*sigh* It's been rough around here. We girls have been a little sick. And by we, I mean mostly me. To make a long week short, I've been sick since last Wednesday with a variety of ailments the most annoying of which is a very sore throat which will not go away. I have not had a traditional cold in the sense of a stuffy nose, however, just a very sore throat and periodic coughing in an attempt to cough up a lung. After 7 days, I finally went to the "Minute Clinic" at CVS (brilliant idea, btw) to determine that I do NOT have strep throat and that my lungs are perfectly clear. So, I suffer through it.
My little doctor trip was only after spending the morning at the doctor's office with Natalie and Abby. Abby has had a fever off and on since Friday. Natalie off and on since Sunday. Tylenol/Motrin seemed to control it so I wasn't too worried. Also no cold symptoms and no flu symptoms. Then yesterday Abby woke up from her nap with another fever and a rash on her face, stomach and back. 2 hours, $40 and a poor tortured wax filled ear (abby), I'm told she probably has a viral rash. Natalie seemed fine. I was told that they would be "significantly less contagious" once they were without fever for a day. On the bright side as well, tonight Abby woke up crying and pulling at the poor tortured ear from which the doctor tried vainly to get enough wax so he could see the ear drum. So, that means they probably scratched it with their little scrape-y tool which will likely inflame and cause Abby pain for the next few days. Goody.
I've been trying to get back to my Mema for the past 3 days, so this is good to hear. The plan was to leave Monday after the girls spent a pre-Thanksgiving weekend with Yaya and grandpa (and Ben). Yes, Mommy was blissfully home alone but unable to enjoy it. I spent most the time sleeping and sitting miserably on the couch. Since I apparently have nothing diagnosable wrong with me and the girls are "significantly less contagious", we will try to head to Mema's tomorrow.
At the traffic won't be bad.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Bedtime for Natalie and Abby
Abby and Natalie are just so cute at bedtime that I just have to share.
We generally put them down around 8ish. We have a little routine. After we change diapers, take medicine, and change clothes, we turn off the lights and with each of us holding one, we sway and sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". At the end we say, "kisses for mommy" (and get kisses), "kisses for daddy" (and get kisses), and "kisses for sister" (and get kisses). Then they go in their beds.
Usually at this point we tell them we will be right back with their milk. We've been trying to stretch this out a bit lately and come back a while later. The girls aren't crazy about this new plan. They are very conditioned to having their milk right away so the interim is sometimes noisy.
When we go back to get them for their bottles, they always bring "their babies". Over the months, this has meant their special blanket and any number of stuffed animals or babies. Natalie has been far more consistent. She attached herself to her Elmo since we got it and has pretty much stuck with it. Sometimes another baby comes too, but always Elmo. Abby is more fickle. For a while, it was Elmo, and then Elmo and "dorge", her little Curious George monkey. Then it was just "dorge", although like Natalie, occasionally a visiting baby doll was chosen as well. For a while now though, she has been extremely attached to a black and white mickey mouse, or simply, "mouse". So, drinking a bottle must involve Elmo or mouse and "baby" - their name for their blankets. It took me a while to figure out how the blankets were so named. Finally, I realized that when I go in, I say, "get your babies" by which I meant Elmo, mouse, or whoever, and their blankets. I realized however, that they had associated the name "baby" with their blankets, and have now assigned them that name. So, "baby" and Elmo/Mouse it is.
Once we finish their bottles, they go back in their beds and the fun really begins. For example, for the past hour, we have listened to Abby (mainly) singing and talking and generally running her mouth. She loves to sing. She sings the ABC song about 100 times a day, not always completely though. Sometimes you just get phrases of letters. She also sings "Twinkle, Twinkle" but it's more the tune to which she puts the words, "dodo,dodo, dodo do," She can say some of the words but seems to like to ad lib it most often. Speaking of Abby's singing, I've actually been quite impressed with her sense of pitch. She is really quite spot on. I have high hopes for her:-) Natalie also talks in her bed, but she is much more quiet. She generally talks to her babies. She also doesn't sing as much as Abby although she has recently begun to sing parts of the ABC song. I'm afraid, though, I have not been as impressed with her sense of pitch...Natalie also tends to talk more in the morning and at nap time.
