No Sweat

Working up a sweat talking on the phone.

Literally. The kid barely sweats.

When we got there the nurse attached two electrode type things to him that came from a machine labeled "sweat inducer." No kidding. And did he ever sweat squirming and having a fit that he had to sit still. After a few minutes of having his sweat induced she attached a little contraption to his leg, wrapped in it plastic, and sent us on our way. We were to return in 30 minutes so she could retrieve the sweat filled device.

After 30 minutes of following him through the hospital we returned to the lab. No go. No sweat. (She said this is typical of underweight kids.)

Repeat the above process 3 more times. There was a little in the tube, but she wasn't sure if it'd be enough. We'd had enough for the day though. He was tired and hungry so we called it quits.

I assume I'll hear from Dr. J before the end of the week with results or with another sweat test appointment.

Updated Info for the Inquiring Minds

I've had a few messages with questions, so I though I'd put the information here, because I like to document. Documentation here makes tracking down information easier.

According to our lab results in June 2008 neither Charlie or I are carriers of cystic fibrosis. We indeed checked that during all of our infertility testing. However, it is possible (not probable in Caucasians is my understanding) for a mutation to go undetected.

Babies in Louisiana (and many other states) are screened for CF at birth. The screening is not diagnostic but gives indicators which may prompt further testing. It is possible for the screening to be negative and a baby still have CF. I am not sure what the probability is for that, but I imagine it isn't that high considering the large number of babies screened and the relatively small number of children with CF.

Anyhow, it seems unlikely that Freddie has CF. I am not too, too worried about it currently, but appreciate Dr. J's efforts for early diagnosis. I don't find her to be an alarmist but she does believe early intervention to be a best practice. And I agree with this wholeheartedly.

Thank you for checking on us and and keeping us in your thoughts. I am sure the sweat test will be an experience. I'll report back tomorrow.

Lab Results

Dr. J called about 8.00 this morning. All results are within the normal range.

We chatted for a bit and she again empasized her feelings that all is well with Freddie based on his health and milestones but thought it best to rule everything out. I agree. It will ease my mind.

She confirmed the sweat test for tomorrow morning.

Garlic Shrimp with Rice

Jessica shared this recipe with me. It was easy and yummy. I stirred in some baby spinach until it wilted to add some more veggies. I plan on making this again but I think I'll add some broccoli and snap peas.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons orange marmalade
• 1 tablespoon corn starch
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1 teaspoons canola oi
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1.5 pounds peeled shrimp

Directions:

1. Combine first 7 ingredients in a bowl, whisk, set aside
2. Cook bell pepper and green onions until tender, remove from heat. Set aside.
3. Heat oil in pan and add garlic, sauteing until brown.
4. Add shrimp, and saute for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add soy sauce mixture and bell pepper/onion mixture to pan.
6. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until shrimp are cooked completely and sauce thickens slightly.
7. Serve over rive.

It's a Weight Watcher's recipe. 1 cup of shrimp mixture served over 1.2 cup rice has about 365 calories and 5.3 grams of fat.

Doctor Visit

The red bandages on my arms match my outfit!

Freddie's Stats:

Weight: 18lbs, 8oz. (not on the charts)


Concerns:

