The Burp Rag Chronicles

5 Months

Cameron is five months old today - and what a big girl she is! She's now rolling from front to back and back to front. Mostly she likes going from front to back, maybe because it's a challenge to get over her shoulder. Maybe she just really likes a struggle. Great, another one of those girls. ;-)

Drooling like a crazy person, though I can't feel any teeth budding in her mouth. She is getting great at intentionally reaching and grabbing for things, and is now talking up a storm when the mood strikes her. And that mood is often. She is now eating about 8 oz.of milk at a time, though she spits up a bit. Well, a lot. But not like Sydney. Hooooo, not like Sydney. No one could beat that girl in spit ups.

Loo-oook at that cutie!


(Just for comparison!)

Today we had my friend from high school Kim over - she's in town visiting so I tempted her to come over with the kids and eat doughnuts and play on the water slide. Worked like a charm, I got her to go to bed early, and the kids were all tuckered out. Mission: accomplished! And only one Bakugan critter lost!

We came back from vacation on Wednesday. It was a good one, one of the best ones yet! I love going there for the Fourth of July - the dinky city of Covington has some pretty awesome fireworks. And my mother-in-law has pretty awesome seats for the viewing of them! AND (yes, it does get better!) people bought some pretty cool ones to set off on the street, so couple that with the neighbors down in the cul-de-sac, our street was the place to be.

Sydney proceeds to crack us all up with the things she says and do. Though I do wish she had a 5- or 10-second delay on her for censorship. I mean, she's three, some things are going to just come out.

For example.

She likes to make observations. Ones that us, as adults, see and don't mention because of the ability to sense the other person's potential feelings and/or embarrassment. Or maybe they are ones that are so blatantly obvious, there is clearly no need to bring them up.

Sydney does not have that ability to put herself in someone elses shoes yet. So she looks at everyone sitting out in the yard/driveway, observing differences. Then, she opens her mouth...

"Everyone has hair. Except...... that guy," pointing at one of our cousins, who is getting a little sparse up top.

Quick, hit that mute button!! I'm glad some people found it funny because had I been over there my face would have been glowing with embarrassment.

To make note, he is the only male member of the family that Cameron didn't instantly cry at when he held her. I think the facial hair freaks her out at first, but since he doesn't have any... maybe that was the winner? ;-)

Book Roundup

I get a lot of questions on what we read to Sydney and what her favorite books are. As a lot of you know, we've been reading to Sydney since she was itty bitty. Not necessarily in the womb (though I did have that intention... but life kind of got in the way of that one), more like when she was about two months old. We'd start reading to her just before nap time and bed time. She has an innate love of books. All kinds, really.

Here are a few of her favorites. My intent is to keep the list updated as she grows, let that be known. ;-)

Skippyjon Jones (by Judy Schachner) is one of the funniest books we've read. Basically Skippyjon Jones is a Siamese cat who pretends to be a Chihuahua and gets into various adventures. You must read the bits where he is a dog in a heavy Spanish accent, it makes them go all the much more crazy for the story.

There are several stories to this series, we got hooked on the very first one. We even have the little Skippyjon doll. Seriously, I'm not kidding.

There's No Place Like Space: All About Our Solar System (by Dr. Seuss) was one of those books that she grew into. I bought this in May/June 2008 when I visited my bestest friend in the whole wide world Kim in Florida. When I was at the airport killing time and looking for souveniers, I visited the Kennedy Space Center shop. I got Jarrod a keychain, and I got Sydney this book.

When I first got home and read it to her, her response was pretty ho-hum.

But! Since then Wall-E has come out and she has a Leapster game with Wall-E. She is ALL about space, which pleases Jarrod (and me!) to no end. :)

The issue with it is that it still talks about Pluto. Her Wall-E game does not, but this does. So try to explain that Pluto is no longer a planet to a nearly-four-year-old, and it's cause for some serious disturb-ness.

"Mom, why don't scientists want Pluto to be a planet anymore? Don't they like it?"

Walter, the Farting Dog (by William Kotzwinkle). What really do I need to say? What kid doesn't find farting hilarious?? Really, they are just funny - and there are several in the series. We've only read the first one, though. There is a Walter doll, however I refuse to get my daughter a farting dog doll, thankyouverymuch.

Anyway, it's a good segue to talking about bodily functions. If you can get them to be serious for a second. Good luck with that. Don't say I didn't warn you.

The Lorax (by Dr. Seuss) is a book that I remember as a kid. Well, I take that back. Mostly I remember the cartoon (I loved the Dr. Seuss cartoons!) but the book is pretty much a word-for-word copy. Or maybe the cartoon is a word-for-word copy of the book. ;-)

Syd loves it. I think it gets a good point across without being all Al Gore about it. For example, I am all for conserving trees, recycling, etc. but I am not going to ride my bike everywhere. That kind of thing. There is a fine line to being interesting and informative without being annoying.

