Mid-November

Somehow the fall has passed me by. Technically I know that's not true, but there are more leaves on the ground than on the trees and we had our first snowfall last week, so never mind what the calendar says,  it feels like winter has started.

With it came our first illnesses of the season. The Bug vomited in bed a week ago Friday and we've been dealing with all sorts of bodily fluids since then, because of course, just about the time she was starting to feel better the school called to let me know The Bean was feeling sick. I'm completely run down. I've been trying to push through it during the days, but by the evenings even talking is taking the wind out of me and sleep is interrupted by coughing fits throughout the night. I just hope I'm doing better by the time it hits Jen, because despite all the oregano oil she's downing every morning, she's probably next.

I think I owe this blog a summer bucket list update, but summer seems so long ago. I will likely just leave it at that we didn't complete our entire list, but we had a good summer. We were outside a lot. We visited family and friends. We swam and hiked and played and read and chilled and ate about a bazillion popsicles. Just what summers should be.

The kids started back to school without any issues. The Bean was so ready for Grade One. His teacher is a little more no-nonsense than last year's, but that's okay for him. He's been happy to be able to do "Kilometer Club" at recess and participate in some of the activities kindergarteners are excluded from. He's been acing his spelling tests every week. With the exception of a girl in his class who seems to enjoy annoying him, he doesn't have any complaints about school. Buggy is also doing well. She seems more confident than she was last year. I worry a little about her academic skills, but I have been reminding myself that had she been born a week later she'd be a grade below where she is. She's funny and clever and very sweet and has a wickedly good memory, she just doesn't read yet. I'm sure she'll get there. It's hard not to compare. Parent/Teacher interviews are on Thursday night. We'll get the official school updates then.

Speaking of the school, I took on the role of School Council Chair this year. There wasn't anyone who wanted to step forward, so I thought since I'm already there so often and pretty involved already it wouldn't be that big of a deal. Silly me. (Though, to be fair, I was a little mislead by the previous chair, who assured me it was only "an hour or two" of work a week. More like and hour or two a day...) Anyway, all that to say my free time has been a lot less free, keeping up on emails, and insurance documents, and fundraising plans, etc. etc. I keep thinking things will  settle down, but I at this point I'm starting to realize that's probably wishful thinking.

So, anyway, here we are. Well past summer. Winter and all the holiday and birthday craziness just around the corner. I'm working on wish lists and party planning, and thinking about what to pack when we go down for Thanksgiving next week and what we'll wear for our annual family photos. Things don't ever seem to slow down. But, sickness aside, everything is good. We have a week of vacation to look forward to. We have an almost-five-year old who is obsessed with unicorns and mermaids, likes conducting science experiments, and still snuggles me every morning, and an almost-seven-year old who loves tech-y gadgets, soccer and is a voracious reader. My wife wakes up at 5:30am every day so she can do professional reading, bikes to work in the most colourful bike gear in all of uptown, and despite me not taking complements well, is incredibly sweet and doting and helpful. I have amazing friends. I'm enjoying tutoring and working over lunches at the school. I've got a few good books stacked on my night table. Life is pretty good right now. 

Pneumonia, Pills and Parent/Teacher Interviews

So, somehow January is over and we're nearing the half-way mark of this shortest/longest month of the year.

I think winter has finally hit our part of the world. We've had a little bit of snow and some very cold days, with more in the forecast.

We've spent the better part of this week bunkered in. After being back and forth to the doctor for a bad cough several times, each time coming home with different medications to try out, The Bean was diagnosed with Pneumonia. He finished his antibiotics this morning and was back to school for just the one day this week as tomorrow is the first day of a four day weekend. Of course, now Sprout is coughing, but I'm hoping it doesn't develop into anything. She's also all but given up her mid-day nap, which is another thing all together, but to continue the theme from my last post: Tired Mama.

Thankfully before kid-sickness hit in full force I was able to get myself in for a few long-overdue doctor's appointments. One of those included a chat with my GP and the starting of some anti-depressants. It was time. I don't like the idea of them (for myself) and I resisted even considering them for so long, but the truth of it is that things have been getting worse rather than better. My mood has been impacting my interactions with both Jen and the kids in a negative way. Something needed to change. And, though it's only been a week, I feel like it's making a difference. I am so glad.

Tonight we had our first-ever parent/teacher interviews with The Bean's teachers. His report, which I only picked up this morning, was more or less what I expected. It's hard to read between the lines --the teachers mostly select comments from a drop-down menu so it doesn't say a whole lot and what it does say isn't neither very specific nor backed up by examples. Talking it through was good. We had requested the interview a while ago since he had been resisting going to school quite a bit before the break and we wanted to follow up on that. His teachers spent nearly 45 minutes with us, which is about three times what we were scheduled for. (They didn't have any interviews scheduled immediately following ours, so I guess they didn't feel rushed.) Most of what they had to say was about what a bright and social student he is, but they also seemed to have a pretty accurate insight into other things --his perfectionism and desire to please, his sense of social justice and his tendency to "police" others. We walked away with the feeling that they know our kid pretty well and are doing a good job supporting him. We also got some reassurance that they making efforts to challenge him academically despite him already meeting many of the curriculum expectations.

It's only 10:30pm, but it's been a long week. Tomorrow I will have both kids home again and with -20*C temperatures in the forecast I think it will be another long day spent indoors. I best rest up.

The Bean is Five Years Old!

Today The Bean is five years old!

FIVE. Can you believe it?

This kid. He has been trying to act very grown up lately, "practicing for when I am five", he says. I think he thinks it will make us happy and proud --he is very much a people pleaser-- and it does, but it also makes me want to squeeze him and kiss him all over and toss him up into the air and tickle him and read him a million books while he still enjoys it all.  

So, where to begin with our Bean? He really is a complex little person. The past few months have been kind of hard. There were some mixed emotions as he was about start school, and sadly he doesn't seem to be enjoying it as much as we had hoped he would. After the initial adjustment, he seemed happy. In October he was upset for a while because he wanted to be seen as a girl and he felt the other students weren't accepting of that. His teachers were very open and responsive though, and I felt like we had resolved things (meaning, he knew he could be whoever he wanted and the other students were seemingly understanding of that). Then in late November he got a cold, I kept him home for a half day, and after that he did not want to go back. As in crying at drop off many mornings a week, sulking, telling us he was sad/lonely/had a bad day at school etc. I talked to his teachers about it in passing before the break, but they assured me he seemed happy and engaged at school. It's been a bit of a mixed bag since school started up again last week, so I think we're going to ask for a meeting. As his pediatrician said at his well-check this week, he should be happy at school.

So, mood wise, I'd have to say he's been a bit glum, but not all the time. He still has many moments where he is happy and playful and full of giggles and jokes and jumping around. It's very hard as his parent to navigate this. While it's fine to feel sad, I would like to get to the root of it and make it more of an emotion that he only feels on occasion than something he's feeling on a regular basis.

