Over the Christmas break, we were all pretty sick. My plans for the break quickly went out the door, and TV, couch time, bed time, and lots of nasal rinses occurred. There was also alot of coughing, especially for me who would cough so hard my stomach and side muscles would hurt. Once I started feeling better, I decided to jump straight into work-outs with Kim (since I hadn't been been able to run). Well, apparently working out and coughing had some side effects. I wound up with strained muscles in my back, right under my shoulder blade. I tried ice, relaxing, etc. After 2 weeks, I gave up and called my Myopractics guy (he's the best healer I have!) As he was working on me, he said that coughing sometimes can move a rib and you feel the pain at the connection points. I felt pain all over, but apparently that was because my hips had moved into a very funky position - my left hip was tilted backwards, my right hip was tilted forward. So he worked on those first (as he always does). And then he worked up my back trying to loosen the muscles. He said there was a lot of inflammation. Once the hips and the back muscles were better, he worked through other parts - the attachment points around the ribs, my diaphragm muscles, etc. While working through all those, he found that I probably fractured (or ripped or tore whatever the term may be) some cartilage by my sternum. He said that's not uncommon and it will heal.
So, I walked away, still in pain (because apparently when it comes to ribs, the pain doesn't go away for a couple of days), and with the knowledge that I coughed myself into a broken rib (sorta). Is this a sign of old age? This is horrible!! We'll see how well I heal. I may have to go back for another visit, but we'll see come Monday.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Natalie's 15 Month Update
Natalie just had her 15th month checkup and all is good. She has a whole mouthful of teeth (it's crazy) and is now changing her growing curve. Instead of being in the 80th plus percentile in height and weight, she has dropped significantly and is down to 66th percentile in hight, but 3rd percentile in weight! We have discussed her weight on several visits now, but the pediatrician has finally said she is not concerned because of all the foods she eats and the fact that she is still growing in height. (1" in the last 3 months). She does eat a ton. She can eat an entire chicken & apple sausage (skin included) and cry for more. If we let her, she would probably eat 5 bananas in a sitting. (We limit her to 1 a day). She has eaten and entire container of blueberries in one sitting before. The girls eats full meals 6-8 times a day. Calorie intake is definitely not a problem!
We are also closely watching her words. She has a lot of words, but they are very unclear. Our family and Molly understand her words, based on context and her beginning word sounds (which is typically the whole word for her). But other people probably wouldn't understand. The pediatrician said she should clearly have a handful of words in the next three months or we will be doing some hearing tests. Of course, Natalie understands a great deal, so I question whether there is a hearing issue, but I'm fine with conducting tests if there are indications of a problem. We can tell her "Go find sissy in the green room" and she will take off across the house to the green room and look for Alli.
Of course, one day after the doctor visit and she started saying "Ma" clear as day. Not Mama, but Ma. I'm good with Ma. And then Molly said she swears she said "iPad" clear as day yesterday. I told her Kim would be thrilled, but there is no way "iPad" is going down as her first clear word. So I say "Ma". And of course Kim says "iPad", even though none of us have heard it yet except Molly. And of course Alli, Ms. non-biased 5 year old, corrects all of us and tells us that Natalie's first clear word was "No", which is probably the most accurate account.
So here are her stats:
Height: 31" (66th percentile)
Weight: 19.2 lbs (3rd percentil)
Head Circum: 45-1/2 cm (37th percentile)
Yes, still not quite at 20 lbs, so we are keeping her rear facing in the car seats. She doesn't seem to mind, and she doesn't look too uncomfortable. I know we kept Alli rear facing until about 18months when we noticed she was craning her neck to look out the window and we figured that would do more damage than turning her around. We are waiting for Nat to start doing the same and then she will be flipped right away. We'll see what happens. Natalie is typically entertained by her sister, not things outside the window.
We are also closely watching her words. She has a lot of words, but they are very unclear. Our family and Molly understand her words, based on context and her beginning word sounds (which is typically the whole word for her). But other people probably wouldn't understand. The pediatrician said she should clearly have a handful of words in the next three months or we will be doing some hearing tests. Of course, Natalie understands a great deal, so I question whether there is a hearing issue, but I'm fine with conducting tests if there are indications of a problem. We can tell her "Go find sissy in the green room" and she will take off across the house to the green room and look for Alli.
