So the bedtime routine used to be to take her upstairs, run the bath, potty her while reading a bedtime story, then put her in the tub. Normally she doesn't go in the potty, though, so i decided to do "traditional" story time with her in my lap in the rocker.
But for the last 2 nights, she peed on the diaper pad as soon as i took her diaper off. So i decided to go back to the old routine again, and did tonight. She didn't pee during story time, so i signed for Potty and said, "Okay, sweetie, can you try to go potty?"
She got this concentrated look in her eye and looked like she was straining, and POOPED! Normally she only ever poops once a day, and she'd already pooped today. i feel like she really did it in response to me saying/signing potty. She may have been trying to pee (but didn't).
Thursday, January 21, 2010
You'd think she won an Olympic medal
That's how proud i am right now!
i was fooling around on the laptop while D played nearby. She was standing holding the sofa, and then i realized she wasn't holding the sofa anymore but was holding onto nothing but the computer cable.
So... i tenderly unplugged the cable (watching to make sure she didn't eat it or anything), and she held onto it with both hands for about 2 minutes. When she tried to put it to her mouth, she fell. But she had no idea that she wasn't holding onto anything for support.
i KNEW she could do it! She's just chicken!
i was fooling around on the laptop while D played nearby. She was standing holding the sofa, and then i realized she wasn't holding the sofa anymore but was holding onto nothing but the computer cable.
So... i tenderly unplugged the cable (watching to make sure she didn't eat it or anything), and she held onto it with both hands for about 2 minutes. When she tried to put it to her mouth, she fell. But she had no idea that she wasn't holding onto anything for support.
i KNEW she could do it! She's just chicken!
The secret to a happy baby
Full fat Greek yogurt from Trader Joe's plus homemade organic blueberry puree equals about 30 seconds of baby bliss. 30 seconds because she WOLFED it down.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Apologies
i've been a very bad blogger person. i have so much to update and no idea how to get started, and therefore i've sort of been putting it off, but the longer i put it off, the more there is to say. Argh!
First and most importantly, we have a court date. Actually, we have 2 court dates. They are March 9, 2010 and March 29, 2010. If i understand this correctly, the first date will be the TPR trial for both birthparents. Right now the birthparents' whereabouts are unknown, so the state has to publish in the local newspaper(s) for 4 consecutive weeks before the court date. Apparently this is happening now. If the birthparents don't attend the trial, or if they do and don't have a really good explanation as to why they haven't contacted DCS about the baby and a really good reason why the state should give them yet another second chance, the judge should find in favor of Termination of Parental Rights. There is then an appeal period before the judgment actually becomes official. i thought it was a 30 day appeal period, but perhaps it is 20. If not, no one seems to know why the second court date is March 29...
Anyway, that's the big news. Once the TPR is official in the court record, we can file a petition to adopt, get a court date, and then officially adopt our baby girl! Theoretically this could happen in April, but i am a bit more realistically guessing May or even June. We have an appointment set up with an attorney for this Saturday morning at 10 am. This attorney was the one who handled the adoption of D's birth brother by his parents, and they highly recommend him. Alan did some "research", found a personal website, and discovered that he likes the White Stripes and Foo Fighters, so something tells me this will be our attorney. Tee hee. It really is pretty exciting to be this far along (though it still feels like it should have happened 3-4 months ago).
As far as D goes, she's finally over the reflux relapse she dealt with during the antibiotics. Hooray! And she's making up for lost time as far as food goes. Holy moly, she can really pack it in when she feels like it. Which seems to be the middle of the night. The other night she woke at 2 and ate 5.5 oz, then woke at 3 and ate another 5.5 oz!
As for me, my endo has been a real mess this month. It started up again already yesterday after maybe 2 days of not hurting like mad. My flexible sigmoidoscopy procedure (similar to a colonoscopy but only the last 1/3 of the colon) is scheduled for one week from today. Ick! Ick! But it's the first step toward the next surgery, so that's good i guess. They're looking for whether the endo is inside the bowel, which is very rare, or if it's more likely that it's just all over the outside of the bowel and irritating it. And since my mom died of colon cancer, they'll also look for polyps and whatnot, so let's keep our fingers crossed for the all-clear there.
And in totally frivolous news, Alan has been on the lookout lately for a band or artist that i would really enjoy. It's been a long time since i found any new music that i LOVE, and i've been in a major music rut for probably 2-3, maybe more, years. Well, i'm pleased to say he really succeeded this weekend. His name is Frank Turner, and he's witty, and Britty, and nice! Actually he's a heartless bastard mother-f*cker. But close enough.