Academically he seems to be doing very well. He comes home reciting many songs and rhymes he is learning at school. He LOOOOOVES visual art and his art teacher (though he is awfully hard on himself when his pictures don't turn out the way he would like). Phys. Ed. of course, is much enjoyed. He's counting to 100, doing some basic arithmetic. And his reading has taken off. I mean, shockingly so. I know he's among the eldest of the JKs, but even still, his ability is pretty remarkable. He can pretty much read any story book from our shelves. He stuggles with unfamiliar words and will still guess at things rather than really sound them out, but for a just-turned-five year old I'm thoroughly impressed. He is also showing an interest in writing and can often be found carrying around a notebook and pencil. He regularly proclaims his love of his teachers and several of his classmates, but does not see, to have a "best buddy" in the class.

For a while now he has been interested in distinguishing between "good" and "bad" (both people and behaviours). I get fairly regular reports over who in his class has misbehaved that day --fortunately he thrives on positive attention and tells me he is "never bad" at school. Before Christmas he became more concerned than we would have liked about whether his behaviour was "good" and what Santa would think. A bit heartbreaking when he would do something like spill a drink and ask right away whether Santa would be upset with him.

As I mentioned already, he is really a people pleaser which makes him pretty cooperative overall. He's been doing a lot that shows his growing independence --getting ready in the mornings, bathing himself and washing his own hair, wanting to help prepare snacks, tidying up after himself and his sister. He glows when given praise. It's a good thing, but we're also aware that it's something that could be taken advantage of. So far there haven't been any issues, but when he talks about friends telling him to do things, we're always a bit more alert than we might be if he weren't so eager to do what others ask/tell him to do.

Somewhat related, he is also very aware of other's expectations and preferences. He often refers to himself and Jen as the boys in the family and will occasionally call her dad. She never makes a big deal out of it, but one day asked why he never calls me dad. He told her it was because he didn't think I would like it if he did.

He loves girls. He especially loves older girls. If they're 10 or 11 and have long blonde hair, I would almost guarantee that he will be talking about them for days.

He's starting to ask more involved questions about why things are the way they are and how things work. He got some really interesting science kits and books along with a set of Magic School Bus DVDs for gifts recently, and I'm sure they'll spark more questions and investigations.

He loves rocket ships, robots and knights. He's just getting into more superheroes (his exposure is pretty limited). Board games are starting to be a semi-regularly requested activity --Camelot Jr. and Jenga are two recent favourites.

Mostly he loves being active. Skatergirl and Scootergirl continue to be two of his alter egos. He is always running, leaping, flipping... He zooms around on his bicycle, practices on his skateboard (doing all the coolest tricks in his mind, I am sure), and just got a very awesome scooter from his Grandma and Grandpa and a (kid's/intro) snowboard from my cousin and her son for his birthday. He took gymnastics lessons this fall which he will be continuing through the winter. While he is developing his skills, I have to say that his body awareness and control is pretty remarkable. He listens carefully to his coach's instructions and really does his best to do things the way they describe.

He still loves music. Living room dance parties have continued. Back in May I got to take him to his frist Whitehorse concert which he was just thrilled about. The lucky, lucky boy got a shout out from Luke Doucet during the encore and his requested song played, even though it was a song they haven't played live in nearly a decade. His new favourite band is Van Morrison. His favourite song: Gloria.

He still loves being read to and will choose tried-and-true favourites from the shelves before bed each night. He has recently shown an interest in the Magic Tree House series of books. We've read a couple and he got a few more for Christmas and Birthday gifts, so I imagine we'll be starting those soon. He and Sprout will pretend to be the characters from the story and go on adventures in our apartment.

He's really started experimenting with different phrases.  "Give me a break" "Get over it" "You're killing me" and  "I'm dead" are a few that come to mind. He also uses the phrase "You're sweating my paws!" which we're not really sure where he picked up but seems to mean he can't believe what you're saying.

Not much has changed for him in terms of his gastro health. We have had him off of dairy forever now, and it does seem to help, as does having him on a regular dose of fibre, but still there are issues. He does not have Celiac disease and we are not moving forward with a test for Crohns. We suspect he has IBS, as it runs in the family. It's a hard thing to diagnose, as it is really a diagnosis of exclusion. We go back for another specialist appointment in the spring.

His food preferences are about the same, but we're starting to insist that he take a few bites of the things Jen and I are having for dinner. He has a good appetite. He usually has two breakfasts -cereal, toast, cream of wheat, etc. I pack him a hardy lunch and it usually comes back about 3/4 eaten, though he's getting pickier about what he will eat at school. He eats his dinner (and a small dessert) nightly will follow it up with some cheese crackers and often a fruit. We wonder where he puts it all and fear for the teenage years!

He is currently in a growth spurt. He gets thicker looking in the trunk and then shoots up. He had his well check last week, but I forgot to ask for his stats. I know his somewhere in the 10th-25th percentile for both height and weight. A bit of a peanut. I think that's just him. He's consistently in size 4 tops now and moving into more size 4 pants because the 3s are just getting too short. He has tiny hands and feet. About the same size as Sprouts, who is nearly two years younger. His shoe size is a 7.5/8. Sometime mid-November he decided he wanted a haircut, so after months of growing it out he got a super-cute undercut, which we rarely style. Ha!

And while the past few months have had their difficult moments, when he is happy he just shines. The way his eyes light up and his smile radiates is contageous. While I am always happy to be his Mama, I can think of little that makes me feel happier than seeing him in these moments. I love him with my whole self. My baby.

Sprout is Three Years Old!

Today Sprout is three years old! (Yes, I was slow to get this typed out and have backdated it. ;) )

If I've learned anything about myself as a parent, it is that birthdays always come as a bit of a shock. Our round, pink, screaming newborn is now a little girl who will proudly say "When I was borned I was as cute as a ham!"

This girl, she is a character. Honestly, I'm not sure quite what to make of her. Jen says she is 1/2 completely me, and half my total opposite. We're also learning how she is such a different person from The Bean and figuring out what her needs and personality are versus her older brother.

She is such a silly kid. Her sense of humour continues to blossom. She loves making people laugh. Still faces, nonsensical rhymes, crazy dancing... Often times it's quite clear she is trying to get a reaction, but it's the times that she's not trying that I realize how funny she really is. Quirky in the most endearing of ways.

She is sweet. She will gently place a hand on your cheek and cock her head to the side, asking "Are you okay?" if she thinks something is wrong. She gives the best squeeze hugs ever and sweet little kisses. She likes holding hands and is super-snuggly. She definitely is a person uses touch and looks for physical closeness from those she loves.

Leading up to her birthday we talked a lot about how how three is big, and how three year olds don't need to nurse. She said when she was three that she would stop nursing. I was hopeful, but didn't really expect it to be that easy. Of course, she hasn't stopped. I have made the decision to eliminate her morning nursing session though. Things have been crazy with Christmas and traveling and our schedule being totally off, so maybe it's been a little easier... she isn't pleased about the situation, but I also think she realizes that fussing about it isn't going to make a difference. (Though it does make my heart ache and make me want to give in, just a little, when she seems sad.) We have replaced the nursing session with cuddling before getting out of bed.

