Because I am pregnant, I don't feel up to making him the awesome cake I had hoped to make for him. I had originally planned to make a CARS cake using the Wilton pan I bought a while back. But I know how much effort I have to put into decorating one of those cakes, and I just can't do it right now. We do celebrate his "coming home birthday" in April, so maybe I can make the CARS cake for him then.
The party is just going to be us (Truman, me, and our 3 kids) anyway so I can make some changes. Julian is not going to mind, I know that. He will still get the toys I bought for him. But for a cake, I bought a simple yellow cake with chocolate frosting---they sell these at the bakery outlet for cheap all the time. I will put a CARS candle on top, and I got some of those CARS cupcake decorations that I can put on each piece so everyone can have one.
I had thought we would have Julian's party this Saturday, but Truman made arrangements to get some other things done. So maybe we will just have cake tonight, and give Julian his new toys. I'm sure he doesn't care one way or the other. :)
January 18th. Tonight we gave Julian his birthday presents and had cake. He loved his new toys---a CARS magna-doodle and a board book about CARS (the movie). He also got a pair of Thomas pajamas, but though he loves Thomas too, clothes are never as exciting as toys! :) He didn�t eat much cake, but he did like the CARS candle and decorations! I took a lot of pictures.
January 21st. Julian's 2 yr check-up. I made this appt months ago, so I wasn't thinking about today being a holiday with no school! But Julian also needed his Synergis shot, and they should be done on a regular schedule, so I wasn't going to cancel the appt for today. It just meant lugging all three kids along to the drs office!
We get there, and the woman says, oh, the dr is running half an hour behind. :P I wish she phoned and told me before we left the house! There isn't much you can do in half an hr, there is no time to go anywhere. I asked if the nurse could get Julian ready for his synergis shot, because that is always such a long drawn-out process, but apparently the nurse said no. So we waited and waited. Julian had fun running around the waiting room, and Jamie looked at magazines to see if he could find pictures of Thomas, but Eric complained the whole time. Exactly half an hour after our appt time, we were called in.
Julian did not like having his vitals taken---temp, BP, O2 sats, etc. We were not successful getting an O2 sat reading, but the dr said it was ok. His height is 33 inches, and he weighed a whopping 20 pounds, 13 ounces! After the dr checked him over, he got his RSV shot, which I knew he would hate! I fed him some food while we waited the required time after the shot, and then we finally left. We were there 1 3/4 hrs total! We went straight home, so we could get lunch and Julian and I took naps. The older kids watched cartoons and were pretty happy.
Since Julian is over 20 pounds, I have finally turned his carseat around. I actually did it about a week ago, when we traded our old van for a newer 2006. I think I have figured out the best way to seat the four kids in the back. The older two still use boosters because they are small for their ages, and they are safer in boosters, even if our state does not require it. Right now, we have the older two both in the very back, with Julian behind the driver�s seat. This makes it easiest to get him in and out. Once the new baby comes, I think I will move Julian into the very back with Eric, and have Jamie sit behind the driver with the new baby's carseat behind the front passenger. This way, we won't have two big carseats blocking the way into the very back. We also need to replace two of our three booster seats as they have reached the age limit of 6 yrs, so I plan to get backless boosters (we have headrests on every seat in this newer van.)
Oh, shoot! I think we were supposed to stop at the lab and have Julian's blood drawn for iron and lead tests. Oh, well, I�ll have to do that another time, maybe tomorrow.
February 2nd. Today I took Julian to get his 2 yr portraits done. I was a little nervous that he would not be cooperative, because he is that age where he just doesn�t want to sit still and look at the camera. Fortunately, as soon as we let him sit in the red pedal car they had, he was so busy pretending to drive it, that he stayed sitting. The photographer found that she could get him to look at the camera by triggering the flash, then she�d snap again to get a pic with him actually looking! Julian has some funny expressions, and we captured a lot of them today! We chose some of the cutest ones, zoomed in and cropped, and made a collage. I had a coupon and got the collage for 4.99. I also bought an 8x10 of one pose to frame. Total spent today? Only $12.98!! Go me!
February 12th. We have several new words now. Today was one of Julian�s playgroup mornings. He always enjoys playgroup SO much! When I dropped him off, he saw crayons and paper lying on a table. Several kids were eating cheerios at a different table, but he bypassed them and made a bee-line for the crayons and paper. I swear I heard him say, �color� as he picked up a crayon and began scribbling on a piece of paper!
Then when I arrived to pick him up, the kids were gathered around one of the teachers who was reading them a Thomas book. Julian LOVES Thomas, and he was standing in front of the teacher, helping her turn the pages. As I came near and said hello to him, he pointed to Thomas and said �too too�---which I interpret as �choo choo�. Then as we walked out the door, he said �Bye!� I have been trying to get him to say bye-bye, so I was very happy to hear him say, �bye�. I repeated it, and then he said it again!