Listening to Natalie and Abby talk and sing is one of the sweetest sounds one could ever hear. It fills me with so much joy to hear them entertain and delight themselves. In our case, we also have the added blessing of hearing them interact and play with each other as they laugh, play and talk.
Watching Natalie and Abby play is actually one of my favorite activities. I love the way they are so deliberate about what they do whether it's putting a baby in the stroller for a ride or stirring some bears for some soup. It's such a gift to get to glimpse the mind of a child.
I have lots of video of the girls playing that I will try to get around to editing and posting. Of course, friends and family are always invited over to experience the real thing first hand:-)
We generally put them down around 8ish. We have a little routine. After we change diapers, take medicine, and change clothes, we turn off the lights and with each of us holding one, we sway and sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star". At the end we say, "kisses for mommy" (and get kisses), "kisses for daddy" (and get kisses), and "kisses for sister" (and get kisses). Then they go in their beds.
Usually at this point we tell them we will be right back with their milk. We've been trying to stretch this out a bit lately and come back a while later. The girls aren't crazy about this new plan. They are very conditioned to having their milk right away so the interim is sometimes noisy.
When we go back to get them for their bottles, they always bring "their babies". Over the months, this has meant their special blanket and any number of stuffed animals or babies. Natalie has been far more consistent. She attached herself to her Elmo since we got it and has pretty much stuck with it. Sometimes another baby comes too, but always Elmo. Abby is more fickle. For a while, it was Elmo, and then Elmo and "dorge", her little Curious George monkey. Then it was just "dorge", although like Natalie, occasionally a visiting baby doll was chosen as well. For a while now though, she has been extremely attached to a black and white mickey mouse, or simply, "mouse". So, drinking a bottle must involve Elmo or mouse and "baby" - their name for their blankets. It took me a while to figure out how the blankets were so named. Finally, I realized that when I go in, I say, "get your babies" by which I meant Elmo, mouse, or whoever, and their blankets. I realized however, that they had associated the name "baby" with their blankets, and have now assigned them that name. So, "baby" and Elmo/Mouse it is.
Once we finish their bottles, they go back in their beds and the fun really begins. For example, for the past hour, we have listened to Abby (mainly) singing and talking and generally running her mouth. She loves to sing. She sings the ABC song about 100 times a day, not always completely though. Sometimes you just get phrases of letters. She also sings "Twinkle, Twinkle" but it's more the tune to which she puts the words, "dodo,dodo, dodo do," She can say some of the words but seems to like to ad lib it most often. Speaking of Abby's singing, I've actually been quite impressed with her sense of pitch. She is really quite spot on. I have high hopes for her:-) Natalie also talks in her bed, but she is much more quiet. She generally talks to her babies. She also doesn't sing as much as Abby although she has recently begun to sing parts of the ABC song. I'm afraid, though, I have not been as impressed with her sense of pitch...Natalie also tends to talk more in the morning and at nap time.
Listening to Natalie and Abby talk and sing is one of the sweetest sounds one could ever hear. It fills me with so much joy to hear them entertain and delight themselves. In our case, we also have the added blessing of hearing them interact and play with each other as they laugh, play and talk.
Watching Natalie and Abby play is actually one of my favorite activities. I love the way they are so deliberate about what they do whether it's putting a baby in the stroller for a ride or stirring some bears for some soup. It's such a gift to get to glimpse the mind of a child.
I have lots of video of the girls playing that I will try to get around to editing and posting. Of course, friends and family are always invited over to experience the real thing first hand:-)
An Eating Epiphany
I have had an epiphany. I learned something this weekend that both relieves me, and at the same time, annoys me and angers me to no end.
I saw my cousin (up from Florida) who has a 2 year old granddaughter born full-term just days(8 days) later than Natalie and Abby. I learned she weighs a grand total of....21 pounds. And is only 30 inches tall. I was floored. Natalie and Abby are 33-34 inches and weigh 23.5-24 pounds. This kid is smaller than they are.
Now, have their doctors driven them mad with talk of g-tubes, calories, weight charts, special formulas, and foods to add calories? HELL NO. They just say, "as long as she's growing, she's fine". Well, damn.
