You should have known

Warning! This post is about poop!

About a week ago I wrote a little diddy about Diego's recent battle with constipation.  It was rough for me to see my little boy go through it.  After that post, we thought the worst was over.  We kept up his diet according to the advice nurse and expected his next poop to be softer.  Two days later, it turns out that not much had changed yet.  I joked that my picky eater was doing this on purpose so that he wouldn't have to eat Thanksgiving dinner.

Then we went through the entire poop experience again when it was "Number-2 time".  Only this time could have possibly been worse. I didn't know how to explain it to the advice nurse without getting really gross.  I said, "It looked like his inside also came out a little when he pushed the poop out and it was very red and swollen."  I was immediately given a same-day appointment where I had to describe the whole ordeal over again to the doc.

The doc said the words, "Rectal Prolapse" and prescribed my little D with 1/2 capful of Miralax with any liquid daily with the goal of one soft poop a day for the next 3 MONTHS!  Why so long?  The kid is traumatized now and doesn't want to do the deed and holds it in as long as he can.  The doc wants to give him time to forget about the whole ordeal, and will do a rectal exam some time later.  Doc scared me because he mentioned this is also a symptom of cystic fibrosis.  I'm hoping it's just a result of really hard poop that his little body just couldn't handle.

It's tough.  Although I'm a mom of two now, I still feel very much like a new mom every day.  Especially in my dealings with Diego.  He is my first and gives me just about all of my first motherhood experiences.  Sometimes I feel like I'm too slow to the punch and my little D suffers unnecessarily.  My mind is saying, "You should have known what to do during the first poop."  But how was I supposed to know?  I couldn't just give him meds without a doc's recommendation, and we really thought a high-fiber diet would help.  It's an internal mom-struggle that I like to torture myself with:  You should have known.

And Mateo, the second child, will be lucky if he is ever constipated because I will know just what to do.  But on topics like this my ignorance is not fair to my first born, since I'm still learning through his trials.  I'm so sorry DD, Mama will get her act together somehow.  The good news is that immediately after his first Miralax dose, his first post-poop was as uneventful and non-traumatic as it ever could have been.  Sigh of relief right here!

Still feeling guilty though - Shirley

Fondest Xmas Memories

We put up our tree the other day, and I like to snap pictures of our fake tree being built.  These are the memories that will stay with us through the years.  This particular memory included Diego screaming "Mine, mine, MINE!" and stealing tree branches, then using those branches as a sword to fend off the offending tree, then running away screaming "Mine!" again as his Dad got close enough to possibly steal the branch.  All this while Mateo chomped on an empty Red Bull cardboard box.

Oh well, they can't ALL be the fondest of memories - Shirley

Wordless Wednesday: Furry Thanksgiving Scenes

Turkey Tryptophan:  It's not just a human problem...

First the Bird, then the Cookie

Thanksgiving Grace:  My two cousins holding hands with the little ones just before my aunt announced that my cousin on the right will finally make her a grandma!  What a memorable Thanksgiving grace!!!  :)

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!  I'm going full-speed-ahead with the next celebration:  Tater's 1 year Birthday!  Tater will be a tot!  This is crazy!  Anyway, I mentioned that I decided on a Cookie Monster theme due to Tater's exceptional appetite. (Just imagine how Cookie Monster eats cookies and now replace Cookie Monster with Tater and the cookies with BASICALLY.ANY.FOOD.  Yup, I'm pretty sure that this is the perfect theme.

So since I'm in a budget pinch I'm trying to make the party decor as home-made yet cool looking as possible.  I'm pacing myself and got a few things done already.  I've been crafting 1-year birthday decorations while listening to Christmas music on internet radio.  At some point my mind will be conditioned to think Christmas Music= Tater's birthday (by the way, we also put up our tree over the weekend.  It's been busy here).  Here's a sneak peak of Tater's decorations so far:

My lunchtime craft work today

I didn't make this, I just saw it on Facebook and thought it was too much of a coincidence! LOL!

Crafting with Cookies - Shirley

Happy Thanksgiving!

If you're like me, you're probably busy this morning slaving over a hot stove while trying to keep your little ones from wreaking havoc before dinner time.  We will be spending our time over the bridge at my aunt's house today and luckily for everyone, I was not tasked with making the turkey this year.

The closest I've come to making a turkey this year was decorating the cake above during our company Thanksgiving lunch earlier this week.   I'm quite proud at our ingenuity in 15 minutes, and our ability to make use of surrounding objects.  Carrot beak, cranberry gobbler, or cinnamon stick legs anyone?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!- Shirley

Christmas Vs. Cookies

Above: Stuff I've Photoshopped for Tater's B-day party

 If anyone celebrates birthdays in December, I'm wondering how you do it? The month of December has always been reserved just for Christmas for me.  I never had any conflicting celebrations.  There be NO TIME to do anything else!

