Monkeyin' Around

We went to the zoo today!!! It was scalding hot, so lots of the animals were just takin' it easy indoors- but the few we saw brought about lots of squeals, giggles, and curious looks from Ada Bug. A lemur that kept hopping down a branch while making eye contact with the spectators got a big rise out of her. She also was intrigued by the giraffes and elephants.... however, the MOST spellbinding creatures at the zoo were... drumroll please... HUMANS! She could not get enough of babies, toddlers, kids, and teenagers. And then of course, the oversized stuffed animals in the gift shop were a blast, too. She was such a good girl in her stroller, and I love her so so so so much!

Speaking of animals... we went to Gram's last night to dog-sit Murphy while she is away visiting Aunt Mildred in New Mexico (Murph was sent away to see if Ada's allergies improved in his absence.)... and I'm sad to report that the SECOND Ada crawled around on the carpet her eyes started getting red and watery, and she woke up with gunk in them this morning. Poor Ada, but more importantly, poor Murphy! We are still not sure where he will end up- he is so happy at Gram's, but she wasn't exactly in the market for an 80 lb Lab/Boxer mix!!!

A Scary Moment

Ada had her 9 month well visit with Dr. Gonzalez today- we love him!! He is such a wonderful pediatrician- I even have his personal cell phone number in case I ever have an urgent question that can't wait for the after hours nurse to call me back. (We had a scary incident with some respiratory crap when Ada was 2 months old- that's when we got the sacred personal contact information!)

All of you that know Ada personally have probably seen that bony ridge in her forehead- apparently that is not just a bony head (which I had just chalked up to genetics- I mean look at her Mom and Dad!). It is called a "prominent metopic ridge" or "prominent metopic suture." I didn't know anything about this when he discussed it with me- so of course I came home and googled it- and wish I never had! I was in a total panic- some babies have this as a result of a premature fusing of the two side bones in their skull. They have to have major head (not brain

) surgery so they can continue growing and developing normally. It's a big, ugly deal....

I called Dr. G and bombarded him with questions. It seems all is well- he is not nervous, she is not exhibiting any of the symptoms of the premature fusion (like small head circumference. Just the opposite with Ada, actually!). She just has a "variance" in her skull. He could not say if it will soften or become more prominent with age- but by 18-24 months their head is basically done forming, so we will know more then. If it does become more prominent, and it is something that will cause problems for her socially (*tear!* Every mom just wants an easy life for their baby!) then there are minor elective things you can have done. But we'd wait until she had an issue with it. And that's all a BIG IF. I might look back on this blog in a few years and snicker at my over-reaction.

And can I just add, that after this minor bump in the road that I've experienced today (no pun intended), how much MORE I respect and am in awe of how certain parents (you know who you are!) do it, with MUCH bigger obstacles in their lives than this. You guys are my HEROES. Seriously. I just said a little prayer for you as I wrote this.

So, to close, I am posting a picture of my cute, bony-headed, baby girl!

A Bug on the Move!

Ada is crawling! Just little bits at a time, but she sure is cute. Her favorite trick, though, is sitting up from a crawling position. She does it a million times a day, and is always so proud! Here is a short video of her new mode of mobility:

Help Us Save For Yale!

OK, who are we kidding- odds are, Ada Grace Dowell will be a 3rd generation Aggie. But even that costs a lot of $$! If you just visit the link below, you can shop online, print coupons, etc and earn money towards Ada's 529 (that is a college savings account). You don't even have to register! Check it out: http://www.upromise.com/guest/2462639184

Last Day of School

Well, Ada and I have survived the year!!! All of the insanity, exhaustion, hard work, long hours, etc have abruptly ended, and summer is here!!! I thought I would be beside myself with excitement, but for so long we have been just surviving day to day- lesson plans (first year teacher=no preexisting plans or ideas), bottles and food, pumping, cleaning my pump, and pumping again, classroom management (barf), dinner, bathing (ha), etc- that apparently I had a ton of stress and emotions bottled up. And they came rushing out in the form of mourning the end of daycare... There are 4 ladies in the infant room at Tigerland Daycare, all of which we love- but 2 of them are extremely special to us. Miss Kim (middle, holding Ada) and Miss Stephanie (left, red hair) love Ada just about as much as we do, so it was extremely difficult leaving them that last day because Ada will be in a new room when we return in the fall. Here is a picture of our beloved Tigerland Infant Room ladies- we love you! (Miss Arlene deserves some credit, too- she's wonderful!!)

However- now we've had a few days to grasp what this 2 month long break will feel like... and we are feeling MUCH better! :)

Big Fish

We took Ada swimming last weekend at Grandma and Grandpa Dowell's- and she did AWESOME! She loved the water. We knew she loved bath time... but weren't sure how'd she do in a much cooler, much bigger, much more chlorinated, much different body of water! She splashed her heart out, and kept trying to bend down to explore the water with her mouth (of course). I'm not comfortable with her "going under" this summer, I don't think. Haven't you seen the Oprah with Dr. Oz about "dry drowning!??!!" We are going to wait until next summer to get into heavy duty breath-holding, bubble-blowing, and overall fish-like behavior. As a former swim instructor for the "Guppies" and "Minnows" at Cleburne City Pool, I am excited to teach Ada how to swim- but not yet. For now we will stick with chasing Daddy around trying to splash him. :) Here are some pictures, enjoy!