Plusl the Lorax is just darn cute, and he's got a mustasche like Jamie Hyneman from Mythbusters.

The New Baby, Little Critter Series (by Mercer Mayer) is another bunch of books I remember as a kid. Loved them, and it rings true with my daughter. She loves all of the Critter books, but we started with this one when I was expecting Cameron. It was really great at getting her to see that when Cameron was born, she wasn't going to be able to run and jump and play right away. She still tells me that Cameron "bonkerd her on the nose!" which is referenced in the book.

Smarty Pants

On the way to playgroup today, my Mom wanted us to deliver her something for lunch. So while we're sitting in the drive-thru at Taco Cabana, Sydney asks me, "Mom? Are you a wimp?"

Uh...

I'm not really sure where she picked that up, honestly. But, of course I laughed and that encouraged a whole barrage of silliness.

On the way to Mom's work to deliver foodstuffs, we were making what I call "word connections." Kind of a "what do you think of when I say '_____'?" So I start with, "Monkey!"

"Banana!"

I say, "Cheese!"

"Eggs!"

"Baby!"

"Sameron! Ahahaha, did you hear that Mommy?? I said 'Sameron!!' That is so funny!!"

"Hahaha, that is too silly! Okay, let's try again! Um.... sun!"

"Sameron!! Muuuuahahahaha!!!"

"Uh, yes. Okay, how about... shoes!"

"Sameron!!! HAH HAH HAH!!!!"

This is going nowhere, and fast. So I change the game.

"Okay then! Let's count to one hundred, shall we?"

She replies, without missing a beat (of course), "Okay but Sameron is looking at me while I count. It makes me a little nervous."

It continued to be funny until about 30 minutes later when we made it to playgroup and she was distracted by something short and cute. His name is Jackson.

But! The silliness doesn't end there, just the "Sameron" gag.

She comes walking over to me as I feed Cameron. I notice her jean shorts are unbuttoned, so I ask, "Hey, did you just go pee-pee?"

"No, Mom. I was just showing Jackson my new underwear."

Then began the short version of not having to show everyone every new thing you ever receive in life.

So, playgroup craziness goes on and we head home. While there, Cameron goes down for a nap, and Sydney is in my room with me so I can sort laundry.

"Hey Mom, did you know that I just love you?"

"I sure did. Dd you know that I love you?"

"Yes. Can I smell your butt?"

Uh. "I... I guess so."

She walks over to me and takes a big ol' whiff.

"Mom, it smells like clean clothes!"

WHEW.

I guess this post is a little account of a typical day with Older Daughter. It's a never ending laugh-riot, let me tell you. :-)

She topped off the day with seeing Mars on Jarrod's computer desktop, and she says, "Hey! It's Mars!! Did you know that Mars has the tallest mountains and the deepest canyons?"

Thanks, Miss Solar Tour Guide!

New Outfit

So how do you all like the new outfit? I opted to go ultra-girly this time... springtime, cutesy. Maybe I am so tired of these 100+ temps that my brain is melting and I am experiencing a brief moment of insanity. Comments and opinions welcome. I just reserve the right to ignore them, too. ;-)

Ol' Reliable

I don't know why I bother trying things that don't work. Over and over again. Maybe we're just so programmed into thinking that certain things work, when we go outside those lines it's like "Whoa, whoa there, missy."

With the ridiculous heat we've been having (100+ every day) combined with a baby who wears a diaper, rashes happen. They happen LESS in cloth, but they do happen. So I am working on one particularly nasty one now. I bought some trial gDiapers for our trip to Oklahoma (love them!) and so I thought, "Hey! I have these sort-of disposables! I am going to put her in them and SLATHER the diaper rash cream on her! That'll fix it!"

Hah. HAH, I tell you!

We were out and about yesterday and all I had in the diaper bag was my little container of cornstarch. What the heck, it's all I have. So I patted her with it and the next time I changed her diaper the rash was remarkably better. The diaper cream (Desitin? Balmex? Target brand? I can't remember!) barely touched it, and yet the old school remedy helped.

This should be no surprise to me, really. It's what cured her last rash, too. And yet Stupid Idiot Robot Lynn felt the need to fall into the Programmed Baby Crap marketing hype. Bad, bad Lynn!

So, powdering her all day has significantly cleared her rash, and it's safe for cloth diapers which are better for rashes anyway.

In other news, her VCUG was today! Other than being 45 minutes late (I really, really hate the Medical Center. How many Methodist-labeled things can there possibly be? At least three, I can tell you from experience!) it went swimmingly well.