Of course, one day after the doctor visit and she started saying "Ma" clear as day. Not Mama, but Ma. I'm good with Ma. And then Molly said she swears she said "iPad" clear as day yesterday. I told her Kim would be thrilled, but there is no way "iPad" is going down as her first clear word. So I say "Ma". And of course Kim says "iPad", even though none of us have heard it yet except Molly. And of course Alli, Ms. non-biased 5 year old, corrects all of us and tells us that Natalie's first clear word was "No", which is probably the most accurate account.
So here are her stats:
Height: 31" (66th percentile)
Weight: 19.2 lbs (3rd percentil)
Head Circum: 45-1/2 cm (37th percentile)
Yes, still not quite at 20 lbs, so we are keeping her rear facing in the car seats. She doesn't seem to mind, and she doesn't look too uncomfortable. I know we kept Alli rear facing until about 18months when we noticed she was craning her neck to look out the window and we figured that would do more damage than turning her around. We are waiting for Nat to start doing the same and then she will be flipped right away. We'll see what happens. Natalie is typically entertained by her sister, not things outside the window.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Saturday, December 14, 2013
My Has the Family Changed!
I knew I hadn't blogged in a while, but wow! I whole month?!? Things have changed.
Alli is about the same. I mean, she's 5, so life doesn't change very quickly on her in a month. She just recently started getting an allowance. Her chores are to set the table, to pack her backpack in the mornings, and to hang it up after school. And she makes $2/week. This all stemmed from some dance pictures that were taken of her during class. She wanted to buy them, I didn't have money on me that night. So she was going to give me money to help and I told her I wouldn't take her money at all unless she had a way of making money to replenish it. (Of course, she wanted to buy $60 worth of pictures!) She actually mentioned that some kids in her class get an allowance, so I told her that would be fine, but we also discussed that in general, you should do things around the house because you are part of a family, and not because you get paid to do it. She hasn't stopped helping in other areas, so I think we are good there (for now).
Natalie has gone through many stages to become a bonafide toddler. She went from furniture surfing, so getting brave and taking a few steps in between the furniture, to walking many steps between furniture or a wall, to letting go of furniture and going to the middle of the room to pick a toy off the floor and then going back to the furniture.... Yes, many stages. The thing that turned her into a bonafide walker was gymnastics. We were there while Alli was in class and I told Molly that I needed to get a video of Natalie walking with her arms up for balance cause it would go away soon. So Molly whipped out her phone and started calling for Nat. So Nat started walking towards Molly, and with video rolling, decided she didn't need to hang on to anything anymore and just kept walking around and around. She then put her arms down for balance and was holding her belly, like "look at me! no hands!" So, go figure. The old video camera peer pressured her! Now we get the pleasure of coming home from work and having a happy little toddler walk down the hallway saying "Hi....hi....hi...." and then landing on us for a big hug. OH I LOVE IT!!!
We are trying to prepare for Christmas. Between figuring out gifts, shopping, working, and trying to get 120 cards in the mail, we are busy. Oh and the cards this year? Not so easy. The printer ran out of ink - twice! I ran out of address label stickers and have to purchase more. I still haven't bought all my stamps because the post office's automated machine will only let you purchase $40 at a time with a credit card... All these road blocks!! What's up with that!?!? It's not that I'm actually "ready" with my production line of card mailing, but still! (Yes, I'm OCD in that respect. I have to set up my whole production line before I begin. I could very well have gotten a few cards done, but no. If I don't have the means to finish all of them, I have no desire to start. What's up with me?!?!)
Oh, and one more item on the agenda. We are working with a landscape architect to fix a few issues with our pool, to re-flagstone our patio deck, and to finally put a railing up along the patio edge. My goal is to have it complete before swim season next year. We are still waiting on some bids and my fingers are crossed it all comes in within our budget. It would look so amazing, and I would finally not be so worried of Alli accidentally tripping and falling off the edge onto jagged rocks below!
Alli is about the same. I mean, she's 5, so life doesn't change very quickly on her in a month. She just recently started getting an allowance. Her chores are to set the table, to pack her backpack in the mornings, and to hang it up after school. And she makes $2/week. This all stemmed from some dance pictures that were taken of her during class. She wanted to buy them, I didn't have money on me that night. So she was going to give me money to help and I told her I wouldn't take her money at all unless she had a way of making money to replenish it. (Of course, she wanted to buy $60 worth of pictures!) She actually mentioned that some kids in her class get an allowance, so I told her that would be fine, but we also discussed that in general, you should do things around the house because you are part of a family, and not because you get paid to do it. She hasn't stopped helping in other areas, so I think we are good there (for now).