But now with Mateo turning 1 on the 13th (OMG!), I'm wondering how I'm going to plan and decorate for his little party as well as decorate the house for Christmas???  Since he likes to eat, I've chosen Cookie Monster as his birthday theme. I've pinned a few cookie monster pins on Pinterest, and I've already started on some of the decorations.

But Tater's birthday is in mid December.  Does this mean that there will be some span of time where my house will be decorated in both reds and greens AND blues and browns?  What a color clash! I certainly wouldn't want a tree or Christmas light ending up in the background of Tater's B-day photos (call me crazy and extremely anal).  That's just too much for my one-track decorating mind to comprehend.  So for now, my one track mind has forgotten about Christmas and we're focusing on Cookies, Milk, and Monsters instead.

The pressured decorator - Shirley

I'm in a budget pinch this month, and the dark-blue #1 iron on applique was on clearance only 50 cents!  Score! 

Polite

For the past few years retail stores have been trending earlier and earlier on selling christmas decorations before we've even reached Thanksgiving!  This has caused another trend/bandwagon of people who gripe about how it's much too early (I've been guilty of this myself).  But since my local Costco started selling Panettone for the holidays in early October, all is forgiven and I've fallen off the bandwagon!  I've merrily stocked up on a fresh loaf of Panettone each week!  Merry Christmas to who?  Merry Christmas to ME!

And guess who shares in my joy of Panettone?  Mr. Terrible-Twos.  Mr. tantrum throwing, hand-raising, will bite you if he doesn't get his way and Mr. just. plain. RUDE!  Yes - Mr. Wonderful was about to have one of his classic fits as he demanded a slice from his not-fast-enough dad.  "Dada!  Eat Cake!  My Cake! Dada!"

I swear I could see a heat condensation fog rise from his skin as his hot temper began to boil.  Dada ran to him with a slice of "Cake" in hand.  I looked away, knowing full well Dada had not made it in time and the cake was about meet the floor with a dramatic SPLAT!

And then. Silence. The floor had dodged a blow.

Followed up with a very muffled, yet sweet, "Thank you!"

And with those two new little polite words my heart was instantly warmed.

Merry Early Christmas - Shirley  

Piping

Warning:  Don't read this post if you have a sensitive stomach!

You really can't make this stuff up.  Is it a coincidence that both the house and Diego had their pipes clogged at the same time?  The only difference was that the house didn't constantly scream, "Caca!" and run around not knowing how to get away from his own body.  Poor little guy was in pain and scared sh!tless (literally!).  And it's too bad that I couldn't pay the plumber to run the snake at a 2-for-1 rate!

No... After the plumber left our house, it was Mama and Dada's turn to do some-- more delicate --plumbing work, where prune juice just couldn't come through for us.  I felt like I was acting out a sitcom -- I mean seriously this stuff doesn't really happen, does it?  Oh I forgot.  I'm a mom.  Yes it does.

The night ended with a pair of disposable gloves on my hands, helping coax out the "prize" while Dada played the role of the stirrup mechanism and while screams of desperation filled the air.  It all went down in a matter of seconds, but if you ask my memory it had to have been hours.  What can you do as a mom?  You know it has to come out eventually and we just couldn't see our little guy suffer a second night in a row.  So we did everything we could, short of giving little D a colonic.

It was  one of those "mom" nights that only another mom or sewage plant worker could empathize with.  If I could stomach anything right now...

I'd have a drink in my hand.

But a deep breath followed by deep sleep is second-best.  

So, goodnight everyone- Shirley the Plumber

Speech Spurt

It's been about five months since I've given any kind of speech development update on Diego (Now 2 yrs, 10 months).  You may have read a few posts here and there in between this time to catch new words that he's picked up, and Man has he had a "speech spurt" in the last few months!  He has more than doubled his entire vocabulary!  Though still fairly behind as an "almost" 3 year old, I'm really proud of his progress.

His major attitude change was his sudden willingness to immitate more.  Now he will try to copy what you've just said even if he has no idea what it means.  I believe that this behavior change was really brought on due to his speech therapy.  He has repeated the entire alphabet which takes focus, tolerance, and patience.  And you know - he even lasted through an entire session of me reading a book!  You may recall, he would have nothing to do with book-reading in the past.  (I think little brother, Tater may have inspired him because Tater is tolerant of books).  And which book was the first?  The Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly.

