Funny Stories

I'll take a break from chewing on my block to say cheese!
Oh no. . .now they'll be able to track me down if I'm speeding.

I thought I would take a break from our feeding woes to tell you a few funny stories. When she's not eating, she is a very happy girl.

The Vacuum:

I have told you that she is mesmerized with the vacuum. Yesterday, she rode up to it on her pony, but when daddy turned it on, she had a look of horror on her face. I don't think she had ever taken off so fast on her pony. But then, she rode back to the vacuum. When she got too close, she screamed and rode away. This continued 10, 20, 30 times or so. The vacuum would be in another room, but she had to ride to the vacuum and every time she would have a look of pure terror. We couldn't help but laugh because usually if you're afraid of something, you don't want to go near it. Silly girl.

The Shoes:

Olivia has gotten very good at leading you to certain objects if you ask where they are. She is super smart. She knows scale, vent, car, pony, penguin, Olivia (she finds a mirror and smiles at herself) mommy, daddy and we've been working on shoes. Tonight, we were in the bathroom oohing and ahhing over the scale (she loves to look at that thing) and I asked her where the shoes were. Our closet full of shoes is right off the bathroom. She led me out of the bathroom, however, without even glancing in the closet. I figured that she hadn't quite learned shoes yet. Then, she led me out to the kitchen and there sat a pair of my shoes (I have a bad habit of leaving shoes anywhere and everywhere.) Those were the shoes that we were using to teach her the word shoes. She doesn't say many words, but she is learning about them every day. I am so proud.

Saturday, January 3, 2009 - Update

Thank you for all of your advice and emails, etc. This has just been a difficult subject for us. Most micro-preemies (especially 23 weekers) have feeding tubes and we're very grateful that she doesn't. That fear is always in the back of our minds. Micro-preemies always seem to have their share of feeding issues. . .I don't know exactly why that is. . .maybe they've had more than their share of things forced in their mouth. I think our attempts to make sure she takes enough of her bottles has inadvertently made her hate them even more. She doesn't like things forced in or around her mouth. . . bottles, straws, sippy cups, spoons, food. That makes it even more difficult to get her to eat and drink. She likes to do it herself, so we're trying to find a wide assortment of food that she can pick up and eat herself. It would be great if she could hold her own bottle, but she hates her bottle and all she does is push it away. She is an extremely happy baby as long as it's not feeding time. That's one reason we decreased the amount of bottles during the day. We have tried everything. Sorry this is another depressing post. Ryan is feeding her in the other room as she's screaming at the top of her lungs. I attempted to get 2 ounces in her, but I just couldn't do it anymore. And. . . now I heard her just throw up everything! What a way to start off the new year. . . .

Evening Update

All was going well until her last bottle. . .she wouldn't even take an ounce before bed. That's 11 oz total for the day. (First bottle: 3 oz, second bottle: 7 oz, third bottle: 1 oz.) She did try some bologna, bread and a chocolate Santa, however. I think there are multiple issues going on. 1) Reflux that we don't quite have a handle on, but she has an appt with a GI on the 13th. 2) She just isn't interested in her bottle anymore, but has not yet mastered a cup or straw. 3) Those two evil teeth on the top coming in. Like I said in a previous comment. . .I'm demanding double from the tooth fairy when she loses those teeth. We didn't have this much trouble with the other four that she has. It has been a nightmare. Please pray that the switch to Prilosec helps her reflux and that those teeth come in NOW. We're all going crazy.

Friday, January 2, 2009 - Update

Last night, Ryan and I sat in bed and discussed Olivia's feeding issues. We're two intelligent, well-educated people. . .you'd think we could figure out what is going on. We're not happy, Olivia's not happy, so something has to change. One thing that Olivia has always excelled at is communication. She may not say many words, but it's easy to know what she's trying to tell us. When she screams and cries and pushes her bottle away, she's naturally trying to tell us that she doesn't want it. Right now, she takes her bottle 5 times a day. It's the only way that we can get close to the 15-20 oz per day. Well, we're cutting that back to 3 times a day in hopes that she'll begin taking more at each bottle and eat more baby/table food. We'll also offer her a sippy cup or straw continuously through the day. It's a long shot, but we've got to try something different. Worst case scenario. . .it doesn't work and Olivia loses weight. Maybe then her doctor will help us figure out something else to do. I feel like I spend every ounce of energy trying to make sure she gets enough to eat and it's exhausting. I don't want to continuously force a bottle on her and make her resent it that much more.

This is going to be difficult for me because I worry a lot about making sure she eats and drinks enough. I want her to stay hydrated and healthy. Wish us luck.

Thursday, January 1, 2009 - Update

I've gotta go check out the vacuum cleaner.
It amazes me.

I'll just pack it up and take it with me.

I could watch dad vacuum for hours.