Natalie has gone through many stages to become a bonafide toddler. She went from furniture surfing, so getting brave and taking a few steps in between the furniture, to walking many steps between furniture or a wall, to letting go of furniture and going to the middle of the room to pick a toy off the floor and then going back to the furniture.... Yes, many stages. The thing that turned her into a bonafide walker was gymnastics. We were there while Alli was in class and I told Molly that I needed to get a video of Natalie walking with her arms up for balance cause it would go away soon. So Molly whipped out her phone and started calling for Nat. So Nat started walking towards Molly, and with video rolling, decided she didn't need to hang on to anything anymore and just kept walking around and around. She then put her arms down for balance and was holding her belly, like "look at me! no hands!" So, go figure. The old video camera peer pressured her! Now we get the pleasure of coming home from work and having a happy little toddler walk down the hallway saying "Hi....hi....hi...." and then landing on us for a big hug. OH I LOVE IT!!!
We are trying to prepare for Christmas. Between figuring out gifts, shopping, working, and trying to get 120 cards in the mail, we are busy. Oh and the cards this year? Not so easy. The printer ran out of ink - twice! I ran out of address label stickers and have to purchase more. I still haven't bought all my stamps because the post office's automated machine will only let you purchase $40 at a time with a credit card... All these road blocks!! What's up with that!?!? It's not that I'm actually "ready" with my production line of card mailing, but still! (Yes, I'm OCD in that respect. I have to set up my whole production line before I begin. I could very well have gotten a few cards done, but no. If I don't have the means to finish all of them, I have no desire to start. What's up with me?!?!)
Oh, and one more item on the agenda. We are working with a landscape architect to fix a few issues with our pool, to re-flagstone our patio deck, and to finally put a railing up along the patio edge. My goal is to have it complete before swim season next year. We are still waiting on some bids and my fingers are crossed it all comes in within our budget. It would look so amazing, and I would finally not be so worried of Alli accidentally tripping and falling off the edge onto jagged rocks below!
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Alli is done with the belly button / Natalie is SOOO close to walking
From the time Alli was born, she played with her belly button. Skin on skin - don't you hide it under clothing! It was her comfort to put her back to sleep. We had to buy snap-up pajamas and leave a snap open so she could get her finger in there and find her belly button. This is what I remember, and this is what I never want to forget.
As she grew older, the playing with her belly button grew more as a signal that she was tired. Yes, she would walk around in her cute little dresses and then joist them above her waste so she could play with her belly button. I remember thinking that she had better grow out of that!! :) And she did. Soon it was only at night, before bed and while she was lying in bed. And tonight, as I laid with her in her bed and rubbed her back, I realized that the belly button wasn't needed. In fact, I realized that she hadn't needed her belly button in a while, but I can't really remember when it stopped. I know she started kindergarten playing with it, so I suppose it's been a recent development.
Our little girl is maturing, but I never want to forget her special baby characteristics.
And speaking of maturing, Natalie decided to be a bit more daring in her walking. She now will surf from sofa to ottoman to sofa, taking a few steps in between objects to get to where she wants to go. Getting brave, but not yet ready to tackle the whole endeavor on her own. She did make progress today when we were outside and I wound up walking her around only holding 1 hand. (She had a duck watering can in the other, so clearly she couldn't use it to hold on to me!) And she did great. Her balance is really there. It's only a matter of days or weeks. And I'm excited for her, and nervous about another stage passing as our family matures.
I never want to forget these moments, but I know I will. This blog is great though for looking back!
As she grew older, the playing with her belly button grew more as a signal that she was tired. Yes, she would walk around in her cute little dresses and then joist them above her waste so she could play with her belly button. I remember thinking that she had better grow out of that!! :) And she did. Soon it was only at night, before bed and while she was lying in bed. And tonight, as I laid with her in her bed and rubbed her back, I realized that the belly button wasn't needed. In fact, I realized that she hadn't needed her belly button in a while, but I can't really remember when it stopped. I know she started kindergarten playing with it, so I suppose it's been a recent development.