She can be incredibly stubborn. I know all toddlers are stubborn, but she just digs in her heels and doesn't budge. The Bean was much more compliant, so figuring out how to navigate this stubborn streak has been a parenting challenge.

She can be a bit defiant and as typical of siblings, will tease her brother from time to time... most often when she gets the coveted pink spoon at mealtimes. For a long time this consisted of her taunting, "I have the pink spoon! Too bad, Bean." One day when Jen and I were out my cousin who had been watching the kids reported back that she had been asking to nurse, and when he told her she couldn't because I was out, she said to herself, "Too bad, Sprout." That made me chuckle.

She has started to occasionally push or hit when she's not getting her way. This is always dealt with by a short time out, followed up by a brief discussion about why she pushed/hit and how that hurts and is not acceptable behaviour. She knows it's not allowed and isn't ever very forceful, but we'd still like to nip it in the bud.

Sleep continues to be a bit of a struggle. If she doesn't nap in the afternoon she is an emotional mess by 4pm and crashes early. If she does nap, she really fights going to bed and will often be awake until close to 9pm. She usually falls asleep easily at nap time, but when she doesn't it's not worth trying to get her to. Fortunately she's pretty good about doing quiet time and will look at books for about a half hour or an hour before saying she's ready to come out of her room. She had started to get into an elaborate bedtime routine of asking for water... and pillows beside her bed... and to use the washroom... and to have  a gargoyle to protect her, etc. before we left for the holidays. Hopefully it does not resume when we get back home.

She loves books and LOVES being read to. She doesn't have any strong and true favourites. She likes fairy tales and other princess stories, but also enjoys funny books, adventure stories... anything really. She will sit and listen to stories being read for over an hour... I almost always am done before she is. She also really takes in what is being read and what the pictures show and asks a lot of questions about what words mean or what a character is doing.

Her favourite game is to pretend she is a baby. She and her brother can be quite creative in their play and often will play for a long time together... babies, but camping, Christmas, knights and princesses and Jack and Annie (from the Magic Tree House series of books) have been other recent themes. Her alter ego is still a ballerina princess. She loves to wear her "princess dress."

She loves playing with her babies and toy animals. Her only request for Christmas was a cradle for her babies. Santa did not disappoint. (On a side note: she was SO excited about Christmas. We let the kids pick out gifts for each other and she promptly told The Bean what she got him. She just couldn't wait!)

She was in three programs/classes during the fall.  An art program, a dance program and an outdoor education program. The outdoor education one was fantastic and a nice way to get outdoors and explore, as well as meet some new people. The art and dance classes were at the local library and we attended with my cousin's son who is becoming one of Sprout's best friends. They weren't stellar from an instructional standpoint, but she enjoyed them none the less. We have a music class and a program at a city farm lined up for the winter.

Her language skills continue to develop. She is a chatterbox, but can still be a bit hard to understand at times. When she's excited her voice goes up about three octaves and I joke that she's turned into a cartoon character. Some of our favourite of her misspoken words are "Absowootwe" "Vampirate" and "Snissors." We rarely correct her one these ones just because we love them so much. Other words/phrases that she uses regularly are "Perhaps", "I'm exhausted!", "I'm all puffeled up" (meaning she is full), and "Big thumbs up!" with her forefingers held in the air. She still mixes up pronouns and will say "What is her doing?" rather than "What is she doing?"

If she's not chattering away she will be singing. It could be a nursery rhyme, or Christmas carol or sometimes a little song that she has made up.

She has good manners, and will usually say "thank you" when you do something for her or give her something. Her appreciation was so sincere over Christmas. It was so sweet and made me feel quite proud.

She can count reasonably well and can hold up the correct number of fingers on one hand. She even will alter the ways she holds up three fingers.

She loves to run and jump and climb and skip. She is a little bit clumsy and will often call out "Just me!" when she falls. She's become much more bold recently, letting us toss and flip her around more and will often request that we "Please do that again?"

She's a bit fussy over clothes and also very observant over what others are wearing. If I grab Jen's socks or sweatshirt she always notices and calls me out on it. Funnily, when she wears clothing with pockets, she will put her hands into them and proclaim, "Me mama!" (She also loves pockets to carry money in. She goes nuts over coins. If you drop change she will literally run out from whatever room she is in, in the hopes that you will give her some.)

She's grown! She continues to be a big kid. We have her three year check up early in the new year, so I'll get her official stats then. She's now mostly in 3t clothing, though some smaller things still fit. Shoe size is holding steady at 7. She weighs somewhere in the low 30lbs range. She's definitely stretching out and though she has a nice round belly, she's lost most of her chubby baby rolls. People often comment on her hair, which despite a recent trim, is getting quite long. It's such a gorgeous colour. She doesn't like having it combed, but will tolerate it if I put a video on my phone for her. If she starts to fuss too much about it, I'll insist that it get cut shorter, but so far she does okay. She wants to have "Rapunzel hair".

Eating continues to be fine. She doesn't eat a huge variety of foods, but eats a reasonable number of things from each food group, so it's manageable. She loves dairy products and sweets. A recent favourite is croissants, which she calls "poissants".

Her favouite people still mostly consist of family members (me, Grandma, and my cousin, though Jen and Grandpa are in there too, whether she will admit it or not). Her best friends are The Bean, my cousin's son, and Teagan and Quinn. She will regularly say she is going to any one or several of these people. She also named her new doll Quinny. <3 p="">
She uses the potty/toilet consistently, but still needs reminders as she will wait until the very last second to go. She wears a diaper at naps and bedtime. Naps are hit or miss on whether she'll wake up dry, but she is always wet overnight. I feel like it's going to be a while before she's able to go through the night.

It's a wonder to see the many ways she has grown and changed over the past year(s), but also to see how she has stayed the same. She brings us such joy and we love her more than we could have ever imagined! 

Four and a Half

Sorry to those of you who got the "draft" update.  Stupid Blogger.  Not only ate my post, but posted a draft.  *Grumble*  Please pretend you didn't see that and enjoy this rewritten version.

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...and now we are the parents of a four and a half year old!

The Bean at four and a half is a kid with big ideas and strong opinions who does not like to be told what to do.  He is active and playful and articulate and loving.  Being his parent is a joy and a challenge.  

There is no doubt that language continues to be an area of strength for The Bean.  He is incredibly articulate and has quite a sophisticated vocabulary.  He loves playing with new words.  He also loves making up words, telling us what they mean, and using them in conversation.  

Recently he has started reading, which is just amazing. He's got a good number of sight words (Dolch) and can figure out most CVC words which means that beginning readers are the perfect level for him right now.  Surprisingly, he also seems to be reading some longer/more obscure words. I'm not sure if he's actually reading or just figuring out what things say given the context.  The word "office" comes to mind (a Microsoft Office ad on the computer).  I can't think of others, but it happens fairly frequently.  

