First ear infections...and steps!

Poor little Grace. Saturday her nose started running like a faucet and then Sunday morning we woke up to this:
She became increasingly pitiful throughout the day and cried out all night long, so we went to visit Dr. Smith on Monday and turns out sweet girl has a double ear infection. She's on antibiotics now and I'm just praying they'll kick in before Thursday. It's breaking my heart. We've dealt with random rashes, congestion, even a bout of bronchiolitis, but she's never been uncomfortable (or in flat out pain) like this. All she wants is to be cuddled and even then it's like she can't get close enough. I feel so bad, especially being that it's her birthday week and we're leaving her for Mexico in six days. :(

On a brighter note, she decided to grace us with her first steps on Sunday...yes, in the midst of her developing ear issues and general crumminess. I thought I saw her take a few toward Annabelle out of the corner of my eye, but didn't know if my eyes were playing tricks on me. We grabbed the camera and some enticing objects and were able to capture this:



It's not much, but it was huge to us because we'd been afraid it would happen while we were gone. I knew it'd be an awesome thing to see, but was surprised by how much it affected me (the fact that she is turning one, feeling so miserable yet being so sweet, and about to have us leave her for a week probably doesn't help). I'm a bit of a sentimental and emotional mess...and I'm pretty sure I've transformed (at least temporarily) into that sappy parent that used to get on my nerves! Oh well, whaddya do?