• Coughing: His coughing has steadily gotten worse over the last week, and it was the worst it's been upon our arrival home on Sunday. He's sounding a bit better today but I can hear him breathing and his coughing is interfering with his sleeping. Of course I wonder if his being reunited with the dogs and dog hair made the cough worse, but that I won't know for some time. The cough comes and goes and has lingered for months. She though he sound congested in his sinuses and she could hear it in his breathing but didn't think it was really in his lungs. He did give a "croopy" sounding cough while we were in there so she went ahead and prescribed steroids, prednisone, once a day for three days. She didn't seem totally sold on the idea of his needing it, and I am not totally sold on the idea of him taking something which may really not be necessary, but we'll follow through and hope this clears things up once and for all. We'll start tomorrow morning since she warned that it will "amp" him up and should be given well before nap or bedtime.
• Diapers: She doesn't seem at all concerned by his stools. She didn't think the yogurt was at all related since he tolerates milk. I probably just need to suck it up and accept the messy diapers, but I would be miffed if my own bowel movements were consistently pasty so I shall continue trying to figure it out. Anyone have any ideas for me to explore? I'm holding off on yogurt for a few to see what happens.
• Weight: He's falling further off the growth charts. While he is gaining it does appear as if his curve is flattening out and may even be reaching a plateau. She said she'd be really concerned if it began to drop. He's been healthy and is on target for milestones but she did want to do some testing to rule out abnormalities just to be sure. She assured me that she really doesn't have any strong suspicions of anything being off but thought it was best to test just to be sure. Blood draw today to check CBC, liver function, kidney function. The blood draw was tough. His veins don't cooperate and he got stuck a lot in both arms. Poor guy was howling and worked up quite the sweat protesting. The nurse is supposed to call me to set up a "sweat test" to check for cystic fibrosis. The test is noninvasive and shouldn't be a big deal. While I am pretty sure neither Charlie or I had any genetic link to CF when we went through all of our infertility testing, the recent coughing and state of his poop make me a tad nervous (mucousy stools are associated with CF).

Next steps:

• Tomorrow afternoon: Phone call from Dr. J to discuss lab results
• Sweat test: Will update here once I get scheduled Wednesday, April 14th, 9am
  

Yogurt?

This post is about poop. Sorry. Gotta document.

Freddie has had some questionable diapers for some time now. His stools are never ever solid. The consistency varies from runny to pasty.

He had a period of perfect, round, solid turds when he first started solid food but since January I have seen few of those. I wondered if it was because he was teething. Dr. J suspected it was due to his increase in fluids when he was sick around the new year and she thought it was firm up as his mucus decreased and his milk consumption increased.

This past week his stools returned to solid until today. The only thing I can think of is that he hadn't had any yogurt the past week until breakfast this morning.

He loves the Brown Cow and Stonyfield whole milk yogurts. Can they really be the cause if whole milk, ice cream, and milk shakes aren't doing the same? Planning on running this by Dr. J at his weigh in tomorrow.

Beach Bums

Jessica and I took off to the beach for the week. Morning walks on the beach, lazy afternoons with cocktails, and dinner while listening to the waves hit the shore made up the routine.


Everything seems extra special at the beach. The margaritas are even tastier after a long walk or while watching a pod of dolphins cruise near the shore.


The rest of Jessica's family caught up with us on the beach later in the week to shake things up and keep things interesting. Freddie was tickled to have some kid company.

Freddie *loved* Charlie, Jessica's nephew.
Charlie had the perfect touch with Freddie, being he gets lots of practice with his little sister.

Freddie enjoyed his week as well. He got plenty of lovin' and was hugging on everyone, as long as his Mama stayed in site.


Jessica taught Freddie about one of the world's wonders: Chick-Fil-A. He didn't quite get the whole waffle fry thing, but he was not giving up his chocolate milk shake.


She was also kind enough to share her peanut butter pie, chase him around the house, pick up everything he pulled out of the cabinets, fill the pool with water, and cuddle him on demand.

What you talkin' bout, Mama? I love peanut butter pie.

11 days together and we still have more to talk about when we get together again in a few weeks.
Never enough time.


It was a perfect week. Looking forward to many more just like it.

The Beach

• A flight to Atlanta
• A jam packed car
  
• A drive to the beach
• Gulf waves
  
• Margaritas
• Sunshine
• Seashells
• Saltwater kisses
  
• Sandy toes
• Pink cheeks
• Wine
• Big Gulp sized bloody Marys
• Chatting late into the night
  
• 7 days to go
  

Early Easter

Since we'll be apart for Easter on Sunday, the Bunny made a delivery for the boys tonight while they were in the tub.


The Bunny filled Freddie's basket with:

• Crayons and sketchpad
• Bubbles
• Bell shaker noisemaker
• Stacking train
• Stacking shapes
• Pinwheel
• A few Reese's eggs
• A few plastic eggs

The noisemaker and pinwheel were the big hits, and I knew they would be.


He didn't want to let go of that noisemaker. I have a feeling we'll be adding it to our afternoon jam sessions...Mama on drum, Dada on harmonica, and Buggers on bells.


Happy Easter!

13 months

Refusing to sit with your pillow.