Of course, he continues to love books.  He'll happily sit and listen to someone read for as long as they're willing to read to him.  He's also quite content to sit and browse through books on his own.  Journey and Quest have are wordless picture books that have become fast favourites.  He also loves the eeBoo storytelling cards that we picked up for him and Sprout.  Jen is really good at "playing" these with him.

He is very social. He will strike up a conversation with just about anyone. He always has something he wants to share or discuss. He can be a little shy around people he doesn't know, but it doesn't usually take him long to warm up. He's started to take a real interest in his friends and often asks about them and wants us to make plans to get together, whereas before we initiated most of the meet-ups. He seems to gravitate towards older children and girls. It's particularly infatuated with a former student of mine who we've become family friends with. If you ask him who he loves, he always names her first. I should mention that she's nearly three times his age, lives in Chicago and he last saw her in April. *Sigh* I have a feeling this will be the first in a long line of crushes.  

In addition to liking girls, he has been saying fairly consistently for the past six months or so that he wants to be a girl. We're not really sure what to make of it. When we ask him why, he says that "girls are cool" and that he doesn't like being the only one who is different in our family.  We assure him that plenty of boys are cool too, and that we are all different from each other and what makes him different makes him special to us, but that we love him no matter what. He's worn "girl clothes" out a few times and has been pretty instant about growing his hair long like Rapunzel's.  (He wants to be able to stand on the balcony and let it down so our guests can climb up it.) We're trying to be respectful of his wishes and provide guidance. 

He loves pretend play and dressing up. His knight costume is a favourite, especially the sword. Captain America also gets a lot of wear. The biggest pretend play games are "babies" and "school" ...and sometimes "babies go to school." This type of imaginative play definitely wins out over any toys. There really aren't many toys he's very interested in.  Magnatiles got a good bit of attention for a while, but he even seems to be taking a break from those recently. If couch cushions count as toys, those might be his favourite.   

He's incredibly active. His climbing is just crazy. The way he manipulates his body is amazing to watch and he really seems fearless with regards to heights. He also loves to spin, jump, slide, run, splash and ride his bike and scooter. He's becoming much more confident in the water and will submerge his head (briefly) again. He can handle his two-wheeler (with training wheels) quite well. We've been spending lots of time at parks, splash pads and pools. He's been asking to go back to gymnastics, so I'm hoping to get him into a program again this fall.  

He loves music. Recently I've been blown away by his ability to remember both tunes and lyrics to new songs. He's been singing a lot and requests particular CDs to sing along and dance to. His current favourite is his "Welcome to Kindergarten" CD.  

He is SO pumped to be going to school in the fall.  I think he's going to love it. He's completely ready socially and I think the academics will be great for him too.  He's very curious about a number of things -language and geography standing out among them. His fine motor skills are low, pencil grip and penmanship in particular. He can write his name and draw stick people and other basic things, but doesn't seem to have much of an interest in art (though we've noticed he likes to paint objects rather than paper) and has to be encouraged to do any type of writing.  He does enjoy mazes and some kindergarten activity books.  

We're going to have to work on establishing a morning routine. While he loves being out, getting him out the door can be a challenge. He doesn't like having to get dressed or brush his teeth. He also just likes to lounge around and play. He'll get ready quickly when motivated by a fun activity or people he wants to see, but I imagine once the novelty of going to school wears off that we're going to have a bit of a challenge.  

I also anticipate that he's going to miss Sprout. They've become quite close. They get along well about 90% of the time.  The other 10% Sprout doesn't do what The Bean is telling her to and he gets upset. It is the sweetest thing to watch him "look out" for her, though we've noticed that he seems to feel responsible for her and seems to have some anxiety about that in certain situations, so we've been trying to reassure him that Mama and Mommy (or another adult we trust when we're not around) will take care of Sprout and that he doesn't have to worry.  

We've been trying to work on difficult behaviour.  Being bossy. Getting upset when things don't go his way. Being defiant. Blaming others. He's halfway to giving up naps, and he's definitely more difficult the afternoons when he hasn't slept. We also notice a difference when his stomach is bothering him. Difficult behaviours are best managed with lots of one-on-one attention and very calm and patient responses. It's hard sometimes though. Except for the rare occasion we've cut out all TV, movies, tablet and phone. It was becoming a battle every time it was time to turn the device off and just not worthwhile.   

He's still having tummy troubles.  Going completely off dairy has certainly helped and he is doing much better when we're giving him his daily fibre supplement (which we've been bad about since summer began)  I still feel like there's something more going on.  I think we may have him go through full allergy testing. At this point I just want to know what's going on and solve the problems once and for all.  

Despite the  digestive issues, he has been growing.  That said, he is still a peanut.  He's about 40.5in and 33 or 34lbs. He's moving into some 4T clothes, but mostly for length. He can still wear 18m shorts! Made-to-fit pants are a lifesaver. If given a choice, he would wear PJs all day, everyday.  "Zips" (fleece one piece jammies) are his favourite. Even in the 100 degree humidity we've been having. Aside from PJs he goes for cozy sweat pants and superhero t-shirts.   

He's picky about food but will try new things. He eats a lot of cereal and bread.  Nuts are also a favourite. He's so-so with fruits and veggies, meaning that he sticks to the ones he likes. We always swore we wouldn't make a separate meal for the kids, but: Famous Last Words. Otherwise we'd be eating a lot of chicken fingers and macaroni and cheese.

The past (four years and) six months have definitely been busy. There's been a lot of change in our lives and a lot to navigate with those changes. The Bean is a more sensitive kid than I sometimes realize and he definitely wears his heart on his sleeve. As always he's teaching me how to be a better Mama. How to listen and watch and have patience and be gentle but also how to live in the moment and not take things too seriously and smile more and love openly. This kid. My heart. 

No Answers

Or perhaps I should say no definitive answers.

We had a follow up with The Bean's pediatrician today to go over the results of his (second set of) blood work and ultrasound.

The ultrasound didn't show much.   A small blockage, likely because he had to poop, and some swollen lymph nodes in the lower right quadrant of his intestine.  These could be causing some of the pain he's been experiencing.  Unfortunately my question about how we could treat any potential pain resulting from this was met with a big shrug from the doctor.  Dr. Google tells me that warm compresses may help ease discomfort.  Jen started giving him warm compresses for his tummy a few weeks ago.  Score one for mom-tuition.

The blood work was not entirely conclusive.

I didn't get into the details last time, but one of the results that had shown up was anemia without iron deficiency.  Everything looked normal with his red blood cells this time, so we are taking that off the list of potential concerns.

Next there was some indication of eosinophilic enteritis.  Unfortunately something happened with the blood work (I have no idea what) and they didn't have these results yet.  The pediatrician was supposed to call this afternoon after the results came in, but no call.  Which makes me assume no results yet.  Basically they want to check whether the number of eosinophis is still elevated.

