Sydney's going to be a track star! Olympics 2032, watch out!
Taylor's talent- being the sweetest baby ever!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
A walk in the park
Who would believe that today- January 29- in Georgia, the temperature got up to 70 degrees?!! I am LOVING it! It totally gives me spring fever. Today felt like a day right out of the month of April.
We took advantage of the lovely weather and went to a nearby park. It was awesome. There was a toddler area, a big-kid area, and a walking path. Sydney wanted to hit up all three areas. So we did. I'll let the pictures tell you about our day!
We took advantage of the lovely weather and went to a nearby park. It was awesome. There was a toddler area, a big-kid area, and a walking path. Sydney wanted to hit up all three areas. So we did. I'll let the pictures tell you about our day!
Playing in the toddler area.
Weeeeeeeee!
See-sawing with daddy.
Forget that baby stuff... bring on the big-kid playground!
Taylor and I went for a jog while Sydney and her daddy played.
She enjoyed it thoroughly!
Sydney went down this slide by herself!
Sydney's taking me to the big slide...
Who's going to win?
Swinging on the... circular monkey bars?
And one... and two...
Muscle girl!
Going for a walk...
So sweet...
Hey, don't forget about me, mom!
What a great day!
PS- Can this warm weather stick around a little longer? Pleeeeease?
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Shenanigans...
I haven't posted in a while, and I'm getting quite a few posts in tonight! It's catch up time...
It's been a stressful week, but we are doing fine. Just trying to make sure Taylor is doing well, giving her her Zantac to help control the reflux, following doctor's orders on feeding her less but more often, keeping her upright after feedings, having her sleep propped up.
I've also had to do some work this week for my job... I even had to go in on Friday for a few hours in the morning to train my new sub (my old one ended up getting a full-time teaching job!). It was so fun to see the kids. I was texting/FB emailing with a girl I share a classroom with the night before, and she told me that when she signs the kids' agendas (homework log) at the end of the day, she always finds cards and notes that the kids made for me, saying how much they missed me. I told her that night I'd be coming in the next morning, and she said the kids would be ecstatic.
They were!! It was so fun to see them, and I was able to get all of those cards and notes to take home with me. The kids would not stop hugging me. It was great. I do miss them (though I really don't want this last month of maternity leave to go by quickly).
Another funny thing that's happened recently... I've been DVRing Oprah this week, because she's been in Australia. For those of you that don't know, I am dying to go there. Well, at the beginning of yesterday's show, Oprah starts out by saying, "Hello, Sydney!!" Sydney got the biggest kick out of that... thinking Oprah was talking to her. She kept wanting me to rewind it so she could hear it again, and she'd get the cutest, biggest smile on her face. She is just so funny. I feel like Stephen and I are the only ones who see her true personality, as she sometimes clams up in front of others. She is such a funny little girl!! The things that come out of her mouth, her facial expressions, her cute little personality. Hilarious.
Anyways, I just wanted to write yet another blog tonight, letting y'all know that we are fine. I apologize to my friends who I owe phone calls and/or emails to. I haven't gotten much of those done this week. I guess I could be doing that now instead of typing this blog, huh? On the plus side, I survived being with both girls overnight by myself while Stephen traveled for work. Go me!
It's been a stressful week, but we are doing fine. Just trying to make sure Taylor is doing well, giving her her Zantac to help control the reflux, following doctor's orders on feeding her less but more often, keeping her upright after feedings, having her sleep propped up.
I've also had to do some work this week for my job... I even had to go in on Friday for a few hours in the morning to train my new sub (my old one ended up getting a full-time teaching job!). It was so fun to see the kids. I was texting/FB emailing with a girl I share a classroom with the night before, and she told me that when she signs the kids' agendas (homework log) at the end of the day, she always finds cards and notes that the kids made for me, saying how much they missed me. I told her that night I'd be coming in the next morning, and she said the kids would be ecstatic.
They were!! It was so fun to see them, and I was able to get all of those cards and notes to take home with me. The kids would not stop hugging me. It was great. I do miss them (though I really don't want this last month of maternity leave to go by quickly).
