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There She Grows

They say you show a lot sooner with second and additional children, than with your first. That was definitely true with me! My aunts were telling me this in Europe. They said I’d have a belly by August, and I sort of doubted it. As soon as I arrived back, I began to show. That was almost 2 months ago already! Looking back at old photos, it seems I was maybe 22 weeks with Lilah before I looked like this.

Some pregnant ladies never seem to appear bigger than I already am – but I get SO MUCH HUGER. Beach ball style. Something about being so short-waisted. Cool how we all carry so differently, huh? Flash-back to when i was 8 months with Li – this is what I have to expect in the months ahead!

So, the 2nd trimester is well underway and I’m now at the point where I really love being pregnant. Weeks 6-12 were quite bad for me, as they were with my first pregnancy. Traveling in Europe right in the middle of that time was a challenge. Heck, everything was. But, that’s all over now! Its even difficult for me to remember how crappy I felt. We tend to forget just how bad something felt once its over. Right? I think that’s possibly a universal part of human nature. Or at the very least, built into motherhood.

So, staying hydrated is my big pregnancy challenge now. I do drink water all day long but some days I can’t seem to keep a drop in me – I’m peeing faster and more frequently than I can drink. Its actually quite comical sometimes. One sip of a drink and I’m in the bathroom within seconds. Those days I get fairly bad headaches, and I remember that issue from my first pregnancy. But other than that, I really can’t complain. I’m really enjoying it again, showingness and all. There is something very freeing and fun about walking around unabashedly with a huge belly. And, I think I’ve started to feel her moving around a bit, though very slightly. Its a little bittersweet in a small way, because I’m pretty sure this is the last time I’ll ever be pregnant. So I want to relish it.

Here’s me on the beach at Catalina Island (aka Mekkon – yep we gave Lilah her day in Mekkon and that probably deserves a post of its own!)

A good likeness, most agree. Sometimes my build is annoying.

Here Lilah takes a bow after going peepee and poopoo on the potty. Thank you, thank you very much folks.

Yes, this has been one of the greatest developments of recent times.

The potty isn’t new in our lives, at all. She’s been using it on occasion for a whole year now. But full-on potty training has been a very gradual process for us, obviously. Partly because of my lack of insistence and consistency on the matter for far too long, and in huge part due to her flat-out stubbornness. For quite some time L had a full understanding of using the potty but because she likes to be in control of things, she would go when SHE wanted to, and strongly fight the idea when others (particularly myself) suggested it. It was often a frustrating struggle.

Here’s more detail about the long road leading to this wonderful achievement, if anyone is interested. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve never been one to freak out about these kinds of things. I take a fairly lax approach to the fact that Lil is in contact with a lot of what’s out there, and frankly I believe she is healthier for it. kanahara. But the stats for the H1N1 virus this year can seem a little alarming. 50% of the population?

We have a toddler who is in germland with other kids everywhere. I keep sanitizer stashed around and we use it, but who are we kidding. Not to mention a husband who seems prone to such things, whether imagined or otherwise. (just kidding mike!) Most importantly, a family member with a temporarily weakened immune system. Thats why we were already planning to get flu shots before our trip home. But in the meantime, how worried should I be? The Swine Flu parenting guide on parenting.com has some worthwhile info.

Many experts think the worst case scenario outlined by PCAST is unlikely, and that swine flu is still pretty much acting like seasonal flu. “The southern hemisphere is completing their flu season, and the virus hasn’t mutated to become more virulent and it’s still susceptible to the drugs we have to treat it,” says Neil Fishman, M.D., director of the department of healthcare epidemiology and infection control at the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia.

There’s a good chance more people will get infected, but the percentages of mortality should remain the same as in previous years,” says Dr. Fishman. About 36,000 people die each year due to the regular flu. But the most encouraging news so far: An effective vaccine is on the way [expected to be available in mid-October].

“Parents should be aware of what public health officials are saying, and then just be extra vigilant about the precautions they’d normally take to prevent the spread of germs,” says Joseph Bocchini, M.D., chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics committee on infectious diseases and pediatrics chair of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport. Number one on the list: washing hands more frequently.

Here’s a rundown of the simple things we all know to do, and it doesn’t hurt to remind the kids:
Immune Boosters and Germ-Spreading Prevention 101.
Although, I gotta be honest. I’m not quite at the level of paranoia required to start wearing masks in crowded places.

