Big Improvements

I am so proud of Ian that he has totally switched to sippy cups. He's using the Mighty Grip Trainer Cup by Munchkin. That kind plus the Nuby ones were the ones that worked for Nadia when she was transitioning to a sippy cup at 12 months. Once she mastered those then I switched her to a harder spout because these leak rather easily if they are turned upside down. He also ate 1.5 containers of baby food today by spoon! We are back to where he was in early January. Now I am anxious to hear from Karen on Tuesday how we can get him to eat thicker foods and more solid foods by spoon or finger. She's going to be amazed at how far he's come in just one week!

The photo above was taken at Target this morning. All Targets held a Dr. Seuss event this morning from 9-11am. I didn't have Nadia wear the full costume because we were also shopping in BonTon, but she had fun wearing the hat. She did really well sitting and listening to the stories they were reading. Ian's attention span wasn't as long as hers so we left when he got fussy. I'm hoping tomorrow that Nadia will tell her teacher the first 5 books of the New Testament. We've been working on that this week! Here's a 6 second video, but unfortunately I stopped it a bit too soon as you can't hear her finish saying the word "Acts."

We went to CVS today to fill Ian's prescription. I realize there are far more expensive drugs out there. I remember how costly the shots were for ivf for example, but still I wasn't expecting to pay $94.04 for 30 tablets of the generic form of Prevacid. Ouch! Paul told me to sell more stuff on eBay, lol. He has to stay on this stuff for at least 3 months, but before I need to refill it I'm going to see if it's possible to get it more inexpensively at another pharmacy. I have no idea how to give it to Ian as he's supposed to have 1/2 a tablet twice a day 1/2-1 hour before a meal. If they didn't specify before a meal then I'd crush half of it into his sippy cup. I am going to call the GI office on Monday and ask them how I'm supposed to get this into his body given he doesn't chew food.

Thanks for the tip on just using a little Pediasure, Regina. I mixed whole milk + oatmeal (with bananas and apples) + Pediasure for all of his sippy cups today, and he didn't throw up at all. Paul was really nervous. He didn't want me to ever give Ian any more Pediasure considering how much Ian threw up 3-4 hours after having some yesterday.

GI appt #1

The kids and I left the house at 8:45 this morning and got home at 5:55 this evening. We spent almost 6 hours in the car, 2 hours in the doctor's office, and the rest was spent at a gas station, Wendy's, and McDonald's. The hardest part of the day was the time in the exam room (about 75 minutes). I didn't think it would take that long so Nadia ran out of things to keep herself busy. It didn't help that this was from 12:45-2:00pm and she usually goes down for her nap at 1:00pm. For about 60 minutes I was asked questions about Ian from his time in the NICU until the present regarding his bowel movements, feeding, vomiting, etc. It was really hard to keep both kids happy in the exam room while answering questions. Last night I almost called Paul's mom to see if she could go with me as one of the routes Mapquest suggested went pretty close to their house at one point in the journey. I figured I could pick her up en route. Paul advised against it because that route involved being on backroads almost the whole way and going through mountains, and there was a chance of us getting a "wintery mix" today. Having another person along would have been SO helpful, and we didn't know that actually the temps would be in the 40's today, but we survived, thanks in part to the dvd player. Paul moved it so it was in between their seats. Ian didn't watch as much as Nadia, but he did watch some, which was a blessing. He slept 45 minutes of the trip this morning, and he slept 60 minutes on the way back home. Nadia slept 45 minutes on the way back home. Ian cried off an on for the last hour of our trip this morning, but he only cried for a few minutes on the way home. Nadia enjoyed the playland at McD's for the first time. In the past she's been intimidated by how high you have to climb to get to the top of the slide. The signs always say for ages 3 and up so it makes sense that she wasn't ready to do these in the past.

The NP was really nice and very thorough. She didn't find anything abnormal during her exam. She was impressed by how Ian didn't cry until the very end when she put her finger up his butt. She was trying to get a specimen. Since she was unable to do so, I have to take some specimens over the next 3 days and then mail it to her. It's an easy assignment since he's still using a diaper (as would almost every 14 month old!). She wants him to have an upper GI x-ray (small bowel to cecum). She particularly wants to know where his ligament of treitz is located. We'll have to make another long journey for that (to King of Prussia). Right now I am not a fan of PSU's student insurance. If we lived in Philadelphia it would be great insurance, but otherwise we have to travel more than 100 miles one way to get to a specialist that is in their network. The bloodwork he had done today included CBC, CMP, GGT, Vitamin D 25-OH, Zinc, TSH, and T4 Free. This was rather traumatizing for Nadia to watch. I was holding Ian in my lap while they were drawing his blood (they had to use both of his arms). She was rather hysterical by the time they were done with his second arm. She was screaming "MOMMY" and was obviously very scared. I couldn't hold her until they were done with Ian. I will take an Rx for Prevacid to CVS tomorrow. I am praying it's not expensive as we'll be paying for all prescription drugs ourselves until Paul gets a job. He's supposed to take 1/2 a tablet by mouth 2 times a day, and she said he needs to be on it at least 12 weeks as it takes that long for the esophagus to heal.

