Sugar and Spice

There were birds in the sky, but I never heard them singing...until we went to the Audobon Zoo. That's right. The most excitement came not from the monkeys or elephants or even giraffes, but from the birds. Seriously, birds. I mean, we have those in our own backyard. We traveled hundreds of miles and paid admission fees to see birds. Oh well. As for the rest of the mammals, I'm pretty sure she just thought they were all different varieties of dogs. Funkle Jess put it best when he said "puzzlement was a recurring theme." Other than uncertainty, the day was absolutely gorgeous and it was fun to have one of our first family outings. It was also incredible to watch her eat the world's biggest pancake (see photo). That may have actually been the highlight of her day, even over the birds. Lots of other things to brag on since the last post. Although she still isn't walking, Pumpkin is cruising along the furniture and trying a few hands-free moments of sta...

Pumpkin celebrated her first Carnival the way any little Louisianan would – being pelted in the head by plastic beads that were being lodged at her from a moving trailer full of drunk revelers! That’s right, we took Pumpkin to the Children’s Mardi Gras parade yesterday to celebrate her 10-month birthday. Happy Mardi Gras, y’all. As we anticipated, Aly definitely enjoyed her first parade. The decision to go was not an easy one – Pumpkin has had a touch of a cold for the last week, hasn’t slept too well, and just generally was not in the best of moods on Sunday. She wouldn’t nap, wouldn’t eat, and wouldn’t really smile most of the day. Add that to the fact I wasn’t sure what she would think of crowds or loud music. Well, we finally decided to go meet some friends and no sooner did we arrive then a smile crept across her little face. We danced to the music, shouted “Throw Me Sumthin’ Mista’” and caught and wore lots of colorful beads. She did actually get pelted in the head at lea...

It's official, Pumpkin has now crossed the Mason Dixon line and has seen snow! These are just two of the "firsts" that we have celebrated in the past few weeks. We spent Valentine's weekend in the Land of Lincoln so that Aaron's extended family could meet our little Pumpkin, many for the first time. We flew out of Lake Charles' new and improved airport, which is a blog story in and of itself. First, security took this opportunity to test all of their "skills" on us. As they are paging "Passengers Brown" and presumably shutting the airplane door, I have security guards "testing" the water in Aly's bottle. For what, I do not know, but apparently she looked suspicious. We finally get on the plane, only to sit on the runway for half an hour while they de-ice the plane. As we're lifting off, the pilot announces that we are on a non-stop flight to Houston Intergalactic Airport. Just when I think things on this leg of our journey...

We have good news and bad news to report on the Pumpkin front, while she is still sick she is on the mend – Thank God! Of course, this does not come without a story… So, as most of you know, we had the mommys-birthday-ear surgery last week and then woke up with the croup the next day. First, I did not know that “croup” was a real illness. I thought it was just the medical term for “crap” – as in, “she has the croup that’s been going around.” I looked skeptically at the doctor and sort of chuckled when he diagnosed her with croup, but as he went on to explain the steroid treatments and steam baths I realized he wasn’t joking (and he probably thought I was a moron). We spent the weekend doing breathing treatments, sitting in steamy bathrooms, and humidifying the house. Sunday was the last day of the steroid treatment and Aaron and I whispered hopefully about actually getting a full night sleep. We put Pumpkin down and nestled in for our first restful night in weeks. We were almost giddy ...

Another crazy, unforgettable week in the life of Raising Pumpkin. As Pumpkin's fans, you are all well aware of the ear trouble my little angel has suffered from. Well, we finally met with the ENT surgeon to (hopefully) put an end to her pain. I was excited and anxious to hear what the ENT had to say. I wavered between relief that Pumpkin would soon be healed and fear that I was rushing into a surgical procedure that didn't need to be done. It was time to call in the experts and we did. The appointment started easy enough with the nurse asking some basic questions. Age, weight, number of infections, types of medications. I was flying through this process, no problem. Then the questioning took a different turn. "How's her balance?" Well, she can't stand up without support and she falls over a lot (not to mention she is still moving mostly in reverse - see picture above). "How's her speech?" Um, she only says "da-da" and "ba-ba."...

I am using this blog entry as a means of commending Pumpkin's achievements, as I was instructed to do by the letter I received from the daycare yesterday. Apparently she is being "promoted" to the next room up and, according to "the note," this is one of life's "milestones" that she has successfully achieved. I am certainly hoping that she accomplishes many more commendable milestones than simply being one of too many babies in a room, but just in case and as instructed, I commend her. I even gave Pumpkin her first cookie last night to celebrate. But in all seriousness, Pumpkin's promotion is bittersweet for mommy. I can't believe that she is no longer in the Itty Bitty Room. Now, I realize that it's been a long time since she was "itty bitty," but what the promotion really means is that she is (gasp) mobile! That's right - Pumpkin's movin' - rolling, scooting, and bumping along. The two things she isn't doing ...

2011 has been off to one heck of a start. The radio DJs I listen to on the way in have suggested that their listeners pick a single word, rather than a resolution, to define their year. As much as I've wanted to, I've hesitated to do so based on how the first 10 days of this year have turned out. Hopefully, they are no indication of how the remainder of this year...or this decade...are going to go. We rang in the New Year with friends and woke to a day of football and a lunch spread that knocked us all into a food coma. Even Pumpkin took a long nap on New Year's Day that was a treat mom and dad could not have ever even hoped for. Things seemed wonderful, peaceful, hopeful...in other words, too good to be true. That night, Pumpkin didn't sleep so well; the next night, even worse. I was exhausted already and trying to prepare for the year's first jury trial set to begin on Tuesday January 4th. On Monday the 3rd, I kept her home from school and reported immediately to...