The final note worth point on the last set of blood work had to do The Bean's IgA levels.  The results had shown an IgA deficiency.  (They look for IgA antibodies when testing for crohn's/colitis.)  The second set of blood work showed the same thing: IgA deficiency.  There are a few things to note here:
-We will have to do a scope to see if the issues he's having are from crohn's/colitis.
-The doctors (The Bean's pediatrician and the allergist/immunologist he has on staff) want us to do more blood work to test for other Ig deficiencies.
-IgA deficiency is hereditary.  Jen's dad also has IgA deficiency which they discovered when he was diagnosed with bladder cancer last year.  We don't know if Jen does too, but we may request her levels be tested.

We currently have an appointment with a GI specialist schedule for the end of January, which is a horribly long time.  However, since the results are so bizarre, and our pediatrician has no idea what's going on he is going to push to get this bumped up significantly.  We plan on holding off on any further testing until after we see her so as to minimize blood-draw related trauma to The Bean.  He flipped out last time I took him in and we know she will order more  --better to get it over with all in one go.

So, for now, we wait.  Warm compresses on the tummy.  Immediate antibiotic treatment for any infections he may get between now and then.  Washed blood, should he (god forbid) need a blood transfusion.

Hopefully we get some answers soon.

Sick Kid

A few weeks back now The Bean had a terrible stomach virus.  He's never been that sick for that long.  He could barely eat, had zero energy, and was obviously distressed.

After this had been going on for week Jen took The Bean to the urgent care.  Likely a virus, they said, but best to have some labs run anyway.  We also booked an appointment with our pediatrician.  We decided to press (again) to have the ongoing issues his had with his digestive tract looked at more carefully.  

Maybe because of the extreme nature of the virus, or maybe because we've brought it up so many times now, the pediatrician agreed that we should try to get to the bottom of what's been going with the Bean's GI tract.  

We left the office armed with kits to collect stool samples, and requisitions for blood work and ultrasounds.  

It took a few days to get everything done. The Bean was amazing (amazing!) during his blood draw.  Six vials taken by good (but not great) nurses.  Obviously uncomfortable but so, so brave.  He only complained a few times afterwards that it had hurt.  

Yesterday we had the follow up with our pediatrician.  There were some odd and potentially concerning, but not entirely conclusive results.  We are going to repeat the blood work.  Since I accidentally handed in the ultrasound requisition with the last set of blood work, we will take him to SickKids and have everything done there.  

If things come back the same, our pediatrician is going to request our appointment with the GI specialist be bumped up from its current late-January date.  He doesn't have the expertise to know where to go next with this information.  

I am trying to stay away from the computer and search engines that tell me that this could be Bad.  Hopefully we'll have more answers soon.

(In the mean time he is eating and sleeping and running and climbing and singing and chatting chatting chatting and doing all of the usual Bean things.  Surely it can't be that bad, right?)

Quick Update

Wow.  What a whirlwind the past few weeks have been.

Shortly after my last real update, I came down with a wicked migraine (I think?  I'm not prone to them, but it was definitely more than a headache) followed up by a stomach bug that combined left me pretty much incapacitated for a good four days.

Just a few days after I recovered my best friend came to visit.  Oh, I love her so.  An auntie who indulges them in book-after-book is certainly well-loved by the little ones too.  Her visit was not nearly long enough.

The evening she left Sprout was fussing as I was putting her to bed, flailed and scratched my eye with her tiny razor fingernails.  Aside from labour, the pain was the worst I've ever experienced.  I decided a trip to the ER was necessary and after several hours was sent home with an eye patch and instructions to rest in a dark room for two days.  Jen took the day off on Monday and on Tuesday my cousin and aunt helped out in the morning and Jen's mom came in the afternoon.  From Pittsburgh.  (There's a whole other blog post there, but it will have to wait.)  She returned home this morning and we're more-or-less back to normal.  My vision is still a little blurry, but (thank the gods) the pain is gone.

We welcomed a new baby (my brother's daughter) into the world on Tuesday.  The Bean and I took a short visit to the hospital to say hello.  I look forward to more baby snuggles soon.  (The Bean was quite smitten with her and ever-so-sweetly demanded that he should be the one holding her, so I didn't get nearly as much baby time as I would have liked.  When told her name and nickname and asked what he would call her, he responded, "I am going to call her 'honey.'"  Yeah.  I think he's smitten.)

Oh, and on top of all that excitement, The Bean is now home with us for at least four weeks while his daycare provider undergoes radiation for her thyroid cancer.

Given the way things have been lately, I have a feeling the month is going to go fast.  

Sprout is Thirteen Months Old!

Today Sprout is Thirteen Months Old!

Okay, so she's not thirteen months old today, but going on ten days ago... I did actually take her photo on the 24th, but the writing, well it just didn't happen until a few days ago, and the posting, well that's just happening now.  It's been busy here, I suppose.

What an amazing difference a year makes!  Last year we were just getting to know our daughter.  Soaking in all her lovely newborn-ness.  Trying to figure out ourselves as a family of four and now... well now we cannot imagine our family any other way.  We have two increasingly-active children who are so wonderful and bring us so much joy, and who happily seem to adore one another.  That makes us happier than anything.

-This month Sprout decided it was time to start walking in earnest.  She took her first unassisted step, and then two, and then three... and now she's walking across the room.  Still a little unsteady, but fiercely determined!  This girl has places to go and has decided that walking is how she's going to get there!

-Next: talking.  She's quite a little chatterbox these days.  She added the phrase "ni ni" (night night) into her vocabulary.  I was floored one evening when I was nursing her, and she unlatched looked and me and said it --clearly meaning "I am done nursing now.  Rock me night night."  So I did.  I mean, that's what you do when your kid makes a request like that, right?  She now says night night pretty much every time she's going to sleep and when she's being silly and putting her head down pretending to sleep.  She says "bye bye".  And also "eyes" and "nose" and she even can point to them pretty accurately, along with her belly.  She sometimes finds her mouth, ears, hair/head, hands and feet.  She says her brother's name.  And I swear she has copied me saying some pretty amazing words like "alligator."  (Jen didn't believe me either, but then Sprout said it for her.)

-Along with walking she is climbing everything.  Totally dangerous in our not-so-baby-proof house.  She's fallen many times but never walked away with more than a bump, thank goodness.

-This month she has gotten really into books.  She will pick one she wants and bring it over to either me or Jen, often crawling her way into our laps while we read to her.  (Yes, we love it.)  Her favourites seem to be interactive books (touch and feel, lift the flap, and the like --Dear Zoo and Where Is Baby's Belly Button come to mind).  She likes to turn the pages really quickly.

-Her favourite toys are balls, the tunnel and ride on toys.  Nothing new there really.

-No big change on the eating front.  We're into a pretty regular breakfast routine now, where she eats her rice cereal while me and The Bean eat our breakfasts.  She often demands that we share cereal with her.  I don't love that she's eating Cheerios and Honeycombs, but it could be worse.  She's getting pretty good with finger foods now and will often have little bites of our meals --veggies, fish, etc.

