I feel like I've been giving the boys the short end of the stick on the blog. Everytime I manage to find time to blog, it's an Izzy update. So let's see.... what have the boys and I been up to...
We have a membership to the Milwaukee County Zoo. So we've been there a few times already. It's about an hour (at most) from home, and rarely do we have issues with rush hour traffic, so much easier that Chicagoland zoos! The boys love seeing all the different animals, and can't decide what their favorite is!
Two monkeys riding the train Trev by the dinosaur hedge. Blake loved this, but WOULD NOT pose for a picture! Watching the polar bears swim Being checked out by the mountain goats. Blake's favorite: the rhino. Who was very entertaining drinking, gargling his water, then peeing. The kids thought that was great. If you've ever seen a rhino pee, you'll understand why! You'll also understand why I didn't capture that on film!!Feeding time for the giraffes. This was a really neat thing to happen to see. For a fee, a few select people can feed them. It was pretty cool just to watch. And they have really LONG black tounges. We also have passes to Six Flags Great America. Yes, I got passes this year. While its a bunch of money, I figure between this and the zoo membership, we can stay busy and spend very little money on a daily basis! So far, it's working well and the boys are having lots of fun!!
Izzy hanging out in her stroller, enjoying herself The boys enjoying their treat: cotton candy! The boys on the spinning tea cups... fun times!
Aside from that, we've been going to a lot of parks, the spray park, and hanging out with friends. So that's about it for now. We're just enjoying summer!!
Today was Izzy's 2-month check-up. But before we get to that, let's briefly recap last nights events....
Last night, Izzy and I attended a baby shower for a friend who is due in a few weeks. This was a gathering of my online mom's group of friends, and many wanted to meet Izzy for the first time. She was dressed to kill (in one of her many fabulous outfits) and she ate just before we left, and therefore she was in a GREAT mood. She was wide-eyed, alert, and more than ready to play "pass the baby". She let everyone and anyone hold her! And only complained twice in 3.5 hours that she was hungry (she likes to cluster feed at night to get ready for bed).
So she ate at 6, 7:30 and 8:45. At 9:30 we headed home. I had changed her into a clean diaper and jammies, and had high hopes that a 20 minute car ride home would put her to sleep and then I could either a)transfer her to her crib, or b) but her car seat in her bedroom and just leave her there! We arrived home, and there was miss bright-eyes wide awake! So she said hi to Daddy, and then demanded another feeding. But still, as I fed her I thought, okay this is it for the night, she'll fall asleep and I'll put her in bed. Nope... not sleeping! At this point she was awake for about 4+ hours straight!!! Geez kid...
Regardless, I tried putting her to bed, knowing she was tired. But that's not how Iz likes to fall asleep....she likes to move, either in swing or car or vibrating bouncy seat. So that didn't go well. Both Daddy and I tried rocking and swinging and dancing with her to get her to sleep but no dice. Heck, we tried moving the swing up to her room and letting her sleep there. Nope. No sleeping, and at that point she didn't want to be held either. So we left her there in her crib to cry... at midnight she passed out from exhaustion (I think)! And slept til 4:30.
Lessons learned:
she can go 6.5 hours beteween feedings!
she can scream for 2 hours before falling asleep!
Hopefuly we can get to a point where we sleep for 6.5 hours and skip the 2 hours of screaming. Then I would be a happy mommy!!
As for the Dr visit... Izzy is growing just fine. She's in the 25th percentile for everything. She weighs 9 lbs 13 oz, she's 22 inches long, and her head is 14 7/8 inches. Just fine.
I asked the Dr about the dairy issue, and much as I expected, he confirmed there is no real test for this issue, and that his advice at the time of the rash would have been to cut out dairy! (Yay me, $$$ saved on a dr visit I didn't make!). He also informed me that babies intestinal tracts are not fully developed until 6 months, so at that point she may be far more tolerant to dairy!
Not much else to report from the Dr visit. She got her first 2 vaccinations....and she took them like a pro. She seems to be sleeping most of the day away, but if I'd gotten a bunch of shots, and then Tylenol, I would too. It's fine with me, as long as she sleeps tonight!!
Wow, she's two months old already! Where does the time go!! (I know, what a cliche!).