I was pleased with his weight (22lbs) as that meant he gained 2 lbs since January 7. They were concerned about his diet. I felt like they weren't taking into account that I put fruit, vegetables, cereal, etc in all of his bottles. They said he should either be on toddler formula or pediasure (not whole milk or infant formula) until he starts eating more solid food by spoon. She gave us samples of Pediasure (several different flavors of it) and Nutren. I gave Ian some Pediasure at 5pm at Wendy's. Let me tell you that was a mistake. I am doubtful that I'll ever give him any more Pediasure as he threw up SO many times between 7-9pm. Two of the times he threw up while sleeping! The vomiting at 8pm was the worst episode we've had since the first week of January. It took Paul forever to clean up Ian's bedroom, bed, etc. Unfortunately we ran out of mattress pads and sheets. Thankfully we have many pjs as so far he's worn 3 different pairs this evening. It doesn't matter how many calories are in Pediasure if the stuff doesn't stay in his body. I think I'm going to ask the OT if we can start trying to feed Ian by spoon again as that should alleviate their concerns.

When we got home, Ian was sooo hyper. He was literally laughing his head off while crawling around the house. He was sooo happy not to be in his car seat any more! Paul was amazed at how hyper Ian was.

Today's the day

Yesterday I spent a LOT of time calling other GI offices, but the earliest they could see him was April or May.  I never got through to the main hospital clinic (all were CHOP offices) even after being on hold for about 30 minutes. At about 4:30pm  I got a call from the one I had made an appt with on Wednesday. She said someone had just cancelled their 12:30 appt for 2/25 with the NP. I took it even though I'd prefer a doctor since it meant he'd be seen a full month earlier. The only bad part is that Paul can't go with me. His advisor had been away for 6 days, and she came back yesterday. I expected Paul to return to school yesterday, but for some unknown reason he worked from home again yesterday. This means he really must go in today, especially since he's planning to come home early on Monday. I'd greatly appreciate prayers for wisdom for the NP and for as smooth a trip as possible as the kids and I will be in the car for at least 5.5 hours today. Today I had planned to take the kids to activities at two different libraries. That would have been a lot more fun, but this is a lot more important.

Ian has made BIG progress lately. Karen is going to be soooo pleased on Tuesday. Yesterday I put whole milk in a sippy cup instead of formula in a bottle for his first feeding (per her instructions). I expected a battle, but he drank it without any problems! She had said to let him have bottles the rest of the day, but since it went so well I packed the bottles up and he only used sippy cups yesterday. Two weeks ago he screamed and refused a sippy cup, but now it's no big deal. YAY! Yesterday he finished the cup of vanilla pudding he had started on Wednesday, and he also ate a little ice cream by spoon. He hadn't eaten anything by spoon since early January, so this was a big deal!

For the Grandmas who haven't seen her do this in person yet, here are two really short clips of Nadia doing a forward tuck roll by herself. I didn't get one of her best ones, but you can see that she can do it now by herself even on a flat surface!

32 Months Old!

1. I don't think I've mentioned it here before, but for a couple of months Nadia has really enjoyed building towers and such with either her Mega Bloks or Lego Duplo bricks. This really pleases Paul!

2. Lately she's been into calling me "Miss Mommy." Maybe that's because the adults in her life (SS teacher, gymnastics teacher, librarian, etc.) introduce themselves as Miss xyz. I'd personally rather her call adults by Mrs. and their last name rather than Miss and their first name, but that's not how things are done around here!

3. She's also been saying "sir" a lot - even to me although I have tried to explain to her that we say "ma'am" to women and "sir" to men. It cracks Paul up when she says "yes, sir" to him. It reminds me of how I got in trouble in Kindergarten in Alabama because I wasn't saying "yes, ma'am" and "no, ma'am" to my teacher (having recently moved from PA where it's not the norm to say that).

4. She's improved a lot in the last few weeks with her skills for gymanstics. She can now JUMP and do a forward tuck roll by herself (on a wedge mat).

5. Her attention span for listening to me read to her is rather long. One of her favorite books that she likes to have me read to her is a version of Cinderella that, with pictures, is almost 100 pages long. I think I'll be able to start reading chapter books to her in the not so distant future! I've been reading a lot of Dr. Seuss books to her lately in preparation for celebrating his birthday on March 2nd at our library. Paul is planning to attend that event as well since it's at 6pm.

6. She's still rather ambidextrous. She alternates between hands when holding a spoon while eating, using a crayon when coloring, etc.

