I have an unexpected, but welcomed, mini hiatus from work. So I am off the next 3 weeks! I decided to make a chore list to attack during that time instead of week to week! Here it is:
Health~
GET PICKLE WELL!
Photography~
Finalize time/location for Kelan 3mo session
Edit session
Sign up for online backup
Export photos of Pickle’s first year
Backup ALL THE THINGS!
Work on new site
Crafting~
Finish quilting “Birds n Buttons” quilt
Sew binding onto “Birds n Buttons” quilt
Photograph “Birds n Buttons” quilt
List “Birds n Buttons” quilt on Etsy
Attend craft day
Cut squares for “Woodland Whimsy” quilt
Assemble squares for “Woodland Whimsy” quilt
Refrain from spending all the money on more fabric (…maybe a little money)
Shopping~
Get foods for “Game On” group weight loss challenge (starts 1/28)
Get foods for Pickle
Get foods for me for lunches at home
Get salad & garlic bread for craft day
Appointments~
Speech therapy assessment 2/4/13 @ 10am
Food allergy consult 2/6/13 @ 9am
Reschedule PT re-eval
Make apt with eye doctor (for me)
Go to the DMV for license renewal (not my idea… they made me)
Attend BF support group and get info about weaning
Other~
File taxes for sellers permit
Renew license for tax collection in LA for sellers permit
Vacuum
Rotate toys & books
Reorganize changing station including cloth diapers
Burn disc for mom of photos, mail
Burn disc for Vee of requested photos
Write NY resolution post…. before the end of January
Obviously, being 16 months old this past Christmas, this was not Pickle’s actual first Christmas… but it was his first one that was interactive! It was so fun to watch him discover the Xmas tree over the month of December. Being as cautious as ever and softly hooting is questioning/concerned sound . I was so pleased how gentle he was with ornaments and only broke 2! He didn’t particularly enjoy touching the tree… he has an aversion to sensory things like that… and managed to leave presents alone too! We were smart, though, and only decorated the tree and wrapped presents when he was asleep for the night. Even though it was hard to get into the Xmas spirit (something just didn’t feel like Xmas) it was far better than last year when we were dealing with the sprinkler explosion and flooding in the house!
Christmas came and we were excited to be spending it with my dad and step-mom! This was the first time we ever got an Xmas alone with them. The night before, we set out only a few Santa gifts. We got him a Sheriff Woody and my dad supplied a T-ball setup. The images I captured of Levi running down the hall to the living room are priceless. He wasn’t excited because of Xmas or Santa… he was excited simply because of your love, excitement, and attention on him! He quickly learned about unwrapping the gifts and seemed to enjoy it. A few gifts in and he was too preoccupied with the new stuff to keep going, so Craigery and I opened ours. Soon he was interested again and we finished opening the gifts. We got him: Stride Rite shoes, 5 Golden Books of Pixar stories, Bongo drums, and a Wooden food chopping set by Plan Toys. In his stocking he had things like bubbles, wooden train whistle, a Jacob’s ladder, and a giant crayon of melted crayons. Pickle had a great Christmas and got many other things from our families. I am happy to say that nothing was a dud and sports and instruments seemed to be the focus! Enjoy the photos!
Hi all! A quick list to start the year off right and organized. So much to share about holidays, updates, and new years resolutions for 2013! Lets see what my goal is for this week…
Write NY resolution blog post
Write Xmas blog post complete with photos
Upload xmas Pickle photos to facebook for family
Logo and upload Shetera’s maternity shoot to photography fan page
Finish editing Shetera’s baby shower photos
Mail disc of both shoots to Shetera
Mail purchased clothes to @farmermissy
Mail purchased Etsy remnants to customer
Get Pickle another (read:better) haircut
Vacuum
Organize & export last year’s Pickle photos (this is a HUGE task)
Burn a photo disc for my mom and mail w/late gift (oops)
Work on art swap piece… try to finish!
Make eye apt for new glasses
Cut squares for next quilt
Add content to Piece O Lease facebook page
Touch base w/Tracey & schedule Kelan’s 3 mo session
Take down xmas decor
Put up winter/Valentines day decor
Read
That’s good. As usual, I don’t expect to get all of this done, but I will still try! Check in later this week to see my progress!
Today was our 15 month well-baby and I was glad to have it. Pickle awoke with some sort of reaction going on! He had terrible welts on his shoulders and a little on his chest. We looked for bug bites but couldn’t find any. Pickle didn’t seem to be bothered by it. By the time I got to the Pediatricians office, the welts he had subsided some to red spots but now he had welts on his legs, lower back, and a little on his hands. The Dr. said it had to have been something he ate but he had only nursed so far that morning and I didn’t eat anything out of the ordinary. Last night’s dinner included some things he doesn’t often have like cauliflower and chicken gravy all part of a casserole. And the Dr. said that would’ve been too long ago. Anyway, his breathing was fine so he got a dose of Benadryl to stop the reaction. By the time we arrived at daycare, all that was left was some slightly red areas. So weird.
He weighed in at 23.5 lbs and was nearly 32″ tall. That’s 58th percentile for weight and 72nd for height. Head circumference was 19.5″. I still decided against the shots, for now, especially because of the reaction which the Pediatrician agreed with. She really recommended we start giving some of them at the 18 month well baby in February. I think I will be ready by then. He is making such great progress that there is little concern about them triggering anything. Ill need to go back to the Dr. Sears book and see which ones I want and which ones can wait. I’d like to get past 2 years old for some of them. He hasn’t had any reactions to vaccines before, but I want to take precautions, especially since he isn’t the most advanced child and does show sensitivity to food at least.
As far as therapy goes, he is doing really well in PT (physical therapy). He can walk now but doesn’t use it on his own to get around. Only does it when prompted as a game or practice. It wont be long I think. He had a re-eval yesterday though and they said he is still pretty weak in the right leg and hip. When he is encouraged to lead with that leg, he collapses when bearing all his weight solely on that leg. The left leg he doesn’t. They want to continue with 2x per week and would prefer 3x per week to correct issues faster. Once he is walking continuously, its harder to correct some of these issues. You can only fine tune after that, pretty much. I don’t really have anymore visits though so I have been on the phone with Regional Center, a national government provided service for families to get the help they need for their delayed and disabled children. They can kick in when insurance is up, but Pickle isn’t as delayed as he was originally so I wont get as many visits. But, my insurance can release another 28 visits at the start of the new year so worst case scenario, he will have to wait until then.
The Pediatrician was asking about Pickle’s speech. He can only say “mama” and doesn’t even attempt to imitate any words you say with him. As well as he is doing, he still doesn’t imitate. So, she said by the 18 month well-baby, she wants him to be able to say 5 words which is the minimum for that age (doesn’t have to be clear, but it has to be a consistent word relating to something). If he cant, then off to speech therapy we go. I don’t think we will reach the end of therapy for a while. It’s hard, but I am so grateful there are services out there and that he can get the help he needs. It’s just so exhausting.
. I was so pleased how gentle he was with ornaments and only broke 2! He didn’t particularly enjoy touching the tree… he has an aversion to sensory things like that… and managed to leave presents alone too! We were smart, though, and only decorated the tree and wrapped presents when he was asleep for the night. Even though it was hard to get into the Xmas spirit (something just didn’t feel like Xmas) it was far better than last year when we were dealing with the sprinkler explosion and flooding in the house!