Our little girl is maturing, but I never want to forget her special baby characteristics.
And speaking of maturing, Natalie decided to be a bit more daring in her walking. She now will surf from sofa to ottoman to sofa, taking a few steps in between objects to get to where she wants to go. Getting brave, but not yet ready to tackle the whole endeavor on her own. She did make progress today when we were outside and I wound up walking her around only holding 1 hand. (She had a duck watering can in the other, so clearly she couldn't use it to hold on to me!) And she did great. Her balance is really there. It's only a matter of days or weeks. And I'm excited for her, and nervous about another stage passing as our family matures.
I never want to forget these moments, but I know I will. This blog is great though for looking back!
Monday, November 4, 2013
That's ENOUGH!
Last week, our precious little daughter sent us over the edge. Two nights in a row of keeping us up hours at a time because she wanted to be held while sleeping. And when I say keeping us up, she was snoring one of the times that I put her back in the crib and she immediately woke up and started crying again. SNORING!! Argh!! So, I started reading and formulated a gameplan.
The gameplan:
1) Get Alli out of the room so the baby could cry all she wanted to and I wouldn't worry about waking Alli up. We had thought about moving the baby to a different room, but then I thought that we might have another adjustment period after getting her back into her crib, so we decided to give Alli a special treat and let her sleep on a blow-up mattress in our room. She loved it!
2) Change our whole night time routine around. I realized that every time Natalie woke up in the night, she basically expected the whole night time routine again to put her back to sleep - bottle of water, fall asleep in mommy's lap, then put into the crib. So, to change her "middle of the night" expectations, I figured I would start by creating new "going to bed" expectations. I wound up changing the night routine to, give her 3 oz of water, hug and kiss her, and then put her in the crib and tell her to go to sleep.
3) Let her cry. With no fear of Alli waking up because of a wailing baby, we let Natalie cry much longer. So, the general rule was, let her cry for 5 minutes. If the crying level remained constant after 5 minutes, go in and try to calm her down. No picking her up. She was always standing at the side of the crib, so I would lean over and hug her, stroke her head, talk to her. She usually did not calm down, but I did that for a minute and then walked out again. Repeat for as long as the 5 minute interval had constant crying. I did find that after a while, she would cry, then stop, then cry. Once she got herself to that point, me going in just made things worse.
And so what happened? The first night, it took 45 minutes to get her to sleep. She woke up at 1am and cried, but wound down before the 5 minutes was up, so I never went in. At 4am, it was a different story, and we played the 5 minute game on and off til about 6am. (There were a couple of times in there that she feel asleep for 20 or 30 minutes before getting up and crying again. It was weird.) But then she fell asleep at 6am and slept til 7:30. Woohoo!!!
The second night when I put her to bed, she cried for just under 5 minutes, so I never even went back in. She woke up once at 3am crying, but I probably was to blame for that. I had gone in to check on her and put a blanket over her and she woke up. Talk about a guilty feeling sitting outside her door listening to her crying and knowing that I caused it. Agh! But she settled down before 5 minutes and went back to sleep. She slept til 6:30.
The third night when I put her to bed, she cried for maybe a minute. We heard one cry out of her at 11pm, which might have just been a very vocal rolling over. And she slept til 7:20am!!! YES!!! I WON!!!!
We are ready to move Alli back into the bedroom, much to her disappointment. By the way, because Alli is sleeping in our room, *she* is sleeping in later. Sigh. Maybe we'll have to do that on weekends just so we can feel like we get to sleep in! ;) haha
The gameplan:
1) Get Alli out of the room so the baby could cry all she wanted to and I wouldn't worry about waking Alli up. We had thought about moving the baby to a different room, but then I thought that we might have another adjustment period after getting her back into her crib, so we decided to give Alli a special treat and let her sleep on a blow-up mattress in our room. She loved it!
2) Change our whole night time routine around. I realized that every time Natalie woke up in the night, she basically expected the whole night time routine again to put her back to sleep - bottle of water, fall asleep in mommy's lap, then put into the crib. So, to change her "middle of the night" expectations, I figured I would start by creating new "going to bed" expectations. I wound up changing the night routine to, give her 3 oz of water, hug and kiss her, and then put her in the crib and tell her to go to sleep.
