Awaiting in Joyful Hope

Another big update

2011-09-01T12:55:00.004-04:00

I am loving having a boy and a girl and seeing all the differences with their development. Except for girly clothes for her and obvious boy clothes for him, I have raised them without regard to gender. Yet, they have innate preferences that appear to be gender specific. Theresa loves her "babies." We only have a few dolls for her, but she loves to treat them with incredible care. She puts them in their little crib and wants me to sing "rock-a-bye baby" in order to put them to sleep. Oftentimes when I go to feed Theresa her bottle of milk, she runs and grabs her baby so that we can feed her baby too. I did not raise her to care for babies, but she gravitates to them all on her own.

In clear contrast, Raffaele never took to a doll, stuffed animal, or blanket. I did try to introduce him to a little stuffed animal with which to sleep at night (hoping it would help him sleep through the night), but he did not care to have a doll. With Theresa, I never made such an effort; she naturally drifted to her dolls.

The vocabulary and sentence structure differences are astounding! On August 27, Theresa spoke her first five-word sentence: "Mommy, where are you, Mommy?" She's just over 16 months old. Raffaele, at 18 months, still had only THREE discernable words and no sentences. I'm blown away by Theresa's command of language, especially after having had a late talker. (Raffaele has a full vocabulary and speaks in long sentences now.) On August 23, Theresa clearly spoke the word "delicious" and was trying to say "watermelon." On August 21 she began to speak in two-word sentences, it being to me, "stand up." It's amazing to me that in the span of six days, she went from two- to five-word sentences.

I took Raffaele to his first dentist appointment last Friday. It turns out he has all 20 baby teeth -- I don't know when those last four molars arrived! AND he SLEPT through the dentist's entire exam -- a first ever for him he said! His teeth and gums are totally healthy! I am so pleased. What a great appointment we had.

On August 25, Theresa gave Daddy her first kiss to him. So cute. I'm not sure if she actually puckered. She's been putting her lips on me and saying "MA!" for A LONG time now, so I'm glad she finally got around to kissing him.

I love having Raffaele as Theresa's big brother. He helps her so much. The other day, Theresa was trying to get a crayon out of a bag, and Raffaele ran to help her, declaring, "Super Raffaele to the rescue!" These are beautiful moments to witness. He also defends her at the playground. Not too long ago, another child accidentally pushed Theresa, and she fell. Raffaele (who had witnessed this) came running from the opposite side of the playground, and as I swooped him up (because it was clear to me that he wanted to punish that child), he was yelling at the child, "NO HIT BABY!"

When Theresa wakes up in the morning, she wakes up with a word. Sonetimes it is "Elmo." The other day it was "mouse." Usually, it's "Elmo;" she must dream of him. She also likes to begin her day by leaning on me to sit, and she wants me to read to her. How wonderful that she loves book-reading!

Raffaele continues to be a picky eater, yet he has happily taken his cod liver oil every day for the past month. He's got a really interesting palate.

Raffaele wrote his name in capital letters on August 4. He does quite a lot with letters and numbers and drawings. I''m blown away by all the little drawings that he makes. It's very creative. I've been saving them or taking pictures of them. He still doesn't hold a writing utensil correctly -- and I bought him something to encourage the right way to hold a pencil/crayon -- but he does pretty well the way he's holding the writing utensils.

Raffaele likes playing on the computer. He loves a game that we got from my brother called Trainz. It's amazing. He builds the landsape, the village, the traintracks, he selects his trains, and then he runs his trains. Finally, he likes to CRASH his trains. So funny. I'm amazed by how much he can build on the computer. He loves it.

Theresa began counting to five on July 29. She so cute. She holds out all five fingers.

On Sunday afternoons, after church and lunch, we've made it a little tradition to go to the park. They have a splash area there. Theresa LOVES running through the water and getting soaked, and I have wonderful video of it. Raffaele does not like getting wet very much, but the last few times that we've gone, he's gotten more into it.

We flew to NY recently for a little vacation. I advised Raffaele of our impending trip beforehand. When leaving Playtown the day before, Raffaele waved, "bye-bye, Playtown. I going airplane." I'm not sure if he completely understood, but it appears he understood somewhat.

Elmo: Theresa loves the Sesame Street videos on YouTube especially the ones with Elmo. I've seen so many myself now, over and over again. She loves Elmo. Like I said before, I think she even dreams of him.

We had some wonderful, early sucess in potty training our three-year-old. He was going to the potty consistently whenever he needed to go! However, he is no longer consistent and will either sit or stand there urinating on himself because he doesn't want to be bothered to make the trip to the potty. It's not like we have a big house. The potty is a few feet away! He obviously knows what to do. I would think that he would see that the resulting actions required to clean him (even bathe him at times) after such "accidents" are a major inconvenience to him, but it appears he doesn't see them that way.

Potty Training my three-year old

2011-06-20T22:39:00.003-04:00

Our family has been filled with the challenges (and joys) of potty training these past few days. We actually began potty training shortly after Raffaele turned two. I bought the Potty Training in One Day supplies minus the doll. Raffaele understood pretty well what was (is!) going on in the potty training department, so I felt the purchase of the doll would be unneccessary. He never did potty train in one day. I do not believe that it was because we lacked the doll. One of the things explained in the book for parents is that if you have a baby, you should have someone else care for your baby on The Big Day so as to not interfere with your Toddler's activities that day. This is not a reasonable request for us because my parents are the only very close family close by that could care for Theresa all day, but they do so much for us already as they are here three days per week, and we we felt it too much of an encumbrance to ask them to dedicate an additional day towards caring for Theresa. So, inevitably, Raffaele did not receive the concentration from us that was needed in order to accomplish Potty Training in One Day, so this method was not a good fit for us.

As we felt that he does understand what is going on in the elimination department, we decided to try the Naked plus $75 method this weekend, or, as my husband calls it, "Potty Training Boot Camp." Young Raffaele had no problem running around half naked all weekend, here in our home, of course. He's quite comfortable, actually, and he doesn't even seek out additional clothes. Sure enough, whenever he needed to go, he ran to the potty!! He prefers privacy, so he closes the door and situates himself inside, all the while with me listening from the outside (if Theresa permits it). Then, after the flush, he runs out exclaiming, "I did it!" We are so very proud of him, have incredible celebrations, and offer him his reward which consists of gummy bears. I then proceed to speak to each gummy bear telling each one, "Raffaele used the potty and we are so proud of him." He holds the gummy bear up for me so that I may properly speak to it while he has the biggest smile. Then he says, "bye bye gummy bear," and he eats the gummy bear. We proceed to do this with each gummy bear that I may have put in his little bowl. One by one, telling each one what a fine job Raffaele did on the potty.

Today is Monday, so it is the third day of the Potty Training Boot Camp. Raffaele did not run around naked today, however. We had him in the toddler training pants, which are merely extra-cushioned underwear. This worked out really well today as he continued to use the potty.

He is not completely potty trained at this point. In Mr. FloridaWife's words, "he is batting 800." We have had two accidents, all over the tiled area of the house. So, fortunately, the method has not cost us the $75 since we've been able to quickly clean/mop over the tile. Despite these accidents, I am not disheartened. We shall continue throughout the week, either letting him be naked or putting the toddler training pants on him. (We are putting a diaper on him for nighttime until some point in the future.)

Theresa, inevitably, and very adoringly, does not want to be left out of all the potty-training excitement, so she requests to go on the potty too, since it appears to be such a fun activity replete with praise, celebration, and gummy bears. She doesn't quite say the "t" sound yet, so it is more of "panny" after Raffaele is done and she wants to go to the potty too.

Despite potty training appearing to appear like work, I am enjoying this wonderful phase in my little boy's life. What a beautiful life-changing moment for him, which I get to share with him!

May your lives be filled with joy, and God bless you all.

What beautiful children

2011-06-10T22:45:00.000-04:00

There are so many wonderful things going on with our lives. Raffaele asked a nine year old to marry him the other day. He does cute things like that. At the playground the other night, he greeted each child that arrived. He was happy to see one of the girls that is a regular visitor to the playground, and he wanted to offer her juice and cookies. I learned a while ago to always pack extras, just in case another child wants juice and he offers. So, I passed the juice and cookies over to him, and he offered them to the girl. (I checked with the father first who was standing near by. He found the whole scene endearing.) Raffaele is really demonstrating some beautiful, helpful behaviors. He keeps me happy.

Theresa has a set of skills that is so different from Raffaele's! For example, she has SO MANY words all ready at almost 14 months old whereas Raffaele still only had three discernible words at 18 months. I'm constantly amazed at the breadth of her vocabulary. She does not, however, like to build with the Mega Bloks as much as Raffaele did at this age. I keep trying to do Mega Bloks with her, but she has no interest whatsoever and she goes to something else. She does, however, love her "babies" very much. She has two very cute little dolls. The other morning, I prepared for Theresa her morning bottle of formula and she wanted me to feed her baby first. My children's actions are constantly touching my heart.

A month of parties

2011-05-28T23:36:00.000-04:00

I completed all of the coursework for my master's degree (MBA). What a long almost four years that was. I get to don a cap & gown in a couple of weeks. It was a challenge, as I did it with two pregnancies and two babies and 95% of the time I did my studying while they were asleep, which became increasingly harder when our second baby came along.

Life has been going so well for us. We are truly blessed.

We had a fabulous 3rd birthday party for Raffaele at the park. I have always wanted to do a party at the park. We decorated our pavilion in Curious George, and we invited our friends that have children close in age to Raffaele. The park has a splash park, and that was fun. You should have all seen Theresa! The way she runs in and out of the water, getting completely soaked, and smiling with so much joy. Raffaele had a great time with his little friends. We played pin the butterly with Curious George; this was a pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey equivalent. Then we had a Curious George piñata, which was the draw-string type (which I didn't even know about until the box arrived as a I thought all piñatas were the kind that got whacked). The cake was, of course, a Curious George cake.

Prior to Raffaele's party, just a month before, we held Theresa's first birthday party. She loves Elmo -- she calls him Memo. So, we our theme was Elmo and Sesame Street. I think it went really well. She's already walking really well, so she was walking all over the place during the party. We had it right here at our house, and we invited all of our family and friends. It was so delightful to see everyone.

We continue to be ever so thankful for our health and the health of our children.

Getting online is sporadic these days. Now that I'm done with my MBA, I should have more free time, although, I am trying to catch up on some of the projects that sat around undone when I was studying.

Peace be with you all.

Months of updates

2011-04-08T12:45:00.000-04:00

I realize I am lagging in posts, so I thought I'd publish some updates over the course of the past few months that I've been keeping.

In bed March 10 in the morning, as we were all gathered, Raffaele held me and Theresa and said, "I love you, Mommy. I love you, baby." I'm so happy with my beautiful, loving little boy.

He did it March 11, too, only I was left out. He held Theresa and repeated, "I' love you, baby."
He has also told his Daddy, "I love you, Daddy."

It warms my heart to see what a loving, beautiful boy he has become.

Theresa constructed her first two-word sentence March 10. As I walked with her through the kitchen, and we passed the bottles, she waved at them and said, "bye-bye, baba." What a cutie-pie.

Theresa walked five on February 28.

Theresa's THIRD tooth finally came in (a little one one top). Must have been weird having only two bottom teeth all that time on February 19.

For dinner tonight, Theresa shared some of my Indian meal. She had tofu and peas along with some bread and applesauce. What a good eater! February 16.

Theresa can climb over the ottoman which we use to limit her to the family room. She's so funny. All happy at herself on the other side February 11.

I think I want to participate in the commencement ceremony for my MBA. I have done this while working full time, through two pregnancies, and with two babies! And 95% of it I did when they were asleep. I feel the need to really celebrate this.

Theresa has begun to say her first word. She says "baba" for her bottle. She's so cute!!! Babababababa February 7.

If there's an item of food on his plate that Raffaele does not like, it "contaminates" the rest of his plate and he doesn't want to eat the other food. So we accommodate. I at least want him to EAT. A certain someone to whom I am strongly related was the same way and required different plates for all his different foods. January 29.

For the first time yesterday Raffaele announced that he was hungry and that he would like some food. I about fell out of my chair! However, he's very picky. He had some yogurt and banana and a few crackers. January 28.

I love how Theresa tries to clap. She keeps missing her hands. January 28.

We traded in the Subaru for another car. Feeling nostalgic. That was the car in which we brought home the babies. We waved good-bye to it. Me and Raffaele were waving, "good-bye, car." January 22.

