Leah Ciera

The Party Patio

We rented a tent, tables and chairs to accommodate all of our guests.

Baby Favor

At the end of the party, we gave each baby a sippy cup that contained a pair of blue egg shakers (like the ones in the picture but without handles) and a fruit juice snack. The older children each got a red paper bag with maracas, a tambourine, and fruit roll-ups.

10/17/02 - Leah went in for her one year check up and shots today. Her head circumference is in the 95th percentile (such a smart little girl), her height is in the 75th percentile at 30 inches, and her weight of 21 pounds is in the 50th percentile. This is all great! The doctor was delighted to hear that she's started walking, and that she is taking more and more steps every day. When I mentioned Leah's recent sleeping problem (waking once or twice a night), I told him that after interviewing several experienced mothers, I took their advice last night and ignored her cries completely. He advised against that, saying that she likely felt abandoned and that excessive crying leads to throwing up. He suggested the Ferber Method instead. We'll give it a try, especially since our first night of ignoring her didn't go so well. Since we turned off the monitor, we didn't hear her until 5:30 am. At that point, she was screaming at the top of her lungs. When we finally brought her to bed with us, she responded with a 90-minute temper tantrum. Ah, well. This should be a process. Leah's sleeping patterns have been changing. She's down to one long nap per day, and only ocassionally taking a small second. Since Leah received two live vaccines today, the doctor said it would be normal for her to break out in a rash and develop a low fever in about two weeks. Her next check up will be when she turns 15 months.

10/20/02 - Leah continues to wake in the middle of the night. We tried the Ferber method, but it just didn't feel right. So, Leah spent the early morning hours with us a few times. She cried a lot at first, but less later when we discovered that videos distract her. Last night, everything fell apart. Leah would not let us put her down to bed. Instead, she cried uncontrollably, often whimpering. We brought her to bed with us, stroking her hair and hugging her, which was helpful, but not enough to stop the waking and crying all through the night. By 3 am, Leah had developed a fever of 101.2 F. The next morning, I called the pediatrician and spoke with a nurse. After describing Leah's symptoms (everything plus a green runny nose), she asked us to come in. Fortunately, the office is open on Sunday. The doctor revealed that leah has her first ear infection. That would make sense since she has been so miserable. A 10-day course of antibiotics (Amoxocillin) was prescribed, along with Tylenol and/or Ibuprofin around the clock for the first two days. Leah cried and slept all afternoon. In the early evening, Leah's temperature shot up to 102 F, so we put her into a luke warm bath and administered more Tylenol. That seemed to help. By dinner time, she was willing to eat, stand and play. After receiving her second dose of liquid antibiotic (which is darned near impossible to get her to swallow!), she drifted off to sleep. All of her activities are canceled for 24 hours while we wait for the contagious stage to pass. We hope Leah does well tonight and feels better soon.

10/25/02 - We're so tired! After six days of treatment, Leah is still waking at night, crying. She had become increasingly irritable over the last day, fevering at 102 F whenever the pain relievers/fever reducers wore off. So, I called the pediatrician this morning. They suspected she may need a stronger antibiotic for her ear infection, so they had us come in. The examination revealed that the ear infection was clearing nicely. Her throat checked out okay, too. A blood test revealed a normal white blood count, so the doctor concluded that Leah is battling a virus now, too. Her said that this is common. He advised us to continue with the pain relievers and antibiotics, and to start her on a multivitamin with iron because of a low hemoglobin he discovered. If Leah is still feverish next week, the doctor said we should call him. While at the store, I bought some new teething tablets. On top of everything else, Leah's molars are coming in this week and causing her a lot of discomfort. Coincidentally, Leah got her MMR and Chicken Pox vaccinations last week, and since they're live vaccinations, they've been known to cause fevers and rashes. Poor kid! Leah has been much happier since this afternoon. We'll see what tonight and tomorrow brings.

