So, I couldn't figure out the comment system until I started to create a new blog today (more info on that soon, don't worry, I'm not getting rid of this one). Now, anyone should be able to comment. I figured out that there is a section on my settings that opens commenting to everyone. So, feel free to comment away!
It seems Mark and I are trying to fit all the dairy foods I didn't get to eat this summer into September. We had soft serve ice cream last night (my first real ice cream in almost a year!) and crepes with whipped cream today. :D And, bonus, we found the cutest little coffee shop near us with the most amazing pumpkin lattes (which I got to sample, not quite ready for milk full force yet). My tummy has been tolerating everything extremely well considering!
More soon!
With love.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Nomads
We had to evacuate our apartment as it is contaminated with cigarette smoke. So, we have been living out of a suitcase, taken in by various kind family members. James is struggling with the adjustment, but as we settle into what we hope will be our new home things should calm down for all of us. We know God has a great plan for us it is just a little exhausting right now.
We had to spend one night in a hotel and James loved the bed:
With love.
We had to spend one night in a hotel and James loved the bed:
With love.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Ignite Your Natitude!
James loves watching the Nationals' baseball games on TV. So, naturally, we though we should take him to a game. We didn't, however, account for the large volume of noise and the terrible fog horn (which some family members love, don't ask me why! :D) that goes off every time the Nats hit a home run (which happens a lot lately - go Nats!).
James enjoyed sitting outside the stadium with Dad while Aunt Trena and I parked the car. Mark said that every woman who walked by stopped to talk with our son - what can I say, he is a stud. James loves being the center of attention so, naturally, that worked out well. Once we were seated in the stadium, however, he got upset. He started pouting, whimpering, and clinging to our shoulders because the noise scared him. We felt really bad. Luckily, he fell asleep on Aunt Trena and felt much better after his nap. He was finally able to sit up and cheer for the Nats (who won, by the way). Next time, at Aunt Trena's suggestion, we will have to bring ear muffs.
Here are a few pics. Unfortunately, we didn't get any with his Nats jersey because he got a little too hot wearing that heavy thing, cute though it was.
Our scared little man:
Happy after his nap:
James enjoyed sitting outside the stadium with Dad while Aunt Trena and I parked the car. Mark said that every woman who walked by stopped to talk with our son - what can I say, he is a stud. James loves being the center of attention so, naturally, that worked out well. Once we were seated in the stadium, however, he got upset. He started pouting, whimpering, and clinging to our shoulders because the noise scared him. We felt really bad. Luckily, he fell asleep on Aunt Trena and felt much better after his nap. He was finally able to sit up and cheer for the Nats (who won, by the way). Next time, at Aunt Trena's suggestion, we will have to bring ear muffs.
Here are a few pics. Unfortunately, we didn't get any with his Nats jersey because he got a little too hot wearing that heavy thing, cute though it was.
Our scared little man:
Happy after his nap:
It was a beautiful night!
With love.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Blended Driving is Dangerous
I walked in to a family gathering last Sunday looking like a blended mess. I sat in the back seat with James on the way to my grandmother's house, giving him his blended feed every few minutes. Somehow, the tube kinked, the side medicine port popped open, and a huge burst of carrot, avocado, and quinoa exploded on the ceiling and rained on my head.
We pulled off and wiped the goop off my skin, but my skirt was ruined and my hair was gross. We found a Target and, I found out later, Mark laughed as I traipsed in, covered in slime, to find the cheapest outfit possible. I came out a little later with cleaning wipes to tackle the car and a decently cheap, cute outfit (my relatives claim that it was an excuse to buy something new, which is kind of true :D). The car cleaned up surprisingly well, but the ceiling will never quite be the same. I have to say, it is a self-confidence boost to walk into Target looking like I had spilled baby food all over myself yet not have a care in the world.
I didn't get a picture of me, although I wish I had. I knew that, even though it didn't seem so funny at the time, it would be funny later, but I didn't take advantage of the situation. So, to give you an example of a small-scale blended diet disaster here is a picture of my adorable son smearing his food all over himself while in the car:
Not sure if you can see the goo he smeared in his hair. He looks pretty happy about it. :D
With love.