Diego is also trying to count but really hasn't gotten past Three.  He also picked up the idea of "plurals" when he first started saying, "Two Airplane" and then it developed into "Two Airplanes" (with an "s" at the end), and now I'm amazed that he will say two and hold up two fingers.  He's getting it, Guys!  He also knows basic colors (thanks to M&Ms during Halloween) but his favorite and only color he will say so far is "Blue".  Such a boy!

Here is a comparison of the words he picked up since 5 months ago:

2 years, 10 months

2 years, 5 Months

Some of his favorite multi-word sayings:

• Brother Cry!
• Mama Car!
• No Milk
• More Milk
• My Car
• Big School Bus
• Blue School Bus (when he sees the blue shuttles by our house)
• Mama Hug! (when he wants to be carried)
• Eat Cake
• Not this
• Mama Cook Egg
• Move Brother
• Shark and Whale!
• Two Airplanes

I'm ecstatic about this progress and can't wait to see what his 3-year update will look like!

-Shirley

Wordless-ish Wednesday - Dog Paddle

One of the many reasons I love to live in the Bay Area!  If Qori did this, we'd need a wider board!

The exact reason sausage dogs exist.  Low center of gravity equals perfect balance!!!

11-Months!

One month and you're officially a toddler!  Where has the time gone?  I've got to be honest with you though, I'm really anticipating your toddler years.  Although you are so cute, cuddly, and little right now, you actually HATE to be coddled and insist that I ALWAYS hold your hand so that you can walk around with support.  This month, you have grown from walking around with two-hand support, to only one-hand support, and then by just grabbing one-finger.  These are litterally your "baby-steps"

One of my favorite things you do is when I'm laying on the floor and you come crawling on me and hug me, and by "hug" I kind of really mean that you throw your body and face onto me (and sometimes even give a little bite).   Yeah - I'm not a fan of the biting part.  You also enjoy rolling on our bed although it still stresses me out because you don't realize what falling off the bed feels like just yet. 

Also, this month has really solidified your greatly-anticipated ability to sleep through the night!  Thank you, Lord!

OTHER TATER TIDBITS

• Yesterday you stood on your own and didn't even notice for about 30 seconds.  When you were 10 seconds in, there were already beads of sweat on my brow.  By the time you reached 30 seconds, I'd nearly passed out!
• Are you pointing AT things?  Or pointing FOR things?  You've picked up finger pointing somewhere along the way.  You mix a finger point with a Tater-grunt, and you've started communicating the things you want.  And boy... you want EVERYTHING!
• Favorite Pastimes:
• Swinging an open door back and forth.
• Reaching into the:  toy box, flower box, bathtub, and toilet (No Tater!  Ewww)
• The backyard is the place to be, even now that it's getting chilly.
• You've come to associate my finger with your ability to walk.  You deliberately look for my finger, grab it with assertiveness, and then your whole body language changes.  It's as if you say, "Good, got the finger.  So let's go now!"
• Bets are still coming in on when you will walk unassisted.  I'm not too confident that you'll be as good a walker as your brother was by his first birthday.  We have one month to go, and you're still a little floppy like a fish at times.
• You still love to eat, so your birthday theme will be Cookie Monster. (Oh and your tastebuds have matured to the point that you now REFUSE bland food!  Who?  Tater?  No way.  Yep - it's true, your palate only wants the good stuff now.) 
• You and your brother have a love-hate relationship.  When he starts to get a little aggressive, you hold your ground and don't take his crap.

MAMA'S TIDBITS

• I'm trying my best to be patient about your need for me to ALWAYS hold your hand while walking.  To stay sane, I've started to think of it as if you're in Rehab, trying to learn to walk again and I'm your physical therapist.  The more therapy time, the quicker you'll walk.  Yeah - it's a stretch but hey, it's got me up and walking with you!  I'm a great therapist.
•  I STILL haven't got my act together when it comes to exercise.  I smell a new year's resolution looming near!
• In my quest to balance work and home life, I'm on a new kick to get organized.  So far, so good!  It's really helping me spend quality time with the kids.  A separate post to come.

-Shirley

Welcome Home!

The best thing about my inlaw's departure is that my furry baby is back home.  He received a well-deserved welcome the minute he walked through the door.  Can't really say whether he appreciated it or not though.

Welcome Home Qori! - Shirley

Boyhood

Skipping rocks; it's what little boys love to do at the water's edge.  He stood there watching his big brother cast stones into the water, amazed each time it bounced off of the glistening water.  He threw his own stone with the experience of a toddler.  Plunk!

He pointed to a rock's peak sticking out of the water off in the distance.  Croc!  He yelled.  And all the boys: Grandpa, Brother, and Dada started throwing stones to see who could hit the "croc".  Grandpa won.

