Duck, duck... goose!

Before we get into the actual duck, duck... goose post, I wanted to tell you (if you didn't know already) that Annabel has RSV. RSV is a respiratory virus. Annabel's pediatrician said that while it's prevalent in kids, it can show up in adults as bronchitis or bad cough. He also said that it's the pre-cursor to Croup, which is a respiratory disease (something about "laryngeal" something or other...) It's shows up as a cough that sounds like a seal bark and can be painful.

So far, Annabel is handling it fairly well. There's the usual fussiness and extreme grouchiness that comes with not feeling well, and of course she tires easily. But for the most part, she's doing ok. She's a trouper! Here's a quick shot of her from this morning saying "cheese" for the camera. Notice all the lovely slime on her face from snot, saliva and who knows what else!


Today, her fever seems to have leveled out at about 99, which is great. So it looks like she's hopefully on the mend very soon. Thanks for the well wishes and great advice that we've already gotten from my friends who've been through it. We'll keep you posted!

OK, now for duck, duck... goose! This past Saturday, the weather was really beautiful. So after Annabel's nap, we loaded her into her wagon with some of the heels from our bread loaves and took a walk to our neighborhood lake. It's always heavily populated with ducks and geese. We thought she'd get a kick out of seeing them in real life as opposed to just in a book.

I'm still getting caught up on pending projects, so these photos are pretty much SOOC (straight out of the camera).

Walkin' through the 'hood on our way to the lake. Riding in her good ole Radio Flyer is one of Annabel's favorite things! And of course, this RF isn't just any wagon... we had to get the "all-terrain" version. You DO know my husband, right?

The ducks come swimming when they see the munchkin tossing out bread. She kept quacking at them like she was having a whole conversation with them, "Come and get it! And don't worry, my mommy only buys whole grain, so it's good for you."

She wanted to get a little closer, so Daddy had to hold on tight! I love how she squats a little and sticks her butt out to throw the bread.

Another angle on her throw. She gets some pretty good height in her tosses, but no so much on the distance. Can you see the little piece of bread she's throwing?

There it is!

Then Daddy took the camera so Mommy could have a turn with Annabel. Of course, the ducks have thinned out a bit. Probably because they've figured out we're just about out of bread by this point. So while Daddy has the camera, he decides to take a few shots of his favorite ducks...

Duck...

Duck...

GOOSE! These guys didn't venture near us for bread, but they definitely kept a sharp eye on their territory. They would get rather honky if they thought we got too close. They kinda freaked me out, to be honest. And I'm not sure you can tell here, but they were HUGE.

We attempted a family self-portrait, but as you can see, our one attempt didn't work very well.

And we'll close with the cutie patootie giving her best, cutey-est, patootie-est face for Mommy's camera. We'll definitely be heading back to the lake with our little munchkin on nice weather days!

Cheers,