As I was driving Ryan to his last day of preschool this morning, I caught myself daydreaming about what was going on in life in September and what's going in now... And boy things are different!
In September-
-It was a beautiful morning (actually exactly like today's weather)
- Ryan was newly potty trained but still in his crib
- I woke up with two cats sleeping by my feet.
- We were rushing out of the house because we had someone coming for a 3rd look at our house!
- We were getting excited about moving, building our new home, and a baby on the way
- Our goal was to sell by the end of October (we had very high hopes for the girl that was coming that morning). I was sure today would be the day we got an offer after 4 months on the market.
- We anticipated getting a rental for a few months before our house was ready.
- We picked the exterior/shutter color of the house and had appointments with kitchen design people.
- I was about half way through my pregnancy. We didn't know the sex but I was thinking it was a girl.
- Mike was in his 8th year at Warner Chilcott
- I had a good balance between working and being an at home mom
- It was the day of Laura's wedding rehearsal! Was getting ready for a weekend with my girlfriends.
Now here in June-
- Same gorgeous day
- Ryan woke up in his big boy bed, new room, and he even had a dry overnight pull up!
- We no longer have kitty cats cuddling with me as we sleep. They are living with a new loving family. Instead I have a sleeping 5 month old in my arms.
- My baby is here... And he is a boy haha. Oops I was wrong (I'm nursing my sweet boy as I type this)
- I was rushing around getting ready for school which is more hectic with a new baby in the mix.
- Mike left early for work since he now has a new job up in North Jersey. After getting laid off with Warner Chilcott, he started at Valiant in February.
- We are still living in our original home, we did not move.
- The house is not on the market... We will be staying here for a couple more years (no talk about babies or moving til 2016).
- I started doing hair again this week, July 7 is back to the office but we still haven't figured how it's all going to work.
- Jackie has moved to Virginia and Kelly will soon be in NC. Crazy how I didn't move but both of them did!
- Big plans tonight is for a family movie night- Lucky Duck on Disney jr.
I can't believe how much has changed (or didn't change) over the past 9.5 months. I feel like it was such a whirlwind year. I'm looking forward to making the most of the summer and hopefully a less eventful year come September!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
The Taynors
Friday, June 20, 2014
Thursday, June 12, 2014
5 months - Patrick
Here we are again, another monthly update. Time goes even faster with the second baby!
The facts-
Patrick is 15 lbs 9 oz
Wears size 3-6 months
Size 2 diapers
Whats going on this month:
- The beginning of this month was rough. I don't know if Patrick was teething or had a little tummy virus, but he was having a hard time. He started (and actually still has) super gross poopy diapers multiple times a day, the drool started pouring, low 99-100 fevers almost every day for a week or so, he was very cranky, and he had bad sleep regression. Things seem to be getting better. He is happier and back to sleeping better, no more fevers, but still no teeth. Who knows what was going on.
-Night sleeping- He totally had awful 4 month sleep regression. He started waking much more frequently, and had a hard time falling asleep. I tried to continue the sleep training, I didn't feed him until at least 4 am and I would try to sooth him without picking him up, but it was a few weeks of feeling like I had a new born again.
Now things are better, he is on a pretty regular routine. Bedtime routine starts around 6:30 and he is normally asleep by 7:00-7:15. Then he will sleep through the night til sometime between 4-5:30am. Then I nurse him and we both kind of dose off again. After this wake up its kind of dicey. Some nights he goes back to sleep, some nights he wakes up like he is ready for the day. I never know what I"ll get. But even if he is wide awake I'll lay him down in his crib or rock n play and let him hang out while I kind of sleep some more.
- The two struggles currently are day time naps and driving in the car.
Naps- still exactly 30 minutes every single time. At least they are now in his crib, but always 30 minutes. I can not wait to cross this mile stone and be on a better nap schedule. The day is pretty routine- nap at 9am, 12pm, and 3pm... we just need them to be a little longer.
Car drives- If I don't time it perfectly, he screams for car rides. He is normally such a happy baby, but for some reason he gets crazy man in the car. So two things happen.... either I time car rides right before he gets tired so I know he will fall alseep, or I prepare myself for a car ride of screaming and just deal with it.
- Its funny how different kids can be. At this stage Ryan was log rolling all over the house all day long. Patrick has rolled once or twice from his back to his belly, and once or twice from his belly to his back... but thats it. He just has no interest in rolling. And Ryan would do 360s in his crib all night long, hitting every inch of his crib... and Patrick wakes up in the exact same spot he fell asleep in.
-He is still super smiley and I get lots of good laughs when I tickle his thighs or neck. Such a cute baby.
-For the most part he is happy, easy going, and just kind of takes in the things to go on around him.
-He is still only breastfed. He is nursing well, so as long as I can pump well when i'm working, I will continue as long as I can. But he is starting to show interest in food, follows and reaches for my food when I am eating, so I think we will introduce some fruits and veggies at 6 months. We are going to skip the cereals all together.
-As of his 5 month appointment, he is no longer being vaccinated. I am debating writing a different post about this. I have been doing a ton of research and we are happy with this decision, but I don't want to start any debates. We will see.
-His new hair is growing in, its lighter than when he was born, but not blonde like his brother. His eyes are also starting to get darker. I am starting to think Patrick looks more and more like his cousin JJ and less like Ryan. I can still see some similarities in their noses and mouth area, but really they are very different.
Basically he is doing really great. Mike and I just love his sweet face and Ryan is becoming very protective of his little brother. Life is good!
Ryan at 5 months- just for comparison (Ryan was a chunky monkey)
The facts-
Patrick is 15 lbs 9 oz
Wears size 3-6 months
Size 2 diapers
Whats going on this month:
- The beginning of this month was rough. I don't know if Patrick was teething or had a little tummy virus, but he was having a hard time. He started (and actually still has) super gross poopy diapers multiple times a day, the drool started pouring, low 99-100 fevers almost every day for a week or so, he was very cranky, and he had bad sleep regression. Things seem to be getting better. He is happier and back to sleeping better, no more fevers, but still no teeth. Who knows what was going on.
