Elijah’s Well Child Check

This check up was a bit different.  But a good one!  Though we were in the doctor’s office FOR.EVER.!  Regardless, it started with the inane (I feel) parent lead survey of different elements in the child’s life.  Gross Motor skills: can he hop on one foot, skip with both feet, etc.  Fine Motor skills: can he draw some shapes, copy letters, etc.  Cognitive Skills: Recognizing letters, knowing his address, etc.  and a variety of other things.  One thing that annoyed me was I was supposed to read two sentences to him and he was supposed to repeat them.  First of all, the sentences were inane!  Secondly, there were some REALLLLLY loud kids in the well child room and there was no way to concentrate… but whatever.  The doctor laughed when I told her I thought that that question was annoying.  She agreed.  There was not a thing that he failed with that.  After finishing that and then waiting FOREVER, we finally were taken back to a room.  Elijah’s height is 46.75 inches (97%) and his weight is 45 (75%).  Both healthy.  He is slowing down…ish… on his growth, but still he’s a freaking tall kid!  Then they did his hearing screening…which was fun to watch.  He thought it was funny.  He passed (can’t blame the hearing now kid!!!!)  Then the vision… The chart is a cross (or x as EJ called it), a circle, a heart, a start, and a flag (or camera…. hehehehehehe!!!)  He passed.  Then they did a 3D test??  WHAT???  Cause he might be seeing in only 2D?  Wouldn’t that be, um, obvious and really unrealistic??  But whatever.  He did fine and passed.  We discussed the fact that I didn’t do milk and had moved away from soy… so they said he eats well and we could put him on a calcium supplement, but probably wasn’t necessary.   We’ll see.   So the nurse left.  And we waited FOREVER…AGAIN for the doc.  She apologized.  They were really busy, but still.  Anyway, she looked over everything and declared that he looked normal.  We discussed Red Dye #40 and she said that we could eliminate it, but there was no medical proof that it hurt or helped anything.  There are no tests.  So whatever.  We’ll just keep it out of his diet as much as possible, but not fret too much.  So the doc did a lot of listening, looking, and prodding.  And then declared Elijah, practically perfect.  Then we waited…AGAIN… for the nurse to come back and give him some shots.  We just did his 3 boosters today.  We will do the Chicken Pox (and maybe Hep B… doc seemed to think that we didn’t need to have it until middle school…) after school is out. 
So he’s a healthy kid.  Shocking!  heh.  Oh yeah, I forgot.  One of the questions on his Kindergarten registration is BMI.  Elijah’s is 14.8.  This put him in the under 5% category.  The doc rolled her eyes at this.  He is obviously healthy and well rounded.  He was not happy about his shots.  He hasn’t had any in forever… and three AND no nap AND after being pocked and prodded… poor guy.  He tried so hard to not cry, but he did.  And that’s completely fine.   Shots suck.  But he recovered quickly and we left.  On the way home he said, “Mom, when we get home I just want to take off my shoes, take off my pants, have some snack, and play.”  well, who doesn’t…

This winter weather…

heh.  Usually I am. NOT. a. fan. of February.  But this year, so far, I’m okay with it.  Maybe it’s because I threatened the life of the groundhog did his predication of Spring not come to fruition…  not that I have any control over what the weather does.  And, quite frankly, I must say that I still don’t have my hopes too high.  We have been here long enough to know that just because you get some warm weather early on doesn’t mean that it won’t freeze in the second week of April rendering your nice healthy garden…dead… and forcing the strawberry farmers to flood the fields, thus making the first crop of strawberries watery.  BUT right now, I’ll take it.  It snowed 3 times in January and as a beach dweller, that was more than enough.  We like the snow, but I don’t live where it is SUPPOSED to snow.  There are no hills here… so bleh.  ANYWAY… lately it has been AWESOME weather.  I’m feeling more and more confident with the kiddos at the beach.  So we went a few times as a family and a few times with just me and the kids.  Both kids will be ecstatic this summer to spend the day at the beach.  They already are sad to go.  I, a mountain girl at heart, am in the process of successfully raising beach bunnies!  I’m glad they like the beach.  I like it… but I need my mountains.  Ah well.  Luckily, we get to have the best of both worlds!  So here are some photos from our exploits at the beach:
The kids start by playing in the sand and running around…
 
Then, under the pretense of getting water for a sand project, they head to the water…
 
to, eventually, abandon the buckets and such to play in the (47 degree!!!) water!!

