T

is for tongue

Daycare difficulties

It seems that Ya's two week vacation-turned-illness has left his daycare attendants at a loss for how to feed him. Something so basic as using the provided frozen bottles of breast milk has suddenly become an impossible task. Perhaps it is my fault. I mean, I did provide a container of formula mix labeled "For Emergencies Only" and a bottle of water. But seriously, I intended the mix for emergencies - times when I come later than my 2:30 p.m. pick up and Ya needs a hold over meal.

And then there is the issue of over-feeding. If you give a baby a Stage 2 container of veggies/fruits at 11 a.m., he's not going to accept a bottle twenty minutes later. Ya's little tummy would explode, and he rightly refuses to eat whatever they give him. Yesterday, apparently, that was the sole bottle of breast milk they attempted to feed him, so now I am told he refuses all breast milk unless formula is mixed in (yuck, and not according to feeding instructions of mine or the formula company).

Who on earth would prefer the nasty smelling, thick concoction that is formula over the smooth and sweet milk of the breast?

But then, if I'm preparing bottles at home and bringing them in each day and they're not being used? It would seem logical that one would refuse a bottle of milk left in a fridge 48+ hours that has defrosted and then been subjected to 100 or more fridge openings as the 30 or so daycare kids' meals are prepared throughout the day. That's a set up for spoiling if ever there was one.

I find it interesting that this milk refusal is only at daycare, but does not extend to staying with Grams, Oma, or Daddy. Ya certainly has not gotten to the "nursing refusal" stage common at this age... in fact, he can have a 1/2 cup of fruit loops, a handful of animal crackers or a cup-size bowl of rice and will still hurl his head and torso into nursing position as soon as he's in my arms.

And so I am feeling like the guilty working mother who is allowing people to disturb her baby's health by altering the way he is fed and what his diet is while I am at work. I can't be a stay at home mom  - -scratch that - - domestic engineer because of financial responsibilities. I don't have a relative willing to adjust his or her daily routine to care for an infant. I am forced to entrust a daycare facility with my son's health and well-being... and I'm not feeling very trusting anymore.

Wordless Wednesday

4.21.09

Orange for Stellan

Orange for Stellan:

Sending our prayers to God for little Stellan, who is in a Boston hospital with a very serious heart condition. Put your ♥ in His hands and His plan for you will be revealed.

Standing Tall

In the CHI weekend ADVENTURE news:

Chi continues to enjoy cheer leading - at least the practice hour. But like most things, moderation is key, and by the time the game really gets going, all the cheer kiddies are ready to go home. Chi seems to delight in the "spirit" freedom that comes after the cheer, rather than the cheer itself. She loves shaking her pom poms and her booty. And when she's bored, she cheers with her eyes closed and a terrible grimace on her face.

I think I got a good enough photo of my little star so as not to have to buy the traditional cheer picture that the hired team photography company always takes.

While watching "Two Week Notice":
Chi: You're going to watch a movie?
Mommy: Yes
Chi: Is it scary?
Mommy: No, it's a comedy. It's about a girl who falls in love with her boss.
Chi: One of those where the guys put money in their clothes?
Mommy: [shocked, forced laugh] ha-ha. No. It's not that kind of movie...

Yikes... where did that description come from? For a house that does not watch music videos, let alone any movie where strippers are featured, she sure does know the oddest things. Could it be a transfer of the oh-so-popular song, "I'm in love with a stripper" that always plays on the radio? Hmmm.

In the YA! Chronicles:

Ya discovered he is truly powerful. That's right, he can use his brute strength in his arms to pull up while his powerful, chunky legs work themselves into a standing position. He'd been sort of doing this on a smaller scale by pushing his feet into the floor as his torso rested on a pillow, a parent, or some such raised entity. What's different now is that he is raising himself to a completely upright position. Once he successfully demonstrated this talent in his crib this morning (prompting Mommy and Daddy to agree it was time to lower the mattress before he tried to conquer flying), he has spent the rest of the day improving the technique and increasing the time he stands.

He is also laughing at other's behaviors he has observed. His humor is quite interesting and the laugh is terrifically infectious.

He is showing favoritism toward his left arm as he masters the pinch and stuff feeding skills. A favorite snack is fruit loops, though he'll gladly cram any other food you set on his tray into the wide open mouth.

He had his first lollipop at the Kiddie Expo and we brushed his tooth afterward.

And the world is so much fun for Ya that these days naps are short, nights not long enough and sleep is the last thing Ya wants to succumb to.

Got Tooth? A Story

Once upon a time, I relished in knowing that I was Ya's sole source of nourishment. If I were doing a not me I would say it like this: I do not find I have control over my son's day to day activities because I am the one that controls his feedings.

Yes, there is a certain bonding that feeding my son the "natural" way provides.

Mom, the comforter.
Mom, the provider.
Mom, the walking restaurant.

Then he bit me.

These days, things are getting a little dangerous where nursing is concerned.

Rising Second Grader

In January, the classroom teacher and reading specialist determined that Chi's reading progress was too slow to continue advancing into the upper grades. They completed retention paperwork, mailed home notice, and set up a conference to prepare me for this potentiality.

Also put into the works was a Child Study, which puts together specialists to determine whether special education services are needed. That Study meeting was today.

As it turns out, the reading switch has been flipped and suddenly my baby girl has word power. In January, she read at level 4. In February it was near 6. And as of today, Chi tested at level 10, just one level away from where the target is for this point in the first grade year. How's that for progress?

As an avid reader since 5 years old, it was not easy for me to understand her struggle. I found it frustrating to "help" her through homework. And I was wondering if I'd ruined her scholastic motivation by entering her in K-5 at age 4 1/2.