More info:
Signs & Symptoms of Swine Flu
Easing Flu Symptoms, Home Treatment

Lilah brought a long strand of fountain grass along on one of our evening wagon ride walks, and rubbed the poofy part all over her face.  When we returned home we noticed her eyes were quite red and irritated.   I rinsed her hands and eyes with water and she went to sleep fine but the next morning she looked like this.  whoa.  And as a little more time went by, both her eyes seemed to get worse.

We gave her a dose of children’s liquid antihistamine, which made her drowsy and irritable.  But after a long nap, she woke up happy and back to regular eye-size.   She and I joked a lot that afternoon about how nice it is to be able to see again.

Moral of this story:  no more rubbing fountain grass on your face, Lil.

Mike and I did not ride our bikes for almost a decade.    They’ve been languishing behind the garage, collecting rust and spiders. I decided it was finally time for a long-awaited tuneup because I wanted to ride around with Lil.   I started looking into child-seats, hoping that by now civilation had developed a front-mounted seat and I’m happy to report that humanity did not disappoint. There are several available now, and the iBert safety seat seemed like the clear winner. Our verdict so far about this seat is after the jump.

Anyway, so excited was grandma about this concept, that she got both of our bikes tuned-up and Lil’s accoutrements as our birthday presents. Lil watched wide-eyed as we loaded the decrepid bikes into the trunk. She was psyched to bring them to the ‘bike doctor’ and kept talking (as always)  about how mommy and daddy’s bikes will be fixed and lilah will ride on mommy’s bike too. She was thrilled about her own seat, and little Giro Me2 helmet which is awesomely adjustable to fit like a glove and has little duckies all over it.

So now, all of a sudden, we have bikes. And cruising around on them is Lilah’s new favorite thing to do on earth. Check out the pics: Read the rest of this entry »

It is estimated that postpartum depression (PPD) affects from 10 to 20 percent of new mothers. In the United States, there may be as many as 800,000 new cases of postpartum conditions each year. The cause of PPD isn’t known but changes in hormone levels, a difficult pregnancy or birth, and a family history of depression are considered possible factors.  I was lucky to have avoided this but I personally know a few moms who experienced it in some form; one of whom was severely affected for over a year.

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) is the senate sponsor for the Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act: legislation to increase federal efforts to combat Post-Partum Depression. The act has broad support in Congress and was able to pass the House of Representatives earlier this year, but requires public pressure to overcome procedural obstacles.  Read the rest of this entry »

The other day when Lilah tried to eat tomatoes, and later some lime-drenched mango slices, she recoiled and cried. The acidic foods were bothering her mouth, so we assumed she had bitten her lip or cut her tongue. Later that night she had a low fever. Then yesterday morning I saw a large sore on the side of her tongue… like a cancre sore but huge.  What was going on?! I scoured the internet for possible info. The tongue blister sounded a lot like Hand-foot-mouth disease, but she wasn’t yet showing any rash. Later that day, the rash started to come out at her ankles and diaper area.. along with a few more small blisters on her tongue.   Poor thing!

Read the rest of this entry »

Lil is 21 months old tomorrow… and guess who is still all pica-y?

By now I have told her many times that we don’t eat dirt. or sand, crayons, soap, paper, rocks, etc. To clarify, she doesn’t necessarily eat these items (although she certainly used to!) but she  puts them in her mouth.  And if I didn’t stop her, who knows, she probably would still eat them. In some cases its merely annoying but in other cases its possibly dangerous. She has always been an extremely oral baby, doctors have noted it at many appointments. But it seems like she should have outgrown this by now.

Read the rest of this entry »

I mean, really.  How does such an arrangement even make evolutionary sense.   With already vulnerable infants and toddlers crying inconsolably from teething pain, how did we not all get picked off by saber toothed tigers until our species trailed off at a dead end?

Read the rest of this entry »

Many children aren’t fully potty trained until age 3… and that’s ok.   But I figure, starting to introduce the concept earlier can’t hurt as long as I don’t push things.   Lilah has shown some signs of readiness for awhile.  She’s known the words  poopoo and peepee for months now and uses them accordingly.  More and more often, she lets me know when she has gone.   Over the holidays I found a book about potty in Nanny’s stash, and read it to Lilah.  She was immediately interested.      So I decided it was time to get her a potty chair.

