Kayman 16 months

16 months and FINALLY walking and FINALLY saying Momma! 16 months and also bites and hits. For some reason I seem to be the culprit of most of the violence:) She is a mess but hilarious at the same time. More words she is saying: Nurse, bird, peas (Please), es (yes), booby, Aw-ave every time she sees Avery, Nana, Gigi. She is still a good eater. She has times where she will be finicky and fight whatever we give her but I’m sure that is typical for her age so we just go with it. She has still not had dairy, gluten, meat or fish. She drinks coconut milk, almond milk and water. I struggle with trying to be creative on things we give her since we are trying to avoid things that are not good for her. She loves playing with her toys. One of her favorites is a teapot that makes noise when she tips it over. She will pretend to take a drink and smack her lips. She is very independent and if you sit her down in her playroom she will play well by herself. I love just watching her and seeing what she comes up with on her own. She loves purses and babies and anything she can sort. We get rocks from the backyard and she will play with those for as long as you let her. She is in The Little Gym and has so much fun. It is fun watching her interact with the other kiddos. She is always willing to give all of them open mouth kisses. Mika has taken her several times and she says the teacher always tells her how smart K is. Of course all parents think their kids are smart and we are no different:) but it is always nice when someone not biased compliments your child. A couple of weeks ago I gave her a bath. Well I must have had the temperature a little to warm and she freaked when I sat her down. Now she HATES bath time. Way to go Mom. She is also not a fan of the pool yet. I honestly can’t blame her since the water is cold but we enrolled her in swim lessons that start in a little over a week so hopefully she will do well since Lindsey is taking her. Lindsey is our new nanny...more on Mika leaving later:( Her personality develops more each day. It is so fun watching her change. I thank God everyday that he chose me to be her Mommy. She has her moments that test me. It is in those moments I see some of my personality shining through:) She likes to get her way. Period. And if she doesn’t, look out for a flying hand or a bite!:) As independent as she is she is still my little snuggler and is still my nursing queen. I have quit pumping for the most part but she still has a nursing session first thing in the am and before bed. If I am home with her she sneaks in a few more:)

Kayman 15 months

I have word document that I have been "blogging on" but have yet to take the time to post so here goes a bunch of catch up posts. Kayman is quickly approaching 15 months. How is that even possible?? What she is doing/saying now: She says Choo Choo when you ask her what a train says and “Moooo” for cow. She pretends to take a drink from her teacup and then smacks her lips together. I see a toy kitchen in her future:) She will raise her arms in the air when you tell her to “Praise the Lord.” Samantha, Mika’s daughter, taught her that. She still loves to kiss everyone...with tongue:) She likes to splash her feet in the pool. She has started hitting when she gets frustrated or tired and the other day she bit her Gpa. If we would have done that as a child, he would have bit us back but not his baby girl:) She is one stubborn, strong willed little girl. And spoiled;) She calls Avery “Ab-er-ee” and Lolita (one of Gma and Gpa’s chihuahuas) “O-Lee.” She actually will go to anyone. No stranger danger with this kid. We took her to The Little Gym recently and she loved it. For not being a daycare kid she really loves interacting and being around other kids. She is still wearing a size 3 diaper, 12-18 month clothes and a size 3 in shoes. When we took her to her checkup at 14 mos she weighed 21.3 lbs and was 28” long. She is still a healthy eater and we are so thankful for that. Right or wrong, Alan and I have the philosophy that if she doesn’t know any different, then there is no reason to offer her a “treat” that is really crap for her anyway. From the get go, this is something that we both agreed we would be very strict on and so far we have stuck to it. I know that he and I don’t have the best eating habits but we hope we raise her to make better choices than we do. Let’s be honest...I love me some icing!!:) She still takes 2 naps most days and is still going to bed at 7pm most nights. She wakes up between 7-7:30 on most days. Last week she was sick. At my lunch time Mika sent me a text saying she was running a fever on Tuesday and did I want to see her. I met them at home and took her temp. It was 102.6. Her cheeks were bright red and she was acting a bit tired and uncomfortable but overall Mika said she had been acting fine most of the day. Rather than Mika taking her back to her house Gma and Gpa came to the rescue and spent the afternoon with her. That night she continued to have a high temp. I adjusted her Tuesday, Scott Adjusted her Wed and Thurs. and Heather on Friday. We used oils on her and colloidal silver in her ears in case it was her ears. By Saturday she was back to her chipper self and with her big appetite. A few weeks ago when we took her to Dr. Ross for her checkup, about 3 days prior she had a 101.5 temp one night. We didn’t think much of it. Fast forward to her apt: I met my parents there and they said she has been more fussy than normal. Turns out she had bilateral ear infections. Dr. Ross, who is very supportive of our natural approach told my parents that he would write a Rx “just in case” but to adjust her and give her probiotics. She was fine soon after and we didn’t even pick up the Rx.

