Dear Olive,

This has been a doozy of a month. Your little body has been through so much. A few weeks in to January your fever spiked. We assumed you were just teething because, lets face it, you had just popped through 4 teeth at the same time, but after 4 days of fevers, not eating, and vomiting, I decided it was time to get you checked. With out really even examining you, Dr. Laforty knew you had a bladder infection. What? This wasn’t even on my radar. We spent the next few days trying to get a urine sample while we prayed for you to eat something. You were in so much pain. Every scream was heartbreaking. Every time you turned your head when we tried to feed you made me worry. You were lethargic, hot, and all you wanted to do was sit in the window, naked, watching your birdies.

Your entire attitude and demeanour was so different than what I was used to and I remember thinking “is my Olive ever going to come back?”. Dr. Laforty put you on antibiotics for 7 days. He said you should feel 100% better after 2 days… but you weren’t. In my opinion you were worse than ever. 72 hours after starting the medicine, your screaming was louder, you were only sleeping an hour at a time (if we were lucky), and you still weren’t eating. I made the call that it was time to go to the hospital. I thought that they would be able to settle my fears and help take some pain away… But I was wrong. We found ourselves sitting in a empty emergency room at 9:30 pm. Your fever was down and your heart rate was normal. These vitals made the doctor-on-call think that we were just wasting her time. She didn’t look at you at all, let alone examine you. She just came in, looked me in the eye and said “MOM, you need to give it time”. After listening to you scream at the top of your lungs in pain for the past 5 hours, and hearing the doctor talk down to me this way made me lose it emotionally. The doctor made us put a urine bag in your diaper and had us sit in the waiting room until you went pee. You screamed for at least 30 minutes while you tried, and no one came out to check on you. At this point I realized it was useless. The doctor wasn’t going to do anything for you. I took you to the bathroom, took the bag out of your diaper, and I cried. I cried because all I wanted was someone to tell me we were doing everything we were supposed to be doing. I wanted some reassurance that my sweet Olive, the incredibly happy, very independent baby that I know, was going to come back to us. I wanted the doctor to make me feel better about you feeling better. I cried. I cried and I cried and I cried. I was in the bathroom with you for so long that Daddy came to check on us. I handed him the pretty-much-empty bag and I told him to go tell the doctor that we were leaving. I wanted to get out of there as fast I could. I didn’t appreciate being treated like an idiot. No one would. I don’t consider us parents who run to the doctor after one sniffle. I knew something was wrong, and it wasn’t getting better, and the doctor just made me feel worse. I cried all night as I tried to comfort you.

The days went by. We kept giving your medicine and slowly you started to eat a little more, but you were still in pain that I couldn’t take away. Every day slowly got better, but not as fast as Dr. Laforty said. After a week, we went for a checkup. You had lost 4 pounds. You now weigh the same you did in September. 19lbs, and 28.5 inches long. By this time, you stopped screaming when you tried to pee. Your diapers were finally filling up more, and your appetite was back in full force. We thought you were all in the clear. Your smiles came back. Your giggles came back. Your curiosity came back. Miss Olive was back. We went for another week, assuming all infection was gone. We were to bring in another sample this past week just to make sure our assumptions were right. I had no doubt you were better… And then we received a call from Dr. Laforty himself. The infection is still there. Back on antibiotics for 10 more days this time. A different kind. A yucky kind. Now we fight 2 times a day for the next 10 days to get that medicine in your tummy. This morning you didn’t want to eat. I pray that it isn’t coming back. I hope we caught it early enough and that the yucky medicine will work this time. You are such a strong little girl. When Momma was melting you knew enough to give me a little smile or make your eyes sparkle just long enough for me to see you in there. It really is amazing how much you have changed me. Going through this past month has really made me realize just how much I love you and how much I will do to make sure you are happy and healthy.

As stressful as this month has been, it has also been an incredible growing month for you – but not in weight, you’ve gone backwards in that category! Remember how I said you weren’t going to crawl? Well, you still aren’t crawling… But you are butt scooting, and doing it with lots of strength! You are moving… and moving FAST! I cannot get over how fast you can disappear when we put you on the floor. Your scoot is so unique! I love watching it! I have no idea how you can move so fast with this “technique”, but you have certainly perfected it. It is a little complicated to describe, but I will give it my best go: You bend your right knee upwards so your foot is flat on the floor (as if trying to stand up), then place both hands in front of your body. You slide your left leg forward, in-between your hands and PUUULLLL!!!! All those warnings I have received up to this date are now all making sense! Soon Daddy will have to build a gate for the top of the stairs and the baby proofing will begin. You are also trying, with all your might, to pull yourself up. Right now you can get your little bum off the floor and all your weight on your outward facing knees, but you can’t pull yourself up fully just yet. I imagine you will be standing, and maybe even walking by this time next month. You are a very determined little girl, Olive.

