Morgan Dahl

Maladies come in threes?

Add anemia to the pink eye(s) and ear infection(s).  Add iron supplements to the treatment regimen.

Pink eye update

We’re not really sure we got the first dose of drops actually in Morgan’s eyes yesterday afternoon.  The pink eye spread from one eye to the other in the afternoon (after the supposed first round of drops in both eyes) and the original eye definitely got worse as the day went on.  Our read of the web and talking to other folks is that these drops (when used properly) really do work pretty quickly (they impede the growth of bacteria).  So I don’t think we should have seen the spreading to the other eye or the worsening.

Last night and this morning we worked harder at confirming that we got the drops into her eyes.  This involved a lot of struggle on her part and drops in lots of non-eye areas.  But I do think we managed to get both eyes both times.  So hopefully she’ll respond well today.  She looked pretty yucky when she woke up this morning (though she could open both eyes herself).  She has to look substantially better tomorrow if we’re going to take her to daycare.

Jim said she was a riot yesterday.  Apparently she was in very good spirits for most of the day, but occasionally suffered from lack of vision.  So she would swipe at a stack of blocks, miss, and then laugh.  Or miss handholds when trying to pull herself up.  All with usual Morgan good-humor.

When it rains it pours

Third trip in the last four business days to the pediatrician.  As Molly noted below, the diagnosis is conjunctivitis (presumed to be caused by bacterial infection).

Pink eye

Morgan has her first case of pink eye.  They sent her home from daycare this morning.  We went to the pediatrician’s (for the 3rd time in four business days) around lunch.  He prescribed some eye drops.  We got one dose in before I headed back to work; we’ll do the other dose when I get home from teaching tonight.  Then two doses tomorrow and then one a day for 5 days.  She should be able to go back to daycare on Wednesday, but she is apparently pretty miserable today (Jim’s home with her).

Poor kid.

Trying new foods

The yogurt bite is pretty funny.  They have a pretty unusual taste that kicks you with a really sour flavor part way through.

Bacon is completely unlike anything she’s ever eaten, but she jumped right in.

Nows that’s what I call Photos – volume 23

A little bit a food theme going on, as the doors have been thrown open on Morgan’s eating so we try to feed her a little bit of whatever’s around.  This morning, her first weekend morning in which she got to try bacon!

9 Month Well-Visit

We had a scheduled trip to the doctor’s office this morning.  Morgan is 9 months old today.

The doctor was pleased with her progress.  He asked if she liked to play peek-a-boo and, when doing so, covered his own face.  She was immediately riveted and smiling, so yeah, she likes peek-a-boo.  He also asked if she can find a toy hidden under a blanket or understands when we put something out of sight (yes).  He asked if she bangs or claps.  She bangs a ton, but doesn’t really clap yet.  He asked if she was crawling (yes).  He asked if she’ll look for things after she drops them (yes).  He also asked if she’ll throw things to the ground and wait for us to pick them up so she can throw it again.  Not yet.  He asked if she babbles da-da-da and ma-ma-ma.  She babbles da-da quite a bit; ma-ma less so, but sometimes.

He was very pleased with her growth, especially when he found out that she has only been on breastmilk, not formula.  Breast fed babies tend to be smaller; the milk isn’t as fatty.

She got her 3rd dose of the Hepatitis B vaccine.  And they drew blood to test for lead and anemia.  She was not a fan of the finger prick.

He really opened the floodgates on food.  We are still supposed to avoid raw cow’s milk, but can give her cheese, yogurt, and the like.  And we’re still supposed to avoid choking hazards (hot dogs, grapes, popcorn), honey, fish, eggs, and nuts.  But other than that, she’s really supposed to start eating many of the same foods we eat (though cut into wee little pieces).

Vital Stats:

• Weight: 16 lb, 12 ozs (20th percentile)
• Height: 28 inches (65th percentile)
• Head: 18 1/4 inches (95th percentile)

Another double ear infection

Morgan was sent home from daycare yesterday with a temperature.  When I got her home, no temp.  But she had been fussy the night before and had been acting a little weird the last couple of days.  In particular, she had been pulling her hair when nursing, which she was doing around the time of her last ear infection.  So, we decided to take her into the doc and get her ears checked.  As it turns out, dual ear infection.  Poor kid.  So she is on antibiotics.  Last night seemed to go a little better and she usually responds pretty quickly to the antibiotics, so hopefully everything will be okay tonight.

We go back to the doctor tomorrow for her 9 month well visit.

Been in daycare for 6 months

We actually passed this milestone about 10 days ago (she started daycare on Sept 15), but I was a little swamped.  One of Annabel’s other charges, Emily, is transitioning to the Toddler One room this week.  So starting next week, Morgan will be Annabel’s longest tenured kid (current).

New mobility

Tonight Morgan was doing more actual crawling (hands and knees) than army crawling.  It is really the first time I remember her doing much more than crawling a few steps (crawls?) before dropping back to the army crawl.

She also likes to hold on to two things at once now, often banging them together.  And she will carry stuff with her when she crawls now too.