Happy New Year!

It's amazing how fast time flies by.  Here I was thinking it's only been a short time since my last post, not almost 6 months! 

Leland is now 13 months old and quite the character.  He laughs and smiles a lot, loves his family and gets into everything, but in a good way.  He is steady on his feet and not afraid to climb - anything.  He loves bath time, being outside, and hats.  At his nine month check up he weighed a whopping 18 pounds (or was it 17?  I can't remember)! His weight has not dropped off the growth chart and stays steady or increases just a little bit each weigh in unlike Isabel.  So far there has been no mention of Pediasure for him.

Isabel is LOVING preschool.  She talks about it all the time and is sad during breaks from school (including weekends).  She is bummed that she can't read yet, but her writing has improved so much in the past few months.  After lights-out time, she stays up and "reads" books and writes a lot in notebooks.  She's happy when she has something to write with and on.  I knew my hoarding of school supplies would come in handy one day!  She still talks often of Emory and misses her dearly.  We all do.  Isabel certainly has gone through a lot of transition this past year.  My hope for 2014 is a little more consistency for her.

What the what? I have time for a blog post!

Having (these) two kids has been crazy.  Even though Leland can't talk yet, I'm quite positive that he and Isabel not only communicate but conspire. On the rare occasion that Leland has a good stretch of sleep Isabel wakes us up to change her sheets.  Scheduling-wise these two couldn't be more opposite or make things more difficult.  BUT, they are crazy about each other (most of the time) and are fairly tolerant of the other one's needs. 

Leland is up to 15 pounds now.  IT seems big to us, but for an 8 month old he is small, just like Isabel was.  He has two teeth, is crawling (mostly a belly crawl, but on hands and knees some of the time) and tries hard to walk.  He wants to walk so bad that holding him is hard because he wiggles so much to get down on the floor.  He can pull himself up to a stand and smiles big with pride when he gets all the way up. 

As for his sleep - it still sucks.  Last night I was up 3 times and Ryan once.  His stretches were 3 hours, which was almost like a little taste of Heaven.  A few nights ago he was up about every 90 minutes.  So far not one trick has worked.  We've tried baby yoga and massage, aromatherapy and feeding cereal and/or purees right before bed.  Nothing will keep this boy asleep.  He is usually easy to get back to sleep once he wakes up, but occasionally he'll stay up for an hour.  This tactic is usually carried out at around 3:30 or 4 in the morning leaving Ryan not much more time to sleep before his alarm goes off.  I have given up on him sleeping through the night.  I know it will happen eventually, and I look forward to that day, but I just don't think it'll be soon. 

There's lot to say about Isabel, but that'll have to wait for another post. 

Isabel is moving on

Her last day at her current preschool is tomorrow.  It's bittersweet for me, and I know Biz is sad to go.  She has made some good school friends and loves loves her teacher.  Ryan and I really like her teacher, too.  She had her graduation party last night which was fun - especially for the kids since junk food was the only thing on the menu.  There was food and play, and at the very end her teacher released some ladybugs into the bushes right outside their classroom.  What was fun about this party was the kids had input.  The ladybugs were brought in by one of Isabel's friends, Isabel insisted on jewels, glitter & sparkles for decorations, and another kids brought marshmallows.  It was all about the kids which was nice (if not bad for the tummy). 

Afterwards we took her to meet her new preschool teacher.  I think I wrote about this already, but I need to recap.  We decided to go with an in-home preschool this time which is funny because we chose to not consider an in-home last time around.  But, Folsom is full of in-homes, and we already had a taste of the corporate centers and obviously chose not to keep her in one.  We both interviewed this new teacher independently and both came to the same basic conclusions:  she's very very nice but not syrupy, she's qualified, and she runs a safe operation (none of her friends/family gets to drop by during school hours, etc.).

Isabel's first impression of her new teacher was a good one and she seemed comfortable right away.  She was jazzed at how close it is to home (about one block away) and was excited at the prospect of walking to and from school.  The other bonus is her new school is about halfway between home and one of the neighborhood parks we go to.  Plus, this teacher does a lot of baking with the kids (bonus!), makes a new batch of playdoh about once a month, and does a field trip once a month.  Did I mention the Isabel's class will have only 5 other students?  I think the small class size will be a nice change for Isabel right now.

