Liam is Two!

Last Friday my beautiful boy turned two! We celebrated his birthday over the week since both my mother-in-law and mom were in town. Every day was an adventure. Before I dive into my day to day account of his birthday week, here are a few updates:

Liam update: Liam had a blood test last Monday. His lead level actually rose to a 4 (from a 3) but is still under the 5 that they are concerned about. I am curious (and very nervous) as to how he is still getting exposed. I did catch him latched onto a window sill, like a sucker fish, just weeks prior and I had a mini panic attack. I am trying to keep him busy and out of the house as much as possible until all the lead that he could potentially be near is abated.

Liam is doing well with speech and continues to improve each week. I feel like this last month was an explosion of understanding. He now points at objects in books, signs and says his word for them (for animals, its usually an animal sound). He has learn many words over the last month, however many of them are lacking the first letter. I wish I understood his "method to madness" as they say. Liam's word for go is "bo" yet his word for car is "gar". Clearly he knows the gggg sound, yet he doesn't use it for the correct words.  My strong willed little man has learned the word no and uses that frequently. He knows what he wants, when he wants it and it truly is the end of the world if he doesn't get it, right then and there.

Just this past week Liam has really started to dress himself. He can put on and take off his shoes (he calls them soos). We don't wear our shoes in the house and he knows that when his shoes come off, they go straight into the shoe bin. He can put on a pair of pants (half way) and put on his shirt (half way); socks are still a challenge. He has also become aware of when he has pooped or not; he will come running to tell me and pat his butt. Looks like we should be investing in a potty pretty soon.

We are still working on colors. I thought he knew the color green and blue but only if I refer them to a Thomas character (i.e. where is the blue car, like Thomas?). He knows the number 5 and that it is 5 fingers... but he now thinks every number is the number 5.

Liam and Oliver (our family cat) have become great pals. They will spend a good half hour playing with each other. Liam's Aunt (my sister) bought Liam a Thomas the Tank Engine tent. The cat will run inside and bat at Liams' feet as he walks past making Liam squeel with laughter.  There are times that Liam will get too rough with Oliver and I will hear the cat cry out. I remind Liam to "be gentle" and for the most part he is.

On July 2nd Liam had his first dentist appointment. It was very quick and as he screamed with a full open mouth, they counted his teeth. All 20 of them! Apparently his last molar must have come in at some point over the last month. I was worried about the gaps between his teeth but our dentist said she wasn't worried.  She said that the gaps allow larger teeth to come in straight.  His teeth were also stained a bit yellow from the iron supplements and that she was also not concerned about.

Liam's Favorites: He is loving music and will dance with me around the living room. I put on the toddler channel on Pandora Radio and it is a great way to have the right type of "background noise". For his birthday we bought Liam a train table. He is LOVING it. He also is my little water baby and is enjoying the local pool and splash pads.

Monday, June 23rd: CT Trolley Museum.
Liam and I went to the CT Trolley Museum with my coworker and her family. We got there a little after 10am and although he was apprehensive on the first trolley ride, he actually wanted to go again. He had a blast the second time around! We even visited the firetruck museum in the back.  Below are a couple of photos from our outing.

Tuesday, June 24th: Dinosaur State Park
Before the Grandmas got there, Liam and I ventured to the Dinosaur State Park. We visited their children's area and made a bookmark, the arena and played with toy dinosaurs, briefly walked around the main exhibit (Liam was very scared) and took a hike out on the trails. He had a blast outside but still too young to enjoy inside. I'd give it 6-12 months before we would go back.

Wednesday, June 25th: Hammonasset Beach State Park
The grandmas got in on Tuesday afternoon and we decided that since we still had the state pass from the Dinosaur State Park (borrowed from the town library), we should go to the beach. Wednesday we headed out to Hammonasset for Liam's first time at the shore. He was leery at first, but by the end of the morning, he didn't want to leave.

Thursday, June 26th: Grandmas Babysat
 On the 26th, I had training at my work. The grandmas sat in on a speech therapy session and watched him till I got home. After he woke up from his nap, we all went to the local playground.

