stats and shots

Alyssa had her 1 year appointment friday. i typed 1 month at first and had to backspace...my girl's age is no longer in months :( . She is doing great as always. 21 lbs and 29 inches which puts her in the 50th percentile for both height and weight. I knew she had really slimmed down here the past few months. She looks so tiny to me now. I'm used to a big chubby baby not a tiny one running all over the house. The doctor said I seem to be doing everything right as far as her health is concerned which is always good to hear. The only problem I am having right now is the issue of shots. Up until now, I have gotten Alyssa all of the reccommended shots. The 1 year ones are the controversial ones since they include the MMR. I have bought some books and been doing internet research on vaccine safety but its jsut too much information to process. There are SO many conflicting views and its really hard to make what I feel is the right decision for her. I am going to have Dave do some research as well so I am not responsible for the decision all by myself...its too big to make alone. Could giving her shots cause autism? thats the biggest question. As of now I believe the answer is no. And if it does somehow, I believe there must be a pre-existing condition or family history and somehow the vaccine could aggrevate it. But kids have autism whose parents didnt vaccinate them so the vaccines alone can not be the cause of autism. I also don't think its fair for me not to vaccinate my kid and have them get someone else sick, such as an infant who has not gotten that particular shot yet. Maybe spreading them out is the best option...possibly. That way their little immune systems can deal with one vaccine at a time and not have to be spread so thin taking care of 5 vaccines at once. I want to still be breastfeeding when I give Alyssa her MMR so her immune system is the best it can be. That is where I'm at right now...give her the MMR now (possible one at a time over the next month) before i completly ween her. The weening is going slowly. I started dropping feedings right before she turned 1. I am weening very slowly though since I had a problem with mastitis numerous times so I need to give my body plenty of time to adjust between dropping feedings.

Her birthday party on Saturday was perfect, just what I had in mind. A 1 year old bday party is more for the parents (mom in particular) but it seemed like Alyssa had a lot of fun as well. I made her cake and it turned out pretty well for my first attempt. We had 14 people staying with us over the weekend and that went really well too. All in all, it was a great weekend and thank you to all our families for making the trip to spend the day with Alyssa.

We received the easel off of her wishlist in the mail about a week ago but it did not say who its from. Alyssa would like to send you a thank you note so please let us know if it was you!

well i need to go help Alyssa to sleep somehow...shes been in her crib for almost an hour talking away (which is way better than when she screams the whole time). The past month or 2 she has napped terribly. I keep waiting for her to be old enough to reason with but that may take a while. She has had so much inconsistency all summer (well all her life really) with moving/traveling/Dave leaving over the summer that it messes her napping up. Right when it gets back on track we take a trip again...oh well.