Operation: Drool-Be-Gone

Nathan is a drooly kid. Super drooly. We have put up with it, accepted it, and washed many bibs and at 2.5 years old, this kid is still drooling, profusely. I've googled this for a long time and over time, I have thought about many reasons why he may be so drooly: low muscle tone; sensory processing issues; teething; enlarged adenoids or other glands; and food allergies.

Well, over the past few months, I've been able to slowly cross out the possible culprits. He doesn't have low muscle tone. We've been having him drink from straws, blow bubbles, and bite popsicle sticks to perhaps improve his muscle tone, but he seems to have no problem in that department.

We can't quite rule out sensory processing, but it seems like he is getting less over-stimulated by his environment. People have suggested that we use an electric toothbrush to "wake-up" the nerves in his mouth. Well, he has no issues with brushing his teeth with the vibrating toothbrush and he can speak quite clearly.

Teething is the classic cause of teething in young children. Nathan has been teething since he was 6 months old. A few months ago he got the last of his 20 baby teeth. So we can cross out teething.

This leaves enlarged adenoids or other glands. I've made an appointment with and ENT to check out the hardware in his sinuses and throat. This will be my next step.

If everything checks out at the ENT and nothing is wrong, I will try to figure out if Nathan has a food allergy. Many people also have said that a milk allergy caused their kid to be really drooly. It's going to be tough if Nathan can't have his cheese or milk, but I'm sure we will be able to find alternatives.

If food allergies are not the culprit, I will try taking him to a chiropractor. Someone on-line said that their kid had a pinched nerve that was causing him to drool a lot. After a few adjustments, his drooling improved and eventually stopped. The experience with turning Hannah in the womb made me a believer of the effectiveness of chiropractics.

We have an appointment in 13 days to see an ENT specialist. Maybe in the next week or so I can try to cut out diary from Nathan's diet and see how he does.

Well, that's about it for now. I'll keep you posted on how things are going.

Two Teeth @ 31 Weeks + Adventures Galore

Whew, it's been a rough few days. It's 9 pm and I'm finally getting to sit down to update the blog.

Dear Hannah,
It's been a rough few days for you. You have been teething for the past week and on top of that, you were diagnosed with hand, foot, and mouth disease tonight. The nights right before your new teeth emerged, you were fussy and found it difficult to fall asleep. And when you did fall asleep, you didn't stay asleep for long. But after all that, you now have 2 little pearly whites poking through.

After waking up from your nap today, you were acting very strange. You were extra fussy and didn't want to eat. So our doctor (who happens to live across the street) was nice enough to come over after work to take a look at you. Turns out that you have hand, foot, and mouth disease. This explains the weird rash that you've had on your butt and fingers (which I thought were due to teething and ant bite, respectively), along with your lack of appetite.

I've lost quite a bunch of quality sleep recently, and I'm sure you haven't been sleeping well too, so hopefully, we have passed the hump and it's all down hill from here.

You liked chewing on carrots to help soothe your gums. 

On to more positive things. Hannah, you continue to babble and talk. You even laugh and smile more. You also have a cute little curl on the right side of your head. Your hair is mostly fine and straight, except for a little tuft above your right ear. We should call you Alf-Alpha.

 Books used to be just another thing to put in your mouth, but now, you are starting to really enjoy the pictures in the book. One of your favorite books is a touch-and-feel animal book. You always squeal with joy when you see the cute little puppy dogs.

Dear Nathan, 

We had a pretty exciting week. You really enjoyed Grandma and Grandpa visiting from Illinois and you were sad to see them go. The weather was quite nice for most of their visit so we tried to spend as much time outdoors as possible. On Sunday, we went to the Botanical Gardens. You were particularly interested in the fairy homes exhibit. You just found the miniature homes fascinating as you pointed out all the little details from doors to swings. 

 You also found waterfalls particularly interesting as well. You got pretty excited when you would see one.

 We also spotted a dinosaur statue (which was kind of disappointing).

 By the end of the visit, you were pretty tired and ready to take a nap.

 The next morning, we drove to Marble falls to go strawberry picking. You were pretty excited and really liked wearing your sunglasses.

 Hannah always likes to check out what you are doing. This is something I see a lot while driving.

 But then eventually, she fell asleep.

 There were quite a few squishy ones, moldy ones, and green ones. Pretty soon, you learned what to look for.

 There were some goats on the farm as well. I was surprised at how close you got to them.

 But I think the highlight of your trip was the chance to ride a tractor. You climbed up and started to pretend drive it. In the middle of the ride, you asked me if it was not real... I was kind of surprised by your question.

Afterwards, we had a picnic at a park nearby and then you got to play at the play ground a bit. Boy, you really like the swings. When we got home, I made some strawberry cobbler with the strawberries and it was delicious.

Your favorite phrases this week are: "I know." "I don't like that." and "I don't know."
A common conversation goes like this:
Nathan: Mommy, that come from? (which means, "what is that?")
Me: You mean, What is that?
Nathan: I don't know.
Me: It's a [insert label]

Oh, you also know your opposites. We talked about what they were on a short car ride and soon you were spouting out opposites. How cool is that?