7. She loves to dress up by wearing high heels, necklaces, bracelets, sunglasses, hats, etc.

8. Her favorite foods include: peach or vanilla yogurt, bananas, raisins, Honey Nut Cheerios, ice cream, fruit snacks, cookies, pizza, peach or blueberry oatmeal, crackers, chips, pretzels, and ham & cheese hot pockets.

9. She loves to play hide and seek. Her favorite place to hide is the coat closet, and she usually will tell you where she's going to hide before she hides. We act like we don't know where she is, lol.

10. She goes to bed at 8pm and gets up sometime between 6:30-7:15am. She doesn't get out of bed until I come in her room.

11. Her nap usually starts around 1pm and lasts 1.5-3.5 hours with 2 hours being the norm. It often takes her about 30 minutes to fall asleep so she's usually in her bed for at least 2 hours.

12. She could watch tv all day long if we let her. She watches two shows a day at the most. In the morning she usually watches an episode of Clifford, Curious George, Dora, or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and in the evening she usually watches a VeggieTales dvd. Sometimes in the morning she watches a Hermie & Friends dvd or a 321 Penguins dvd instead of a tv show.

13. Her two favorite stuffed animals are Larry (cucumber) and Sweetpea (rhubarb).

14. She absolutely adores the pillow Paul got her in Poland in August. To temporarily take her pillow away from her is about the worst form of punishment possible in her opinion.

15. When talking to Ian, she always either calls him "buddy" or "baby." When telling me about him she always refers to him as "Ian."

16. She hasn't grasped the concept of sharing with her brother At All. This has caused a lot of frustration lately because he's now at the age where he wants to join in and play with her.

17. She loves to carry around multiple purses that are completely stuffed with random items (pretend food, little people, etc.).

18. She thinks every time she changes clothes she should put on clean underwear. I really don't think it's necessary to change one's underwear twice a day (morning and night). Sometimes I just let her do so as it seems like one of those "pick your battles" type of things.

19. She loves to listen to music, particularly VeggieTales cd's. Her favorite cd right now is the Sweetpea Beauty one. She can sing the lyrics to many different songs.

20. She has gotten a little better with drinking some water, but the vast majority of the time she only drinks skim milk.

21. She can count to 15, and she's getting much better at correctly counting sets of objects (especially those fewer than 10). At times she seems to have moved to the rational stage of counting (versus rote counting).

22. We have lots of tea parties these days!

23. She still loves to be outside - even in the snow!

24. She tells ne many, many times a day, "you're a good mommy." Awwww...

25. She tells me a few times each day. "you're sooo beautiful." Awwww....

26. Several times a day we go back and forth saying "I love you soooo much" and the other person keeps adding another "so." When I'm ready to stop I tell her "that's a LOT of love," and she smiles and gives me a hug.

27. She still gives reallly awesome bear hugs!

28. She doesn't like to try anything new to eat, unless it's a dessert.

29. She's very schedule oriented. I wonder where she got that from, lol!

30. She uses the term "yesterday" to refer to the past (even something that happened several days ago).

31. She's still obsessed with wanting to know who bought everything - every toy, every piece of food, etc.

32. Lately when she prays she thanks God for Abbey and Kohen ( two 4 year olds from church).

Rescheduling

We scheduled Ian's GI appointment in early January. The Pediatrician's office said that the GI clinic in Hershey said they took PSU student insurance. I should have checked it out myself. I am kicking myself for not having done so. I checked this morning online, and when it seemed like they didn't take our insurance I called our insurance to verify. Nope. The irony is that the hospital in Hershey is called the PSU Children's Hospital, and they don't take PSU insurance. Go figure. So we won't be going to Hershey tomorrow after all. Paul's student insurance is fine for primary care doctors (we don't have to switch), but it seems we have to travel to Philadelphia or Allentown to see a specialist (2-2.5 hours one way), and of course we don't have ANY Rx coverage right now. I made an appt in Exton (where we went for Ian's first CHOP urology appt) for March 25. The earliest they had available was March 16, but that was with a NP. I am going to call another CHOP doctor tomorrow to see if we can get a sooner appointment if we go somewhere other than Exton.

The happy news of the day would be that Ian very willingly ate some vanilla pudding by spoon today. That was very exciting! The OT yesterday had suggested we try puddings, ice cream, and yogurt.

Nadia enjoyed wearing this costume today. UPS delivered it today. I paid $1.00 for it (with free shipping). It's size 2-4T so we should get a lot of use out of it in the years to come by both Nadia and eventually Ian. I'm going to have Nadia wear it to Dr. Seuss's birthday party at the library next week. :-) Actually the $1 I spent on the order included some craft supplies as well so the costume actually cost less than $1. What a great bargain!