We go into the x-ray room and they have me undress her and put this adorable little, tiny hospital gown on her. With Syd she was just naked with a receiving blanket over her, so that was a nice little perk. The doctor comes in and starts to tell me the procedure, then takes a look at our orders.

"Wait, do you already know she has reflux?"

I explain to him that Big Sister had it, Grade III and that it self-resolved around 18-months to 2-years. "Aaahhhh. Yes, good to check it out then. Although literature will vary on how often it occurs, some say 20% more likely, some say 40% more likely... but it's one of those things that's best to catch early before any scarring happens."

That was my thinking, too, Doc.

"So you see Dr. B, hmm? Well, your girls see Dr. B, I mean."

"Yeah, we really like her."

"I do, too. That's who my youngsters see."

Now, he might tell all his patients that, but it sure does kind of make you feel good that a doctor takes his kids to see your pediatrician.

He goes on briefly go over the procedure, since I'd already been through it before. "I do also want to let you know that I am, by certification, a pediatric radiologist. I do VCUG's every day, sometimes eight times a day. We will get this over with as quickly as possible, okay, Mom?"

"Done! Go!"

And boy, he wasn't lying. Cameron was a real trouper - she cried a little with the catheter insertion (I would, too!) and then cried at the peak of the solution balloon, but she did AWESOME!

And best of all, she has NO evidence of reflux! Which means that Baby v.2 has been upgraded and improved! One less thing to have to worry about... she doesn't have it now, and she won't have it.

So, we cleaned her up (iodine everywhere - thankfully it wasn't on her that long so it didn't stain her skin!) and headed home. And holy smokes, her ankle tag said that she is 4 months, 15 days old. FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS. *gasp*

Then this evening, I was bathing her (because who doesn't want to be bathed after being coated in iodine?? Yuck!) and she started making that face.

That face.

That one that says she is getting ready to poo.

Maybe it's just gas, I tell myself. She's fooled me all day with gas.

Nope. Quick! Get her out of the tub!

Uh! What do I DO with her?? That face is getting rather red!!

There is a toilet right behind me!!

So, my little four-and-a-half month old daughter pooped in the potty this evening. Got most of it in, too. If it hadn't been for my idiotic hesitation, she probably would have gotten it all in there.

And then Jarrod commented, mid-excretion, waving his hand in front of his face, "Hey, Courtesy Flush, please!! Gah!!"

And In This Corner...

The average 4-month-old baby weighs 13-3/4 pounds. They are 24-1/4" long. Their head is 16" around.

My youngest daughter, on the other hand, could take Average Baby in a fight any day of the week.

At four months, she is 16.75 pounds, 25-3/8" long, and has a head circumference of 16-5/8", Percentiles, you ask? 92nd, 73rd, and 74th, respectively. What does all that mean? Well, 8% of all the babies her age are heavier than she is. 27% are taller, and 28% have bigger heads.

Given her weight, no one dares to mock her head size. She'll totally take them on. And win.

Everything looked good! She got four shots and an oral vaccine. She was a total trouper, too! She cried for maybe 30 seconds, then she was over it. She's been a little cranky this evening, but I've been keeping her on the Tylenol drip, so it's all good.

All I have to say is that it's a good thing she enjoys her car seat and that it's useful for her up to 29" long and 22 lbs. We're not there YET, though I suspect by her 6 Month appointment we'll be needing a convertible car seat. On one hand, HOLY CRAP THEY ARE EXPENSIVE. But on the other... she won't need another car seat for a very, very long time. She will probably outgrow it by height before weight. I have considered getting a Britax Frontier for Syd and giving the Marathon to Cameron. It's still good and has a couple years left in it.

We did discuss Syd's history of urinary reflux and how it runs in families. So... guess who is scheduled for a VCUG test next Thursday? Not me! I hate that damn test. Basically what they do is get the baby hooked up with a catheter. That in and of itself makes me hurt for them. It's not painful to get or anything, but who WANTS one?? It's scary when you don't know what is going on! :(

But then they fill her bladder full of saline and dye. I mean *full*, too. They clamp it off so they can't go pee, and wait a little to see if the saline leeches back up into the urinary tract tubes and/or kidneys. Sydney's did, thus she was diagnosed with Vesicoureteral Reflux. You might remember this from blogs past (and right now I am way too lazy to go look them up) but it has five grade of severity. Sydney was a Grade 3, so middle of the road. We had consults with a specialist at Cedars-Sinai, and - thank God - it resolved itself. And most cases do, anyway. But "most" doesn't work on you when it's your kid, let me tell you.

Anyway, naturally they cry during the test because... well you know when you are on a road trip and you wait too long to go to the bathroom, then it really hurts? Think of that. Only, you don't know what the pain is because babies... they constantly pee. They don't know what it's like to hold it in.