When the stone-casting died down, he sat down next to me by the water's edge and gave me a big bear hug. I had a girl-moment where everything is was perfect.  Damn it's great to be a mama!  A lady bug landed on my arm.  A sea gull floated by in the water.  "Mama!  Bird" he said and pointed.  What a cutie.
"Mama, MY bird!"  he said, still pointing.  So cute.  "Yes, Diego it's your bird if you can get him." Giggles.

AND THEN...

"Mama!  KILL bird!"  he yelled.
"What?!" I asked astonished.

How could a child with speech development issues learn the word "kill" so easily and still not say "love" yet?  He probably learned it from one of his big brother's video games. Ah well, boys will be boys.  My girly moment was definitely over after that.

At least I got my hugs in - Shirley

It's Over

And like that they're gone.

Almost two full months passed.  Two months full of family activities and although exhausted, I couldn't even begin to imagine how worse off I would've been without their in-house Nanny help.  My inlaws helped me so much with my daily schedule, especially my mother inlaw with Mateo.

Here's an example of the big help I received that I'm now missing (sadface):

7:00 am - When Mateo would wake up crying, I could just focus on getting myself ready knowing my mother inlaw would be there to get Mateo ready, plus I could just let Diego keep sleeping because they watched him the entire day and cut my day care costs in half!
12:00pm - I'd go home for a lunch that was already made!
6:00 pm - I'd arrive home from work to an already cooked homemade dinner!
7:00 pm - Washing the dinner dishes?  What's that?
8:00 pm - Although not fully relieved of my baby duties, it was nice to have someone else share time keeping Mateo from crying entertained.

And now, with the flick of the wrist they're gone and all duties fall back on me - the only mom left in the house.  The first night back in the saddle went pretty well, I had prepped to make a Peruvian dish for dinner so all I had to do was toss the ingredients together in a pan when I got home from work.  It took me a total of 20 mins and in that time Mateo kept himself busy getting into kitchen cabinets.  When he started to get a little fussy, I gave him a piece of fruit to keep his hands and mouth busy.  After dinner, he started getting needy when he no longer wanted to crawl.  He insisted that I hold his hand as we walked around the house.  Mateo led me to my inlaws' "old" bedroom. The door was closed so that he would not be able to crawl in there and get into things.  He examined the door, touched it, played patty-cake with it, and tried reaching for the handle.

With his baby grunts and mumbles, he'd repeatedly point to the door. 

"I know, Tater."  

"I'll miss them too."

I really will - Shirley

Month in Phone Pics - October 2012 Recap

What a month!  The past month of October was filled with brotherly love (quickly followed by brotherly brawls), 2-yr old tantrums, me missing my golden retriever while he stays with my parents, my inlaws enjoying time spent with the kiddos, and pumpkins, pumpkins, PUMPKINS!

INSTAGRAM OF THE MONTH (MOST LIKES/COMMENTS)

I hope you had a wonderful October! -Shirley (Instagram:  @goldendreemz)

Eating my Words

An exquisite taste for Halloween treats, D goes straight for the Godiva at the mall!

Back in my non-stretchmark bearing belly (aka: no-kids) days, I wandered into the local mall.  It was October, and I'll be damned if I can tell you what the Hell I was doing at the mall that day, but it must've been something very important for me to wander away from my usual "online shopping" style.

The sounds of the mall were boring and normal:  a water fountain in the distance, the sound of mumbling side conversations, and the yell of a kid or two in the distance.  Boring.  Then, at some point I must've went temporarily deaf.  I didn't hear it?  Did you?  There wasn't a horn blown to start any race, yet with the swiftness of a gun going off, moms came out from every corner with their children.  The halls became littered with princesses, fairies, superheroes, ladybugs, and bears!  I could barely walk without being run over by a stroller.

Like a grumpy old lady, I started mumbling under my breath.

"Remind me NEVER to go to the mall around Halloween time again!"

I wonder if those words would taste better with a little salt or ranch dressing, now that I have to EAT THEM! - Shirley

**My last Halloween post for the year, I promise.  Man - I was really into it this year!  I mean - I EVEN WENT TO THE MALL!

On their way to the mall.  Tater actually allows me to take a non-blurry pic with his hood on.  Rare!

By the time we got there only the food court had candy left.  Even the CANDY stores were out of treats???!

Tiny Godzilla destroys Tokyo the mall.

Happy to watch Captain Jack Spare Ribs!  But looking the wrong way!

At home, waiting for Trick or Treaters!

After each time a Trick or Treater came, D said "Trick or Treat!" to me and expected to get his own piece.  So stinkin' cute!

Why do mamas always get the blurry pics?  Cave woman and her little dinosaurs!

I hope you had a happy Halloween! Let's get ready for Turkey Tryptophan now!