The snow returns

My university rarely closes because most of the undergrad students live on campus or within walking distance, but today they closed due to the snow. I am surprised how few schools take off for President's Day these days. I am very grateful for Abraham Lincoln and George Washington and how they served our country. As a SAHM, snow days aren't as exciting as they were when I was a teacher, principal, or professor. We were supposed to be attending a make-up gymanstics class today, but it was snowed out. We woke up to 8 inches of snow. Paul says it's been at least 6 years since we got that much in one single snowfall. I thought he and Nadia were making a snowman (Ian and I stayed in most of the time as neither of us are keen on being out in the snow), but what I thought was the bottom part of the snowman was actually Bob (the tomato). I still give credit to my niece in Chicago for her snow Allosaurus that she made a few years ago. That was very creative and well done!

We're still having lots of tea parties in our dining room!

Letting Go

One thing that's been on my to do list for a few months has been to start selling some baby and maternity items. I have some set aside for a yard sale. I've never had a yard sale before, but I'm planning to have one this summer. Other stuff I had set aside to sell on eBay. I actually listed two items on Craigslist in November, but that didn't go anywhere. I think we live in too rural of an area for me to sell stuff on Craigslist. When I saw some of the items two ladies in my church had on their registries were toys that I had in the yard sale pile, I actually filled up two bags of toys (such as wrist rattles) and gave them to them. One of the women is Nadia's Sunday School teacher, and the other teaches the class that I'm going to take over in a couple of weeks. They're both expecting their first babies. One knows she's having a girl, and the other wants to be surprised. Paul's parents came up to visit today, and so I was able to work on listing some maternity clothes on eBay. I listed 28 items (in 12 different listings as I combined some items). I mostly listed my maternity skirts, pants, and shorts. I still have a lot of tops sitting in the basement.

It was really hard to do. I am proud of myself for not crying. Everytime I contemplated going down there and bringing up that box of maternity clothes I could feel my eyes welling up with tears. I was tempted to just donate the whole box so that the process of passing the stuff on to someone else would be faster. Although I didn't find pregnancy to be a physically comfortable experience, I can say that with every fiber of my being I would be thrilled beyond belief to be pregnant one last time. It's really hard to let go of the desire to do ivf a third time. I am surprised at how hard it is. I really didn't expect the desire to be this strong. Whenever I feel sad that we're not doing ivf again, I try to remind myself of how I felt in the summer of 2007. Two children is a whole lot better than none!!

Tea Parties

Nadia has really been blossoming lately in her creativity when it comes to dramatic play. Today I participated in a tea party marathon. The guests included Larry (the cucumber), Mr. Potato Head, Mrs. Potato Head, and two of her dolls (one she calls "Baby" and the other she calls "Dollie"). She used her little teapot to pour many cups of tea and hot chocolate and served us a wide assortment of pretend food (pizza, carrots, cookies, chicken, bananas, etc.).

Today ended up being day #4 in a row of Ian only having one nap. He fell asleep in Paul's arms this morning (around 10am) but immediately woke up when Paul tried putting him down. So we've decided to stick with one nap a day. Today he cried for 50 minutes and then slept for 50 minutes. I hope that in the near future he stops crying for so long. The strange thing is that I put him down awake at night, and he cries for less than one minute. As for sleeping through the night, he's still waking up at least once during the night, but thankfully he cries for only a few seconds each time that he wakes up. One morning he didn't wake up until 6:25 (which meant he had slept for almost 11 hours), but most mornings he wakes up sometime between 5:25-5:45am (it was 5:25 today), which means he's usually getting 10 hours of sleep at night. I've been trying not to get him prior to 6:30 if possible.

Nadia is usually in her bed for a minimum of 2 hours, and it's often longer because she doesn't fall asleep right away. Today she was up by 2:30pm. If only she had woken up that early yesterday when it was 66 degrees out! I wasn't at all tempted to walk to the park today as it was a very cold and blustery day. It is February though. This weather is to be expected. Yesterday's was an unexpected blessing.

Ian thinks this racetrack is a chair. He climbs in and sits in it all the time, lol!

Naptime Woes

Karen had suggested we try transitioning Ian to one nap a day when she was here on Tuesday. On Wednesday he cried for 30 minutes and then slept for an hour. That seemed like a success in my book. Yesterday he really, really wanted a morning nap. He kept yawning, rubbing his eyes, and giving all the signals that he was tired. Even though this was making him very fussy, I kept him up. At 12:25 he fell asleep sitting up in my lap and so I carried him upstairs to put him down for his afternoon nap. He woke up as I was putting him down and then sat in his crib and screamed for 30 minutes. I rocked him back to sleep but again when I put him down he sat up and screamed for 30 minutes. He finally fell asleep, but he only slept for 20 minutes. He used to take two 30 minute naps without any crying so this seemed like a big step backward to have him scream for an hour and only sleep for a total of 20 minutes over a span of 12.5 hours.