-Night sleeping- He totally had awful 4 month sleep regression. He started waking much more frequently, and had a hard time falling asleep. I tried to continue the sleep training, I didn't feed him until at least 4 am and I would try to sooth him without picking him up, but it was a few weeks of feeling like I had a new born again.
Now things are better, he is on a pretty regular routine. Bedtime routine starts around 6:30 and he is normally asleep by 7:00-7:15. Then he will sleep through the night til sometime between 4-5:30am. Then I nurse him and we both kind of dose off again. After this wake up its kind of dicey. Some nights he goes back to sleep, some nights he wakes up like he is ready for the day. I never know what I"ll get. But even if he is wide awake I'll lay him down in his crib or rock n play and let him hang out while I kind of sleep some more.
- The two struggles currently are day time naps and driving in the car.
Naps- still exactly 30 minutes every single time. At least they are now in his crib, but always 30 minutes. I can not wait to cross this mile stone and be on a better nap schedule. The day is pretty routine- nap at 9am, 12pm, and 3pm... we just need them to be a little longer.
Car drives- If I don't time it perfectly, he screams for car rides. He is normally such a happy baby, but for some reason he gets crazy man in the car. So two things happen.... either I time car rides right before he gets tired so I know he will fall alseep, or I prepare myself for a car ride of screaming and just deal with it.
- Its funny how different kids can be. At this stage Ryan was log rolling all over the house all day long. Patrick has rolled once or twice from his back to his belly, and once or twice from his belly to his back... but thats it. He just has no interest in rolling. And Ryan would do 360s in his crib all night long, hitting every inch of his crib... and Patrick wakes up in the exact same spot he fell asleep in.
-He is still super smiley and I get lots of good laughs when I tickle his thighs or neck. Such a cute baby.
-For the most part he is happy, easy going, and just kind of takes in the things to go on around him.
-He is still only breastfed. He is nursing well, so as long as I can pump well when i'm working, I will continue as long as I can. But he is starting to show interest in food, follows and reaches for my food when I am eating, so I think we will introduce some fruits and veggies at 6 months. We are going to skip the cereals all together.
-As of his 5 month appointment, he is no longer being vaccinated. I am debating writing a different post about this. I have been doing a ton of research and we are happy with this decision, but I don't want to start any debates. We will see.
-His new hair is growing in, its lighter than when he was born, but not blonde like his brother. His eyes are also starting to get darker. I am starting to think Patrick looks more and more like his cousin JJ and less like Ryan. I can still see some similarities in their noses and mouth area, but really they are very different.
Basically he is doing really great. Mike and I just love his sweet face and Ryan is becoming very protective of his little brother. Life is good!
Ryan at 5 months- just for comparison (Ryan was a chunky monkey)
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
A day in the life...
I haven't done one of these in a while, and especially with the addition of a baby into our routine I figured it's time. I'll want to look back on these crazy days.
Patrick is 5 months old and Ryan is 3 years and 3 months.
We are starting to fall into a routine. Each day is different depending on if it's a school day or a soon to be work day, but each day has it's own routine.
Today is a Wednesday- school in the morning and my first night back to work doing hair at night.
5:00am
The day begins. Patrick is up and ready to nurse. I feed him and we both dose in and out of sleep between 5:30-6:30 but he never officially goes back to sleep.
7:00 am
Ryan wakes up and joins us in bed. I feed Patrick his first official nursing of the day. The boys watch Chugginton as Mike leaves for work and I get up and dressed.
8:00 am
Full blown get ready for the day. Getting Ryan breakfast and dressed, getting Patrick a clean diaper and dressed, quick clean up the kitchen, then out the door.
9:00am
Drop Ryan off at school. Patrick falls asleep in the car, so it's going to be a car nap morning. I drive to the Brick Starbucks because it's drive through and a good distance away to let Patrick sleep.
10:00 am
Nurse Patrick in the car in the Target parking lot. I need to get a few things and there is not enough time to go home first. After he is done eating, I shop. Best place to go when you need milk, pull ups, and a new shirt all in one stop!
11:10 am
Time to head back to pick Ryan up (he gets out at 11:30). Of course we manage to hit traffic and Patrick screams the whole time.
11:45 am
We are back home. I unload the car and bring Patrick up for a nap. Thankfully Ryan played by himself for a few minutes for me to get settled.
12:20 pm
Patrick is already wide awake and crying. I'm so tired of these 30 minute naps. Anyway, I'm keeping Patrick content since he is cranky after his too short nap and make Ryan lunch. Today Ryan deciding to set the table for all of his "friends" to eat lunch with him.
1:00 pm
Normally this is one of my favorite hours of the day. I get Ryan down for a nap and it's time to feed Patrick again. But this is one time I get to sit and relax for a few minutes. Hopefully Ryan goes to sleep, Patrick nurses for about 30 minutes and I just chill.
Today isn't as smooth. Ryan had a tummy ache and needs an extra few trips to the potty and doesn't get settled for a while.
1:30 pm
Patrick is fed and happy, Ryan is napping... Time to get a few things done. Patrick plays and I eat lunch, do the dishes, prep the salon for later, and throw in a load if laundry.
2:30 pm
Little guy is getting a little cranky and needs some mommy attention. We play a little, sing some songs, walk around the house... What else do you do to entertain baby?
3:00 pm
Patrick nap time again. I put him down at 3:11 and he woke at 3:41... I told you, exactly 30 minutes. Anyway, Ryan was still napping so I actually had a half hour to myself. Of course I peed, made a cup of coffee and then realized "oh crap I didn't plan anything for dinner". So I spent the time thinking about dinner, returning texts/emails, filling in my calendar, making my to do list for tomorrow, etc.
3:41 pm everyone's awake
4:00 pm
nursing patrick, Ryan gets to watch 1 tv show on the iPad
4:30-6:30 pm
I'm working in the salon, the boys are with Gigi. The house is a bit loud and chaotic.
6:45pm
My mom leaves and it's time to start Patricks bedtime routine. Tonight I just change his diaper and pjs, and nurse him to sleep. Ryan watches Mickey Mouse in mommy and daddy's bed so that I can be with Patrick. I'm super hungry and still never figured out dinner for Mike and I. Ugh.
7:30pm
Ryan's turn for bedtime. It's a bath night so a quick bath and I attempt to keep it as quiet as possible. Brush teeth, book, and in bed he is.