Things she likes:
Lying on her changing table in her closet
Listening to the hair dryer (Those two things will calm her when she's upset, quite quickly and easily....I guess she's a girly girl after all!)
Swinging in her 'new' swing.... thanks for letting me borrow it Jayden!
Watching her brothers do silly things to make her laugh!
Apparently, Izzy had TOO much pink in her wardrobe as 'Aunt' Kate had to add these. Not that I object... I love all the clothes Kate has added to the kids wardrobes over the years! I think the 3rd one is my favorite!!
The rash has gone completely. I've had minimal amounts of dairy (a little sour cream on a taco, a little bit of chocolate, or a little bit of Parmesan on pasta) and that seems to be okay. But at the moment, I'm keeping it to a minimum. I'll see what the doctor says at her appointment on Thursday.
Don't ya LOVE the dimples!?!?!?!? She's becoming much more predictable in her waking/sleeping/eating patterns, and her mood. She still wants to eat every 3 hours during the day. In fact she's like an alarm clock, she won't go much past that 3 hour mark, and she'll let you know she's STARVING!! In the evenings, she still wants to nurse a little more often (to "tank up") and then she'll sleep for about 5.5 hours straight. I'd love to get that longer, but we'll get there. But after that 5.5 hours, she doesn't always want to go back to sleep! It seems to help if it's already light outside, as then she can look around her room while in the crib, and is content to look and babble, until she falls asleep again! I never thought I'd like that her room faces East and gets VERY bright in the morning!
Working on holding her head up... and posing for the camera!
When she's awake-for about 3 hours in the morning from 9-12, and from 7-10 at night, she's content to lie on her play mat, look around, coo, and watch bright lights or the crazy brothers. It's all good! At the point she starts to fuss, she's usually over stimulated, and wants to snooze in her bouncy or her swing! The swing is a life saver... not sure how I got thru life without one for Trevor! She adores it and will sit in it for hours, either awake or asleep. Eventually, it always puts her to sleep!
Trevor still loves to hold her, and has to at least once a day or he gets very upset. Blake finally decided he was ready to hold her and loved it! He doesn't need to do it as often as T, but he does like to hold, hug, and kiss her! She's still able to squeeze into some Newborn size outfits, but only if she's wearing a disposable diaper. However, most of the 0-3 month sleepers are just miles too long for her!! Still, she's got a great wardrobe, and is always better dressed than her mother! Thursday is Izzy's 2 month checkup. So we'll talk about the dairy issue, see how much she's grown (officially-the weight measurement on the side-bar are taken by holding her on the Wii!), and getting her first immunizations.
I think that covers the last month.... I can't believe how fast this is going. My last baby is growing up!!!
2 weeks into June and we've had very few fabulous days....at least weather wise. We've had quite a few cool days, quite a few rainy days, and a few nice sunny warm days. We've tried to get out when we can and enjoy those days. Some park trips, some picnics, a trip downtown, and a trip to Great America come to mind.
Having fun on a warm day with a bucket of water and squirt guns! Trevor's been playing tball, or at least trying to....2 games have been rained out. But he's having fun. Yet again, there are two Trevor's on the team....seriously, is the name that popular? There are 7 other teams, could you split up the kids with the same name please!?!??! He's one of the oldest as the league is for 3 and 4 year olds, so he gets the ball a lot, and plays first base a lot (the position with the most 'action'). He wants to play again next year, so maybe we've found something he really likes!
Playing first base Batting Izzy and I enjoying the game! We went to a friends wedding a few weeks ago. The boys stayed home with Grandma and Izzy went with us. At the moment, I have only 1 picture, as I'm waiting for a friend to send us the rest of hers (hubby used her camera all night, instead of ours!).
She slept thru the whole ceremony!
Izzy's doing great, rash is gone, and she's growing like a weed. But more about her in a seperate post on Monday, when she turns (gasp) 2 months old!!!
The boys start summer camp Monday, so we'll have lots of highlights from that I'm sure!!
Blake seems to finally be 'fully' potty trained!!!! June has been a completely dry month! Woo Hoo!!
Other than that, there isn't much news to blog about. And it seems Izzy is starving, so I'm off to feed her!!
Friday marked the 5 month "anniversary" of Blake being diaper-free. Not of Blake being potty trained unfortunately!
