Ever since Katie was 6 weeks old, she has sucked her thumb religiously. It's her soothing mechanism. Tonight, she cut her thumb pretty badly and needed a bandaid to stop the bleeding. The cut was on her right thumb toward the tip of her thumb. As I was putting Katie to bed and I was reading her a story, I could tell she was unsettled. She was studying her hands. After the story was over, she said, "Mom, I can't suck my hand, I need to suck my hand." I tried to help her out by showing her other fingers as options. She awkwardly tried her other thumb and said, "It's too hard." Then she tried her pointy finger and said, "It's not working." She even grabbed my thumb to try. I was giggling as she was trying to figure out how to make it work. As we were saying prayers, she kept subconsciously putting her thumb in her mouth, then would realize her bandaid was in the way. She just didn't know what to do with herself! I thought we might be able to talk her out of sucking her thumb in hopes that we could avoid major orthodontia work in the future. Seeing how distraught Katie was...I have a feeling she'll be sucking her thumb for the long haul.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Katie the Collector
Even more so these days, Katie has been collecting things. She collects her food and puts it in a basket or baggy, she collects her shoes and puts them in her carrying basket or backpack, she collects animals in a box, she collects crayons in a bag...she's constantly collecting. It's pretty cute to see her gathering...but also frustrating as I feel like I always am cleaning up her piles of collections.
Also lately, Katie has been putting her babies and dolls into all of Abi's contraptions. Many times it catches me off guard because I have to look twice before figuring out it's Katie's doll, not Abi. She was especially proud that she was able to snap this baby into the car-seat all by herself.
Little Friends - Volunteer Day
I volunteered in Andy's class this week (3rd to last day of class, and 1st time volunteering). Andy usually "prefers" for me to drop him off (and run). Out of the blue, he asked me, "Mom, do you think you can stay in my class one of these days?" I couldn't pass up on the opportunity, so Kyle stayed home with the girls while I went to class. Andy was SO excited to have me in class. He kept yelling across the room, "I love you mommy!" Pretty soon, a couple of other students started joining in, "I love you Andy's mommy!" It was a kairos moment : ) It was pretty funny - as other kids were being sent to the "listening chair," Andy would look at me and say, "aren't you glad that's not me?" Oh buddy.
We played construction, read some books, worked on some puzzles, and I got a sneak preview of the sing-along next week. Wednesday also was teacher appreciation day, so the night before, we worked on our glitter cards. It was such a treat to be a part of Andy's day, and it melted my heart to see how proud and excited he was to have me there.
Practicing...and it cracks me up that Andy is next to the tallest guy in class. Makes Andy look even smaller!
Abi - Gaining Weight!
After one week on her concentrated formula, Abi has gained 10 ounces weighing in at 12 lbs. Hooray! Fingers crossed that she keeps gaining and we can all take a deep sigh of relief. For now - so thankful for some movement up. Enjoying some snuggle time with daddy.
Lydia's 2nd Birthday
We celebrated Lydia's 2nd birthday at Little Gym on Sunday. The kids loved it as they haven't been in class all year. It was fun to be able to celebrate Lydia with family.
Andy prepping for the air trak
Sweet Lydia
Digging in!
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Abi Update
We had three visits to Children's this week. The great news is that all of Abi's bloodwork and tests continue to come back "normal." The not so great news is that she's only gained one ounce in 3 weeks. What we learned this week - 1) Her markers indicated that she most likely doesn't have inflammation in her intestines, which was where we thought we were headed for testing - yay!; 2) No one can tell us why she still isn't gaining weight; 3) We are starting her on a double concentration formula to water ratio; 4) I am starting an elimination diet (meaning, not eating the top 8 allergens - dairy, soy, wheat, eggs, nuts, fish, shellfish, corn) and continuing to pump; 5) We wait and watch for two more weeks; 6) Abi still is as happy as can be. Overall great news, but I am struggling not knowing what is going on...and it's going to be a challenge to eliminate all of those things from my diet. The theory is that my breast milk is more caloric than the formula (so she's not getting enough calories with formula)...but because there was blood in her stool there still is something in my milk causing her not to absorb nutrients. So, by eliminating the biggest triggers from my diet, and then giving her fortified breast milk...we are creating the optimal environment for her to gain. Since it takes somewhere between one and two weeks for one's body to completely remove food from the system, in two weeks my breast milk will be "pure."