Theresa won"t eat baby food anymore. Big people food now! January 22

I bathed Theresa in the big bath tub tonight! First time!! She really liked the extra space. Then she engaged in a lot of splashing. She's just so cute! January 21

Well, that's it for the infant tub. Theresa tries to climb out of it and walk around. Big bath tub now! January 20

Theresa was 9 months old yesterday! Key stats: 21 pounds, 3 ounces, 29 inches long. January 21

Raffaele went to his 2.5 year appointment today. (He was actually 2.5 in mid-November.) Key stats: 37 pounds, 38 inches tall. He's doing well. January 8

Instead of "slippery," Raffaele says, "slippy." This actually makes more sense to me. If you are to fall, it's because you slip, not because you slipper. January 1

Raffaele loves to play Tea Party with the set that Theresa received for Christmas. He pours the tea for him and me and loudly sips then offers cookies. Then he pours more tea and he pretends to spill his cup, and he says, "What doing?" like it's a big joke. He's so funny. December 31

"Excuse me! Excuse me, cars!" This is what Raffaele says when we change lanes. So courteous! December 31

It was a good run. We've cloth diapered for nearly 9 months, but Theresa is just WAY to active and squirmy and big. December 30

Raffaele is so precious!!!! When I got home from work, he opened the door for me (which he always does), and then he ran and got and gave me the FLOWERS that he picked today, and he handed them to me all proud. He then proceeded to run circles around me. I love my beautiful toddler boy! December 21

We hosted dinner with Father Michael last night. It's so wonderful and what an honor to have dinner and celebrate together during this season of Advent. December 21

She must have been dreaming that I wasn't holding her. Theresa woke up crying in the middle of the night for no apparent reason. Poor little one. I was right there, though, to hold her once again. December 21

It's so cute to watch Theresa laugh in her sleep. I wonder what wonderful dreams she is having. December 18

Raffaele has decided that he's the new family photographer. I can finally be in the pictures instead of the one behind the camera! AND his pictures are really good! December 16

Tokens. Raffaele. We've entered the token phase. "Games" as he extends his little hand. December 14

Every night we have a tree lighting ceremony at our house. It's Raffaele's little job to turn on the lights. Then we all stand there and applaud. He's so proud of himself. December 14

My toddler the picky eater

2011-01-31T23:37:00.000-05:00

Raffaele is a picky eater. He just really has not had the desire for food. Up until his 2.5 year appointment, he was still consuming about 6 bottles of formula per day. It was the only thing he would readily agree to consume! Plus he was getting all those vitamins, minerals, and DHA. He's been really healthy. Besides a slight cold once, he's never been sick; he's never had a fever. We've been really fortunate. So, at his 2.5 year appointment, the pediatrician told us that it was time to stop those bottles. (Believe me, I have about six different sippy cups here plus all the cups with tops and straws in an attempt to get him to drink formula out of a cup, not a bottle, but bottle is the only way that he will consume formula.) So, the Saturday morning after his 2.5 year appointment, I explained to him, "Raffaele, you are a little boy now. No more nooks." ("Nook" is his word for formula in his bottle.) He repeated to me, "little boy." He looked at me. He said, "Little boy, no more nooks." "That's right, Raffaele," I said, "you are a little boy. No more nooks."

And that's all it took mostly. No more nooks. The first week, every now and then he would ask for his nook, but we would remind him that he was a little boy and no more nooks. Once, just to be sure, he asked, "no more nooks?" "That's right, Raffaele," we replied, "no more nooks." And after the first week, there were no more requests for nooks.

I did pour his formula from the bottle into a cup in front of him several times and showed him that he could still have his formula via cup, but he would have none of that. For him, he wants the full experience of formula in a bottle.

After the first week, he was still barely touching food. By barely, I mean that for the first two years of his life, Raffaele has received 90% of all his intake from formula. He simply refused to eat food. It was as if he would rather starve than eat food. Finally, at 2.5 years old, it means that he has a nibble here, a nibble there, and that's basically it. To my eyes, he lost weight the first week of no nooks.

Two weeks post "no nooks" his eating picked up. Now, he has between 1.5 and 2 waffles everyday for breakfast plus a cup of orange juice. As a mid-morning snack, we offer banana, but he doesn't always take this; at least he'll eat a few crackers. For lunch, and I'm not totally proud of this, but it's something, my husband takes him to McDonald's where he can run around and play while eating some chicken McNuggets and some fries. (And by not proud I mean that I am aware that McNuggets are not the healthiest chicken, but at least he will EAT it. It's that or he may simply refuse to eat altogether, which is how it went until he was about two. So, we decided, let's get him to eat something, and we can work on more nutritional eating later. I hope this makes sense. Besides, sometimes he barely only eats ONE McNugget.) For a mid-afternoon snack, he'll have a yogurt, sometimes bread, sometimes crackers, lately he likes cheez-its. (Just to interject here, YES, we have offered grapes, apples, mango, avocado, smoothies, puffs, cereal bars, pears, watermelon, oatmeal, macaroni and cheese, ETC., and he won't eat it. These are all yucky to him.) For dinner, there we go again -- I offer what we're having, for example, grilled chicken with spinach and rice. However, he has his own agenda. Sometimes he'll skip dinner altogether. I have comfort in something that I read from Dr. Sears once that it is not uncommon for toddlers to skip dinner. The other day for dinner, I was finally able to get him to eat ice cream -- well, it's something! That's why we buy good ice cream. He will drink apple or pear juice during the day, so that's good. We've offered him cow's milk in a cup, but this is yucky to him. I've offered almond milk as well, which I prefer, to no avail.

For added nutrition, I bought liquid droppers that have multivitamins, and I've ordered droppers with DHA -- I add these to his orange juice in the morning, and he can't tell that there's something added. I tried to get Raffaele to eat a Flintsone vitamin everyday, but that only lasted one day.

Raffaele also has peculiar eating ways -- I offered him macaroni and cheese and I put bread (which he wanted) on the same plate, but he refused to eat the bread, because it was on the same plate as the yucky macaroni and cheese. (For the record, we've made three different kinds of macaroni and cheese for him, and he is repulsed by all of them.) So, I had to get the bread off the plate, but that wasn't enough, because the bread was "tainted" by having been on that plate, so he refused to eat it. His habits change everyday too -- one day he wants his waffle with butter and syrup, and the next he wants it absolutely plain. We have to ask, "how would you like your waffle today?"

Don't get me wrong! I'm not writing this to complain, but rather to explain! I think we are doing well now. He's not drinking from a bottle anymore. He's eating food. The food that he eats may not be the most nutritious meals of grilled chicken, fruits, vegetables, grains, etc. that I would like for him to consume, but at least he is eating and he cooperates with eating what he does eat. He's getting his vitamins and DHA now via the dropper that I can squirt into this orange juice. I think he'll be fine.

Like someone said, Raffaele isn't going to allow himself to simply starve. He will eat something. It might end up being crackers and ice cream for dinner, but he will at least eat it. As he grows older, we can guide him towards different foods and one day someday he'll eat what we eat for dinner.

How your time changes after having children

2011-01-07T13:17:00.000-05:00

Everyday I think to myself, "today I'll write a post on my blog," but then the day goes by, and the next day comes, and the blog remains without a new post.

Having two children --- and I'm elated to be able to write that -- has restructured the way in which I spend my time. It is a big change when the first baby arrives. You have become so accustomed to spending your time one way, and now all of a sudden -- BOOM -- you have to spend your time completely differently. Hours that used to be spent reading (either in book form, but mostly on the internet for me) are reduced to 15- to 30-minute reading spurts. Time spent cooking or preparing food has been reduced to a few minutes spent reheating meals in the microwave. Sleeping in on the weekends and having that extra time with my husband has been relinquished to cries of "Ma-MEE" from my toddler or the cries of our infant. You learn how to do your housekeeping quicker and more strategically (like picking things up as you move from one room to another). I've learned to multi-task even more. (Add to that that I'm also working on my master's degree, and it's even more challenging. More on that another day.)

I sometimes wonder, "what on earth did I do with all that time before I had children?" Reflecting on that question, first I was in school and (since engineering is a challenging degree) I spent a lot of hours actually studying. Then I worked, and when not working I had time to spend going to movies or going out. (I remember I used to go the mall and window-shop quite a bit.) Then my career took more time, and I had lots of business trips (all over the world), and on many projects, since they were so intense, I would oftentimes spend 12 or more hours working, and then I'd explore the countryside or the town or city on my time off. I travelled a lot, domestically and internationally, before children. I can also remember that I spent a lot of time house cleaning -- what a waste of time that was. I can keep a house much quicker now. However, I sometimes think to myself, "man, I could have done something better with my time like volunteer somewhere. Why did I think that I had no time to do that?"

Then the second baby comes, and since you've already restructured your life, the new baby fits right into the family and into your new time schedule. So, the second baby is not as big of an adjustment.

So, how do we spend our time now? We go to playgrounds and parks (both indoor and outdoor), we've gone to nature centers, we go to children's museums, we go to the zoo, we read, we crawl, we run, and we play. I regularly go through the local, free parenting magazine, and I check to see what interesting events are happening in my area to which we can take the children. I know more about my local community now and all of the parks and events in it since having children.

It's different. It's different in a really good way. The last movie that I saw in a theatre was Cinderella Man, but that's okay, because soon we will all be seeing Cinderella, and I'll be able to experience that magic all over again. The world as seen through the eyes of a child are a great delight; they see things that I no longer noticed. They seem to think further outside the box. It is at times exhausting and I oftentimes yearn for more sleep, but I wouldn't trade those feelings for the absolute joy that I feel because of our children.

First four word sentence

2010-10-18T22:18:00.001-04:00

Raffaele spoke his first four-word sentence today! I am so super-excited! When I came home from work he pointed to my shirt and said, "what color is that?" Earlier in the day, Mr. FloridaWife says that he also asked, "Marco, where are you?" However, he's done "where are you" as an expression many times. The "what color is that?" was totally new though. I was so excited. I put my stuff down and gave him a huge big hug and kiss (which I usually do anyway). He's just so wonderful. I love my 2.5 year old.

Tonight he decided to go to sleep with three of his animals -- the lion, giraffe, and monkey. My little boy looked so adorable in bed with all his little animals. I love raising a boy (and a girl - mustn't leave Theresa out!).

My small successes for the week - 14-Oct-2010

2010-10-14T12:18:00.000-04:00

I'm participating in Small Successes on the Faith & Family blog.
These are my small successes for the week:

1. This week Theresa turned six months old which also means that I met my goal of having her exclusively breast-fed for the first six months of life! I'm so proud of myself.

2. I completed week one (of ten) of my MBA class (Entrepreneurship & Strategic Thinking). Somehow I fit in. I did my text reading by starting early in the week and doing 15 minutes here, 15 there, etc., and then I was able to get two hours (from 10pm to midnight) to chat with my teammates about our group project, and then I took an hour to furiously type up the response to the questions that I chose to do for our assignment. After this class, I only have one more class to go and then the capstone course, and then I'll have my MBA.

3. I downloaded all the pictures and videos from our digital camera and put them into my computer, into the various folders that I've established to organize these files. I also went through them (as I usually do) and corrected red-eye, I cropped some, and I deleted some. I hadn't gone through that exercise in about one month.

My toddler, the late talker

2010-10-08T12:43:00.000-04:00

Ah, Raffaele's vocabulary. It's expanding all the time, I am happy to report.

I do admit that he's a late talker, which is absolutely no concern to me, since I was a late talker too. I've heard from so many parents who also have late talkers, and they blossom into their vocabulary and sentence structure just fine. As they say, "you've never met a teenager that still babbles, right?"

Raffaele said his first three-word sentence yesterday: "I see homes." We were driving in the late afternoon yesterday to our local playground and looking out the car window through the bushes of the community that we passed he said, "I see homes."

That was his first "official" three-word sentence, anyway. He's been speaking in what I call "phrases." For example, he has said a variety of expressions such as the following: "Whe-A-YOU?" "Whe'd-it'go?" "How-A-You?" "Whas-Dat?" Etc. I didn't realize how often I said these terms, and he picked up on them as single-type-word expressions to say. He's done a great job.

His most versatile word early on was "stuck." Stuck. So many meanings. If he can't get to a toy: "stuck." If he wants to be lifted out of the swing: "stuck." If he can't open something: "stuck." It's amazing how they use their available words to convey what they mean to say.

"This, this," as he points, must be my favorite. It means that there's something about that thing at which he's pointing. It's also quite neat that my husband and I have been able to figure out what it is that he is trying to say. "This." "Oh, this, Raffaele. You want this." Or "this opens like that."

The toddler UN could hire me as a translator.

Theresa rolls every which way and co-sleeping thoughts

2010-10-03T22:54:00.000-04:00

Theresa started rolling from stomach to her back this week. She's so cute. When she's on her stomach and she's up on her arms, she can push back and squirm herself around.

I continue to co-sleep with my dear, sweet baby. With Raffaele, I hesitated in making that decision. I'm a big fan of Dr. Sears, and he had advised to do it, but I had my doubts. Well, Raffaele was such a spirited baby that bringing him into bed with us was the only way any of us would be able to get any sleep! And then I learned to love it. I should have trusted that this was the right thing to do from the beginning. With Theresa, I didn't even hesitate. From the day she came home from the hospital, she's been next to me in bed.

Now, I do understand that if one has a baby that's a good sleeper, and they sleep all happy and fine on their own in their own little space, then I totally understand that co-sleeping is not something you need to do. I admit that if Raffaele had slept really well from the start, that it's possible that we may have never co-slept. But Mr. FloridaWife and I fell in love with sleeping with him. He's just so yummy and cute to hold.

I also work outside the home Monday through Friday, so co-sleeping gives me more time to hold my babies!

Anyway, back to Theresa. She loves watching her big brother do stuff. She laughs at him! She's got the widest smile. All gummy. No teeth yet, although I suspect she's teething.

My toddler: first time seeing a cow

2010-10-02T23:39:00.004-04:00

I took almost 2 1/2 year old Raffaele to Tradewinds Park today, and he saw a real cow for the first time. As soon as he saw it, he knew what it was. "Cow!" About 30 seconds later he moved on to something else. It's like, "yeah, cow, whatever, what's this interesting water shooting thing over there?"

He really liked seeing the rooster, though. I said, "cock-a-doodle-doo!" And he was so adorable, looking at the rooster repeating, "cock-a-doodle-doo!"

I really thought he'd have more of an interest in animals since his favorite bed-time reading is a collection of animal books. He loves to have us read these to him before he goes to sleep! Ah, what a treasured experience it is to read to him. I love it that he has learned to love books.

So, yes, the toddler mind. I thought he'd make a bigger deal out of seeing real-live animals, but, like many of us, he studied it in a book, knows that it exists for real, and he seems to be content with that.