Come to think of it, I am pretty sure that Julian also says the word �car�. The older kids sometimes leave their little hotwheels cars in the hallway. As soon as I let Julian through the gate from the LR to the hallway, he makes a bee-line to grab any car he sees lying in the hallway. Several times as he picks up a car, I have heard him say what sounds like �ca�, so I think he is saying car. :) Oh, yes, he also says �go, go, go!� especially when playing with cars. I think he is copying from the movie CARS when the race is on and they say, �go, go, go!�
February 15th. I was feeding Julian tonight, and he opened his mouth really wide. That is when I saw he has some new teeth coming in! Three of his eye teeth have broken through the gum. I think that makes 15 total so far. The fourth eye tooth isn't far behind.
February 17th. I think maybe we have a future NASCAR driver! Julian just LOVES cars and any vehicle with wheels. But his favorites are race cars, especially the ones in the movie CARS. Well tonight, Truman saw that NASCAR racing was on TV---the Daytona 500. So he selected that channel, and the boys really got into it. But especially Julian! The funniest part was when the race ended, and the cars crossed the finished line---then the crowds cheered, and Julian said as clearly as could be, �Go! Racing!� They say that in the CARS movie, and it was just too cute when Julian said it to the TV! I said it back to him, and he said, �Go, go, go!� but I couldn�t get him to say �racing� again! Little turkey! LOL
February 19th. This morning when I dropped Julian off at playgroup, he went tooting off to play and I heard him say, �Go racing!� again! I repeated it, and the teacher goes, �Is that what he said??� I told about watching the NASCAR race, and she got a huge kick out of it! J We�ve heard him say it quite a few times since, and we�ve also heard him say, �race-car�.
February 21st. Julian had to get his next Synergis shot (it helps the lungs build immunity to RSV). He had playgroup from 9-11 am, so I made the appt for 11:30 am. He's had a cold the past few days, mostly a very yucky snotty nose, and last night he kept waking a lot. I had given him a bottle with 8 ounces of water, so he was able to find his bottle each time and take a few sips before settling back to sleep (he still had a little water left by morning). But I heard him wake many times more than usual, and he was hard to get up this morning to get ready for playgroup. He also cried when I left him at playgroup, which is quite unusual. But the teacher said he did ok this morning.
So I picked him up from playgroup, and took him for his appt. He HATES getting poked and prodded---which is understandable, considering that since his early birth, he has had way more than his share of pokes and prods and procedures! He does not even like being put on the scale, which is hardly invasive! But I think he associates being weighed with further invasions, and usually he's right about that! He has to have his temp, O2 level, and BP checked each visit for a shot, and then of course he has to get the shot itself! He hates the BP cuff and the Oximeter as well as having the thermometer put in his ear, and he fights and kicks the entire time---which of course messes with getting a good reading. :P
Of course he isn't feeling well today either, so that just made it so much worse. Well, I took his diaper off just before putting him on the scale, and I saw that he was peeing, so I let him finish, then put him on the scale. After getting his weight (21 pounds even), I picked him up to put his diaper and onesie back on, but he just wanted me to hug him. So I had him standing on the exam table, and he was leaning up against my shoulder, just hugging me. Next thing I know, the nurse goes, "Ut oh" and I realized that I was feeling something wet! Lo and behold, Julian had to pee some more and as he was leaning into my shoulder hugging me, he peed on me! In fact, he was at the right height that he peed right into my bra! Then it dripped down my entire front! LOL The nurse grabbed paper towels for me and we just laughed hysterically! Julian has not peed on anyone in at least a year and a half! I was totally not expecting this!
We quickly got a clean diaper on him, and I dressed him all except his pants. He was very clingy so I held him while the nurse prepared his synergis. At his weight, she has to use 2 syringes for the amount of med he needs, so another nurse came in and they did both jabs at once. Julian of course screamed blue murder, but he quieted soon enough after the bandaids were in place. I continued to hold him, and he just snuggled against me. We always have to wait 20 minutes, then they check for a reaction. He has never had a reaction, but it's the policy.
I asked if Julian's ears could be checked in case his cold also caused another ear infection. Our Pedi did come in and check his ears, which looked normal. But I'm glad we checked---he's had several ear infections since the fall, and one even ruptured his ear drum.
Poor Julian, he was very ready for his nap when we finally got home. He refused to eat and even refused milk, but he willingly took a bottle of juice. I predict he sleeps for several hours.
I'm still laughing about him peeing in my bra! That was just too funny!
After an almost-3-hour nap, Julian was in a much better mood. He ate a good snack and a good supper. He also wanted a little chocolate-covered donut, one of his favorite foods. When I gave it to him, he clearly said, �tank-ou� (thank you). I think we may have heard him say it once or twice before, but this was the clearest yet. I am very pleased that he is finally saying more words! Yay! Julian!!
March 18th. Julian is saying a few more words. He says �dae go� for �there you go�. I was tickling him, saying �tickle, tickle, tickle!� He loved it and repeated, �igle�. J When he was playing with the older boys, he was saying �ka-pow!� He has another �word� that I can�t figure out. It sounds like �bee-ka�. He runs around saying it over and over again, often at the top of his lungs. I wish I knew what he meant!