-Unfortunately there hasn't been any big change on the sleep front either.  We had gotten her on a bit of a better overnight schedule, but then Jen went away and it went back to where it had been or worse maybe.  We're still working on it.

-We had her twelve month check up earlier in January.  She hardly gained any weight since her 9 month check (21.9lbs to 22.1lbs), but had grown two inches (now 30.9in).  I believe that puts her around 84th percentile for weight and 93rd for height.  I find it interesting that our two kids are on such opposite ends of the spectrum (though both seem to be averaging out ever so slightly).

And, I guess those are the big updates.  I love this age and look forward to the next few months as she continues to expand her ability to communicate and otherwise navigate her way through the world.  And of course, we just love her, no matter what age or stage she is at.

The Bean is Three Years Old!

For the past several months I've been thinking about the fact that we were soon going to have a three year old, but even with the reminders, it's a little unbelievable that today we actually have a three year old.

The Bean is an opinionated, energetic, sweet, silly kid.  In many ways he's the same person he's always been, in other ways he has changed so much in the past year.  

-I'm not going to lie:  2.5 to 3 has been difficult.  Meltdowns, temper tantrums, you name it, we've been there.  He's not happy when he doesn't get his way.  At the same time he can be so incredibly thoughtful and loving.  

-We try to talk to him when he's upset and to get him to explain what he perceives the problem to be so that we can try to find a solution.  Sometimes though, when we ask him what's wrong, he just cries, "I don't know!"  

-He is such a good big brother.  I think he's enjoying that Sprout can interact with him more now.  They're favourite thing to do together is chase each other through and around the tunnel.  The Bean loves giving Sprout big hugs and just the other morning asked me where she was when I went in to get him out of bed, telling me, "I want to hug her.  I just love her so much!"  

-Though he doesn't articulate it, we also know he gets pretty jealous of her at times.  One of his alter-egos is "Baby Blah", who, as I'm sure you've already figured out, needs to be treated just like the other baby in the house (carried, spoon fed, cooed at, etc.).   

-Aside from "Baby Blah", there is "Caramel" (who is five), and "Anthony" (who has a scooter).  The Bean also sometimes pretends to be some of the older boys from daycare.  He loves dressing up in costumes (Spiderman, kitty cat, princess, witches' hat) and pretending too.  Most of his costumes are getting a bit small, we're going to have to seek out some bigger ones for him.

-We have a pretty familiar routine, even if The Bean doesn't always want to adhere to it.  He has a little pictograph of his morning routine posted in his bedroom.  These days a lot of disagreements come because he wants to play rather than do the things we need him do.  On weekdays, he has been saying that he wants to stay home a lot too and he's usually quite happy when it's a Saturday or Sunday and he can "stay home and play".  We know he loves his daycare provider, but we think he misses the older kids who are now all in school during the days and only come for an hour or two at the end of the day and on holidays.  (There are two younger girls there with him during the days, but he really did like interacting with the older kids more than he seems to like the little girls.)  

-These days The Bean loves wearing his PJs and sometimes his robe (which he calls his skirt), but usually needs convincing to wear actual clothes.  He's usually in 24m/2T tops.  Pants are tricky 18-24m pants are STILL big in the waist, but he needs 24m/2T for the length.  We cinch the waist on everything.  Shoes are somewhere around size 6.5.  (He also loves being naked.  What kid doesn't?)

-The little dude weighed in at 29lbs and just over 3 feet tall at his doctor's appointment on Thursday.  I was surprised!  

-He has a clean bill of health.  We're still monitoring the pelviectasis, but it's not a concern at all at this point.  We are pretty sure he has a dairy allergy/sensitivity.  We plan on taking him to an allergist soon to double check and also to make sure that that's the only food allergy/sensitivity we're dealing with.  

-He has become quite a picky eater.  He eats bread, crackers, pasta, etc.  Salami, hot dogs and chicken fingers are about the only meats he'll touch, but he loves hummus and until earlier this week also ate eggs, so he gets protein.  As far as fruits go, he'll eat apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, and watermelon.  I can't think of any vegetables he will eat in a non-pureed form.  We still give him "pouches" everyday since it really is one of the few ways we can get veggies into him.  His beverage of choice is (almond) chocolate milk.  He'll sometimes get water or tea, but we rarely have juice around and I think he's only ever tried a few sips of pop (which we also rarely have around).

-He is daytime potty trained, and has been for quite a few months now (since about the end of the summer).  He still wears a diaper at night, but often wakes up dry.  We sometimes put him in a diaper at nap time.  I think he's only wet his bed once when we haven't, but he seems to sleep better with it on.

-He typically wakes up around 7am, naps from about 2:00-4:30pm when we have to wake him up (less at daycare, as per their schedule) or does not nap at all, and goes to bed around 7:30pm.   

-His language skills are pretty amazing.  He picks up new words so quickly and loves playing with new expressions and phrases.  Just the other day he told me something I had done was "magnificent", a word he learned from the book The Paperbag Princess.  He's also able to rephrase things if someone doesn't understand him.  (His daycare provider is from Uruguay, and he says some words with a bit of a Spanish accent, for example "lamb" in "lum".) Often when he's going to bed at night I can hear him chattering away to himself, singing, rehearsing conversations from shows he's watched or his day's interactions, or just making up stories. 

-He still loves books.  We (especially Jen) still read to him often and he will also flip through the pages of books from his bookshelf.  His favourite stories these days are Pinkalicious and Munschworks (a Robert Munsch treasury).

-He knows how to spell his name and Mama.  :)  He recognizes most of the uppercase letters and seems to understand that letters strung together make words.

-He mostly scribbles, but can draw both vertical and horizontal lines as well as circles.  He has difficulty using scissors.  He likes painting, but doesn't seem to like drawing so much.

-He can count to twenty more-or-less accurately, and seems to understand quantities to five.  If you ask him how much of something he wants (grapes, pretzels, etc.) he always says five.  He also always tries to negotiate for "five more minutes" when we're doing something he doesn't want to stop.

-Aside from dress up and pretend play, he likes to play with balls... everything is a sport to this kid.  He also likes to play with his diggers and have them scoop up blocks.  Cars and trucks in general are big, though he likes it when they "talk" and play out little stories.  Instruments are also HUGE.   He likes water play and being outside.  Actually, I think he would live outside if given the choice.  This (freezing cold and icy) winter has been pretty brutal.

-He seems to enjoy going to the Science Centre and to the Zoo, where we have memberships.  We're not currently enrolled in any classes with him (he did a city run gymnastics earlier this year as well as the swimming program he has been in since he was a baby), but may sign him up for a more structured gymnastics program this spring.  

-His friends are his sister, the other children at daycare, Teagan and Quinn from 2moms2dogs2babies, and his buddy from prenatal class.  He also sometimes plays with my sister's son, who is 15 months younger, but that is more parallel play than interactive.

-He loves to talk, sing and joke.  He's very social, especially around people he knows.  He often asks if he can speak on the phone to whoever happens to call us, and if we can Skype Grandma and Grandpa.