Extrapolating the exersaucer

2010-09-23T13:56:00.001-04:00

We put Theresa in the exersaucer for the first time this week. She really likes it, and I'm impressed. Raffaele didn't really stay in there too long when we used it with him. He'd bounce a little bit and check out the stuff, but then he was done with it. He didn't like being stuck in there. Theresa, on the other hand, seems to really be concentrating on all the little things that she can do on the exersaucer; she lasts in there for quite a little while, self-entertained, before she asks to come out. I find myself extrapolating these events to sometime in the future to Theresa being a studious student and, perhaps, Raffaele learning differently. He gets absorbed, sure, with stuff that interests him; the exersaucer did not interest him so much. They are very different children, and I can see now that they will learn differently and have different strengths.

(Of course, I realize there's a lot of time ahead of us and children change, but I daydream of what's to come.)

It's Potty Time!

2010-09-21T23:38:00.000-04:00

Raffaele used the potty today!!! We are so excited. We bought the BABYBJÖRN Toilet Trainer in July. (If you know me, you'd guess correctly that this particular product was selected after researching all of the available potties and training seats, etc.) Raffaele was 2 years, 2 months at the time, and I felt that he was exhibiting signs of understanding his toileting needs. I decided that a little toilet seat that goes on top of the regular toilet would be best because being a toddler and all, he wants to do things like a Big Boy. I know him. I know my little man. I know he would want to use the big toilet and not some little potty.

From the moment the toilet trainer arrived, he loved it. In fact, he loved it so much that I sometimes found him wearing it on his head like a halo.

As I said, he was exhibiting signs of preparedness. Every time he needed to have a bowel movement (or if the already had one and needed a diaper change), he would let us know.

So, tonight, using his limited vocabulary (which is just "diaper, diaper"), he told us he needed to go. Seizing the opportunity, we put him on the potty. He thought it was fun to sit there (as usual). For two months now, we sing songs and read books while he sits there; nothing had come out. However, tonight, something came out! (Can you tell I'm excited?) We're so happy to have shared this moment with him. Let's see if this will be repeated soon.

Hurry, the rain is coming! Hurry!

2010-09-15T16:45:00.000-04:00

"Hurry, Raffaele, Hurry!"

It was about to rain, and we were at our community's tot lot. Theresa was in the stroller. "Now," thinking to myself, " how do I get Raffaele to move? He's two. He may not understand the concept of us needing to leave the tot lot now, separating him from his beloved ladder, slide, and swings, so that we can get home before the rain starts."

So, I started walking quickly with the stroller, while encouraging Raffaele to run, with "Hurry, Raffaele, Hurry!" He loved it! It was a new thing for him. And with this, he learned the word, "hurry." As we ran home, he couldn't help but stop a few times to try to look at the occasional leaf or rock or other thing he saw, so I'd have to encourage him again with, "Hurry, Raffaele, Hurry!" He would laugh as he ran, repeating, "hurry! Hurry!"

What a sweet boy. Now when we are outside and the first droplets of rain begin, he immediately says, "hurry! Hurry!"

The Raffaele update

2010-09-12T23:08:00.000-04:00

I was all set to write a post about what a courteous and wonderful little boy Raffaele is, and then we had today. He was cranky. He needed a nap. We went to a local indoor playground, and he pushed a child or two (or three). Ugh. I sternly told him that this was wrong behavior. I escorted him to the other side of the place. He was miserable though. He needed a nap. We got home, read some books, and he fell asleep. Fortunately, Theresa fell asleep in the car on the way home, so I was able to put her in the room while I attended to Raffaele. He then stayed down for a three-hour nap. It was much needed. I should mention that he rarely naps, so it's unexpected when he does.

For the most part, Raffaele has been blossoming into the most beautiful, most affectionate and loving and caring boy. I like to think that it's reflective of our parenting style -- constant nurturing, we've never lost our temper with him, lots of gentleness, and all the baby-wearing and co-sleeping. Actually, Mr. FloridaWife sleeps with him while I sleep with Theresa. I'm not saying that in order to have an affectionate child that you need to sleep with them; I'm just saying that this is what we do as part of the entire package of all the parenting that we do.

Raffaele says "thank you" and "please" and "you're welcome" a lot. He has little jobs here that he's taken upon himself. He likes to shut the door when we come in. He also likes to be responsible for putting things into the garbage can.

He is also a considerate older brother to Theresa. He always desires to know where she is. She was still asleep this morning when we were all awake, and he said, "baby?" I said, "she's still asleep." He comes running with me when she wakes up or needs to be changed. When we go out, he understands that I have to get her, and he will not go running to the playground or wherever. He actually waits while I put her car seat into the stroller. Then he'll even try to help me push the stroller.

He likes to be helpful. He gets mad if I sneak over and try to move the clothes from the washer to the dryer. That's his job. (Fortunately, they are both front-loading.) He has also helped me unload the dishwasher (at least the bottom shelf). He hands me each item, and I put it away, then he hands me the next one and so on.

His vocabulary is taking off. He's not quite the linguist compared to those his age. He gets his point across despite the fact that he doesn't put together complex sentences yet and his vocabulary is very limited. I was a late talker, too. I think I've mentioned that he finally said "Daddy" the month he turned two. He just hasn't had much of a need to talk since we've always understood him, but I'm glad that his linguistic abilities are taking off.

Raffaele is great at building. He makes the most amazing structures with his Mega Bloks. I'm thinking of getting him for Christmas an additional bag of these so that he can build even more. He's also really good with the Gears, Gears, Gears.

We got him a train table, used, found on Craig's List. It's in decent shape and has normal wear and tear, but it's great. He likes it very much, but doesn't play long at it.

He continues to love Wow, Wow, Wubbzy, his favorite television program, which was also the theme of his 2nd birthday party. It's also what he's wearing for Halloween. He likes Thomas the Tank Engine and Oswald as well.

He knows all his shapes, he can count to ten, he knows most of his colors, and he can identify most of his letters (upper- and lower-case). That's okay. He is, after all, not even 2 1/2 yet. He has fun with it. We go out, and he sees numbers, shapes, and letters everywhere, and he calls them out. The letters that confuse him are the V, Y, and T. He also doesn't know the J. No rush, though, but I'll work on these with him. Since he loves learning, I know it's something that he'll really like to learn so that he can call out even more letters as he sees them.

I took him to the Children's Museum on Saturday. It's pretty nice. There's lots for the children to do there. I also took him to the Children's Science Explorium; they've changed their exhibit since we were there last. Of course, Theresa come along too. She's still exclusively breast-fed, so I just discreetly find a place to feed her with my nursing cover.

Raffaele climbs ladders and goes up all the big slides at the playground. He's done that for a while now, even in the area which is supposedly for ages 5 -12.

Monday through Friday he spends his days at home with occasional outings. My parents care for the children Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and we have a nanny come on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My father takes Raffaele out to either a local indoor playground or a park when he's here. Mr. FloridaWife takes Raffaele out to lunch on the nanny days. Saturdays I always look for something to do out of the house -- this has been an ongoing project as I'm always looking to see what's going on. I think I've gotten myself on the email list of every local place now (i.e., museums, parks, indoor playgrounds, etc.) On Sundays, we go to church in the morning and my afternoon routine has been to take them to another local indoor playground. Raffaele loves these places. We also do a lot of reading at home and puzzles. Raffaele can put together basic 12-piece puzzles now.

Raffaele likes to draw. I've shown his artwork to a few people and they are quite impressed on what he can accomplish at 2 years, 3 months. He draws faces and houses.

Theresa's update

2010-09-08T22:57:00.002-04:00

There is so much to update. I will try my best to write it all.

Theresa started to roll over from back to front last Wednesday, September 1. We were on vacation that week visiting my brother and his family, and my sister-in-law and I watched her do it. She finally got that little leg over! She'd been twisting her body for weeks, but she just had not thrown that little leg over. I'm so proud of my little girl. She is not perfect yet at this, though. She doesn't get it every time, so she keeps practicing. Last night she was practicing at 5am. She's so adorable, and it doesn't matter that her rolling practice awakened me. I'm so in love with my little girl.

Theresa has also for the last few weeks been using her hands more. She is trying to bring her pacifier to her mouth. We can put a rattle in her hands, and she'll handle it for a little bit. (She started doing that about a month ago.)

She's also trying to sit. If we put her in the bouncy seat or in the swing or stroller, she will sit up in it and look around. She is so cute and sweet -- her little bald head looking about.

Time for another update

2010-07-22T12:38:00.007-04:00

We've been busy! I've kept meaning to come back and post an update, so now I have to make a big one.

I went back to work on July 6. Mr. FloridaWife has evolved from a stay-at-home Dad to a work-from-home Dad. He's been doing more and more freelance work in his areas of expertise, which is great. So, we have my mother coming to care for our children Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and we got a nanny for Tuesdays and Thursdays. Have you all heard about sittercity.com? We found our nanny on there. A couple of weeks and 85 applications later, we settled on "Katie" who comes to us with lots of pre-school experience with two year olds. She came to her interview with her lesson plans, etc. I really wanted someone with her kind of background. She's got infant experience too from when she used to be nanny for a family some years ago. So, it's all working out.

Theresa is a big girl! She's just over three months old, and I suspect that she's nearing 15 pounds. She is such an adorable baby girl. She's easy to put to sleep, she's very calm, and she wakes up only about two times per night to feed, and then she falls right back to sleep. This is much different than Raffaele who at this stage wouldn't fall asleep until 11:00pm and who would wake up often (and stay awake) throughout the night. Theresa has been going to sleep at 8:00pm regularly and doesn't wake up for her first feeding until about midnight.

Raffaele has been wonderful with his little sister. If her pacifier falls out, he helps her put it back in. I've always encouraged him to help us with her. I'll say, "come on, Raffaele, we have to go help Baby!" He'll come running with me. I sit down to feed her, and in the beginning Raffaele would get upset that HE couldn't wear the breastfeeding pillow while I fed her, but now he accepts that I have to be the one with the pillow. So, he sits on the bed with me while I feed her, and we're all happy.

Raffaele's vocabulary has continued to expand. He finally said "Daddy" at the beginning of May (just as he was approaching age two). I know! It took a while for him to say "Daddy!" His first multi-word sentence began around age two when he first said, "MaMEE, WhereAreYou?" He soon continued with other sentences like "Where'd-It-Go?" and "WhatHappened?" I've thought about this, and I didn't realize how often I was asking these questions, that this is the vocabulary that he picked up. Also, he may not actually verbalize a lot of words, but when I pull out his word books and ask him to point to certain objects, he'll point to them. SO, he knows WHAT they are.

Raffaele can count to ten, except he trips over the four. He also recognizes a lot of the letters of the alphabet. He knows a lot of his shapes, but octagon and pentagon confuse him, but that's understandable. At least he knows circle, rectangle, star, crescent, square, heart, etc.

Theresa was baptized July 11. It was a beautiful day made even more beautiful by the fact that she wore my dress. We had a little party afterwards.

Update on us

2010-05-30T18:12:00.002-04:00

Theresa has been doing wonderfully well. She is seven weeks old today. Supposedly, according to what I remember reading in The Happiest Baby on the Block, seven weeks is the peak of the unconsolable crying and colickiness. This was true of Raffaele; we had some tough nights with him as a newborn. This is not true of Theresa. She doesn't really cry. When she does, I'm right there as quickly as I can be to pick her up and feed her or hold her, and she's fine and tranquil. Theresa has been a pure joy to be around. Raffaele was such a challenge. I remember one morning two years ago when he was an infant, I had spent about 3 hours trying to get him to stop crying. I did everything you're supposed to do. I did The Five S's, I walked, I tried to burp him. Nothing work. My parents showed up around noon just as I had finally put him to sleep. I was completely worn out and shaking. My husband and I went to Chili's. I got a drink. I just needed to calm the nerves.

Breastfeeding exclusively IS possible after c-section

2010-04-25T16:38:00.002-04:00

Breastfeeding is so much easier the second time around.

I am proud of myself in that I've been able to keep Theresa exclusively breastfed. I wasn't sure if this would be possible with a scheduled c-section, and, if need be, I understood that if she needed to be formula-fed while I recovered, so be it, but things have worked out. They brought her to me about 3 hours after the c-section. The nurses told me that they normally don't give the baby anything until around the four hour mark or so. They did, however, tell me that if her blood sugar was low, they'd have to give her something, but she passed the blood sugar test with flying colors.

Unlike my initial breastfeeding experience with Raffaele, I didn't listen to all the advice that the hospital nurses gave me. I know what ultimately worked for Raffaele -- don't look at the clock, babies are not "textbook," colostrum IS enough, make sure you start latching on correctly from the first time, and just follow baby's cues. Don't cave when the nurses or family start telling you that you should give formula because your milk isn't enough. The pattern became (and is) cluster feeding in threes -- nurse, rest, burp, nurse, rest, burp, bowel movement, diaper change, nurse, rest burp. This process takes about an hour. And (per the Baby Whisperer) I only do one side per feeding session, which I'll switch to both sides once she's about three months old. This has all worked out perfectly for us. Breastfeeding is sooooooo much easier the second time around.

And recovery from a scheduled c-section is a lot better than from an emergency one. I'm amazed at how well I am doing being up and about.

Well, I must go. She has fallen asleep in the Moby Wrap.

Firsts

2010-04-25T16:30:00.003-04:00

It's so neat documenting Theresa's new firsts. Her first stroller ride was on Friday. Her umbilical cord also fell off on Friday (at 12 days old). Her first bath was today.

Life with her has been going really well.

