Sunday, April 29, 2012

6 months

Well, now she is 7 months.  In fact, she is 7 months old today.  I just never posted about her turning 6 months and what better time to do that than when she is 7 months of course.

Autumn is little.  At her 6 months check-up she weighed 12 pounds 15 ounces (4th percentile); she is 25 inches tall (24th percentile);’ and her head is 41.5 cm (23rd percentile).  She has been sitting up for quite some time.  I think she started sitting up at about 4 1/2 months.  She is threatening to crawl but is not quite there.  She can pull herself on to her tummy from sitting up and can get on her hands and knees.  She is not really sure what to do at that point so she drops to her tummy and lifts her arms and legs up in the air like a Superman yoga pose and cries.  We sit her back up and do this over and over again.  She has had one tooth since about 4 months and I think I have said on a weekly basis that the other tooth next to it is on its way; it still isn’t here.  (not a tooth expert).  She pants when she wants something and has developed the most ridiculous smile.  Ivy torments her but thinks she is helping (most of the time) and Owen can always make her laugh.  She sweats when she sleeps (just like the other two).  She hates her car seat and cries when she sees it.  She has a fake cry when she wants me instead of someone else to hold her.  And the weirdest thing about her is that she loves ears.  She will hold our ears as we carry her around the house.  If you turn your head away so she can’t see your ear, she violently turns your head the other way.  She is weird. 

The bad news about this baby is the struggle that I am having figuring out why she never sleeps, why she has a horrible recurring rash on her neck, why she has eczema on her feet, and why she gets a diaper rash often that burns her bum and requires burn cream on it. 

I took Ivy to the dr. a few weeks ago for some leg pain and while we were there the dr. weighed Autumn.  She had gained 3 ounces in 17 days to which the dr. proclaimed she needed to gain more weight and was referring me to the Children’s Hospital to make sure we weren’t missing anything.  This was after a blood allergy test that showed eggs and peanuts and a skin test that showed eggs, and a slight allergy to corn and bananas.  I already don’t eat eggs, peanuts or bananas.  I called the Children’s Hospital and they said the dr.’s referral came through for a feeding problem and “failure to thrive”.  I hate that term.  They referred me to the Occupational Therapy clinic in which they told me they would have her come up and they would watch her eat (nursing) and give me their recommendations.  I made the appointment and instantly didn’t want to go.  I really don’t feel like spending too much time and too much money to be told that she is eating fine.  She eats every 3-4-5 hours and eats until she is done.  How confusing can this be?

My instincts tell me she is fine, but that she is allergic to something.  The only thing left is corn, but have you ever looked into a corn allergy? Corn is in EVERYTHING.  There is the obvious, corn chips, corn starch, corn syrup, but there is the not so obvious.  Like chicken has corn in it from the chickens eating it, sugar has corn in it, caramel color has corn in it and they use that in Vitamin D tablets, vegetables can have corn on them cause they use corn for the wax that they coat them with.  I am overwhelmed. 

My plan is not to ignore the dr.’s advice, but to make an appointment for her (not on the heels of Ivy’s appointment) and talk to the dr. about what she should be gaining and discuss what referral she thinks is necessary.  We have been hesitant to feed her food because we don’t really know what, if anything, she is allergic to.  Allergy testing on infants is not that reliable.  We just started feeding her apples, sweet potatoes and potatoes.  She WILL NOT eat them in Magic Bullet form but likes them whole and wants to do it herself.  She sucks on them and refuses to swallow any of the pieces she breaks off, so perhaps we do need to head to the hospital for her refusal to eat; but at least it seems to make more sense than to watch her nurse after 7 months to see if she is eating. 

Angie will be thrilled when we figure this out / or she outgrows her problem (seeing that it is taking me so long) so that I can stop discussing it with her on a daily, or possibly hourly basis. 

I guess the next step is to call the dr. to tell her I wasn’t a fan of the direction of the hospital appointment.  I have no problem taking her in to see if we are missing something (as the dr. put it), but perhaps a different clinic with a different direction? Or maybe the only thing we are missing is that perhaps nothing is wrong and she just has sensitive skin and is small and I am insane.  It is possible.  

Whatever the problem, or lack of, she keeps smiling. 

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Thursday, April 26, 2012

Thought of the day

I am waiting for Ben. He had a scope done today and he needed someone to come with him. (it wasn't because he was scared but because they make someone come and wait for the two to three hours)

I am holding a sleeping baby, thankful for my iPhone and eavesdropping on two little old women deep in conversation next to me.

The one just said to the other that she likes the saying I choose not to be offended by what you say.

I will let that sink in while we wait

The rabbit

My son loves to do stuff that makes him feel old, like asking questions at the store or checking us in at the dr.'s office or talking to the neighbors.

Once I had some printer toner to take back for recycling and the two second task seemed overwhelming for the ten minute load and unload that would be required, so I sent Owen in. He went in Office Depot, waited in line, told the girl he had a toner to drop off, got a receipt, and came back out. He was so proud.

