David, Lisa, Kayla & Isaac

We can't believe she is already a year and a half old!

One of the biggest things to report from this past month is her obsession with Elmo. It started off with a book that we have where Elmo is on some of the pages (it's a Sesame Street book). She was pointing to him and looking at me as if asking, "Who is this fuzzy red monster, mom?" She kept bringing that book to me and pointing out her new friend. Later in the day, maybe even the next day, we were up in our room where we store a few of her toys to occupy her if we need to be in there... and she starts exclaiming, "Elmo! Elmo! Elmo!" Sure enough, one of the books in there has Elmo on the cover! I praised her for her recognition skills! When David came home, he got the bright idea to show her Elmo on Youtube.... and later on his Blackberry. And now she thinks that our computers and his phone are created just so she can watch Elmo! In fact, sometimes when David gets a phone call she gets all excited that she's going to get to watch Elmo and when he answers it she is SO upset and cries, "Elmo! Elmo!Elmo!" making it hard for him to talk!! When Mom Taylor was here she bought Kayla an Elmo DVD and oh my does she love it and ask for it all the time! She watched it several times while our mom's were in town, but I've tried to limit the amount of it she watches it so it is a special treat! Also, for Valentine's Day the Taylor's gave Kayla an Elmo doll. When she opened it she was in AWE! She hardly knew what to do but sit and stare at him!! It's funny to me that she got so obsessed with him from a book!

We've also started letting her use a fork for her meals. She's pretty good at stabbing her food and getting it into her mouth. She can use a spoon too, but has better control with a fork. Mealtime, however, seems to be one of our biggest struggles lately. She no longer wants to sit down in her chair, she tries to twist out and stand up.... she pulls off her bib.... and says she's all done before she's ever started to eat! I know that she isn't going to starve herself, so I try not to force food on her. But sometimes it seems like she doesn't eat anything! Breakfast is definitely her best meal. She's the most calm for it and typically eats quite a bit. Lunch and dinner are hit or miss. Sometimes she's hungry and eats a lot and sometimes she eats next to nothing!

We sometimes let her drink from a straw, which she loves! However, she keeps trying to pull it out! We sometimes let her drink water out of a glass, although she typically gets rather wet when we do this!

We recently stopped the nighttime nursing. She was nursing for such a short time and I was fine with giving it up. It went really well, better than I thought. I still put her to bed, and since we had a pretty solid nighttime routine, it was only one small part that we gave up and she doesn’t seem to miss it at all. And I don’t either! Even just a few weeks ago I was thinking that I would be so sad when we were done nursing, but something has changed emotionally with me and I am no longer sad about that part of our relationship ending. I am really proud that we have been able to nurse as long as we have. I have really enjoyed doing it and still enjoy our 1 nursing a day, although I’m not sure how long that one will continue. We’ll see!

She has started to become a little neat-obsessed at times. If something is out of place she says, "uh-oh" and it needs to be fixed before anything else can happen! If she drops food on the floor it must be picked up. If she drops something on her tray and it makes a mess, it needs to be wiped up in order for things to continue. Now, I'm not saying she doesn't like to make a mess sometimes (she continues to rub her messy hands in her hair during meals times and couldn't care less), because she does. But she often likes things neat too!

She has started becoming interested in dressing and un-dressing herself. She is able to pull some of her pants off, her jacket off, and of course socks and shoes. One morning when we went to get her she had her sleeper 1/2 unzipped! And she is real interested in putting clothes on. She tries to put pants on or sweatshirts or socks. She isn't able to do it yet, but she has the right idea.

She also loves to put on gloves or our shoes and walk with them!

She is already exerting independence with things. She learned how to say her name (um, cutest thing EVER!) and if she wants to do something herself, like walk up the stairs for example, she points to them and says, "Kay-la".. as in, "I want to do it". And speaking of stairs, she now likes to hold onto the railing or wall and walk up them, no longer scamper up on her hands and knees. Sometimes she wants to do things her way and there is little that you can do to deter her.

