My Experiences as a Father... April 5 to May 4, 2000 (12th month)

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Thursday, May 4, 2000 - First Birthday
Maeve has not been sick all year, except for her bout with conjunctivitis, and fevers related to her teething. There have been no ear infections.  The combination of the antibodies that she was getting from breast milk and the single-child day care has worked out well.

We got Maeve a party hat.  She did not like wearing it, preferring instead to put it in her mouth.

The correct size for an endotracheal tubes for kids can be estimated by using their little finger.  Given that information, we have been cutting all of Maeve's food up pretty small, hoping to significantly reduce the chance of choking.  If Maeve does get a piece of food that is too large, she will usually spit it out for us to cut up before trying again.

Maeve grabbed her cupcake, tore off 1/4 of it and put it in her mouth.  Since Maeve spits out food that is too big, I said, "Don't worry, it will come back out".  It never came back out.  She finished the cupcake in another 3 bites.  Apparently we have been overdoing it as far as making the food small enough.
 

Thursday, April 27, 2000
Maeve took her first steps today not holding on to anything.  It was three steps from the table to Jill.
 

Sunday, April 23, 2000
Maeve "dressed up" for Easter.  She was wearing a pretty pink dress from Granny Kay, pink tights and her white shoes.  I had never seen Maeve looking so frilly.  I wasn't sure that it was my daughter.

Tonight Marianne stopped by to help with some leftovers from yesterday's Easter dinner and to wash a load of clothes.  I had washed some rags, and they were in the dryer.  When Jill and I took Maeve downstairs, the rags were on top of the dryer and had been nicely folded.  Jill told Maeve that maybe Grandma hadn't left.  Then she said that Grandma had indeed left, and now we have to pick up our own toys and fold our own laundry.
 

Saturday, April 22, 2000
Maeve usually pushes the cart that Jill's mother bought her from one of the 3 sides without the handle (yes, she pushes it sideways).  I thought she didn't like the handle, so I took it off.  She picked up the handle and looked at me with a perplexed look.  Jill and her mother said that Maeve sometimes uses the handle, and that she was used to it being on the cart, so I reattached it.
 

Friday, April 21, 2000
After Maeve eats, we clean her up with a washcloth.  She usually likes to play with the washcloth, but today she used it to wipe down her play yard.  Having Grandma around for two weeks has taught Maeve things that we haven't been able to teach her in almost an entire year.
 

Thursday, April 20, 2000
Maeve stood on her own today.  She didn't take any steps, but she did stand up without holding on to anything.  Jill's mother says it will be just a short while, and Maeve will just start walking and running all over the place.
 

Wednesday, April 19, 2000
James at Viridien saw the pictures of Maeve learning CPR.  He said that usually when you talk about Pediatric CPR, it's performing CPR on a child, instead of a child performing CPR.  He also said that the next step in her training should be teaching her how to use the defibrillator and to yell, "Clear!"
 

Sunday, April 16, 2000
We got palm branches this morning for Palm Sunday. Maeve got one in each hand and started waving them around.
 

Saturday, April 15, 2000
Maeve can walk across the room by holding on to her cart. She used to have a problem standing up if the thing she was holding on to moved. She can also slide the bottom rack of the dishwasher in and out without falling. Grandma keeps saying it won't be long before Maeve is walking. She has also said that maybe Maeve got my "Walking by Christmas" deadline confused with Easter. We'll see. She still has a week before that.
 

Thursday, April 13, 2000
I talked before about Maeve "tending towards dissociation". One of my specific examples was Maeve's pole with five colored plastic rings. If she sees rings on the pole, she will rush right over and take them all off. Today she actually put one back on. Grandma also bought her a shopping cart with fake food boxes in it. She takes the boxes out just fine, but she also occasionally puts some back in. The only thing I can figure is that having her grandmother around straightening things up has gotten Maeve interested (at least slightly) in putting things where they belong.
 

Saturday, April 8, 2000
Carol is taking a week off, so we asked Jill's mother to come watch Maeve for a week.  One week wasn't long enough for her, so we agreed to have her visit with us for 2 weeks.
 

Wednesday, April 5, 2000
Carol is watching another baby two days a week. He is only half of Maeve's age, but he is just as big. But Maeve is not intimidated at all. I said that when we visited the Stein's that Maeve demonstrated that she had learned how to take a pacifier out of someone else's mouth. She does the same thing from this other boy. Carol tries to stop Maeve from doing it, but Maeve is too smart. She waits until Carol is too far away to stop her, and then she makes her move.
 


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