Leah dove into the cake with her fingers.	We celebrated Leah's first birthday with a bunch of friends and family at our house. Leah's music teacher lead the group in a one-hour sing-and-play-along using piano and percussion instruments. After music and snacks, we sang "Happy Birthday" and enjoyed chocolate fudge cake! Leah shakes the maracas.
Caitlyn, Leah and Ashleigh play the gathering drum.
Everybody makes music!


After the party, we opened presents!
We rented a tent, tables and chairs to accommodate all of our guests. At the end of the party, we gave each baby a sippy cup that contained a pair of blue egg shakers (like the ones in the picture but without handles) and a fruit juice snack. The older children each got a red paper bag with maracas, a tambourine, and fruit roll-ups. 10/17/02 - Leah went in for her one year check up and shots today. Her head circumference is in the 95th percentile (such a smart little girl), her height is in the 75th percentile at 30 inches, and her weight of 21 pounds is in the 50th percentile. This is all great! The doctor was delighted to hear that she's started walking, and that she is taking more and more steps every day. When I mentioned Leah's recent sleeping problem (waking once or twice a night), I told him that after interviewing several experienced mothers, I took their advice last night and ignored her cries completely. He advised against that, saying that she likely felt abandoned and that excessive crying leads to throwing up. He suggested the Ferber Method instead. We'll give it a try, especially since our first night of ignoring her didn't go so well. Since we turned off the monitor, we didn't hear her until 5:30 am. At that point, she was screaming at the top of her lungs. When we finally brought her to bed with us, she responded with a 90-minute temper tantrum. Ah, well. This should be a process. Leah's sleeping patterns have been changing. She's down to one long nap per day, and only ocassionally taking a small second. Since Leah received two live vaccines today, the doctor said it would be normal for her to break out in a rash and develop a low fever in about two weeks. Her next check up will be when she turns 15 months. 10/20/02 - Leah continues to wake in the middle of the night. We tried the Ferber method, but it just didn't feel right. So, Leah spent the early morning hours with us a few times. She cried a lot at first, but less later when we discovered that videos distract her. Last night, everything fell apart. Leah would not let us put her down to bed. Instead, she cried uncontrollably, often whimpering. We brought her to bed with us, stroking her hair and hugging her, which was helpful, but not enough to stop the waking and crying all through the night. By 3 am, Leah had developed a fever of 101.2 F. The next morning, I called the pediatrician and spoke with a nurse. After describing Leah's symptoms (everything plus a green runny nose), she asked us to come in. Fortunately, the office is open on Sunday. The doctor revealed that leah has her first ear infection. That would make sense since she has been so miserable. A 10-day course of antibiotics (Amoxocillin) was prescribed, along with Tylenol and/or Ibuprofin around the clock for the first two days. Leah cried and slept all afternoon. In the early evening, Leah's temperature shot up to 102 F, so we put her into a luke warm bath and administered more Tylenol. That seemed to help. By dinner time, she was willing to eat, stand and play. After receiving her second dose of liquid antibiotic (which is darned near impossible to get her to swallow!), she drifted off to sleep. All of her activities are canceled for 24 hours while we wait for the contagious stage to pass. We hope Leah does well tonight and feels better soon. 10/25/02 - We're so tired! After six days of treatment, Leah is still waking at night, crying. She had become increasingly irritable over the last day, fevering at 102 F whenever the pain relievers/fever reducers wore off. So, I called the pediatrician this morning. They suspected she may need a stronger antibiotic for her ear infection, so they had us come in. The examination revealed that the ear infection was clearing nicely. Her throat checked out okay, too. A blood test revealed a normal white blood count, so the doctor concluded that Leah is battling a virus now, too. Her said that this is common. He advised us to continue with the pain relievers and antibiotics, and to start her on a multivitamin with iron because of a low hemoglobin he discovered. If Leah is still feverish next week, the doctor said we should call him. While at the store, I bought some new teething tablets. On top of everything else, Leah's molars are coming in this week and causing her a lot of discomfort. Coincidentally, Leah got her MMR and Chicken Pox vaccinations last week, and since they're live vaccinations, they've been known to cause fevers and rashes. Poor kid! Leah has been much happier since this afternoon. We'll see what tonight and tomorrow brings.

Leah Turns One!