Theresa is here!

2010-04-13T15:35:00.004-04:00

We are very blessed to announce that Theresa was born on Sunday. Everything went absolutely well. The scheduled c-section went very well; it couldn't have been any better. It was very quick. The brief time (about 30 minutes prior to her birth and the 30 minutes afterward) were a bit uncomfortable for me, what with the anesthesia and all, but I suppose I could have labored and had a different degree of discomfort, so it's alright.

She was 9 pounds, 5 ounces at birth and 21.5 inches long. We are so very thankful that she is healthy.

Raffaele loved meeting his little sister. He was all smiles and called her, "BABY!" He wanted so very much to be close to her in order to see her. He got close to her, leaned in, and kissed her. He patted her hair. He kissed her again. He did this again. I wonder how much he understands. He's 23 months old, and I've always put my hand on my belly and said, "baby," and when we go to the playground and see the babies, I would say, "baby." I didn't know how he would handle my being away from him these days. I made it a point to make sure that we said good-bye to each other on Sunday morning, and when he has visited me at the hospital each day, we've been happy to see each other, and we wave good-bye to each other when he leaves.

Here she is in my arms:

Tomorrow is the big day!

2010-04-10T18:39:00.003-04:00

The c-section is scheduled for 10am tomorrow. I have to be there at 8am.

I'm ready. I've been having irregular contractions. They are mildly painful, but they are not the debilitating kind. Still, though, they've been keeping me up at night these past few days. Between that and my arm falling asleep (again), my esophagus issues, and the trips to the bathroom, I barely sleep at night.

The suitcase is packed, the bill is prepaid, the forms are signed, and I'm having my last meal (a lasagna).

I went to the vigil mass tonight and received a special blessings.

I pray that everything will go well tomorrow. God bless you all.

Fresh Diaper!

2010-04-07T21:09:00.001-04:00

I was amazed! Playing in the room amongst the pillows, Raffaele stopped and as he stood there, he had a bowel movement. As I've always done, I said, "bowel movement! Time for a fresh diaper! Fresh Diaper! Fresh Diaper!"

Raffaele gleefully ran across the house to the diaper changing table and stood there waiting to be lifted for his fresh diaper. And he laid there happily as his diaper was changed.

What a difference from all the diaper-changing challenges!

Numb arm?

2010-04-07T21:07:00.001-04:00

This has got to be the strangest pregnancy symptom. I never heard of anyone having this. My right arm falls asleep in the middle of the night and as much as I shake it the blood doesn't flow back in, and then it gets painful. It's become its own entity. I call it "Arm." Anyway, Arm kept me up for two hours the other night. I binged it (or googled it), and, sure enough, it happens to some women because of the increased swelling pinching nerves. Fortunately, Arm behaved last night, but Bladder didn't.

The arm thing only just stated happening last week.

Four days to go!!!

I'm going to try Shrinkx Hips

2010-03-31T22:49:00.002-04:00

Well, I've decided that I'm going to try this new Shrinkx Hips product.
It's not that I'm being vain or anything. It's just that after having Raffaele, I felt that my hips had s-p-r-e-a-d apart a great deal, and even when I would walk I would feel that I was walking along with way spread out hips. I have barely done any jogging because I feel unstable from my hips being so wide apart. I don't actually know how far apart my hips got after Raffaele, because I never thought to measure myself before my pregnancy. Nevertheless, I feel unstable when I walk, like I'm not perfectly aligned.

So, now that the Relaxin hormone will be in my system once I give birth in about 11 days, I'd like to give this a try to see if I can get my hips back to where they were so that I don't feel so unsteady.

On heartburn, repeat C-section vs VBAC, and the baby shower

2010-03-25T02:33:00.004-04:00

What a sporadic blogger I am. There's hardly any time. I go to work, come home, spend time with Raffaele, and we go to sleep together. It used to be that I could put him to sleep and then I'd stay awake until 11:00 or midnight, but with being so far into pregnancy at this point, I can't.

It's 2:30am now. Heartburn. I have the most serious heartburn in pregnancy of anyone I've known online or in real life. I've googled and binged it, and I can't find anyone who's had problems as horrific as I've had. Oh well. At least it's less this time than it was with Raffaele because this time I am pro-actively managing it a lot better; those tablets my gastroenterologist gave me work pretty well.

The pregnancy continues well. I am having a c-section again. The important thing to me is that the baby arrive here safely. I think that when mulling over the entire c-section vs. VBAC debate, a woman needs to consider seriously what sent her to her previous c-section in the first place. For me, it was inability to dilate past 7 cm combined with having a nearly 10 pound baby. What if I were to try for a VBAC and then I don't dilate past 7 cm and I go to an emergency c-section anyway? On the other hand, I wish I could at least try, and if it looks like it's not going to work out, then let's go to the emergency c-section. But, my doctor and hospital won't even let a woman try. With the liklihood high that I could end up in an emergency c-section again, I may as well go right to it. Also, I don't want to happen to me what happened to my cousin's wife; she tried for a VBAC, she suffered a uterine rupture, her full-term baby died, she wound up in a coma for 15 days, and they had to remove her uterus (so no more biological babies). Poor little baby and her.

My co-workers are organizing a baby shower for me and for another lady in the office that is due three weeks after me. I'm so humbled by this. I didn't expect a second baby shower. At first I thought there's nothing more that I need, but then I started to have fun with this thinking about all the extras I really would like to have. They've taken up a collection, and they've asked me if I want a gift card or cash or what. The shower is next week, when I'll be 8.5 months pregnant. At that point, it is too difficult for me (especially with a toddler) to be going out to buy things. Besides, with my time constraints, I've been doing more online shopping. So, I told them I'd like the cash. I've already completed most of my shopping (online), so the cash will help to reimburse me. I know it's a bit backwards, but 8.5 months is a tad too late to start shopping around.

SO, I've gotten the baby tent for the beach so that we can enjoy the beach again this summer with Raffaele, and I can nurse in the tent with some privacy and lay the baby down for sleep. I've also gotten a LARGE, family-sized beach bag for us, the expensive (about $50) thermometer that you just swipe across the forehead, dividers for the closet so that I can organize the clothes by size, and I'm exchanging my blue Bum Genius cloth diapers for pink ones. Cotton Babies will give me (if they deem them in excellent condition -- I'm still waiting to hear back) -- $7.50 per returned diaper, and then I'll buy the pink ones with the credit they give.

Mr. FloridaWife continues to do well as a stay-at-home-Dad. My parents stop by, too, for 4-5 hours every day to hang out, so this has been VERY helpful. The nice thing about this arrangement is that they know they don't HAVE to come here; they come here because they want to come here. This frees Mr. FloridaWife to go run errands and do some freelance work. He began working on commission in December for a commercial real estate company that organizes interesting deals, and if a deal he finds goes to closing, he'll get a percentage of the taxable gain. So far, he has some deals in the pipeline, and we are hopeful that some of these will go to closing. He hasn't made money from this commercial real estate company yet, but we are hopeful. In the meantime, he's been doing some freelance (writing) work here and there.

Raffale's vocabulary has finally gone up!

2010-03-02T21:51:00.003-05:00

Raffaele's vocabulary is taking off! He is a late talker, and I wasn't worried because I could tell that he is smart, but it sure is nice that he has more than three words now.

At 15 months, he still had not said his first word. He was a great babbler, though. At 17 months, Raffaele finally said a discernible word -- Mama!! He had babbled the consonants ma and ma before, but it was not a word directed at me. But, at 17 months, he looked for me saying Mama. Mama (as I posted here). Then he said "moo" for moon.

His current vocabulary consists of the following: Mama, Moo (for moon), shoes, Marco (for my father, Marcos), no, the phrase "Oh no," appo (for apple), one, two (since he can count to two!), car, AND I found out from my mother that he also says agua (for water) and coco (for coconut). He will also say "moo" when he sees a picture of a cow. He still hasn't said Dada -- bwaahahahaha!!! Six of those words are just from these past two weeks!

The other day when we received a junk mail for a car service, Raffaele pointed at the car and said, "car." Actually it was more like ka. I was amazed.

In the past week, he also says clue when he watches Blue's Clues on TV. Yesterday he said star. (Actually, it sounds more like TA, but he says TA consistently whenever he sees a star.) Today my mother says that he said cookie.

He's also a translator. In the last few days, whenever I say water (a word he hasn't said yet), he responds with agua. I am so amazed by that.

It's all happened so fast! In just a couple of weeks we've gone from three words to all this! I am so proud of him.

32 week, 3 day appointment

2010-02-26T19:53:00.002-05:00

Everything is going so fantastically well. I went to the perinatologist for my regular appointment, which occurred at 32 weeks, 3 days of pregnancy. They did a 4D ultrasound, and I was so delighted!! That's her in the picture below. Everything is going so well. She is healthy, and we are so very thankful. No problems are noted. Her estimated weight is 5 pounds, 2 ounces. After the perinatologist, I went to my OB/GYN, and that appointment went well too. She notes that I look more like I'm 36 weeks, not 32 weeks. Indeed I feel BIG. Mr. FloridaWife and I are wondering if we are going to have another almost 10 pound newborn.

Raffaele is counting to two!

2010-02-21T22:17:00.002-05:00

It happened more than once this weekend. "One." "Two." He'd do it when he was pointing at things or lining up things. It was unmistakable. "One." "Two." "One." "Two." Can he say "three" at this point? Can they say the "th" sound? I haven't heard Raffaele do the "th" sound yet. I'm going to be on the lookout to see if he does a modified "three."

Passing the torch...

2010-02-21T22:15:00.001-05:00

Mr. FloridaWife is bathing Raffaele now. My belly is getting too big, and it's a nice transition to when I'll be busy with the new baby in two months.

On the gastrointestinal issues...

2010-02-19T18:26:00.004-05:00

I haven't posted about all of my gastrointestinal problems in a long time. I don't like to complain or sound like I'm complaining. It's a physical problem that afflicts me that I can't do very much about and just accept and live with at the moment. So, this is just a report on what is going on.

As a recap, I suffered from BAD heartburn during my pregnancy with Raffaele. Five months post partum, I still suffered, would have gastric attacks regularly (that would awaken me during the night as well), and I had difficulty swallowing my food. So, things were rough -- not only was I not sleeping well because I was waking up with Raffaele every two hours, but, also, the gastric attacks would keep me awake for two hours at a time. An esophagogastroduodenoscopy (my new favorite word!) revealed that my stomach was bleeding and filled with ulcerations and the acid had seriously hurt my esophagus. Medicine to reduce the acid and a bland diet greatly improved my condition as noted by another esophagogastroduodenoscopy four months later.

When I became pregnant this time, I still had not finished healing from all the gastrointestinal problems that I incurred during my last pregnancy.

The best I can do now is manage the heartburn as much as possible. The gastroenterologist has me taking tablets that are mostly baking soda that react with the acid in my stomach to neutralize it. None of this enters the bloodstream so it is safe for the baby! I have also found relief from taking a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar every night before going to bed, and I also take a tablespoon of chlorophyll.

Still, though, I have to sleep on two pillows in order to keep my head elevated so that the acid doesn't creep up because if I don't sleep on two pillows I suffer. I oftentimes have heartburn that rages for a couple of days in a row that will not subsist no mater what I do. It is painful with the pain sometimes piercing through my back. I sometimes wake up choking on my own gastric juices. It is difficult for me to swallow, and I have to chew, chew, chew (a lot!) whenever I eat. It is getting harder the further along I go into pregnancy.

Once I am done with pregnancy, at some point maybe at two months post partum, I'll head back to the gastroenterologist for another esophagogastroduodenoscopy. He can't know what's going on with my esophagus until he can take a look inside which is something we can't do right now because I can't be put on anaesthesia.

My husband feels bad for me and says, "just two more months, honey...just two more months."

This all is minor compared to what some women go through. I really do have a lot for which to be thankful. Besides this, I am having a very beautiful pregnancy, and we continue to be so very thankful with the health of this baby.

Take care and God bless.

The little things are a joy

2010-02-17T22:12:00.002-05:00

It's the little things that Raffaele is doing that are so beautiful. We color often. Actually, I draw houses and clouds and rainbows and random things, and Raffaele scribbles across the page. I draw lots of squares, triangles, circles, and lines, hoping that he will learn these shapes (and line). He stares SO intently as I do this and then he requests that I draw them again. It is so fascinating to witness how very much he wants to learn about shapes. Then he tries, and he winds up with scribbles on his page. Sure, I hold his little hand. At least he is trying and he is enjoying what he is doing.

The other day he put the correct colored-cap on the correct color marker.

Yes, I'm happy for washable markers. They come off of the table easily!

His favorite show is Wow, Wow, Wubbzy. We've also decided to make that the theme for his second birthday party. I don't know what it is about that show that memorizes him. The way it is drawn, I guess. I like the show myself. He will usually watch the entire show during which time I am able to actually go do something (like wash bottles).

Raffaele still won't eat food. That's okay. We're patient. We're going to rethink this at age two if an evaluation is in order. A friend of mine at work tells me that her nephew consumed formula only for the first three years, and now he is seven and eats everything. I think it's more behavorial with Raffaele. We will see. (OH - he does like shakes. So, it's something! And he will TASTE food, but he will not actually chew and consume.)

We still co-sleep which Mr. FloridaWife and I have loved. I absolutely love snuggling with Raffaele, and it is so wonderful to wake up to him smiling at me. Sometimes when he wakes up, he kisses me because he's so happy. These are beautiful moments.

The new baby is doing well. She's due in less than two months. We are so very thankful and happy.

Good night and God bless. Peace be with you all.