3) Let her cry. With no fear of Alli waking up because of a wailing baby, we let Natalie cry much longer. So, the general rule was, let her cry for 5 minutes. If the crying level remained constant after 5 minutes, go in and try to calm her down. No picking her up. She was always standing at the side of the crib, so I would lean over and hug her, stroke her head, talk to her. She usually did not calm down, but I did that for a minute and then walked out again. Repeat for as long as the 5 minute interval had constant crying. I did find that after a while, she would cry, then stop, then cry. Once she got herself to that point, me going in just made things worse.
And so what happened? The first night, it took 45 minutes to get her to sleep. She woke up at 1am and cried, but wound down before the 5 minutes was up, so I never went in. At 4am, it was a different story, and we played the 5 minute game on and off til about 6am. (There were a couple of times in there that she feel asleep for 20 or 30 minutes before getting up and crying again. It was weird.) But then she fell asleep at 6am and slept til 7:30. Woohoo!!!
The second night when I put her to bed, she cried for just under 5 minutes, so I never even went back in. She woke up once at 3am crying, but I probably was to blame for that. I had gone in to check on her and put a blanket over her and she woke up. Talk about a guilty feeling sitting outside her door listening to her crying and knowing that I caused it. Agh! But she settled down before 5 minutes and went back to sleep. She slept til 6:30.
The third night when I put her to bed, she cried for maybe a minute. We heard one cry out of her at 11pm, which might have just been a very vocal rolling over. And she slept til 7:20am!!! YES!!! I WON!!!!
We are ready to move Alli back into the bedroom, much to her disappointment. By the way, because Alli is sleeping in our room, *she* is sleeping in later. Sigh. Maybe we'll have to do that on weekends just so we can feel like we get to sleep in! ;) haha
Friday, November 1, 2013
No More Milk...
I'm finally over the whole breast milk weaning fiasco, but I figured documenting the process was necessary.
Weaning Alli was very gradual. We were both ready and I don't really recall anything special happening. It was uneventful. Weaning Natalie was forced, due to our trip to Italy. I let her nurse at night as long as I possibly could, and then I had to cut her off to give my body a chance to get used to the change. Because I'm worried about rotting teeth, we transitioned her to water at night instead of any milk. I had hopes that this would also change her mind about waking up through the night if she were only getting water. Well, *that* was not true. She *loves* the water. Go figure!
So, I cut her off 2 nights before we left. Water was fine, so I guess that was good. Meanwhile, she was happy and my body was having a hard time. I pumped right before we left for Italy, and started wearing green cabbage in my bra to keep the engorgement down to a minimum. And then I crossed my fingers and flew across the world...
Our first day in Italy was painful. I told some of the women we were traveling with that I might actually have to find a breast pump, or a head of green cabbage. As we wandered the streets of Rome, we came across a vegetable stand and I bought myself a head of green cabbage. The lady assured me it would make great salads, but I had different ideas... I spent the first day in Rome walking the city with grocery bag containing a head of green cabbage. When we finally stopped at a restaurant, I went in and stuffed my bra. Ahhhh, relief.
That cabbage stayed in all our hotel rooms. Every night after touring I would stuff my bra. Every morning I would put a fresh batch in, and then remove them for our day of touring. By the 4th day of the trip, I had a lump that was so painful it hurt to carry my purse. But what could I do! I just kept wearing my cabbage.... By our very last night of the trip, I finally had relief and felt I didn't need my cabbage anymore.
We flew home, and 24 hours after we started traveling, we got to see the girls. Natalie woke up, saw me, and immediately started pounding on my chest to get some milk. I figured I didn't care if she nursed - I missed her and I missed the cuddling that goes with the nursing. So I let her nurse. But to her surprise, I was done. Within that 24 hours of traveling, I had completely dried up (and I think I shrank at least 1 bra size!) She tried a few more times throughout the night, but finally relented to just water. We are weaned...
Now I have to get her off of so much water. She loves the feeling of the liquid so much that she'll drink sometimes 25 ounces of water through the night and need to be changed 3-4 times with diapers that are so full they roll up to the size of a large grapefruit. Now I have to figure out how to wean her from that!
Weaning Alli was very gradual. We were both ready and I don't really recall anything special happening. It was uneventful. Weaning Natalie was forced, due to our trip to Italy. I let her nurse at night as long as I possibly could, and then I had to cut her off to give my body a chance to get used to the change. Because I'm worried about rotting teeth, we transitioned her to water at night instead of any milk. I had hopes that this would also change her mind about waking up through the night if she were only getting water. Well, *that* was not true. She *loves* the water. Go figure!