AND, the little girl drinks only water. No milk or juice. And based on what grandma said, eats almost nothing. She ran down a day's menu (of which, of course, I knew the caloric count for everything she named), and I counted maybe, 800 calories. And apparently, that's a good day.
So. I've decided I'm done. No more worrying, no more apologizing, no more adding lard to their food to add calories. I'm also done with their $350 a month bright beginnings habit. I think I may give them one can each a day for nutritional value, but we are going to move to regular soy milk instead of Bright Beginnings. And, after our allergist appointment Wednesday, we may get to try whole milk. I also want to start feeding them more healthy foods and not the junk I've settled for because of the calories it has.
I'm so annoyed that the doctors have given us such a hard time and acted as if our daughters' lives depended on getting 1200 or more calories a day and gaining 8 oz a week. What 2 year old gains 2 pounds a month, anyway?
Obviously, I'm venting and I may decide to freak out again next week, but for now, I'm done.
So - take THAT Mr. Doctors! Mommy is done.
Now, have their doctors driven them mad with talk of g-tubes, calories, weight charts, special formulas, and foods to add calories? HELL NO. They just say, "as long as she's growing, she's fine". Well, damn.
AND, the little girl drinks only water. No milk or juice. And based on what grandma said, eats almost nothing. She ran down a day's menu (of which, of course, I knew the caloric count for everything she named), and I counted maybe, 800 calories. And apparently, that's a good day.
So. I've decided I'm done. No more worrying, no more apologizing, no more adding lard to their food to add calories. I'm also done with their $350 a month bright beginnings habit. I think I may give them one can each a day for nutritional value, but we are going to move to regular soy milk instead of Bright Beginnings. And, after our allergist appointment Wednesday, we may get to try whole milk. I also want to start feeding them more healthy foods and not the junk I've settled for because of the calories it has.
I'm so annoyed that the doctors have given us such a hard time and acted as if our daughters' lives depended on getting 1200 or more calories a day and gaining 8 oz a week. What 2 year old gains 2 pounds a month, anyway?
Obviously, I'm venting and I may decide to freak out again next week, but for now, I'm done.
So - take THAT Mr. Doctors! Mommy is done.
-----------------------------
Since starting this post several days ago, I have indeed relaxed considerably. Most days the girls are now getting only 2 bottles: one of regular soy, and now, lactose-free milk, and one of BB soy. Some days they've only gotten one bottle. I feed them normal food, although a little heavy on the soup. They like it a lot and will eat a good bit. But, if they don't eat much. Oh well. I'm offering sippy cups of milk (usually rejected) and plenty of water for fluids. I do expect they will lose a little weight, but I also think they will shortly begin to eat more regularly. I'm going to encourage more healthy foods and just not stress as much about it.
If they do begin to lose a significant amount of weight or begin to show signs of dehydration or lethargy, I will make some changes again. But, I'm beginning to feel very strongly that they are fully capable of eating when they want to. Case in point: this morning they each ate a whole scrambled egg - each. For lunch, their speech/feeding therapist brought one of those microwaveable lunch things of pasta, peas and corn** and an orange, which happens to be one of their favorite things to eat. I added some more corn to the plate and they ate a few pieces of pasta and a good bit of corn and peas along with a number of orange slices. They also finished up nearly 14 ounces of broccoli soup, most of which was eaten by Abby, who I think ate at least 8-10 ounces of it herself - and by feeding it to herself. Dinner was mostly grapes, mommy's Honey Nut Cherrioes and some more oranges. Not too bad, I think.
**Btw, the little toddler lunchable thing had a grand total of 150 calories. 150. I'm assuming since it is marketed to toddlers it is an appropriate serving size for a toddler and has an appropriate calorie count. Even if you add a piece of fruit and a cup of milk, the whole meal would be about 250 calories. So, if a child ate 3 of these a day plus maybe a snack - that's a max of maybe 800-900 calories, well below the 1200 my kids are supposed to consume. Well, I guess I can always make up the difference with a couple of 200 calorie a piece cookies...