Another funny thing that's happened recently... I've been DVRing Oprah this week, because she's been in Australia. For those of you that don't know, I am dying to go there. Well, at the beginning of yesterday's show, Oprah starts out by saying, "Hello, Sydney!!" Sydney got the biggest kick out of that... thinking Oprah was talking to her. She kept wanting me to rewind it so she could hear it again, and she'd get the cutest, biggest smile on her face. She is just so funny. I feel like Stephen and I are the only ones who see her true personality, as she sometimes clams up in front of others. She is such a funny little girl!! The things that come out of her mouth, her facial expressions, her cute little personality. Hilarious.
Anyways, I just wanted to write yet another blog tonight, letting y'all know that we are fine. I apologize to my friends who I owe phone calls and/or emails to. I haven't gotten much of those done this week. I guess I could be doing that now instead of typing this blog, huh? On the plus side, I survived being with both girls overnight by myself while Stephen traveled for work. Go me!
Both my girls passed out after playing at Meg, Manny, and Aubrie's house last weekend.
Silly Sydney.
This was hilarious. Aubrie is holding a thing of cookie dough in her hand right here. Once this picture was taken, Aubrie was still posing for a second shot, and Sydney leaned in and took a big bite out of that piece of cookie dough. We all were dying laughing... yes, I probably should have been concerned about my daughter ingesting raw cookie dough, but it was too funny. I wish I had gotten the "bite" on camera. :)
We're Crafty!
Sydney's not the only one in our household who's been crafty lately! With the snow keeping us stuck inside, we resorted to creative activities.
Sydney making movie food out of playdough with her new playdough-maker.
I love being a stay-at-home-mom... I get to attend the neighborhood scrapbooking parties! I'm starting up a Merry Christmas album to keep up with our Christmas pics/our family Christmas cards throughout the years.
My mom made the beautiful crib skirt, and we put it on this week!
Bows for Taylor... some are homemade, some are not. I made the bow holder.
Grandmom spent one day with us this week, and while we watched a movie, she made Sydney a ton of hairbows!! Check them out...
More of Sydney's beautiful artwork.
Not pictured are the necklace I made, the mommy ID bracelet I made (with Taylor's name on it!), and the shelf Stephen built for our kitchen pantry. Fun times in the K-bash household!
One Month Check-up
Taylor's one month stats are in!!
Granted, she didn't have her check-up until she was 7 weeks old... we can blame the holidays and the snow for the pediatrician's office being backed up. She was supposed to go at about 5-1/2 weeks, but her original appointment was during the snow week. Anyways, we ventured to the pediatrician's office on Taylor's 7 week birthday... and had a BIG day!
And by big, I mean big!! She is firmly 90th percentile or higher in all categories. I think she's going to be our little basketball star!
Just a little comparison to Sydney at 9 weeks...
Ok, so that's always the fun part to me... seeing how much the baby has grown. Now, the not so fun part.
Taylor has always been a really loud breather. People comment on it all the time- how do you sleep with her breathing that loud? Is she congested? We keep her in church with us, and luckily we sit by our friends- they're constantly looking at her and smiling, as Taylor is in a deep sleep, snoring away during the service so everyone can hear.
I've been concerned about it, but I never saw any other crazy signs- no runny nose, no coughing or sneezing, no fever... I just kind of assumed it was her baby noises. I remember Sydney being kind of a loud breather, too.
Well, thankfully Taylor was breathing like this when the doctor came in. Just a side bar- I LOVE our pediatrician. She is absolutely amazing. For example, I showed up at 10:45 AM this day, thinking that's when my appointment was... only to find out it was actually at noon. My pediatrician was rushing to get to us as soon as possible, and kept apologizing for us waiting... I laughed and said, it was MY fault! ;) OK, back on topic.
So, she hears Taylor's breathing and is quiet for about 2 minutes. She looked at me and asked how long she's been breathing like this. I told her since birth. She paused and said, "Brooke, this isn't normal." My heart sank. For as many times as I've rushed to the pediatrician, panicked with Sydney having green snot or a fever, I couldn't believe I didn't realize this should have been checked out. So, the doctor listened to her chest... no congestion... looked in her nose, ears, etc.
She told me that Taylor is struggling more to breathe- evidenced by the noise, the contracting of her stomach when she breathes, and her nostrils flaring. She said she hopes it's something called laryngomalacia, something she has only seen twice in her years of practice. But, she said that's the best case scenario (and the most common reason why babies are "loud breathers".) I asked her what the worst case scenario would be, and she said that, unfortunately, there were a few. She went through them briefly, and all of them required some sort of operation/surgery. My sweet pediatrician let me cry on her shoulder for a good 3 minutes.