(refresh page if you cannot see this video!)

You have also started doing some fun tricks like clicking your tongue. I have no idea how you figured out how to do this, but it is the cutest thing. I click my tongue, you look at me intrigued, slowly smile and then you slow motion click your tongue. Some mornings we have a tongue clicking competition and you ALWAYS win! You have also started clapping your hands – not often – but you still do it when you are incredibly excited. You have a new smile you’ve been trying out as well. You scrunch your eyes and nose and lift your top lip to show off your two big top teeth. Most often this smile appears while you are eating and it is following by “mum, mum, mum, mum” which I and starting to think you are actually saying “mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm”. A Momma can wish, can’t she? You now prefer to feed yourself. You sit in your Stokke highchair and quickly shovel the food in. You look at Momma with your scrunched smile and then promptly squish all the food into the table. You are quite proud of this! Lets just say the broom is out and the table is washed A LOT more than it used to be!

You’ve graduated into the big girl bathtub and are loving it. So much more room for all your toys. You aren’t quite sure about floating on your back (with Momma’s help) just yet, but we are working on getting you more comfortable with it. You are a doll, Olive. You love to splash, and squeal, and pop bubbles!

After a Thursday night skate, I came out of the rink and received a text message from Daddy. He decided to take you to Kingston to pick up supplies at Home Depot. Daddy then surprised you with your first official Daddy-Daughter date to Boston Pizza afterwards! I was so excited that he took you out for dinner. You both had big plates of spaghetti and you didn’t forget to ask Momma if she wanted anything. Daddy loves taking you places. You’ve gone on a lot of job meetings and supply runs. I think you like riding in Daddy’s big truck. You can easily see out the window as you watch everything fly by. Do you know your absolutely favourite place that Daddy takes you? You get all bundled up, get into Daddy’s truck and you drive out onto the ice to the ice shack! Daddy LOVES taking you ice fishing! You are such good girl when you are there. You sit there and play with the toys Daddy brings, or you munch down on a mum mum. Every so often you will hold on the rod and smile, not really knowing what you are doing. I don’t think Daddy has caught anything while you have been with him, but I can only imagine your face if he were to pull a big fish through the hole! Uncle Jordan has been fishing with you a fair bit too over the past month. I think he really enjoys when you are there. You provide some great entertainment when the fish aren’t biting!

Mommy finally got out for an afternoon girls day with Whitney last week. We went for manicures and hair cuts – My first hair cut since May! You and daddy spent the day together, playing in the snow and going for a walk in your sleigh. When I got home, I found an awesome surprise upstairs! You and Daddy went and bought Mommy a new dryer! Now one of your favourite things to do while I fold laundry is watching the clothes going around and around and around in circles!

We are having so much fun in the snow now that the temperature isn’t as cold. We went for a family snowshoe back in the bush and lots of walks with granny. We walked around town in your sleigh and you loved trying to grab the snow from the tall snowbanks! You make me so happy. Every morning you greet me with a smile and at least 5 kisses. These past 11 months have been the best of my life. I know I keep saying it, but I never thought a baby could bring both Daddy and I so much joy. You have changed your Daddy in so many good ways. He has so much fun playing with you and coming up with hilarious photo ops while Momma isn’t home. I look forward to those photo texts while I’m away!

Some other things from this month:

• You have 6 teeth
• We made grandpa some cinnamon buns after a long day of plowing. The first thing he did when he saw the fresh buns was grab a piece and give it to you. He was quite excited to see your eyes light up! I think you probably ate an entire one by the end of the night.
• You are eating: blueberries, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, broccoli, carrots, barley, bananas, pasta, yogurt, chicken, venison, beef, baby mum-mums, cheerios, rice crispies, cinnamon buns (when Momma isn’t looking)!
• You still cannot get enough birdie-watching!
• You love the snow and our sleigh rides
• You have learned how to sit up on your own (from lying on your back) while on the bed, but you haven’t been able to do it from the floor yet
• Momma was asked to be a bridesmaid for her best friend Amy from Acadia! We made sugar cookies to send them in the mail and after two attempts, they finally got them!
• You watched some of the opening ceremonies for the Olympics in Sochi. I couldn’t help but wonder if some day you might be there watching the torch light!

We love you Miss Olive. Keep smiling and fighting that darn infection!

xoxoxox
Momma