Kayman 13 months

The last month flew by! It doesn’t help that February is a short month but our little one turned 13 months yesterday! She literally makes us smile and laugh all of the time. What she is doing/trying to say now: She says “awww” to everything, especially right after she gives someone/something a kiss. She says “mmmm” after she takes a bite/drink of something. She claps and plays peek-a-boo with her hands now. She still loves to eat:) She is such a good eater and will pretty much eat anything you put in front of her. I have started making smoothies in the mornings with almond milk and she loves eating/drinking them. Tonight she ate sauteed green and red peppers. She still has not had any meat but eats plenty of eggs and beans. She likes to drink out of a straw, especially out of my big cups. She puts the phone up to her ear and babbles. She give hugs and will lay her head on your chest when you ask her for one. She loves seeing and playing with kids. If we are out running errands and she sees a kid she always tries to reach for them and get their attention. She loves playing with her cousins. She is starting to take an interest in books. She will sit on your lap and let you read to her. She isn’t walking yet except behind her push toys. My Mom (Gma) swears she took 2 steps last night while Alan and I were at the KU/OSU game in Stillwater. Go figure we weren’t there to witness it:) Alan and I took a mini vacation 2 weeks ago to Naples. Since we returned she has slept from 7-7:15 EVERY NIGHT!!! Hallelujah!!! She was sleeping all night before we left but waking around 6 every morning. That is a little too early for this Momma:) Before bed, she will nurse, we say the Lord’s prayer and pray and rock. Some nights she will be a little restless fighting wanting to go down so I will stand up with her and the second I say “Our Father who Art in Heaven,...” She will lay her head on my chest and immediately calm down. I absolutely love our mornings together. Alan will go and get her and change her diaper. He brings her to our bed so she can nurse. She will nurse and then in the middle she will unlatch and lean over to give her Daddy an open mouth kiss (face lick:)) and say “awww” and then go straight back to nursing. The relationship she has with her Daddy melts my heart. He is just the best with her and she just adores him. I love watching their relationship evolve. Our nursing schedule on days I work is nurse first thing in the morning, pump at lunch, nurse right when I get home between 6-6:30 and pump before bed. She is taking around 5 oz while I am at work. On my days off she nurses anytime she wants;) I really love our nursing relationship and bond that we are able to share. We got rid of the bottle last week so she is using a sippy cup with the pumped milk now. I am really trying at this documenting "what our kid is doing now" stuff.

1 year old

It is hard to believe Miss K is 1 year old How does time go so fast?! Here is a post on what she is doing/saying now: She loves lights and has started saying light/bite. She points to them every where we go and at home. She has learned to put the 't' on the end. She climbs the stairs. We finally put up a gate after 2 close calls where we took our eyes off of her and she was half way up before we found her. Parenting fail:) She walks with her push toy and will stand unassisted but she is not walking on her own yet. This girl can eat. I really don't know where the food goes. Yesterday I cooked her 4 eggs. My plan was to give her 2 and store the other 2 for today since she was also having avocado and pear with it. I left the kitchen to finish getting ready while Alan stayed with her. When I came back I asked where he put the left over eggs...she ate all of them!! The girl is a chow hound!!! Foods she is eating: peas, carrots, avocado, black eyed peas, beans, mangos, banana, cauliflower, broccoli, apple, peaches, pears, potatoes, green puffs, eggs, prunes...pretty much most fruits and veggies. She hasn't had any meat and very minimal grains (gluten free.) Her sleep is inconsistent. The last 3 nights she slept all night but we never know if that will be the case. Our routine is if she wakes, Alan will go and get her, change her and then bring her to me to nurse. I then take her back upstairs and she will go right back to sleep. She LOVES to nurse. Right now, on my work days, she will nurse first thing in the am (She wakes between 6am-6:30am most days) and right when I get home from work and then of course if she wakes during the night. I pump at lunch and before I go to bed. I am only pumping 2x/day and I am still over it. She is officially that kid that will pull my shirt down or try and lift it to get to the boobs. She is a comfort nurser too. She will pretty much kiss and go to anyone. If you kiss her, prepare yourself for an open mouth wet one:) She has the best belly laugh. She is still wearing a sz. 3 diaper and clothes are 12-18 months. I don't know how much she weighs or how tall she is. We always get that info at her checkup apts and her last one was 2 months ago. She had her first fever on NYE. Sick babies are the worst. Her temp got to about 103 so she was like holding a little furnace. Alan and I held her all night and got lots of snuggles. She was adjusted and we used oils and she came around NY day. As much as we hated seeing her feel bad we know fevers are actually a good thing so we let her body fight it naturally and I believe she was better quicker because of it. Her personality develops more and more each day. She is such a happy baby. She loves being around other kids. Alan and We laugh at her constantly because of all of the funny things she is doing or trying to say. She loves to show everyone her "bad cough" or her "sneeze." Sometimes her sneeze sounds like "ah-shit:)". She actually says that sound a lot even when she isn't trying to fake sneeze and we have no idea what she is trying to say. Mika has taught her to raise her hands in the air when she says "Praise the Lord." She can point to her ears. When she gives anything or anyone a kiss, she will say "awww" after. She can say Dada but she still can't say Momma. She will say baba when I ask her to say Momma. One day...:) We are so thankful for her and thank God every day that he chose us to be her Mommy and Daddy.

