12 month checkup

Today Zearley had her 12 month physical!  Dr. Sims thinks she has the most adorable smile, and he thinks her hair keeps getting "redder" every time he sees her!  I'm so lucky to have such a happy, easy-going (for the most part) little girl!  She's healthy and growing just as she should!  Some people get hung up over percentiles, Dr. Sims said, but not to worry our little girl is growing just as she should and she is thriving just the way she's meant too in the 25, 50, 75, or 95% it doesn't really matter they are just comparisons to average...being in the 25% of weight does NOT indicate she's underweight!  If we were not giving her what she needed, she would be much, much more irritable!  So even though now she can try any foods, Dr. Sims stressed the importance of  making sure she's getting healthy nutrient-rich finger foods which will help her grow, rather than just trying to give her sugar packed, non-nutrient rich foods just in hopes of putting weight on her.  He assured me she's growing exactly the way she's meant to, there's absolutely no other way he would expect her to be!  I completely agree as well, I was not surprised by her percentiles, just a little surprised she was slightly less than 20 lbs. at 12 months, but that's very common especially with me being small and the last time she was weighed she had clothes on and this time she was bare so she is probably really exactly 20 lbs. his nurses thought.  I did not like seeing my baby get four shots and a finger prick to fill a rather big vial of blood!  Poor little pumpkin, her eyes got so big and she was speechless- she couldn't even catch her breath as she started to cry!  Those pokes hurt!  Her big alligator tears tore me apart!  The nurses just loved her though, Lauren said her husband has red hair and she hopes she has a little girl that looks just like Zearley one day and the other nurse wanted to rub her red hair for good luck to buy a lottery ticket this weekend, we'll have to remember she said she'd share with Zearley if she won!  That same nurse gave Zearley her first sucker to share with mommy since she is still too young to have her own.  It was sweet as we were walking out to the car sharing our sucker, she was really enjoying her turn to lick!  Absolutely every moment I spend with her is so much fun!  She's my world!  It was hard putting her in her car seat and taking the sucker away, if only she could understand why I couldn't leave it with her- she could so easily choke!
On our way home from the doctors it was so adorable, I wish I was able to video tape and drive at the same time, but Zearley sat in her seat with her still red-eyed ruby face and she held her cow and talked to it just as if she were telling her moo cow how mean the nurses were to her that they poked her 5 times!  It was too cute, but I felt so bad for her, I was glad she was clinging to her cow though to find comfort... she usually doesn't hang on to something very long- she looses interest, so she doesn't really have a "favorite" toy, stuffed animal, or blanket at this point.  However, you could say she has a favorite purple pacifier (however today she didn't seem to care to have it as much as she usually does).
I have a bad cold that came on late Wednesday night and it hit me like a ton of bricks, I had no idea I was even getting a cold until I already had it!  So I've been really worn out these last couple days- last night I was in bed by 8:30 and it was wonderful!  Now Zearley has been sneezing a lot today, so I'm certain she's getting a cold...hopefully she doesn't get hit with the cold I got, or hopefully it's not as hard on her!
Last night just Zearley and myself went up to Waverly for trick-or-treating on Bremer Ave. (main street).  I finally got Zearley a Halloween costume Wednesday night... so she's a cow for Halloween, the cutest cow you ever did see!  It was fun walking around trick-or-treating for a little bit, her costume is pretty warm and she sat so good in her stroller watching everyone put candy in her bag!  We didn't stay long, because I really wasn't feeling well, I knew she couldn't really enjoy most of the candy anyway, and it was getting close to her bed time and I wanted to spend time with her before putting her down.

On Tuesday, Zearley had her 12 month pictures up in Waverly and she did pretty well- she LOVED the crystal chandeliers and of course she would... she's our little jewel, so anything that sparkles should catch her eye!  She didn't want to stand still for many pictures, but I'm hoping we got some good ones!  I had a cute onesie  made by Donna Donaldson (the night before pictures- she's a lifesaver) and she wore it with a denim skirt with tulle Tami gave her when she was born.  It was darling together, so I'm hoping we got a good shot of her in it!
Well I know there's more I could continue to write about from this week tonight, but I'm going to close for now as I need to get to bed so I can get some rest myself before Zearley wakes up!