In the last month, we've made MAJOR strides on actually completing the potty training mission!
In early May, we noticed something that might serve as a major incentive to staying dry - the achillies heel we'd been looking for!!! Blake regularly was asking to do 3 activities, that are not high on my list of things to do: play-doh, moon sand, and painting. (Mostly, these are low on my list due to the amount of work and clean-up that I do!). But since we were looking to motiviate Blake, I figured I could either clean up these activities or clean up pee accidents!!!
So we started an incentive program (gawd, I sound like the HR rep I used to be!) involving Potty Points or Potty Dollars. Each time B peed in the potty he got 1 potty point (hubby printed out some home made potty dollars to give him). Every time he pooped, in the potty, it was worth 2 dollars. An accident cost the same amount. The reward, trade in potty points for time playing play-doh or moon sand. Each dollar is worth 5 minutes!
I'd say it made an instant impression. The day we started it, he went potty a bunch of times, and got a bunch of points. Late in the afternoon, he traded in points for 20 minnutes of moon sand time. He was ECSTATIC!!! However, at that point he had no potty points left (he'd spent thme all) and he'd gotten what he wanted (moon sand) so after dinner, he peed in his pants! Darn kid....
So we modified the rules, and said that he had to always keep a reserve of $2, so he could still pay for an accident. After a few more successful days, we also doubled the fines ($2 for peeing in pants, and $4 for pooping). For the next 10 days or so, he'd rack up his money, trade it in for play-doh time, and have an occasional accident. We thought we were making progress....
And then suddenly, last Friday started a string of 6 dry days in a ROW!!! AND, as if that wasn't enough, 6 dry NIGHTS too!!! Holy cow!! We apparently have finally gotten through to this kid! After waking up dry a few times, we started giving him $2 if he could stay dry at night too. Friday & Saturday have seen 1 accident each, but the difference... B has been NOTICEABELY upset about the accidents and really sad to give up his potty points!!! Woo Hoo!!! And, a double bonus, he's willing to go potty and goes when he needs to on his own, vs. being told!!!
The icing on the cake for B and me, Trev still isn't dry at night. (He'll kill me when he's older and sees I wrote that on the internet!). So now that Blake is regularly staying dry, T is a little upset, and trying his hardest to stay dry then too!!
So....either we found the right strategy, or it just took 5 months, but either way, we might be totally potty trained soon!
The rash in the early stages.... And today.... (If you click on the photos, it will open a bigger copy.)
It's amazing to me HOW big an impact taking dairy out of my diet has made. A HUGE impact. Aside from the visual evidence, my daughter's personality has totally changed. She's a much easier, happier baby now. No senseless, endless crying and no out of control gas. It makes me feel terrible that I was causing her all that pain! It also makes me wonder if "colic" is actually babies who have allergies of some type??? Hmm...
She has a well-baby check scheduled at the Dr in a few weeks, June 17th I think, so we'll update the Dr then on what we've been through and learned. I'm curious if there are any tests to confirm this 'diagnosis' as I've heard differing opinions from other parents/friends/medical personnel.
I'm not sure it's really worth putting her through any major testing (and the associated pain) since it's pretty obvious to me that she's better now. Hubby suggests waiting til the rash is fully clear (and gone for a week or so) and then having me eat some milk and cheese to see what effect it has. But I'm not too keen on dealing with a crabby baby or making her skin itch again...so we'll see if we try that approach!
I think this has been two of the busiest weeks I can remember (which isn't saying much!) and it's not over yet. At some level I have no idea why it seems so busy, since looking at the calendar doesn't show much different from normal. The boys have been in school same as usual, and we've had some appointments here and there, but somehow I feel like there has been NO downtime, and therefore no blogging time! Maybe that's the effect of a third child!!
Two Saturday's ago, Trevor started t-ball. This year he's on the Red team, and is one of the oldest since the league is for 3 & 4 year olds (and he'll be 5 soon!). He's much more excited about it this year, knows what to do, and is having a good time (other than when he finds out we won't let him wear his Crocs during a game!). He's a good hitter, tries to catch the ball, knows how to run the bases, and has a great arm. He definitely can throw, but now we just need to teach him how to throw TO someone...vs throwing it as far as he possibly can (which doesn't make him popular with the coaches). So he's played 2 "games" already, and we've got 3 more to go! Blake chose not to play this year, although he could have, so he and I (and Izzy) hang out and watch the games. Not sure if he'll play next year, it doesn't seem to hold any excitement or interest for him. We'll see!
