Oh the Places We Go....
I suppose it goes without saying that it has been a while, though I still feel the need to open with that excuse. It is like a part of me that has to apologize, because the thought of writing is a constant buzz in the back of my mind, yet there is just never that extra hour at the end of my day to get my myriad of thoughts into a logical place and out of my overflowing head. So in an attempt to release the growing tension between my ears, shoulder blades and recurring nightmares- I am making the time now.
So much is happening- as is life everywhere. My little boy is nearly TWO! When and how did my little 6lb 4oz Squishy grow into such a bundle of nonstop energy? The vocabulary and understanding that he has is something I am fascinated by everyday. I find myself watching each word that comes out of his mouth, and while daddy was the first one to get a bad repeat, luckily it wasn't one that stuck. He is so kindhearted and funny, caring and witty, intelligent and ornery- I could go on and on- I am THAT parent. I am also the parent that needs a break when he won't stop grabbing at my clothes because he is being whiny at the end of the day (or the middle of the day, or because he wants cheese or a cracker or the sharp knife).
My child also has zero fear. Steps, they are made to jump off of, and not just one at a time- if one is good, then five must be better. Beds just mean you can get more air before flinging your legs out and landing square on your barely padded butt! No matter the size of the dog, they must want you to run up to them to hug them and kiss them (with open mouth, of course). Geese- yes, evil geese with their hissing and spread wings meant to swat you away- THEY are meant to be a scene from "Elf goes to Oz", and you should try to pluck a feather from them while simultaneously sqwaking back and attempting to kiss them. Mouse traps- well he managed to pick one of those up without getting snapped (once), and then he tried it a second time and it bit back. Water- let's just say that when he was given his "Squishy" nickname from Nemo (Mee-Mo), it was correct, kid is part-fish, no lie. Basically every waking moment the child is non-stop. And every sleeping moment he also is pretty non-stop which is why we have two beanbags next to his bed so when he falls out of bed I don't feel too bad about it.
My nonstop toddler has kept me on my toes these past months- physically, financially, emotionally, verbally pretty much in any way possible. For a while it seemed like we were swapping out clothes every other week for one reason or another, and long legs has finally settled in 2T-3T shirts (for the length) and 2T shorts with belts (for the length)- now try FINDING a belt for essentially a child that is still about 18month size around.... yeah.... I'm still waiting on that package from Oz. Then there was the issue of his feet. Kid has big feet. Being his mother I am ending my childish comments there. He outgrew every shoe I had! So we are now in size 8, EIGHT!!! shoes, to be fair, they are a bit loose, which slow him down (insert evil laugh and creepy folding of fingers together here), but I am not investing a ton of money in a size 7.5 when he will need MORE shoes in two weeks when it starts snowing here (OK, maybe not two weeks, but probably not too far off from an accurate description).
After finally hitting a plateau of clothes, I started to notice a slowing of eating. At this point I still hadn't made an appointment for his feeding therapy, which I should have done after his last swallow study which was done in February (on Valentines Day to be exact). The link shows what we see on the Xray during a swallow study, since I am too lazy at the moment to recall if I expressed how fun it was- bathing a cat that is allergic to water would be more fun, or explaining to my Uncle Dave (the eldest sibling of the 11) that he will have to give up dessert for the rest of his life to my father and his brother Joe (the youngest siblings) and also read them bedtime stories and tuck them in each night would be less painful than getting a toddler to sit still and eat/drink on command in a small room full of strangers while they try and time an Xray to see how they are swallowing. I talk alot with the woman that watches Caden during the day, she is a retired nurse and I couldn't be happier with her care of him, and he loves her, her husband and her grandchildren that are there. She noticed the same thing.
We thought that maybe the timing was coinciding with his molars coming in- now that he has FOUR top teeth in the front and two on the bottom, he was getting some little baby molars and had started not wanting to eat much. Maybe his mouth was sore? It was also summer, and no one likes to eat much when they are hot, and he IS at THAT dreadful age when he is just picky in general- so there were just a million questions, so we sort of just watched it progress. Well, the eating kept getting worse, then the drinking got worse and the choking got worse and I started to worry that he was losing weight. The tip of the iceberg was when he got a stomach bug and went a few days with very limited food/ drink. So we made a speech therapy appointment with a nutrition consult to have him evaluated and see what they had to say.