8:00pm
Dinner time for me. Since I didn't prep anything and mikes still not home from work, I had left overs.
8:20pm
Mike gets home from work! Woohoo!
8:30 pm
Clean up the rest of the toys, unload the dishwasher, clean the salon, go through the mail... Most importantly decide I am NOT going to work out tonight. I guess I'll do a double tomorrow instead.
9:00 pm
Boys are sound asleep, time for a nice long shower in peace!
9:30 pm
Getting sleepy, packing the boys up for tomorrow and a few minutes of chit chat with my hubby that I didn't talk to all day. Oh and a typing up this post.
10:00 pm
My nightly date with the breast pump!
Last but not least- 10:25 climbing into bed. Five am is going to come very quickly.
Goodnight!
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Patrick is 5 months old and Ryan is 3 years and 3 months.
We are starting to fall into a routine. Each day is different depending on if it's a school day or a soon to be work day, but each day has it's own routine.
Today is a Wednesday- school in the morning and my first night back to work doing hair at night.
5:00am
The day begins. Patrick is up and ready to nurse. I feed him and we both dose in and out of sleep between 5:30-6:30 but he never officially goes back to sleep.
7:00 am
Ryan wakes up and joins us in bed. I feed Patrick his first official nursing of the day. The boys watch Chugginton as Mike leaves for work and I get up and dressed.
8:00 am
Full blown get ready for the day. Getting Ryan breakfast and dressed, getting Patrick a clean diaper and dressed, quick clean up the kitchen, then out the door.
9:00am
Drop Ryan off at school. Patrick falls asleep in the car, so it's going to be a car nap morning. I drive to the Brick Starbucks because it's drive through and a good distance away to let Patrick sleep.
10:00 am
Nurse Patrick in the car in the Target parking lot. I need to get a few things and there is not enough time to go home first. After he is done eating, I shop. Best place to go when you need milk, pull ups, and a new shirt all in one stop!
11:10 am
Time to head back to pick Ryan up (he gets out at 11:30). Of course we manage to hit traffic and Patrick screams the whole time.
11:45 am
We are back home. I unload the car and bring Patrick up for a nap. Thankfully Ryan played by himself for a few minutes for me to get settled.
12:20 pm
Patrick is already wide awake and crying. I'm so tired of these 30 minute naps. Anyway, I'm keeping Patrick content since he is cranky after his too short nap and make Ryan lunch. Today Ryan deciding to set the table for all of his "friends" to eat lunch with him.
1:00 pm
Normally this is one of my favorite hours of the day. I get Ryan down for a nap and it's time to feed Patrick again. But this is one time I get to sit and relax for a few minutes. Hopefully Ryan goes to sleep, Patrick nurses for about 30 minutes and I just chill.
Today isn't as smooth. Ryan had a tummy ache and needs an extra few trips to the potty and doesn't get settled for a while.
1:30 pm
Patrick is fed and happy, Ryan is napping... Time to get a few things done. Patrick plays and I eat lunch, do the dishes, prep the salon for later, and throw in a load if laundry.
2:30 pm
Little guy is getting a little cranky and needs some mommy attention. We play a little, sing some songs, walk around the house... What else do you do to entertain baby?
3:00 pm
Patrick nap time again. I put him down at 3:11 and he woke at 3:41... I told you, exactly 30 minutes. Anyway, Ryan was still napping so I actually had a half hour to myself. Of course I peed, made a cup of coffee and then realized "oh crap I didn't plan anything for dinner". So I spent the time thinking about dinner, returning texts/emails, filling in my calendar, making my to do list for tomorrow, etc.
3:41 pm everyone's awake
4:00 pm
nursing patrick, Ryan gets to watch 1 tv show on the iPad
4:30-6:30 pm
I'm working in the salon, the boys are with Gigi. The house is a bit loud and chaotic.
6:45pm
My mom leaves and it's time to start Patricks bedtime routine. Tonight I just change his diaper and pjs, and nurse him to sleep. Ryan watches Mickey Mouse in mommy and daddy's bed so that I can be with Patrick. I'm super hungry and still never figured out dinner for Mike and I. Ugh.
7:30pm
Ryan's turn for bedtime. It's a bath night so a quick bath and I attempt to keep it as quiet as possible. Brush teeth, book, and in bed he is.
8:00pm
Dinner time for me. Since I didn't prep anything and mikes still not home from work, I had left overs.
8:20pm
Mike gets home from work! Woohoo!
8:30 pm
Clean up the rest of the toys, unload the dishwasher, clean the salon, go through the mail... Most importantly decide I am NOT going to work out tonight. I guess I'll do a double tomorrow instead.
9:00 pm
Boys are sound asleep, time for a nice long shower in peace!
9:30 pm
Getting sleepy, packing the boys up for tomorrow and a few minutes of chit chat with my hubby that I didn't talk to all day. Oh and a typing up this post.
10:00 pm
My nightly date with the breast pump!
Last but not least- 10:25 climbing into bed. Five am is going to come very quickly.
Goodnight!
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
We always new Ryan was a little extra special
I want to make this as short and to the point as possible... I need to write it out and I want to record the process so I can refer back to it, but I could probably write for days on this topic. But here is the story (in bullet points) about why Ryan is now recieving OT and Speech.
- From birth Ryan has always been full of challenges. Colic, difficulty nursing, always appeared anxious, cradle cap, and eczema. Then once he turned one we found out about the food allergies and he has had frequent outbreaks since. He had delayed speech issue and constant drooling. And as he got older I was starting to get concerned about his behavior. My mommy gut told me something else was going on.
-We had him evaluated by early intervention at 2years old, and he tested high enough to not need any services, not even for speech.
- At about 2.5 years old, his school recommended we do a follow up speech eval because it was definitely a concern. And they also brought up doing the full developmental evaluation because of some other minor issues they were seeing (more about this in a minute).
-He did have a speech eval in November 2013, and he started receiving speech therapy right away.
- The speech started to improve, but like the teachers mentioned, I was also continuing to see the behaviors issues. Finally right after his 3rd birthday we went to Children's Specialized Hospital to get a full developmental evaluation.
