Rachel at 12 months

This morning was Rachel's 12 month check-up. We skipped her 9 month appointment because the nurse said we didn't need it, so we haven't been to the doctor for 6 months. Rachel found the whole thing new and scary.

She didn't want anything to do with the nurse. I've decided that medicine, at least for well-baby visits, is not an exact science. How can it be when the patient is squirming all over the place?

I sat Rachel on the scale and she screamed and hit at the nurse while she was weighed.

She's 19 lbs., 12 oz. now, give or take an ounce or two, which means she's in the 25th-50th percentile.

"That's close enough," said the nurse.

Now I know why they invented digital scales. One of those would have been useful for Rachel.

Getting measured was just as difficult. Rachel just did not want to lie down, and certainly didn't want that nurse around. She's 30.5 inches long, give or take, which means she's in the 95th percentile.

Our doctor, Maynard Olsen, came in soon after the nurse left. Rachel didn't like him one bit, either, although he tried to be nice.

"Should we listen to you with this?" he asked, showing her his stethoscope, "Let's listen to mommy first."

He put the stethoscope on my arm, then on my knee, then on my head.

"Mommy sounds good. Now let's listen to you!"

He put the stethoscope on her arm. She screamed and slapped it away.

He put the stethoscope on her leg. She kicked at him, still screaming.

He put the stethoscope on her chest. She threw a fit.

The appointment continued like that. I don't think I've ever seen Rachel so upset.

When the doctor left, Rachel still didn't calm down. She wanted out of that room. She went up to the door and stood on her tip toes and reached for the handle. She pounded on the door. She screamed and she screamed and she screamed.

Finally, I opened the door. There were some kids in the hallway waiting for their mom. Rachel played with them until the nurse came, loaded up with all her shiny needles.

We went back into the room and Rachel immediately started screaming. I put her on the table and tried to get her to lie down. She refused. She kicked. She screamed. She arched her back.

Our nurse called for backup. It took three of us to hold Rachel down while she got her shots. She was not happy about it at all.

She cried until we were out in the waiting room. There, she put on her most pitiful face and pouted at all the patrons, tears still glistening in her eyes.

"Shots today," I explained.

Everyone nodded sympathetically. We had to stop by the desk and pick up a copy of her immunization record from our nurse. When Rachel saw her, a new wave of tears started. She screamed in terror until we were outside.

It was quite ridiculous. I'm glad we won't have to go back anytime soon.

Other than screaming, here are some things Rachel enjoys doing now that she's a year old:

• Singing the Itsy-bitsy Spider. She can do all the actions.
• Saying prayers
• Hissing like a snake
• Walking up and down (and up and down and up and down) stairs
• Using the phone
• Taking leisurely naps
• Kissing baby boys
• Playing outside
• Poking herself
• Swimming/bath time
• Climbing on everything
• Pulling everything out of the kitchen cupboards
• Jumping on the bed/the couch/trampolines
• Petting kitties
• Dancing
• Taking everything out of Daddy's wallet

She's such a fun baby! We can't wait to see what next year brings!

Happy 1st Birthday, Rachel!

Well, it happened. My little baby girl turned one today. I am not sure that I ever really believed she would get older when she was just brand new. Part of me had to have known that, but part of me kept wishing that she'd just stay my little baby forever. She's really growing up, though.

Her birthday started nice and early, promptly at 6:00 AM when our alarm clock went off. We had to be ready to go to Wales by 7:30 AM, thus the earlier-than-usual wake-up call. After nursing for a few minutes, Rachel slipped off the bed and found a pile of ChapStick.

(We bought a big package at Costco to take to Egypt with us, and left them on our bedroom floor, along with other items we had be gathering for our preliminary suitcase packing last night.)

She was instantly in baby heaven. She loves ChapStick. She loves the stuff inside, of course, but she also just likes to play with the tubes. She picked up as many as her little hands could hold--2 or 3 in each fist--and stumbled off into the living room.

In addition to our preliminary suitcase packing, we also blew up a lot of balloons last night and left them on the living room floor. To be fair, I only blew of 4 and Andrew blew up 32!

Rachel also loves balloons. Her face went into shock when she saw all the balloons. She looked at her hands, full of ChapStick. She looked at the balloons. She stood there, bouncing up and down while deliberating her next course of action. Upon making up her mind, she threw the tubes of ChapStick behind her and ran to play in the balloons.

6:23 AM and already it was a happy birthday.


After getting home from Aunt Dorothy's, we made our final preparations for Rachel's party. We didn't think she needed a big party with friends and games since she's so little still. Further more, we felt it was important that we invite our family that lives in the area since we'll be moving...and we have a lot of family in the area. Our apartment was bursting at the seams! We wouldn't have had room for any of Rachel's friends!

Both sets of her grandparents came, both my parents and Andrew's; her uncles Patrick, David, Jacob and Todd; her aunts Sarah, Emily, Josie, and Katherine; and her cousin Kayl came; as well as her great-grandparents Heiss and Layton. That's 18 grown ups and 2 babies, including our family.

So, I know I said that we didn't plan any games, but did end up playing an impromptu version of musical chairs because we didn't have enough sitting room for everybody. Every time anyone got up to do anything, they'd come back and have to sit somewhere else: on the floor, perched on the arm of the couch, or on a freshly deserted chair.

One day we'll have a place big enough to throw a party without it feeling so cramped.

First we had cake and ice cream. Rachel's cake this year was in the shape of the number one. I've been working on it the last couple of nights after she's been in bed. It's a bit of a challenge to do things like that when she's awake... I think that it turned out nicely, even though I was half asleep wile making it! It's my first try doing a "shape cake."


Rachel needed a little help blowing out her candle this year. She was more interested in grabbing the flame than she was in blowing it out. Maybe next year she'll be able to do it alone, but this year I just did it for her. I did it on the first try, too, to prove to everyone that I could.


Grandma Sharon was kind enough to supply us with three different kinds of ice cream and some yummy lemonade! Thanks, Grandma Sharon!

After dessert we opened up Rachel's presents. She did well this year; she got a card with money from Andrew's parents, and several cute outfits from her great-grandmas (and one from us).

We also gave her some crayons and a notebook to draw in. She was really confused when she opened the notebook because there were no words or pictures inside. She kept flipping through the pages like she was looking for buried treasure. No matter how many pages she turned, there was not one illustration. Poor girl.

She got a Dr. Seuss book from Grandma Sharon, and a big book about vehicles from us. Those books had pictures in them, and that put her at ease.


Her most popular gifts, though, were the toys. Grandma Sharon bought her a baby doll and Rachel's face lit up when she saw it--she's been coveting her friends' baby dolls for quite some time. She couldn't even wait for it to get out of the box before loving it.

It's my very own baby!

I love you, box and all!

We got her a set of blocks in a wagon from Ikea. She saw it last night before I wrapped it and started playing with it--she was quite upset when I took it back so that I could hide it until today. The wagon got kisses as soon as it was unwrapped, still in the shrink wrap. Her favorite blocks are the little round ones with holes. She was carrying them around all evening.


Rachel had so much fun playing with her new toys and I think everyone had a fun time watching her play!




When people started leaving, though, Rachel decided she wanted to go outside as well. She ended up playing at the park with Grammy and Auntie Josie, neglecting her other guests. When Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Frank were driving away, though, they stopped by the park to say goodbye and to watch Rachel in the swing. She giggled her giggliest giggles for them, and I think that made them happy.

Happy, Happy Birthday, Rachel, dear!