First and most importantly, we have a court date. Actually, we have 2 court dates. They are March 9, 2010 and March 29, 2010. If i understand this correctly, the first date will be the TPR trial for both birthparents. Right now the birthparents' whereabouts are unknown, so the state has to publish in the local newspaper(s) for 4 consecutive weeks before the court date. Apparently this is happening now. If the birthparents don't attend the trial, or if they do and don't have a really good explanation as to why they haven't contacted DCS about the baby and a really good reason why the state should give them yet another second chance, the judge should find in favor of Termination of Parental Rights. There is then an appeal period before the judgment actually becomes official. i thought it was a 30 day appeal period, but perhaps it is 20. If not, no one seems to know why the second court date is March 29...
Anyway, that's the big news. Once the TPR is official in the court record, we can file a petition to adopt, get a court date, and then officially adopt our baby girl! Theoretically this could happen in April, but i am a bit more realistically guessing May or even June. We have an appointment set up with an attorney for this Saturday morning at 10 am. This attorney was the one who handled the adoption of D's birth brother by his parents, and they highly recommend him. Alan did some "research", found a personal website, and discovered that he likes the White Stripes and Foo Fighters, so something tells me this will be our attorney. Tee hee. It really is pretty exciting to be this far along (though it still feels like it should have happened 3-4 months ago).
As far as D goes, she's finally over the reflux relapse she dealt with during the antibiotics. Hooray! And she's making up for lost time as far as food goes. Holy moly, she can really pack it in when she feels like it. Which seems to be the middle of the night. The other night she woke at 2 and ate 5.5 oz, then woke at 3 and ate another 5.5 oz!
As for me, my endo has been a real mess this month. It started up again already yesterday after maybe 2 days of not hurting like mad. My flexible sigmoidoscopy procedure (similar to a colonoscopy but only the last 1/3 of the colon) is scheduled for one week from today. Ick! Ick! But it's the first step toward the next surgery, so that's good i guess. They're looking for whether the endo is inside the bowel, which is very rare, or if it's more likely that it's just all over the outside of the bowel and irritating it. And since my mom died of colon cancer, they'll also look for polyps and whatnot, so let's keep our fingers crossed for the all-clear there.
And in totally frivolous news, Alan has been on the lookout lately for a band or artist that i would really enjoy. It's been a long time since i found any new music that i LOVE, and i've been in a major music rut for probably 2-3, maybe more, years. Well, i'm pleased to say he really succeeded this weekend. His name is Frank Turner, and he's witty, and Britty, and nice! Actually he's a heartless bastard mother-f*cker. But close enough.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Another first!
Sometimes i sing to D, especially when she's fussy and i can't get right to her. i usually sing loud, boisterous songs as she likes them best when she's fussy; i think they distract her. One of them i sing is the Italian song that goes "La la la la la la la". No idea why; it was probably in my head one day.
Anyway, i sung it for her tonight and i swear she said "La la la" in a sing song voice! She did it one more time about 30 minutes later (i spent the whole time trying to get her to repeat it lol). i can't believe how fast she's growing and how many new things she does seemingly every day.
She even spent about 20 minutes crawling around on the floor by herself, all over the living room, which she's never really done before. She'd crawl toward a toy or toward me or Alan, but not just go "exploring" like she did today. Usually she's too fussy to go for that long without someone interacting with her. That was a nice break (and what prompted the "la la la" song.
Anyway, i sung it for her tonight and i swear she said "La la la" in a sing song voice! She did it one more time about 30 minutes later (i spent the whole time trying to get her to repeat it lol). i can't believe how fast she's growing and how many new things she does seemingly every day.
She even spent about 20 minutes crawling around on the floor by herself, all over the living room, which she's never really done before. She'd crawl toward a toy or toward me or Alan, but not just go "exploring" like she did today. Usually she's too fussy to go for that long without someone interacting with her. That was a nice break (and what prompted the "la la la" song.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Bad day, sweet kid
So tonight i got home late because i went to the health clinic to get a Rx for antibiotics for this sinus/ear infection after a very nasty first day back at work (major computer issues... sigh). And i had to drop the Rx off and wait in line in the drive-through, which makes D very unhappy, so by the time we got home, she was fussy. And the dogs had gotten into the toiletries bag (for baby) and there were lotions and potions all over the living room floor.
Needless to say, this was not a great day. And D did NOT want to be put down. She fussed no matter where i put her, no matter if she could see me or not, or if i sang or talked to her or not. And she wouldn't let me wear her, which sucks because on a night like tonight, i need it more than ever.