While Mom Taylor was in town Kayla got her first haircut. Her hair had been growing at a similar rate, but suddenly the bottom part took off and it was getting mullet-ish, and that is not ok. So, we chopped off the long part. And it looks SO STINKIN CUTE! I love it! It's amazing how much taking off that little bit of hair really changes things. She was totally squirmy, but we eventually got it done! We didn’t cut the hair in front; I’m hoping it will shortly be long enough that we can tuck it behind her ears. She loves bows, but will rarely keep them in for longer than a minute (and then promptly asks me to put them back in… rinse and repeat until I say all done!)

We also started doing timeouts with her. She knows she's not allowed to do certain things (press the buttons on the tv, pull off the pads that protect your kitchen drawers, etc) and she does them anyway. She even sometimes does them while saying, "No". I try to limit the TO's, sometimes it seems she could spend all day in them! But there needs to be some consequence for doing something you know you aren't allowed to do. So... let the TO's begin :) We only set a timer for 30 seconds (well, David likes to do it for longer...) and she is typically good about staying there. I can't say that it has really been super effective in getting her not to do those things, but it has improved a bit. We do give her a few warnings... "Kayla, we don't do that... Kayla, if you do that again you will sit in TO... ok, TO". We'll see how it goes.

While my mom was in town she played the piano with Kayla (well, allowed her to bang on it is probably more accurate!) and she taught her where middle “C” is. Kayla can consistently pick it out on her first try probably 90% of the time.

While mom Taylor was in town she had Kayla do some drawings. Here is one of her first pictures!

As another follow-up to the whole allergy ordeal, she did test negative for the gluten allergy, praise the Lord. That was such an answer to prayer. Her bowls have actually become quite a bit more solid too, which is nice.

She is talking quite a bit more. I tried writing down all the words she says and I think she says probably 50 or so words, not including names (and she can say several of our friends’ names!). My Bright Beginnings person says that by the time a child gets to 3 years old, strangers should be able to understand 90% of what they say. So, since about 90% of what she says probably isn't recognizable to strangers (ex. "num-nuts" = fruit snacks)... I'd say she is right on track :) Some of the words she has recently started to say are hug, love you, airplane, choo-choo (when we hear a train) and horse.

She has started to really enjoy wooden puzzles and shape sorters and is actually really good at doing them! It’s fun to watch her think and try putting them in certain ways before she figures it out! She is getting so much faster at it each day! I was just saying to David that she seems like a sponge - she is just learning and picking up new things and new words and new concepts SO quickly these days, it's amazing to watch.

She also has started to try to feed her stufffed animals and dolls and is offereing them her sippy cup! Too cute!

At an 18 month appointment for Kayla she was 23 lbs 6 oz (40%) and 33.5 in (95%). Her head circumference was 19 in (90%).

This stage sure is fun!! Exhausting, but so fun!

Posted by Lisa at 10:11 PM | Permalink

Currently, one of my greatest frustrations as a parent is how sometimes it is so difficult to accomplish anything. Of course, it's not always hard to get things done. But it is often enough that I always have to plan for the fact that it could be nearly impossible or simply not worth the effort. Sometimes I need to run real quick and change my clothes, or need to brush my teeth or something small like that. Kayla likes to go with me upstairs to do these things... but in the 30 seconds or so that I take to do them, she has emptied the bathroom drawer of my stuff and started taking some of it into the other room. Or she's pulled everything off our bed-side tables and is pulling things out of our clothes drawers. Or in the living room... if I'm sitting at the dining room table and she tries to touch the blinds (which she knows she's not allowed to do), I get up to open the blinds so she can't reach them and meanwhile in those 5 seconds she has climbed on top of my chair and is pulling stuff off of the dining room table! Or if she is eating lunch and I'm unloading the dishwasher, or trying to cook or something, she is over there throwing food on the flood or rubbing sauce in her hair! It seems like an endless losing battle and it drives me crazy! I get SO frustrated by these little things sometimes... it makes me not even want to try to get something done because it's more work that it's worth!