- In a minute I will list some of the things that had me concerned. There were many days that I would think he was just being a totally normal 3 year old toddler, and then there were days that I would be so worried and keep thinking "why is he doing that". Thats when I started asking other people their opinions- his teachers, his speech therapist, his pediatrician. Considering he was my first child, I had no idea what was normal behavior vs. not normal. But like I said, my gut was telling me something is going on. Here is a list of just some of the things that caught my attention:
constantly hyper
very sensitive
very emotional
very physical
hitting and touching things constantly
constant swinging of hands, banging his head, kicking his feet
drool
shoveling food in his mouth
talking very loudly
constant talking (even if we can't understand what he is saying)
can't sit still
never really plays with anything- just moves around the room jumping from toy to toy
multiple extreme tantrums every day
avoid big groups
gets overstimulated by large groups or loud places
over away of all noise
separates himself from friends at school
wants to hang out with the adults not kids his age
has trouble falling asleep at night (getting worse as he gets older)
still needs binky to sleep
But he is also one of the sweetest, most loving kids I have ever met. He has the sweetest heart and he is truly a love bug. He loves everyone, he is enthusiast about everything, he loves giving hugs and kisses, he talks about his friends all the time, he is always asking to go visit people. He remembers everything! If you meet him once and play with him even just for a few minutes, he will remember you and look forward to seeing you again.
I am sure there is more- I don't have my list in front of me. But these are just the ones that come to mind right now.
-So these can all be normal toddler behaviors, but when one child has all of these characteristics, and they have them in many different sensory areas (visual, auditory, etc), then it can be a sign of concern.
-The initial evaluation validated my concern. We left that appointment with a diagnosis of ADHD and Sensory Processing Disorder. I was told that they normally don't diagnose ADHD until at least 5 years old, but he had clear symptoms in every category to make a confident diagnosis now. They also checked for signs of high functioning autism... they do not believe he is on that spectrum at this time, even though he does have a few of the traits. Anyway I left feeling two things...first was a sense of relief. With a diagnosis means we can get some help and hopefully make changes so that Ryan has a better chance of improving (such a bad word choice, but can't think of anything else) as he gets older. But also I was sad for him. As a teacher, I can see things from the other perspective. I remember the students with Autism and ADD and ADHD and how much they struggled in a high school setting. I remember how they were looked at as the weird kids in class by the other students. To think of Ryan as being anything but loved by everyone around him, made me very sad. I hated the idea of putting a label on him at such a young age. But like I said, he needs that label in order to receive services.
-After that appointment we were recommended for a speech eval, an Occupational therapy eval, and a pysch eval. So far we have done the ST and OT. But evals proved that yes he did qualify and need both therapies. The speech eval showed him at a very high level of comprehension and intelligent (not surprised at all....he is super smart, he shocks us every day) but a low muscle tone of the mouth and jaw and trouble with annunciation. The OT eval was more detailed. She recommended that he come for therapy twice a week for 3 months. The eval showed concerns with his body awareness, hyper activity, lack of focus, auditory processing, and sensory seeking behaviors.
-So that brings us to where we are now. We are really just starting the process. We have finished the evaluations, we are scheduled to start therapy next week, and hopefully we will see some changes.
-This week was extra hard, his behavior at home has just been wild (there is really no other way to describe it). He is constantly in motion, he has smashed his head into many things for no real reason, his hands and feet are out of control, he runs around just screaming random noises, he goes from being crazy to crying and apologizing within seconds.... Mike and I are at a loss. I'm thankful that we are starting this process because I need help on how to help him at home. Ironically, his behavior in bigger groups (play dates, birthday parties, school) has gotten better recently... its the behavior at home that has gotten out of control.
-Lastly, as we are starting down this road, it has lead me to doing a lot of research on what I can be doing at home to compliment what they will be doing in therapy. I have since found a tremendous amount of information and connections between nutrition, diet, the immune system, and gut health and behavior/brain disabilities such as Autism, ADHD, SPD, Asbergers. Also the connection between chronic skin conditions and allergies.
-That brings us back to why I brought up Ryan's health as a baby... because I am seeing how its all connected. Immune system and gut health affects skin conditions and allergies and ultimately the brain. Its not by chance that he has had issues with his gut, his skin, and now his brain. Its all connected. So its my job now to do everything I can do to improve his immune system and gut health so that he has a better chance at fighting the chronic conditions of eczema, allergies, and now ADHD. AND I want to be more educated and proactive for Patrick so that hopefully we do not have to go down this road again. More about how I am going about doing this to come in a later post!
- From birth Ryan has always been full of challenges. Colic, difficulty nursing, always appeared anxious, cradle cap, and eczema. Then once he turned one we found out about the food allergies and he has had frequent outbreaks since. He had delayed speech issue and constant drooling. And as he got older I was starting to get concerned about his behavior. My mommy gut told me something else was going on.
-We had him evaluated by early intervention at 2years old, and he tested high enough to not need any services, not even for speech.
- At about 2.5 years old, his school recommended we do a follow up speech eval because it was definitely a concern. And they also brought up doing the full developmental evaluation because of some other minor issues they were seeing (more about this in a minute).
-He did have a speech eval in November 2013, and he started receiving speech therapy right away.
- The speech started to improve, but like the teachers mentioned, I was also continuing to see the behaviors issues. Finally right after his 3rd birthday we went to Children's Specialized Hospital to get a full developmental evaluation.
- In a minute I will list some of the things that had me concerned. There were many days that I would think he was just being a totally normal 3 year old toddler, and then there were days that I would be so worried and keep thinking "why is he doing that". Thats when I started asking other people their opinions- his teachers, his speech therapist, his pediatrician. Considering he was my first child, I had no idea what was normal behavior vs. not normal. But like I said, my gut was telling me something is going on. Here is a list of just some of the things that caught my attention:
constantly hyper
very sensitive
very emotional
very physical
hitting and touching things constantly
constant swinging of hands, banging his head, kicking his feet
drool
shoveling food in his mouth
talking very loudly
constant talking (even if we can't understand what he is saying)
can't sit still
never really plays with anything- just moves around the room jumping from toy to toy
multiple extreme tantrums every day
avoid big groups
gets overstimulated by large groups or loud places
over away of all noise
separates himself from friends at school
wants to hang out with the adults not kids his age
has trouble falling asleep at night (getting worse as he gets older)
still needs binky to sleep
But he is also one of the sweetest, most loving kids I have ever met. He has the sweetest heart and he is truly a love bug. He loves everyone, he is enthusiast about everything, he loves giving hugs and kisses, he talks about his friends all the time, he is always asking to go visit people. He remembers everything! If you meet him once and play with him even just for a few minutes, he will remember you and look forward to seeing you again.