Another new word is �peek-a-boo�. He says it very well too. We were playing it tonight, but the hilarious part was that most of the time, Julian would cover his mouth instead of his eyes when he said �peek-a-boo�. He just cracked me up!
March 21st. Julian got his last Synergis shot today! NO more of these---YAY! He really hates the whole deal---he gets so upset when they take his vitals prior to the shot! I had rescheduled his appt so we could have it done when we also took Eric to see our Pedi for an ADD follow-up. The receptionist confirmed BOTH appts, and when we checked in both appts were in the system. But for some weird reason, the nurse claimed that Eric�s appt was not in there! I found that hard to believe. Anyway, the dr did come in, and we had a nice chat, in spite of the fact that I have a terrible cold and could hardly talk! I gave our Pedi a print of the collage I made of Julian�s first year, and she just LOVED it!
She is having a baby herself---she�s due in mid-May with her first, and she�s having a boy! In a way, I am bummed because she will be out on maternity leave when our baby comes (she will have 3-4 months off). But mostly I am just thrilled for her---it�s cool we will have babies fairly close in age! She said that her partners will fill in while she is out on leave, and I am sure they will take great care of our baby and our other kids if needed.
Julian weighed 21 pounds 7 ounces. We go back next month because our pedi wants to see Julian one more time before she goes out on maternity leave. He will be 27 months old.
April 4th. Julian�s home-coming birthday is today! Wow! I can hardly believe it! 2 years ago, he finally came home from the NICU, and what a wonderful day that was! I was thinking of making him a Cars cake for this occasion, but he really does not like cake that much. I know he loves CARS (the movie), but it might be better to save making that special cake for his third birthday---I really think he would like it more then. I think at this point he would be just as happy with a new Cars toy, plus I have another fleece blanket I made him that has Cars characters on it. He's also beginning to get into Thomas the Tank Engine, so I could even give him a train engine and I'm sure he'd love it. Better yet, we have some of the Thomas Duplos, and those would be perfect for him at this age---maybe I'll have the older kids help me get those out for him. I actually ordered another set that we don't have, but it hasn't come yet. As you can see, I haven't really planned this out---LOL I just all sudden realized that today was the big day, coming at the end of a crazy busy week! Not that Julian would care if we party tomorrow instead! :)
April 5th. Well, the Duplos did come last night---UPS sometimes comes after 6 pm! All the boys had fun playing with them. I had Jamie help me get out the other ones we have, including the tracks, and they set them up on the coffee table.
I had a dessert in a box thing that I got at the discount grocer, so I made that for dessert. It was an "Oreo cake"---a small chocolate cake with cream filling and Oreo cookies on top. It was delicious!!! But Julian mostly played with his---he's really not into cakes. So it's just as well I did not go to all the trouble to decorate a CARS cake---I have the Wilton pan for it, so I can make it for his next birthday.
April 10th. I really screwed up today! My calendar is pretty full this month. Usually I check it each night and remind myself of what I will need to do the next day. Usually, on Tuesday and Thursday mornings I take Julian to play-group, then I go work in the WIC office for a few hrs. Sometimes I will have a drs appt (like last Thursday), and Tuesdays I also get my P-17 shot before going to work.
Well this morning I woke up and I was thinking about it being Thursday and how I would take Julian to play group and then go to work. I also needed to stop at the bank, and maybe go to Wal-Mart for a couple things---but I could do that after I picked up Julian at 11. So having all this in my mind, I never thought to double check my calendar this morning. Oh, I also remembered that I had promised a jar of jelly to my supervisor---she had given me a different kind she made, but I needed to give her the kind I had made last fall. So when I saw her jar on my counter, I made a point to get a jar to give her today.
I got the older kids on the bus, then I got Julian dressed and fed, and off we went. I dropped Julian off at playgroup, then I went to the bank, and then to work. I finished what I needed to do, and left work a little early. Quick stop at Wal-Mart, then go get Julian at play-group.
All the kids were playing outside, but I could not see Julian with them. I was beginning to worry he'd gotten hurt and gone inside or something. Then one of the teachers told me that Julian was supposed to have his yearly Early Intervention evaluation today!
OMG! I felt like such an idiot! HOW could I forget something so important? I smacked my head with my hand. Either I must have looked at the wrong day or wrong week on my calendar last night, but whatever I did I completely spaced it on that one. My mind was so wrapped up in getting to work and all that I would normally do on a Thursday morning!
Anyway, it worked out all right---fortunately! The evaluators work for the same organization where the playgroup is. They had gone to my house, and found I wasn't home. I didn't have my cell phone on either---I turned it on later before I knew my hubby would call me. So they called their office, and found out Julian was there at playgroup! They went back to the office and decided to evaluate Julian there, knowing I would show up at 11 am. The eval is 2-3 hrs, so they were still doing it when I did show up. The parents need to be included in part of the eval, to answer certain questions about the child's behavior at home. They just left that part for when I finally got there.
I still can't believe I did this. I must be really losing my mind. I am glad though that they were able to complete the evaluation, even if I missed half of it!