So there i was feeling "touched out" (not wanting to constantly hold D), couldn't put her down, etc. Finally i got her settled on the floor next to the couch while i just sat on the couch, and she didn't fuss too much, so i just wanted to regroup for like 5 minutes before tackling the carpet cleanup and trying to feed a VERY refluxy D, etc. And she continued to thwart my best efforts not to be touched.
First she touched my left foot, so i moved it. Then she touched my right foot, so i put my feet on the coffee table. Then she started sitting tall and rubbing her head and hands on my calves, which i thought was pretty cute but still wasn't quite ready to touch her much, so i turned sideways with my whole body on the couch.
What does she do? She somehow managed to pull herself up on the sofa for the first time ever and rub my legs. LOL! That's a VERY determined baby!
Another thing she did tonight was let go of the coffee table (with both hands) for about 3 seconds. Wow!
Needless to say, this was not a great day. And D did NOT want to be put down. She fussed no matter where i put her, no matter if she could see me or not, or if i sang or talked to her or not. And she wouldn't let me wear her, which sucks because on a night like tonight, i need it more than ever.
So there i was feeling "touched out" (not wanting to constantly hold D), couldn't put her down, etc. Finally i got her settled on the floor next to the couch while i just sat on the couch, and she didn't fuss too much, so i just wanted to regroup for like 5 minutes before tackling the carpet cleanup and trying to feed a VERY refluxy D, etc. And she continued to thwart my best efforts not to be touched.
First she touched my left foot, so i moved it. Then she touched my right foot, so i put my feet on the coffee table. Then she started sitting tall and rubbing her head and hands on my calves, which i thought was pretty cute but still wasn't quite ready to touch her much, so i turned sideways with my whole body on the couch.
What does she do? She somehow managed to pull herself up on the sofa for the first time ever and rub my legs. LOL! That's a VERY determined baby!
Another thing she did tonight was let go of the coffee table (with both hands) for about 3 seconds. Wow!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
This is the last day of my time off
i've had 12/24 until today off, and it's been AWESOME! Actually, Alan has been off, too, so double yay. And yet somehow we managed to accomplish very little in the way of housework. i think we've just enjoyed family time too much, and taking turns so we can get more sleep and have some "me" time, etc. Plus of course being out of town for Christmas.
D has benefitted also. She went from belly crawling forward and belly-up (real) crawling backwards to real crawling forward. Yup, i have a real crawler as of Christmas morning. And she's pretty much been non-stop since then, which is good and bad. i'm hoping she'll be able to be a little more independent as a result (but she still fusses wanting you to go get her or give her a new toy rather than crawling to get you or the toy herself so far).
Unfortunately, our old enemy Reflux has returned. It started being bad again about last Wednesday, the day after we took her to the pedi for that sinus/ear infection. At that appointment, the pedi noticed her weight had gone up enough to increase her Zantac dosage, which usually takes about a week to really start working, and prescribed Amoxycillin. As of the next day, reflux started to return, and i don't know if it's because it would have anyway (from outgrowing the old dose of Zantac) and we just happened to go to the doc before the symptoms really started, or if the Amoxycillin is hurting her tummy as it tends to do and this is manifesting as reflux for her. IDK, but her breathing/laryngomalacia is bad again. We're trying to up her solids again and thicken her formula with cereal again in hopes it helps.
As far as solids, we tried beans yesterday at the Mexican place. Definitely a baby-led weaning (BLW) moment as she kept reaching for it. There were whole (soft) beans in the mush, so i must have given her 10 of them and she ate all of them. She's getting so good about chewing and swallowing, even though she still has no teeth lol.
Oh, and this week i've been able to do lots of toilet learning. i don't think i personally missed but one poop (and that's after 3 tries before and i didn't want to constipate her). She had a couple with Alan, but the rest were all in the toilet. Yay! One of these days she'll start signing for it, but it certainly isn't happening yet. She doesn't mind the potty at all, by the way, and has gotten where she can poop on the potty just as well as she can when she's playing in the jumperoo (ICK!) or while standing at the play table or furniture. Boy, if this can just continue for the next year, i will be beyond thrilled!
Oh, and we've retired the SnuggleNest Supreme :(. This is actually meant for cosleepers to keep the baby in bed, but we've used it in her crib for months (and a cheaper model prior to that), since she was dx with reflux and we've needed something to help with the crib angle and her sliding down. But alas, i found her flipped over the side the other day, and figured it would be safer to take it out and let her sleep on the crib itself, angle or no. She's doing very well with it, but has turned into a full-time tummy sleeper. Thankfully she's past the prime period for SIDS, but i can't say it doesn't make me nervous!