****************************** This past Friday we went to Lambs Farm with a friend. It's a great local place with a farmyard full of animals, a train ride, a carousel, mini-golf etc. And it's cheap!!! The 3 kids (my two and their friend) had a great time enjoying everything and definitely making it worth paying for the day pass which allows unlimited turns on everything!! Trevor and A played mini-golf, but Blake said he didn't want to. He, however, followed them around the course, while I sat and fed Izzy. About 3 holes in, A's mom gave Blake her ball so he could play too. And my stubborn, bull-headed child, played his own version of mini-golf...
He walked to the far end of each hole (i.e. close to the hole) and threw the ball at the hole. If it didn't go in (which it NEVER did), he went around to where it landed, and rolled it towards the hole, repeating this process until it went it. Then he'd move on to the next hole and repeat the whole process. The entire time, he wanted NOTHING to do with a golf club!! Meanwhile, T & A continued to play 'proper' (at least in their minds) mini-golf and just worked around him if he was in the way! It was too funny!!!
*********************************************** On the Izzy front, there have been interesting developments. A few days before my last post, as Izzy neared 4 weeks old, hubby and I realized she was still a little bit jaundiced. We wondered if it was a big deal since she was almost 4 weeks old, so we called the Dr's office. They basically weren't worried for a number of reasons: 1) it wasn't past her shoulders, 2) she's EBF (exclusively breast fed) and it sometimes takes up to 2 months to go away in EBF babies, and 3) since she was wetting/messing the standard number of diapers she's getting adequate nutrition so not to worry.
In the days after we talked to the Dr, the jaundice seemed to clear quite a bit. To be replaced by a rash all over her face and neck. No rash below the neck...interesting. Hubby also commented that she seemed to be very gassy, much more so than we remembered and it seemed to cause her quite a bit of pain. So off to the laptop I went, and spent lots of time researching various things. In the end I came to the conclusion that it was very likely that Izzy is sensitive to the dairy in my diet. And let me say here, that I LOVE dairy. In a single day I'll easily drink 2 large glasses of milk, eat at least 1 yogurt, and have about 3+ servings of cheese. And in the week prior to the rash, I had all that plus and ice cream sundae nearly every night!!
So as of last Sunday (8 days ago), I have had NO dairy. And suddenly Izzy seems to be much happier, and her rash is clearing up considerably. The rash got to the point that she was so dry and flaky that I thought touching her ear would cause it to break into a million tiny pieces... it was just SO dry. She had these red welts that started out looking like baby acne, but then became more like open sores. Lots of Aquaphor later, she's looking (and feeling, I think) much better. I'll try and find some photos to post of her a week ago, and her today but to hubby and I there is no denying how much better she looks. Add to that, the lack of gas (or at least considerably reduced amount!), and her improved personality (much less crying endlessly for "no reason"), and we think we've got it figured out. So now I just have to figure out how to get my calcium and protein without dairy, and wonder how long this diet adjustment needs to last!
But for all those who read this and wonder, why not just switch her to formula to avoid all these problems....the benefits of breast milk still outweigh that in my opinion, so it's worth the change in my diet. Of course, there's the financial side of things, i.e the fact that breast milk is FREE! And I've read there are many cases where formula doesn't solve the problem as many of them have milk proteins in them which is basically the same thing!!! So, no I'm not planning to stop nursing, thanks for asking!
********************************************** On the note of free, you know your child (Trevor in this case) watches too much television, when they learn how to spell from a commercial, and can recite it word for word!!! This is T's favorite...
Actually, aside from this word and commercial, he is doing TONS of spelling lately. Lots of three letter words (pop, car, cat, bus) and just enjoying spelling a lot. He'll use one of his alphabet toys to help him figure out what sounds a letter makes, and suddenly come up to me and spell something! Of course, this also means that when Hubby and I try to talk about giving the boys a "B-A-T-H" or putting them in the "T-U-B" he knows EXACTLY what we are saying! He's not really into reading at this point, but spelling is now way high on his list, second only to math!! It's exciting to see how excited he is about learning!!