Anyway, Julian�s speech is only about 12 month level. His motor skills are better---mostly in the range of 18-24 months with a scattering of skills up to 27 months (his real age). Social and cognitive skills fall somewhere in between the speech and motor skill levels. I�m hardly surprised. I still say he is following what is �normal for our family.� :)
April 18th. Julian weighs 22 pounds 5 ounces (so still not 23 pounds yet---the magic number they wanted by age 2). He's 33.5 inches tall. He's wearing about 18 months for onesies and overalls---the 2T are still too big for him and he just strips them off all the time. If I put pants on him, they are usually 12 mos---and he gets them off easy enough too. Last night he took his pants off, then took his diaper off. Only problem was that he had poop (lots of hard round bits) in his diaper and dumped it all over the floor! Then he peed on the floor too! UGH! I was busy doing something, and I thought the older kids were playing with him, but they had gone outside. I put Julian in the tub and made the older kids get in with him while I cleaned the LR floor. :P
Oh, I nearly forgot. A couple days ago, we had a visit from the SLP and nutritionist from Special Medical Services. They are still following Julian due to his feeding issues. Frankly, I don�t care to struggle with him anymore, trying to get him to eat. With the new baby coming, I have no energy left for it. If he�s hungry he will eat. He is rather picky, but many kids go through this stage, then they grow out of it---Jamie sure did. I give him choices (ie, cheerios or Kix for breakfast), and if he eats, he eats. If not, he will eat later when he is hungry. One thing I hate is when he throws the food or smashes it up. I guess this is a normal toddler stage too---he likes to dump dry cereal on the floor and stomp on it. :P But I hate wasting food, so I really discourage his destroying it. If you wonder how he can do this, I often feed him while he is sitting in the LR---being pg, I find it hard to lift him into his high-chair, so we stopped using the high-chair. I sometimes put him in a little booster seat that has a tray, but he can climb out of it. Anyway, I just don�t spend much time worrying about his eating anymore. He often wants to try things I am eating, like vegetables and meat, but he will taste them then give them back to me. It�s like he doesn�t quite know how to chew them up and swallow the pieces, even when the food is very soft. I still have to puree most veggies and meat to get him to actually eat them. He much prefers things like dry cereal and crackers---the SLP said this is not unusual for a kid with feeding issues. He still takes milk in a bottle, b/c I haven�t been able to get him to take a sippy cup (tried many of them). We are working on straw �juice boxes� (the plastic kind)---he does ok, but he sometimes squeezes the milk right out the straw onto the floor. :P
One thing he does like to do is feed himself yogurt. He usually makes a pretty big mess, but he is so determined to feed himself, I let him do it and then clean him up afterwards. He also fed himself some chocolate ice cream---you can imagine the mess he made with that. But he liked it so much, he even licked the bowl clean when he was done! LOL!
April 30th. ACK! Julian has figured out how to climb out of his crib again! He climbed out last December, and we watched him do it---he was pulling on the change table which was beside the crib and bell-sliding him self out of the crib onto the change table, then he'd just climb down the front of the change table. We moved the change table out of the room, and then he couldn't climb out of the crib anymore.
Well, now he can climb out a different way! Yesterday he refused to nap, I heard him playing but thought it was fine because I believed he was safe in the crib. Well, Truman found him playing on the floor when he went to get him up! Having not slept at nap, Julian fell asleep while playing in the LR last night, so I put him to bed easy enough. But this morning I heard him bang on his bedroom door, and sure enough he had climbed out of the crib again!
I wanted to know how he did it, so put him back in the crib. He didn't like that, so he promptly proceeded to climb out again! He grabs the end of the crib, and levers one leg up over the side rail, then swings his other leg over too. Still holding the rail with his hands, he lowers himself down and drops the last few inches to the floor! This kid is smart! I've never seen a 2 yr old do this! The others certainly did not do this, and they were in the crib for longer.
Julian sleeps in my sewing room, and I don't have a place to move the sewing stuff---so now I don't know what I am going to do! I want to call my dad and beg him to come help me finish the playroom---then we can clear the toys out of the room that will be for Eric and Jamie, move them, then put Julian in their old room. What to do meantime? I don't know yet! :P
May 1st. Last night he would NOT stay in his crib, and did NOT want to go to sleep. I knew he was tired, because he missed nap the day before, woke up early in the morning, and only had a short nap yesterday. But no, he was wound up. Eric asked if he could sleep in there on the floor next to the crib and try to get Julian settled, but that did not work. Julian thought it was even more fun to play with Eric. I finally put Julian in the LR with lights and TV off, and the gates closed. Within minutes he fell asleep in the rocker and I moved him to his crib, where he stayed all night.
I spent today trying to baby-proof the sewing room. I packed many sewing items into boxes. Then I pushed the serger and sewing machine to the very back of the sewing table, and covered them up. Finally, I took three sections of the superyard I got last winter (leaving 5 sections around the dining room table), and set them up to block off the sewing table. I used wire to connect the ends securely to the end of the crib and the bureau. I hope it will hold.
