When it rains

Well, it's been a heck of a last couple days. Despite my attempts to steer Rosa away from kids with colds in the last few weeks, Rosa got the sniffles, and then a full-blown super-snotty hacking cold last Friday. She slept fine the first night, but then the next two night woke up periodically with coughs and cries. Then in the wee hours of Monday morning, before her usual wake-up time, Jeff and I awoke to a terrifying thud, then screams. Rosa climbed out of her crib for the first time in the pitch dark, and landed on her cheek (as evidenced by the rug burn). She is tall for her age, and apparently, once they reach a certain height, they can get themselves out.

She was absolutely terrified and cried and screamed for a little while until she calmed down against my chest, and we both eventually fell back asleep. I asked friends what they've done to prevent their kids from climbing out of their cribs (I've read that this usually happens closer to age 2, and you transition them to a bed at that point, but I don't think Rosa is ready for a bed). Several said they put their kids in sleepsacks (like a long nightgown sewn shut at the bottom) and they can't hoist their leg up over the rail to get out. So we'll try this, but for now we just have pillows around the bottom of the crib. And every morning I wake up really early, anxiously listening to hear if Rosa is creaking around in her crib. So far, no repeat performances.

Yesterday we went to Rosa's 18-month check up. She's always been a tall thin girl. For the past few check-ups she's been about 40th percentile for weight and 85th or so for height. This time, the weight was about the same, but she's up to 95th for height. I keep telling her she'll have an awkward phase in middle school, but will love being tall once she's an adult!



Anyway, the doctor used to be fine with her weight, but the last two appointments he's been telling me I need to fatten her up. I try SO hard to get her to eat, while trying to keep eating fun and not a power struggle. Sigh. Keep trying I guess. Anyway, he says to try pudding and hummus (both are high calorie foods that kids usually like). Last time she ate a tiny bit of hummus, she had big pukes. I wasn't sure if the hummus was to blame. Today, influenced by the doc who didn't think there was anything in hummus that kids are commonly allergic to, I tried again. She had the tiniest bite (didn't like it), and a couple hours later the puking started. Poor babe - it was bad this time.

By dinner she managed to keep down some saltines. It's been a rough couple days. I think what I want for Christmas is just some regular days with no sickies and no surprises!