I hope all of you had a great New Year's Eve. I think this was the first year that I actually didn't make it until midnight. Olivia only took 2 oz at her nighttime bottle, so I was expecting her to wake up hungry in the middle of the night. I figured I'd better get some sleep while I could and sure enough. . .she woke up hungry. I do believe this latest battle is because of her teeth. Combined with her reflux issues (that I don't believe are completely under control) it makes it impossible to feed her. This last week has wiped me out. I think she's already developed an aversion to her bottle and trying to make it a pleasant experience while also making sure she eats something is a difficult task. I did order her a honey bear cup in hopes to transition her off the bottle since we haven't had much luck with sippy cups or straws. It seems as if she won't have to suck as hard with the honey bear cup. Luckily, Ryan's home for the rest of the week which provides me with some much needed assistance.

Today, we've been busy putting the Christmas decorations up. Olivia has become totally obsessed and fascinated with the vacuum cleaner. It's very cute. Every time it's out, she has to be right next to it. Hopefully, this fascination will continue as she gets older.

Happy New Year!

Party like it's 2009!

Cousin Kaleb is One!

Hope you like your Baby Signing Times as much as Olivia does.
Sounds like you had a great party!

Enjoy being One!

Wednesday, December 30, 2008 - Update

Well, my laptop is on the fritz again so I'm using Ryan's computer. I gotta say, I'm loving his new monitor that he got for Christmas. Today hasn't been a particularly good day. I'm about at my wit's end. Olivia's feeding troubles just keep worsening, so I had to bring in the big guns and have Ryan call the doctor's office today. They thought that we should bring her in and Ryan agreed to go with me. I don't know why things seem to be taken more seriously when they come from him. We still didn't really get anywhere, though.

Anyway, we can barely get 1-2 oz in her at every bottle. She cries and screams and scratches and claws at me when I try to feed her. You should see my neck. . .it looks like I got in the middle of a cat fight. It's like this at EVERY bottle. It hurts her. She is so hungry and she takes a few swallows and then refuses to take any more and then cries and cries! I don't know if it's reflux. . .I'm not pretending to know the answers. I just don't think it's normal to cry like that every time she eats! They continue to say that her 15 mg of Prevacid daily is the appropriate dosage (even though I hear otherwise online.) She does have a GI appt next month, but I just can't imagine this going on for a few more weeks. It's gotten bad since Halloween and the last few days have been a nightmare. They are, however, switching her to Prilosec, so we'll see if that works. I'm just so frustrated and no one can give me any answers. I brought a bottle with me to the doctor's appt. and I was tempted to hand her over and say, "You feed her. . .good luck!" I, myself, am still not feeling better and I've been on hydrocortisone for 2 months, plus I take about 10 supplements (some 3 times a day) and now I'm on progesterone as well. I think my hair is a bit healthier. . .and that's cool and all, but not really what I was going for. I could go on and on about that, but I won't. My main concern is helping my daughter not be in such pain. It literally breaks my heart and I just don't know what to do.

I did want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my adorable nephew, Kaleb. I meant to write this earlier in the day, but without my laptop it's difficult. I will wait to post pictures when Ryan gets back from the birthday party (so sorry that Olivia and I couldn't make it.) Happy Birthday, sweetheart! We love you!! Ryan, Jodi and Olivia

Monday, December 29, 2008 - Update

My bathing beauty

Olivia's been acting a little "off" the last few days. Her interest in eating has hit an all-time low. I think it's probably her teeth as she has two that have been trying to come in for over a month. I think one finally poked through. Last night, she got herself so worked up that she vomited all over her crib (which she hasn't done in months.) She's also a bit cranky, which isn't like her at all.

Since the weather was pretty nice today, we were able to go for a ride in her car outside. It's such a smooth ride on carpet, but it was pretty bumpy on the street. Hmm. . maybe it will be an inside car. We also ran into our neighbor and it was good to chat with him for awhile. I enjoyed getting out of the house today. It's pretty sad when I look forward to going to the bank and to Sonic to get an iced tea. I think Olivia enjoys it too.

Congratulations, Erin!

We made it to 100,000 visits today! The 100,000th visitor was from Kalkaska, Michigan. Since nobody guessed December 28th, we went to the closest guess (without going over) which was December 26th guessed by Erin. Congratulations! Send me an email with your address and I will get your Starbucks gift card to you ASAP.

Having A Ball

Yep, I'm in my ball pit.
It's also my pack-n-play.

I'm having a ball!

Thank you to my parents' for helping us out with a million things today. I'm sure you didn't intend to do that much work today. Olivia enjoyed being pushed around in her car, however. We finally got the stickers on her car and the seat belt in, so we're ready to go for a ride outside. . .if only the weather was a bit warmer.

For Christmas, she got 100 balls. Instead of spending money on a ball pit, we decided to convert her pack-n-play into one. She loved it! Slowly, but surely we are getting all of her toys put together and organized. It's pretty bad when you look through a toy catalog and find yourself saying, "Got it, got it, got it, etc." That's when you know you have too much stuff.