14 month Update

For some crazy reason, my pictures are posting sideways. Ugh.


14 months


You still only have four teeth. I thought more were coming, but have not yet broken the surface.
You can eat though. Oh boy, you can eat! I forget you had a swallowing and choking problem. Your particular favorites are banana and graham crackers. If you see anyone eating, you hang on their chair or lap like a little dog waiting for a bite.

You refuse to pull up to a stand often. You pull up to your knees all the time. You sometimes walk around on knees. BUT YOU WON”T WALK or cruise the furniture. At all. Or walk behind a push walker. Kid, let’s get a move on. I think both you and I would be happier if you were walking. But you get around. You crawl so quickly!


You still are not doing sippy cups for me. At school they can coax you into one.

You still only say a few words that I can tell, but you babble frequently. Mama, datdat, bub bye.

You still like to hit down block towers. I am going to cry when you tire of this.

Boy, does your sister bother you. Pull on you, take things away from you. I’ll be glad when you can give her a good clunk.

This holiday we went over to P's hometown which is a resort area on Lake Michigan.   The weather was great, 75-82 and sunny every day (we were there almost 5 days).  We did several fun activities, but really different activities than what we usually do there.  Young children now in tow perhaps.  The thing that has allowed us to enjoy our vacations the most there is renting a hotel room.  We used to stay with P's grandma that for some reason, doesn't like me, and keeps a very warm house when it is hot and insists on us being home for every meal, etc.  We really are too much for her.  P's mom has a small place and not much room.   So P got a hotel right near the beach and playground.  It had a little fridge and microwave and a small, baby-proofed patio that the baby loved crawling out to.  Oh and a pool!  A great heated pool STEPS from our door.  (Yes we used it - Lake Michigan is COLD). 

The best part of the vacation was just being with everyone for five days straight.  I am missing those kids and husband so much today as I am back to work.  :( 

Here are some pictures. (yes I look bad because my hair is full of sand, chlorine, lake water, and sunscreen.

PCOS and insulin resistance

I don’t talk about it that much anymore, but I have PCOS with insulin resistance. In college, I started rapidly gaining a lot of weight. I gained over 45 lbs over 4 years. I felt terrible all the time, was upper fat, tired, acanthosis nigricans, very moody, severe acne. Ugh. I don’t even want to relive that time via memories.
SO I finally figured out what was wrong with me. By myself. I graduated and got insurance (yay!) and then found a sympathetic doctor that sent me to an Endocrinologist. My testosterone was high. My insulin was three times the upper limit of normal. He gave me the golden ticket – Metformin. Everything improved and I lost 84 lbs. I’ve felt good ever since.

But, I have never ever been able to tolerate a lot of sugar or carbs without protein. I can drink a glass of wine, with a meal. I can have a little dessert, immediately after a meal. I cannot tolerate sugar drinks of any kind, including juice, regular soda, punch, especially warm sugary drinks like coffees and cocoa. If people go to have ice cream in the middle of the day or birthday cake, I can’t do it. I makes me ill.

For breakfast before I understood this problem, I would eat a bagel. Yikes! I’d be feeling clammy, and sleepy and falling asleep (I was in my internship at this time) and it was a bad thing. After I was diagnosed, I started eating protein. I’m a bit more lax now. Typically I have one of two things – cottage cheese with berries and walnuts or a boiled egg, a cheese, a banana with peanut butter and some nuts with a little dried cherries. The last week or so I have been becoming quite ill after breakfast. Falling asleep, clammy, tired, foggy-headed. It’s awful! I had been drinking a little bit of work coffee with breakfast, and I thought that was doing it, maybe it had some hidden sugar or something. Nope. I didn’t have it today, and it happened again.

What is going on? I feel strongly it is some sort of hypoglycemic episode. It did happen with both types of breakfast, so I am at a loss there. Has Metformin stopped working for me? Should I do a drastic carb cut?  Any thoughts? I *guess* I should go see the Doctor. Ugh.

Take as a positive or negative?