Schedule:

• 7am, awaken and call "dada!" after chatting to yourself for a while
• 8am breakfast
• 8.30am walk with Mama
• 10.30am play time or errands
• 12.00pm lunch
• 12.30pm play time
• 1.30 nap
• 4.00pm up and ready for some milk
• 5.00pm dinner
• 5.30pm play time with Daddy
  
• 6.00pm bath time with Daddy
• 6.30pm stories and songs
• 7.00pm light out

Proud, but I think a little disappointed you are done.

Vocabulary:

• Dog! You even called Winnie the Pooh a dog yesterday.
• When asked what a puppy dog says you make a little "woof woof" and you concentrate very hard to get your lips just right.

Body:

• Hair is blonde, and there just may be a curl emerging
• 10 teeth! Two top molars snuck in and I didn't even know it. I think two more on the bottom will be hear soon. Looking pretty crowded in there, my dear.
  
• Lean. Your tiny heiny cracks me up.
• Your cheeks are rosy and your skin is fair.

Moving:

• Walking, walking, walking. You lead with your right leg and kinda pull the left leg along right now. This means you are a bit of a side winder. You're "strolling" more but you definitely do better if you have a destination to focus on.
• Squatting. You've been getting the deep knee bends going.
• Stairs! You had mastered moving up the stairs a while ago, and you have just recently perfected shimmying backwards down the stairs as well as scooting down on your bottom. And for some reason this week you've decided that you want to just walk up and down the stairs, not bottom involved. You at least reach for a hand to help you with this.
  
• Sitting. You are into sitting on things: steps, laps, stools. You make yourself a seat whenever you see the opportunity. The ground just won't cut it anymore.

Eating:

• Picky, picky, picky.
  
• Carbs
• Grilled cheese, sometimes
• 20 oz of milk per day, sometimes more sometimes less
• Cereal bars
• Cake
• Yogurt
• Applesauce, banana, and blueberries
• Oranges, just suck the pulp out

Favorites:

• The harmonica. It's good for making dancing music and you like the vibrations.
• Stacking. You're really working on stacking blocks and you LOVE the wooden discs that slip onto the dowel.
• Books. You love the book I made for you that has pictures of all of us in it. You like pointing to the pictures of my big round tummy.
• Rearranging cabinets, over and over and over.
• The treadmill. It is currently set on a slight incline and for some reason you love to climb up and crawl back and forth on it. Really, you never tire of this.
• Being chased. You love to give a look over your shoulder that says "come and get me" and then you take off, giggling and squealing.
  

You like to sweep!

Watching for Daddy

Interesting:

• You are such a mimic. It really amazes me.
• You are putting things together and developing a context for things. You like to bring BooDog's bowl from the breakfast area and put it in the kitchen by Muppey's bowl and the water bowl. You do this almost every day.
• When you find one of your wooden lacing beads on the floor you head over to your dresser and open the cabinet door where the others are.
• Watching you develop is so interesting. I promise I won't create tasks for you the way Piaget did for his kids, but it is tempting. All of that child development and psychology from college is far more interesting now as I watch you.

There I am!

I just love this story!

Dislikes:

• Letting Mama out of your site. We will be working on this.
• Getting dressed. You resist about 80% of the time, but you do put out your feel and arms to assist while protesting.
• Diaper changes. You cannot stand this. Even if you have dirty pants you still protest. It is as if you do not have time to spend lying down getting cleaned up.

Disposition:

• You are so smiley and giggly.
  
• You're generally outgoing but sometimes you raise those eyebrows and look at people from under those long lashes before you finally crack a smile.
• Affectionate. Sometimes you just reach out for me and give a tight squeeze before moving on about your business. You do it when you're riding in the grocery cart a lot. The other day you heard my voice on the phone and gave the phone a tight squeeze. You also give your dolls great hugs.

Lovin'

• Following him around, all day
• Picking up, again and again and again
• The possibility of a curl
  
• Beach anticipation
• Easter candy
  
• Pep talks
  
• Letters of recommendation
• Sunshine
• Spring fever
• Seafood on Fridays
• Couponing
• $3 "paychecks"
• Sprouting seeds
  

Afternoon nap

He didn't want to nap without his book today. And he quickly discovered he couldn't get comfortable with the book in one hand and the toothbrush in the other, but there was no way he was letting go of either. I watched him try a few positions before I finally left him. I could hear him chattering for a while and when it got quiet I peeked in.