I am sure there is more- I don't have my list in front of me. But these are just the ones that come to mind right now.
-So these can all be normal toddler behaviors, but when one child has all of these characteristics, and they have them in many different sensory areas (visual, auditory, etc), then it can be a sign of concern.
-The initial evaluation validated my concern. We left that appointment with a diagnosis of ADHD and Sensory Processing Disorder. I was told that they normally don't diagnose ADHD until at least 5 years old, but he had clear symptoms in every category to make a confident diagnosis now. They also checked for signs of high functioning autism... they do not believe he is on that spectrum at this time, even though he does have a few of the traits. Anyway I left feeling two things...first was a sense of relief. With a diagnosis means we can get some help and hopefully make changes so that Ryan has a better chance of improving (such a bad word choice, but can't think of anything else) as he gets older. But also I was sad for him. As a teacher, I can see things from the other perspective. I remember the students with Autism and ADD and ADHD and how much they struggled in a high school setting. I remember how they were looked at as the weird kids in class by the other students. To think of Ryan as being anything but loved by everyone around him, made me very sad. I hated the idea of putting a label on him at such a young age. But like I said, he needs that label in order to receive services.
-After that appointment we were recommended for a speech eval, an Occupational therapy eval, and a pysch eval. So far we have done the ST and OT. But evals proved that yes he did qualify and need both therapies. The speech eval showed him at a very high level of comprehension and intelligent (not surprised at all....he is super smart, he shocks us every day) but a low muscle tone of the mouth and jaw and trouble with annunciation. The OT eval was more detailed. She recommended that he come for therapy twice a week for 3 months. The eval showed concerns with his body awareness, hyper activity, lack of focus, auditory processing, and sensory seeking behaviors.
-So that brings us to where we are now. We are really just starting the process. We have finished the evaluations, we are scheduled to start therapy next week, and hopefully we will see some changes.
-This week was extra hard, his behavior at home has just been wild (there is really no other way to describe it). He is constantly in motion, he has smashed his head into many things for no real reason, his hands and feet are out of control, he runs around just screaming random noises, he goes from being crazy to crying and apologizing within seconds.... Mike and I are at a loss. I'm thankful that we are starting this process because I need help on how to help him at home. Ironically, his behavior in bigger groups (play dates, birthday parties, school) has gotten better recently... its the behavior at home that has gotten out of control.
-Lastly, as we are starting down this road, it has lead me to doing a lot of research on what I can be doing at home to compliment what they will be doing in therapy. I have since found a tremendous amount of information and connections between nutrition, diet, the immune system, and gut health and behavior/brain disabilities such as Autism, ADHD, SPD, Asbergers. Also the connection between chronic skin conditions and allergies.
-That brings us back to why I brought up Ryan's health as a baby... because I am seeing how its all connected. Immune system and gut health affects skin conditions and allergies and ultimately the brain. Its not by chance that he has had issues with his gut, his skin, and now his brain. Its all connected. So its my job now to do everything I can do to improve his immune system and gut health so that he has a better chance at fighting the chronic conditions of eczema, allergies, and now ADHD. AND I want to be more educated and proactive for Patrick so that hopefully we do not have to go down this road again. More about how I am going about doing this to come in a later post!
Summer is a-coming...and I'm stressed
Yay, summer is here! The weather is getting warmer, the pool is open, beach days are planned, and the weekends are filling up fast! Sooo why am I stuck in a rut and filled with anxiety about the upcoming months?!?!
The biggest issue is the time has finally come to start making plans to return to work. June 15th I start with hair clients and then July 7 I return to the office. I pushed it off as long as I could and we didn't win the mega millions (yet, I can still dream right), so I need to figure out the logistics of how to make this work. I never knew before having kids how desperately I would want to be a stay at home mom. I always assumed I would be a career women (and I have plenty of student loans and a variety of degrees to prove it). I didn't image that I would be completely fulfilled, motivated, and overall happy by being a stay at home mom.
Taking care of my boys, the house, my husband... its all hard work and frequently overwhelming, but its the best job I could ever ask for. So just like when Ryan was a baby, the anticipation of going back to work is killing me!
In addition to the actual act of going back to work, I haven't figure it all out yet. I know I have to work 20 hours a week for Dr. Rob, and 2-3 days a week for hair, and I have a certain dollar amount that I have to make each week for us to keep living with our budget (which is already pretty tight). But I have not figured out how to make that happen. I need more hours of child care, but paying for child care just takes away from the money I"m making. The puzzle pieces have not worked themselves out yet. Until I get a game planned laid out, I will continue to panic and wake up in the middle of the night with this feeling of dread. Ugh I hate this part!
On top of the return to work, we are also starting with Ryan's new therapy routine. I found out today that Tuesdays, which use to be a day off to spend with the boys, will now be filled with speech and occupational therapy. We will be at Children's Specialized Hospital from 9-10am, come home for lunch and nap, and then go back from 4-5pm. I am still waiting to schedule one more hour of therapy at another time during the week. That will be our routine for June-August and then we will re-evaluate at the end of the summer. I know, I know....this may be confusing because I still have not written the post about Ryan's new diagnosis. It's coming, I promise! I need to write it all out soon, just to help get it off my chest.
And another twist to this summer, it appears that two of my best friends will both be moving out of the state of New Jersey this summer (one definitely, Jackie leaves for good in like 2 weeks- and the other, Kelly, is very probable). This is kind of breaking my heart. These girls are 2 of my high school BFF's that have been with me through everything the last 15 years. Their husbands are now Mike's best buds and their kids are Ryan's best buds.... these are our go to people for everything- play dates, football Sundays, date nights, girls nights, vacations etc. etc. I know that them moving far away isn't the end of our friendships. Like I said they are my very best friends, distance isn't going to end that. But it sure will change things. I'm so happy for them, because I know how happy they are, but I am sad for me and my family. Now Kelli and Heather- You guys better not go anywhere!!!