It's funny to me how the frustrations change as she grows (I realize this is an obvious concept, but it still is interesting to me). I remember a few months ago talking with David about how the #1 frustration I had with Kayla was regarding nap time. And now she typically naps great! There is a song that I heard on the radio several months ago. Ironically it is by Darius Rucker, the lead singer of Hootie and the Blowfish, a group that I rather dislike. But he's gone solo in country music, and I've fallen in love with his song, "It Won't Be Like This For Long". The first time I heard it I was on my way to the YMCA and I literally was crying so hard that I almost had to stop driving. My eyes were red and puffy when I get there; It was rather embarrassing, actually! But anyway, David and I quote this song to each other often. Things won't be like this for long.... the current frustrations will change if we can just hang on. Those are rather comforting words for us when she is acting up. At the same time, it is so sad to realize how quickly she is growing and changing. We want to try to have extra patience with her because she is just learning so much right now and she doesn't mean to frustrate us. And in a few weeks we'll be talking about the way things used to be and it will be sad!

I'll copy some of the lyrics... as I wipe some tears away!

...It won’t be like this for long
One day soon we'll look back laugh'n
At the week we brought her home
This phase is gonna fly by
So baby just hold on
It won’t be like this for long
...
But right now she up and cry'n
And the truth is that he don't mind
As he kisses her good night
And she says her prayers
He lays down there beside her
Till her eyes are finally closed
And just watch'n her it breaks his heart
Cause he already knows
It won’t be like this for long
One day soon that little girl is gonna be
All grown up and gone
Yeah this phase is gonna fly by
He's try'n to hold on
It won’t be like this for long

Posted by Lisa at 11:59 AM | Permalink

While our mom's were in town we had a little bit of time to spend as just the 2 of us. It was really nice to get a break from Kayla and get out of the house and have some free babysitting! Our week days are rather packed with activities, and with the amount I was working I didn't want to be gone at nights since I'd barely seen Kayla. But we got out once while each mom was here, and those times were really special. The first week we went out to dinner. It's amazing how much more relaxing a dinner is when it is just the two of us and we don't have to entertain anyone! Kayla is typically really good at restaurnts (although there are several exceptions to this!). But it's work. We don't usually put her in the high chair until food comes because she'll only last in the chair for so long, and we'd like to use that time to eat! So before the food comes we are trying to entertain her. Then when food comes, we try to get her in the chair (this does not always work!) and keep her with food in front of her that she will eat. As I'm sure all families expeirence, our times of eating out aren't as frequent as they used to be, and they are now only at family friendly restaurants! Anyway.... we enjoyed dinner out at Mongolian BBQ and were able to have fun and talk and enjoy the food at our own pace. After dinner we went to Barnes 'n Noble and browsed the store. We went there specifically to buy a present, but we also each picked up some books and magazines and sat in chairs and read them, thoroughly enjoying ourselves. This is not a luxury we can really enjoy (together at least).

The next week we had an entire day together (David had his Friday off and I worked different days that week so I could also have Friday off). We had Kayla's Dr apt in the morning, but we took off after that and had a fun-filled afternoon. We drove to Holland and walked out on the pier. Lake Michigan (although I kept calling it the ocean!!! Old habits die hard!!) is frozen by the shoreline and it was spectaular! And scary! I was rather nervous at times :) Shocking, I know! We spent a long time climbing around out there.

More pictures are here !

Then we headed to Holland State Park and went snowshoeing in the woods. That was also super-fun! We bought these snowshoes last winter but this was our first time using them! Last year I wasn't feeling up to the adventure because I was nursing her so often still and I didn't want to be nursing her in a cold car or something like that. So it just never worked out. And we've been so busy we haven't had a chance to go out this year either! So it was really fun and a great workout!

Posted by Lisa at 11:57 PM | Permalink

We just came off of two weeks with grandmas in the house! The last week of January I was on Jury Duty. I was actually supposed to be on Jury Duty that same week last year, but I was able to defer it since I was nursing. The way Jury Duty is set up is that you have to call the day before to find out if you are actually needed or not, but if you are needed you have to be there at 7:45 and could possibly be there all day.... but likely only until mid-afternoon! Well, if there is a possibility, then I would need to have someone set up to watch Kayla for the maximum amount of time I might be there, just in case. So, instead of trying to coordinate anything like that, my MIL was able to come for the week! And as it turned out, I was called on Monday and was put on a trial that went through Wednesday! The case was a shoplifting case, so it wasn't an emotional case (there were few jury's that were picked that week for cases that would have been really tough to sit on- thankfully mine was not). It was a really great experience and I enjoyed learning more about the legal system.

