Birthday party

We had such a fun time at Frodo's pizza last night to celebrate Sullivan's birthday. So many of our friends from the ortho residency program and our playgroup, even neighbors, were able to come and have a little fun with us. Here are the pictures!

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One year

Sullivan turned one year this Saturday, March 28! Here's a look back on the last 12 months...I can not get Photobucket html to work, so here is a link to the slideshow.

http://s646.photobucket.com/albums/uu181/CatieMMurphy/

Mom's Night...and an "eye tooth"?

This week is rolling along smoothly and finishing my grading for test 3 last night made it even better. Some of us ortho moms were able to celebrate St.Patrick's Day on Tuesday by heading out to a fun spot downtown called "Takosushi," which combines sushi and other japanase/pan-asian food with tex-mex. Pleases everyone, right? It is a pretty good place and we had a great time sorting out all the problems in our world, which basically all revolve around our children and families. It is such a nice thing that our residency program gets together like this...I was taking notes as the older ones were discussing putting their houses on the market as they prepare to move for 1yr for a fellowship and then to a final spot to practice. It is crazy to think that in 3yrs we'll be doing the same thing. I love Greenville and am already sad to think about leaving...

In other news, my angel girl is embodying the Gisell Institute's title on one-year-old children: Fussy and Fun-loving. Bless her. She is at the cusp of doing so much (pulling up, pushing herself into positions like the bear crawl, sitting position, etc., babbling in two syllables...) and is just so easily frustrated these days by what she can't quite do or understand. Lee is calling her a "primadona." These bouts of tantrum-like behavior are surely a phase...But to add to the situation, she is getting what they call an "eye tooth" on her right side. And, no, there are no front teeth present!? So, we may have a little "frankenstein look" (as my mom says) or "trailer trash look" (as I say) with this random side tooth coming in! Ha! Her only one on the whole top of her mouth! I'll have to post those pics as soon as we move through the pain...The poor babe screamed unlike I have ever heard her and just writhed in my arms, in the bed, on the floor, in the highchair...so very sad. Apparently an "eye tooth" causes pain up through the jaw to the ocular nerves as well. Ouch! Sounds terrible.

Pics of our mom night to come...

Creeping with Gigi

Gigi, my mom, came to visit this weekend and Sullivan was thoroughly loved and entertained! We all had a great time: Lee and I went out Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, Mom and Sullivan played and rocked and strolled, and even Smokey joined in the fun! Gigi was especially helpful in showing Sullivan and me some new tricks to get Sullivan moving! She is a roller and prefers to do barrel rolls to get where she'd like to go or she is just very content to sit and play. So, we have needed some help in getting her to move! Gigi knew just what to do and now Sullivan is creeping, not crawling, but creeping her little body around much better! She also stands and can pull up some, but we are not on the verge of walking just yet. Here are some of the photos from the weekend...

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La nieve

Snow! We have had a glorious storm of white, powdery snow...almost 3 inches it looks like! Amazingly beautiful! Here are our recent pics.

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Good times and bad

It has been a long day here at the Murphy home as Sullivan has had some sort of fever virus for the last 24 hours or so. I stayed home from work today and we fussed, slept briefly, ate a little, attempted to play and then fussed and started the routine all over again. She has just not been herself today, poor thing. I think she is on the mend now...I pray that she sleeps well tonight as she has been fitful for a long while and not slept much at all today or last night.

The last week has been a a good one, as you can see in the recent photos. We had our dear babysitter, Mrs. Judy, come by; Daddy serenaded a jumping Sull with the guitar and mandolin and also attacked her tummy, which she adores; fun times were had in the bath tub; intense play sessions occurred as well as more fun with mom, but hey, as the photographer, I play the role of phantom.

Cups and a tantrum

Sullivan is changing so quickly and it is hard to believe it! She has now fully accepted switching to cups from bottles and I feel like we are leaving a part of infancy behind. This is a great thing and I am so happy that she took to the transition very fast, much faster than I expected. I was preparing for a two-month process...I think she really likes the independence that she has in grasping and drinking when she likes during a meal instead of sitting with me and having a bottle.

She has also developed a keen love for balls, especially the plastic ones from Walmart. I bought her a little care bear one (about the size of a grapefruit) and she adores grabbing it and letting it go and "playing ball" as we roll it to her and she "tosses" it about. So, we went back to Walmart the other day to buy another one. We approached the massive bin of balls and I searched for a small one and came across a medium-sized one with horses on it and gave it to her to see if she could hold on to it well. She couldn't, but was enjoying trying, so I searched for a smaller one. I found a nice Spiderman one and proceeded to switch the big one for the smaller one. Whoa! As I took the larger one from her, she began to wail like I have never heard her! This was a tear-less, frustrated scream from deep within and I swear this is the worst tantrum we have had yet!? Who knew!? A plastic ball! So, after about ten minutes of cuddling, a handful of puffs and a few sips of milk while strolling the toy aisle, we made it through the plastic ball tantrum! Whew!