So between going back to work, finding a new more hectic routine, dealing with Ryan's appointments and extra needs, my friends moving away, and oh yea- I have a new baby to take care of... this summer feels like kind of a bummer. I"m really trying to stay focused on the positive, the fun things we have planned, but its hard right now. Lots of prayers and positive thoughts and hopefully the anxiety will eventually melt away.
The biggest issue is the time has finally come to start making plans to return to work. June 15th I start with hair clients and then July 7 I return to the office. I pushed it off as long as I could and we didn't win the mega millions (yet, I can still dream right), so I need to figure out the logistics of how to make this work. I never knew before having kids how desperately I would want to be a stay at home mom. I always assumed I would be a career women (and I have plenty of student loans and a variety of degrees to prove it). I didn't image that I would be completely fulfilled, motivated, and overall happy by being a stay at home mom.
Taking care of my boys, the house, my husband... its all hard work and frequently overwhelming, but its the best job I could ever ask for. So just like when Ryan was a baby, the anticipation of going back to work is killing me!
In addition to the actual act of going back to work, I haven't figure it all out yet. I know I have to work 20 hours a week for Dr. Rob, and 2-3 days a week for hair, and I have a certain dollar amount that I have to make each week for us to keep living with our budget (which is already pretty tight). But I have not figured out how to make that happen. I need more hours of child care, but paying for child care just takes away from the money I"m making. The puzzle pieces have not worked themselves out yet. Until I get a game planned laid out, I will continue to panic and wake up in the middle of the night with this feeling of dread. Ugh I hate this part!
On top of the return to work, we are also starting with Ryan's new therapy routine. I found out today that Tuesdays, which use to be a day off to spend with the boys, will now be filled with speech and occupational therapy. We will be at Children's Specialized Hospital from 9-10am, come home for lunch and nap, and then go back from 4-5pm. I am still waiting to schedule one more hour of therapy at another time during the week. That will be our routine for June-August and then we will re-evaluate at the end of the summer. I know, I know....this may be confusing because I still have not written the post about Ryan's new diagnosis. It's coming, I promise! I need to write it all out soon, just to help get it off my chest.
And another twist to this summer, it appears that two of my best friends will both be moving out of the state of New Jersey this summer (one definitely, Jackie leaves for good in like 2 weeks- and the other, Kelly, is very probable). This is kind of breaking my heart. These girls are 2 of my high school BFF's that have been with me through everything the last 15 years. Their husbands are now Mike's best buds and their kids are Ryan's best buds.... these are our go to people for everything- play dates, football Sundays, date nights, girls nights, vacations etc. etc. I know that them moving far away isn't the end of our friendships. Like I said they are my very best friends, distance isn't going to end that. But it sure will change things. I'm so happy for them, because I know how happy they are, but I am sad for me and my family. Now Kelli and Heather- You guys better not go anywhere!!!
So between going back to work, finding a new more hectic routine, dealing with Ryan's appointments and extra needs, my friends moving away, and oh yea- I have a new baby to take care of... this summer feels like kind of a bummer. I"m really trying to stay focused on the positive, the fun things we have planned, but its hard right now. Lots of prayers and positive thoughts and hopefully the anxiety will eventually melt away.
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Patrick- 4 months whoop whoop
We have reached the 4 month mark... this is a big deal for me. I feel like 4 months is the beginning of life getting back to normal. Sleep is a little (very little) bit better, naps will start to fall into a routine, mommy starts to feel like her old self. Its also scary how fast this is going. I mean its already May... when the hell did that happen!? I definitely think second baby grows up even faster than the first.
So here are some of the fun facts and milestones of this stage.
-Patrick weighs 14lbs and 4 oz
-We just switched him over to 3-6 month clothes, still size 2 diapers
-He is still only breastfed (wooo hoo!)
-He is a very happy, sweet baby. Lots of smiles all day. I am not use to a baby that just sits back and takes the world in for the most part.
-He is starting to play with toys. His green bouncy chair (ironically Ryan's favorite chair too) is his favorite place to hang and reach for the dangling toys above. Thats when I get the chance to cook, straighten up, play with Ryan.
-The few times he gets upset and cries.... he really cries! He has one of the loudest cries I have ever heard and people are frequently commenting on how loud he can be. I am grateful he doesn't cry often!
-He has found his hands and feet and he is completely fascinated with them.
-He wants to roll, but doesn't yet. He gets up onto his side and then just hangs out there. I think it will happen any day.
-Tummy time is not his favorite, but mean mommy makes him do it daily. I have a feeling he will like stomach sleeping when he finally gets comfortable with rolling back and forth.
-Cradle cap is still going strong. Yuck, I'm over it. I'm nervous because I know there is some connection between cradle cap and other skin issues and diet issues. I"m just praying I can be a little more proactive so that hopefully he doens't follow the same path Ryan was on as a baby.
-We are slowly getting into a routine. I think there is a big change between 3-4 months. He is able to nap in the Rock N Play, not for longer than 30 minutes, but at least I can get some hands free time. His days are also pretty regular. He eats every 3 hours, plays about 1.5 hours, and then starts to get a little fussy for nap time. Right now is still tricky because the naps are so quick and he doesn't wake up well rested, but we are moving in the right direction. By the middle of the afternoon I normally give in and will get him back to sleep in my arms... I figure at least he is getting on good long nap a day. But I am feeling more hopeful that he will be on a good morning and afternoon nap schedule soon.
-We stopped swaddling him at exactly 4 months. He would wake up out of the swaddle and was scratching his face, and rolling onto his face... anyway it was time to move on. Now he is in the zipadee-zizp transitions swaddle blanket (thanks jackie!). So far so good. He isn't sleeping totally through the night yet, but he seems to be doing okay with the transition. I think he likes the movement. Its a great little blanket because his arms and legs are still all zipped into the sleep sack but he is able to move around and roll. I guess why its called a transition swaddle... its exactly that.
