Ear infection #4 (sigh), first words...

The last two weeks have been hectic. Both Ana and Emily got sick with a bad cold. Emily's cold turned into yet ANOTHER ear infection, right on the tail of the last one. This time it was a double infection and she was clearly miserable with a fever of 101.9 and pain in her ear. Ana had a sinus infection which didn't slow her down (much) but she looked awful. Both girls are still on antibiotics, but Emily is done with hers tomorrow. She seems much better. At least, no fever, but she still bats at her ears a little and I'm worried the infection is hanging on. She's still congested so that is probably keeping her ears somewhat full of fluid. She'll get tubes during her palate surgery in April. Until then, we'll just watch her closely.

This is Emily's new friend, Lily. They sat next to each other at Chloe's birthday lunch (Chloe is Emily's cousin who just turned 5). They held hands for a while. I actually had to pry Emily's hand off of Lily's.


Lily decided she would feed Emily. Em didn't mind.

Emily is now saying "mama" on a regular basis. This is nothing new, but she's added a few more words to the list. She's trying to say "dada" (she can't make a hard "d" sound without a palate, but she's compensating by curling her tongue up over her top lip and saying "lala"), she's said "Ana" a couple of times and I think she may have tried to say "Amy" which sounded like "Ah-mah." Course, I may just be reaching on that last one!

Some new firsts

Emily is delighted to have stumbled upon Ana's pony. It's as though she knows she's not supposed to have it.


The coast is clear - time to see what this pony tastes like.

This is such a fun age. Emily is changing daily it seems. She got her first tooth last week. It popped through her premaxilla (the part of her gums where the first four teeth come in) on her left side. It seems fairly stable so far, but since it's so close to the cleft I worry that it'll just fall out. She's also started sitting up in her crib which is way cute in the morning and after her naps. She's moving around more, though she's not as mobile as I know she wants to be. She can creep along on her butt by pushing herself with her hands and she can also crawl backwards. She can stand for a couple of seconds unsupported, but seems reluctant to creep around furniture or toys (she'll stand and hold on forever though). She signed the word "more" for the first time this week and she says "mama" quite deliberately when I walk into the room.

When did my baby become a toddler??


I couldn't resist including this picture of Ana. I gush about Emily so much (this is, after all, her story), but I had to show off Ana's new haircut which I butchered quite nicely. I did manage to pin her down and snip that stray piece before we went out in public.

Who's out there?

Emily's just updating her blog in this picture. Do you visit her blog from time to time? She was wondering if you could post a comment to let her know you're out there thinking of her. She got this idea from Rachel's blog. She'd love to hear from you - just click on "comments" right below any post to leave a comment about yourself and say hello to little Miss Em.

Down Time

The question is not whether to eat the cracker. The question is whether to like the cracker.

Emily is doing well. Today is the last day of her antiobiotic for the ear infection and we take her back to the doctor for a follow-up next week. I hope the infection is gone. She hates taking her medicine and it upsets her stomach. Her sleep's been a bit odd lately and I hope it's not because of her ears.


Here's a neat trick - she's got her top lip over her bottom lip, something remarkable considering she had very little mobility in the lip a couple of months ago. She's doing this more and more. She's drinking from a cup and I think this has helped her practice using her top lip. I make the same face back at her and she tries to imitate me.


Ana and Emily are watching Boo Bah together. I love this picture. It shows how Ana thinks of Emily as another kid like herself. I honestly don't think she sees her as a baby - she hangs out with her and tries to play with her and then gets mad when Emily grabs her face and tries to suck on her nose.