Apple of my Eye

Ashlyn is really the apple of my eye! I always thought that little saying sounded so ridiculous, but having a kid now I know it's true! I admit sometimes I mourn not having time to myself, but having this sweet little spirit to spend my days with far outweighs any negativity about it!

She has been sick 4 times since she turned 1! Super ridiculous. I was wondering if it was because of the whole switch to whole milk thing, but it wasn't like, allergy symptoms and it would go away and she'd be fine. When I thought about it more, I realized that right when wrestling ended (which was right around her birthday) I started working out regularly again, which means I have been taking her to the daycare at Idaho Athletic 2-3 times a week. And yeah that place is a cesspool and yeah I clean her off really well when we get home, but I think that's what's behind this. We haven't been much lately, mostly because she's been sick so much, but also because the weather is nice once in a while so we can get out for a run outside. I'm not kidding when I say ever since her 1st birthday it has literally been ok one week, sick the next, then ok, then sick the next.... every single week! It got so old so fast.

The first 3 illnesses were all just colds, with nothing we could do but put the humidifier in her room at night and hold her lots and lots since she was considerably more grouchy (which, if you have spent time around her you know is rare!). But this last one, this week, was worse! Tuesday she had a scorching fever of 103-104 all day and night, even with ibuprofen. This of course led to very much interrupted sleeping and even a barfing episode (my first as a parent! so awesome.) that night. So Wednesday I took her in to the doctor and he figured she had developed a respiratory infection due to the lingering cough from her last cold. It has been a looong last 3 days, this is the sickest she has ever been! She is never, ever very clingy or snuggly unless she is sick and she has been the extreme of both of those. Like, won't even let me set her down. For anything. She has been sitting on the floot right next to me when I go to the bathroom even. Fun fun! Yesterday, even though it was her 2nd day on antibiotics, she was the most miserable. She really just slept off and on and watched movies All. Day. Which leads me to my next point . . . if I hear the music from any of our Baby Einstein movies again I think I am going to scream!!

Here she is so sad yesterday, usually she would jump off the couch in a second but she really just sat and watched. All she will drink is milk. Thankfully she is marginally better today and way less feverish, so I am hoping the worst is over. Although she just started crying again so looks like the fun isn't over yet . . .

Anyway, on to funner things.

We went to Utah last week during Spring Break! We were there Wednesday through Friday. I think I will post more about Spring Break in a separate post. But while we were there Ashlyn and I went to visit my parents, sisters, and cousin at their hotel in Sandy, and Ashlyn got to go swimming for the first time. (Maybe this is what got her sick?!)

She looooves bathtime, so I had assumed she would love swimming. Not so! She was so freaked out. It might have been how loud it was there with other kids around, or whatever, but she was NOT into it at first, at all!

See how she is like, eyeing the water! Don't you dare put me in that!

She would cry even when water touched her feet. Weird! So, we sat on the side of the pool and watched my awesome sisters swim around for a while.

And by the way, seeing how nasty white I am in these is discouraging because I now realize that no matter HOW tan I manage to get I am always going to look super white compared to my daughter. Oh well.

She finally warmed up, and ended up discovering the fun of SPLASHING! She did this for like half an hour. This meaning splashing me in the face.

If you zoom in on this pic you can see that I have serious mascara-nasty all over my face. Hmm, maybe because I was getting water up the face for 30 minutes?! She also got some goggles from Grandma and was having a good time with those. (thanks for taking these pictures, by the way, Megan!)

Snuggling with Grandma after drying off! so cute.
Other cute things about this little one

She loves TV. I only let her watch it as a special treat because she would sit there for hours if it is on. I always set her as far away from it as possible because little by little she will get closer and closer.... until she is this close!

(watching the MoTab during conference!)



Her favorite thing lately is to climb up and stand clinging to my (or Collin's) legs and whine until we pick her up. But how can you resist this cute little face?

Playing with Daddy.... lots of fun. Even though it looks like it, he is not teaching her to wrestle! And it will never happen! :)At Nana's house I was fixing her some breakfast in the kitchen and when I came back out to the living room she had discovered a basket of easter grass! The mess went far beyond what this picture can show! I hadn't ever thought about how much work it is to pick up a hundred million individual pieces of plastic grass.

She also had a good time hanging out with Uncle Tyler. We don't get to see him that much but we did get to this trip! It was fun.

She loves, loves "reading." I don't know where this came from, I mean we have always read her stories before nap/bedtime, but that's about it. These days, if I don't put a couple of books in her bed with her she will cry until she figures out how to grab some out of the basket next to her crib, or I come back in and give her some. And lots of mornings when I come in to get her up she is just sitting quietly in her crib looking at books. I have to say it is super adorable. I also just barely had the revelation to give her books in the car, and it is AWESOME!

Watching NCAA Bball with DAd (more to come on March Madness soon!)

I know this is petty but there is a downside to her love of books. This!

I will find her in her room surrounded by tons of books she has dumped out all over the floor. This happens like, every time she goes into her room. I have always resolved not to be a mom who is more concerned with keeping things clean than letting her kids live, but I also hate messes so I just have to look away to keep from cleaning it up 5 times a day! I know I know, it is just going to be worse someday. But I don't care it's my blog so I can complain about this little problem! :)

"reading"

We had our little friend Ellie over for a few hours a couple of weeks ago. These girls are 3 months apart and about the same size, both crawling, etc. etc. etc. They are so adorable together. This was the best picture I could get with them both in the picture, even though it is by no means a good one! At least one of them is looking! Ashlyn was eating cheerios and every so often would hand a couple down to Ellie. It was so funny.
Ashlyn is now bottle free! The dr. had told me it would be easier to get rid of them sooner than later, so we made the switch this past month. It was super easy, really. She LOOVES these little sippy cups. I don't know why because I have tried to drink out of one and you have to bite down on the straw just to get anything to come out which I find super awkward, but then again I'm not 13 months old. And they don't spill which is awesome. We finally gave up bottles totally just a week ago right before our Utah trip. I was just so fed up with still having to wash bottles and nipples even though she was just having one a day. So I just put them all away and that was that! I don't think she even noticed. And now we wash sippy cups all the time! But that's ok!!!

She is really into this "Cheese" smile. She'll do it whenever I (or most other people) smile at her. It's so funny. I know this isn't a great shot of it, she always stops the second she sees the camera.

Other fun things she's doing:

Playing Peekaboo

Blowing kisses, giving high-fives

Saying "da da" "woof woof" (for a dog), and "ba ba" for drink, "nah" for no--complete with the shake of the head and pushing me away.

Playing patty cake

Clapping whenever someone says "yay!"

Playing copy-cat, with sticking out your tongue or making funny noises

She is still a major "blanket" girl, has to have it to calm down/sleep.

Jabbering away and telling me lots of really long stories

Dancing whenever she hears music (often including head bopping!)

Eating more "big people" food....finally! She really likes scrambled eggs, french toast, cheese, pancakes, berries, bananas, peaches, pears, frozen peas, wheat bread, pb & j, toast with jam, quesadillas, and how could I forget, her all time favorite mandarin oranges! She can go through a can of those in one sitting!!

Not so fun things she's doing:

Being impossible during diaper changing!

Throwing a fit when it's time to get out of the bath tub

Also throwing a fit when I close the dishwasher or fridge before she gets a chance to play in them. I never let her so I always think why is this a big deal? Then I realize I'm trying to reason with a 13 month old.

The whole saying "no" thing as listed above!

That's really it. She is such a cheerful sweetie. She is so much fun right now (minus the being sick), I feel so lucky to get to spend my time with her. We are so lucky. Love our little muffin!