I'm sure I'll have more to say on the subject of eating and weight, but for now, Mommy's going to take a nice little break from the stress of worrying about food. We will have to see how long it lasts:-)
I'm sure I'll have more to say on the subject of eating and weight, but for now, Mommy's going to take a nice little break from the stress of worrying about food. We will have to see how long it lasts:-)
Allergist Review
Yesterday we attended our long awaited appointment with the pediatric allergist. It started out well. They had us headed to the back within minutes. Then, at least for poor Abby, it went downhill fast.
A little background: A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to get the girls' H1N1 shots at a free health department clinic. It was quite traumatic for Abby. Apparently, I did not have her secured as well as I thought and she slipped her arms out. She then proceeded to grab the needle, yank it out and drag it across her leg creating a scratch about 1.5 inches long. She was screaming and crying, "no,no,no,no". It was awful. And then, once we finally got the bleeding stopped and a band-aid applied, we then had to turn her over to actually give the shot in the other leg. Poor little thing. It was pretty awful.
Present day: It appears Abby remembered her recent trauma. As soon as the nurse made a move towards her - just to have her stand on a scale - she completely freaked out. Little Abby was crying, "no,no,no" sitting on the ground, and flailing about. She has never acted like that before. Never. I definitely think she remembered her last trip to the doctor. I did finally get her calmed down enough to stand briefly on the scale, but she still wasn't very happy.
Things were better after that. Not knowing how long the appointment would take, I had the good sense to bring along my new laptop. I connected to the kindly provided "guest" network and was able to access oodles of Elmo u-tube videos. They were a great diversion.
After talking to the Fellow and then the doctor, we had excellent news. They confirmed what I have recently begun to suspect: Natalie and Abby don't show any real signs of milk protein allergy. They also didn't think the bumps on their arms (which were better than I've ever seen them, of course) were allergy related. Just to be sure, they did the skin scratch test for milk protein and it tested negative for both girls. In fact, one of them had a greater reaction to the saline control than to the milk.
The doctors' thoughts were that IF they had a senstivity to something, it was most likely the lactose in milk. It would explain why they tolerate cheese and other forms of milk which have less lactose than straight milk. With this information, we are going to give lactose-free milk a try and see how that goes.
Personally, I'm beginning to doubt any of it and am beginning to feel that the Pedisure was the culprit all along. Other parents also have anecdotal evidence that suggests that Pedicure can just wreck havoc on sensitive systems. The difference once we switched them to the soy was incredible. But, it's hard to know what exactly they were reacting to.
In any case, I'm very happy the girls are not officially allergic to anything. I can begin to introduce different amounts of milk back to their diet and see what happens. I'm especially happy that they didn't think we needed to test for wheat or gluten or some of the ingredients you find in just about everything. That makes our life much easier.
I'm working on another post about their eating woes, so stay tuned:-)
ps - our little trip to the health department actually landed us on tv. A local channel was there to do a report and filmed us a little (pre-shot) and we made the 5, 5:30 and briefly the 11pm news. Yaya called to say she'd seen us on tv! I have it taped, of course, if anyone is interested in the girls' television debut.
A little background: A few weeks ago we were lucky enough to get the girls' H1N1 shots at a free health department clinic. It was quite traumatic for Abby. Apparently, I did not have her secured as well as I thought and she slipped her arms out. She then proceeded to grab the needle, yank it out and drag it across her leg creating a scratch about 1.5 inches long. She was screaming and crying, "no,no,no,no". It was awful. And then, once we finally got the bleeding stopped and a band-aid applied, we then had to turn her over to actually give the shot in the other leg. Poor little thing. It was pretty awful.
Present day: It appears Abby remembered her recent trauma. As soon as the nurse made a move towards her - just to have her stand on a scale - she completely freaked out. Little Abby was crying, "no,no,no" sitting on the ground, and flailing about. She has never acted like that before. Never. I definitely think she remembered her last trip to the doctor. I did finally get her calmed down enough to stand briefly on the scale, but she still wasn't very happy.
Things were better after that. Not knowing how long the appointment would take, I had the good sense to bring along my new laptop. I connected to the kindly provided "guest" network and was able to access oodles of Elmo u-tube videos. They were a great diversion.