After being released from them not even a year ago, I could sense all of my progress slipping away, the good feeling dissipating and the fears came rushing back. It is so easy to get consumed by everything that we have been through, especially when you are faced with it all again, having to go back and look at how many appointments you went to- who you saw, when you saw them, what were they looking for? My happy, perfect, healthy, nonstop, wonderful little baby has to start down this horrible road yet again, only this time he was a toddler. Now he can talk, he KNOWS what is going on, and it terrifies me!
My child also has zero fear. Steps, they are made to jump off of, and not just one at a time- if one is good, then five must be better. Beds just mean you can get more air before flinging your legs out and landing square on your barely padded butt! No matter the size of the dog, they must want you to run up to them to hug them and kiss them (with open mouth, of course). Geese- yes, evil geese with their hissing and spread wings meant to swat you away- THEY are meant to be a scene from "Elf goes to Oz", and you should try to pluck a feather from them while simultaneously sqwaking back and attempting to kiss them. Mouse traps- well he managed to pick one of those up without getting snapped (once), and then he tried it a second time and it bit back. Water- let's just say that when he was given his "Squishy" nickname from Nemo (Mee-Mo), it was correct, kid is part-fish, no lie. Basically every waking moment the child is non-stop. And every sleeping moment he also is pretty non-stop which is why we have two beanbags next to his bed so when he falls out of bed I don't feel too bad about it.
My nonstop toddler has kept me on my toes these past months- physically, financially, emotionally, verbally pretty much in any way possible. For a while it seemed like we were swapping out clothes every other week for one reason or another, and long legs has finally settled in 2T-3T shirts (for the length) and 2T shorts with belts (for the length)- now try FINDING a belt for essentially a child that is still about 18month size around.... yeah.... I'm still waiting on that package from Oz. Then there was the issue of his feet. Kid has big feet. Being his mother I am ending my childish comments there. He outgrew every shoe I had! So we are now in size 8, EIGHT!!! shoes, to be fair, they are a bit loose, which slow him down (insert evil laugh and creepy folding of fingers together here), but I am not investing a ton of money in a size 7.5 when he will need MORE shoes in two weeks when it starts snowing here (OK, maybe not two weeks, but probably not too far off from an accurate description).
After finally hitting a plateau of clothes, I started to notice a slowing of eating. At this point I still hadn't made an appointment for his feeding therapy, which I should have done after his last swallow study which was done in February (on Valentines Day to be exact). The link shows what we see on the Xray during a swallow study, since I am too lazy at the moment to recall if I expressed how fun it was- bathing a cat that is allergic to water would be more fun, or explaining to my Uncle Dave (the eldest sibling of the 11) that he will have to give up dessert for the rest of his life to my father and his brother Joe (the youngest siblings) and also read them bedtime stories and tuck them in each night would be less painful than getting a toddler to sit still and eat/drink on command in a small room full of strangers while they try and time an Xray to see how they are swallowing. I talk alot with the woman that watches Caden during the day, she is a retired nurse and I couldn't be happier with her care of him, and he loves her, her husband and her grandchildren that are there. She noticed the same thing.
We thought that maybe the timing was coinciding with his molars coming in- now that he has FOUR top teeth in the front and two on the bottom, he was getting some little baby molars and had started not wanting to eat much. Maybe his mouth was sore? It was also summer, and no one likes to eat much when they are hot, and he IS at THAT dreadful age when he is just picky in general- so there were just a million questions, so we sort of just watched it progress. Well, the eating kept getting worse, then the drinking got worse and the choking got worse and I started to worry that he was losing weight. The tip of the iceberg was when he got a stomach bug and went a few days with very limited food/ drink. So we made a speech therapy appointment with a nutrition consult to have him evaluated and see what they had to say.
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| This is his frog (it's a toad) and he toted it around the yard for a ride for a good hour after finding it |
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| With grandpa- Classic fish kisser |
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| My fish!!! |
After being released from them not even a year ago, I could sense all of my progress slipping away, the good feeling dissipating and the fears came rushing back. It is so easy to get consumed by everything that we have been through, especially when you are faced with it all again, having to go back and look at how many appointments you went to- who you saw, when you saw them, what were they looking for? My happy, perfect, healthy, nonstop, wonderful little baby has to start down this horrible road yet again, only this time he was a toddler. Now he can talk, he KNOWS what is going on, and it terrifies me!
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