26 weeks / 3 days appointment

2010-01-30T23:12:00.003-05:00

I'm so overwhelmed with joy at times at all the good fortune we've had. I'm late in posting this, but on January 12 I had a doctor's appointment, and our baby girl is doing really well!!! That's her in the picture below looking at us.

Raffaele is also continuing to do exceedingly well. I'm in constant amazement at how blessed we are. Peace be with all of you.

High Needs infants - sleep

2010-01-15T23:04:00.002-05:00

This article describes Raffaele's sleep. It's called, "5 REASONS WHY HIGH-NEED INFANTS SLEEP DIFFERENTLY." Yes, yes, that's Raffaele, who didn't sleep through the night until 18 months and now he sometimes goes days without naps. It has been a sleep-deprived challenge, but we wouldn't have it any other way. He is the most remarkable little, high-energy toddler.

No MBA classes until (at least) July

2010-01-14T21:10:00.002-05:00

It's so refreshing not having an MBA class right now. I can do stuff like get the room ready for Raffaele and take care of things around here that haven't been done.

Amazing, but true: I have two classes plus the capstone left to complete my MBA. As long as I finish within 5 years and never take more than one year off, I'm in good standing.

Peace be with all of you.

Just being me

2010-01-05T22:17:00.003-05:00

"You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved." - Matthew 10:22.

You can't please everybody, obviously, since people are so diverse. You have to be you.

Me, well, I'm me. My identity includes being a committed Christian. It's part of who I am, and most of who I am doesn't come from actually trying. My beliefs and faith have been with me a long time and are part of who I am, and as long as they are true to the teachings of Christ, I don't change them. I keep them. There are a few parts of me here and there that need fine-tuning as I endeavor to live in a better state of grace. It's a journey. I'm 39 now; remarkable. (The number looks so high.) I know I need to pray more, but it doesn't happen. Although I do pray daily, I could pray more. Or I let other stuff happen. I suppose I let petty things annoy me; St. Gianna Beretta Molla commented on that (although I can't find the quote right now) and said that those things don't matter in the next life. (I like to keep a clean and organized house, though!)

I guess I started this post with that quote from Matthew because I do, at times, face incredulity for my belief system, which is firmly Catholic. People don't understand me sometimes, like when I talk about the openness to life and surrendering the blessing of more children to God's will. People are funny that way, but I understand the secular point of view. When I was in my 20s I thought I only wanted the ideal two children, but now after having come to a greater understanding of the faith and having increased my relationship with God, I see the beauty of surrendering oneself to the will of God. I have to say that all of my experiences have brought me closer to Him as I've endeavored to increase my faith.

Also, people think that because of my faith that I am judging them. I am not. I can understand that this is hard for others to understand. Maybe it's because they judge and they can't believe it's possible not to judge? I don't know. I judge no one. I shudder to think of doing so because of what it says in Matthew 7:2. "For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you." Yikes. Kinda scary. It's best not to judge. Instead, I prefer to pray for people if I think they are going in a direction opposite the Christian faith, but I don't judge them. Praying, "please help Austin find you and discern what you will for him to do and give him the help he truly needs" is different than, "Austin is a bad person."

As far as hating is concerned, that is a strong word (i.e., "hate"). I'm sure they are out there, though--those that hate me because of what I believe. Just because of that--because of my belief system and who I am. I don't ever mean ill-will to anybody, only wishing that they have peace, but I have had my share of purposely mean-spirited messages. As a Christian, it's a little easier to let it roll off of you because as Jesus said, "whoever endures to the end will be saved" and because of what He said in the Beatitudes, "blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." By God's mercy, I do hope to join him in the Kingdom someday.

Peace be with all of you.

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T22:48:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year, friends! I hope that you receive much peace this year. I'll continue to pray for so many of you. For all those expecting babies, I hope your pregnancies, labor, and deliveries all go really well. I'll continue to pray that all babies be healthy. For those of you who yearn to hold a child, I will continue to pray for you. God bless.

Merry Christmas! Christ is born!

2009-12-25T20:51:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas, friends. Peace be with you all.

We had a blessed and beautiful Christmas day. We woke up at the usual time and went to mass at 10am. We came home and began preparing our annual Christmas lasagna. We began the lasagna Christmas tradition on our first Christmas together as newlyweds, and we have continued the tradition, today being the fourth time that we have prepared a lasagna on Christmas day. Today's recipe was this one. It was very good, and everyone enjoyed it.

Afterwards, we opened presents! I have been amazed that throughout Advent Raffaele didn't touch the presents underneath the Christmas tree. He would just stand back and acknowledge that the tree existed, but he didn't try to climb it, as I thought he would. We didn't quite get around to putting our ornaments on it (except for a very few that we put on the top branches), so I'm sure that if we had actual ornaments on it that Raffaele would have played with them. The tree has not been totally bare though, as it does have lights on it which Raffaele respected and never played with much to my surprise.

Raffaele understands how to open a present now. Last year there was no interest. The interest that he has in it this year is in the act of actually removing the gift wrap, not in getting to the object that is actually wrapped. He received some nice clothes and some toys, which is great since he's been looking at the same toys for a while now. He also received some books, but I'm going to have to store the ones that are not board books, because he tears apart the pages of any book that is not a board book.

I hope that you all had a beautiful and blessed Christmas.

20 week appointment

2009-12-20T22:14:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted in a while, but I want to at least get this up. My 20-week appointment a few weeks ago went really well. We are ever-so-thankful that all is going well and that she is healthy. MBA class is over, and I'm taking the next 7 months off. Heartburn is back with a vengeance, but I am trying to manage it with all the tricks and the safe tablets of NemaBase (mostly sodium bicarbonate) that the gastroenterologist recommended to me.

Still so thankful

2009-11-27T23:54:00.001-05:00

I'm just so very thankful for everything. I wish peace and happiness to all of you.

Raffaele did not nap today!

2009-11-27T23:03:00.002-05:00

I tried to put him down for a nap several times today, but it just wasn't happening.

Raffaele did not nap today. He finally fell asleep at 9:30pm. THAT's never happened.

His bio-rhythm has been going through a change these past two weeks. He's been taking his nap (his one nap) later and later in the day. Well, we'll see where this goes...

Raffaele sleeps through the night

2009-11-23T21:46:00.003-05:00

Yes, it's finally happened for us. After 18 months. Two weeks ago, Raffaele slept through the night five out of seven days. This past week, he slept through the night all seven days. And I don't just mean that definition of sleep-through-the-night being sleeping five hours without awakening. No. I mean he goes to bed for the night and sleeps until the morning. For the first in nearly two years, I have slept seven hours straight. I'm so well rested now. I can't believe it.

Raffaele's 18 month appointment!

2009-11-18T23:06:00.000-05:00

All went well!

Key stats:
Weight: 28.5 pounds
Height: 33 3/4 "
Head circumference: 49 cm.

(Strange that the head circumference is in metric and the other measurements are in the English system.)

I've been feeling her move!

2009-11-17T21:18:00.001-05:00

She's been moving around for a while now. I didn't post about it when it first happened because I wasn't sure if it was really her or if it was something else going on in there. BUT the movements are indistinguishable -- it's her. It's an arm or a leg or something like that moving around. It such an incredible feeling to know that this little life is within me.

It's a GIRL!

2009-11-03T23:17:00.003-05:00

At today's ultrasound, we found out that we are having a GIRL!
We are so awesomely excited (can I use those words in combination?) and are so THANKFUL that our baby is healthy, healthy, healthy. All I want to say is Thanks be to God, and thank you for all this beauty. I was praying last night and today that everything would turn out well. We are truly blessed.

So, she's a girl! We are very excited. SO, this will be a whole new ball game for us. I've grown used to the blue clothes with baseballs, footballs, construction vehicles, and dinosaurs. Now we get to move on to pink. I mean, certainly, any color will be fine, including blue, but Mr. FloridaWife would have never permitted pink on Raffaele, so it'll be nice to see some pink around here.

Ultrasound tomorrow!

2009-11-02T19:52:00.002-05:00

Big ultrasound tomorrow! I'm praying that the baby is chromosomally perfect and healthy!

We'll also find out if I'm carrying a boy or girl.

This is the one and only time that Mr. FloridaWife ever comes to a doctor's appointment with me. It'll be good to be with him.

Raffaele kissed me!

2009-10-27T23:50:00.003-04:00

Sunday morning, Raffaele woke up, smiled at me, leaned in, and KISSED me! He is just so adorable. I love my toddler so very much. He is really developing into a kind, sweet, affectionate, and playful boy. Maybe he learns it from me--I sure kiss him a LOT. Oh, it is so sweet to see him and lovingly hold him and kiss him. What is interesting about him is that he likes to wave at everybody he passes when we go out for walks. He's so friendly. He waves at everyone. There's a little girl across the street, and he hugs her or holds her hand. I am constantly amazed at how beautifully he is developing. We're going to keep doing what we're doing as it seems to be working in regards to his personality and approach towards others.

First words

2009-10-18T23:07:00.002-04:00

I think we have a definite first word and not just a random combination of consonants and vowels. Yes, indeed. Raffaele said "mama" when he was looking for me. Mama. It melted my heart. After 17 months (yes, we are a little late in the talk department) it was so nice to hear "mama" from this beautiful boy. This was on Thursday.

Also this week, Raffaele demonstrated to me that he understands "no." I was amazed!!! I said, "no," and he cried because I said "no," but he stopped. He tried to do it again, and I said, "no," and he cried because of it, but he didn't do it. I ...am so proud of my little man!!! I congratulated him on Mommy being so proud of him!

I think he really is trying to talk. When watching a Baby Einstein video today, he said "da" when the narrator said "dog" to a picture of a dog on the screen. Raffaele has also attempted to say, "moon" which sounds more like "moo" when he says it.

This is so exciting. I am so proud of my little man.

Thankful

2009-10-11T22:57:00.004-04:00

I am oftentimes overwhelmed by the feeling of how truly thankful I am.

Thankful for the sun that shines upon us and holds our solar system in place.
Thankful for the time in which I live.
Thankful for the country in which I was born.
Thankful for the parents who, though not wealthy in material possessions, are wealthy in faith and love.
Thankful for a supportive family.
Thankful for my health.
Thankful for the health of my parents, my brother, my husband, and my extended family.
Thankful for the health of my baby born and the one to be born.
Thankful for the gift bestowed upon me, which I hold in honor, of now being the mother of two.
Thankful for the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Thankful (and humbled) for the forgiveness of sins.
Thankful that someone would die for me and for others on a cross.

I am suddenly reminded of Jesus' words in John's Gospel, chapter 15, one of my most favorite chapters. The line that has always gripped me is this one--"No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. "

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and everyone that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word that I spoke to you. Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and wither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another. If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you, 'No slave is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin; but as it is they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me also hates my Father. If I had not done works among them that no one else ever did, they would not have sin; but as it is, they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But in order that the word written in their law might be fulfilled, 'They hated me without cause.' "When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

Major milestones at the playground!

2009-10-04T17:06:00.003-04:00

Raffaele walks across the suspension bridge all by himself and he can climb through tubes! We are so proud of him!

I have always stood back and let him play, guiding him away from danger only. I'll demonstrate how to do something, or I'll hold his hand if he needs help, and then I'll watch and see if he can do it all on his own yet.

He's become so wonderfully interdependent. He knows when to ask for help (i.e., he'll put out his little hand so that I can help him), or he'll go and do it on his own.

He hasn't quite mastered the slide yet. If we put him on there sitting down and slide him down, he'll, of course, slide. But he doesn't understand how to do this on his own yet. When he's at the top of a slide, he kind of wants to go down it head first (or crawl down it).

He's gotten really good about how to climb up and down stairs and to hold onto the railings when he needs help. The other great thing about the playground is that he LOVES seeing other children, and he loves playing alongside them. He will be an excellent big brother. We look forward to this very much.

2nd edition of Parenting with Grace

2009-10-03T23:45:00.002-04:00

Bill and Martha Sears (whose books I love) wrote the forward to the second edition of Parenting with Grace. Did you know that they started out as Catholics, left the church for 37 years, and returned? Anyway, in regards to parenting, Dr. Bill Sears says, "we are seeing so much more than just the scriptural basis for Attachment Parenting – we are seeing the spiritual basis for it, and for all of family life."

The forward is here.

Yes, Raffaele does like book-reading now

2009-10-03T22:08:00.002-04:00

It has taken a long while, but at 16 1/2 months Raffaele likes book-reading now. Well, he is not 100% there yet; he is in the beginning stages of book-reading. He likes our bedtime book, Goodnight Moon. Last night and tonight, he asked that I read it to him twice. He is indeed so precious, and I continue to cherish every moment with this beautiful life of his with which God entrusted me. I am so honored to be Raffaele's mother.

About a month ago he began to point at objects in his books. I seized on this new found discovery of his and began to tell him what each of the objects is. He hadn't quite sat for stories until I began reading him Goodnight Moon. The little story books that I have been able to read to him in their entirety are two little Pat the Bunny books which we have.

I feel like I've entered a whole new world. A world filled with books and imagination and new discovery.

Some couples give life...

2009-10-02T23:07:00.009-04:00

Last week I became aware of a couple expecting the arrival of their daughter to be born with anencephaly. Then, a few days later, I read of their daughter's birth and death fifteen hours later. As the father says in his blog, "love has no time constraints." The father expressed how sad he and his wife were, but grateful for the time that they got to spend with their daughter.

The eulogy that the father wrote is very moving. As he noted, diagnosis of anencephaly is normally met with termination of the pregnancy. But this couple would take what they were given. They would carry their baby to full term and spend whatever time they could with her, because love has no time constraints.