After being at the Court House in the mornings, I went into work each afternoon. I put in over 30 hours at the bank and over 10 on Jury Duty. It was quite a strange week for me to go from staying at home full time to working over 40 hours outside of the home! But it was a nice break from Kayla. And it was a nice chance to make some extra money while we had a free babysitter! On Monday and Tuesday I had to be at the Court House so early that I didn't see Kayla before I left, and I didn't get home until after 6pm. When I did get home it was SO FUN to see Kayla and be able to play with her. Mom Taylor was so helpful and worked on dinner and later cleaning up while David and I played with Kayla. One thing I found out is that David and I don't often play with Kayla together. I play with her during the day and we take turns playing with her at night. But when we'd both been gone all day without seeing her we both wanted to give her our attention and we both were chasing her around the house and both were tickling her and both were rolling on the ground with her! It was really fun for both us and for her, so that is something we need to make more of an effort to do more often.

It was really nice to have Mom Taylor watching Kayla while I was out of the house. I didn't worry about Kayla at all and was able to really enjoy my Jury Duty experience and also able to help out a lot at the bank. However, I confirmed the fact that I would never choose to work full-time. I felt like I barely got to see Kayla and like I was missing out on so much. Since it was only a week, it was not a big deal. But to have to do that every week would be very hard for me. I would feel like I was missing out on so much of her life and the thought of that makes me very sad.

I have very few pictures of Mom Taylor and Kayla together, since I was gone most of the time! But here are a few that we captured! Thanks Mom T for watching Kayla and also for all the hard work you did around the house! It was nice for me to spend all my free time with Kayla and not have to worry about doing all of the things that need to be done to have a working household!

Mom Taylor left on Sunday and my mom came in town on Monday. She just wanted to come out and visit with us and didn't want to go too long without seeing Kayla! This is the week that made the most sense, even though it was back-to-back weeks with houseguests. I guess when it's family they aren't really guests, though!

I worked a little more than 20 hours at the bank over the course of 3 days the week she was here. It was really nice to have free babysitting while I was working! And frankly, work is so busy when I'm there that I don't really have a chance to think about Kayla at all! The Friday she was in town was David's Friday off, so I made arrangements to have that day off of work as well, and David and I spent the day together (a post on that is in the works!).

We had a great time with Mom Slighter and appreciate all her hard work of watching Kayla and taking care of things around the house as well! Thanks mom!

I realize that I am truly blessed to have such loving family and such a great relationship with both my mom and my MIL. Not too many people can say that. I wish that they lived closer because it was so nice to have them around and be involved with Kayla's day-to-day life. While I was at Jury Duty I met a woman and she was telling me about how she watches her daughter's kids one day a week and the other grandma watches them another day a week. Oh to be so lucky! I wish I was able to have family close enough so that would even be a possibility. I guess that is not my lot in life, but I often wish it was.

Posted by Lisa at 11:10 PM | Permalink

We had an appointment with Kayla's doctor last week to go over her allergic reaction and test results. First off, we are to avoid cashews until she is a teenager! The doctor wants her to have nothing to do with them for a long, long time. And we are avoiding peanuts and peanut butter until she is at least 3 (despite the fact that she had been eating these things from ages 13-16 months with no reaction). He isn't sure that she really is allergic to them, but the blood test did show an allergy and he would rather be safe than sorry. However, he said that I don't need to be vigilant about reading labels and making sure she avoids anything that has peanuts in it, nor do I need to ask restaurants if they cook in peanut oil, etc (which I would if she had a severe reaction to peanuts). That is a bit frustrating to me, that we might be avoiding something with no reason. However, it isn't the end of the world to avoid it for another year or two. Especially since I don't have to worry about the little things where trace amount of peanuts might be found. As for other nuts, he said we can reintroduce them back into her diet, but in small quantities. And as always, have Benadryl nearby just in case. So... we might start letting her have the almond slivers out of our Honey Bunches of Oats again, and other things like that.