Julian definitely keeps me on my toes! Last winter, he climbed on the table and broke my oil lamp, he ripped all the leaves off my spider plant (the poor thing never recovered), he colored on the front door, he broke the "child-proof" latch on the entertainment center, and has done plenty more, including turning off the u/s machine in the drs office! :P In public, he must be restrained in a stroller or shopping cart, because if allowed to walk, he will yank his hand out of mine and run off in a split second. I have sometimes asked Eric to hold his hand, but Julian will get away from him too easily, so that isn't safe. I won't let him play in our yard yet, because I just know he will run toward the road without a second thought and he will not stop or come to me when I tell him to. Sometimes our baby-sitter takes him outside to play but she has to hang on to him at all times.
I knew after two easy kids I must be in for it with the third, and boy my intuition was right! LOL I sometimes wonder how on earth I will manage Julian after the new baby comes. He could care less about his toys---they hold his attention for a nano-second, then he tosses them away and prefers to see what he can get into. If one of us plays with Julian, we can keep him engaged a bit longer, though he moves very quickly from one thing to another. Maybe it's a good thing that the kids will be home from school this summer (baby better wait at least until then to come), because I will NEED them to help with Julian. Eric does love to play with Julian and make him laugh. :) They've done well with helping out with Julian while on vacation last week, and I was able to do a little more on the house than I do most of the time. But I do hope the new baby is pretty laid back so I don't go totally out of my mind with two needy little ones!
June 1st. Julian is the usual handful he's always been---LOL! Oh, yes, he has now learned how to open the door to go outside! I need to install some kind of lock up high where he can't reach it, but then I need to have a way it can be opened from the outside if necessary! Got to think on that one a bit, since a hook n eye lock can't be opened from the outside. His new words include "open" (he bangs on his room door yelling open when he wants to come out) and "help, please" (which is more of "elp peeze", but I am very pleased he is learning to say it!) Believe it or not, he still does not say "no", although he says "yeah" for yes.
June 10th. Julian had another hearing test. His responses indicate that he hears fine, but his tympanigrams were flat, meaning that he still has fluid in his ears. He had a bad cold at the end of May, but did not have an ear infection when the dr checked. He jabbers like crazy, though mostly no one knows what he is saying. I'm going to see how things go---if he's still not talking by age 3, we may need to do something further.
June 20th. I have so had it! Julian is deeply entrenched in the food throwing stage! Ugh! It goes like this:
He sees food he wants---often food that one of us is eating, such as raisins---I put them into my cereal this morning. So he wanted raisins too. He doesn't have many words, but he sure can point and jabber, so I said, you want raisins too? He can say yes---it comes out "yeah!" and he gets excited and laughs and jumps up and down. So I put some raisins in a bowl for him. He happily took them, put one or two in his mouth, and decided he didn't want them! So then he threw the entire bowl on the floor, and raisins scattered everywhere!
We go through this on a daily basis, and usually many times a day--- with various foods, but usually the food is kinds that he really does like to eat regularly. Cereal, crackers, fruits, and even his milk! He asks for it, acts happy about receiving it---then moments later he flings it! He threw the raisins this morning, he just threw his cereal at lunch, and he threw his milk at least several times as well! Like I said, I've had it!
We don't believe in wasting food in our house, and I usually give him small amounts so if he throws it, we didn't lose much. But now I've started just picking the food up off the floor and making him eat it! Very often, he will eat it just fine! A little dirt won't hurt him---he's been picking up and eating dropped food for a long time! It's our house too which in my mind makes it ok---I would NOT let him eat food off the floor in public places for sure!
But I REALLY wish I could get him to stop throwing the food in the first place. I don't think it is a game to him---I think it is pure impulse! I speak very sternly when I reprimand him for throwing food, and he knows from my tone that I am not happy with his behavior. He'll even get a sad face while I'm correcting him. But he still throws food. I also slap his hand for throwing, while saying firmly "No throwing!", but so far it isn't getting him to stop.
The only thing I have figured out is that sometimes---only sometimes---he throws food when he realizes he is thirsty and wants a drink. He doesn't get that he can have both food and drink together. He throws his milk sometimes when he wants food, and he throws food sometimes when he wants a drink. I have given him both together, but he will immediately throw which ever one he doesn't want. Then he will want it back two minutes later, so he will throw the other and point for the one he threw (often he throws food or drink over the gate, so then he needs me to get it for him).
Other times he just plain throws food, and I really think it is an impulse. Because I can get him to eat it a few minutes after he threw it, so I'm sure he is hungry. I just don't know WHY he threw the food in the first place! Especially when he did ask for that specific food, maybe not with words, but certainly with gestures and body language! He also makes it clear if he does not want something I offer to him---he puts up his hand like a "stop sign" and shakes his head no.
My older two were not like this--- I mean if they ever threw food it was rare, most certainly NOT multiple times a day! I am at a total loss how to get Julian to STOP throwing his food and drink!
Later tonight, I gave him yogurt. He INSISTS on feeding it to himself. I put him in his booster seat with a tray---it's on the sofa (which is vinyl covered) because I no longer lift him into the high-chair. So he's happily feeding himself, and next thing I know he's sharing it with the cat who joined him on the sofa! I thought it was funny, the two of them eating yogurt together---yes he let her lick his spoon, then he eats some yogurt himself! Truman was NOT impressed---he thought it was horrible!