We pulled off and wiped the goop off my skin, but my skirt was ruined and my hair was gross. We found a Target and, I found out later, Mark laughed as I traipsed in, covered in slime, to find the cheapest outfit possible. I came out a little later with cleaning wipes to tackle the car and a decently cheap, cute outfit (my relatives claim that it was an excuse to buy something new, which is kind of true :D). The car cleaned up surprisingly well, but the ceiling will never quite be the same. I have to say, it is a self-confidence boost to walk into Target looking like I had spilled baby food all over myself yet not have a care in the world.
I didn't get a picture of me, although I wish I had. I knew that, even though it didn't seem so funny at the time, it would be funny later, but I didn't take advantage of the situation. So, to give you an example of a small-scale blended diet disaster here is a picture of my adorable son smearing his food all over himself while in the car:
Not sure if you can see the goo he smeared in his hair. He looks pretty happy about it. :D
With love.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Yelling at Dad
James loves his daddy. He seems to know that "Dada" refers to Mark and has come to yelling it at him. Mark has taken to yelling James' name back at him. Sometimes it dissolves into the following exchange:
By the way, "Do you see how annoying that is" is a joke from Get Smart where a mom repeats everything her child says, not an insult to James.
With love.
By the way, "Do you see how annoying that is" is a joke from Get Smart where a mom repeats everything her child says, not an insult to James.
With love.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Splatter, Scooching, and a Pony
Look at this handsome, smiley face! :D
Our kitchen is a MESS! Which is one of the main reasons I have not been able to post as frequently. I couldn't be happier that we switched to a blended diet, but our kitchen has never looked worse. Specifically the cabinets and ceiling. Take a look below for some examples.
This is the worst explosion yet. It went all over our cabinets and ceiling due to a faulty syringe (even with olive oil on the stopper they just don't work so well after the 6th feed or so). You can see the main splatter on the cabinet, but the worst part is the small splatters all over the cabinet and ceiling. I thought it would be an easy clean, but I found a large splatter inside the cabinet (it somehow made it through the small crack, tells you how much force was behind the splat) and then realized that it is near impossible to clean the goo from between the bumps on the antiquey, white ceiling. So, a day later, some of the splatter is still there.
Moving along...James is getting into the movement game! He is perfecting the crawling position, but still struggling with arm strength and balance. Enter...overalls! Ok, I wouldn't normally do this with my child, but he was wearing overalls and trying to balance on all fours so I gave him a little help. Check out how good he is getting. We are encouraging his crawl as much as possible as, when we work on propped sitting (which he can now do on his own for about 15 seconds) he tries to scooch on his bum. This is NOT allowed as crawling provides key skills and strength that James' body needs. We haven't gotten a picture of his crawling or propped sitting yet as they are very new skills that we are trying to encourage. And, as they only last for a few seconds, there is no time to encourage and grab the camera (except when we are both around). We will work on getting pictures of these exciting milestones, but, for now, check out the video of his "Overall Crawling."
Last but not least, we were finally able to inflate the Rody horse James got from his grandparents for his 1st birthday. It is insanely awesome. James' PT recommended it as it provides stimulation for his muscles (low muscle tone usually means his nerves are less sensitive and need more stimulation) which will help in overall development and, especially, with "waking" his body up to eat. It also helps with core strength, balance (we move him side to side and he corrects to midline), and proper sitting (we can face him backwards, prop his hands on the horse, and the horse's head keeps James' head from flailing back which is a bad tendency of his). It will be a great help to strengthen James' muscles and vamp up his crawling. Check out his first Rody ride:
Thanks for being patient with the delays, it has been a busy couple of weeks!
With love.
Our kitchen is a MESS! Which is one of the main reasons I have not been able to post as frequently. I couldn't be happier that we switched to a blended diet, but our kitchen has never looked worse. Specifically the cabinets and ceiling. Take a look below for some examples.
