Toxic Waste Dump & Other Misc. Items

I've been super busy lately with a big project that's taking a lot of what free time I have, and I absolutely must have some down time at night -- no computer since I work on one all day long. Sometimes that down time isn't coming until 11 p.m., which is too late but still worth the R&R!

Anyway. On to the baby and other miscellaneous things. You'll have to wade through the whole thing (or skip ahead, I guess), to see Emmerson's exciting developments and the not-so-exciting news about the toxic waste dump.

The birthday girl!

We had a wonderful birthday party here at home for Emmerson, following the one at the grandparents' house. We had a sundae bar, and it was delicious -- lots of toppings, ice cream, cupcakes, and other fixin's. It was so nice to have some dear friends here to celebrate with us, including seven kids under about age 2.5 years. It was wild, but the after party was even more wild.

I didn't even bother to give the birthday girl ice cream or a cupcake, but she still managed to make quite a mess:


"Triplets:" Delaney, Miles, Sophia (not sure where Emmerson was to create the quads)


Braids!

As Emmerson's birthday after party was winding down, Shawna decided it was time to braid Emmerson's hair for the first time. Kudos to Shawna for doing a super job while the witching hour of 8 p.m. loomed and Emmerson got a little squirrely. But both of them held up well, and the braids were adorable. It took a surprising amount of time and work to comb through the braids several days later. Can't wait to see what Shawna does next! I never did get good shots of Emmerson's braids, so these will have to do:





Uh-oh!

Emmerson sustained her first (I say first as if there'll be more! Let's hope not!) bloodied lip this past week. It happened when she fell at "school" (our word for daycare). It was just a minor injury, thankfully, but she still has a scab on her lip. This picture is from the same day, when the injury actually looked better than it did in the following days.



Nature hike!

The weather has been decidedly un-spring-like, but since SophieDog and I were going stir crazy, I headed out for a nature hike with her one day. It's amazing how much joy a hike can bring a dog. We have certainly not gotten out much this winter, with lots of snow, ice and below-normal temperatures. Our average temperature in February was a miserable 8 degres. Yes. 8.







Pipsqueaks!

On Saturday morning, we met a couple friends for a little playdate at Pipsqueaks, a local indoor play ground. It was cute, and not overly crowded when we arrived. I think Emmerson enjoyed it but will like it better when she's walking. It's in a converted gym and has play areas for infants to kindergarten-age kids, with lots of soft climbing areas, slides, ride-on toys, and even a mini merry-go-round.









At first blush, it might seem like Sophia is just stretching here. But no, she was stuck. Not sure where her mama was, ahem! (Don't worry, I freed her after the photo op.)


Bear chair!

I couldn't resist getting Emmerson this Land's End chair, since it was marked down to half-price. It arrived Friday, and Emmerson absolutely loves it! When I showed it to her after school Friday, her eyes got so big and round.







A belated milestone

Emmerson is doing great and continues to thrive. But as the months marched on and her first birthday came and went, I became increasingly concerned about her inability to feed herself, and about her somewhat frequent choking and gagging problems when eating. I gave her lots of opportunities to self-feed at every meal, putting Cheerios and puffs and assorted other easy-to-grasp finger foods on her tray. All she did was sweep everything to the floor or crush the bits between her fingers. I and other family members showed her how to pick up the pieces and put them in her mouth and guided her hand, to no avail. She never put anything into her mouth.

In fact, she has never even put any hard toys or other objects into her mouth. Ever. Nothing. Except for her blankets and stuffed animals. She has never put toy keys into her mouth, cars, a rattle, or the other odds and ends that litter the floors. I was slightly concerned but at the same time grateful that I could perhaps worry less about choking hazards. But as time went on, Emmerson also made no effort to put food in her mouth. I began thinking she might have some sort of oral or sensory disorder.

I had a lengthy discussion with our pediatrician this past week at Emmerson's 12-month check-up. He encouraged me to do what we had been trying all along. He wasn't overly concerned, especially since she has been able to drink out of a straw for well over a month and loves drinking from a regular cup -- two things that are advanced for her age. But he did suggest contacting him within a month if Emmerson wasn't self-feeding yet and we'd get some speech/language or occupational therapy evaluations set up. It was a long doctor appointment, with five shots for Emmerson to boot! (As a result, I opted to skip the lead and iron blood screening.)

We got home at dinner time, and as usual, I plopped Emmerson in her booster chair and tossed some Cheerios on to her tray -- and she started feeding herself! Apparently the threat of more medical visits was enough to trigger her urge to self-feed. Granted, she wasn't very good at it initialy, and she grow very frustrated very quickly as more Cheerios fell on the floor than made it to her mouth. But over the last several days, her skills have continued to improve dramatically. Just this morning she fed herself scrambled eggs, bananas, Cheerios and toast!

I think, however, that I've created a monster, as Emmerson now is more demanding of feeding herself. Thankfully, she has always been a good eater and continues to be, and once she's had a chance to feed herself for a while, she gladly lets me take over. By the way, she weighed in at 21.5 pounds and measured 30.5 inches long.

Toxic waste dump!

Also at our doctor appointment, I talked to the doc about Emmerson's apparent allergy or sensitivity to carrots, squash, sweet potatoes and other possibly related vegetables (are there others??). I told him about Emmerson's last bout of near-diarrhea like diapers for 8 days and some others before that, and noted that when I cut out everything but bananas, rice cereal and formula, she got better. When I added back in the suspect vegetables, she got dramatically and quickly worse. Well, the good doctor told me it would be highly unusual to have an allergy to these particular foods and was likely coincidental. He convinced me that because they are such nutritious vegetables, I needed to add them back in to Emmerson's diet.

So for lunch today, I gave Emmerson some sweet potatoes mixed with mac 'n' cheese. About a teaspoon's worth, if that. Immediately after lunch, it was time for her nap, and I spent almost an hour trying to get her to sleep, which is highly unusual for my normally very good sleeper! I eventually got her out of her crib, gave her some milk and put her down again and went outside to do a little yardwork, checking on her periodically. An hour later, I could still hear her babbling and kicking her crib, so I went into her room to give her a stern lecture (kidding), and I almost keeled over from the stench. Yes, Emmerson had a toxic waste dump. And it had crept up her back, too. No wonder the poor thing couldn't sleep -- she had a toxic brew percolating in her gut for two and a half hours, and it finally exploded! I cleaned her up and decided to try once again to rock her to sleep. She was virtually unconcious within 30 seconds, feeling much better, no doubt.

So when your mom instinct is telling you one thing and the doctor is telling you another that doesn't sound quite right, go with your mom instinct! I wish I had. We don't need another toxic waste dump here. No more carrots, sweet potatoes or squash for Miss Emmerson!