I thought I'd let him have two naps today, especially since he was again very fussy and tired this morning. He fell asleep in my arms at 9am (I used to put him down between 9-9:30), but again when I transferred him to his crib he sat up and started screaming hysterically. After crying about 5 minutes he threw up on his sheets. I got him and when he again fell asleep in my arms at 10am I woke up him. When he fell asleep sitting in his highchair at 12:15, I carried him upstairs and thankfully he didn't wake up when I transferred him to his crib. However he only slept for 25 minutes. I let him cry for 15 minutes, but I could tell he was going to throw up if I let him keep screaming his head off. I gave him a little milk and then let him sleep a little more in my arms. I didn't want him to be really fussy for the babysitter tonight, and he would be fussy if he again only slept 25 minutes total over a span of 13 hours (as he was up at 6:25am and we'll put him down at 7:30 tonight). I am not sure what I'll do tomorrow. He's only had 1 nap a day the past 3 days, but his total amount of sleep has either stayed the same (Wed) or gone down (yesterday and today).

The other naptime woe today was the fact that Nadia took forever to fall asleep and this meant she didn't wake up until 3:55 pm, which meant we couldn't go to the park even though it was 66 degrees out because the babysitter was coming over at 4:00 so Paul and I could go out on our belated Valentine's dinner date. I was really bummed about this as I was wanting to have some exercise to burn off the peanut butter pie I was planning to get for dessert. At least Ian and I were able to enjoy the warm temperatures by hanging out on the patio while she napped. It's supposed to be cold again tomorrow, but warm weather will come back sooner or later and when it does we'll be headed to the park. If it hadn't been for our dinner plans, we could have started our journey to the park at 4pm. I did take the kids out to the backyard after she woke up so at least they got a little bit of time on a swing and slide.

Thankful Thursday

1. For all the progress I wrote about in yesterday's post

2. Part way through the week last week Paul started leaving for school earlier so he could come home earlier. I am not sure what prompted this change, but I am grateful! Even though dinner time is not always a pleasant experience (when a certain 2 year old refuses to eat anything), I am very glad for the times when the four of us are all seated around the dinner table at the same time. I do look forward to the day when all four of us eat what I've cooked. That might not happen for a few years, but until then it's nice to have the kids seated at the table while Paul and I eat. Tonight was the first night over the past week that he didn't come home in time to eat with us.

3. Ian is still making progress with sleeping at night. Last night he only woke up and cried once during the night. He started fussing around 5:45am, but that didn't become a cry until 6:25am, which is when I got him. I nursed him, and he fell asleep in our bed until 7:05am.

4. I know this warmer weather isn't here to stay yet, but I enjoyed taking the kids to the park this afternoon! Thankfully most of the snow has melted so I didn't have to push the stroller through any snow. I'm also looking forward to spending time outside tomorrow when it's supposed to be above 60 degrees. WOOHOO!

5. I've enjoyed reading books again. I read 5 novels and part of one non-fiction book over the past 4 weeks. That's WAY more than I read in 2010. I've had more time to read due to #1 not having a job outside of the home and #2 not having a laptop computer.

6. I really enjoyed choir rehearsal last night. I am so glad to be able to attend the entire rehearsal. I love the music our choir director selects, and I love the fact that we sing SO many anthems each year. I've been in choirs where it seemed like we rehearsed a song to death, but that never happens in this choir because we sing so many different songs each month.

7. I'm also really enjoying being back in a ladies Bible study. Can you tell I'm enjoying being a SAHM? :-)

8. I didn't pass my stomach bug to anyone else in our family last week (or Paul's parents who were with us about 12 hours before I started throwing up).

9. Nadia finally ate what I served for dinner last night at 10am this morning. She had gone 22 hours without eating anything or drinking anything but water. She never even tried it last night, and at 10am she ate it without any problems. What a relief as she was a very miserable child this morning until she ate, and her crying was also causing Ian to cry. The first few hours were rough here at our house this morning, but everyone was in a much better mood after Nadia finally agreed to eat her dinner.

10. Some Dollie & Me dresses I ordered last week from Sears (on clearance of course) came in the mail today. They are so cute! Nadia had fun dressing her doll in some of the dresses, and I will have fun next winter dressing my doll (Nadia) in the ones that are for her.

Lots of Progress!

Nadia is really getting the hang of learning Bible verses. This week she's learning her fourth Bible verse, and it's the longest one she's learned thus far "I will be glad and rejoice in your love." If you ask her to say her verse, she always says the first verse she learned "Teach me your way O Lord," but then when prompted she can say her other verses as well. I'm very proud of her!

She's also making a lot of progress in her gymanstics skills. She consistently JUMPS on the trampoline. Her skills on that apparatus are still lagging behind the other kids, but she's finally jumping instead of running across it. YAY! Also she can now do a forward tuck roll (aka "somersault") by herself on the wedge mats at the gym. I think in the near future she'll be able to do it by herself on a flat surface. We'll keep working on it! Here's a short video of her jumping today. It wasn't her most graceful attempt, but it does show that she now does some jumping on the tumble track!

