Birthday girl!

Friday was Tessa's birthday, and also her 1 year check up at the doctor. Everything with her looked pretty good. Grandma Laura got to show her off to a few patients (Joel's mom works at the clinic we take Tessa to, FYI). She showed everyone how she was a big girl, walking every where, emptying the drawers of the exam table, and climbing up into a chair.

One thing we've learned about this girl, she is so curious about everything and is totally fearless. The first few times she figured out how to get up on the couch (after we realized she'd been stacking pillows up for a boost), she dove headfirst off it. What can I say? She wanted down and she figured it out. Finally yesterday she realized it was probably a little easier to turn around and hang her feet over the edge and slide. Much faster and less rug burn.

Anyways, back the the appointment. She is a whopping 19 pounds, 10.5 ounces, which is right at the 25th percentile. Those of you not versed on percentiles, it means that 75% of children her age weigh more than her, and she weighs more than the other 25%. Get it? She is 29 1/2 inches tall, which is the 50th percentile. She's still long and lean, just like her dad. I would be thrilled if she were built like him. He is tall and naturally skinny. For an analogy on the body shape differences between Joel and I, see Sesame Street.

I am Ernie and Joel is Bert.

Needless to say, I hope she gets at least some of Joel's features, height being one of them. So anyways, Tessa got 3 shots this round. She got her Hib vaccine, her flu shot, and the chicken pox vaccine. You can tell she's opinionated because she cried more when she got held down than when she got poked. She was fine once I picked her up, and she ripped her bandaid off before it was done bleeding. Sigh. That's my girl.

She has had some more trouble breathing, being very wheezy with a phlegmy cough. We've done a couple breathing treatments with her and that seems to help. She may have asthma, which can be a very big deal. However, I have asthma and have learned to manage it well. I convince myself I'm fine when I'm not, but I know better than to leave without an inhaler. But if we do come to the find out that Tessa has it, we'll be more diligent with her.

Today is her party, so I'll be sure to report back. We spent most of yesterday cooking, cleaning, and decorating for it. I tried not to go too overboard with it.

Happy Birthday!

Well, the first year is over. We made it. We have a walking, talking, climbing toddler with an attitude. We went from this:

to this:

 

She's doing a lot of this now too:

 

It is so fun to see every day what she learns, figures out, and changes her mind on. She has more personality than she knows what to do with, and too much energy for her own good. She is fearless, full of life, and oh so entertaining! We love you Tessa!

Tessa and GG

We went and visited GG a few weeks ago. Actually, like a month ago. I just found the pictures though, so I figured I'd post them. My grandma Wilson is awesome. So awesome. She grew up on a farm, farmed her whole life, and now is suppressed with city living. By city I mean sprawling metropolis of 600 people.

She is so frugal and I can't help but giggle at her sometimes. We went out to lunch, and she washed the styrofoam takeout box so she could reuse it. Her entire deep freeze is filled with yogurt containers with various items. We always joke that she saves 4 kernels of corn in her yogurt container and freezes it so she doesn't waste anything. Everytime we visit, she's defrosted some cookies for us. Yep, defrosted cookies. At one point she had freshly baked them, but it never seems to be the day we're visiting.

We love spending time with her, and she loves the company. So, we had a day off and decided to make the hour long trip to GG's house. Tessa had a blast, as usual. GG pulled out the baby butler, which looks like a death trap but is really just an old skool high chair type thing.

Tessa was her usual happy and silly self, which made GG very happy. We got a few good pictures and had fun playing cards with GG. We knew it was a big deal we were coming because she cancelled her usual plans of cards and lunch with "the girls" to have lunch and cards with us.

This epically sucks

Working in an ER can be some of the most exciting moments in my day. From being a quiet, normal, easy, day with just a few patients, to instantly changing when you hear "Unit 3, 10-76 to Trinity, one patient on board, 10-33, CPR in progress, advise Code Blue." Your heart sinks, your gut tightens, and you know you are changing the course of one family's life. But at the same time, your pulse is racing, your hands get a little sweaty, and you know it's go time. Chasing the ambulance trying to figure out who your patient is, realizing they don't know who the patient is, having real life John or Jane Doe's, and hoping someone shows up to identify the patient before anything worse happens is part of my daily routine.

Lately, though, I'm over it. I don't want to have to see family members come into the ER with some hope and leave realizing they've lost a family member. It is worse when you see a fiance, a mother, or a child. Especially when that child is young. More often than I care to think about, I see a child that has been yanked out of school, being told something bad happened to their mom or dad, and show up to find out they now only have one parent. And yet, death is a fact of life, and seeing it regularly makes me jaded. I don't like it.