Rainy weather and healthy baby

We went to see Sasha's doctor this morning and got some great news: the ear infection is gone! No more antibiotics (which were rather hard to get into her - odd, given the very sweet taste), no more Tylenol, no more fever, no more tired baby! We got the go-ahead to start swimming classes again this fall (I still have to call and register her though), but that should be fun! We're going back for her 12-month visit in two weeks and she'll be getting a few shots.
Would have been a perfect day to go and play outside with mama and papa, except that it's raining! We have some friends coming over today and our parents tomorrow. Hopefully we can fit in a trip to Staples for some paper supplies too.

Have a good weekend, everybody!

Sick baby and party planning

Wow, I haven't updated in a while. We've been so busy around here lately. We've finally decided on the details for Sasha's first birthday party so we're working on getting everything together (we've got all the decorations, I will - hopefully - be making the cake, I'm working on a picture slideshow - the music part is giving me a bit of trouble, but I'll deal with it). There will be balloons and games and cakes (and a special little cupcake for our special little girl) and even a birthday hat (which I'm sure will stay on her head for exactly 2.3 seconds) It will be fun! If I can deal with the reality of my little girl turning one (but that's a whole other post in an of itself)!
Now for the not-so-fun part of my post - Sasha has her first ear infection. It sucks. It started on Sunday afternoon, when we were coming back from hanging out in Jersey with auntie Anna and uncle Andrey. She's getting better now, no more fever thankfully, but it's her third day on antibiotics, so we're giving her lots of extra yogurt - good thing she loves that stuff! We're going to see her pediatrician on Saturday again, hopefully it will be gone by then. I just feel so horribly bad for our little girl, she's whiny and sleepy and so so uncomfortable! Oh, and the transition to cups seems to have halted for now - she refuses them and will only drink milk out of her bottles, I guess it's a comfort thing for her; we'll be going back to that fun adventure in a couple of weeks. It's been a crazy few days!
Sorry, I don't have any recent pictures uploaded, but I did want to update and say that we haven't fallen off the face of the earth!

Sasha's first haircut

I finally got to cutting Sasha's hair. Yes, I did it myself. And it really wasn't so bad. We just needed to trip her bangs since they were getting too long and constantly getting into her eyes. The whole process took maybe 5 minutes.





Bye-bye, baby hair... She looks so different now! I do think I cut off a little too much, but it'll grow back out, right?

An impromptu beach trip

We headed to the beach tonight with my mom. It was a little windy, but we all had a great time. Miss Sasha had a blast in the water and didn't want to leave. Here are some pictures, I think they came out so cute!

Grandma L, Sasha and I testing out the water


Sasha had cherries for dessert


My little happy water baby

A few pictures for your viewing pleasure

I took these yesterday while we were playing. They are too funny not to share!



My little diaper-head


Think it's time for a haircut?


"Hello? Mr. Diaper? Are you there?"

Disclaimer: this was a clean new diaper ;)

Sasha is walking!!

You read that right, and I have a video to prove it ;) How cute is she?

Pedi appointment today and 11-month stats

We went to see Sasha's pediatrician today (I seriously love that woman, she's so wonderful!) We had to get some blood drawn for lead testing and there was no way I was doing it alone (I know I'm a wuss, but I just could not watch that), so we had papa come along with us for that part. The blood draw went very well, thankfully, the doctor gave me a prescription for a creme to be put on her arms prior to the draw and she didn't seem to be even bothered by the needle (in fact, I was told she was watching as the doctor inserted the needle!) I am glad it's over though!
Here are her stats at 11 months: weight - 20.5lbs (51st percentile); height - 28.5" (56th percentile). She seems to be evening out and averaging out. The doctor was very happy with all her stats, and said she'll probably end up a skinny tall girl. She gave us the go ahead to start cow's milk and eggs in a couple of weeks, which should add some variety to her breakfasts.
And just because I feel bad leaving you all off without any cute pictures of our little Miss, here's her splashing around in her baby pool at grandma and grandpa's today:

Vacation recap and pictures

We got back last night (and though Sasha was already asleep I couldn't help myself but go check up on her); today was a fun day filled with playing, reading, jumping and dancing around, oh, and four loads of laundry (both our and Sasha's stuff). We had a wonderful time on our vacation, and Sasha had a blast here without us too (we were told that you literally couldn't turn away from her for a second because she headed straight for the stairs - we don't have stairs in our apartment, so that's novel to her).
Aside from hours of relaxing by the pool, as well as in the pool, and lounging on the beach, we did some sightseeing: we went to Coba, an ancient Mayan city which is now in ruins and visited and saw Mayan culture. We got to climb the temple (120 steps which just happen to be a couple of thousand years old - so they were a little scary to navigate, but the view from the top was absolutely breathtaking and amazing!), we saw the jungle, ziplined across a lake, swam in a cenote (a sinkhole, of which there are many in Mexico, an underground lake) among with fish and fruitbats flying around us. The water was unbelievably clear and a little chilly, but on a hot day, it was so nice to cool down a bit. We then got to eat some delicious Mayan food (there were even chickens walking around right next to us as we sat down for lunch!) We jetskied the following day, which was so exciting. Ok, here are some photos of our adventures.



A secluded pool specifically for the "platinum suites" guests (which we got a fabulous deal on)


This was the view from our balcony. Oh, and we had two jacuzzis - one inside and one on the balcony (still not sure why, but it was pretty neat)


This is how Mayan people live now




An ancient observatory - used to keep an eye on the road



This is the temple we got to climb


At the top of the Mayan temple




On our hike to the zipline


This is what we looked like while ziplining (plus these awesome orange helmets)




Yes, we are goofballs, and yes, I realize that if Sasha sees this picture some 13 years from now she'll be horribly embarassed and tell people she isn't related to us!


At a swim-up bar


At a fancy restaurant with a beautiful ocean view


Heading home...

And a couple of Sasha pictures our parents sent us:

On the potty with grandma L. - look at my big girl, hehe


Hanging out in her tub outside

11 months old and first steps

One day late, but our little girl is now 11 months old. She's such a big girl already, she seemed to have grown since we left. She giggles at everything, is still very clingy (but I can't say I don't like it: having been away from her for the last week, I'm enjoying it for now). She imitates all the little things we do. She's a pro at putting things into containers and then taking them out. She "reads" books and turns pages... we're not going to mention that she may do so holding a book upside down! She's now mostly on all table foods, meaning she eats "real" food and is a pro with her straw cup (in fact in a week or two I'm planning to start giving her milk in a cup to get her off bottles soon). She now walks holding on to only one hand. Which brings me to my other point: first steps! The night before we left for Mexico, Sasha actually took 4 little steps without any support from me to papa! It was the cutest thing ever!!









Oh, and yes, we're back. We had a blast on our vacation, although we missed our little Sasha terribly! And she had a blast hanging out with her grandparents and auntie and uncle (and so did they). I'm working on a post all about it (complete with pictures) now, I'll post later tonight.