Ian did much better sleeping last night. He cried some when I put him down because he's used to going to sleep by bottle. I rocked and sang to him instead. I thought he'd cry longer than he did so that was a relief. I didn't hear him until 5:45, but Paul said that Ian woke up twice during the night (while Paul was still up) but that he only cried a couple of minutes each time. Whew. I got him at 5:55 and the little guy immediately went to sleep on me. I let him sleep on me for awhile and then transferred him back to his crib where he slept until 7:15. Soooo I learned this morning that I shouldn't let him get up so early. There will likely be some crying the next couple of mornings, and this might wake Nadia up, but if it means for the long run that his wake up time can be shifted from say 5:45 to 6:45am, it's well worth it. Here's to hoping we can get Ian to sleep from about 8pm to 7am or something close to that. Since he slept in so late this morning I decided to skip his morning nap. He fell asleep on the way home from gymanstics (about 11:30am) but once we got home I woke him up right away whereas usually I'd let him keep sleeping in his carseat. It was a battle when I put him down at 1:15. I am not sure if it was because he wanted to sleep in my arms or because of that little catnap, but he cried for about 30 minutes. I knew it was keeping Nadia up, but I again thought it was worth it for the long haul. I'm not 100% convinced he's ready to switch to one nap a day  yet, but I figured it didn't hurt to give it a try today. I think I'll try it again tomorrow because he slept for ONE HOUR! WOOHOO!

I was really thrilled with Ian's progress at lunch today. In addition to the usual Doritos chips and cheese curls, I put some Gerber puffs on his tray. For the first time ever, he picked one up and put it in his mouth. It came back out, but several times he either held it and licked it or would put it on his tongue and then spit it out. I was thrilled even though none of it went down his throat. I was eating peanut butter and honey on toast, and I ripped off part of the crust of my German dark wheat bread, and he also picked it up and licked that as well. I was elated! To someone else it probably seems like nothing, but to see my boy put food in his mouth is a BIG deal -even if zero calories were consumed. I am thinking maybe finger food might be how we get this boy eating rather than food eaten by spoon. I hope this is a break through. It feels like a big step to me although of course getting him to swallow something is also important. He also was playing with the cup and spoon Karen brought yesterday, and he will drink a little water from the cup.

OT Visit #3

This morning we were able to go to ladies Bible study. The last two weeks the study was cancelled due to snow. Nadia did a great job (no tears) and giving her peanut butter crackers to eat on the way home meant she stayed awake and then slept from 1-3:30 in her bed later that afternoon. The last time we went she didn't nap At All at home due to a very short nap in the car on the way home. While she napped Karen spent 75 minutes with Ian. She was pleased with the progress I've made with him with the oral stimulation exercises. Last week he gagged when I touched his tongue, but he doesn't do that any more. This week I'm to focus on the palete of his mouth. I told her the sippy cup transition totally failed but that I had been able to get him to spend a lot more time in the highchair this week. She gave me a different cup to use (one side is cut out to allow for the child's nose) and suggested I try to get him to drink his formula in that cup. I tried it this evening to no avail. He will drink a tiny bit of water from my glass. I'll try using that new cup for water tomorrow. She also gave me a new spoon to use and suggested I put some of his formula/cereal on it. That also didn't work at all this evening. She said that if we're not seeing some progress by early March that we should make an appointment for him to see Dr. Williams, a psychologist who is part of the feeding team in Hershey. We are headed to Hershey on the 24th to see a pediatric GI. It seems strange to think my 14 month old might need to see a psychologist, but if he can help Ian learn to eat solid foods, then I guess that's what we'll be doing.

In terms of Ian's sleeping habits, she said we did the right thing by letting him cry the last two nights. It. Was. Hard. Especially since he cried for 2.5 hours straight at one point on Sunday night (from 12:15-2:45am). That was torture for all four of us. In addition to waking up several times during the night, he's also been getting up very early each day (sometime between 4:45-5:45am). The boy isn't getting much sleep! Karen thinks that if we let him cry again tonight then it should go better starting tomorrow night. She said it rarely takes more than three nights of letting a child cry. If he's still struggling, we're to try using the radio (set on a station that's just producing static) as white noise again. Because we worry about him throwing up if we let him cry, she said not to feed him after 6pm. We usually feed him again right before he goes to sleep. She also suggested transitioning him from two to one nap a day and insisiting that he nap for at least one hour. I really don't think he's ready to go to one nap a day. I'm going to hold off a bit before I try that.

Our Valentine's Day

On our way home from Nadia's gymnastics class (a make-up class from a session that had been snowed out), I noticed that my car said it was 54 degrees outside. I immediately decided to take the kids to the park. I had planned to take them to the mall after Nadia's nap, so I took them as soon as we got home (11:35am). This turned out to be the better time of day to go as the temperatures dropped in the afternoon. I gave Nadia some peanut butter crackers to eat in the stroller since I normally feed her lunch after we get home from gymanstics.