As for her allergies to egg-whites, milk, soybeans and cod... well, he doesn't buy that she is allergic to any of those things. He said that the blood tests give really inconclusive and mixed results, and since she's been having all of those foods (well, maybe not so much the soybeans and cod) with no reaction, we are fine to continue.

That leaves us with the wheat allergy, and that will require further testing. The last appointment we had with him at 15 months (before the allergic reaction) we discussed how frequent and how loose her stools are. While this isn't a huge concern for us, it is strange that her stools are so liquid. Sometimes this results in diaper rash, which is just sad. Again, something we can deal with, but something we mentioned to him none-the-less. His advice at the time was to cut out all juice from her diet. He said toddler diarrhea is almost always caused by either too much fructose (found in juice) or too much liquid in general. He said to cut out juice for a month and see if that made a change... if it didn't, cut her total liquid intake to 16 oz a day and also in general try to limit drinking as much as possible to just at meal times (which is for us is like almost impossible... when she gets something on her mind she is not easily deterred!). Well, we did cut out juice and it has made a significant improvement. But she is still having probably 3-4 poopy diapers a day and that is more often than a toddler should be having (so he says). And they are very loose at times. He wasn't super concerned with this as long as we are ok changing that many poopy diapers! But, at that appointment he said if things didn't change by our next appointment (which was supposed to be at 2 years) he'd want to do a blood test to see if she had a wheat allergy, because having loose stools is one of the symptoms. Now, since she tested positive for a wheat allergy after her cashew incident and since her stools haven't improved drastically, he wants us to do a blood test to rule out celiac disease. He doesn't think she is likely to have it... her growth and weight have remained consistent and apparently at this age, kids with celiac disease start to taper off in their growth due to their digestive issues, and this is not the case for Kayla. But, he wants to rule it out so we at least know. We are praying that this test comes back negative. If it is positive, she will be referred to a specialist who will have to do some internal test which didn't sound so fun.... in addition to the fact that it would mean some major lifestyle changes for our family. We have several good friends who have celiac and have gluten-free diets, so I know it can be done. But I am praying that she doesn't have this problem at all.

He did write me up a prescription for an Epi-pen, but basically told me that he did that for my peace of mind in case I felt a need to fill it. It is not his recommendation for me to fill it because he doesn't believe Kayla needs one. Her reaction was swelling and vomiting, but never had any problem breathing. Therefore, her reaction was not anaphylactic, which is the reason you would need an epi-pen. Although he agreed with the ER doctor that her next reaction could be worse than the first one, he said that since her breathing wasn't affected the first time, it shouldn’t be affected in future cases. Also, he said that if she has an Epi-pen, it needs to be 5 seconds away from her at all times. So not like in the glove compartment in the car, but on her body and "attached to her hip" at all times. So... we aren't planning on filling it, but at least we have it!

Overall it was a comforting appointment. Avoiding cashews really isn't a problem (although as a nut loving family it will mean a few adjustments!) and I don't mind avoiding peanuts for awhile longer. It would be nice to feed her PB&J or something at some point, but I obviously don't want to risk her having another reaction. At age 3 she'll be able to verbalize things a lot better and would be able to tell me that she isn't feeling well and we'll be more prepared to handle that situation.

I think the thing I struggle with the most is I just want Kayla to be ok. As a parent, you want the best for your child. You don’t want them to have to endure any pain or any hardship. Of course pain and hardships are inevitable, but you want to protect your child from them as much as possible. Kayla hasn’t really been affected by any of this yet. Other than the suffering she did that one night, she doesn’t know any better! On the grand scheme of life, having to endure the pain of not eating peanuts for a few years and cashews for a long time is pretty low! I mean, I have perspective (although the pain of not being able to eat wheat would be much more significant)! Dealing with something this little sure puts in perspective what it would be like to have a child in the NICU or have major health problems. I can’t imagine the pain those parents deal with.

I guess we’re asking for prayers over here with her blood tests. We are praying that she doesn’t have celiac disease. And if she does, for prayers to deal with all of the ramifications that will involve.

Posted by Lisa at 01:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)