As for me, I'm excited at the prospect of meeting some new neighborhood friends for Biz.  She's bike riding pals with a little boy down the street, but he's just turning 3.  They have the best, carefree time together.  Ryan and I are hoping they get more time to play during the summer.  She needs to have better examples of friends (and parents) than the ones that she has had. 

Miracle or coincidence?

I'm trying hard to reserve judgement, but I think we may be making great progress towards helping Leland get some good sleep.  On Monday we took Leland to his first pediatric chiropractic appointment.  The doctor is certified in pediatric care and babies and kids are a big part of his practice.  The first thing I noticed is how good he was with Leland.  I understand he was working toward making Leland comfortable in a new situation and earning his trust.  Mission accomplished.  Plus, he made Ryan and I comfortable in the process.  The initial assessment showed he had 2 places "off, not out" in his spine; 1 in the atlas region and 1 in the sacrum.  He did quick, gentle adjustments which Leland seemed to enjoy.  Leland smiled the entire time which was a plus. 

As predicted, Leland had a blow-out diaper later that day and increased his stretches of sleep Monday night.  Getting him to sleep after each waking was a lot easier as well.  Tuesday was a day like we've never experienced (except when he was sick with pneumonia).  He had a cat nap in the morning (Isabel's dance class always disrupts his first nap), then 2 naps lasting 1.5 hours each, then another cat nap in the evening.  Real naps!  Plus, 2 more poops on Tuesday.  Definite progress : )

And then last night happened.  He started out going to bed a little later than normal, then waking up every hour until 2 am.  He was up from 2 until a little after 4, and it seemed like he was having gas pain again.  Poor little guy....and poor mommy and daddy, too.  It sucked for all of us. 

We had our second appointment today, and so far Leland has been down for an hour.  I expect today to be good, tonight to be questionable.  We go back on Friday for another follow-up.  I love this doctor and since I am seeing progress first hand I do not feel like he's a quack taking our money.  Leland loves the doctor and the others that work there, and it is obvious they all love babies and kids.  I'm really excited to continue this line of treatment and am looking forward to Leland becoming a truly rested baby.

Sleep? Who needs sleep?

Poor Leland has been a crappy sleepy from the very first day.  That means Ryan and I haven't been getting much sleep, either.  Isabel, on the other hand, can sleep through anything.  She's the only rested person in this house right now.  Most nights Leland is up every 2 hours.  I'm not convinced he is hungry, but nursing him back to sleep is the fastest and quietest way for rest.  I tend to lean toward some kind of discomfort like gas or bloating.  During the first month or so he would cry and cry each time he had to pass gas or poop.  It's gotten a lot better to the point where he doesn't seem too bothered by it anymore.  But, when his sleep gets disturbed he'll start by rolling around and bringing his knees up toward his chest.  I'm always on the fence - do I feed him more possibly adding to his discomfort  or do I nurse him for comfort?  I always end up nursing for comfort because gas pain (if that is what the problem really is) is no fun. 

We moved him into his crib this week to see if things would improve.  We were thinking maybe his sleep was getting interrupted because of our movements.  And, quiet honestly, he's a bed hog.  The first night was heaven - he only woke once.  Since then it's been back to every 2 hours.  We started cereal about a week ago hoping that would help (if the problem were hunger).  Aside from the first night, cereal hasn't helped at all.

Thanks to some information from a friend over here, we have decided to make an appointment with a pediatric chiropractor.  Our appointment is Monday morning.  We figured since nothing else has worked so far we need to keep exploring options.  Leland's pediatrician had mentioned reflux, but I'm not convinced he has it, and if he does it is mild compared to what I've read about it.  Plus, the option there is medication.  We feel Leland is too young for medication (unless absolutely necessary, of course).  If chiropractic care doesn't help, we'll keep exploring.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this works at least a little because, honestly, I'm running out of hope and ability to function.

On a positive note - when he's not tired he's just as cute as can be.  He's super into Isabel and sometimes he laughs only for her.  Likewise, Isabel is super into him and is quite the big sister.  She loves helping feed him cereal and is great and getting him to calm down when he is upset.  They are adorable together.

