Coxsackie

Today I learned that Tali has coxsackie. It's a highly contagious virus in children under 5 years old and very prevalent in the summer. Her first symptoms appeared on Saturday. She threw up Saturday morning and in the evening she developed a fever of 102. By Sunday the fever was gone. On Monday, she developed an usual diaper rash that looked more like chicken pox than a rash. I was told to give it three days and then go to the doctor if it didn't go away. But yesterday she developed blisters on her feet. I thought it might be from her shoes but decided to take her to the doctor today if they didn't go away. I had a feeling that all of these things were related but just didn't know how. In about 5 seconds, the doctor told me Tali had coxsackie. Then she looked at the blisters (there's also one in her mouth) and confirmed that is what she has. Unfortunately, there is no medicine for this. It just has to run its course. It usually takes a week.

I am trying hard to figure out how she got this. It's most common in playgrounds and swimming pools - neither of which she's been to recently. My best guess is that she got it at the grocery store. I put a cover on her cart, but she often lifts it up and touches the handle. Guess I need to start disinfecting the handle before I put he cover on.

Shoes!

Tali loves shoes.

She likes to go in my closet and play with my shoes. She pulls them out, tries them on and even picks out which ones I should wear.

We recently went house hunting and had to remove our shoes at the front door. When it was time to go, she handed all five adults their shoes (with only one mistake).

This past week, she reached a major shoe milestone: she can now put on her shoes by herself! She still needs guidance as to which shoe goes on which foot, but she can get them on. She's very proud of herself when she does this and says "yeah" afterward. And, when asked, she can easily take her shoes off.

Words

The words have finally started coming. They started about two weeks ago and now there is a new one every day. Some words are things I've worked hard to teach her - such as go, shoes and yes - and others she just picks up. Yesterday's word was "Gia." She said it all day. Over and over again. She doesn't really know what it means but she just likes saying the word. (If I ask her to find Mommy, Daddy or Jackson, she'll point to the right person/animal. But if I ask her where Gia is, she just stares at me.)

Here are two recent words. The first one H taught her because she babbles a lot with the "g" sound.

A Great Compliment

Today I took Tali to Baskin Robbins to pick up my birthday cake. She went there for the first time last week, to order the cake, and we shared a kid's cup of mint chocolate chip (my favorite!). As soon as we walked in today, she remembered they have ice cream, went straight to the cooler and started whining for it. I wanted to get in and out quickly so I told her that we weren't going to have ice cream this time. That was not okay with her. So, for the majority of the 15 minutes we were there (it took forever!), she begged for ice cream. And I let her beg.

As we were leaving, one of the customers, an older woman, commended me for not giving in to Tali. She said she sees so many parents that just give in to their kids to keep them quiet and then they have bratty kids and don't understand why.

For me, that was a wonderful compliment. I often get looks that seem to say "just give her what she wants to keep her quiet" and it was refreshing to see someone who gets it. Yes, Tali, I am the boss. You can save it for your therapist.

Tucking it Away

Tali has a yellow security blanket that she sleeps with and often carries around the house. Lately, she has been putting it in and out of one of my desk drawers. The funny thing about this is that when she puts it in, she has to make sure it is completely inside. If there's a corner of the blanket sticking out, she opens the drawer to tuck it in. She isn't satisfied until the blanket is fully inside the drawer. Then, of course, she takes it out to do it again.

Unusually Cute

Yesterday I took Tali to the bank. She loves the bank and has a great time running around and climbing on the furniture. The staff and tellers all love her so she gets plenty of attention.

While waiting in line, one of the customers said to me: "Your daughter is unusually cute." I thanked her and answered her questions (age, name, etc.). But then I started to wonder what she meant. Unusually cute? Does that mean she's unusual looking but cute anyway? Or does she not normally find toddlers cute so she thought it was unusual that Tali is so cute? Hmmmm....