We love him with all our hearts and look forward to all the wonderful things the coming year has in store for him.  

Oh So Quiet

We had snowfall overnight.  With Sprout napping and the Christmas tree all lit up, it feels so quiet.  A second cup of tea is in order, but I hate to get up of the couch to make one.  Plus, I'm sure the little one will be up soon, and I best take advantage of this time to write, if I'm going to write...

It has been a while.

...And with that she woke up.  She is back asleep now.  A little nursing and a little rocking did the trick.  Usually she doesn't go back down in the morning, so this may be a shorter-than-intended updated, but we'll see what I can manage.

And it gave me a chance to get that second cup of tea.

Anyway, I didn't intend on being away from this space for so long.  First The Bean got sick.  We were back and forth to the doctor and up at nights with coughing and stuffy noses.  He recovered just as the others three of us started coming down with the same thing.  We're closing out week two now and hoping that it's over soon.  We're all tired of feeling this way.

In the mean time I fell off the photo challenge wagon.  I haven't been great about taking photos lately at all... I thought the challenge would inspire me a bit, but I guess it was just too, well, challenging.  I think I just need to get back into the habit of keeping the camera close by and taking it with us when we go out.  This is a pretty time of year and The Bean and Sprout are changing so quickly, so hopefully that is inspiration enough.

This past weekend we celebrated Sprout's first birthday.  How we are almost at a year with this little girl, I just don't understand.  It seems like just yesterday we were bringing home our "darling, darling".  Though in many ways it also feels like she has always been here.

And The Bean.  He will excitedly remind you that his birthday is coming next.  He makes us laugh, this little guy.  Everyday he has been reminding us to turn the Christmas lights on and undecorates and redecorates the tree.  Recently he been sitting on his nest, taking care of his eggs (egg shakers that St. Nicholas left).  He talks about friends at preschool and other friends which we are pretty sure he has made up.  He asks us to read him book after book.  He stomps around in his loud boots and roars in his dino pajamas.

We celebrated (American) Thanksgiving in PA.  I believe there were 17 of us around the table.  The kids were doted on by older cousins, aunts and uncles, and of course their grandparents and great grandparents.  Both kids were really good for the long car ride.  Sprout cut her top two incisors while we were there.  We're looking forward to going back at Christmastime.

I'm still job hunting.  My name is on a few sub lists, though I have yet to get a call.  I should probably get on a few more.  I also need to apply to the boards.  This is when the hiring for next fall begins.  It's totally overwhelming and so hard not to feel discouraged.  If I don't find a teaching position I need to figure out what I'm going to do.

Christmas season is upon us.  Most of the gifts have been bought and wrapped.  I'm hoping to get a little bit of holiday baking in.  My best friend requested ginger cookies, and making those for her is the least I can do...

It's taken me into the second nap time to finish this up and there are a lot of around the house chores to get done.  I will try to updated again sooner.

Chicken/Egg?

By all appearances, I have strep throat.

Monday night I came out of the bedroom after settling Sprout to sleep and pretty much collapsed.  Fever and chills.  Throat so sore that I wince when I swallow.  Tonsils the size of golf balls.

I'm feeling just slightly better today.  At least I've been able to eat and drink a little bit.

Maybe this is why I was feeling so run down?  Or, you know, maybe being run down just caught up to me.

(Jen and The Bean are also feeling under the weather, but thankfully Sprout seems unaffected so far.)

Sprout is Nine Months Old!

 Today Sprout is nine months old!

This is coming in a few days late.  Our little girl has been sick (fever, upset stomach) and not sleeping well the past few days.  We're all tired and hoping Sprout is back to her usual sunshine self soon.

This has been a big month for Sprout!  Lots of new things to report on, so I'll get right to it...

-At her 9 month well baby appointment yesterday she weighed in at a whopping 21.9 lbs and 28.9 in.  The pediatrician said that's about the 90th percentile on both counts.  Big girl!  (But nicely balanced in terms of length and weight.)

-No big change in clothing sizes.  Mostly 12m stuff, depending on the brand.  I recently pulled out some fall clothes and even crocheted her a cute new toque.  Yay for woolly baby goodness!

-Barring the past few days while she's been sick, we're into a pretty routine routine.  Up between 6 and 7am, napping from about 8 or 9am until about 10 or 11am, awake for another three hours, and then another shorter nap, and awake until bedtime around 7 or 8pm.  Still awake to nurse frequently overnight, though we have had a few longer stretches earlier in the night, which is wonderful when I actually make it to be early.

-She is consistently eating solids (pureed) every day at dinner.  Meats seem to be her favourite, followed by vegetables and then fruits.  Rice cereal is a no-go, which I'm fine with.  I am trying to add lunch in there as a second meal, but it's been hit or miss so far.

-It seems she's decided that crawling is no longer good enough for her and that she must be standing all.the.time.  She figured out how to pull herself up and within a matter of days started (unsteadily) cruising around.  She also figured out how to crawl "properly," but still does the army crawl about 50% of the time.

-Jen thought I was crazy, but a few weeks ago I swear she said her first word: "Up."  I will usually say "up" before picking her up, and she started repeating it back to me.  I got her to do it for Jen, who at first thought it was a coincidence, but now agrees that she's repeating it back to us.  I think she is also trying to say Mama (for real this time) and it's quite clear that she understand the sign for "milk" as when I'm getting her ready for a nap or bed and she's fussing, when I say and sign "milk" (as in, you'll be getting milk soon") she stops fussing and it often appears she tries to sign it back.  She has also started waving hi and bye and will air kiss, if you air kiss her.  (So cute!)

-She mimics a lot of behaviour --head shaking (especially when we say "no" or "silly", clapping (she waves her arms), bouncing (she will emphatically bounce in her Jolly Jumper if we jump up and down), smiling, etc.

-I've gotten a lot better about reading to her before naps and bedtime, and these days touch-and-feel books are her favourite.  We have one called Farm and she really likes the faux-fur sheepdog page and when we "woof" at her.

-She doesn't seem to have a preference for any given toy right now, aside from things she can pull up on and things she can chew on.

-She loves music and dancing in Mama or Mommy's arms.  Family dance parties have become a fairly regular occurrence.

-Ever the second child, she is usually content to be in the same room as the action, but lets her big brother demand most of the attention.  And goodness does she love that boy.  As he does her. (Though she also gets startled by him quite easily.)

-Still no teeth, though her hand is in her mouth all the time, as evidenced by her monthly photo.

So, a lot of changes this month, and surely a lot to come in the months ahead.  Our love for her grows more quickly than she does.

Reflux?

After being rescheduled twice, we finally got Sprout in to see the pediatrician yesterday afternoon.

It's only been two weeks since we were in for her six month check-up, and we had talked about her vomiting every 3-5 days then, as she had been doing for a few weeks at that point.  His advice was not to worry, and come back only if the frequency increased.  She vomited on thirteen of the subsequent fourteen days.