The couple has a young son, and they prepared him for his sister's arrival as best they could. The son wanted to teach his sister how to play with garbage trucks.

Mothers desire that their children be healthy. I have spent this entire pregnancy (and Raffaele's) asking God that my children please be born healthy. "Please God, let my child be chromosomally perfect and healthy, and thank you for the fact that Raffaele was born chromosomally perfect and is healthy." Daily I pray this. I can understand how difficult the decision would be for some women regarding continuation of their pregnancy, although, for me, it's a clear black-and-white decision to always side on the side of life and give life to my children.

From the eulogy written by the father for his daughter this past Monday:
Neither my wife nor I will ever forget those last moments of her life as we held her in our arms and wept and consoled her with insufficient words. We knew when we had reached the point of no return. We held Vivian and held our breath as Vivian, holding her rosary, breathed her last breath.

Ultrasounds today

2009-09-29T23:24:00.003-04:00

Thank you, everyone, for all your kind words. I keep meaning to go back to each of you to thank you personally, and I don't seem to find the time.

It's 11:26 pm and I only just sat down a little while ago. So, here's a quick little update.

I went to the perinatologist today. My OB/GYN has referred me to the perinatologist because I am over 35. Anyway, everything is going really well.

The baby is doing fine, and he/she moved around a little bit but seemed to mostly be sleeping.

I declined all genetic testing.

I feel great except I have an incredible appetite, and I am extra sleepy.

Here are the latest ultrasound photos. God bless.

Raffaele let me read to him today

2009-09-29T23:23:00.001-04:00

For the first time today, Raffaele allowed me to read an entire little board book to him. It was "Goodnight Moon." I read it to him at bedtime. I am going to add this to our bedtime routine.

We are expecting a new baby!

2009-09-16T22:05:00.002-04:00

Yes, you read that correctly. I will be 10 weeks pregnant tomorrow. I still can't believe the good fortune and rich blessings that have befallen me. After struggling for two years to become pregnant with Raffaele, I almost feel guilty in saying that I wasn't even trying to get pregnant this time around, but what BEAUTIFUL FORTUNE has found it's way to us!

Yesterday I went for my first ultrasound and my eyes filled with tears as I witnessed my baby's little heart beating on the screen -- a nice 170 beats per minute. And then my baby started to move his/her arms and legs all over the place! It was such a beautiful sight to see, and I am so happy for this technology to be able to witness such beauty so early in a pregnancy.

So, there he/she is, in the ultrasound picture below. You can clearly see the head, body, arms, and feet as well as the eyes and nose.

It is truly remarkable. Thanks be to God!

P.S. If you know me in real life, unless you are family, don't go spreading this news around as I haven't told anyone at work yet, and I don't want word to get over there. If you are family, feel free to tell the whole family.

Update on me and Raffaele

2009-08-26T22:23:00.004-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted an update, but here is a new one.

I continue to work full-time, and Mr. FloridaWife continues to be a stay-at-home-dad with the occasional contract work. My parents stop by everyday. Once I'm home from work, I take care of Raffaele 100% while he's awake on evenings and weekends. Then, I finally sit down (as I am now) at about 10:30pm in order to check emails and launch into my homework, since I have been back to school for my MBA for over two years now. I only take one class at a time, which is all I can handle, because when you don't sit down until 10:30pm, that means that you're up until 12:30am regularly doing things for YOU. Then, Raffaele wakes up once during the night, and I bring him into bed with us (after I've given him a bottle of formula). Then I get up to go to work in the morning. I have days and days where I survive on five hours of sleep, so coming here to make an update becomes the thing I never get to do. Enough about me. Oh, by the way, after this term (which ends in September), I have three MBA classes left plus the Capstone Course (which is one intense week on campus with the other MBA students). So, I can see the light! (Right now my class is a Marketing class; it's pretty interesting.)

Raffaele continues to do exceedingly well. He is happiest when he is outside walking around investigating things. I follow him around. He can build tall, skinny structures with his Mega Bloks; he only builds with the 1x1 blocks right now. I build elaborate buildings and abstract structures, and he likes to destroy them. He likes the Baby Einstein videos, but he won't stay to watch an entire video, and I have to be near him, which is fine. If he senses that I've sneaked away to do something, he gets upset, cries out and runs around looking for me. So, I spend my time with him in very close proximity. That's him at the right with one of his tall, skinny structures. The base was built by me.

Raffaele still will not consume solid foods. I don't need any advice. That's how it is. He'll eat something other than formula when he is ready to do so. (Hence, why he needs that bottle of formula in the middle of the night. YOU try consuming nothing but formula all day and see if you don't get hungry by the time it's the middle of the night.)

While Raffaele was ahead of the range for crawling and walking, he's at the end of the range for talking. He hasn't spoken his first word yet. He does a lot of good babbling, though. He communicates via his own brand of sign language, so he understands communication. He just doesn't talk with any words yet. I was a late talker, so he's taking after me. Actually, I was very much into investigating things and building things as a child without much use for words, so I think Raffaele has taken a lot of that from me. (Mr. FloridaWife, on the other hand, can TALK. Sometimes we'll be out, and it takes forever for us to leave, because he talks and talks and talks...)

Raffaele's update

2009-07-27T22:57:00.002-04:00

Raffaele is doing exceedingly well. He is so handsome, so soft, so funny, and so full of energy. His smile fills my heart with JOY and I thank God every night that I became pregnant with Raffaele. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. What a beautiful gift was bestowed upon me. I will love Raffaele and comfort him and take care of him as best as I can.

Raffaele continues to be adventurous. He would rather walk and explore everything than sit and play with a toy (which he doesn't really do). When he hears an airplane overhead, he points up. I understand the signs that he's made up.

He loves doors. All kinds of doors. Even sliding glass doors. He loves to open and close them.

He still has hardly any interest in eating solids. When I sit down to eat, I sit him down with me (he in his chair), and I give him food, and he sucks on some of it, but he doesn't actually consume it. He drinks tons of formula per day, about 8 ounces every 3 hours. He is very healthy, and we are being patient with his dislike for food.

The Ball Pit

2009-07-21T22:52:00.003-04:00

We got Raffaele a ball pit for his first birthday. I was unsure if he'd actually use it, because he prefers activities like exploring, walking, putting things into things, etc. BUT, lo and behold, he discovered that he can run across the room and belly flop himself into the ball pit! So cute.

Leading me by the hand

2009-07-12T23:56:00.002-04:00

Raffaele started leading me by the hand this past week. He finds me, takes my hand, and then takes me somewhere.

A little boy in puddles.

2009-07-12T23:52:00.003-04:00

This was taken on June 27, the day he discovered puddles. After a while, I couldn't keep him back anymore from jumping in all these puddles. He was already dirty and wet. What's a few more?

First cold

2009-06-25T23:38:00.001-04:00

Raffaele has never been sick in his life, until now. Well, we made it to 13 months and one week without an illness. He has a cold, which he caught from either me or Mr. FloridaWife. Poor little guy. I called the nurses at the pediatrician's office, and they told me what to do. I blame the New York weather for this; Mr. FloridaWife was in New York last week visiting the rest of his family, he went to the U.S. Open, it rained the whole time, and he was soaked. He came home with a cold.

Spinning

2009-06-19T23:07:00.003-04:00

Raffaele started spinning in circles two days ago. He's so cute and funny. Then he stops and monitors the effect of his spinning. Then he tries to walk and almost trips over himself. Then he does it again, stops, monitors, laughs. What a precious little boy!

I took the day off today, and we went to the mall. They have a play area there. Here he is climbing.

On solids and other things

2009-06-12T21:12:00.003-04:00

We sit for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with Raffaele and put random foods on his tray. He can play with it or eat it. He has surprised me a few times by actually putting a food item in his mouth and doing something with it. Mostly, though, he likes to sit there and play. I don't force him, and I stopped trying to give him a spoonful of yogurt or pureed foods some time ago; he would cry and scream -- why make him uncomfortable? So, he consumes about 48 ounces of formula per day. He is well-nourished and very happy.

I've always said that when HE is ready to eat solids HE will be ready. The hard part of this is the people in my life who think it's a problem that he's not eating. (I do not need suggestions, because I've tried everything, and I will not take some suggested approaches like starving my baby.) My attitude on this is that it is NOT a problem, and HE will pick up a solid and eat it when he is good and ready. Leave us alone.

In other news, Raffaele can walk up slides and he can walk up the steps at the playground. He's quite funny, my little man. This evening he was rolling on the floor laughing while Mr. FloridaWife was attempting to crack open a coconut. (We were outside). Raffaele also likes to point at airplanes when he sees them overhead.

He waved to Diego!

2009-06-07T21:17:00.001-04:00

Raffaele is so cute! Last night at the end of Go, Diego, Go when Diego waved at the end of the show, Raffaele smiled and waved back! What a cutie-pie!!!!

Raffaele is pointing!

2009-06-01T22:54:00.003-04:00

So very cool. Today was the first time that I saw him pointing. I have been pointing for him, hoping he'd catch on -- you know, sign language and vocabulary and all. I'll point to a tree and say "tree." I'll point to a cat and say "cat" and do the sign for cat. (I've been trying some sign language signs, but he hasn't caught on yet.)

Today, while I was walking with him with him in the stroller, he heard an airplane overhead and he pointed out at! I was so impressed! I pointed too and said "airplane" and I did the sign for airplane.

God bless you all.

Raffaele started clapping today!!!

2009-05-31T23:44:00.002-04:00

How adorable! There is a little slide at the playground. He's too little to climb up the steps and slide down, but when he sees it he has the urge to climb UP the slide. So, he did. Mr. FloridaWife and I encouraged him and stood all around him so that he wouldn't fall. When he made it to the top we clapped, and then Raffaele started clapping! I couldn't believe it! He is so cute!! What an adorable little baby!!

I only just started clapping for him about two months ago or so, hoping he'd catch on. He started waving a few weeks ago too. This is so much fun!

How my one year old is growing

2009-05-29T21:05:00.002-04:00

This article entitled "Your 1-year-old" aptly describes Raffaele's activity levels. I found it so interesting that this is what he's doing! It's so funny to see it in writing. I have especially found it interesting that he likes to put things in containers.

Around now, your toddler's play will probably start shifting from mastering fine motor skills (he's got that thumb-and-forefinger grasp down pat) to exercising larger
muscles. Some children this age have an attention span of two to five minutes for quiet activities — although your child's favorite games may not be all that quiet.
Your child probably thinks it's fun to push, throw, and knock everything down. He'll give you a toy as well as take one, and he likes games in which he can put things in
containers and dump them out again. This works well with blocks in buckets or boxes and with small plastic containers, which he can nest inside one another. He'll thrill to the loud sounds of pots and pans banging together, too.

Raffaele LOVES the beach!

2009-05-26T00:33:00.002-04:00

We went to the beach today, this Memorial Day. We had been to the beach with Raffaele before, but only to walk along it and put his feet in the water. Today, we actually went to the beach to play and splash around. I didn't know what to expect. Raffaele just turned one last weekend. It turns out that he absolutely LOVED the beach. He liked so much to splash in the water or walk/run in the water and waves. THEN, we sat down in the sand, and he had a great time in the sand. What a great day!

12 month appointment

2009-05-21T23:07:00.000-04:00

All went well!

Key stats:
Weight: 26.6 pounds
Height: 32"
Head circumference: 46 cm.

My one-year old won't eat solids

2009-05-21T12:12:00.001-04:00

Raffaele generally refuses to eat solids. By "generally" I mean that he will only eat A LITTLE bit 0.1% of the time, so hardly ever.

I breast-fed for six months, stopped when I was put on medication for gastro-intestinal issues, and he's been formula-fed ever since.

Mr. FloridaWife, mother, and I have tried ALL kinds of foods -- Gerber, table food, vegetables, fruits, meats, bread, you name it. It's as if he doesn't "get it."

So, Mr. FloridaWife took him to his 12-month appointment today (because he's a stay-at-home-dad), and he says that the pediatrician is saying that we really, really need to get him to eat solids. That he could turn anemic or whatever. My DH says, "look, I was eating solids at 7 weeks and a ONE MONTH old that was there was eating her mother's bagel. We have to get him HUNGRY and then FORCE him to eat."

Raffaele HATES sitting in his high chair. The entire experience of trying to feed him solids turns into a cry-fest with him wailing to get out of the chair. My mother (she stops in everyday for a few hours) says it's not worth the battle sometimes. We don't force it on him, we stop, and let him go on his merry-way. I've tried giving him food with him walking around, but that's another challenge, because he'd rather keep walking around and he pushes the spoon away.

Raffaele has about 16 teeth already, so he should be able to chew just fine.

My heart is breaking from this. I don't want to FORCE him to eat if he hates it so much, but maybe there is truth in that a 12-month old should be eating solids?

Any hints, words of wisdom, no-nonsense advice, tips to encourage him would be appreciated.

It's Raffaele's first birthday!

2009-05-17T23:06:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday, Raffaele. Mommy loves you!

We had a great birthday party with relatives and family. Raffaele received a lot of great clothes and some toys. We got him a ball pit. He seemed to like it. He likes his riding toy that his grandparents (my parents) got him.

He was startled during the party and he cried a bit and just seemed overwhelmed at times. He took a nap right after the cake, which he didn't eat, but we had him put his hand in it, but he was too sleepy. (He took a nap right before the party, so he must have just been generally overwhelmed and exhausted!) THEN his nap went on for two hours. That's okay. He needed the rest. I opened his presents for him.

We had a great time!

Raffaele is so playful

2009-05-11T23:29:00.002-04:00

I have to post this story lest it be forgotten!

