Bits and Pieces About Cosette (as we approach her first birthday)

(started this yesterday... got too sleepy and had to hit pause)

Had a tooth pulled this morning so I'm a bit out of sorts... what better time to blog, right?

I'm still enjoying the after effects of the numbing shots. My tongue still feels twice it's normal size. I dread what it will feel like once those wear off. A note about the numbing stuff... I've been having a hard time getting the shakes and feeling my heart racing about five minutes after those injections. I discussed it with the dental assistant last time and she said it was the epinephrine that caused those side effects. This time I drank only a half cup of coffee and made sure to eat a good, filling breakfast and... no shakes! I'm glad. The alternative that we discussed offered less pain relief and ... well, no.

My breakfast was the leftovers from my lunch yesterday. I just had to get out of the house yesterday. I've had this recurring vertigo that strikes out of nowhere and makes me nervous to drive. (By the way, thanks Carol for the link to the video for curing vertigo. It didn't help in my case but it's always good to try any and every method that doesn't cost anything or involve medication!) I was a little bit - not a lot - dizzy yesterday and really just wanted to go out to eat, especially with the expectation of having a tooth pulled today and possibly not being able to eat well for a time. Tasha, Cosette and I went to Cafe Cancun, a mexican restaurant in town. The food was really, really good and I got some absolutely precious pictures of Cosy experiencing the wonder that is nachos and cheese. Once I can chew again, we're going back! I had a dish that was grilled chicken and shrimp with cheese eaten on a tortilla with guacamole and sour cream. It was awesome and their rice was also awesome, not too spicy!

Cosette is getting lightning fast with her butt crawling and looks like she has no intention of crawling the traditional way. She was downstairs in my Whine Cellar last night and it looked like a tornado had come through! There are so many toys and stuffed and animals and books that she just scoots around exploring one treasure after another. She's even fascinated with my flash cards I made to study Italian. Of course Nanas always want their grandbabies to want to come see them and I'm glad Cosy has fun at Nana's "house".

She did something really brilliant yesterday... she was scrolling through my pictures on my phone and she got to a point where she couldn't get it to do what she wanted so she grabbed my hand and put it on the phone! She knew Nana could do it! I have an otter box on my phone and always supervise her closely while she plays with it. It helps if she has a pacifier in her mouth while she's looking at it so she isn't tempted to use it as a teething toy.

Baby Girl loves toys and stuffed animals and anything/everything that crosses her path but the first thing she always gravitates toward are her books! She will sit and flip through books over and over. Last week she started verbalizing things she recognized in her books... she'll point to a dog and say, "oof" (her word for dog) or point to a baby and say, "bobo" (her word for baby). I think that's a sign of potential to be an early reader. She also has favorite pages in every book... she'll flip pages back and forth until she finds that one certain place and then she wants to stay there for a bit. When I read to her I always end with "and they lived happily ever after"... because every story should end that way, shouldn't it?

Not to brag too much but she picks up on things really quickly. For example... there's a cat toy, a tiny mouse with a little tail. I swing it in circles to tease the cats. Ever since she saw me do that she takes the toy and tries to spin it in circles every time! I put my goody bands for my hair on her wrist like a bracelet because she is fascinated with the bracelets Cousin Jamie wears. Now every time she finds a hairband she tries to put it on like a bracelet. I always squeal when she pulls my hair so she will grab two handfuls and squeal in the same pitch that I do. She laughs and laughs that pulling hair makes Nana squeal. (we may need to crack down on the hair pulling before she goes to preschool).

I could go on and on. We are all, everyone in this house, completely in love with this tiny little princess. It's so hard to believe that she's already turning one. In some ways I want her to stay tiny forever but honestly, each and every new stage, every new word, every single thing she learns is so exciting and wonderful to experience with her!

Having her here and participating in her day to day life makes my heart ache more and more for Oliver. I feel like I miss so much of his life. Cody is good to Facetime and send videos and pictures but it's not the same as sitting on the floor playing with them and having our special things we do together. I'm trying to figure out a way to get down to spend quality "in real life" time with Ollie before my hysterectomy. My vertigo can be so vicious and comes out of nowhere so I'm afraid to make the 100 mile journey but I also hate for anyone else to have to chauffeur me back and forth. Having a tooth pulled yesterday was not factored into my life this month... I thought I'd have a solid week between seeing the pain doctor and having my surgical consult and hoped that would make it possible to go down next week. Now I have to contend with the follow up with the dentist.. getting stitches out,.. and hope against hope that I don't have to deal with dry sockets or infection like the past removals. The last two extractions involved a lot of follow up visits. It's frustrating to be so near but still so far.

At any rate... these children are without a doubt, among the greatest blessings in my life. I feel like everything I've ever had to struggle with in my life, anything I had to get through to be HERE is worth it to be in this place in life now... and to have these two babies to love.

And I guess that's about it for now... this latest round of pain meds is kicking in and making me woozy. Love and hugs, y'all!