She got me an appointment at the Ear, Nose, Throat doctor at Children's Healthcare that afternoon. I went, took Taylor and Sydney, and my dad met us there (of course, things like this only happen when Stephen's out of town!). Long story short, the ENT doctor put a probe down Taylor to look past her throat to her larynx, and she does have laryngomalacia. (Laryngomalacia is when the tissues above and below the larynx collapse when a breath is taken in. It makes the passage of air that much harder). Whew! Not that that is great or anything, but it could be a lot worse. Plus, her larynx (vocal chords) were swollen from acid reflux, which made the air that much harder to get through. He said on a scale of mild, moderate, and severe, Taylor's case is moderate.
The good news about Taylor gaining so much weight is that it's a bad sign for babies with laryngomalacia who aren't gaining. That means that they are struggling to breathe so badly that they are burning more calories, and not putting on weight. These are babies that may have more long-term effects (which happens in 10-20% of all cases). Thanks HEAVENS Taylor is gaining without any problems right now!
So, there's nothing you can do about the laryngomalacia... basically, as the baby grows, the tissue gets stronger and stops collapsing. So, what they do now is treat the reflux so the vocal chords aren't as swollen. We were told to have her sleep upright at night, as that helps her breathe better. Of course, we have to look out for horrible things like her stopping breathing or turning blue. I PRAY that doesn't happen.
My sweet baby... it's funny, I had a long list of questions for the pediatrician... more superficial ones (when will her baby acne go away? What do I do about cradle cap?) Those all went out the door the minute I heard, "Brooke, this isn't normal." Who really cares about little things when something really important is wrong? I pray for the health of my sweet baby girl.
And on that note, I leave you with pictures of Taylor in her second month of life!
Granted, she didn't have her check-up until she was 7 weeks old... we can blame the holidays and the snow for the pediatrician's office being backed up. She was supposed to go at about 5-1/2 weeks, but her original appointment was during the snow week. Anyways, we ventured to the pediatrician's office on Taylor's 7 week birthday... and had a BIG day!
And by big, I mean big!! She is firmly 90th percentile or higher in all categories. I think she's going to be our little basketball star!
- Height- She was 22-3/4" tall (90%)
- Weight- She weighed 13 pounds, 6 ounces (95%) (more later on why this is a wonderful thing!!)
- Head circumference- 39-1/2 cm (95%)
Just a little comparison to Sydney at 9 weeks...
- Sydney was 22" long.
- Sydney weighed 11 pounds, 1 ounce.
Ok, so that's always the fun part to me... seeing how much the baby has grown. Now, the not so fun part.
Taylor has always been a really loud breather. People comment on it all the time- how do you sleep with her breathing that loud? Is she congested? We keep her in church with us, and luckily we sit by our friends- they're constantly looking at her and smiling, as Taylor is in a deep sleep, snoring away during the service so everyone can hear.
I've been concerned about it, but I never saw any other crazy signs- no runny nose, no coughing or sneezing, no fever... I just kind of assumed it was her baby noises. I remember Sydney being kind of a loud breather, too.
Well, thankfully Taylor was breathing like this when the doctor came in. Just a side bar- I LOVE our pediatrician. She is absolutely amazing. For example, I showed up at 10:45 AM this day, thinking that's when my appointment was... only to find out it was actually at noon. My pediatrician was rushing to get to us as soon as possible, and kept apologizing for us waiting... I laughed and said, it was MY fault! ;) OK, back on topic.
So, she hears Taylor's breathing and is quiet for about 2 minutes. She looked at me and asked how long she's been breathing like this. I told her since birth. She paused and said, "Brooke, this isn't normal." My heart sank. For as many times as I've rushed to the pediatrician, panicked with Sydney having green snot or a fever, I couldn't believe I didn't realize this should have been checked out. So, the doctor listened to her chest... no congestion... looked in her nose, ears, etc.