-Night time sleep... this kid is all over the place. Some nights he sleeps great (like 7pm to 5:00am and then back to sleep til 7) and some nights are awful (like last night, up from 1-2am, then again at 3, and again at 4:40 and again at 5:45 am before I gave up and let him sleep with me). I am never sure what I am going to get. I don't normally nurse him the first time or two that he wakes up. My rule is that if its before 4am then he can't be hungry and I try to just help soothe him back to sleep in the crib. If its after 4am I will nurse him and lay him back down. But there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason with the waking, and it doesn't seem to be a habit (like waking at 3:30am every night). Some nights it seems like its a growth spurt, some nights it seems like early teething- it could also be that 4 month sleep regression I hear about (something in regards to going through a major brain developmental stage that interferes with their sleep)... whatever it is, I'm looking forward to moving past it. I really can't complain, he is still much better than Ryan was at this age.... but I am really for consistent night sleeping.
-And a side note- I don't care what anyone says, I can see the similarities between Ryan and Patrick. There is something in the eyes, nose, mouth part of their faces, and the facial expressions that the make... I can totally see it. Ryan was chubbier at this point, and Patrick is still darker coloring (not by much), but I think they look alike. We will see.
Anyway, its amazing how I can't even remember life without Patrick in it. Our life and routine got flipped upside down, and we are still adjusting to a new normal, but he just fits into our world so perfectly that I can't imagine not having him in our world. I love him so much and his smiles are what get me through the day. And I already love to watch him interact with Ryan. They are going to be best buds :)
So here are some of the fun facts and milestones of this stage.
-Patrick weighs 14lbs and 4 oz
-We just switched him over to 3-6 month clothes, still size 2 diapers
-He is still only breastfed (wooo hoo!)
-He is a very happy, sweet baby. Lots of smiles all day. I am not use to a baby that just sits back and takes the world in for the most part.
-He is starting to play with toys. His green bouncy chair (ironically Ryan's favorite chair too) is his favorite place to hang and reach for the dangling toys above. Thats when I get the chance to cook, straighten up, play with Ryan.
-The few times he gets upset and cries.... he really cries! He has one of the loudest cries I have ever heard and people are frequently commenting on how loud he can be. I am grateful he doesn't cry often!
-He has found his hands and feet and he is completely fascinated with them.
-He wants to roll, but doesn't yet. He gets up onto his side and then just hangs out there. I think it will happen any day.
-Tummy time is not his favorite, but mean mommy makes him do it daily. I have a feeling he will like stomach sleeping when he finally gets comfortable with rolling back and forth.
-Cradle cap is still going strong. Yuck, I'm over it. I'm nervous because I know there is some connection between cradle cap and other skin issues and diet issues. I"m just praying I can be a little more proactive so that hopefully he doens't follow the same path Ryan was on as a baby.
-We are slowly getting into a routine. I think there is a big change between 3-4 months. He is able to nap in the Rock N Play, not for longer than 30 minutes, but at least I can get some hands free time. His days are also pretty regular. He eats every 3 hours, plays about 1.5 hours, and then starts to get a little fussy for nap time. Right now is still tricky because the naps are so quick and he doesn't wake up well rested, but we are moving in the right direction. By the middle of the afternoon I normally give in and will get him back to sleep in my arms... I figure at least he is getting on good long nap a day. But I am feeling more hopeful that he will be on a good morning and afternoon nap schedule soon.
-We stopped swaddling him at exactly 4 months. He would wake up out of the swaddle and was scratching his face, and rolling onto his face... anyway it was time to move on. Now he is in the zipadee-zizp transitions swaddle blanket (thanks jackie!). So far so good. He isn't sleeping totally through the night yet, but he seems to be doing okay with the transition. I think he likes the movement. Its a great little blanket because his arms and legs are still all zipped into the sleep sack but he is able to move around and roll. I guess why its called a transition swaddle... its exactly that.
-Night time sleep... this kid is all over the place. Some nights he sleeps great (like 7pm to 5:00am and then back to sleep til 7) and some nights are awful (like last night, up from 1-2am, then again at 3, and again at 4:40 and again at 5:45 am before I gave up and let him sleep with me). I am never sure what I am going to get. I don't normally nurse him the first time or two that he wakes up. My rule is that if its before 4am then he can't be hungry and I try to just help soothe him back to sleep in the crib. If its after 4am I will nurse him and lay him back down. But there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason with the waking, and it doesn't seem to be a habit (like waking at 3:30am every night). Some nights it seems like its a growth spurt, some nights it seems like early teething- it could also be that 4 month sleep regression I hear about (something in regards to going through a major brain developmental stage that interferes with their sleep)... whatever it is, I'm looking forward to moving past it. I really can't complain, he is still much better than Ryan was at this age.... but I am really for consistent night sleeping.
-And a side note- I don't care what anyone says, I can see the similarities between Ryan and Patrick. There is something in the eyes, nose, mouth part of their faces, and the facial expressions that the make... I can totally see it. Ryan was chubbier at this point, and Patrick is still darker coloring (not by much), but I think they look alike. We will see.
Anyway, its amazing how I can't even remember life without Patrick in it. Our life and routine got flipped upside down, and we are still adjusting to a new normal, but he just fits into our world so perfectly that I can't imagine not having him in our world. I love him so much and his smiles are what get me through the day. And I already love to watch him interact with Ryan. They are going to be best buds :)
Friday, April 25, 2014
How I met your Father
Last night as I was folding the millionth load of laundry for the day, I was thinking back on our love story. Mike and I don't have a simple story... We didn't meet, start dating, get married. We met, we were friends, we went long stretches of not talking, then get back in touch, then loose touch... It took a while. Whenever someone says how did you meet or how long have you been together, it's always a long story. Here is our timeline:
Fall 2001- we briefly met for the first time. I was still living at home going to community college and I went to visit Heather at Rider University. I was just hanging in her dorm room (which seemed extra cool since I didn't go away to college yet) when a friend of ours from high school came by with his new roommate. Mike was that random roommate. It was a brief hello, definitely not love at first site, and them they were on their way. Mike recalls that when they came by, I was jumping on heathers bed. His first impression was "wow that girl is nuts!"
We met a few other random times that year. I was still with my high school bf and he had his new college romance. Never expected that he would one day be my husband.