This is our ceiling. Oops, didn't know this one was there. The syringe exploded while I was talking to my friend, Janie, on the phone on Sunday. I thought it got in my hair but upon examination of my head there was no green goo. I couldn't figure out why there wasn't more on the floor...
This is the worst explosion yet. It went all over our cabinets and ceiling due to a faulty syringe (even with olive oil on the stopper they just don't work so well after the 6th feed or so). You can see the main splatter on the cabinet, but the worst part is the small splatters all over the cabinet and ceiling. I thought it would be an easy clean, but I found a large splatter inside the cabinet (it somehow made it through the small crack, tells you how much force was behind the splat) and then realized that it is near impossible to clean the goo from between the bumps on the antiquey, white ceiling. So, a day later, some of the splatter is still there.
Moving along...James is getting into the movement game! He is perfecting the crawling position, but still struggling with arm strength and balance. Enter...overalls! Ok, I wouldn't normally do this with my child, but he was wearing overalls and trying to balance on all fours so I gave him a little help. Check out how good he is getting. We are encouraging his crawl as much as possible as, when we work on propped sitting (which he can now do on his own for about 15 seconds) he tries to scooch on his bum. This is NOT allowed as crawling provides key skills and strength that James' body needs. We haven't gotten a picture of his crawling or propped sitting yet as they are very new skills that we are trying to encourage. And, as they only last for a few seconds, there is no time to encourage and grab the camera (except when we are both around). We will work on getting pictures of these exciting milestones, but, for now, check out the video of his "Overall Crawling."
Last but not least, we were finally able to inflate the Rody horse James got from his grandparents for his 1st birthday. It is insanely awesome. James' PT recommended it as it provides stimulation for his muscles (low muscle tone usually means his nerves are less sensitive and need more stimulation) which will help in overall development and, especially, with "waking" his body up to eat. It also helps with core strength, balance (we move him side to side and he corrects to midline), and proper sitting (we can face him backwards, prop his hands on the horse, and the horse's head keeps James' head from flailing back which is a bad tendency of his). It will be a great help to strengthen James' muscles and vamp up his crawling. Check out his first Rody ride:
Thanks for being patient with the delays, it has been a busy couple of weeks!
With love.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Blender Marathons
Somedays I spend more time with the Vitamix than with my baby and husband. I don't like those days, the dreaded "food marathon" days. We are still working out our routine for what food is fed on which days so things have been a little crazy. It has also been hard to solidify our "food marathon" schedule. The original plan was to make a week's worth of food at the beginning of the week. But, I usually go to Whole Foods toward the end of the week and want to blend everything while it is still fresh and I can guarantee that it won't go bad. So, Thursday or Friday usually end up being "the" day. Or both, as in this week. I should count the hours I spend preparing and blending his feeds so I can better plan it into the week (and on a day when Mark is home and can help), but I haven't gotten that advanced yet.
As we increase James' feeds things are getting a bit more complicated, although I think I finally have a pattern going. I had to make sure with his two different menus (we rotate every other day) that he was getting protein, starch, vegetables, and fruit each day, as well as the same amount of calories. The half feed (James has 2 full blended feeds and one half while the rest of his calories are from one and a half feeds of breastmilk) threw me for a loop as I had to make sure that, when we double it, in the long run, it will also work (I forgot I could only use .5 tsp olive oil in a half feed - bummer!). I think we finally have a new working menu (leaving out the "fillers" and "liquids"):
The original goal caloric intake was 550 calories, but now I have bumped it to 570. He is gaining weight well, but it wouldn't hurt him to increase his weight gain a bit. It is much easier to get higher caloric content in James now as we increase the blended feeds.
It has been an exhausting day. I made his peaches and oatmeal, chicken and green bean, and (a bonus, in case we run out of anything) avocado and oatmeal meals today. The freezer is looking better stocked, although it is a little out of control.