After talking to the Fellow and then the doctor, we had excellent news. They confirmed what I have recently begun to suspect: Natalie and Abby don't show any real signs of milk protein allergy. They also didn't think the bumps on their arms (which were better than I've ever seen them, of course) were allergy related. Just to be sure, they did the skin scratch test for milk protein and it tested negative for both girls. In fact, one of them had a greater reaction to the saline control than to the milk.
The doctors' thoughts were that IF they had a senstivity to something, it was most likely the lactose in milk. It would explain why they tolerate cheese and other forms of milk which have less lactose than straight milk. With this information, we are going to give lactose-free milk a try and see how that goes.
Personally, I'm beginning to doubt any of it and am beginning to feel that the Pedisure was the culprit all along. Other parents also have anecdotal evidence that suggests that Pedicure can just wreck havoc on sensitive systems. The difference once we switched them to the soy was incredible. But, it's hard to know what exactly they were reacting to.
In any case, I'm very happy the girls are not officially allergic to anything. I can begin to introduce different amounts of milk back to their diet and see what happens. I'm especially happy that they didn't think we needed to test for wheat or gluten or some of the ingredients you find in just about everything. That makes our life much easier.
I'm working on another post about their eating woes, so stay tuned:-)
ps - our little trip to the health department actually landed us on tv. A local channel was there to do a report and filmed us a little (pre-shot) and we made the 5, 5:30 and briefly the 11pm news. Yaya called to say she'd seen us on tv! I have it taped, of course, if anyone is interested in the girls' television debut.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Beach Recap - Part I
The days were mostly frolicking on the beach with Natalie and Abby playing in the sand. They just loved it. They would even lay down in the sand on their bellies! We also spent a lot of time hanging out with Mema and enjoying the rest of the family. We ate some great food, read some good books, and made some amazing memories.
Mema also spent time on the porch listening to the waves and even walked to the end of the walkway to the beach and hung out for a while sitting on the steps. We even managed to get her to the beach. We rented a "beach wheelchair", a unique contraption made of PVC pipes and huge tires, and rolled her out on the sand at the point. She wiggled her feet in the sand, took a walk down the beach, and let the waves chase her feet. Her energy and spirit were amazing. She kept saying, "it's even better than I imagined it would be". What more could we have asked for? 
There were so many beautiful moments and it was a blessing to spend such precious time with Mema. Although I know Natalie and Abby will probably not remember Mema, I hope the love she has for them will have imprinted their souls in a way that is always with them. I know she has touched the rest of us in ways we will treasure forever.
Brenda, Natalie, Mema, John, Ben
Abby, Johelen, Joyce, Kimberly, Wayne
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Fall Fun at Poppy and Nanny's
What an amazing weekend (10/8-10/12) Natalie and Abby have had at Poppy and Nanny's! We've had beautiful fall weather and oh, so much fun!It started Thursday afternoon when we FINALLY hit the road at about 2:30pm. I was quite tired and between getting gas, food, bathroom breaks and pull-over-so-mommy-can-rest breaks...it was taking a while. Then, we had one of mommy's Jo-Jo driving adventures. About halfway through the trip, I stopped off of Hwy 64 for a rest break. Somehow, when I got back on the interstate - I went the wrong way. I I didn't realize it until I was back at Hwy 288 - which is where you get ON I-64. At this point I'm probably 20-30 minutes out of my way and the babies are getting restless. I decide to stop, get gas (in case I get lost again) and give the girls a break. We are doing pretty well: I use the bathroom and the girls are happily walking around the gas station - pleased to be free. I turn around to get a drink from the cold case and suddenly hear a crash and then screaming and crying. Spinning around, I'm blasted by some kind of liquid in my face, momentarily blinding me, while I try to locate the source of the crying. Abby has run to one side of the store and is crying absolutely hysterically. Natalie is closer and upset, but not as bad as Abby. A 2 liter bottle of mountain dew is spinning wildly and loudly on the floor, spewing dew EVERYWHERE from a puncture in the bottle. It was chaos.
I find the girls and pull them away from the torpedo bottle and try to calm them down. I felt terrible. I wasn't sure what had happened but I was sure the girls' were responsible. Moments before they were touching the bottles and saying, "mama's juice". (Sad, I know). The store was a mess. There was mountain dew everywhere - all over the cold case, in the aisles, and there was probably spray a good 8-10 feet from the bottle. For good measure, there was also dew on me and on Abby - although we weren't soaked through, thankfully.
