Empty Space

I went to the garage last night so Ryan could show me the huge empty space. You know, the space previously occupied by the CRX. Ryan got a call at 4:40 from a guy in Layton who said he was on his way to look at the car. After a frantic hour of preparation, then another hour of wheeling and dealing, the CRX drove off our property never to return again. We got our asking price. Dinner was a little cold, but its so worth it to have that one thing off our plate. Next step: organizing the garage and installing the garage door opener so I can park in there!

A Day of Doctors

Yesterday was a day of doctors for us. We started the morning at my midwife. I got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time! She said everything is looking good and growth is right on track.

After lunch we went to Salt Lake for Caden's allergist appointment. He was skin prick tested for milk, egg, wheat, corn, black beans, oat, flax, and generic Zyrtec (at my request). Everything was still deep into the positive territory and a few of the foods had a larger reaction than they did 6 months ago. That means he is still in flux. We were expecting that since most allergies don't settle until age 3-5. A few foods were taken off my list of foods I can trial at home and we were told to keep doing more of the same. The doctor recommended we introduce quinoa and millett to his diet to get more variety in the grain department. I'd looked at quinoa before, but its always processed with corn (as in when its made into pasta). Plain quinoa looks like little bb's. It should be interesting to try. We go back in July and will do both blood testing and skin prick testing at that appointment.

A Ryan Update

Many of you are probably asking yourselves what Ryan is doing now that he's not in Bountiful every night working on the Thunderbird.
*For one thing, he is taking some well deserved time for himself. He's been ice fishing a few times and always brings back fish for dinner. He ice fishes in style - with a tent that heats up to 90 degrees and a fish finder.
*He also spends some time with me! I've loved having him come home, play with Caden for a while, and just talk with me. As an added bonus he frequently reads Caden his bedtime story and put him down for the night.
*Not to be called a slacker, he's been working on the CRX in our garage. We'd love to sell it, but its still a little torn apart. Every night he works on getting it a little more complete, then updates his listing online. With each update we get a few more calls. One of these days the thing is going to sell!
*In all his spare time, he's a scouter. He got called to be the Cub Committee Chairman a few weeks ago and is hitting the ground running. He's created lists, tracking sheets, and instruction manuals for the leaders. Tuesday night was the first pack meeting he's been a part of and the other leaders were so excited to have him there helping.

Copy Cat

Caden has become quite the little copy cat. He loves to try and repeat words or phrases that we use with him, and it seems like every few days right now he's adding a new word to his permanent vocabulary. I've added a new list in the sidebar that I'll try to keep updated with any words he starts to consistently use.

Rookie Mom Mistake #40,683

When your child picks up a real piece of trash, investigates it, then promptly walks to the other end of the house where he puts it in the trash can remember that this is NOT cute. Do not clap and reward him for being so smart and putting trash in the trash can. If you do, he may decide that two of his balls are also trash and you will spend an entire day digging them out and washing them off every 15 minutes. If you find yourself in this situation, hide the balls for a few days. He may forget that they are "trash."

Hot Cross Buns

I've been doing a little more baking for Caden the past week and the kid is in heaven. He loves to watch me mix the sutff up, eat the dough, then wait impatiently for it to come out of the oven. I feel like I'm constantly saying "ouch, hot!" in an effort to get him to not touch the oven. So this week's rhyme is Hot Cross Buns.

Hot cross buns!
Hot cross buns!
One a penny,
two a penny,
Hot cross buns!

Cabin Fever

Caden woke up this morning a little grumpy. Nothing seemed right for him - breakfast, milk, his clothes, toys - nothing. Finally at 10:45 we bundled up and went outside for a walk. The room to run was exactly what he was wanting. He explored the neighborhood for over an hour, and when I tried to steer him back into our circle he loudly protested. I finally drug him in kicking and screaming at noon, fed him lunch, and put the tired boy down for his nap. I'm sure we'll have to go for another walk this afternoon, because as I was putting him down he pointed out the window and talked excitedly.

Little Jack Horner

Little Jack Horner
Sat in a corner,
Eating a mincemeat pie.
He stuck in his thumb
And pulled out a plum,
And said, "What a good boy am I!"

I can't believe I missed last week's rhyme and almost missed this week as well! Caden has taken a renewed interest in his food lately. He now not only inspects every bite, but rewards some of them with calls of "Oh" or "Wow."

Is that... ?