Lil Pirates
Andy is participating in swim team at the Seattle Tennis Club for the first time this year. He is part of the 4 - 5 year old's group called Lil Pirates. We weren't sure how Andy would take to it as he can be really into swimming or really NOT into it. As soon as he saw his team suit - he couldn't stop talking about it. After his first practice, he was a little confused. He asked why there weren't flags up and why he didn't get to swim the "long" way. I realized that he thought he was going to be swimming in a meet - like when he watched his cousins swim last year. I had to explain to him that he has to learn how to swim before he can swim the whole length of the pool. I love how kids think they can do something without even trying. At least he wasn't lacking in the confidence area : )
Willows
We had a wonderful Mothers' Day weekend celebration at Willows Lodge. We have been talking about heading there - just sisters and mom - for awhile. Since my parent's have been in California all winter, it was a great way to celebrated Mom's day, birthdays, and catch up without kids running around us. Betsy and I were able to "escape" earlier and met at Red Hook for lunch, beers, and a walk. We checked into our beautiful rooms and Betsy had the most thoughtful treat bags including all of her favorite things. It was a great surprise. Mollie and my mom joined us and we headed to enjoy some wine tastings and dinner at Barking Frog. Dinner was incredible! We enjoyed the start of Mothers' Day with a yummy breakfast and a long walk. I admire and try to emulate the moms that my mom and sister are and have been, so it was a perfect way to spend the weekend.
Princess Katie
Katie has become increasingly particular about what she wears. She came downstairs with this princess outfit on and would not take her wings off. I loved it. Most days, her outfits are very mis-matched...but this one was pretty darn cute. We went to Greenlake and she wanted to keep her wings on all day.
Sunshine makes everyone happy!
Jolly Jumper
We hooked up the jolly jumper - but are very careful about when we let Abi try it out. Andy and Katie think it's funny to give Abi "rides" in the swing. Here is a rare moment in the jumper. She likes it, but needs to grow a little to be able to enjoy it more. She started off alone...but shortly after was joined by both siblings.
80 degrees in Seattle...in MAY!
We kick started may with beautiful weather. We hit 87 degrees even - which was HOT - but no complaints here! The kids were loving it and especially enjoyed an excuse to run naked in the back yard.
All the kids at 6 months
It's crazy to compare each of the kids at 6 months old. I don't necessarily see their similaries when I look at them in person...but hard to miss how much they look alike when seeing these pictures.
Abi - 6 months
We had a follow up with Abi for her 6 month wellness check. She had been on formula for two weeks and lost weight. It was so hard to see her weight come up - and have it be less than two weeks prior. It also prompted us to head back to Children's - first stop the GI practice. Luckily, the blood in her stool seems to have disappeared. I have been continuing to pump since breast milk at least helped her gain minimally. We are hoping to get to the bottom of this. The great news is that Abi is such a happy, happy girl. She gives the BEST smiles. She sleeps well and drinks her bottle like a champ. We just don't know where that milk/formula is going!
6 month stats:
Weight: 11lbs 0.5 ounces
Height: 24 1/2 inches - 8%
Head: 39.8cm - 5%
I saw this sign on Pinterest and thought it was spot on for Abi. It's Shakespeare, from Midsummer Night's Dream.
Visit from Alden
On Sunday, Alden was able to come over and spend time with our family. It was his first visit with Abi and a wonderful day to catch up with Andy and Katie. The kids were ecstatic to see Gumpa and carried on with life as if no time had passed. We spent a wonderful afternoon and evening as a family.
Happy Birthday to ME!
Saying that I'm 33 sounds so much older than 32 for some reason. Kyle was out of town for my birthday, but I still had a good day and extended the celebration through the weekend. It was a normal Thursday - including a good run around Greenlake with Katie and Abi. On Friday, we headed to Woodinville for some Ross Andrew wine and dinner at Purple with Bets and Brendon. It was a great way to celebrate - and a beautiful day! Here is the picture of us before heading out. I look forward to a great year ahead and have so much to be grateful for.
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