************************************************** We've also had a few appointments at the elementary school for Trevor. In February they held a Kindergarten screening. Not surprising to me, the results came back that Trevor was pretty smart (i.e. ready for kindergarten in their words!), but that he had some speech issues. So we've been doing follow-up meetings about this. One meeting involved me giving the school my consent to test him (sure go ahead) which took about 30 minutes! Then I had to go back and give them a complete family history so they knew what they were dealing with. Needless to say, the history was pretty boring (no medical issues, no divorces, etc) and nothing that explains why he says "foon" instead of "spoon", he just does!! And last week, he had to go and spend an hour with the speech therapist for her to do "further evaluations". Next week, I get to go back for a final followup to see what type of "intervention" they recommend for him.
********************************************** Tomorrow Mam-gu comes to stay for 4 days! We're heading to the airport after school tomorrow to pick her up!
And this week is the boys last week of school! I finally told them that Miss Carol is closing the school and for a moment Blake thought that meant he would not have to go to school next year! Ooopsies! So now I'm hoping to get them to make good bye cards for all their teachers, and I have to find time to get teacher gifts before Thursday!! Aaaugh!
I may have found a feasible preschool for Blake for next year, and we found out Trevor will be in AM Kindergarten in the fall... so some issues are resolving themselves, while new ones appear regularly! Ah, life with 3 kids....
Seriously, she's a month old already!?!??! Where has the time gone!
We've learned alot about Miss Iz in the last month...
She's a decent sleeper - she'll go for one 5 hour stretch at night, and then it's back to every 3 hours she wants to eat.
She likes to eat and eat and eat, from about 6 pm until 10 pm so that she can sleep for that 5 hour strech without waking up! So my evenings are spent on the couch, trying to blog/surf with only 1 hand!!
If she falls asleep while you're holding her, good luck putting her down - she'll wake right up! Good luck getting her to fall asleep if you're not holding her! So, that means I do a lot of holding of a sleeping baby!!
Trevor adores his baby sister, and tries to hold and hug and kiss her CONSTANTLY. So, if she's sleeping in her bouncy seat, he'll go up to her and love her, and promptly wake her! Which then results in me holding her to get her back to sleep!!!
Blake is really starting to love her, and might be loving on her like Trevor does soon. At the moment, he likes to watch her while someone is holding her so he doesn't usually wake her up!! Yay!
Daddy's singing is one of the few things that will calm her down!! However, it makes the rest of us crazy, so we're never all happy at the same time!!
Like the boys, she's a social child. She's usually sleeping or content any time we're out in public (such as the coffee shop), even if she should be starving (and therefore cranky/crying). But at home, sometimes she's cranky even if she's just eaten!!!
She can't stand being in a soaking or dirty diaper for more than about 5 minutes (once it's REALLY dirty), and she'll let you know it and keeps letting you know until you fix it. Therefore, once again, we are using 'sposies overnight (I know, I NEED to try making some fleece liners for the diapers so she can't feel the wetness so much!). While this is somewhat annoying right now, I'm trying to keep perspective that it WILL (positive thinking) make potty training MUCH easier!
At a month old, she's still comfortably fitting into "Newborn" size clothes. In fact the pants, would fall right off her if she wasn't wearing a big ol' cloth diaper! No idea when she'll "pack on the pounds" and start fitting into her 0-3 month clothes. The irony here to me, is that she was the same birth weight as Trevor (well, 1 ounce more in fact!), and by 2 months old he weighed 11 pounds and was wearing his 3-6 month clothes. And yet, he has ALWAYS been in the bottom 5% for weight. I really don't see her gaining 3 pounds (and a few ounces) in the next month.... so where will she be on the charts?? Looking at the CDC growth chart, she should be 11 pounds at 3 months (and just over 8 pounds today) to stay on her current curve, so we'll see!!
As we discussed names for Miss Isabelle, something in hubby's strange little mind kicked in, and he started singing this song. And now, he sings it ALL the time to Miss Iz!!
Finding that song on YouTube, led the kids to come see why my laptop was singing, and then they saw the link to this related song, which they now DEMAND to have my play every time I open the laptop!