I quickly learned that I could not go my usual route to the park because I would be traversing through large "lakes" of water. I had to stick to the main roads, which makes the trip longer and also makes me feel a bit less safe. Once we reached the playground I discovered the parking lot, which is rather large, was still snow covered. Did you know that strollers don't traverse snow very well? They. Do. Not. It took every bit of strength in my body to get the stroller up to the playground with the kids in it (they weigh 53 pounds together). When the wind was blowing it didn't really feel like it was over 50 degrees, but it still was a lot warmer than it has been lately. It felt great to be outdoors and get some exercise, and the kids had fun on the swing, slide, seesaw, etc., but I don't plan to return until the snow has melted away. It's supposed to warm up again later this week so maybe the snow will melt. I am really looking forward to warmer temps!

After Nadia's nap I took the kids to the mall to use a JCP coupon and use one of our free ice cream coupons for Friendly's. Nadia and I shared a free dish of Forbidden Chocolate ice cream. YUM! Of course the kids also enjoyed riding the rides. The last time we were there some other kids were using coins on the rides so Nadia now asks for money, but thankfully she accepted riding them without using money.  In the morning I had given Nadia a Hermie & Friends DVD as her Valetnine's Day gift. On Sunday I helped her make Paul a card (glue + glitter + stamps + markers = a blast for Nadia). I also gave Paul a card yesterday. We're going out to dinner this Friday night.

14 Months Old!

1. Ian still loves to cross his legs. It cracks us up how often he crosses his legs while sitting.

2. Although he adores his monkey, he still also loves Nadia's Sweetpea. I insist on Sweetpea never leaving Nadia's room because otherwise it's nonstop tears and fighting between the two of them over who gets to hold her.

3. Ian's diet right now consists of formula plus baby cereal taken by bottle plus he'll lick a couple of chips a day. Since we started making his bottles REALLY thick he's now only chucking an average of once a day, and even that one time is a much smaller quantity.

4. He currently weighs 21lbs 4oz, which is what he weighed in early December, but it represents a gain of one pound over the last 5 weeks.

5. Ian loves music. It's so cute to watch him dance. He loves watching the kids march and sing at the library. I'm sure he'll join in when he's able to do so!

6. Ian is really into books lately. He studies the page very intently before turning to the next one. He also will sit for quite a long time when I read a book to him. I hope he stays a book worm for many years to come!

7. Ian's attention span for watching tv is much greater at this age than Nadia's was (not that I want him to watch tv at this age!). If Nadia is watching VeggieTales I have to move him or he'll naturally stand right beside the entertainment center (in other words WAY too close to the tv).

8. He can crawl very quickly, but he still views crawling as a means to get to a place where he can stand and cruise. He still hasn't attempted to take any steps, and he hasn't been standing without holding on as much as he was a month ago. I have no idea when he'll start walking. I don't think it will be anytime soon.

9. He still favors the color red.

10. I'm still his favorite person. He cries if he sees me leave or if he sees me come into a room. Sometimes this bothers Daddy.

11. He's trying to play with Nadia a lot more these days. If she's playing at the kitchen or dollhouse, he'll join her. Unfortunately she's not desiring to have a playmate.

12. He's still not sleeping through the night like he had been earlier. Paul rocks him and then puts him down on his back and from then on we let him cry if he wakes up. Thankfully he doesn't usually cry for more than a couple of minutes, but sometimes this happens multiple times during the night. He usually gets up for the morning sometime between 5:45-6:45am and goes down between 7:30-7:45pm.

13. He takes 2 naps a day at about 9am and 1pm. If they are in the crib they last 20-30 minutes almost all of the time. Every once in a while he'll nap for 45-50 minutes in the crib. If I let him sleep in my arms then he'll sleep for 60-90 minutes for each nap.

14. He's a super cuddly guy. He gives really great bear hugs. I'm grateful that both of my kids are really affectionate!

Thankful Thursday

1. Ian's OT came again on Tuesday afternoon. Her suggestions were very different this week since last week's didn't work out too well. I am very grateful that she can come every week. The main things I am to work on this week with him are some oral stimulation exercises as well as trying to get him to start using a sippy cup. He is capable of drinking from a cup, but after drinking from it a little he objects as he prefers the bottle.

2. I feel much better today. During the night on Sunday night I figured out I had a stomach flu. On Monday I didn't attempt to eat anything until I thought I was done throwing up. I felt better on Tuesday, but then Tuesday night part of the GI bug came back plus AF showed up (after only 28 days which is super short for me). Also, I've had a sore throat, congestion, and 100-101 degree fever the past few days. All of this put together meant that I was very weak and dizzy yesterday. The house was literally spinning, and I just kept praying all day that I wouldn't faint while home alone with the kids. Thankfully the Lord enabled me to maintain consciousness all day. I still have a fever and such today, but compared to yesterday I feel one million times better. I actually had enough energy to give the kids a bubble bath today!