Anyway, we got all caught up on my concerns and the "what if's..." Thankfully the pediatrician assured me that I am not a nut for being feeling anxious about this, and though he suspects it is nothing serious, would rather be overly cautious than ignore something that might be an issue.

Though it is a bit unusual for symptoms to start presenting so late (usually they clear up as the infant gets older), reflux is the #1 suspicion at this point.  However, he also sent in a requisition for an x-ray and ultrasound at the local children's hospital to make sure there isn't something we're missing.  We leave for PA this weekend, and though I'd love to have some answers before that, it's unlikely that we'll get in for the ultrasound before our departure.  In the mean time we have a prescription for Zantac that I am going to go fill today.

I'm hoping that it is reflux, and believe it could be as Sprout had started doing longer nursing sessions a few weeks ago, but seems to have switched back to smaller and more frequent feedings over the past little bit.  We've also noted that most of the time she is vomiting right after nursing before bed, or she will be unsettled after nursing and then vomit and promptly fall asleep.

Last night was particularly brutal.  She didn't vomit (hurray!), but was fussing until about 3:30am when I finally reswaddled her and put her in her bouncy chair.  I'm exhausted by this, and I feel like she must be too.  She is napping in the bouncy chair now.

  
I, naturally, have been reading up on reflux and GERD trying to figure out what else we can do to help our dear little Sprout.  Chiropractic treatment and liquid calcium seem to rank highly as alternate therapies.  Does anyone out there have any experience with either of these as treatments for reflux?  Fortunately we have a chiropractor and naturopath that we really like, so we'll probably book appointments for as soon as we're back from our visit to the grandparent's, though I hope she's doing much better before then.

Thanks for everyone for their concern and reassurances on my last post about this.  You are all so kind.  I can't tell you how much I appreciated it.

Worried

Right now I am worried.  Something is wrong with our sweet little Sprout.  I have been trying very hard not to worry TOO much, but sometimes I can't help it.

It all started about three weeks ago.  Sprout had been showing an interest in food, so we mashed up some avocado with breastmilk and gave it to her.  She wasn't the most coordinated eater, but she did take a good couple of bites.  Later that day she vomited.  I was concerned, but tried not to panic.  A few days later we gave her some more avocado and she vomited again.  Cue (internalized) panic.

So, perhaps stupidly, I started googling.

Apparently avocado is a latex-based food (who knew?) and as such can trigger an reaction in people with an allergy/sensitivity.  We decided avocado and other latex-based foods were to be avoided.

We tried brown rice cereal.  She vomited again.

We made the decision not to try any other "solids" until she had been vomit-free for a few days.  Well, she seemed to be vomiting every three to five days, so no more solids have been introduced.

At her six month appointment last week we mentioned it to our pediatrician.  He tends to take a wait-and-see approach, so we weren't surprised when he said he thought we should just continue to monitor things and track them, and if we noticed an increase in frequency, to come back in.

Since then she has been vomiting daily.

My mind is all over the place wondering what's wrong.  Maybe it is a food allergy, maybe it's a reaction to something I'm eating, maybe she's over-eating, she's had a cold the past week so it could be post-nasal drip causing stomach upset, or it could be motion sickness from being in the car, or it could be any combination of these things.  I've also worried it could be salmonella poisoning (from the cat, who has salmonella) or leukemia (which runs in my family), but try not to let my mind go there.

Anyway, we have an appointment on Sunday at the pediatricians' office.  I hope we get some answers.  Or better yet, I hope she stops vomiting before then and we don't.  

Sprout is Four Months Old!

Today Sprout is four months old!

Look at this sunshine baby!

-Sprout continues to be an overall happy and easy going baby.  I think we're getting pretty good at reading her tired cues, and we try to be respectful of them, putting her down when she asks.  Really, we're all happier this way.

-She will still fall asleep in the Ergo when we're out and about if the hood is up, but she is getting to the point where she doesn't want to miss anything.  This is also starting to cause some difficulty nursing when we're out.  She gets very distracted wanting to look around rather than eat until her tummy is nice and full.

-Her schedule hasn't changed much over the past month.  She usually wakes up around 6:30/7:00am and naps for about 45 minutes every 1.5-2 hours.  We put her to be around 7:30/8:00pm, but she wakes up every 2 or 3 hours overnight and nurses.  It's tiring and I totally get jealous when people talk about their similarly-aged-children sleeping 4 or 5 hours or even through the night (inconceivable!) but at least I know what to expect.

-We've tried to give her a pacifier (two different kinds) to see if that would help her cycle for longer sleep times, but she won't take them.  She ends up chewing on them or just pushing them out of her mouth with her tongue.


-She also won't take a bottle, but we're trying to give one to her more often (well, Jen is) in the hopes that she'll get the hang of it.  I've started pumping some evenings to build up a stored milk supply.

-She is very obviously thriving.  She weighed in at 16.3lbs and is 25.4in.  Top percentiles again.

-She is now in 3-6m tops and 6m pants (cloth diaper bum!).  There are some exceptions since baby clothing sizing is terribly inconsistent  but overall these sizes seem to be working.  Disposable diapers are size 3.

-Her looks haven't changed much.  Her hair is growing in more, so the hawk is not always as noticeable.  Her hair colour is a dark auburny-brown.  Her eyes are still light and look bluish but may go green.  It's hard to tell.  Her skin is pale, but she has nice rosy cheeks.

-And oh those cheeks!  They are so lovely and round.  Especially when she smiles.  And she is full of smiles for people talking to her and being silly with her.  She loves it when we "run" her legs, give her kisses on her neck, sing to her (The Grand Old Duke of York is a new favourite), or hold her up and shake her.

-Her dislikes are pretty limited, but loud noises and her brother falling on top of her seem to top the list.

-We've been going to a city run music class on Monday afternoons which she seems to be enjoying.  I think she likes the songs and she seems pretty intrigued by the other babies.  There's no class in May though, so we're going to start a different program and see how it goes.

-Most days that the weather has been nice I've been taking her for a walk in the morning.  I usually strap her into the Ergo and off we go for a half hour or an hour.  Sometimes we see if my sister and her son want to come along.  Sometimes we pop by my aunt's and visit with her and my Nana.  But a most of the time the two of us just walk around the neighbourhood chatting about the things we see.

-I try to get us out at least one other day a week.  Often we just run errands, but it's nice when we see friends.  I know it's really more for me that Sprout at this point, but that's okay.  I need some stimulation too.

-She likes to look at herself in the mirror on her playmat and grabs for the toys that hang from it.  She also holds the O-ball and tries to get it into her mouth.  She's not terribly interested in many toys.

- She still can't quite roll over, but gets onto her side pretty consistently.  She is increasingly tolerant of tummy time, perhaps even enjoying it on occasion.  Her head control is getting better and better.

-We're okay to start trying her on food at any point now, but are holding off because she doesn't seem to have the tongue control down yet.

In other words she's doing all the usual four month old stuff.  Even though we've been through it before, it is still such a joy and a wonder to see her grow, interact, and learn new things everyday!