Because he did so well at Office Depot, I only hesitated a little the next time. Owen had been saving his money for a stuffed rabbit from Albertsons and put his wallet in my purse so he could get it. Naturally, after a long day of errands he decided that was the day he wanted to get it.

I begged and pleaded and negotiated to go another day but his persistence took over and I told him he could get if if he went in himself.

This was just thrilling for him and he was all for the plan. We weren't sure exactly how much it cost so we had an idea, I would send him in with 7.00. I told him to find the bunny, take it to the checkout and ask how much it would cost, if it was going to be more than 7.00, he was to tell the checkout person he would be right back and then he was to run out for more money. He said ok, rehearsed the plan and jumped out. I said hurry back, wondered if I was insane and watched him jump out.

I sat right outside the door in the car watching like a hawk for his return. It was as though time was standing still until he suddenly came bounding out. I thought we did it but upon further inspection and the lack of a bag, I guessed he probably needed more money.

"Where is your money, where is the rabbit, do you need more money?"

"Mom, I found the rabbit and took it to the man. I said how much is this going to be . He looked at it and said 6.00, so I told him I had to go out and see my mom but that I would be right back. I left all my stuff and hurried out as quick as I could to bring you back this dollar. Now I have to go back. "

He handed me his dollar, jumped out of the car and skipped back in.

Before long he came skipping back out carrying a bag. He climbed in as proud as ever.

"So how much was it?"

"6.56."

"Do you mean 5.56?"

"Nope. Here is the receipt."

"What did the man say?"

"He said it is 6.56. I said here is 6.00, count it to be sure. Then he counted the dollars and said thanks and gave me my bunny and my receipt."

Sure enough the receipt said 6.56 due and 6.56 paid.

Thank heavens for nice people, especially considering that our extra money was raced out mid-transaction.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

The mouse

The documenting of my life sucks. I just wanted to get that out and with that said, moving on.

A few months ago I looked outside and found a stuffed animal of Owen's lying under a bush. Owen and I brought him inside to be washed. He took a nice hot bath and came out of the dryer nice and fluffy and went on his merry way with Owen. The clothes he was washed with didn't go to the dryer with him, we expedited his appearance in the dryer. So, when it was time to change the wash, I pulled out the clothes, put them in the dryer and turned it on. It was then that I looked in the washer and noticed a pink string at the bottom. As I slowly started to reach my hand in the wash to pick it up, I realized there was more to the string than originally met the eye.

The string was actually a tail and the thing attached to the string was actually a body and a head that belonged to the smallest mouse I had ever seen. I immediately felt violated.

The biggest problem now was what to do. I did the obvious and threw the stuffed animal away. I did the less obvious and called my Orkin guy to see if he was close and could remove it for me. He wasn't, so plan b was to wait for Greg to get home, but the idea of that hideous beast in my wash was consuming me. I was sure it was at least three inches long.

I then did what any reasonable person in my shoes would do. I put on rubber gloves, found a hand mixer beater I didn't need, stuck some tape on the top, and then with garbage bag in tow, it was time.

I opened the wash expecting to find a five inch long mouse, but I think he had lost some of its bloating from the wash cycle and was surprisingly small. I positioned myself, closed my eyes and went in for the stick. I reached in, stuck the poor thing, threw all the mouse catching tools away, and then I rewashed the clothes a few times.

I am still not over it.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

1st road trip down

I am not sure why we have never been on a road trip.  Maybe it is because I don’t like to travel much or that we really have nowhere to go.  Well, whatever the reason, it was time.  Angie planned herself a trip to Utah over Easter.  I decided that I didn’t want to book the plane tickets in case Ben’s baby came late, but not wanting to miss out on the annual Grandma Lori Easter egg hunt, we had a potential road trip on our hands.

We left on Thursday and drove all day, 15 hours to be exact.  The kids were wonderful and if anyone is looking to buy a car, I highly recommend the Toyota Sienna with a built in DVD player and wireless headphones.  I am in love.  It was movie after movie until we arrived.  Owen actually watched so many movies that at one point he told me that his ears didn’t work right anymore.  I figured, whatever it takes to make it.  Ivy told me at one point that her car seat made her butt hurt and that this was taking too long.  I told her I completely agreed. 

We saw family, ate yummy food, had fun at the Easter egg hunt, went swimming, walked to the park, tried to ride a ripstick (one of the hardest things I have ever done, I totally didn’t figure it out, and after an almost near death experience, I decided I am entirely too old to try something so dangerous), did a little shopping and loved seeing cousins! It was a trip for the books and 13 hours later on Monday, we arrived home to declare it a success.

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(and why my kids look like they could be in an old sepia photo from the 1900’s I do not know)

Thursday, April 5, 2012

New baby for Ben

I have a new niece. Rylee Ella Neeleman. She was born early in the morning on April 3rd. Kelsey was a trooper while she waited for what felt like forever for an epidural. After that it was a little waiting and smooth sailing.

She weighed 7 lbs and was 19 inches long. Ben adores her and there is something so wonderfully cute about those two with a baby.