10 months old in 2 days

Every day we have more and more fun with her! She is developing quite the personality and is such a happy baby. She pulls up on everything. She will also walk around whatever she is holding onto. She has gotten brave a couple of times and let go but no unassisted walking yet. She is such a good eater. She loves banana, pear, apple, mango, peaches, cauliflower, broccoli, avocado and butternut squash. She tolerates green beans but is not a fan of green peas. She has yet to try any brown rice cereal. She still LOVES to nurse and I love it too. I call her my little nursing queen:) She would stay attached all day if I would let her. One of her favorite things is when I let her have both sides and she will go back and forth and gets so excited. For the longest time she was satisfied with one side but now she wants both every time she nurses. Things she "says" or we think she has said:)...ball, book, hi and she lifts her hand to wave and Dada. She has not said Momma yet. She is wearing 9-12 month clothing and just last week I bought her size 3 diapers. She can still wear 2's but the brand I wanted didn't have them in stock so I went up a size. She is on a pretty tight schedule in terms of napping and bedtime. She wakes usually between 6:30-7:30 and nurses. She eats breakfast around 8 and plays. Her first nap is around 9 and she will usually sleep between 1.5-2 hours. She wakes up and nurses when I am with her. She will have a bottle and lunch when Mika or my parents have her. She takes her afternoon nap between 1:30-2:30 and will sleep on average 1-2 hours. Bedtime is at 7. She has only slept through the night a handful of times but when she wakes she will nurse and go back down. She does best when she is at home in her own bed. Some of my favorite times spent with her are right after she nurses in the morning and she will start talking to Alan and I. I love my morning snuggles. She is a Momma's girl. Period. And I love it:) She does love her Daddy too! I fall in love a little more each day:)

Kayman 9 months Old

I am terrible at keeping up with all of Kayman's milestones. I will have to figure out when she started doing everything but here is what she is doing now. She crawls and pull up on any and everything. She loves opening drawers. She has said Dada and babbles all of the time. She loves to nurse. I mean LOVES to nurse. She would stay attached all day if I would let her. She is currently eating spaghetti squash, avocado and sweet peas. She is not a big fan of the avocado and peas. Did I mention she LOVES to nurse?:) She give kisses to pretty much anyone. I know she is wrapping Alan around her pinky a little tighter each kiss:) She doesn't sleep all night yet...back to that nursing thing:) She will look around when I ask her "Where is your sister (Avery)? and where is your Daddy until she finds them? She is not a fan of getting adjusted by me yet but she does good when Scott Farley does it. She is more interested in things that are not toys than her toys right now. She does great in the car thankfully because there was a point in time where she hated being in her car seat. I could keep going on and on but I need to pump before she wakes up.