Hey, I'm just happy that Julian was NOT throwing the yogurt!
July 5th. Today we moved the older boys into their new room at the end of the hall. Then we moved Julian into his new room---the one the older boys just vacated. Yesterday we bought a new twin size mattress for him, and we just laid it on the floor of his room. Then I put a fitted sheet on it, and laid his blankets on top. Julian seems pretty thrilled with his new room! He can also turn on his room light now, so that makes bedtime interesting! I hope they make child-proof light switch covers! I never needed one before, but I do now!
July 6th. I put Julian's clothes into his bureau this morning, but I should have known it would take him a nano-second to empty the drawers again during his nap time! The drawers stick, but do you think that deterred him? Hardly! Now I have to get drawer locks on ASAP! Meanwhile, Truman put tie-downs (for strapping stuff onto the car or truck) around the entire dresser to keep the drawers closed. :P Ok well, it's working for now!
July 27th. Julian�s baby sister arrived 10 days ago (on July 17th). Julian is so interested in Kristen. He wants to touch her and help hold her. He doesn't seem to know what nursing is though---after all, he didn't really nurse though we tried so hard. Julian definitely missed me while I was in hospital---he wants lots of hugs and cuddles from me, but not because he's jealous of his sister.
August 13th. We had our appt with the ENT today, and Julian still has fluid in his ears. He's had fluid for almost a year now, although his last ear infection was back in December 2007.
Our concern is that Julian is very speech delayed. He passed all his hearing tests that were done this past year, but if he has fluid in his ears, everything must sound like he's "under water". And that is not going to help his speech development. That is why our therapist encouraged me to get a referral to the ENT.
The ENT said that Julian should have tubes to get rid of the fluid and keep more from building up. He said that in his experience if the fluid has not resolved by itself in 3 months time, it almost never will resolve on its own. The tubes will do the trick---and we hope to see a difference in Julian's speech too.
So early on September 2nd, Julian will have the little procedure done to get his tubes put in. I know it's the right thing to do, and I'm looking forward to having it done and seeing how it helps Julian's speech. :)
September 2nd. Truman is taking Julian in at 7:30 am to get his ear tubes. Truman is a bit nervous about it (he�s been saying to people: "Julian is having surgery," as if it was brain surgery or something!) I am not really nervous, I just hope Julian handles it well.
Later in the afternoon: All went well. I expected it would. They got home about 9:30 am. From what Truman said, it wasn't as bad as he expected. :) Truman left for work around 10:30. Julian was a little unsteady on his feet for a bit, he would lose his balance and fall. But that went away, and he's been playing and acting pretty much normal since. He also ate a little, drank his milk, then he took a nap in the afternoon. When he woke 2 hrs later, he was cranky, until I offered him his favorite food---a donut! LOL
September 5th. Wednesday was a good day for him, but Thursday Julian was acting off. He seemed extra tired, and not quite himself. But I didn't feel the need to take him to the dr, and decided to wait it out and see if he got worse. He was better on Friday, so maybe he just got a bit of a cold. I had a sore throat recently, and Kristen seemed congested over the long weekend. I have noticed that Julian is trying to say more things, AND what he says is becoming more clear! I know he's only had tubes a few days, but I really think it's making a difference already!
September 24th. Julian woke up this morning, decidedly out of sorts. He was screaming (as opposed to just fussing) for his bottle. He seemed better after having his bottle, but then he was acting off. I had to clean up his toys so I could sweep the floor before our therapist arrived, but Julian kept getting mad and throwing toys around that I had just picked up. Then he wanted food, and after indicating he wanted a raisin english muffin (like I was eating), I gave him a piece. But he promptly decided he did NOT want it any more. I offered him cereal, he said yes and even asked for a bowl, I put some in a bowl, and he promptly threw it on the floor. UGH! I got him more juice at one point, but he threw the cars cup which he normally has his juice in. Nothing was right, nothing made him happy. I finally gave up, and left him to watch his train movie while I nursed Kristen. He kept being fussy, but I couldn't figure out why.
Later I noticed he was fiddling with his right ear. I looked in it, but could not see any discharge. He was cool to the touch, no sign of fever. He's had a cold for weeks, he came down with it about 3 days after getting his ear tubes. I asked him if his ear hurt, but he didn't answer---I don't think he knows how yet. I saw him fiddle with his ear a few times as the morning wore on.
Our therapist came along with the preschool teacher---we are starting the process for transferring Julian from Early Interventions to Special Education when he turns 3. During our meeting, Julian was obviously not himself. He usually can't wait to play with the therapist's toys, but this morning, he really wasn't interested. At first he didn't want to look at the preschool teacher (same lady as when Eric and Jamie went to preschool), but she has a way with kids, and eventually he sat in her lap. But then he wanted to sit in my lap, but I was holding Kristen. So I let him sit beside me on the sofa. He kind of lay down in an awkward position, and fussed with his ear again. Next thing I knew, he had fallen asleep, right there in that odd position, on his tummy with one leg bent up and one arm underneath him! I looked at his right ear, and saw discharge was now coming out of it.