Ok, Well, I'm sure I'm missing out on a lot of details, but until next week, lots of love!

Mommy

New Baby @ 7 Months

Dear Hannah,
I don't know what happened, but suddenly at 7 months old, you are a happy squealing little girl! This makes me so happy. This morning, you woke up and you were just happy, flapping your arms and smiley. Usually you are pretty serious unless we act a bit silly to try to make you laugh. When others do it, you usually cry. But it's like I woke up to a different baby: which is a good thing!

As far as solid foods go, you now like yellow squash, but not zucchini and you no longer like avocado. Sleep schedule has remained about the same. You take a short 30-45 minute nap in the morning at around 10 am and then another longer nap from about 1:30ish to 4:30ish. Bedtime is between 7:30 and 8:00. You wake for a feeding at 10:30 and 3:30ish and will wake up for the day between 7:30 and 8:00. A few days ago you were waking up in the middle of the night after flipping yourself over and getting your arms stuck in between the crib slats, but thankfully that is a thing of the past. 

Dear Nathan, 

You have become quite the sweet little boy. Lately, you've been asking us whether or not we are happy. I think it's your way of asking for approval. Last night, I heard that when you were not eating your food, Daddy became sad. You tried cheering him up by making funny faces. You are a silly boy and has learned to use humor to diffuse a tough situation: a great skill to have in life. 

One of your favorite games right now is this raccoon game. You now have a pretty good concept of what it means to win. 

 Excuse the pant-less look. We are on the very tail end of potty training. You are pretty much able to go through the day just wearing undies and half of the time, you wake up from your nap with a dry diaper.

A recent game that we play is called, "Come back with my Chicken" This involves someone grabbing chicken or turkey legs and running away.

 Saturday, we celebrated my birthday. We also went to a friend's birthday party that day too so Nathan pretty much ate birthday cake all day. Daddy did a great job making browned butter strawberry shortcake cupcakes. (He even put lemon zest in the whipped cream).

 On Sunday, we went to a "kite festival" (in quotes because it was basically a few families who got together at a park to fly kites). We went to the store to pick out a kite. You insisted on getting the "Hello Kitty Cat" kite. We asked you if you wanted the minion one, or a manly spider man one. No, you wanted the pink cat one.

 Hannah just kicked back and watched all the action.

 By the end of the day, Nathan got a pretty good feel for kite flying. You know to start moving if the kite string starts to slack.

While most of the time you are a sweet, angelic boy, there are times when you do something like this:

 I actually expected this to happen earlier on, and luckily it was the end of the roll.

Thank God for warmer weather. In fact, the weather has been amazing! One day Dad came home early and we went on a family bike ride. We got to test out our new trailer. Both of you guys really like riding in it.

 For ArT-Tuesday, we made a bean craft. We first decided to make a face. You would tell me where you want the glue, I would draw it on, and you would put the beans on the glue.

 Afterwards, you wanted to make a cat and then I decided to use this moment to teach you the letter "B." Then, you wanted to make a snowman, and then a pancake. You really liked this activity.

 Afterwards, we went outside to play for a bit. Our neighbors were playing outside and one of them stopped to show you how to play with nerf guns. You learned how to load the bullets in.

 And shoot.

 You really love playing with the neighbors.

 One day, we went to the grocery store and since we only got a few items, I let you check our items out at the cash register. You thought it was the coolest thing.

 We also got a chance to go to a semi-fancy restaurant this weekend. While waiting for our food, you and Daddy made a fruit face on your plate.

 Yesterday, we went to the Austin zoo with a few neighbor friends. They are a bit older than you, but you loved following them around and looking at the different animals. I felt like out of all the times we have gone, you really were aware and fully engaged throughout the trip. You would ask questions, and point out things.

 Of course, we had to ride the train.

Since it's spring break, you have been staying home with Hannah and me. I thought it would be tough having both of you around all the time, but I am actually enjoying it a lot. As Hannah becomes even more interactive, I look forward to all the adventures that we'll go on this summer when both of you will stay home with me. 

Grandma and Grandpa are coming to visit this weekend so I'm sure we'll do lots of exciting things. 

Until next week! 

Love, 

Mommy

Week 29: It's too cold outside!

Dear Hannah and Nathan, 

We sure have been cooped up inside for quite a few days. The weather has been pretty miserable. It has either been freezing cold and sunny, or windy and cloudy, oh, and we also got in a few days of rain as well. So, one particular day, we spent lots of time at home and we were able to find plenty of things to keep us busy. First, Nathan got to perfect his bowling ball release. We also talked about what a strike means. You get pretty excited and do this silly little dance after you get a strike. Sometimes you'll just fall back on the couch. It is quite entertaining watching you bowl.  

 We did some yoga. Here you are working on your "happy baby" pose.