She told me that Taylor is struggling more to breathe- evidenced by the noise, the contracting of her stomach when she breathes, and her nostrils flaring. She said she hopes it's something called laryngomalacia, something she has only seen twice in her years of practice. But, she said that's the best case scenario (and the most common reason why babies are "loud breathers".) I asked her what the worst case scenario would be, and she said that, unfortunately, there were a few. She went through them briefly, and all of them required some sort of operation/surgery. My sweet pediatrician let me cry on her shoulder for a good 3 minutes.
She got me an appointment at the Ear, Nose, Throat doctor at Children's Healthcare that afternoon. I went, took Taylor and Sydney, and my dad met us there (of course, things like this only happen when Stephen's out of town!). Long story short, the ENT doctor put a probe down Taylor to look past her throat to her larynx, and she does have laryngomalacia. (Laryngomalacia is when the tissues above and below the larynx collapse when a breath is taken in. It makes the passage of air that much harder). Whew! Not that that is great or anything, but it could be a lot worse. Plus, her larynx (vocal chords) were swollen from acid reflux, which made the air that much harder to get through. He said on a scale of mild, moderate, and severe, Taylor's case is moderate.
The good news about Taylor gaining so much weight is that it's a bad sign for babies with laryngomalacia who aren't gaining. That means that they are struggling to breathe so badly that they are burning more calories, and not putting on weight. These are babies that may have more long-term effects (which happens in 10-20% of all cases). Thanks HEAVENS Taylor is gaining without any problems right now!
So, there's nothing you can do about the laryngomalacia... basically, as the baby grows, the tissue gets stronger and stops collapsing. So, what they do now is treat the reflux so the vocal chords aren't as swollen. We were told to have her sleep upright at night, as that helps her breathe better. Of course, we have to look out for horrible things like her stopping breathing or turning blue. I PRAY that doesn't happen.
My sweet baby... it's funny, I had a long list of questions for the pediatrician... more superficial ones (when will her baby acne go away? What do I do about cradle cap?) Those all went out the door the minute I heard, "Brooke, this isn't normal." Who really cares about little things when something really important is wrong? I pray for the health of my sweet baby girl.
And on that note, I leave you with pictures of Taylor in her second month of life!
The shirt is fitting... Thanks, Molly and Ben!
What's up?
Playing on her little mat.
This is how Taylor will be sleeping for a while- tucked into her carseat!
Just chilling...
Friday, January 21, 2011
The Life of a Monkey
Ahhh, to be a monkey. Specifically, a brown, stuffed one that answers to the name "Monkey", but is commonly known as Curious George. Even more specifically, one owned by Sydney K. This monkey sure does have the life! He is loved on almost all day, every day. He is Sydney's "chosen one". He gets to go to daycare... for free! He gets to go on errands and trips. He's even been on a plane.
Looking through my pictures of the last year, it struck me how big a part of our lives monkey really is! Check out some of his adventures:
Oh, what a life to have. To be loved, have a loyal best friend, and to be able to see so many places and do so many things... that's what life is all about!
Looking through my pictures of the last year, it struck me how big a part of our lives monkey really is! Check out some of his adventures:
Introducing... Monkey!
Eating breakfast with Sydney...
Monkey loves the great outdoors...
Cooling off in the summertime.
At the park!
Monkey's first birthday party... at Chuck E. Cheese's.
Slide time!
Monkey's first wedding.
Monkey goes to Sydney's birthday party!
Monkey rides the train at the mall.
Another birthday party!
Monkey attends his first Georgia Tech game.
Monkey got to meet Santa!
Monkey loves to sled in the snow!
Making cookies...
Monkey's first Halloween, dressed up as... you guessed it... a monkey!
Monkey has traveled to a few other states...
In the mountains of South Carolina.
Partying it up in Daytona Beach, FL
Taking a dip in Tampa, FL
Hanging with the cousins in Nashville, TN.
Oh, what a life to have. To be loved, have a loyal best friend, and to be able to see so many places and do so many things... that's what life is all about!
Sydney + Monkey = BFF 4-ever
PS- As a parent, you may ask... how do you keep up with the monkey? What if you lose it? Won't Sydney be devastated? What if it gets terribly dirty? Well, I hate to admit it, but we're not miracle workers. Want to know our trick? ..............................................
Thanks to our sweet neighbor, Alison, Sydney has 4 monkeys to rotate between! Does she know about these four?... NO! Has she come close to seeing more than one at a time?... YES! (Hopefully she won't be reading this blog anytime soon... ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)