Ending with wrapping up in a towel and running up to the changing area to change into nice warm, dry clothes!
That day was about 65.  I was rather chilly, but the kids really didn’t seem to mind.
The next time we went it was 76..but WINDY!  Elijah hadn’t had school and I had spent the majority of the day empting out the storage unit.  A bit of work with two kids in tow, but doable!  As a treat for being so good, we went to the beach after nap.  I offered to take their kite…they wanted to take their boogie boards.  I made them choose, and carry what they chose…

There were tidal pools this time around and that ROCKED!!!
 
 
See….very windy, so maybe the choice of boogie boards was a good one, as they turned into kites… Don’t think that the kite would have worked as a boogie board!

Elijah REALLY wants to learn to surf.  His balance is quite good, but he needs to work on his swimming first.  We did look into surf camp today at a camp fair… he has to be 8 before he can go… which I think is a good age!!  Still I’m totally okay with him practicing/pretending on his boogie board.
Grace really liked jumping into the various pools… and “swimming” in them.  I’m glad that she is feeling better about the water.  We will try swim lessons again this summer.
Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be in the mid 70s again, so we will hit the beach again.  Next week we have to start paying for parking (sigh), but it is supposed be colder…not cold… just colder.  Maybe March is coming in as a lion?  I’ll take it if it means that it will turn lamb-ish quicker.  The pollen is already bothering me and the kids, but we will push through.  The Barlett Pear Trees and the Cherry trees are already starting to pop out and that makes me happier than anything else.  The lush green and beautiful pink… It’s a sure sign of spring and not just a tease!!

Oh yeah, it’s Valentine’s and stuff…

For various reasons, I’m not a fan of this little holiday.  But now I have kids… and these kids are becoming more aware of the date.  So, fine.  Elijah got Valentine’s for his class.  He wrote all the names and signed his.  I made Elijah and Grace shirts.  I put their oatmeal into little heart shapes.  I made love bug sammies for their lunch.  I made heart shaped pizzas for dinner.  That’s it.  I thought that was enough.  Apparently, I didn’t make a Valentine for Elijah…so I made one THIS morning.  And one for Grace. 
Maybe it’s me being a bah-humbug and stuff.  Maybe.  My parents gave me little gifts on Valentines.  I just never got into this day.  Other events surrounding this day have made it more of a day of remembrance than a day of smootches and hugs.  I don’t feel like I need a special day to tell the people I love, that I love them.
Alas. 
I did host home school preschool though.  We read Valentine’s and love books.  We did a Valentine craft and then we played outside and had lots of fun!
It was a goo day.
AND I sent an e-Valentine to my folks and my inlaws…this was the pic I used…
 
So Happy Valentine’s Day and stuff.