Perspective

3 days ago we had family/Kayman’s 9 month pics scheduled for 8am. I was determined to have all of our outfits coordinated way in advance since I have waited until the last minute for all of our other sessions, so several weeks ago I bought Kayman’s outfit. What I didn’t do was make sure it fit. I set it out a couple days before and asked Mika to try it on her since she wasn’t having it before I left for work. Of course it was too big. Needless to say I went back to square one and started hitting every store to find something. I laid everything out, including Avery’s new collar:) the night before trying to make the morning of as seamless as possible. We got out the door in time (rarely happens with me in tow) and we were ready. “We” as in Alan and I...Kayman didn’t get the memo that family pictures is a time we should smile and act like we are enjoying ourselves. Lately she has been very clingy to me, so Alan and I planned that when our photographer was taking pics of her by herself I would leave the area and let him help because if she sees me she wants to be held. We did the family portion first and she didn’t smile once, but she also didn’t cry. Then came time for her to be solo. Whoa Nelly...she was pissed! She screamed and then she screamed some more and that was a wrap. I wasn’t a happy camper either at that point. We get in the car and I am all “FML.” Alan, my rational better half, is saying at least we have a baby that we can take family pics with and it is not that big of a deal. Of course I know he is right but I decide to pout and be negative Nancy for awhile. I know I am over reacting. And so does Alan and my Mom when I called her to tell her Kayman didn’t smile once. And then I read this post by another Mom on FB: “We've been home for two weeks now but it hasn't felt like it because of all the clinic appointments. I pretty much melted down Tuesday night by bedtime. Between three CMH appointments in 6 days and the stress of an impending MRI, I was done for. Thankfully we Adele got good results back on her MRI. Everything was stable, her primary tumor measured .1 cm smaller but tumors are considered stable unless they have a certain percentage of growth or shrinking. The lesions on her spine haven't changed. The best news was that the enhancement of her primary tumor has greatly decreased. A tumor enhances or shows up more on an MRI when it has lots of blood flow. As that blood flow decreases, the tumor is less active or even dying and it enhances less. Her doctors are very hesitant to say her tumor is dead but they have said it could be. We met with the radiation oncologist and thankfully didn't learn anything new. When we met with the transplant doc it was like a horror movie, bad statistics chased by scary side effects. All kinds of new information that we hadn't thought about before. I really expected the radiation meeting to go the same. The radiation oncologist was amazing. She clearly had read Adele's files, she knew all of her history, she even knew the big kids names and ages. Peter had to work so I put the phone on speaker and she even moved the phone closer to her so Peter could hear better. She told us all the same things, that spinal radiation could affect her spine bone growth, she will definitely have cognitive issues, she could have thyroid or pituitary gland issues, and she might continue to have low blood counts. We know from past experience that Adele has exceeded all expectations so we hope and pray that the radiation fallout will be minimal. Kids under 3 can only get a certain dose of radiation, kids over 3 get a higher dose, one concern is that the lower dose isn't as effective as the higher dose. The radiation doc did say there isn't any statistics to really show one way or the other the difference in the higher dose vs. the lower dose. She will get radiation every day for about 6 weeks. We requested the OKC proton radiation center to get the more specifically targeted radiation vs. the more spread out standard radiation. We now wait to hear from her doctor that the OKC center has accepted Adele and a start date. We anticipate starting in a week or so. She will get complete brain and spine radiation as well as extra boosts of radiation to her primary tumor site. The radiation center will make a special mask that molds to her head to keep it in exactly the same position every time. She has to be sedated every time so that she stays still. So she will be sedated 5 days a week for 6 weeks. The actual radiation only takes a few minutes but the set up and sedation will take an hour or two. We don't know yet where we will stay in OKC, I did ask the CMH social worker to check out options for us. Everything has always worked itself out, I have faith that this will work out as well. I was pretty terrified that we would get bad MRI results, I'm so thankful that they were good. I get so much hope from all of you and your positivity. Thank you. Adele does need a platelet transfusion tomorrow, she gets lab work drawn twice a week to keep track of her blood counts. She will go to Wesley hospital here in Wichita for the transfusion. I can't even remember the exact count but Adele has had between 30 and 40 transfusions of red blood cells and/or platelets. We would like to have a blood drive in honor of Adele at some point because we are so thankful to everyone who donates blood. Please pray that Adele continues to do well, that her appetite continues to improve and that radiation is the final one two punch we need to knock this cancer out for good. Fr. Kapaun, pray for Adele. Immaculate Heart of Mary pray for Adele.” I made a big deal about Kayman not smiling at family pics. Not my most proud parenting moment. This is a story I have been following for some time. This sweet girl is a best friend of mine’s friend’s daughter from her hometown. I read this post to Alan this morning and I asked, “Can you imagine?” I can’t and I pray to God we never have to know what these parents and this sweet innocent child is having to endure along with the many other families facing similar struggles. My Mom knows exactly what this family is going through and I know there is not a day that goes by that she doesn’t think about her sweet baby girl she lost 37 years ago. That is a big dose of putting things in perspective. That is the last time I will complain about family pics not going as planned. Thank you God for our healthy and happy baby girl.