Friday, June 27th: Liam's Birthday! Strawberry Picking.
On Friday we decided to go strawberry picking, open gifts, and of course, eat lots of cake. Liam didn't care too much about the strawberry picking but he did love all his gifts and eating cake. All in all, it was a great week.

Hope you have enjoyed the updates! I am taking a break from the blog till the end of summer. I want to concentrate on finishing up writing my lab manual.  If anything should come up (strange blood work, lupus flare, etc.) I will be sure to keep you posted. But until then, hope everyone has a great summer!

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21 Months! Milestones, Speech evaluation and Spring Break

Liam is 21 months (and two days) old! We have been having alot of fun over the past couple of weeks.

Milestones:
Over the past month, there haven't really been any major milestones. He has gotten a lot better at puzzles and now enjoys picture books. His favorite book right now is "Cat in the Hat" and anything to do with trucks. He has gotten a hold of my Ipad and enjoys flicking through the apps. I did put one PBS app on there which allows him to flip through different PBS shows. This gives him the freedom to click on a characters face in order to get the show he wants. His favorite shows are "Cat in the Hat knows a lot about that", "Danielle Tigers Neighborhood", and Dinosaur Train. Sometimes he will watch Clifford.

His eating has become better and he no longer has a meat aversion. He ate meatloaf (turkey) the other night which was filled with carrots and spinach, along with mash potatoes and gravy. Last night he ate a mini turkey burger with a blueberry zucchini muffin. His favorite foods right now are yogurt, Belvita breakfast bars, Lara bars- apple pie flavor (which I only give him once in a while), apple sauce and mini- oranges (which I think he is slowly getting tired of). He also has 3 of his four "2 year" teeth coming in.

Favorites:
His favorite toys (currently) are toy trains, cars and and thing with wheels. He loves to put the trains together and push them around on a track. His favorite sleeping cuddly right now is a polar bear. He will lay with it while rubbing the tag between his fingers. He also likes his light-up seahorse while he is falling asleep.

Speech Evaluation:
A week ago Friday, Liam was evaluated for speech delay through a state program, "Birth-to-Three." They came by the house and had him "play" with toys, while I answered a few questions. Overall the evaluation process took about 2 hours. By the end of it, Liam was in a fowl mood and was not cooperating at all. He did do a couple of signs for them but was silent most of the time. She asked him to point to particular objects (ball, shoes, etc) in both a book and on the floor. He wasn't able to do that. They diagnosed him with a receptive and expressive communication delay. We were going to have him get speech therapy through their program but it is actually cheaper to go through our insurance with a private speech therapist. We are planing to start the therapy in May. I was hoping that he didn't need the extra help, but I don't want him any more frustrated. He is such a smart little boy, and I know he can talk... there is just something that is holding him back. While at my mothers for spring break, he would say phrases such as "I-did-it" really fast, or "bless-you" if you sneezed. The problem is that he wont repeat them for you, nor will he say it all the time. The other night, my husband said to Liam, "Goodnight, I love you!" and Liam, clear as day, said "Love you". We both just looked at each other in shock. But he wont repeat it. I am hoping that the therapy will build his confidence and get him to talk more.

Activities:
Recently I looked at activities to do with him for the summer. I plan to write a separate post on two children's museums that we went to. I am also looking into buying a museum pass for the year (good for 200 museums all over the country) as well as local swim lessons.

Two weeks ago, during my spring break, Liam and I went down to my mothers. We have so much fun! We got to go see Grandma (my mother-in-law) and Great-Grandma. He helped out with laundry, went to the park, to the library for story time (which he wanted no part of) and to the local park. At the park he went down an 8ft slide all by himself and I nearly had a heart attack. See pictures below:

Shhhh. We were playing on the drums. Liam stop and say "ssshhh". Then go.... AHHHHH, and start hitting the drums again. It was very cute.

Liam and Eli. Eli is my best-friends daughter who is 2 weeks older than him.

This was the 8ft slide that he had no fear of. Eventually I put him on my lap and we went down together. It was lots of fun, but VERY cold.

Selfie with Grandma-V

Liam walked a dog and horse around with him alot at my Moms.