So, I cut her off 2 nights before we left. Water was fine, so I guess that was good. Meanwhile, she was happy and my body was having a hard time. I pumped right before we left for Italy, and started wearing green cabbage in my bra to keep the engorgement down to a minimum. And then I crossed my fingers and flew across the world...
Our first day in Italy was painful. I told some of the women we were traveling with that I might actually have to find a breast pump, or a head of green cabbage. As we wandered the streets of Rome, we came across a vegetable stand and I bought myself a head of green cabbage. The lady assured me it would make great salads, but I had different ideas... I spent the first day in Rome walking the city with grocery bag containing a head of green cabbage. When we finally stopped at a restaurant, I went in and stuffed my bra. Ahhhh, relief.
That cabbage stayed in all our hotel rooms. Every night after touring I would stuff my bra. Every morning I would put a fresh batch in, and then remove them for our day of touring. By the 4th day of the trip, I had a lump that was so painful it hurt to carry my purse. But what could I do! I just kept wearing my cabbage.... By our very last night of the trip, I finally had relief and felt I didn't need my cabbage anymore.
We flew home, and 24 hours after we started traveling, we got to see the girls. Natalie woke up, saw me, and immediately started pounding on my chest to get some milk. I figured I didn't care if she nursed - I missed her and I missed the cuddling that goes with the nursing. So I let her nurse. But to her surprise, I was done. Within that 24 hours of traveling, I had completely dried up (and I think I shrank at least 1 bra size!) She tried a few more times throughout the night, but finally relented to just water. We are weaned...
Now I have to get her off of so much water. She loves the feeling of the liquid so much that she'll drink sometimes 25 ounces of water through the night and need to be changed 3-4 times with diapers that are so full they roll up to the size of a large grapefruit. Now I have to figure out how to wean her from that!
Happy Halloween!
This year, Alli wanted the whole family to go as a "scary" family. Specifically, she wanted to be a vampire bat. We had a black cat costume for Natalie, and so we got some witch stuff for mommy. Daddy had a Jason mask and a machete from years past, so that was our scary family.
Pictures didn't work very well because we didn't get Natalie dressed til after dinner and it was already dark outside, but here's our girls. Natalie really does have a tail, and Alli has a beautiful dress on under that cape!
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Natalie at 1 years old
So this is a little late, but better late than never. Natalie turned one back on Oct. 5. We had a small "family" party for her, which included Molly and the Belt family. She absolutely *loved* her cupcake. :)
Yesterday she went for her 1 year checkup. Here are her stats:
Height: 30 inches (73rd percentile)
Weight: 19 lbs (12th percentile)
Head: 45 cm (44th percentile)
Yes, weight has taken a dramatic drop. In fact, since her last checkup 3 months ago, she grew a whole inch but only gained ounces in weight. Because of that, we are now going in for a weight check in another 6 weeks. I think a lot of it has to do with weaning her from breast milk. All of that milk I had saved and we have virtually run out. She just doesn't drink the other milk the same, so she isn't getting that many calories. On another note, she is eating lots of solids - 2-3 jars of food a day! But she also likes chicken and turkey, so we try to stock that protein for her.
Natalie doesn't use many words. She has lots of sounds, but she really isn't that interested in using words. I'm waiting for her to explode into sentences. She knows what she wants, and she's able to communicate her wants pretty well with pointing, crying, and giggling.
And despite my thoughts of her walking all over when we got back from Italy, she saved her steps for us. She hasn't done much walking while we were gone, but is now taking 4-5 steps at a time towards us since we have been home. She stands, balanced, by herself for long periods of time, even with things in her hands and her concentration on other things.
Yesterday she went for her 1 year checkup. Here are her stats:
Height: 30 inches (73rd percentile)
Weight: 19 lbs (12th percentile)
Head: 45 cm (44th percentile)
Yes, weight has taken a dramatic drop. In fact, since her last checkup 3 months ago, she grew a whole inch but only gained ounces in weight. Because of that, we are now going in for a weight check in another 6 weeks. I think a lot of it has to do with weaning her from breast milk. All of that milk I had saved and we have virtually run out. She just doesn't drink the other milk the same, so she isn't getting that many calories. On another note, she is eating lots of solids - 2-3 jars of food a day! But she also likes chicken and turkey, so we try to stock that protein for her.