 And down dog...which eventually turned into forward rolls all around the living room.

 Hannah was pretty much entertained by you this whole time.

When Hannah took her first nap, we started to clean and wipe down the base boards. Nathan did a good job spraying the boards before I wiped them clean.

 Nathan then started to spot dirty spots on doors, so we also cleaned those as well. And then, you got really ambitious and started to wipe the staircase.

 When Nathan took a nap, Hannah was awake to help me fold the laundry. We also played a bit during the process.

 I think I'm going to implement a more structured play time for the afternoon. I've come up with a schedule that we can try.

Music Mondays, Craf-T Tuesdays, Wild Wednesdays, Thinking Thursdays, and Fine-motor Fridays.

On Monday,  Hannah learned to bang the mallet on the xylophone (and put it in her mouth).

 Nathan learned about high and low notes.

 (Hannah was not happy about Nathan hogging the guitar. She wants to do whatever big brother does.)

Nathan, you also have been doing a good job of putting on your shoes by yourself. You will put on one of the shoes and ask us if it's on the right foot. You really take pride in putting your shoes on as well as your pants.

 Dinner has become quite interesting. The other night, I cooked some ribs and we allowed Hannah to gnaw on the bones. Well, being the baby that you are, you dropped them quite a few times and if I wasn't there to give you a new one, you started to fuss. Then when I held the bone in front of you, you immediately stopped fussing and quickly grabbed the bone out of my hand. You really like bones.

 One afternoon, while driving home from school, Nathan said out of the blue, "My favorite is cake, mommy, we make cake?" I asked Nathan if he liked cake or cookies better and like any smart boy, Nathan said, "both." So when we got home we made a cookie cake after nap time. Nathan did a good job with eating his dinner (including his veggie soup) so we gave you a pretty good size piece of cookie cake. You quickly finished the piece and asked for more. We told you that if you wanted more cake, that meant you were still hungry, so you needed to eat a bit more rice, soup, or chicken before you could have more cake. We then explained that green stuff and chicken help you grow big and strong and cakes, while they are very yummy will make you too fat if you eat too much. Nathan, you responded with,
"Nathan be fat boy!"

Well, at least you are logical. 

When Hannah isn't grabbing bones out of our hands during dinner time, you are also eating sweet potatoes, squash, bananas, or avocados.

Your favorite seems to be banana and sweet potato. You weren't a fan of squash the first time you tried it, but when we tried the second time, you didn't mind it too much. You ate it, but you weren't voracious about it. 

One of your favorite toys to play with is a funnel. You like to explore it with your mouth. I think it's actually a pretty interesting toy because it folds up into a disk and expands into a funnel. You will play with it for a good 10 minutes. 

This is actually a picture from last week, but one night after your bath, you said to Daddy, "I look like baby Jesus." It's now a nightly tradition for you to pop into my room after bath, all wrapped up in your towel (differently each night) and you ask me what you look like. Some nights it's a burrito, some nights it's baby Jesus, other nights, it's a chicken leg. 

 One afternoon, the weather was warm enough for us to go out and play. We went to the playground by our house and found that the tether ball was fixed. Nathan really enjoyed whacking the ball back and forth. He even tried to ask some of the big boys to come and play with him.

 Nathan is also becoming a bit more adventurous. You really likes to jump off of things, but before you take the plunge off a higher spot, you always will ask me. I really like that about you. You almost always ask before you run off, or do something slightly dangerous.

 This past weekend, we got out Chutes and Ladders game. We were all picking out our pieces and I jokingly said, "I want the piece that looks like me." Nathan nonchalantly picked up the piece below and tossed it my way. We played and finished the game, but found that it is quite boring if the right rolls aren't rolled. We then played a different game involving raccoons and outfits, which was much more entertaining for both Nathan, and us, the parents.

Now, this is the part where I record the boring details about sleep. Hannah's sleeping pattern is becoming a bit more erratic. Some nights, you'll sleep 6 hours straight, some nights you wake after 45 minutes. I feel like you've gone through a growth spurt recently because you've been nursing quite often and sleeping a bit more than normal. Hopefully once this is all settled, maybe you will fall back into a predictable sleeping pattern. My prayer is that you don't start to teethe while we are on our long flight to Taiwan.

At 29 weeks, Hannah is not giggling much. Well, kind of, but it's a silent giggle. When you laugh, it's a big smile, or you open your mouth to laugh, but no sound comes out. This, along with you not babbling consonant sounds concerns me a bit, but other than this, you are generally a happy baby who in interactive and expressive. I shouldn't worry because I'm sure there will be a day where you become like your older brother and won't stop talking. Reading back at the old blog entries, Nathan started babbling consonants at around 29-30 weeks. Perhaps it's the learning 2 languages thing that makes you a bit quiet; you're just soaking it all in.

Well, the weather is finally starting to warm up. There is no rain in the 5 day forecast and the temperatures are supposed to be in the 60's. Looks like we will be spending lots of time outside.

Until next week,
Love,
Mommy