Quick update

I will probably only have time for a quick check-in, so that's what I'm planning.  Both kids had their well-baby/child exams last week.  Both are very healthy and doing well.  I don't have their stats with me, so that'll have to wait for another post.  I do remember Leland's weight is the 1st percentile.  He's not off the chart, but he did plateau since his last well-baby.  On the doctor's recommendation, we are trying to supplement one feeding a day with formula.  She suspects my milk isn't very fatty, which would account for his weight plateau.  It certainly is not due to the amount he nurses.  So far we haven't had much luck with the bottle, but we'll keep trying.  She also said we could start cereal in about a month or so which should help him sleep through the night.  He can sleep a good 3-5 hour stretch after he goes down for the night, but after midnight he'll wake up every 2 hours.  It sucks.  He still takes crappy naps most days (20-30 min cat naps) and spend quite a bit of time over tired.  Otherwise he is a happy little guy who loves to smile and laugh when you tickle him.  He is very social and so far isn't particular about who holds him. 

Isabel is also very healthy.  She is doing well in all areas and continues to excel in speech.  Just the other day she used the sandwich technique on me and I totally fell for it.  She had complemented me on a braid I did for her before telling me the other braid looked horrible.  For a second I thought we were having a bonding moment.  Not.

Ryan and I have become increasingly unhappy with the daycare we chose for her.  Partly because we put so much effort into choosing this place and partly because we feel she is learning some bad habits from her classroom.  All the research we did was negated about 2 weeks after she started there when the director and a few teachers left.  Since then it seems unorganized, I'm not super fond of the new director, and the morning routine is not working for us.  Long story short, we are looking for a 3 hr/day, 3 day/wk preschool program for her.  We found an in-home preschool literally around the corner from our house.  I have met with the teacher and I really liked her and her program.  Ryan will meet with her hopefully this week.  Being so close to home is a major plus and something we were hoping for.  I think Isabel will be much better off in a small class (1:6 ratio) where all the kids start and end their days at the same time so no one misses out on fun stuff.  The only drawback is this program follows the school district's calendar, so summers off.  That means we'll be at home together all summer long.  I'm spending the little free time I have researching homeschooling plans and activities so we don't have a boring, mindless summer but one filled with play dates, learning activities and lots and lots of baking. 

Seriously??

Thanks to the medications, breathing treatments and steps we took at home, Leland made a full recovery from pneumonia.  He is a little trooper for sure.  Ryan was scheduled to leave for a 2 week training class in Ohio starting last Sunday.  Since Leland was in good health, he went ahead with the trip.  I was feeling fairly comfortable with being alone with the 2 kiddos for 2 weeks, although a bit nervous about getting through bedtime.  Monday morning I noticed that Leland's little feet looked a little purple and felt cold.  I rubbed them trying to warm them and that helped a little, but not much.  I thought it might have something to do with the lack of breathing treatments so I gave him one to see if his circulation improved.  As with the feet rubbing, the color in his feet improved a little, but not much.  I kept checking throughout the day with no real change.  The 3 of us went to the park in the afternoon and it was a bit chilly outside.  By the time we were walking home Leland's hands were dark purple and really cold. 

I called the on-call doctor and she told me to take him into urgent care.  After paying our co-pay, urgent care told me to take him to the hospital.  Thankfully we didn't have to wait long to get a room in the ER, but I really wasn't expecting to need one.  The nurses were VERY good with Leland and showed genuine concern given his age.  Plus, they all thought he was cute which helped my stress level just a bit.  He had to have another chest x-ray to confirm the pneumonia was gone.   That wasn't too bad - he did very well.  The worst part was the blood draw.  Infants shouldn't have to get their blood drawn - it's just too traumatic for both baby and mom. 

The charge nurse noted a cyanosis around his upper lip but didn't know what else was going on.  After a while, the ER doctor came in.  He was a young-ish guy (hard to read - face looked young but his hair was starting to gray.  Could be from job stress) who was super nice, thankfully.  Without seeing the chest x-ray or blood work, he diagnosed Leland with vasomotor instability.  That's the big-worded way of saying he can't regulate his body temperature due to his age.  He'll outgrow this in a few months.  It was a lot of money and trouble to get told nothing is wrong, but we had to go through it all to find that out.

As for Isabel, she showed great concern and really wanted to go to urgent care with us.  Having enough to worry about, I didn't think that was the best choice.  Thankfully our next-door neighbors were happy to have her stay at their house at a moment's notice and for as long as it took.  They fed her second dinner and taught her a little piano.  I'm always glad we moved to this neighborhood, but that night made it truer than ever. 

Leland's little hands and feet still look dusky every now and then and sometimes a little purple, but now I know I don't have to panic.