My Battle With Red Dye #40

Shortly after Thanksgiving, I became extraordinarily lazy.  Elijah had been out of school for 5 days straight.  So I gave the kids a Nutragrain bar and some healthy juice for breakfast a couple of mornings in a row.  Go on, call DSS and pretend that you feed your child completely fantastic breakfasts every morning and never have a morning of “sure here are some goldfish and raisins” and go back to bed.  Here’s you mother of the year award.  Go shove it…   NOW, back to me (it is, after all, my blog.)  For the three days I did this, it was a huge struggle to get Elijah to get ready for school.  There was massive breakdown after massive breakdown.  I thought maybe he was getting sick.  I thought maybe the time off and the readjustment was bothering him.  Something.  It didn’t occur to me to think it was something I fed my kid.
Then the case of the Christmas cookie happened.  I made sugar cookies.  I iced them.  I used red icing.  I also used mini cookie cutters.  Elijah picked one with red icing.  After consuming the cookie, after running around the house like a mad man, he stopped.  His eyes looked wild.  Gracie was walking by him and he.punched.her.in.the.chest.  Elijah is 45 pounds of bones, water, blood, and muscle.  He punched her in the chest.  I thought my head was going to explode.  He just looked at me like nothing had happened.  I about lost my mind.  He was (obviously) sent to time out until I could talk to him in complete calm sentences.  The whole time he thrashed in his room.  He kicked the wall.  He threw fits.  And then he calmed down.  And I calmed down.  And I started to do some research.
Red Dye #40.  Sure it could be sugar.  But we aren’t a sugar free house by any means.  He has sugar in juice, he has sugar in cookies, in candy… you get the point.  BUT Red Dye #40.  Now there is something we don’t have THAT often.  And his behavior seems to be linked to this.  Of course, there are definitely days when his behavior is simply because he is 4.  I’m not trying to make excuses for his behavior.  The next time he was exposed to the dye was at his Christmas party at school.  They (amazingly) only had 1 cookie at the entire party. A cookie, they got to decorate…with red icing.  He got in the car and his eyes were wild.  He talked super fast and non stop all the way to pick up Jerry.  It was a little crazy. 
Now here’s the thing.  APPARENTLY, Red Dye #40 in solid candies (like M&Ms or vitamins) tend to not have the same effect on the body as it does when found in softer chewier candies or icing.  The vitamins the kids take have Red Dye #40.  It seems to have no effect on them. 
I feel like next Monday will be a big trail as to whether or not it is indeed Red Dye #40 that has caused the incidents.  It is the day of red and pink… and, of course, candy.  I am going to splurge and buy the Wilton’s red food dye as it doesn’t have the #40 in it.  If he comes home perfect and not looking like he may need electroshock treatment, then the aforementioned incidents are simply those of a 4 (almost 5) year old and so be it.  But if he does… it’s like a big confirmation that Elijah just can’t handle this dye…
It really doesn’t matter.   Either it does, or it doesn’t.  But there is a lot of information out there about this dye and I think it’s worth looking into for anyone whose child shows even a hint of a sign of hyperactivity or behavior that’s out of the ordinary.  We try not to give our kids too much crap. We are by no means an “organic” family, but I do think this thing does have some merit.

My big boy

Today Elijah had his well child check today.  His stats are: weight 40.2 pounds (95%), height 45.25 inches (99%), BMI 13.2 (3%)...
He is roughly the height of a 6 year old and the weight of a 5.5 year old.  He is so tall and skinny.  The doc said that if Elijah kept up this growing he would be close to 6.5 feet tall when he finished growing.  Jerry is already contacting NBA scouts!  heh.  Overall Elijah is very healthy.  He had to pee in a cup, which he thought was really funny.  He got his blood pressure taken and his eyes checked.  He did really well shyly talking to the doctor and followed directions really well.  He has been sick this week and I mentioned that he was on the mend, but apparently not enough.  He has an ear infection.  But after only one dose of antibiotics, he is already acting like his old self.  We had to wait for quite a while to see the doc, which is rather uncommon at our pediatrician, but Elijah handled it well.

 

After the appointment we went to PCJ and got a smoothie and a muffin.

I'm just so proud of my little growing guy.  Despite being stuck in the office forever, we had a good mommy/Elijah morning. 

oh yeah, it snowed!!!!

Yeah, we live on the coast.  Yeah, it's not as cold as other places in the winter.  Yeah, I should suck it up.  BUT... it has been 10 degrees below our normal every day for over a month.  That is cold to me.  When I have the winter wear for our normal winter, 10 degrees below is not a happy time.  I have been saying that if it's going to be this cold then it REALLY should snow.  And I KNOW that there are many that are DONE with the snow and have had TOO much of it... But last Saturday, we got ours!  I love snow!  It was the one thing that made winter bearable when we lived in the mountains.  I love how it makes everything white and pretty and somehow quieter.  Friday night the temperature dropped and the snow started falling.  I didn't tell the kids there was even a chance of snow.  I didn't want to set myself up for failure.  But snow it did!  And Saturday morning, as much as I would have much rather stayed in bed and slept, I woke up, looked out the window and directed the kiddos to do the same!  "SNOW!!!!!!" 

So we ate breakfast, got dressed and headed out to play. 

  Grace wasn't so sure about the cold stuff, but Elijah was all about playing.  It was the perfect crunchy, packable consistency to sled, build a snowman, and of course, have a snow ball fight.