When we got home, it was apparent that Oliver really missed Liam. He wouldn't leave his side that entire afternoon.

Playing in Daddy's Car.

We are so happy that it is spring and hope that the weather continues to warm up. I am ready to put away my heavy coat and Liam is loving the outdoors time! I know that this summer is going to be a lot of fun.

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Sticky Sticky Bubble Gum

Happy Friday Everyone! Just wanted to give a brief update. The above picture is of a reservoir in CT that I passed on the way back from a workshop last Friday.

Lead update: Liam's lead levels came back at a 5! We were thrilled that his numbers are continuing to decrease. He is scheduled for another lead test in January but until then, he is still taking his iron supplement and we are continuing to battle the lead inside our home. We have two contractors coming in November to fix one of the rooms and we plan to fix one room at a time.

Cloth Diaper Update: We thought that we had beaten the yeast... however it is back! He is back in disposable until it completely clears up. In the meantime, I stripped my diapers with dawn and hope that once he is yeast free, we will be problem free for a while. I had tried the tea-tree oil as well as the grape-seed oil but I think it was also a laundry soap buildup that was causing a rash (on top of the yeast). I am still mad at my washing machine and hope that we can find a happy medium for getting the diapers nice and clean. We are not giving up! Thankfully my husband is so supportive and wants this to work as much as I do.

Teeth Update: The last pointer tooth came in Monday and so I think we are over teething for a while. We just have those very back molars to come in.


Daycare Update: He is loving daycare! He now goes in without crying and loves to run to the sink in the mornings to wash his hands. This morning he was actually excited to go to daycare. They sing lots of songs, including sticky sticky bubble gum. I was not aware of this one and last Friday he came home acting all silly. He would put his hands on his head, and then dramatically pull them off laughing. It was so cute! I found out that Monday that it was due to the song, "sticky sticky bubble gum" which I still have yet to learn.

Overall Update: We are all doing great. The weather is starting to get colder and so we have been having the heat on in the house more. We want to get the fire going but we still need to go out and get a fire gate for the house. We rearranged the living room and I am loving the new space that I have. Steve's birthday was last week and so I had my mother-in-law over along with her sister from California. They brought Liam some toys and clothes which he loved (the toys more so than the clothes). He is really into cars and is now more interested in dancing, singing and watching movies (Dora or veggie tales). We still do not have cable, so most of what he watches is on DVD (we watch the news through internet feed from our computer).

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Columbus Day: Heath Update and Teething... again.

Happy Columbus Day. Both Liam and I had off and although Liam has been sleeping in till 7am most mornings, he decided he was going to wake at 5:30am. Liam had his 4th lead blood test today at the Hartford Children's Hospital. It was my first time there and as hospitals go, it was beautifully set up. I hope that Liam never has to go there for anything serious but if he needed to, I would feel that he was in good hands.

The woman at the blood station was wonderful and although he screamed and cried, it was over really quickly. He was such a champ. I had forgotten to put the stroller in the car but thankfully had my baby carrier. It was perfect for getting him in and out quickly and it really made me miss babywearing (although his weight makes me think that long walks are surely out of the question).

After the blood test, he had lunch and then I was able to trick him into thinking that it was 12:30 and nap time (when it was actually only 11). He slept till 1:30 and we were able to get to my doctors appointment on time without him missing his nap. My doctors appointment went very well and my blood results came back wonderful. My creatinine is down to 1.0, my protein is at an all time low (since June) any my cbc results came back looking good. I am no longer anemic and my ana is back to negative. He even dropped my prednisone down to 10mg (from 15) and says that I should hopefully be off the prednisone completely in the next couple of months. I got my flu shot while I was there too. Other than fighting a slight cold (runny nose, cough, chest congestion), I am feeling ok. Lets hope my hair stops falling out and I can gain some weight.

In other news, Liam got his left bottom "pointer" tooth. The right is still coming in. These are the last two teeth needing to come in besides his very back molars. Lets hope that they come in quickly and he can have a break for a month or two (I am not too sure when very back molars are suppose to come in).

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Long awaited update: My battles with yeast, health update, daycare update

I finally have a chance to write the long awaited update. It has been a crazy start of the fall semester and so I really have not had to much time to devote to blogging.