In 2 days is the motions hearing. 2 days! i don't know yet if i'll be able to go. She has this court date (which we're not required to be there but we're allowed to) and an ENT appointment where they'll test her hearing (reflux can cause hearing loss, hopefully not though), and i'd like to attend both. However, i only have 1 day off i think, which means i would have to take a half day off for each and would have zero cushion. Should the court date be in January (not likely), i wouldn't have any time for it, and i'd REALLY like to be present then. i also have a doctor's appointment in Chattanooga on the 19th that i haven't decided if i'll keep or not, and will have to have the colonoscopy at some point probably in January. i don't technically have to take vacation time for the 19th but probably would because that's the kind of person i am. But i'll probably need a whole day off for the colonoscopy which doesn't count as a doctor's appointment and i'll need the whole day off. i'll get a little comp time for some work done over the break, but there were massive computer issues and i didn't work as much as i'd hoped to be able to, so... bottom line i'll probably only be able to go to either court or the ENT. Sigh. i hate being vacation poor. (This time off isn't vacation for me; the whole company is closed).
D has benefitted also. She went from belly crawling forward and belly-up (real) crawling backwards to real crawling forward. Yup, i have a real crawler as of Christmas morning. And she's pretty much been non-stop since then, which is good and bad. i'm hoping she'll be able to be a little more independent as a result (but she still fusses wanting you to go get her or give her a new toy rather than crawling to get you or the toy herself so far).
Unfortunately, our old enemy Reflux has returned. It started being bad again about last Wednesday, the day after we took her to the pedi for that sinus/ear infection. At that appointment, the pedi noticed her weight had gone up enough to increase her Zantac dosage, which usually takes about a week to really start working, and prescribed Amoxycillin. As of the next day, reflux started to return, and i don't know if it's because it would have anyway (from outgrowing the old dose of Zantac) and we just happened to go to the doc before the symptoms really started, or if the Amoxycillin is hurting her tummy as it tends to do and this is manifesting as reflux for her. IDK, but her breathing/laryngomalacia is bad again. We're trying to up her solids again and thicken her formula with cereal again in hopes it helps.
As far as solids, we tried beans yesterday at the Mexican place. Definitely a baby-led weaning (BLW) moment as she kept reaching for it. There were whole (soft) beans in the mush, so i must have given her 10 of them and she ate all of them. She's getting so good about chewing and swallowing, even though she still has no teeth lol.
Oh, and this week i've been able to do lots of toilet learning. i don't think i personally missed but one poop (and that's after 3 tries before and i didn't want to constipate her). She had a couple with Alan, but the rest were all in the toilet. Yay! One of these days she'll start signing for it, but it certainly isn't happening yet. She doesn't mind the potty at all, by the way, and has gotten where she can poop on the potty just as well as she can when she's playing in the jumperoo (ICK!) or while standing at the play table or furniture. Boy, if this can just continue for the next year, i will be beyond thrilled!
Oh, and we've retired the SnuggleNest Supreme :(. This is actually meant for cosleepers to keep the baby in bed, but we've used it in her crib for months (and a cheaper model prior to that), since she was dx with reflux and we've needed something to help with the crib angle and her sliding down. But alas, i found her flipped over the side the other day, and figured it would be safer to take it out and let her sleep on the crib itself, angle or no. She's doing very well with it, but has turned into a full-time tummy sleeper. Thankfully she's past the prime period for SIDS, but i can't say it doesn't make me nervous!
In 2 days is the motions hearing. 2 days! i don't know yet if i'll be able to go. She has this court date (which we're not required to be there but we're allowed to) and an ENT appointment where they'll test her hearing (reflux can cause hearing loss, hopefully not though), and i'd like to attend both. However, i only have 1 day off i think, which means i would have to take a half day off for each and would have zero cushion. Should the court date be in January (not likely), i wouldn't have any time for it, and i'd REALLY like to be present then. i also have a doctor's appointment in Chattanooga on the 19th that i haven't decided if i'll keep or not, and will have to have the colonoscopy at some point probably in January. i don't technically have to take vacation time for the 19th but probably would because that's the kind of person i am. But i'll probably need a whole day off for the colonoscopy which doesn't count as a doctor's appointment and i'll need the whole day off. i'll get a little comp time for some work done over the break, but there were massive computer issues and i didn't work as much as i'd hoped to be able to, so... bottom line i'll probably only be able to go to either court or the ENT. Sigh. i hate being vacation poor. (This time off isn't vacation for me; the whole company is closed).
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