Shortly, Jerry came out and joined us and immediately was bombarded with flying snowballs, to which he reciprocated at amazing speed! (I knew he could move fast if need be!!!)

Eventually, the Dadu won though!  And so in attempts to keep the troops spirits up, We busted out a big piece cardboard and found that sledding into the ditch (that had quite a bit of slush in it... but ya know... we shall not be deterred from our hill!!!!)

While you can't tell, Grace IS in front of me.  Elijah jumped on at the last minute and we all got wet.  Shortly after, and at the encouraging of Jerry, we changed over to cookie sheets and used the cardboard to block the water at the bottom.  Man the baking sheets went fast!!  Much faster than the cardboard.  Elijah was not really a fan of the speed but did go down a couple of times, as long as I was at the bottom to catch him.  As you can see there was no snow on the roads.  I think that it would have been fun to drive to...well, somewhere, where there was a hill, but hindsight and all...

Grace decided that the cold stuff was much more fun enjoyed in her swing on the porch.   But quickly decided that we were having a ton of fun making our little snow family and wanted to help... for a little while!

After about 3 minutes "helping" Grace wanted to be held, Jerry figured out that she was cold, so he set her up with blankets on the front porch.  Meanwhile, Elijah and I finished the whole family complete with hats.

We used a lot of the snow... in the front yard.  So we moved into the back yard for a little bit!

Grace said she wanted to hang out with Dadu inside for a little bit, so Elijah made some snow angels.

And then some snow soccer, of course.  I mean, what's a good snow without soccer, right?  Grace warmed up enough to venture out... for a photo op and then back in.

Once inside, I made some snow cream (thanks for the recipe mama!!!) and Jerry had brought home some "Dadu chips" (a.k.a Doritos and Fritos)  for a snack.

After a nap (or the attempt at one anyway) it was back outside for as much snow play as possible.  The sun had come out and the temp was definitely over freezing (probably about 45 actually!)

Elijah wanted to go sledding again, but the little bit of slush in the ditch in the morning, was, well, not so little with the rapid melting... alas.

BUT it hasn't melted enough for SNOW BALLS!!!  But, there is still more snow in the back yard.

On our way to the back yard, I snapped a shot of the poor sad melting snow family:

Be on the look out for the new Olympic sport of snow base ball.  I'm sure that it will catch on fire!

Keep your eye on this up and comer.  Good stance, eye on the snow ball...

"Hey batta batta batta...SWING!!"

It's a messy sport, but SOOO much fun!

So after a little snow base ball, it was the obligatory self portrait with mama.

I love my little scrunchy face boy and my smilie face girl!!  They rock!!

We continued with some snow base ball and then ended the day with a huge snow ball fight... everyone for themselves.  Jerry would say that he won, but I gotta say that we all got some good shots in!  There were no pictures of the fight as I needed both hands to take down the enemy play in a nice fair game. 

We ended the day with some take out and snuggle time.  The next morning the snow was almost completely gone and by Monday the temps were in the 50s.  So, snow, while you were here, we had a blast!  Thank you for coming and staying long enough to get a good days memories made!  We hope to see you again, but maybe you wait a year!!  No offense, but we are ready for Spring!!!

Discussions in a car

On our way home today from a friend's birthday party we passed the hospital.  Here is the discussion that ensued:
Elijah: Mama you were in that hospital?
Me: Yes.  And you came to visit me when I had Grace.
Elijah: Yeah and then Grace got sick and had to go there and I got to play with the toys?
Me: That's right.  She had to be put under the lights to make her better.
Elijah: Why did you go to the hospital to have Gracie?
Me: Well, she was in my tummy and I needed to get her out, so I went to the hospital.
Elijah: Oh. You had a doctor help get her out?
Me: Well I had a midwife and she helped.
Elijah: Oh.  Will K go to the hospital to get her baby out?
Me: Yes.
Elijah: What about J?  Did she go to the hospital?
Me: No.  She had her baby at her house.
Elijah: Oh.  Did her doctor go to her house.
Me: Her midwife did.
Elijah: Oh.  (silence...feeling pretty good about this conversation.)
Elijah: I want to have a baby in my belly. (well... it was going well...)
Me: Well, um, you are a boy.  And you will be a GREAT daddy some day, but only girls can have babies in their bellies.
Elijah: Oh.  Well, MR can have the baby then.
Me: REALLY?  Okay.  She'll be happy to know that...  However, having a baby is a really big responsibility.  Maybe you should wait a bit.
Elijah: Don't worry mama, we'll wait until we are five. (almost run off the road, I'm laughing so hard. But trying to keep it all in.)
Me: Five.  Wow.  Well, you know that I was almost 30 when I had you.
Elijah: That's a long time away.
Me: Yeah, but it's a lot of fun to be a kid and play and live your life a bit.
(silence)
Elijah: Well, okay.  We'll wait. (phew)
Me: I think that's a good choice buddy!
Elijah: For now, I'll be a mommy monster and have lots of babies and give them some mommy milk!!!!!!
-- that's my boy!