As soon as our meeting was over, I called the ENT, but got their voice mail. I left a message, but decided to call our Pedi too. The nurse at the Pedi office said that Julian should be seen and she had a 4:15 appt. I took the appt, but it meant rescheduling our chiropractor appt which was for the exact same time. Julian woke after half an hour. I offered him juice which he wanted in a bottle, and he indicated he wanted a diaper change. Then he went in his room and lay down on his bed. He has been fighting naps lately, so I knew that he didn't feel well if he really wanted to go to bed! He slept for the next 3 hrs, and I had to wake him to take him to the dr! I had heard him fuss a few times, but then he kept sleeping. When I got him up, he was feverish.
The dr looked in his ear, and sure enough, he has a raging ear infection and a fever! Ever since, more discharge keeps coming from his ear and dripping onto his shirt, some of it bloody. Poor kid! The dr prescribed ear drops and oral amoxicillin. I watched her send the prescription to CVS at 4:30 pm. After leaving the drs, we drove across town to the bread outlet to get bread which we desperately needed, and it would give the drug store time to fill the prescript. Then we went to CVS at 5:30--and they claimed they never got the prescription! What??? So I called the drs office, and it was after hours, so I had to wait for an on-call nurse to be paged to take my call. She looked in the computer and saw that the dr DID send the prescription at 4:30. But since the store claims they never got it, the nurse resent it. So then we had to wait another 15-20 minutes for it to be filled. I asked the CVS people to please hurry because my nursing baby needed to be fed very soon! I had left her home with daddy and the other kids. When I called him to explain what happened, he said he would try to keep her from getting too fussy, because Julian absolutely needed to get his meds tonight.
We finally got the meds and went home. I fed Kristen, and threw together some soup for supper. We gave Julian his meds, some food and more juice, then Truman got him into bed. I took care of a couple things outside, did dishes, then fed Kristen again. What a day it's been! Since Julian has a fever tonight, he can't go to playgroup tomorrow, which also means I can't go to work at the WIC office.
September 25th. He woke up a completely different child this morning! Smiling and in a chipper mood! I don't like to over-use antibiotics, but they sure work wonders---when you need 'em!
September 26th. This is what Julian calls nursing: "baby ju". :) "Ju" is his word for juice (he says "ilk" for milk). But when he sees me nurse Kristen, he points to my breasts (even the one she is not feeding on) and says, "baby ju". Also when she cries, he knows I am going to feed her, so he announces "baby ju! baby ju!"
I think it's SO stinking cute! LOL
October 10th. Julian the Menace. We should have named him Dennis......:P
Anyway, today I was working my rear off, trying to get ready for our big yardsale tomorrow. Kristen had finally agreed to go down for a nap, and I had put a Thomas movie in for Julian. I thought the two gates were secure, when I left him playing in the LR as I often do while I work around the house. I took stuff outside and came back in. I heard a thunk---hmm, sounded like Julian had maybe tripped and fallen on the floor (he's still a little clumsy). So I went to check on him. Lo and behold, he had gotten into the kitchen (the gate was now wide open), climbed on a stool, and managed to reach some bottles of bubbles that were on the back part of the counter behind some other things. He then took all three bottles, got the caps off, and dumped them all over the LR! OMG! The floor was a veritable skating rink, the coffee table was all wet, and Julian's clothes were soaked! The sofa was also wet in places, and it looked like he had tried to wipe it up with the quilt I keep on the back of the sofa. Oh, man, I was mad!
What a horrible mess to clean up. I made it clear to Julian that he was naughty and I was not happy with his naughtiness. He sat on the sofa, pouting and watching me clean up. I gave him some lunch and re-secured the gates...but now I have to keep a very close eye on him. I'm not sure how he opens them, most of the time he can't, but a few times he has gotten one open after the other kids closed it (I thought they just didn't make sure it latched correctly). But later on today, Julian got a gate open again after I closed it, so apparently he can open them when he tries hard enough, even when they are latched properly.
Once again, I am struggling to keep ahead of Julian's escapades, to prevent them if I can. If he can open our gates, I will have to come up with a better latch or a second lock or something. I am still trying to get the playroom done, but even then I will have to make it so he can't get into the older kids' toys like legos and such. I'm still not sure how I am going to do that.
The only place Julian is 100% safe now is his own room---but he hates being in there by himself. He is even refusing his naps lately, screaming and pounding on the door when he is put in there for nap. He will go to bed ok at night when he is all tired out, but some nights he plays and tries to get out, instead of sleeping.
Anyway, after all my hard work to get ready, I hope my yard sale goes well tomorrow. When I got change at the bank, the lady said I was crazy---she said it nicely, but she's probably right! I am depending on Eric and Jamie helping me with Julian, as well as the sale. (Truman is cutting firewood). The weather is forecast to be beautiful, so I am planning to have Kristen outside with me at least some of the time. Wish me luck!