Poor little guy. I snapped a few photos and just looked at him for a while before finally picking him up and helping him get settled.


He still held on to the book, but I suppose he was tired enough that it didn't matter if the corner was poking him in the head.

Pavlov would be proud

Moments after "reading" Doggies to himself and turning the pages and pointing and saying "dog" Freddie brought the other book on the floor, Is Your Mama a Llama, over to me. This is the second day in a row that he's brought me a book. So we sat in the rocker and read the book. And in minutes I was setting him down on his tummy in the crib.

This is his sleep time ritual. I read Is Your Mama a Llama every time there's to be sleep, along with any other book he chooses. As soon as I start reading, even if he had been giving no cues of needing sleep, he begins yawning and rubbing his eyes. I inevitably begin yawning too.


After taking nursing out of the sleep routine mix, I amped up our sleep rituals. Nothing monumental : Read two books, one always being Is Your Mama a Llama (it has a nice cadence), turn off the lights, sing (or hum) "When the Saints Go Marching In", give a kiss on his head, say "I love you" and then he's all set and ready to get comfy in his crib.

I had been thinking we'd add a little cuddling with a "special" blanket or other lovie but I decided it may be best to avoid that in case the blanket or lovie got lost, needed washing, or had to go to high school with him.

Curious to see how this routine translates when we are out of town.

Copy Cat

The other day Bug grabbed the Motrin and dropper off of his nightstand, plopped down on his bottom, and proceeded to tap the lid of the bottle with the dropper and then placed the dropper into his mouth as though he were giving himself a dose!

I've reminded Charlie to watch his mouth, and his Ps and Qs. This boy's certainly a mirror of us, and it's only the beginning.


Other imitations:

• Talking on the phone and throwing in a hardy fake chuckle. Really? Is that what I sound like?
  
• Brushing hair
• Putting on our shoes
• Using full size utensils to "eat" (this recently resulted in some rice actually getting in his mouth which he quickly removed)

Sometimes I turn the tables on him and imitate his movements, especially his dance moves. He thinks this is hysterical and he usually ends up in a fit of laughter. Good times.


Other than the art of imitation I am so amazed that he is remembering things and developing a context for objects. Love watching this.

State of the garden, post freeze

Wisteria blooms about to burst

Dead:

• Angel trumpet
• Butterfly weed
• Cigar plant
• Snail flower vine
• Bougainvillea
• Ficus
• Macho fern
• Coleus
• Mexican heather (most, not all)
• Pentas
• Night blooming jasmine
• Lantana (traditional "wild" type)
• Night blooming cereus
• Staghorn fern
• Arabian jasmine

Althea

Survived:

• Rosemary
• Louisiana irises
• Walking irises
  
• Lantana, recumbent
• Blue salvia
• Nasturtiums, coming back from self seeding
• Passion vine
• Fig tree
• Lemon tree
• Wisteria
• Flowering maple (3 out of 4)
• Ginger
• Banana trees
• Sweet olive
• Sky vine
• Plumbago
• Shrimp plant
• Bird of paradise
• Giant bird of paradise
• Oleander
• Christmas cactus
• Carolina jasmine
• Confederate jasmine
• Althea
• Gardenia
• Bridal wreath
• Hydrangea
• Yesterday, today, tomorrow
• Black eyed susans
• Cone flower
• Passion vine
  

Wondering about:

• Orchids
  
• Caladium bulbs
• Hibiscus

Today I planted:

• Coleus
• Dusty miller
• Impatiens
• Pentas
• Butterfly plant (Pink Gaura)
  
• Basil seeds
• Zinnia seeds
• Cosmos seeds
• Nasturtium seeds

12 month baby pictures

These aren't my favorite of the series. My usual KMart photographer didn't take these. But the kid's still pretty cute, right?


Freddie was very "busy" and really wasn't interested in sitting still for pictures. He really, really wanted to just hang out and bounce on the wooden horse.


Wondering how often I'll be going now that he's made a year.


Surely the grandparents will weigh in on that one.