Had a bit of a scare tonight.  Miss Sonyea spiked a fever of 103.8!  Called the doctor but never heard back from him.  We'll be bringing that up on Monday when the office is open again.  After some tylenol and a bottle of grape juice, she was feeling much better and her temp was down to 102.5.  She must have been feeling a little bit better because she had a hissy fit that I wouldn't let her play with the phone because I'm still waiting to hear fromt he dr.  Shortly after that, she had some dinner and a bottle of milk/formula and she's in bed without a peep.  Her head felt barely warm so I didn't bother taking her temp again.  She was protesting that rectal thermometer hardcore tonight.  Hopefully she's feeling better tomorrow because we were/are going to the St Patrick's Day parade and meeting up with some friends.  If she's still sick, we'll stay home.  My poor baby isn't feeling well.

Mommy said I'm really close to taking steps.  Tonight on our way to the bathie, I was walking while only holding onto one of mommy's hand.  She said that means I'm getting my balance.  I'm also leaning really far to reach for places to hold onto.  I am standing more and more also.  Tonight I was drinking some water out of my sippy and standing.  Then I'd sit down, then I'd get up and stand again.  While Mommy was doing the dishes and I was playing with all the tupperware lids I was reaching up high and holding onto the shelf with one hand.  I am so much more adventuresome now.  My favorite place to go is Vicky's water dish and all they do is say no.  I don't know why they won't let me play in it.  I get to do all that in the bathie...  they are so weird. 

Mommy said my totsite is full to the brim with pictures.  She ordered a CD of it for her for my birthday.  So get your fill of the pictures before they start disappearing.  Mommy said she's going to make a montage for every month and post it on the video page and start deleting the pictures to make room for my second year.  We have so much planned already.  The wedding, GrassRoots,  San Diego, hopefully a trip to Cape Cod to see our friends from Oregon, and hopefully a few other trips to meet our friends in Philly and NJ.  Mommy said we are definitely going to Philadelphia when the weather warms up.  We are going to go to the zoo there with our friends Maria and Andrew.  We can't wait!!  So see, this year is going to be really busy too.  Oh, and this coming Saturday is the St Patrick's Day parade here.  As long as it isn't raining, we are going.  I'm excited.  We are hopefully going to meet up with our new friends Cara, Sam and Moriba. 

Thanks to everyone who signed the guestbook and all the pictures.  Mommy loves all the comments everywhere.  Be sure you are leaving us feedback and other comments when you feel the need.  We love to hear from our friends and family!!

Grandpa John and Grandma Lois came over to visit us today and they brought me presents.  I got a brand new Bounce and Spin Zebra!!  I was a little scared of it at first, but then I warmed up to it when Daddy helped me bounce and spin.  I can also get on and off by myself.  Mommy said she wants her or Daddy to help though so I don't fall and donk my head again.  They also brought me a cool new cell phone.  Thank you!!!

Brian, Elisa, Nathan and baby Hunter came over to visit too.  Mommy was really surprised how small Hunter really is.  Mommy said I was never that small.  He's an inch longer than I was when I was born but I had a whole pound on him.  He's beautiful but not really fun to play with.  Mommy wouldn't let me smack him or bang him on the head.  I really like doing that with my baby dolls so I don't know why they won't let me do that with Hunter. 

We had an ice cream cake and Nathan helped me blow out the candle.  It was really cool, brrrr, but really yummy!!!  Thanks guys for coming to visit and celebrating my birthday.

Mommy saw a BALD EAGLE on the way home from Buffalo the other day.  I was sleeping and there was too much traffic so we couldn't stop to check it out.  It was sitting in a tree on the other side of the river off I-86/Rte 17.  It was being bothered by a crow.  Poor guy.  Mommy said it always brightens her day when she sees a wild Eagle like that.  She's only seen 3 wild BE before. 

I went to Aunt Leslie's house again tonight.  They said I cried the whole time.  I was very happy to see Mommy.  She hung out for awhile after she came to get me so that Aunt Leslie and Uncle Gary and Cousin Elizabeth could see the real me.  I was cruising the coffee table, playing with the necklace, kissing the giant bear, squeeking the duck with my teeth.  I'm a real ham really!  As soon as Mommy strapped me into my seat, I started blowing kisses and waving.  Mommy said I'll get used to going over there eventually.  She said next time she'll stay and hang out with me for awhile so I can get used to everything before she leaves. 

Today is my first birthday.  Mommy is so sad because I'm growing up so fast, but she's also very proud at how I am turning out.  I'm a very good girl and she can't complain.  We woke up bright and early because we had to drive back to Binghamton.  After breakfast, Daddy packed up the car and off we went.  We stopped for coffee and hot chocolate and stopped at Miss Beth's house for a split second and we were off.  After we got to Alden, I had a bottle and fell asleep.  I ended up sleeping for 3 hours, that's most of the ride home.  Mommy likes it when I do that and wishes I'd do it every time we travelled.  Since they turned my car seat around so it faces the front, she said it's much easier to entertain me, but she also thinks it's harder for me to fall asleep because I notice more how much they don't pay attention to me when we are driving!

We got home and unpacked a little bit.  I had a small bite to eat and then it was off to the doctor's office for my one year checkup.  It was very busy and I was getting very impatient.  They didn't forget about us, they were just busy.  Mommy and Daddy were getting very frustrated because I was getting frustrated with being cooped up.  I weigh 27 pounds and 4 ounces.  I lost about a pound from last week because I was so sick I wasn't eating and I wasn't drinking my formula.  Now I'm doing better though, my cold is about gone, but my ear infections are just as bad as they were last week.  The doctor changed my prescription to something stronger and it tastes better!  I drink it down much better.  I also have to have an ointment in my diaper area for the stinkin' yeast infection caused by the antibiotics.  I also got one booster shot.  Mommy told them they had to wait on the MMR and the chicken pox vaccine.  She said I will get them, just not right now.  Mommy doesn't want me to get sick, but she also wants to wait until I'm a bit older and my body can handle it better. 

They then took me downstairs to the lab.  I had no idea what was going on until they held me down and started poking me.  I don't like being held down at all.  Mommy was very sad that they had to do that... but she knows it's for the best.  She said they are checking my blood for lead and doing a CBC.  She said it's just to check that everything is ok and there is nothing out of the ordinary.  I don't ever want to do that again!! Mommy said she can't promise that though. 

After that very tramatic experience, I got to take a nap.  We came home and I went right down for a nap.  After I got up, we went to Chuck E Cheese's with our friends from the local mommy board.  I didn't get to really hang out with my friend's though.  It was so busy and since I can't walk I really didn't do much.  Mommy and Daddy took me on a roller coaster ride.  I was more interested in watching all the kids running around.  I got to have my picture taken with Chuck himself!!  I was a little afraid at first, but Mommy was right there.  It's not like he was Santa or anything.  Just a crazy mouse.  Mommy said someday, we'll go meet Mickey.  Now there's a mouse I can't wait to meet. We had some yummy pizza while I wore my birthday hat and hung out and then headed for home because it was bed time.  Daddy gave me a bath and off to bed I went.  Whew, what a busy day!!