Well....

I woke up with the kids.  Reminded them we had Kindermusik this morning and started getting them (and myself) dressed, fed, and ready for the day.  I decided I was going to be brave and take the kids to the library for storytime AFTER Kindermusik... SO that meant making sure we had a couple changes of clothes for Grace in case of accidents and snack for everyone.  Everything was going swimmingly.  Even the rain wasn't putting a damper on anyone's mood. 
Let me take a quick break here to say that Grace's potty training is going AWESOME!  We have gone several days without a pee accident and we have caught most of the poop in time... She just doesn't like to poop in the potty.  But I understand this is normal, but it's frustrating.  However, she is 21 months old, so I feel like I really can't be too upset cause dang! --end break --
So before we left the house, I put Grace on the toilet and tried to convince her to poop.  Alas.  The attempt was futile.  So off we went.  We danced and sang and made music at Kindermusik and Grace stayed dry and clean.  We drove through the rain and made it to storytime with time to spare.  We went to the bathroom and again I tried to talk Grace into pooping.  Alas.  So we listened to stories, colored, put puzzles together, checked out books and headed home.  Grace stayed dry and clean!  Elijah had a melt down wanting to stay at the library (apparently forever...) but that was nipped in the bud.
We got home and I was STARVING...remembered to pack the kids a snack... not so much for me.  So I put lunch on.  While I was boiling some water I took Grace to the toilet and try to get her to poop.  I asked her several times if she needed to poop...  "No mama!" was the answer every time.  Okay... So I went back into the kitchen.  Elijah had been sitting patiently (well as patiently as a 4 year old can be) waiting for crayons, which I could not find anywhere, so I called Jerry.  While I was waiting for his work to page him, out of the corner of my eye I see Grace dancing around...this is the conversation I hear:
Elijah: What's that?  That playdough? No? Candy? (my attention is peaked now, since I know there is no candy out... the rest of this happens in slow motion...) What is that Grace?  (I'm walking toward the table squinting)  Is that a bar?  Mama what's Grace eating?
I look down on the floor as Grace spits out WHAT WAS IN HER MOUTH... pick it up...sniff...because no way could it be... OH. MY. DEAR. GOD.!!!!!!!!!!  Which are the words that came out of my mouth as Jerry picks up the phone.
Jerry:  What?
me: YOUR DAUGHTER JUST PUT POOP IN HER MOUTH!!!! Um, where are the crayons.
Jerry: *snickers* in the closet in the office.
me: thanks.  I'm going to go clean up poop and throw up.  See you in a bit.
And that's what I did.  Grace is so small that the smallest underwear is still a big large on her.  She poops little pellet-y poop sometimes and apparently this was on of those times.  She shook it out of her pants and decided that mmm, that looks tastey... At least she spit it out... BUT GROSSS!!!  What possesses a child to do this???  sigh.
So onto the toilet she goes while I clean this up and then I scrub Grace's teeth and mouth and then I sanitize the toothbrush and then I wash her hands and then I sanitize her hands and then I wash my hands and then I sanitize my hands.  And then I try to move on through the day.
Yes, I am laughing now.  Because otherwise I might really throw up.  But at the moment all I could see was red... and well brown...
This whole thing just makes me realize that having Elijah did NOT prepare me enough for motherhood.   Sigh.
To redeem herself, after dinner tonight, Grace pooped in the potty without prompting.  Let's hope THIS is a trend that continues.