Dearest little Dahlia,
So you are now 9 months old. You are well on your way to being a year old, but I have to remind myself that there is still 1/4 of the year to go. You have proven that you can change in many, many ways in 3 month’s time. Not only are you another month older, but you have now seen a new year-2008! I am actually a bit sad to see 2007 go. Normally the New Year is more exciting than sad for me, but this past year was incredible, thanks to you! I will always look back on what a sweet time we had together, getting to know one another in 2007, the year of Dahlia.
As always, this past month was full of change for you. Your communication skills are getting much better. You now raise your arms when you want to be picked up out of the Excersaucer or high chair. You say “Dada” and “Ba-Bye” regularly. While you have been waving for a long time, I am now convinced you know that it means hello or goodbye. Your hair is longer than ever. Soon I will not be able to resist putting barrettes in it! Although you haven’t really gained more than a pound or two since you were 6 months old, you are gaining inches, and growing into all that baby chub. In fact, soon you won’t even be a baby, you will be a toddler! You are eating more and more new foods. Some notable new ones this month are: melba toast, cut up grapes, cauliflower, and freeze dried apple bits. Your first Christmas was fun. You collected quite a few new toys (which of course, you desperately needed…). I think you enjoyed the parties with all the excitement and other babies to play with. We did a lot of traveling to see Grandma and Poppy, Aunt Gail and Aunt Lisa. As always, you were a complete gem in the car–sleeping or playing quietly. You have also been very flexible about sleep times and napping. The funny thing is that parents seem to want it both ways: scheduled sleep when life is normal, and flexible sleep during Holidays or crazy times. Your sleep has been changing a lot this month with your fever, the Holidays, and your new skills that seem to keep you awake and excited at night. I’m just rolling with it and trying not to help you develop a night-waking habit. I think when things settle down this month, you will fall into a better schedule. I’m not too concerned about it at this point.
Not only are you crawling much better, but you are even “off-roading” now. Toys, barriers and bodies are no problem for you now. You simply go over, under, or across whatever you encounter. I am really grateful you have become interested in the larger scope of “things you can get into” since it helps take your focus off of eating carpet lint and crumbs. You have mastered pulling up on things, and your favorite things to pull up on are mommy and daddy’s legs. You also enjoy pulling up on the entertainment center (to get to the DVD player), chairs, the bookcase, the coffee table (so many fun things to pull off!), your crib railing, or anything about that height. Grandma and Poppy got you a walker toy for Christmas, and I told them that you would certainly be using it soon. You took my words to heart, and after Daddy put it together the next day, you were off and walking with it! I don’t doubt that you will be walking independently by next month’s letter. Even now, you are putting almost no weight on me when you use me for support to stand. You are “cruising” from one object to another while standing, and sometimes you even let go of your support and stand, momentarily, on your own! Of course, this is quickly followed by you falling on your little rear on your own. Good thing you have lots of padding and a diaper on 
Of course, all of this moving around has led to several instances of falls, bumps and bruises. You do bruise as easily as I do, unfortunately. Your skin is just as pale as mine. However, your bones and skull must be made of rubber. Either that, or you are a devout Stoic. I am amazed at how you take most bumps and blows in stride. A week ago, you were pulling up on my leg, lost your balance and fell backwards against the edge of the desk. Adrenaline immediately pumping, I scooped you up and braced for a difficult recovery. You cried for about 3 seconds, then squirmed in my arms to get down and play again. Later on in the week, you were pulling up on your Excersaucer, which is unstable, and it whirled you around and into the front of the oven door. You literally bounced off of it. Again, I swooped in and picked you up to comfort you and survey any damage. I don’t think you even cried that time. I am learning that your mood, the time of day, and my reaction to a fall factor greatly into how you will ultimately react to it. Who knew babies were so indestructible?
You did, however, have a moment, or rather a weekend, of weakness, this month. One Friday night, as I was putting you to sleep, I noticed you were unusually cranky and fussy. I was concerned that you weren’t feeling well. Sure enough, when I went to you at 3AM, you felt very warm to the touch. Hoping it was just the stuffy room, I nursed you back to sleep and left the door open for the rest of the night. However, in the morning, your temperature was 101.7. I went straight to the Sears Baby Book and read up on fevers. I also, of course, did some research online. I decided that, since you weren’t showing any other troubling symptoms, we should just let it follow its course, and try to help your body cope by giving you plenty of fluids and rest. I called your pediatrician, who was out of office. I contacted the back-up Doctor, and they referred me to the ER without any clarification. Apparently, a baby with a fever and any kind of lethargy = pawn it off the the ER. (in my opinion, it had more to do with insurance issues) I called the expert: Grandma. Finally, Daddy, Grandma and I decided that we would not go to the ER. It was a difficult decision and a nerve-wracking weekend as your fever spiked and dropped, at times reaching as high as 104.4! Even though I hate using too many medications, we went through almost an entire bottle of baby Tylenol. We were at the Doctor first thing Monday morning, and he told us we had done the right thing keeping you out of the ER. He said they would most likely have done several unnecessary, intrusive things like taking blood, placing an IV and urinary catheter “just in case” and then doing exactly what we had done at home: give Tylenol and keep an eye on it. He said you most likely had a virus, possibly Roseola, although we never saw the tell-tale rash that usually accompanies that one. It was a scary time, but you pulled through so well. You never lost your appetite, and you slept a lot, despite waking up frequently. We enjoyed having you cuddle so much, since that isn’t normally on your schedule of things to do. And so I learner another lesson in parenting: when dealing with a fever, treat the child, not the thermometer.
I am glad that trusting my instinct was the right thing to do with that virus. I know it was only the first of many illnesses we will deal with together. I hope and pray that I will continue to make good decisions for you while it is my responsibility to do so. Daddy and I love you so much, Dahlia. I hope that you grow up knowing that. I look forward to all the new and exciting adventures we will have together in this new year!
Love,
Mommy