Read the rest of this entry »

humphrey’s teething pellets: what every new parent needs to know about.

this all-natural herbal remedy for teething works wonders, i tell you. when lilah was having teething trouble and nothing seemed to help, the daycare staff tipped me off to these little marvels. the tiny pellets dissolve in water. then i use a little dropper to administer the solution to lilah’s gums and under her tongue. almost intantly, she calms down afterwards. homeopathic goodies like menthol and chamomile seem to zen her out while dulling the pain. since discovering these, life has gotten a lot easier!

warning: this is about to be the longest and possibly whiniest blog post ever, but i need an outlet to chronicle  the hellishness that has been this past month.  so here goes.

Read the rest of this entry »

These last several days, Lilah has been sick with croup. She has had a harsh cough, hoarse voice, sore throat and almost constant fever. She has been refusing to sleep anywhere but on top of me, so I’ve spent at least half of most nights trying to sleep with a flailing HOT and miserable baby. The poor thing, I have never seen her so sick and so miserable. The fever makes her listless and cranky, the sore throat makes her hesitant to eat even her favorite foods, and her cough startles and upsets her. Croup is no fun! The one silver lining is that this yucky virus only occurs once in a lifetime; you’re immune from then on. She is highly contagious but it is assumed that most adults have already had croup, which is why Mike and I are not sick. But unfortunately she can’t be around kids. Which means, no going to Declan’s birthday party this weekend, or Sara and Mitch’s party tonight because baby Tatum will be there. Fun things that Lilah would have really enjoyed! What a shame.

As if this isn’t enough, she is teething something awful these days. She is finally starting to get over this croup thing so the fever is subsiding and she is more able to enjoy herself again. Which is wonderful! But while she’s laughing and playing she sometimes stops, holds her hand up to her gums and starts wincing. It is so sad. I know its a rite of passage and will be over before we know it, but the whole concept of teething just seems so cruel and ridiculous to me at this point.

its been 2 months since i reported on lilah’s milk drinking habits, and much has changed. here’s some updated news.

since the initial unpleasantness, lilah began drinking soy milk.   then i began hearing more and more about the estrogen content, and that some children experienced hormonal issues from drinking too much soy.  concerned, i talked to our nurses, who basically confirmed this as a possibility.   they still didn’t seem to think it was a big deal as long as i limited her to 20 oz a day.  but hearing this freaked me out, and i wanted to gradually move her toward cow’s milk. unfortunately, lilah again threw up after a few ounces.

i then discovered kefir.  its basically yogurt in liquid form, with all those good antibodies and bacteria cultures.  thick, serious stuff.  i started giving lilah one bottle a day of watered-down kefir and she loved it. almost immediately after introducing this small amount, lilah had a huge growth spurt.   i began to realize, she really needed more calories than she was getting from the soy.   i felt angry that initially the nurses had assured me soy milk was sufficient for weaning. even though lilah was getting plenty of calcium and nutrients from the variety of healthy foods she ate, the soy milk was not gonna cut it.

after about 2 weeks i decided the kefir was not enough; i want this kid to have milk and have it now.   so i gave whole milk lactaid a try – and i have no idea why it took me so long. lilah took to it immediately and has grown leaps and bounds since.  almost overnight she grew out of her size 3 diapers and a ton of her clothes.  she needed a new wardrobe, stat!  i felt so happy that she was finally getting the nutrition she had been lacking.  and right around that time was when she started to walk!  hooray for lilah.

for the past month, lactaid has been wonderful for us. sooner or later i wanted to re-introduce regular cow’s milk again but was afraid. no one wants to make their baby sick, so i kept putting it off. but the last time i ran out i found the store was out of lactaid – and that quarter gallon of vitamin D was staring me in the face. i figured, what the heck, lets give it a monthly try. yesterday i tentatively gave her 4 oz.  she downed it quickly and demanded more. whats this 4 oz bs, mom?! there were no signs of shaking or sickness to speak of.  after a few minutes of her seeming fine and hungry, i gave her more.  i am pleased to announce there were no problems whatsoever.   so now lilah is finally drinking her whole milk!  and is aparently not (or no longer) lactose intolerant. hooray!