When I left the house to go to work this morning, Raffaele was still asleep in our bed with Mr. FloridaWife. Mr. FloridaWife says that when Raffaele woke up they had the best time playing. Raffaele would put his pacifier in Mr. FloridaWife's mouth, giggle, and take it out, and then put it in again and again. At one point, Raffaele put the pacifier into Mr. FloridaWife's mouth backwards with the nipple sticking out. SO, Raffaele leaned his mouth forward and put the pacifier in his own mouth. What a cutie-pie!

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-10T23:38:00.002-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers out there -- to anyone in that special motherly role.

This is my first Mother's Day with an outside-the-womb child. I had mixed feelings before today, because for years this was a day from which I was excluded. As I think I mentioned before, I spent years and years dreaming and hoping to have a child some day. The older I got, the sadder this day became. I have spent all these years feeling that this was a day for other people, not me. I yearned so much to be the recipient of this day, and here it is!! Bittersweet, it is.

I spent it quietly today. I think I need to move slowly with this holiday. It was the source of sad feelings for too long. Raffaele signed a card for me, although I know it was really Mr. FloridaWife that signed it. We ordered my favorite food today -- Pad Thai with shrimp. We went to the pool. We went to mass this morning. That's about it.

He opens doors!

2009-05-10T23:32:00.002-04:00

We're nearly ready for Raffaele's big FIRST Birthday party next Sunday. He will be ONE year old!! Amazing. Decorations are on-hand, the cake is ordered, responses have been received from my invitations, we bought him a gift (ball pit), and Mr. FloridaWife is taking care of the food order tomorrow.

Raffaele can open doors now! He's so funny. Our doors do not have knobs; they have the lever handles. He can open the door. He's so funny. Fortunately, he can't undo the deadbolt to the front door, so he won't be escaping.

Did I mention that he has at least 14 teeth? There could be more, but I can't get in there because his hands get in the way.

No progress on the eating of solids yet. As I mentioned before, I thought for a brief time that he liked them, but that was only after much prodding. He is not interested.

We spend a lot of time at the community playground. He likes it there a lot. I put him on the baby swings, and then I let him roam free. The funny thing about his is that he likes to be where the other children are. So, if they are sliding down the slide, he will stand directly in front of the slide. I have to keep moving him. He's so cute.

Raffaele waves!

2009-05-07T00:51:00.001-04:00

Raffaele started to wave yesterday! It's not a refined wave, but he's definitely moving his arm up and down when he sees people leave.

And he has 14 teeth that I can see. He'll be one year old in less than 2 weeks!

That only lasted two nights

2009-04-27T23:51:00.001-04:00

Well, it only lasted the two nights. We are back to at least two awakenings per night. Oh well. That's okay. More opportunity to hold Raffaele.

He has slept through the night

2009-04-22T22:12:00.003-04:00

It's happened. Two nights in a row now.

To clarify, Raffaele has slept two very long stretches of +7 hours in the past, waking up between 3am and 4am, and then we'd soothe him back to sleep. So, yes, I know, technically those two times are "sleeping through the night" because that's what the pediatricians say. They say "sleeping through the night" is five hours or more. The problem with that definition is that let's say Raffaele goes to sleep at 8pm and sleeps until 1am, and then awakens at 3am, then 5am, then finally at 7am. So, he "slept through the night" because of that 5-hour stretch at the beginning. To me, that didn't really count as "sleep through the night."

This time, though, he has slept through MY night.

He took a very late nap on Monday so he went to sleep at 11pm and slept and slept without int eruption until about 7:00am. Tuesday he went to sleep at 10:30pm and slept without interruption until 6:00am.

I bring him into our bed at his first awakening. Now it's morning when that happens. On the one hand, I miss having him next to me. On the other hand, I think we are all sleeping better, and that's important. AND he still gets cuddle time, because I bring him into our bed when he does wake up.

All those nay-sayers that said "don't rock a baby for naps or he'll never learn to fall asleep." Ha!

Actually, for night-time bedtime, I tweaked our going-to-sleep routine a little. I put on the white noise and lay next to him on our bed. He understands that the white noise is the cue for go-to-sleep. And after doing this for a couple of months, he understands that me laying next to him on our bed with the white noise going is how he goes to sleep for the night. Yes, it's a different routine than what he gets for daytime naps. I read in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child that you can have a different routine for day and another for night. So, I went with it. The second thing I did is that I had noticed that when I turned off the white noise so that I could go to bed that he would wake up. So, now as soon as he falls asleep on my bed, and I put him in the crib, I pretty muchh turn off the white noise. So, maybe my little gentle efforts paid off? Or maybe he would have figured this all out on his own. In any case, I'm proud of my little man.

On Solids...

2009-04-21T23:12:00.003-04:00

Raffaele is still not convinced that he likes solids. Raffaele was so funny this weekend when I tried to give him solids. This time it was the gerber turkey and then some gerber apples. He did not want me to put that spoon anywhere near him. I got some food in there, and he proceeded to spit it out. Then he pulled the bib over his head (it was one of those over-the-head types) and he threw the bib down. When he means no, he means no.

However, this week during the day, he has decided to consume some solids. My mother has tried the jars of sweet potatoes and he has been consuming those. So, we'll see.

Another update

2009-04-12T23:32:00.003-04:00

I just want to say that I post whenever I can. I haven't even had time to change the title inside the header of this blog, since I'm obviously not expecting. Someday I will change it. Also, I think of all my blog friends often, and I apologize for not reading your blogs as regularly as I once did.

I am still working on my MBA. Including this term, I have five classes left plus a capstone course. At one class per term, I will be done in the middle of 2010. That's just next year! Right now, I am taking accounting. One week down, nine to go.

I continue to work full-time outside the home, and Mr. FloridaWife continues to be a Stay-at-Home-Dad. He has been able to do some contract work on the side, fortunately. He's a librarian by trade (or "information specialist") and, fortunately, he's been able to get some work-at-home stuff.

I take care of Raffaele full-time on the evenings and weekends (except for when I go to my acupuncture appointment on Saturdays and monthly massage appointment). I work on my MBA during my lunch hour at work and when Raffaele is sleeping on the evenings and weekends. Raffaele has 100% of my attention when I am home. I wear him, I interact with him, and we co-sleep after his first awakening.

He wakes up twice during the night. I haven't slept through the night since 2007.

I had a gastric attack this morning, but it was a small one, and I took my gastric attack medicine. I don't know why it happened. Weird. Fortunately, these do not wake me up anymore. It was rough back when I was being awakened by (1) Raffaele and (2) heartburn + gastric attack. Now I just get awakened by Raffaele. Actually, things were really rough for me when I initially went back to work, because I was breastfeeding through the night and being awakened by gastric attacks, so I joke around that it was like having twins at night.

The other day Mr. FloridaWife said something I really liked. He said, "he is so attached to you." Being a work-away-from-home-Mom, it was nice to hear this. In my heart, I felt that all my efforts to be with Raffaele 100% when I'm here are paying off. We've been following the Attachment Parenting style, so with all the co-sleeping and baby-wearing, Raffaele gets a lot of attention from me. I pride myself on the fact that I have never let him cry-it-out, ever. Not once. Sure, I'm double-sleepy, but we are just rolling with it. I've also never, ever lost my temper with Raffaele ever. He's my sweet little baby. We still haven't decorated a room for Raffaele -- his crib is next to my side of the bed and the changing table is in my room. (Now, I know that people follow other parenting styles, and, YES, I did read Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Weissbluth wherein he discusses that crying-it-out is acceptable, etc., but that method just doesn't agree with my heart. I can understand that other parenting styles work for other people, but what I'm doing works for me/us.)

Well, it's nearly midnight now. Raffaele is asleep. I was able to finish my homework for the week, and I'm just typing this update.

Happy Easter!

Back from New York

2009-04-08T22:39:00.004-04:00

The trip home went a lot better for Raffaele. He did not scream this time. I tried my best to entertain him throughout the ascent. It is so hard, though, because he wants to move around and touch things and get out of the cramped quarters that the airline had us in. It was me in the aisle seat and then Mr. FloridaWife in the middle and Raffaele (our very large baby) across both of us with the backs from the seats ahead of us so very close. I'm telling you, the seat pitches on this airplane must have been 29". Then Raffaele necessitated a diaper change, so off to the airplane bathroom I went. It's a nice little platform that you fold down (just above the toilet). I can now say that I've changed a baby's diaper in an aircraft lavatory. When we were done, he stood up on the little platform with me holding him and he wanted to explore, which, of course, I didn't want him to explore an aircraft lavatory, so back to the seat we went for more entertainment from me. Raffaele then fell asleep (about 30 minutes into the flight) and he slept the rest of the trip, laying across me and Mr. FloridaWife. He was still asleep when we landed and while people were walking off the aircraft.

Teeth: At 10.5 months, Raffaele has more in there. I can see 10! There could be more, but it's so hard to open his mouth to see.

Walking: He's doing so well. I'm so proud of my little man. He's not 100% steady yet, but he is doing great. He falls when he tries to go to fast or when he makes a quick turn. He is perfecting that.

Baths: He still likes to stand for them and I've decided to let him stand. Why fight it? I'm hoping he'll become bored of this and decide to sit down one of these days. He's got some nice bath toys after all with which he could play.

My gastrointestinal issues: I've healed a lot. My biggest goal now is to heal from my esophagitis. (The acid from all the heartburn burned my esophagus.) It is healing slowly. I definitely feel a lot better. I have not had heartburn in quite some time now. I had a gastric attack about 2 weeks ago, but they've become rare now. I'm hopeful to overcome all of this soon.

Baby-wearing: I love to wear Raffaele. We did not take a stroller to New York. It was so easy to wear him through the airport. I can't imagine dealing with a stroller. Also, while in New York, I wore him a lot around the hotel. That's how I would take him for his little walks.

Co-sleeping: Raffaele starts his night in his crib, and then I bring him into our bed with us at his first awakening.

Our flying to NY experience

2009-04-01T23:20:00.003-04:00

Well, we flew to NY on Tuesday morning at 7am. All went as well as it could. I got up at 4am. With the commotion, Raffaele woke up at 5am which was perfect, as we had to go. I changed him and put him in his outfit and away we went.

He screamed inconsolably on ascent for 10 minutes. There was no calming him down -- no pacifier, no bottle, nothing. We just had to wait for it to pass. Then he slept for an hour and 15 minutes. Then he was awake trying to touch everything. The descent was perfect. I had him drink water every few minutes while we descended, and he was fine (except for being squirmy).

The trip is going well. His naps so far have all taken place in the car on the way to people's houses, up to an hour in length, and he has been fine and not cranky. I'm pleased with how everything has gone, and Raffaele (most importantly) has been happy.

Picture

2009-04-01T23:07:00.001-04:00

Clothes designed by AThornInThePew.
Taken March 14, 2008 at just a few days before 10 months old.

Quick update

2009-03-30T22:50:00.005-04:00

I only have time for a quick update.

Raffaele is doing really well. He will be 10 1/2 months old tomorrow. His walking has really progressed -- see picture at left. There he goes! He does a fair amount of steps before plopping down. We are very proud of him.

The eating of solids has not progressed, but that's OKAY. For a brief period (of 3 days) he ate some solids (about 15 spoonfuls full), but he decided that he didn't want to be bothered. It's less cleanup for us anyway.

He is playing with his toys better! He is beginning to understand the concept of the toy with the different-colored rings that go on a cone. He also has a toy in which different shapes go into a shaped hole -- he understands that things go in there, but he hasn't grasped the concept of the shapes. He also has a toy with five animals with different levers underneath that causes them to pop up -- he understands a few of the levers.

No words yet. That's okay. He's working on it in his mind.

Sleep pattern has gone weird, but I think we are settling down again. We average two awakenings per night, although last night it was just one.

We leave for New York tomorrow to visit family. Mr. FloridaWife especially wants to introduce Raffaele to his 99-year old great grandfather. I hope Raffaele sleeps on the airplane and that we are not those parents with the screaming child.

Gastroenterologist appointment today

2009-03-24T21:57:00.004-04:00

The gastroenterologist reviewed my CT Scan results with me. The good news is that there is no tumor, there is no cancer, and my pancreas is in great shape (which is a concern that he wanted to check).

So, I'm left with a stomach diverticulum. Will it heal? It is doubtful. Doctor, how did I get this? You could have been born with it, and the pregnancy pushed everything up and complicated it. We don't know.

He told me (1) you can live with it -- just eat small bites and eat slowly, it may heal a bit more or (2) surgery, but it's major surgery -- they would have to cut you open; it's not simple. He told me, I think you can live with it.

Yes, to avoid major surgery I will live with it. Major surgery has too many risks.

Maybe I was born with it. I had two odd gastric events over two years ago (pre-pregnancy, that is) but when I underwent examinations (of my heart) everything checked out fine. But they didn't look for something as rare as a diverticulum on the stomach. They checked out my heart, which was nice, as now I know my heart is in great shape. Over two years ago I also had an odd swelling-of-the-chest event that lasted 10 seconds. It could be that I was asymptomatic for years, but the age and the pregnancy brought out the problem.

I will continue to go to acupuncture in the hopes of having further healing, since I have no more visits with the gastroenterologist. At least I have no more heartburn and the gastric attacks (which had become common during the past year) have become rare. I'll try to watch what I eat. I may go for a second opinion in late April, but I really don't feel it is necessary since I've undergone all these tests and only time can give me a bit more healing from the mild acute and chronic esophagitis (from all the acid burning up my esophagus when I'd have the heartburn). From all the reading I've done, a stomach diverticulum cannot go away completely except through surgery.