Abby remained pretty upset until we left the store. I think the combination of the crashing sound, the feel of the spray, the sound of the squirting (which was really loud) and the bottle spinning around on the floor was just sensory overload for her. Some chocolate chip cookies picked up at the checkout counter seemed to help. I did offer to pay for the bottle as I checked out. The guy was super nice (he had brought us tissues before). He kept saying it wasn't our fault, and something about a delivery guy. I was completely confused until I saw a delivery guy unloading pallets from his truck. I finally pieced together what the clerk had been saying. The clerk said that the delivery guy bumped the bottle display, which apparently caused the bottle to fall - probably from the top shelf. It then hit the corner of the metal shelving which punched a hole in it like a knife. Since it's under pressue, the 2-liter then became a spinning little torpedo.
I don't know how long we were at the store, but my plans for a restful little pit-stop were definately blown. Fortunately, all the dram made the girls very tired, and after eating their coveted cookies, they dropped off to sleep for the rest of the trip. Finally, at least an hour later, I was back at the point where I'd first stopped to rest in the first place.
We finally at 10:30 we arrived at Poppy and Nanny's. What should have been a 6 hour trip - took about 8. Fortunately, it went much better from that point on:-)
Friday
We were fortunate that Poppy had the day off from working at the community college where he works as an Academia Adviser and teaches classes. Our first field trip was to the bus garage to see "Poppy's Bus" (yet another one of his jobs). Quite a while ago, Poppy and Nanny gave the girls a 
Fisher Price bus, which we have always referred to as "Poppy's bus". Now, the girls love buses and whenever they see one on the road, they call out, "Poppy's bus, poppy's bus" and "more bus, more bus". So, Friday, we were able to see his bus live and in person. I couldn't help but be aware that in only 3 or so short years, Natalie and Abby could board the bus for their first day of school...:-(
After our bus adventure, we visited Nanny's elementary school to have lunch with her. Natalie and Abigail tried their hand at some classwork and had their first taste of school lunch food. They were unimpressed.
After "lunch" we headed out to the stables to see the horses. One of the members of Poppy's church (job #4, btw), works at the stables. (It's nice to be connected!) I was fully expecting the girls, especially Abby, to be pretty hesitant, if not fearful. But, they did amazingly well. We immediately spotted the cutest little ponies - who were very eager to eat straw or grass from the girls hands (whose enthusiasm to feed them cooled once they saw the ponies' teeth.)
Outside, we discovered a llama and a few donkeys. They weren't as friendly though, so we went back to visit the little ponies. Abby wanted to much to feed them, but wouldn't get closer than about 2 feet. She would pull up grass and toss it in their direction. So cute:-)
After a real lunch at my favorite Mexican restaurant, where the girls' ate almost nothing, of course, we dropped Poppy off for bus driving and hit Walmart - always a must. The rest of the afternoon and evening were spent hanging out and playing at Poppy and Nanny's.
Saturday
Saturday was just an amazing, fun day. We traveled about an hour to Graves Mountain Apple Harvest Festival. The day was a little overcast, but nice. There were crafts, pony rides, music cloggers, hay rides, animals, food, pumpkins, and lots and lots of apples!
After their experience at the stables, Natalie and Abby took the the riding ponies like pros. They absolutely LOVED their first pony ride.
We played in a pumpkin patch... 
...and visited the farm area. The girls saw goats, cows, sheep, pigs, chickens, pheasants and peacocks.Poppy picked apples for them to eat right off the trees.
We took a hay ride (another first) through the beautiful grounds of Graves Farm.
We finished up the day by watching the cloggers and clapping along.
It was really a wonderful, perfect fall day. The only downside was that Ben wasn't with us.
It's always so much fun visiting Luray. It's such a beautiful place and there is so much to do. We've just begun to scratch the surface of fun things to do at Poppy and Nanny's!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Weight Check
I´m working on various posts for the past few weeks...a visit to Poppy´s and the beach. Adding pictures takes time...so for now, here´s a weight update.