Some one told me that the baby's teeth make him look like SpongeBob SquarePants.   I admit they are a bit kooky looking.  I'm hoping he will grow into them.  Should I be offended by this or not?  Opinions please. 

13 months old

* This is the silly baby climbing into my lap to eat all my beans and rice and guacamole. He is absolutely delighted.

I forgot to write down a 12 month update!  My bad.  Benny will be 13 months on Friday!  13^th months.

·         Yes, we still do call him Benny.

·         Movement:  he can crawl on hands and knees now as well as army crawl.  He will walk around (mostly lurch around) when take his hand and help him walk.  But he really isn’t interested in walking at all.  He isn’t cruising the furniture yet at all either (take your time much, kid?).  He does pull up to knees on various objects.  I’m kind of ready for the walking stage so he can wear shorts, not wear through so many pairs of pants, and to give his little wrists and knees a break.  Even through clothing they look red and irritated.  I don’t think he will be walking for at least another month. 

·         Cute stuff:  He loves to lay on the ground, turn the pages in books, and “read” them aloud.  So adorable.  He also still loves to hit down block towers that I create.  He also loves to swing like his sister, and voices his displeasure and arches his back  when I pull him out of the swing.  Hitting down block towers is still a delight for him.  He likes Daddy now.  He likes to pull himself up to his knees at the end of Daddy's chair and wave at him.  He is a good waver.

·         Eating:  We went for the evaluation with the eating therapist.  She definitely thought he had some delays.  He wouldn’t eat mixed texture things for us, nor use a sippy cup nor feed himself.  He eats stage three foods now and anything I feed him!! YAY!  He still will NOT feed himself – which is crazy, or drink from a sippy.  It will be a cold day in hell before I get him to give up those bottles.  The eating therapist wanted to send him to occupational therapy for poor fine motor and I am still considering this.

Reflection

Being a parent can be tough. Often.  More than I anticipated.    Sometimes I leave work and think how nice it would be to go to the gym right after or go out with coworkers or go home and take a nap or make a gourmet dinner and hang out with my husband.   But those little faces are depending on me.  The school age popularity I yearned for all my life has come true.  I’m very popular with them.  They need me.  They need me to clothe them, bathe them, feed them, entertain them, reassure them, hug and kiss them, discipline them and love them.  But it isn’t an easy job.  I’d love to sleep all morning on a weekend or eat a meal in peace at the table without someone needing me multiple times  To spend a weekend doing all fun things instead of massive amounts of laundry.    Parenthood changes you.  I never feel like I’m doing a good enough job.  Time and patience are short.   I miss the all the attention and time my husband and I used to have for each other. 

But times change.  They grow up quickly.  When I’m an old lady I’ll miss wiping their faces and their hugs when I pick them up.  I’ll miss their snuggles and soft hair, laughs and complete dependence on me. 

Friday Night Leftovers

• Friday night, Friday night. Where has the Spring went? The weather has been so crazy here. Alternating hot and cold, downpours. We haven’t been playing outside much in the evenings. Our backyard is smaller and more wooded so there are more bugs, which totally freak out V and she adamantly refuses. The dog freak out has moved to bug freak out. Seriously. It is interfering with my enjoyment of the yard and definitely her enjoyment.


• Speaking of V, she has been having many “stressed” behaviors again. Tantrums out of nowhere, wetting her pants, wetting the bed, waking up really early and coming into our bed at 6:00 in the morning. It’s pretty rough. My heart aches for her and I really hope we can find out soon the best way to help her.

• The B man has finally started eating table food. Plus holding his own bottle!!!! Yay! He doesn’t feed himself though. Nope. Nor use a sippy cup. Baby steps people, Baby steps.

• P has been cooking up some delicacies lately. Pan seared copper river salmon. Filet Mignon. Chicken Enchiladas. Superb burgers. So good.

• Have some milestones coming up. P and I are married 13 years on Monday. My mom turns 70 on the 6th. I have a milestone birthday coming up as well. Soon.

• Every time I hear a news item about the baby in China whose mother let him go down the toilet drain I get so teary. Give him to me. Or another one of us yearning for a child. We will love him and squeeze and feed him.