I asked the gastroenterologist what if I become pregnant again? He rolled his eyes. He told me that if it happens and if I experience bad heartburn, etc., that the medicines they have are safe to use in pregnancy and they don't get absorbed.

So, I live with eating slowly and being careful about some foods, and that's it. Hopefully, I can heal a bit more and live with whatever is left of this diverticulum.

Novena for conception

2009-03-24T15:36:00.002-04:00

Here's a novena that I am copying from the Yahoo Catholic Infertility list. The anniversary of Pope John Paul II's death is April 2, so, traditionally, you will start this novena today so that it concludes the day before. Through his intercession may God grant you the babies you desire if it fits with His will.

Novena to JPII for _______ to conceive a baby.

Dear John Paul II, servant of God, we believers of the Most Holy Trinity; Mary, the mother of God; St. Joseph; and the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church are united in prayers with those on the Catholic-Fertility list.

Dear John Paul II, servant of God, who are already in heaven, this is a novena for your intercession that __________ becomes pregnant and delivers a healthy baby who will glorify and praise God.

For people certain things are impossible to attain and sometimes people are unable to understand God's will, but we deeply believe in your intercession, JPII. You always defended children, especially the unborn ones, and you loved them above all. Please look at _________ who is asking for biological children. Look at the tears in her eyes begging to become a mother.

St Ann, you gave birth at a late age to our Queen of Heaven and Earth, the Most Holy Mary. That is what God wanted. With God nothing is impossible.

We believe that God, Creator of heaven and earth, will look kindly upon _______ and give her the blessing, through Mary, the Virgin Mother of God and JPII, of becoming a mother of her biological and adopted children whom she will love and thank God for.

Deal JPII, please help our prayers to be answered and that _____________'s womb be filled with the beating heart of a tiny baby. We already give you thanks and sincerely believe in your intercession to God.

Dear JPII, your beloved mother also asked God for you to be born. Please remember our prayers. Amen

What happens during a CT Scan with contrast

2009-03-18T23:44:00.003-04:00

Thank you for the prayers and well wishes!

Well, the CT Scan this morning was interesting. It was "with contrast" meaning I had to drink two tall cups of a white drink. Totally repugnant. Actually, it supposedly had an orange taste to it. Still, it was no pina colada. After gulping down those two tall cups I had to wait an hour (for it to enter my system, etc.).

Then they put an IV in me with iodine, I layed on a skinny platform, and it moved me in and out of a big doughnut thing.

I received a CD of my scans. It's pretty cool. I don't really know what I'm seeing in these scans. I mean, I can make out my large intestine and heart and my pelvic bones, but I don't really know what the other stuff is. For that I go to a follow-up appointment with my gastroenterologist next Tuesday.

CT Scan tomorrow

2009-03-17T21:33:00.002-04:00

I'm feeling better of my gastrointestinal issues. I don't get awakened by heartburn anymore. I'm eating faster since I'm able to swallow faster. The gastric attacks don't occur as often as they once did.

And, yet, WHY are my gastric serum levels going up? Healthy is 0-115. In December, they were 243. I thought -- I hoped -- that they would be in the healthy range by now. Believe it or not, they are now over 400. And this is despite everything I'm doing -- the medicine, the bland diet, the acupuncture. Unbelievable. The doctor has me going to a CT Scan tomorrow to check out my abdomen. Hopefully, this will reveal the source of the problem. It's amazing how long this has gone. I'm 10 month post-partum, for crying out loud.

Bath Time

2009-03-11T00:09:00.002-04:00

Bath time has become challenging. Raffaele wants to STAND the whole time. We have a little tub for him -- the Eurobath -- and at this point he should be sitting in it playing with toys like the little baby boy in the picture. All he wants to do though is STAND and walk around and go to the faucet and touch it and go to the other side and walk and stand over there. SO, I'm soaping him as he stands and walks around. (He walks around by hanging onto the sides of our master tub, within which I have his little tub.) Then I pour water on him to rinse him.

Yesterday I tried to bathe him in the tub in the other bathroom, you know -- the "real" tub. He spent the whole time trying to stand and touch the faucet.

The problem is that he walks around and slips and I have to hold him the whole time.

It is a beautiful blessing that I have this wonderful child who is so healthy and walks around. How many parents have sick children? Or how many don't have running water?

I count my blessings.

So, bath time IS a bit of a challenge for both of us. (Him because he wants to walk around and keeps slipping while I catch him; me because it is challenging catching a wet, soapy 25-pound squirmy child.) How beautiful, though, that he totally trusts me in catching him!

Still, I'm open to hints to make it go more smoothly.

Fussiest baby in church?

2009-02-28T23:07:00.003-05:00

I have hesitated posting on this (since I am Catholic Wife in Florida and all). It's a situation with no solution. Raffaele must be the fussiest baby in our entire parish and we haven't been able to stay for a full mass since he was born. We arrive late and leave early. That is enough for Raffaele. I look at some of the other babies in the Cry Room, and they are all so calm -- they just sit there quietly for an entire mass. (Unreal!) This has never been Raffaele. He has never sat still. We are normally in the back of the Cry Room or on the sides standing. We haven't sat for a mass since before Raffaele was born (with the exception of the baptism and it was a fluke that he was actually quiet that day). He will start to cry (which will turn into a scream) if we don't move. I know he wants to be put down to crawl all over the place. We try to stand in one spot as long as we can, but unless we move screams will ensue. So, we pace along the back. It is what it is. If we were to try to stay until the end, those cries would become definite screams and no one in the Cry Room would be able to concentrate on the mass. Out of respect, we leave, because how can anyone concentrate with a screaming baby in their midst? (I suppose some could tune it out.) It's best for Raffaele too. At least we accept communion. For me, that is fine as it is the most important part of the mass. At least be there for communion, is what I would counsel anybody, as our Lord is present in the Eucharist. We are doing the right thing given the situation, I believe.

Nine-month appointment

2009-02-25T22:29:00.002-05:00

Raffaele went to his 9-month appointment today. He is 9 months, 1 week, and 1 day old today.

All went well, according to Mr. FloridaWife. (I couldn't be there, as I was working outside the home.)

Data:
24 pounds, 1 ounce (92nd percentile)
31 inches (98th percentile)

He was 95th percentile in height at the six-month appointment, so he's grown a LOT!

I'm so proud of my little man!

My baby's first time in the pool!

2009-02-21T23:05:00.002-05:00

We took Raffaele to the pool today for the first time. I didn't know how it would go, if he would cry and hate it or what.

(Yes, I know, I know, it's great living in Florida where I can go to the pool in February.)

Anyway, he LOVED it! I put his swim diapers and swimming trunks on, I put his baby sunscreen on him with a shirt, and we put him in a baby inflatable float. He was so happy and laughing and kicking his little legs.

This is great. So, I can go to the pool again.

Here's the happy little guy:

My baby finally eats solids!

2009-02-21T22:56:00.003-05:00

Well, believe it or not but it finally happened today!

At 9 months and 4 days old, Raffaele has finally eaten solids! Whew!

Starting at Month 6 I had tried and tried and he would swat his little hand at the spoon and he would cry and he wanted nothing to do with solids. Sure, I could get it in there by waiting until he opened his mouth between cries, but that doesn't really count.

Since I work outside the home Monday through Friday, I've only had Saturday and Sunday to attempt this. So, I tried again today, not knowing what would happen. I was expecting the same swatting of the hand and crying, but NO! Raffaele had other things in store! He actually OPENED his little mouth and I put the Gerber's pears in and he opened his mouth again, so I put more pears in, then he opened his mouth again, and I gave him more pears. It was amazing!!!! I was so happy and proud of my little man!! What a cutie-pie. And he knows when he's done. When he wanted no more, he put up his little hand (talk to the hand), and so I stopped.

At dinner it was the same, but this time I did guava. We got half-way through the container with him opening his mouth for more spoonfuls until he put up his little hand to say that he was done.

The hardest part about having a baby that's a late starter on solids is having to hear all the advice from people about how to make him eat solids. I held fast. If he's not ready, he's not ready, I always said. Surely, he'll want to go to Chuck E Cheese someday, eat a pizza, and ask me for a bunch of tokens, I thought. I hope that solids goes well tomorrow again.

First Steps

2009-02-18T21:36:00.003-05:00

Raffaele turned nine months yesterday! Yay, Raffaele! He has now spent half his life ex-utero. My cute Little One.

He LOVES walking and running along the sofa and ottoman. It's a cute little course for him. We baby-proofed the family room pretty well and blocked it off from the rest of the house. So, he can crawl in there all he wants. He LOVES this room. The Ultimate Fighting Cage* hasn't been used all week. He'll be crawling on one side of the family room and suddenly decide to make a mad dash for the sofa, he'll stand up, and then he'll walk and run around the circuit of sofa+ottoman, and then he'll crawl back to where he was. What an adorable little guy!

On Friday (while I was at work) Mr. FloridaWife says that Raffaele stood up by use of a prop (Mr. FloridaWife's abdomen, actually), and then he stood there unaided for a few seconds. These past six days he has actually walked one or two steps alongside the furniture unaided, before plopping down or catching the furniture.

Food department: He won't eat solids. I tried again this weekend. He swats his little hand at the spoon and cries. I've tried every trick. He's just not ready. Oh well. That's okay. He'll eat solids soon enough.

*That's what Mr. FloridaWife calls the playpen area that we set up in the living room with the SuperYard XT.

Second esophagogastroduodenoscopy

2009-02-08T21:12:00.002-05:00

So, on Friday I went for my second esophagogastroduodenoscopy. The first one was in November, and that's when I found out how bad my system was. The good news that I got on Friday is that I've had A LOT of improvement -- he said 80% better. He did tell me, however, that I have a Hiatal Hernia. The nurses at the place gave me a sheet explaining what a Hiatal Hernia is. The sheet says that 50% of all people over 50 have one. Interesting. Anyway, I don't know yet if there is a treatment for this, but I hope there is. I haven't even googled to read on this yet. I go for my follow-up appointment in two Tuesdays and will find out more.

Chinese Medicine for stomach problems

2009-02-02T22:11:00.004-05:00

So, I went to my acupuncture appointment on Saturday. This is going to be a nice complement to what I'm doing with the gastroenterologist. She did acupuncture to all the stomach points -- those points are on the abdomen, the legs, even the hands and back. Very interesting. It's all supposed to help me heal from all of my gastro-intestinal issues. She gave me herbs which are alkaline, which will neutralize all the acid, to be taken twice per day. There is no conflict between the herbs and the drugs I'm taking. I've been following the diet plan strictly. I want to heal from this. A combined approach should speed up my recovery.

Up and down, up and down

2009-01-30T21:11:00.002-05:00

Raffaele's favorite thing to do is to jump up and down. Especially in the crib. Up and down, up and down, up and down. He's so cute.

On firm ground, he can let go of the side of his Ultimate Fighting Cage* and stand for about 1.5 seconds before plopping down.

My little one is developing!

*That's what Mr. FloridaWife calls the playpen area.

My gastro intestinal issues are BAD

2009-01-27T20:45:00.003-05:00

I decided to go to the doctor this morning. I was not able to eat dinner last night. Not even water. Everything was getting stuck in my esophagus. It would not go down. What an uncomfortable, pressurizing degree of distress this gives my upper body.

The doctor explained things better to me today.

I have a large diverticulum on the side of my stomach, which he says is very rare. Normally they're on the intestines. (A diverticulum is like a pocket jutting out.) He just explained this to me today; didn't explain it last time. (Not the best communicator, this doctor). The diverticulum is acting like a balloon creating pressure inside and upward so that when I eat, the food doesn't go down. Last night I had the worst time because I couldn't eat dinner and spent the evening and through the night expelling whatever was stuck in my esophagus. (Not a pretty sight.) Finally, after 14 hours, I was able to drink water and eat oatmeal this morning. I've been on this medication for 2 months and I don't feel a lot of improvement. He told me that if the diverticulum doesn't shrink there could be surgery involved to remove it.

Now that I know what I have, I can empower myself to heal. I found this article which explains my condition.

There has to be a better way. A better way to do things or expedite recovery.

SO, I've called my acupuncture lady (who I haven't seen since the pregnancy), and I have an appointment for Saturday. We had a good talk; she's hopeful Chinese Medicine will cure me. She really knows her stuff. She will do acupuncture in the area of the diverticulum to direct energy away from (or was it to?) it. Also, she will give me a dietary plan to follow. Also herbs that are alkaline that neutralize acid and further expedite what's going on. She wants me to stop the gastrointerologist's medicine. I have a decision to make. The doctor this morning told me to just keep taking the medicine and he's sending me for another endoscopy next month (so that he can take another look around in there). I'm inclined to stop his medicine and put my faith in the Chinese herbs. They've helped me before. I haven't had tremendous improvement on the western medicine thus far. And I do not want to go the surgery route!

Ag! Clothing Changes!

2009-01-25T21:50:00.002-05:00

It's become increasingly challenging to clothe Raffaele. Good thing we live in Florida so I don't have to do a jacket as well. Like Christina said in her comment in my last post, "like wrestling a wild pig." You would think he'd understand clothes by now. It's not that I'm complaining. It's that it's heart-wrenching to go through all the crying and screaming that clothing changes entail. Pants take several minutes to put on. Those little legs go and go and go and go. One leg in, then when I go for the other leg, the one leg comes out, one leg, other leg, other leg, this leg, that leg, try again the leg, how about the other leg, leg, leg, leg. It's like he's trying to peddle through the Tour de France. And why all the crying and screaming that has escalated? I'm hoping it's developmental and ends soon.