So, I think that covers the one-month status update on Miss Isabelle. Now I'll just double-check this document and hand it in to my 'supervisor', so he can see what I've been doing for the last month!!! (Ooops, I wrote "status update" in the previous sentence and it made me think of my "real" office job from years ago, and how many monthly status updates I had to type and submit! Sorry)
Given the weather in the last few weeks, with a title like that I could actually be talking about the weather. After all, the storms that blew through here last night were pretty loud and rough!
But I'm not talking about the weather... Usually, life around here is pretty quiet, predictable, and generally uneventful (or as much as it can be with 3 young kids!). And I'm quite content with the quiet life we lead. Last week, the drama started to unfold, with the announcement of the closing of Blake's preschool for next fall. That was more than enough drama for me, as now I have a new task of finding a preschool that I like and that fits in with the rest of our life.
But yesterday, more drama... I have a new boss. Or more specifically, my boss is no longer with the company. The reasons, while not really important here, are totally bogus. Why is a new boss drama? To be honest, I've been debating returning to my job for a while. In fact, for most of my pregnancy, I debated if I would return to my job. Don't get me wrong, I really like my job, and LOVE my boss. I work for Market Day, and love that profits from the food I sell, go back to the school to help education. I also love the products, and find it easy to sell something I love. And, I work from home, doing a lot of the work when it fits in to my schedule, and that lets me be a mom during the day, and do my work after the kids go to sleep.
So why debate returning to work? Lots of reasons, like how young Izzy is (I didn't work until Trevor was 5 months, and Blake was 9 months), and how hectic life with 3 kids is going to be, and how irregular my work schedule is (some days I'm gone for 2 hours, others for 6...that's hard to plan around for a nursing newborn!). I've been watching want-ads for ages now, to find another job that would work for me... which is a tough bill. After all, with the flexibility of my current job (i.e. doing lots of work after the kids are in bed, and not paying a sitter) it's hard to beat my current "hourly" pay rate. Add to that the awesome-ness of my boss, who will do pretty much anything for me or any of the others who work for her, and it's a little hard to find a "better" job. But now the boss is gone.... my motivation to go back after maternity leave is GONE! I have no motivation to work now....
Oh yeah, money. I guess that should factor into the return to work equation. Especially since, if I go back in June, then in late June, July & August, I get to claim "under-employment". Claimed through the unemployment department, but for a "lack of work" (since most of my work is in schools, lots of it disappears for the summer). So I get paid from unemployment the difference between what I usually make during the school year, minus whatever actual earnings I've made during the summer. It's a VERY sweet deal....getting paid when you're not working! So, I was planning to go back the first week of June. Now I'm seriously re-thinking that.
Then today, the third "drama" event unfolded. Hubby's car (formerly my car) that is 9 years old, has been leaking some kind of fluid for a while. When he drove home earlier this week, he told me something smelled like it was burning.... great! So we took it to get looked at today, and it needs some major transmission work that will cost at least $1500... maybe more, depending on what they find out. The car is only worth $2-3 thousand anyway, how much do I really want to spend on it? And it will be there for at least 3 days! Joy, happy, fun. We just bought a new car...we really can't afford 2 new cars at once (and I really don't like buying used cars!).
So that's the drama as of late. It seems bad news always comes in three's. So I hope we're done for a while around here. I guess some of the drama has be "solved". I really should keep my job, at least through the summer and until I find a new one, so that I can earn some money towards fixing the old car or buying a new one!
Some wonderful random photos of my darling daughter from the last week or so, demonstrating her wide range of facial features..
"Nothin' in here, Mom" "I'm sweet and innocent!""Ha ha, Blake, I got your Elmo!" "Just me and my brother...what little hams we are!" "What you talkin' bout, Willis?" "Yup, I'm cute and I know it" "Hmmm, I'm not sure about that one... I'll have to get back to you" Oh yeah, snoozin' at the park.
Watching the polar bears swim
Being checked out by the mountain goats.
Feeding time for the giraffes. This was a really neat thing to happen to see. For a fee, a few select people can feed them. It was pretty cool just to watch. And they have really LONG black tounges.
The boys enjoying their treat: cotton candy!
So that's about it for now. We're just enjoying summer!!