Natalie doesn't use many words. She has lots of sounds, but she really isn't that interested in using words. I'm waiting for her to explode into sentences. She knows what she wants, and she's able to communicate her wants pretty well with pointing, crying, and giggling.
And despite my thoughts of her walking all over when we got back from Italy, she saved her steps for us. She hasn't done much walking while we were gone, but is now taking 4-5 steps at a time towards us since we have been home. She stands, balanced, by herself for long periods of time, even with things in her hands and her concentration on other things.
Friday, October 4, 2013
I'm Not Ready!!!
That seems to be a common theme for me lately in our house, but I'm especially feeling it this week as I look at the month ahead...
This weekend (tomorrow) is Natalie's 1st birthday! I'M NOT READY!!! I mean, we have presents, and will have cupcakes, and I'll figure out food tomorrow morning, but I'm just NOT READY for Natalie to be 1!!!
Next Friday Kim and I fly off to Italy for 8 days. I'M NOT READY!!! I mean, we have almost all of the stuff we need to bring on the trip, and reservations made, and all of that good stuff, but I'm just NOT READY to leave the girls for such a long time.
Because we are leaving for Italy, I am weaning Natalie off of me and to bottles only, round the clock. NEITHER OF US ARE READY!!! It's hard for me to get up and grab a bottle when I could just feed her myself. She also is not ready, as evidenced by her pushing the bottle of breast milk away and hitting my chest to show me where she wants the "mommy's milk" from. This has truly been the hardest thing I've had to wrestle with emotionally. I feel horrible weaning her early. But I also know that I don't want to pump through our vacation, and even if I did, the chance of her going back to nursing after 9 days of being with a bottle is just a step backward. The timing just seems horrible, but we will get through it, ready or not!
And speaking of milk, you know my exploding freezer full of all that stored milk? I'm counting the ounces now. She gets almond milk during the day, and only breast milk first thing in the morning and before bed. I'm hoping with that we get another 2 weeks, and then I'm completely out! Ugh. I'M NOT READY to be out of Mommy's Milk!!
Halloween. Yes, it's a whole month away. But we are gone the next 2 weekends, which puts our first full weekend back the last weekend of October, when everyone is having their Halloween parties. Halloween? I'M NOT READY! So this weekend we are going to the Halloween store to see if we can get our costumes ready (as if we don't have enough on our plate already!)
So, what do I have to say about the whole month of October this year? I'M NOT READY!!!!
This weekend (tomorrow) is Natalie's 1st birthday! I'M NOT READY!!! I mean, we have presents, and will have cupcakes, and I'll figure out food tomorrow morning, but I'm just NOT READY for Natalie to be 1!!!
Next Friday Kim and I fly off to Italy for 8 days. I'M NOT READY!!! I mean, we have almost all of the stuff we need to bring on the trip, and reservations made, and all of that good stuff, but I'm just NOT READY to leave the girls for such a long time.
Because we are leaving for Italy, I am weaning Natalie off of me and to bottles only, round the clock. NEITHER OF US ARE READY!!! It's hard for me to get up and grab a bottle when I could just feed her myself. She also is not ready, as evidenced by her pushing the bottle of breast milk away and hitting my chest to show me where she wants the "mommy's milk" from. This has truly been the hardest thing I've had to wrestle with emotionally. I feel horrible weaning her early. But I also know that I don't want to pump through our vacation, and even if I did, the chance of her going back to nursing after 9 days of being with a bottle is just a step backward. The timing just seems horrible, but we will get through it, ready or not!
And speaking of milk, you know my exploding freezer full of all that stored milk? I'm counting the ounces now. She gets almond milk during the day, and only breast milk first thing in the morning and before bed. I'm hoping with that we get another 2 weeks, and then I'm completely out! Ugh. I'M NOT READY to be out of Mommy's Milk!!
Halloween. Yes, it's a whole month away. But we are gone the next 2 weekends, which puts our first full weekend back the last weekend of October, when everyone is having their Halloween parties. Halloween? I'M NOT READY! So this weekend we are going to the Halloween store to see if we can get our costumes ready (as if we don't have enough on our plate already!)
So, what do I have to say about the whole month of October this year? I'M NOT READY!!!!
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