As 9 o'clock approached and I was still measuring and blending I got a bit discouraged. But, God knew I would need an extra boost tonight. Today in Whole Foods, as I exasperatedly searched for organic prunes which were nowhere to be found (substitute in plums!), a little boy walked up to James and said "Hi, baby!" I didn't pay too much attention as he walked away and I was still searching for those elusive prunes, but he came back and said "Hi, baby!" again. This time I started talking to him. He looked like he was 6 and he was a very friendly little boy. I wasn't sure at first, but I realized he had Downs Syndrome. He said hi to both of us, took my grocery list and showed his mother. Then he came back and gave me a big hug and didn't let go. It was one of those "everything is going to be alright, Teresa" moments. God knew that, as I was pulling my hair out trying to get the chunks out of that chicken mixture, the memory of that hug would stay with me and keep me going. James is going to grow, be healthy, and learn to eat on his own and the time I take to mix these good meals for him will help him to be that normal kid, walking through the grocery store, saying "hi" to strangers, making someone's day. He already has a big impact on strangers who smile at his happy expressions or stop to talk with him, I can't imagine what a heartbreaker he will be.
I didn't tell his mother that my baby has Downs Syndrome as well. It was one of those "what do I do?" moments. I wanted to treat that little boy as I would any other little boy that came up to me in the grocery store. And I am at peace with my decision to not comment on the Downs, even though my comment would have been positive and relational. I didn't see a little boy with Downs Syndrome, I saw a little boy that made my day.
As we increase James' feeds things are getting a bit more complicated, although I think I finally have a pattern going. I had to make sure with his two different menus (we rotate every other day) that he was getting protein, starch, vegetables, and fruit each day, as well as the same amount of calories. The half feed (James has 2 full blended feeds and one half while the rest of his calories are from one and a half feeds of breastmilk) threw me for a loop as I had to make sure that, when we double it, in the long run, it will also work (I forgot I could only use .5 tsp olive oil in a half feed - bummer!). I think we finally have a new working menu (leaving out the "fillers" and "liquids"):
| Day 1 | 572.5 | calories | |
| Prune | Banana | ||
| Quinoa | Carrot | Avocado | |
| Lamb | Cauliflower | ||
| Day 2 | 570 | calories | |
| Peaches | Oatmeal | ||
| Carrot | Sweet Potato | ||
| Chicken | Green Bean | ||
The original goal caloric intake was 550 calories, but now I have bumped it to 570. He is gaining weight well, but it wouldn't hurt him to increase his weight gain a bit. It is much easier to get higher caloric content in James now as we increase the blended feeds.
It has been an exhausting day. I made his peaches and oatmeal, chicken and green bean, and (a bonus, in case we run out of anything) avocado and oatmeal meals today. The freezer is looking better stocked, although it is a little out of control.
As 9 o'clock approached and I was still measuring and blending I got a bit discouraged. But, God knew I would need an extra boost tonight. Today in Whole Foods, as I exasperatedly searched for organic prunes which were nowhere to be found (substitute in plums!), a little boy walked up to James and said "Hi, baby!" I didn't pay too much attention as he walked away and I was still searching for those elusive prunes, but he came back and said "Hi, baby!" again. This time I started talking to him. He looked like he was 6 and he was a very friendly little boy. I wasn't sure at first, but I realized he had Downs Syndrome. He said hi to both of us, took my grocery list and showed his mother. Then he came back and gave me a big hug and didn't let go. It was one of those "everything is going to be alright, Teresa" moments. God knew that, as I was pulling my hair out trying to get the chunks out of that chicken mixture, the memory of that hug would stay with me and keep me going. James is going to grow, be healthy, and learn to eat on his own and the time I take to mix these good meals for him will help him to be that normal kid, walking through the grocery store, saying "hi" to strangers, making someone's day. He already has a big impact on strangers who smile at his happy expressions or stop to talk with him, I can't imagine what a heartbreaker he will be.
I didn't tell his mother that my baby has Downs Syndrome as well. It was one of those "what do I do?" moments. I wanted to treat that little boy as I would any other little boy that came up to me in the grocery store. And I am at peace with my decision to not comment on the Downs, even though my comment would have been positive and relational. I didn't see a little boy with Downs Syndrome, I saw a little boy that made my day.
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