! All of our scraps and spoiled food (which I try not to have any). We still give them their feed everyday (well I do, I don't know about Sean), but I love to take the scraps of food (which Alice contributes A LOT) to them and watch them peck at them. I think our chickens are probably healthier than most other chickens out there. Plus with the recent egg recall, we don't have to worry about that.
• I have been meaning to make pickles for a few weekends, but things have been hectic since the accident. I will share with you the whole pickling process when I get around to it, and how to make your own spaghetti sauce.
• I was outside today, and I realized I never planted any flowers (well I did plant bulbs, but I don't count those) this year. It isn't too late, and I could in another week or two, so perhaps I will get Alice a little gardening set for her birthday and we can plant flowers in a few weeks! I just have to make sure to watch her like a hawk... she will probably try to eat the dirt.
• Speaking of the little monkey, she really is a monkey. Sean and I would tell people that we were hoping for a monkey when they asked what we wanted. I mean, seriously, doesn't everyone want a healthy baby?! Sean and I were originally planning on getting a monkey, but we got a different breed of monkey *wink*
• Ahh, yes, I digress... Alice, undoubtedly, did climb out of her crib. I'm still not sure about the falling to the floor thing or climbing down (but I'm leaning more towards climbing down after seeing her in action today-more on that in a second). This morning, I witnessed her pull herself up to see what was on the kitchen table and then use her legs to climb up more. There is no doubt in my mind that she would have been on top of the table had Sean not stopped her. And when we were outside, she climbed onto the tractor all by herself and sat in the seat and "drove". People, we are in TROUBLE!
• I have thought over all of the suggestions from yesterday (and Megan, my sister wasn't at our house, but if she is capable of teleporting I demand to know how!). I have looked at tent cribs, and like Jen, I don't think that is a viable solution. I don't think anything would deter her from trying to get out, and I sure don't want to find my baby strangled to death in a tent crib because I was trying to prevent broken bones. And I do agree that cribs should be lower. And with lids! Sean wants to put a piece of plywood on top, to which I pointed out that she would hit her head every time she tried to stand up. So, for now, we are just going to keep her in our bed with us.
• I have TWO WEEKS to go! Woo hoo! Which really works out to 11 days (counting today) but since today is almost over 10... and since I have tomorrow off, 9!!!
• At some point, this weekend, I will be posting Alice's birth story. Don't you all just love birth stories? I do. And hers is funny (at least the part before getting to the hospital-and I only think it is funny now).
• Oh, and in all likelihood, I will have two posts tomorrow, so keep an eye out!
• And to think that a year ago, at this exact time, we were at the hospital! Wow! Time is flying!

The Battles of the Milks

We are in the middle of a war, people. Seriously. An epic battle of the milks and Alice. Alice loves her mama milk. She does not, however, love her mama milk in the bottle any longer. I think this may have arose out of me calling it "Mama milk" instead of "Milk" or "Nurse". So you can blame me for that battle.

Since my supply was decreasing, I have had the babysitter (and now Lindsay) mix toddler formula (thank goodness for marketing, as I have received several free cans; which I otherwise would not have paid for) with breast milk. This worked for a few days at the sitters. Lindsay has had no such luck. Alice would just spit it at her. Lindsay has also had trouble getting her to just take just regular breast milk in a bottle. So I suggested the sippy cup. So Lindsay tried the sippy cup with the mixture, and straight breast milk. Again, no such luck.

So since she is almost one, I decided to buy organic whole milk and see how that goes. I realize it may take awhile for her to "like" the stuff. I also realize that we may have a much harder time than most families, as Sean and I do NOT drink milk. Sean will use it and drink it when it is in cereal, but I will not drink the stuff. I quit drinking the stuff shortly after my sixth birthday (really an interesting story-which I'll share another time). So I gave her a sippy cup with a bit of whole milk in it. She took a sip. Took another sip. Looked at me... and threw it at me! Lindsay has had the same results.

So I asked a few people for advice (which I'm asking all of you lovely bloggers the same thing) on getting her to drink any kind of milk. I have heard suggestions ranging from serve it at room temperature to add flavor to it. I have gotten suggestions of switching to soy milk also.

What are your suggestions? At this point, the only things that I can get her to drink are water and watered down juice in a sippy cup, and mama milk (but only from the tap).