I guess Chi just needed to find her own words for the issue... and she gave them to me yesterday, "Reading takes too long..."

... but at least she can do it if she has to!

I ♥ Faces Week 14

Theme - "Easter/Spring"

So this is my entry for this week's I ♥ Faces.

Ya celebrated his first Easter season with plastic egg eating. He was a tad too young to decorate eggs and our craft session involved him attempting to eat quite a few feathers (which we rescued from him) instead of creating the bunnies and chicks we'd planned to make. It seems that these days eating is what Ya (@ 32 weeks) does best. But then, isn't the purpose of hands and fingers to insert items into the always open mouth?

Resurrection Day!

It was an early wake up call this morning for our family. The alarm was set to ring at 4:10 a.m., giving just enough time to bundle up in our Easter finest for Sunrise Service. We stood on the waterfront watching the sun rise as our pastor preached about faith.

The sermon? Through Him, we shall find victory over death. Death is not, then, a time of sadness, but the beginning of life anew. And life, so long as we believe in the Resurrection, is richer.

The weather cooperated with little trace of the previous day's rain. The birds were chirping merrily. The flowers were in bloom. Now if only the dawn of day wasn't so cold... The ground wasn't so dangerous to steadily sinking heals... The sleeping Ya wasn't so heavy to hold... Then, it'd be a more beautiful morning.

Romans 6:8-11 (New International Version)

⁸Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

⁹For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.

¹⁰The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

¹¹In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Good Friday?

My quiet Easter plans to go to Sunrise Service and spend the remainder of the day with family have been thwarted.

Today we woke to Ya's labored breathing and terrible wheezing. It got worse as he continued his usual Tigger bounce antics and we finally decided to venture to the pediatrician. Our seat was still reserved from the slew of February visits, so we were welcomed right in "as soon as possible." Turns out mommy's Dr. Mom instincts were right: Ya had avoided RSV in February (a case of bronchiolitis, asthma diagnosis, and negative for RSV) only to get it full blown in April from one of his classmates!

We are assured that he's a 15lb 15.5 oz trooper, so no hospitalization is needed. He was quite relaxed through a chest x-ray, and tomorrow we'll know if there is more to this breathing difficulty than a viral cold. Oxygen level is as it should be and other than being ultra clingy to mommy, Ya is the same as always.... except he sounds like a 90 year old chain smoker.

Oh and the breathing treatments with the huffenpuff are much smoother without the baby mask. Turns out that Ya likes to suck on the mouth insert and is content to breathe deep the albuterol vapors. But the shakes, spaced eyes and general antsiness afterward are hard to watch.

Spring break is officially over and sunrise service at the gazebo in the cold is a definate danger to our frail health.

I ♥ Faces Week 13

I absolutely love that people have such fabulous ideas out there. And as I crawl along on this vast web, I encounter so many things others have spun that I can lasso with my spider web and add to my own space. Isn't that great?

The latest?

I ♥ Faces

Now I have head shots of my kids for days, months, years, seconds. And now I can use them in contests? Too cool.

This week's "challenge" is.... "My Friend and I"


I had a little bit of trouble picking the perfect picture... I could use one of Chi and friends at her 6th birthday party back in December...

Or my favorite photo of all time, of Chi kissing her 4 day old baby brother in his "Got milk" hat.

But I reread the rules to the contest and decided on this one below of Chi and Ya playing with a toy...

Why do I like this one? Because Ya was content so long as big sis was near him playing too. And fabulous Big Sister that she is, Chi humored him with a very lengthy play session. I love how engaged they are in the shot. Friends, it seems, come in all age spans and these two are set to be friends for life :)

Abandoned

Is it wrong to want to abandon my project? I mean, in theory I am greatly benefiting from the challenge of taking a picture everyday... but when you are as obsessed as I am with pictures, it's to darn hard to limit myself to just one and by the time I get one image I like (*and my kids wont hate when they are old enough to show them off) I usually discover that every photo looks... the same. Hohum.

So... I am feeling a bit uninspired uncreative these days and have reluctantly come to the conclusion that I need a break from the rigid confines of this Project 365. My solution? I shall switch to a much more doable, much more challenging, much more potentially completable project inspired by a photographer named Rebecca.

It's an alphabet project which requires a photo representative of the 26 letters in the (drums please) alphabet. :) I think I can do this. I think it will save my kids from my camera. I think it will free me of the guilt of discovering in an 11:59 p.m. sleep-stupor that I forgot to catch the day's picture.

Wish me luck!

Action

This morning Chi was ready for her close-up.





She plans to be famous.





She knows the camera crew is gearing up to capture her debut.





And she expects them to show up any moment now...

"Are we gonna be on T.V?"

Rollin, rollin, rollin

Guess who is on a roll these days?

You guessed it. Ya!

From being my little turtle (slow, but steady in his landmarks) to suddenly making strides in every motor skill acquisition he attempts, Ya is really rolling.

As usual, I thought the first flip was a fluke. Did I leave him on his back? No, certainly he was on his tummy. Wait... I could've sworn he was on his back a minute ago. That was Monday.

Then he demonstrated his newly acquired mobility a few times on Tuesday. And today? He's been flipping out (literally and figuratively). Suddenly he's realized he can roll to a new location. And if he lands on his tummy, he knows he can pull himself forward with a little extra effort and a few pushes of his toes (he doesn't lift to his knees yet, and I tend to think he'll skip that progression).

Mommy's crawl training - putting the shiny thing just out of reach - is working. Yeah.

And in other news...

Mommy got a brand new pair of shoes. And she is in L-O-V-E with them!

Chi became an expert on the monkey barsAnd she also figured out how to work my camera (so I got a great picture out of it!)