Click on the picture below for vegas trip pictures

Vegas and Kayla Turns 1!

Fevers, Mastitis, First Steps, Weaning, and "da-da"?

We've had a pretty sick household since we got back from Las Vegas. First off, it was fun celebrating Kayla's 1st birthday in Las Vegas with family. Dad, Mary, KC, KD, Kevin, April, Shelley and James were all there. We were there to watch the Mountain West Conference Championship but SDSU lost right away so we actually only attended one game. So we walked around Vegas, had some good meals, gambled and went to the pool... well, everyone but me went to the pool. On Friday of the trip, I got the stomach flu. I couldn't get out of bed for all of Friday, and Saturday I sill wanted to stay in bed but it was Kayla's birthday and the Dad, Mary, KC, KD, Kevin and April were all leaving that day. Kayla was actually great on the car ride which is what we were most nervous about. On her actual birthday, we all had lunch together and sang Happy Birthday. She tried cheesecake with strawberries on top but wasn't a fan.

Kayla had her 1 year old well-baby visit a few days after we got back but it turned out not to be such a "well-baby" visit. The night before, she had her first temp over 100.4 and at the doctor's office it had reached 102. She had little bumps all over her back and chest so the doctor tested her for strep. She also got tested for a bladder infection (catheter - yuck) and for an ear infection. Everything came up clean so we just decided to watch her but she didn't get her shots. The poor thing just snuggled with me most of the day. The next day she had diarrhea so we are pretty sure she just had something similar to what I had in vegas (thank goodness without the vomit though!). The rash turned out to just be dry skin and after a few days of Eucerin, it started clearing up. She started feeling better after a couple days as well. Over the weekend, we took some photographs at JCPenny's for her 1 year old birthday and also did some shopping to start getting ready for the party she'll have at the end of the month with her playgroup.

On Tuesday we had a fun playdate at the Zoo with her playgroup, but towards the afternoon, I started feeling funny and thought it was odd that I was feeling engorged. By the evening I knew something was really wrong and called the doctor. She suspected that I had mastitis and told me to go to urgent care. I could not lift Kayla and felt worse than I did with stomach flu. Since January, Kayla has gotten 4-5 breastfeedings a day. When I was sick in Vegas, that got dropped to just the morning and night feeding. We had planned to hold onto those until she started drinking milk or we knew for sure she was getting enough calories. When I got this infection, we decided it was time to wean completely. So, last week, Jose put Kayla down for bedtime from Wed night until last night and she did fine. Then on Sunday morning we had Jose get Kayla up to see how she did without a morning feeding and she did great. So Sunday, Monday, and today, Kayla has had no breastfeedings. It definitely felt right. She is sleeping until 6 am and hasn't once grabbed for my shirt. I'm a little engorged but I'm sure that will pass in a few days. There is some sadness with loosing that bond, but the mastitis killed a lot of sentimentality associated with ending breastfeeding.

And of course yesterday morning Kayla woke up with her monthly cold - the battle of the snot begins for a week!

Some very exciting news is that Kayla has taken her first steps this past weekend!! Jose got her to take about 3 steps to get a toy. When I came down to try and get her to walk between the two of us, she would take about 3 steps between the two of us (and then lung for the person who was closest) but she screamed and cried the whole time. Who knew that development was so traumatic! The next day she wouldn't even let us stand her up! But, yesterday she was starting to take a few steps between us and when we were out today, I stood I little bit away from her and she took a few steps towards me rather than going instantly to crawling. She's getting there with the walking!

The last very exciting thing to report is that she is making her first word association. She is definitely saying Da-da. We've wondering for a while if she was but it wasn't for sure. Now we know for sure! When Jose comes home at the end of the day, she turns towards the door and says "da-da." This weekend, we did spring yard clean-up. Jose was in the back yard mowing and Kayla was looking out the front door while I was doing something in the kitchen. She was babbling and then all of a sudden I heard a very distinct "da-da". I came over to her and Jose was in the front working on that yard. So Da-da is officially her first word!

It is so exciting to see her understand more and more of the world around her. She still clings to me a lot but I think that is expected with how lousy she has felt lately!