October 15th. So last week the SLP told me that Julian must stop using bottles. She said using them is interfering with him learning to use him mouth properly for eating solids and learning language. They are his comfort things, so he is not at all ready to give them up. However, I am trying to get him to take milk in a sippy---he will take juice in a sippy, but does not usually like milk in a sippy. It seems that he has rules---juice goes in the sippy but milk goes in a bottle. Anyway, last night I did get him to take milk in a sippy---the bottles were still dirty and I hadn't had a chance to wash them. So I washed the bottles and took them to the attic (well they are almost there). I gave him a sippy first thing this morning, and he wasn't happy about it. The SLP said that it will probably take about 3 days for him to accept that he will not be getting bottles anymore. I'm frazzled enough as it is, and not looking forward to continued whining over this. :P But he is significantly speech delayed and he is still not eating meats and many veggies (texture issues). His diet is too heavy on dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese), and crunchy snacks like crackers, pretzels, cheerios, etc. He will eat some fruits, like banana, and some apple (never finishes one though).
October 17th. Julian the Menace, Part 2.
This week, I took Julian's bottles away and hid them in the attic. From now on he only gets a cup. We have a variety of sippy cups, most of which he does not like at all. The ones he does best with are the "take and toss" cups. They have lids but do not have spill-proof valves, and they will leak if lying on their side. Of course I wash and reuse them, but I found out the hard way that they really are disposable quality. I had some with CARS on them, which he liked quite a bit---for juice. Well, I gave him milk in one two days ago. He drank some of the milk, but not all. I thought he was beginning to accept that milk would be in a cup. Yesterday I gave him about a half cup of strawberry milk in one of the CARS cups---he threw it down so hard, he broke the cup! So I cleaned up the milk mess.
Last night Eric gave him milk in another CARS cup---plain milk this time. Again he threw the cup so hard, it broke!! So I had another big milk mess to clean up. I can't believe he broke not one but TWO of these cups in one day! He only has one CARS cup left, then he will have to use the plain ones I got.
Another thing Julian is doing is CLIMBING OVER THE GATE to the kitchen. I used to have a pressure fit gate there and he never climbed over it. The rest of us had to step over it. But after I had Kristen by C-section, my dad installed an expansion gate with a latch, so we could open it to walk through. He did not think I should be stepping over gates while I healed. We also have a super yard gate around the dining table to keep Julian away from the table and things in that corner of the room. My dad had screwed the super yard to the wall, but it was pulling back out, taking the wall trim with it.
So yesterday I completely undid the screws that were holding the end of the super yard and took down the expansion gate to the kitchen. Then I put the pressure fit gate back in the kitchen door way and used it to wedge the end of the super yard against the wall---the way I had it before Kristen was born.
Well within minutes, Julian had climbed over the pressure fit gate! For some reason he can only go one way---into the kitchen, but he can't seem to climb back to the LR. I watched him climb into the kitchen, and it's something about how he holds on as he scales the gate---he just can't seem to do it in reverse. He also doesn't climb the super yard which is the same height.
So now I don't know what to do. If I put back the gates the way dad put them, I need to figure something out to stop the screws from just pulling out of the wall. Also, I need to do a second lock or something on the expansion gate---because as I mentioned a few days ago, sometimes Julian can get the latch open now. A second lock will be a total pain for the rest of us---it is hard enough undoing one lock while your hands are full.
I suppose I could take the gates down entirely so he doesn't climb them, but it means I must stay with Julian at all times. That makes it very hard to care for Kristen or get anything else done around the house. I really don't know what I am going to do. Getting the new playroom done is a high priority, and I am working towards that end---it just takes time, and Julian's ahead of me already. Even when the playroom is done, I was still planning to use gates or the super yard to keep Julian contained to one area......... :P It would be different if Julian was content to play with his toys, but he seems to prefer to see how much he can get into when I'm not looking.
Oh, yeah, one day this week when I was feeding Kristen, Julian got into the kitchen and dumped out a box of crackers, a partial bag of pretzels, and a bowl of goldfish crackers---all on the kitchen floor. I hate it when he wastes food! :P Even worse, he had opened the canister of marshmallow fluff, and was eating it with a paring knife that he had gotten off the counter by the sink! I nearly died of heart failure when I saw him with that knife! OMG!
October 18th. I decided to put the gates back the way dad had them. I can probably put a special hook lock on the expansion gate---I have some I just need to locate. The screws holding the super yard to the wall are not as secure as I'd like to see them, but I hope they hold for a little while. The table is along the wall just outside the kitchen doorway, and it's not a very good place to screw anything---the corner is very beat up from years of getting bumped with everything and anything.
If I can finish the playroom, I want to figure out how to give Julian some space out there. I don't want him always pulling all the books off the shelf or getting into the legos. I think I will just make him an area using the super yard. It�s just not coming together as quick as I'd like. It takes time to sort and figure out where everything can go. Today I finished the new cover for the sofa seat cushion---Julian had ripped the old seat cover beyond repair. I did not get to work on it until afternoon, because Kristen just wouldn't let me out her down! I finally put her down anyway. By then she was overtired, but cried herself to sleep and slept for almost 3 hrs.