The soil has been fertile in the garden of Natalie and Abby. They have made great strides in the past few months. They are most definately drinking more milk-formula. They still usually get 3-4 bottles a day and are taking 7-9 ounces each time. I honestly never thought I'd see the day. They also seem to be eating real food better, at least some of the time. Typically, they eat well in front of others, at the beach, for instance, thus making me look like a big, fat liar when I complain they don't eat. They also eat well in the car. They will usually consume a whole chicken nugget happy meal (6 nuggets and apples) between them. I do sometimes find pieces of chicken in their seats, but I think they eat most of it - at least 2 whole nuggets each. Now, should I put the same meal in front of them at the table...they'd eat half that. So, the solution I've come up with is this: we should move to the beach with all our family and live in our car. Really, with the third seat down, I could be quite comfortable. It might be a little cramped for Ben though.
Their "favorite" foods vary. Favorite is relative to what day it is. A favorite today might be rejected tomorrow. Sausage does remain a consistent winner. Bread, in just about any form, is also highly desired. They love apples and grapes and will chow down on these. Corn is also pretty reliable. They love to eat corn on the cob, especially Natalie. She's quite thorough. Chicken nuggets, of course, work pretty well. McDonalds and newly discovered, Burger King's "chicken fries" go over well. They will usually eat nuggets at home as well, just not as many. Soup is very popular. Actually, they will take a bite of almost anything if you call it "swoup". Ya-ya's chicken soup with rice aka "baby crack" reigns in first place with other forms of chicken/rice close behind. I have also had success with broccoli soup, clam chowder, broccoli and cheddar (Natalie actually likes broccoli pretty well), and other creamy soups. Of course, that presents a little dilemma. Remember, we think they have a milk intolerance. And, obviously, all of the above contain milk in some form. But, they'll eat it. And other than the continued bumps on their arms (which don't seem to itch or bother them in any way), they don't seem to have any other symptoms or distress. So, we've been chancing it.
On the subject of milk...I'm beginning to wonder about that. They were on Pediasure when they were having such a hard time. I've since learned that Pediasure can wreck havoc on kids with reflux and can be tough in general. So, now, I'm wondering if it was the Pediasure all along and not the milk. They seem to tolerate other forms of milk just fine.
In any case, we should learn more in a few weeks. Natalie and Abby have an appointment with a pediatric allergist in two weeks. I'm hopeful we will learn something to help the bumps on their arms. I'm also hopeful we will NOT discover it's something like a wheat or gultin which is in all kinds of things.
Now, on to the good news.... I weighed the girls today with happy results.
Natalie weighed in at 23# 11.5oz. A month ago, on Oct 7th, she weighed 22# 6.5oz. So, this is a great gain of over a pound in a month, One pound, 5 ounces, to be exact. Abby has also gained weight beautifully. Today, she reached a new milestone: 24 pounds! and 2 ounces... On October 7th, she weighed 22# 13.5oz for a gain of one pound, 4.5 ozs.
We are thrilled with their continued gain, but also recognize that most of their calories are still coming from formula. They are drinking about 30 ounces or more of milk a day which is 900 calories. If we took that away, they would have half of that in just food. Remember, they are supposed to get about 1200 calories a day. By the way, I think this is an incredible amount. I mean, adults survive on 1200 calories a day. What I want to know is how in the world "normal" toddlers consume this many calories without eating junk all day long. If I fed them the way I want: fruits, veggies, baked or grilled chicken, fish (NOT chicken nuggets, juice, fried chicken SKIN, cookies, ice cream, etc.), I don't know how any toddler eats that much. I would love to hear from parents of regular eaters how many calories their kids eat....
I said at 24 pounds, we would start losing the bottles. It's actually not just the bottles; it's the amount of formula they consume as well. I would like to see only 16-20 ounces of formula from a straw cup. I'm going to wait a few more days and let Natalie hit the 24 pound mark, and then start cutting back on bottles and offering milk in their straw cup. Being at my mema's so much will actually make this easier. They are out of routine a bit, and I don't do 4 bottles there. I just can't do it all by myself. So hopefully, being out of routine will help them not balk against a change in routine.