Milestones: Liam is 15 months and 1 week old. He has grown leaps and bounds and at his 15 month appointment, he was 27lbs, 33" tall. He still isn't much of a talker (though he will babble the same nonsense over and over), but he does know a couple of new words (and when I say a couple, I mean 2). His vocabulary consists of: Momma, Dadda (or Daaaaaad), Go (usually gogogogogo) and Ut-oh (which I thought for the longest time was apple). He does say dededededede but I am really not too sure what he means by that. He does sign two signs: "milk" and "all done".

He has become a picky eater and getting him to eat anything other than fruit, bread, mac & cheese, yogurt, cheese, and PB&J has become a challenge. He hates anything green. I have fed him a sweet potato which he did like, as well as zucchini bread but I don't always have time to bake a loaf. For breakfast he usually has some sort of fruit, a waffle (homemade) or toast. Then I usually have mini-wheat's which he will eat half of. 

He hugs, gives kisses, climbs, sings, dances (especially to itsy bitsy spider), runs, pees in the tub (standing up), screams and throws temper tantrums. A new challenge is changing his diaper. He will scream bloody murder when I lay him down. He HATES his diaper changed with a passion, which brings me to my next topic... cloth diapers and the yeast battle.

Cloth Diapers: I love my cloth diapers, don't get me wrong, but I HATE the rashes they cause when battling yeast. I have been battling yeast on and off for 2 months and I am sick of it. We have been in and out of disposable diapers for the past couple of weeks and just when I think I have it all figured out... the horrible evil rash returns. My next challenge... strip his diapers and wash them with bleach, tea tree oil (which I have) and grapefruit extract (which I plan to buy).

Babywearing: Recently, I have been able to use my carrier with Liam and for the most part, as long as I am moving, hes great in it. Most of the time, I feel that he would prefer to walk (run).

Activities: I have tried to do some weekend activities with Liam. Those include trips to the park (local or one town over), trips to the library, trips to the grocery store (I know, not that exciting but he loves the free samples) or the hardware store (with daddy) and most recently, our trip to go apple picking. 

Daycare: His new daycare is going well except that he hates me leaving as much as when I was at the other daycare. He cries every time I go and it breaks my heart. I hear him screaming as I walk away and head to my car. I am hoping this will get better in the next couple of weeks.


Health Update (me): My health was improving until recently. At my last doctors apt, he was convinced that I would be in remission by Christmas. Its been 1 month since that visit and my kidney creatinine levels have increased (from a 1 to a 1.4) and my ANA test has come back positive again. My hair has started to fall out and there has been a slight daily swelling. I am sure that the stress I am under at work with the new semester isn't helping.

Health Update (Liam): Liam got over his croup ok, but a lingering cough turned into a lingering runny nose. This in turn lead to his double ear infection. He is now doing much better. He did have a fever of 104degF last weekend but one quick call to the on-call doctor and they switched his antibiotics to something stronger. We have not tested his new lead levels but I should be having that done within a week or two.

Teeth and Sleep: Liam pretty much has all his teeth except his bottom canines and the four rear molars. He is still sleeping well at night (except when he is sick) and takes 2-3 hour names daily. At daycare he will nap from about 12:45-3:00pm. Today, he slept till 4:15. His bedtime varies between 6:00pm and 7:00pm with a wakeup time usually around 5:30am.

It's late and I am exhausted. There may be an Part 2 if I forgot something.Thanks for reading!

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15 months already?! Tops Canines, Double Ear Infection...

My little man is 15 months old today! I know it has been a while since I have updated but so much has been going on in the last couple of weeks. We last left off with Liam getting croup. In between now and then we have battled numerous diaper rashes (mostly yeast), runny noses and bruises, teething (his top canines came in), and now little man has a double ear infection (more on that later). I am doing ok with my Lupus, my first couple weeks of teaching and I am also in the processes of getting my citizenship. Also, today was Liam's last day at daycare (although he was too sick to go).

Below are some highlights from the month. I am too tired to write out more but will do a full update later this weekend. 

Little Tree Frog that decided to visit our home

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