Spotted Baby

So now we know that Catherine is allergic to sulfa ... no more of that kind of antibiotic for her! She was on it for the Disney World skin infection, and then yesterday she got a few little spots. By bedtime she had more, and by this morning, she looked like this! Nonna and Uncle Guido were helpful in assuring us that Catherine did not have the plague, and we were able to take her to the doctor this morning. We are very grateful that Catherine's pediatrics group is open on the weekends for sick appointments, since we have taken her there 2 weekends in a row! It's funny, she hasn't so much as had the sniffles, barely a fever in her 8 months, but she's had the random Mickey Pox and now this. We are also thankful that neither of these things made her uncomfortable or feel sick. She has been her happy self most of the time. Unfortunately, she's going to look like this for up to a week or two, but we're hoping it goes away quickly.

**Don't forget to scroll down and see the other recent pictures of her.**

Merry Christmas

How cute am I?

Quick post

We were at Disney World all last week, which was a lot of fun. The weather was amazing, about 80 every day. Mark and his dad both got sick, which was a little bit of a damper, but we felt like we got to do everything we wanted. Catherine and I both got a nasty skin infection, so we made an immediate trip to the doctor when we got back. Mark and his parents literally dropped me at the urgent care on the way home from the airport. We're fine, though. Antibiotics kicked in right away. I guess when you go to a place with that many people from all over the world, you're bound to pick up that kind of junk. I was just annoyed at all the extra laundry I had to do because the doctor said we needed to wash everything we took with us, sheets, towels, etc. I believe load number 10 is in the dryer right now.

I'll post more photos later, but here's a teaser.

More on Catherine

These are some of the things Catherine has been up to lately:

- Eating: She eats most foods now, even chicken and turkey. I make about 1/3-1/2 of her food, mostly the vegetables because they're so easy. She isn't a picky eater at all, so that has been nice. I can't think of one thing we have given her that she didn't eat. As far as I can tell, her favorites are sweet potatoes and peaches. Maybe she likes the color orange. She is gotten fairly adept at putting cheerios and puffs into her mouth. Sometimes I will find only a couple of them in her bib when she's done. Other times, it's like she just raked them into her lap.

- Moving around: She hasn't taken to crawling (trust us, we have tried to coax her!), but she gets around pretty well. Using a combination of scooting and rolling, she can get across a room quickly. She has always had really strong legs, so if we stand her up with her holding on to something, she can stand up for awhile.

- Playing: Since she sits up very well now, she plays with toys both on the floor and in the pack n play while sitting up. She also likes to play in the exersaucer, and I'm sure it will come as a shock that her favorite toy on it is the phone. She loved it so much we got her a little Elmo/Cookie Monster play cell phone that she is quite into now. She also thinks that she should be able to play with the remote and the regular phone, but I try to avoid that. She's interested in books and likes to turn the pages. We have some Sesame Street books about colors, shapes, numbers, etc., and she likes those. She even has a little Bible that covers the entirety of scripture in the course of about 10-12 pages. It's very comprehensive. Ha! Catherine also has a lot of fun in child care at church on Sunday and Tuesday mornings and Wednesday nights. She has charmed the ladies in the nursery quite a bit!

- Watching TV: Yes, our 8-month-old watches TV. How in the world am I supposed to get a shower in otherwise? I think her psyche would be much more damaged from growing up with a stinky mother than watching some TV. So ... she swings, she watches, we all stay clean and sane. She LOVES Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and she likes Sesame Street, too (mostly Elmo). She sometimes indulges me in an episode of Scooby-Doo. Believe it or not, one of her favorite things to watch is football. I think it's the bright green that catches her eye.