Okay - that's enough about food and weight...I'll work on those picture posts now:-)
The soil has been fertile in the garden of Natalie and Abby. They have made great strides in the past few months. They are most definately drinking more milk-formula. They still usually get 3-4 bottles a day and are taking 7-9 ounces each time. I honestly never thought I'd see the day. They also seem to be eating real food better, at least some of the time. Typically, they eat well in front of others, at the beach, for instance, thus making me look like a big, fat liar when I complain they don't eat. They also eat well in the car. They will usually consume a whole chicken nugget happy meal (6 nuggets and apples) between them. I do sometimes find pieces of chicken in their seats, but I think they eat most of it - at least 2 whole nuggets each. Now, should I put the same meal in front of them at the table...they'd eat half that. So, the solution I've come up with is this: we should move to the beach with all our family and live in our car. Really, with the third seat down, I could be quite comfortable. It might be a little cramped for Ben though.
Their "favorite" foods vary. Favorite is relative to what day it is. A favorite today might be rejected tomorrow. Sausage does remain a consistent winner. Bread, in just about any form, is also highly desired. They love apples and grapes and will chow down on these. Corn is also pretty reliable. They love to eat corn on the cob, especially Natalie. She's quite thorough. Chicken nuggets, of course, work pretty well. McDonalds and newly discovered, Burger King's "chicken fries" go over well. They will usually eat nuggets at home as well, just not as many. Soup is very popular. Actually, they will take a bite of almost anything if you call it "swoup". Ya-ya's chicken soup with rice aka "baby crack" reigns in first place with other forms of chicken/rice close behind. I have also had success with broccoli soup, clam chowder, broccoli and cheddar (Natalie actually likes broccoli pretty well), and other creamy soups. Of course, that presents a little dilemma. Remember, we think they have a milk intolerance. And, obviously, all of the above contain milk in some form. But, they'll eat it. And other than the continued bumps on their arms (which don't seem to itch or bother them in any way), they don't seem to have any other symptoms or distress. So, we've been chancing it.
On the subject of milk...I'm beginning to wonder about that. They were on Pediasure when they were having such a hard time. I've since learned that Pediasure can wreck havoc on kids with reflux and can be tough in general. So, now, I'm wondering if it was the Pediasure all along and not the milk. They seem to tolerate other forms of milk just fine.
In any case, we should learn more in a few weeks. Natalie and Abby have an appointment with a pediatric allergist in two weeks. I'm hopeful we will learn something to help the bumps on their arms. I'm also hopeful we will NOT discover it's something like a wheat or gultin which is in all kinds of things.
Now, on to the good news.... I weighed the girls today with happy results.
Natalie weighed in at 23# 11.5oz. A month ago, on Oct 7th, she weighed 22# 6.5oz. So, this is a great gain of over a pound in a month, One pound, 5 ounces, to be exact. Abby has also gained weight beautifully. Today, she reached a new milestone: 24 pounds! and 2 ounces... On October 7th, she weighed 22# 13.5oz for a gain of one pound, 4.5 ozs.
We are thrilled with their continued gain, but also recognize that most of their calories are still coming from formula. They are drinking about 30 ounces or more of milk a day which is 900 calories. If we took that away, they would have half of that in just food. Remember, they are supposed to get about 1200 calories a day. By the way, I think this is an incredible amount. I mean, adults survive on 1200 calories a day. What I want to know is how in the world "normal" toddlers consume this many calories without eating junk all day long. If I fed them the way I want: fruits, veggies, baked or grilled chicken, fish (NOT chicken nuggets, juice, fried chicken SKIN, cookies, ice cream, etc.), I don't know how any toddler eats that much. I would love to hear from parents of regular eaters how many calories their kids eat....
I said at 24 pounds, we would start losing the bottles. It's actually not just the bottles; it's the amount of formula they consume as well. I would like to see only 16-20 ounces of formula from a straw cup. I'm going to wait a few more days and let Natalie hit the 24 pound mark, and then start cutting back on bottles and offering milk in their straw cup. Being at my mema's so much will actually make this easier. They are out of routine a bit, and I don't do 4 bottles there. I just can't do it all by myself. So hopefully, being out of routine will help them not balk against a change in routine.
Okay - that's enough about food and weight...I'll work on those picture posts now:-)
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