3. Paul was able to stay home on Monday since his advisor was out of town. This was perfect timing!

4. While taking care of the kids on Monday, Paul discovered that if we make Ian's bottles really thick (he calls it "sludge"), he rarely throws up! I'm happy to buy tons of baby cereal if this solves the reflux problem! Of course we'll still be taking him to the GI doctor in 2 weeks.

5. Ian has been taking two long naps a day (by long I mean at least 50 minutes). Most of these have been in my arms. I've figured that although it means I'm in almost constant contact with Ian for 13-14 hours straight, it was still more restful for me to have him sleep in my arms for 2+ hours over the course of the day. I also am hoping that after doing this for a few days that his body has gotten used to longer naps and maybe he'll start sleeping more than 30 minutes in his crib. Hope springs eternal I guess.

6. Nadia has been sleeping in a big girl bed for over a month now, and that transition has gone very smoothly. She only fell out of bed once, and she only got out of bed without permission once. I let her get up after I'm done nursing Ian (usually sometime between 6:30-7:15am).

7. I got another email this week regarding my latest article. This one was from a professor in India. I wish I had kept track of how many countries I received emails from regarding that article. :-)

Jumping!

The photo at right was taken at the library yesterday while Nadia was participating in the song "Head and Shoulders." They were on the "eyes and ears and mouth and nose" part of the song. The theme was Grandparents, and Nadia was really wanting to see one of her grandparents after we left the library as it's been 3 weeks since she's seen any of them. Grandma and PopPop are hoping to come up tomorrow afternoon to visit. Nadia wants to share some of the cake she helped me make on Thursday night.

Wednesday's gymanstics class was cancelled, but I took her to a make-up class on Thursday. She JUMPED on the trampoline (tumble track) for the first time. YAY! What a relief for Mommy. We had been working on jumping all week. She hasn't mastered it (on the floor anyhow - she can jump on the bed very easily), but hopefully she now realizes she doesn't have to just RUN across the trampoline like she has the past few months. They also did some activities with a big parachute for the first time. She loved it! Ian liked watching that part also.

I should have taken a video instead of a picture of her doing a flip on the bar.

Wednesday night was the night we let Ian cry a LONG time during the night. Thursday night he slept from 8pm to 5:45am straight. WOOHOO! Friday night he woke up once (I think around 10pm), but he didn't cry that long and then slept until 6:45am, which was great as I had put him down at 7:30pm. This is a HUGE relief for us. I'm so glad we let him cry on Wednesday night. We were able to do so since he woke up later than usual and crying wouldn't induce vomiting (for once). His reflux was REALLY had yesterday. I felt like I was cleaning up vomit all day long. Not Fun.

Occupational Therapist

Karen, Ian's OT, came for the first time today. She'll be coming on Tuesday afternoons, weather permitting. I am hopeful that through her weekly advice plus whatever we learn through Ian's GI appt (scheduled for 2/24) that Ian will be consuming more than milk (and licking cheese curls) in the future. She really thinks that the GI doctor will find a physiological problem. We shall see. Her advice at this point is as follows:

1. Don't give Ian anything by spoon until his next OT appointment (Tues). Don't use the Nuk brush any more that was given by the feeding team.

2. Have him drink his bottles in the highchair (except for the one before bed) to try to have him change his attitude toward the highchair from negative to positive. I am to leave cheese curls and a spoon the tray while he's drinking his milk.

3. Give him a deep tissue rub (arms, legs, and back) with lotion after his baths.

4. Change his wet diapers while he's in a standing up position rather than lying down.

5. Do another deep tissue exercise (hard to describe in words) with his legs and arms 4-5 times a day.

6. Encourage him to put toys in his mouth, and if I find one that really fits well in his mouth then I am to try to keep that toy near him all day long.

7. If he keeps waking up every hour throughout the night (sleep has been an utter disaster lately) we are to use some white noise (ex. a radio playing a static sound all night) to see if that will help. Usually we can't let him cry because he'll throw up. We also haven't been feeding him because we don't want him to get used to being fed every hour throughout the night. So we've usually been rocking him, but lately he falls asleep immediately in either my arms or Paul's arms, but he will not sleep in the crib. Last night at 12:15am I decided to let him cry because it had been 4 hours since he'd been fed so I didn't think he'd gag. I put him on his back (so he wouldn't stand up), and we let him cry for more than an hour. It was torture for all of us (except Nadia, who slept through it all). He woke up one other time (4:30am) and didn't cry as long that time. He then slept until 7:45am, which is much later than usual which helped make up for the sleep he lost while crying. I really hope that he got the message that he needs to sleep by himself (not in our arms) and will go back to sleeping 10-11 hours straight like he was doing before.