... a toy in the dirty diaper trash bag? Why, yes it is. Caden likes to flip the top of the diaper pail back and forth. A few weeks ago I made the mistake of showing him how the diapers disappear in it. Since then I have rescued countless toys from the fate of a stinky resting place, but I guess I missed one this week. When I went to change the bag I had this little surprise waiting for me. Ahh, the joys of watching a child discover new things.

Goodsearch

Goodsearch is an internet search engine (like Google) that gives a portion of the advertising money to charities. My online food allergy support group of choice - Parents of Kids with Food Allergies - is one of the registered charities. For KFA, all the money goes to researching food allergy treatments and cures. The group is run by volunteers, so there is basically no overhead. Try it out, and try to get in the habit of using it regularly. There's no easier way to donate to research!

Go to www.goodsearch.com.
Type "Kids with Food Allergies" in the "Who do you Goodsearch for?" box.
Search as you would on any other search engine.

Gotta Be Better

Accrding to most men, the way to make something better is to either make it bigger or get more. When it comes to toothbrushes, Caden tried both approaches. He loves his toothbrush and knows what drawer it is in. He usually opens the drawer and fishes around until he finds his small green bumpy one. Yesterday, after playing with his for a while he went back to the drawer, fished around again, and came out with two bigger toothbrushes. You would have thought he was in heaven the way he paraded around the house with them. The process was repeated multiple times throughout the day. Time to baby proof that drawer I guees.

More

Little kiddo's vocabulary is growing. Over the weekend he practiced really hard at saying "more." Its funny to watch him stretch his upper lip down over his teeth to make the 'm' and 'o' sounds, and then all the different attempts at the 'r' sound. We're trying to get him to say either 'more' or 'done' at the end of each meal. While he makes an attempt at both words, I'm not sure he fully understands that 'more' means he gets another helping of food and 'down' means he's out of the high chair.

Its neat to watch him comprehend what I'm saying a little bit more as well. When I can tell he wants something I'll ask if that is what he wants, and often he will nod or quit whining while he waits for me to get it.

His little 'teh' for chex is starting to sound more like 'cheh' every day. And mama is finally only two syllables and not a continual string until I answer.

My First Appointment and some FAQs

I had my first appointment on Wednesday to check up on my pregnancy progress. It was more of a pregnancy do’s and don’ts reminder visit, but I felt it was productive. We discussed my morning sickness and I go back on January 8 for them to check the status of my weight gain and nausea.

I have a new care provider this time around, opting for a group of Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM) rather than the OBGyn group I went with last time. I know I’m going to get a lot of questions about this decision, so I figured I post the answers to a few frequently asked questions here.

1. Are midwives doctors? Certified Nurse Midwives have a 4 year Registered Nursing degree, a 2 year Masters degree in Midwifery, and finally must pass a national certification exam before becoming licensed by the State. There are other types of midwives (like Direct Entry Midwives) who are not required to undergo the formal education and testing, but this is not the type of midwife I have chosen.

2. Why don’t you want a doctor to deliver your baby? My OB, like most, showed up for the last 5 minutes of my 21 hour labor, got the baby out, then left. The RN on rotation that night in Labor and Delivery was responsible for 99% of my care, including when I experienced complications during labor. A CNM, as part of their code of practice, endeavors to spend as much time as possible with the mother during labor. My CNM aims to be to the hospital within 45 minutes of my arrival and will stay until after my child has been processed and admitted into the nursery. Ryan and I figured if a nurse would really be the one attending to me during labor, it may as well be one with specialized training for the task and one who knows my medical history.

3. What if something goes wrong? The CNM group I have selected is composed of 6 midwifes and 3 OBGyns. The midwifes work closely with the doctors, who can be brought in at any time if the need arises. I can also request to see the OB if I want.

4. Will you get the same quality care with a midwife as you would get with an OB? I feel that I will get better, more personal care. The typical OB appointment last less than 10 minutes; the typical midwife appointment last 30-45 minutes. Midwives tend to take more time discussing concerns with mothers, giving advice, and explaining tests or procedures.

Caden's 15 Month Well Check

We took Caden to the peditrician for his 15 month well check on Monday. (I know, I'm a little behind on the blogging.) For the most part, everything looks good. The doctor finally told me I'm giving him enough Miralax every day and we should see a GI specialist. I'd already made that appointment for February 2 and we are anxiously looking forward to it. This picture of Caden was taken by Kalina Christmas Day as he was trying to wake up enough to open presents at the Scherbels. Its the most recent one we have of him.


Height: 31 1/4 inches, 60%
Weight: 21 lbs 14 oz, 15%
Head: 46 cm, 10%