I'm already making myself feel bad for her. :(

But at least this test will rule it out. She's not showing any signs of UTIs (though, to be fair, Syd didn't either) so I think we'll be okay.

We also talked about Sydney's claim (mostly in the middle of the night) that her undies are wet (they aren't). She said a lot of preschoolers latch on to something in the same manner, and just to not make a big deal of it. If having her take her undies off works, have her do that. Making a big deal of it, especially at night, might cause more anxiety and wake-ups.

But the best part. Oh, the best part.

We wanted to rule out a UTI just in case that was what was making her feel like she has to go potty, and given her history it was a good idea to check. So we go to the bathroom with the sterile cup. I hold the cup under her while she goes. Naturally, it gets all over my hand, because, as girls, we can't aim all that well.

Yay! I got enough in the cup for a sample!

But now. Now, peeing in a cup is totally the coolest thing this side of ice cream. "Mommy! Remember when I peed in the cup at the doctor's place??"

And as I am washing my hands from the collection, "Yes dear, I remember."

Huge!

I'm a little late in posting this on the blog, but here are Cameron's 4-month pictures! She has gotten so big - people are always surprised that she is only 4 months old.

We like to call her Amazonian. It's going to take a manly man to handle her.

I'm curious what her 4 Month appointment will reveal as far as height/weight. I realize these things are easily checked on my own here at home. But that requires effort that I am not prepared to make.

Clearly the generic brand of formula has no bearing on her weight gain. *lol*

Blank

Sometimes there are days that I am really surprised I can function without hurting someone.

The scene starts with Jarrod having left for work. I am muddling around, having gotten very little and very crappy sleep overnight. Not due to Cameron or Sydney, just something like too much caffeine too late, dreams, whatever.

Naturally to cure the Sleepies, I make some coffee. Delicious Sumatra blend coffee. Sumatra, for those of you coffee novices and coffee non-drinkers, is a Bold (Extra Bold?) blend that is rich, strong, and flavorful. It's one of my favorite day-to-day blends, especially since Starbucks stopped making their Limited Edition Bella Vista blend. Oh, how I loved thee.

I digress.

So I am lovingly grinding my beans in the burr grinder. I wash the permanent coffee filter. Pour filtered tap water into the pot. Slam the top lid shut. Press the Start button, and almost press the "Strong" option as I go to get a complaining Cameron off the living room floor.

I change her diaper and put her down for a morning nap, then return to my dark brown liquid gold.

Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Why is my coffee clear? At first I blink a few times and rub my sleep-encrusted eye because dang it, that isn't right.

And there, sitting beside the sink, is the container of freshly ground Sumatra. Still in the grinding container. I'm making coffee with... filtered... water... only.

*sigh*

No one ever said that raising kids would be easy, this I know. I signed up for and readily paid lots of money to have my two. But it's a whole different ball game than one. I mean, seriously. I know all you parents-of-more-than-one are laughing. And that's okay, I am alright admitting my weaknesses. It is, in fact, what makes me the World's Best Mom, you know.

I have figured out what makes Cameron nap more than 30-45 minutes at a time though. When I say "I," what I really mean "Jarrod" and when I say "figured out" I mean "stumbled upon." Turns out that what she likes during the day is to have her bedroom door open. No kidding. That's it. I can swaddle her up (yes, still swaddling... not for lack of trying to bust her out of it, let me tell you) and put her down awake. She will look at stuff, her crib toy thing, and when I go to check on her a few minutes later, she's asleep. With other toddlers playing out in the living room, she stayed asleep.

She never ceases to amaze me. Her night sleep has been unaffected by her (my) recent nap discovery.

The way I figure it, the girl has got to be working on some teeth. We all say that as parents, I know. "Little Susie has been chewing on her hands like crazy!" and "Bobby can't turn off the waterworks!" And maybe that is it, not sure. She has ALWAYS got to have something in her mouth, though. Hands are good, toys, clothes, bibs, blankets, whatever. She's really not discriminating when it comes to mouthing stuff.

Sydney continues to work on reading. She's really doing fantastically.

We've also been working on her fine motor skills with some of the Kumon books (easy mazes, dot-to-dot puzzles, letters, etc.) She will ask to do them, I think she is so hungry for learning. It's great, really, except that I feel like the least capable person to be educating her. I'm not stupid, at least I've never thought so, but I have no patience. And teaching? Yeah, that requires a lot of patience.

When I was a kid in school, I just... well, I just "got" things. It was easy. I got frustrated at the kids who didn't "just get it." I still get that way, though I don't stew about it anymore. ;-)

So, she's teaching me, too. Patience, a virtue worth having.

And here she is feeding and caring for Tabby, her baby. Clearly he is a very good baby.