February 2003- The first real time we hung out. At this time I was going to school at Towson University. I was "dating" this guy Chris... I use the term loosely because it was more like I was obsessing over Chris while he was casually going out with me. I was having a hard time and Heather said I needed to get my butt up to Rider to visit her and take a break from Chris. So that's what I did. I borrowed Chris' very pretty BMW and headed for a weekend at Rider.
Saturday night heather brought me to a sorority/fraternity keg party... And you guessed it, Mike was there. Heather apparently asked him to hang out with me, keep me company, because I didn't know anyone there. Well he did a great job. We spent the whole night talking, flirting, dancing, and getting very drunk! My night ended with him giving me a shot of tequila. He claims the tequila was "punishment" for talking about Chris all night :)
I had an awesome night, but paid for it big time. I spent the whole 4 hour drive home the next day throwing up on the side of the road. It was one of the worst hangovers I ever had!
Side note- I was about 20 lbs heavier then and wearing an awful corduroy pants outfit... If mike thought I was cute on that particular night, I know he really likes me :)
From Spring 2003-Fall 2004 we barely spoke. There was the occasional IM (good old fashion instant messaging) but really I was living college life down at Towson and he was being a frat guy at Rider. I saw him occasionally if I visited Heather, but there was no special spark like the previous keg party.
November 2004- Heather invited me to attend a formal. Officially I was going as Kenny's date and Heather was going as mike's date. That was the only way we could all go together to this formal. This event jump started the attraction again. This was the night of our first kiss! We had an awesome time and I officially had a crush.
We ended up spending the entire weekend together- the formal Friday night, double date movies and Applebee's appetizers on Saturday with Heather and Kenny, and then I was given last minute tickets to the Giants game on Sunday, so why not invite mike to come with me. I think this Giants game is what I would consider our real first date. It was the first time we did something just the two of us. It was a pretty epic weekend. Lots of fun, drinking, hand holding, smooching. This was the first time I started thing "huh, this guy has potential, I like him."
Something crazy happened after that weekend... We barely spoke to each other! Haha this was becoming our thing, you know spending the weekend together, have a great time, act all couplely, then don't talk for months.
April 2005- another fraternity formal. This time Mike invited me as his date and it was a whole weekend event. It was great, again. We clicked, we liked each other, we had fun. Then I went home, and guess what... We barely spoke to each other again for a few more months.
September 2005- Mike had graduated college, I was done with my associates and had my cosmetology license. We both had grown up jobs. This is when we first started talking a little more regularly. We met for lunch a few times, we met up with a few mutual friends, we occasionally called or texted. But we were still unsure. I kept thinking "ah he is too nice" and he didn't seem overly driven to make anything happen. That Fall I even dated someone else for a little bit.
November 2005- We were finally getting over whatever was holding us back the past 4 years. I was going as his date to work events, we talked daily, the spark was back.
December 2, 2005 we finally went on a true, real date as a couple. Mike surprised me after work with Bon Jovi concert tickets! It was awesome and the first time we were both open about our feelings.
December continued this way. We lived an hour apart, but we spent pretty much every weekend together. New Years Eve it became official. Shortly after the ball drop he asked me if it was okay to change his MySpace status to "in a relationship" (I'm seriously laughing out loud as I type this)!
The rest is history. After 4 years of being all over the place, once we decided to give it a shot, we got pretty serious pretty fast.
St. Patty's day 2006 was the first time he said I love you (and I immediately threw up... But that's a story for another time)
December 2007 he proposed
March 3, 2008 we closed on our first house
And most importantly we got married June 26, 2009!
I can't believe this June is 5 years married and this Fall it will be 10 years since our first kiss!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Fall 2001- we briefly met for the first time. I was still living at home going to community college and I went to visit Heather at Rider University. I was just hanging in her dorm room (which seemed extra cool since I didn't go away to college yet) when a friend of ours from high school came by with his new roommate. Mike was that random roommate. It was a brief hello, definitely not love at first site, and them they were on their way. Mike recalls that when they came by, I was jumping on heathers bed. His first impression was "wow that girl is nuts!"
We met a few other random times that year. I was still with my high school bf and he had his new college romance. Never expected that he would one day be my husband.
February 2003- The first real time we hung out. At this time I was going to school at Towson University. I was "dating" this guy Chris... I use the term loosely because it was more like I was obsessing over Chris while he was casually going out with me. I was having a hard time and Heather said I needed to get my butt up to Rider to visit her and take a break from Chris. So that's what I did. I borrowed Chris' very pretty BMW and headed for a weekend at Rider.
Saturday night heather brought me to a sorority/fraternity keg party... And you guessed it, Mike was there. Heather apparently asked him to hang out with me, keep me company, because I didn't know anyone there. Well he did a great job. We spent the whole night talking, flirting, dancing, and getting very drunk! My night ended with him giving me a shot of tequila. He claims the tequila was "punishment" for talking about Chris all night :)
I had an awesome night, but paid for it big time. I spent the whole 4 hour drive home the next day throwing up on the side of the road. It was one of the worst hangovers I ever had!
Side note- I was about 20 lbs heavier then and wearing an awful corduroy pants outfit... If mike thought I was cute on that particular night, I know he really likes me :)
From Spring 2003-Fall 2004 we barely spoke. There was the occasional IM (good old fashion instant messaging) but really I was living college life down at Towson and he was being a frat guy at Rider. I saw him occasionally if I visited Heather, but there was no special spark like the previous keg party.
November 2004- Heather invited me to attend a formal. Officially I was going as Kenny's date and Heather was going as mike's date. That was the only way we could all go together to this formal. This event jump started the attraction again. This was the night of our first kiss! We had an awesome time and I officially had a crush.
Something crazy happened after that weekend... We barely spoke to each other! Haha this was becoming our thing, you know spending the weekend together, have a great time, act all couplely, then don't talk for months.
April 2005- another fraternity formal. This time Mike invited me as his date and it was a whole weekend event. It was great, again. We clicked, we liked each other, we had fun. Then I went home, and guess what... We barely spoke to each other again for a few more months.
September 2005- Mike had graduated college, I was done with my associates and had my cosmetology license. We both had grown up jobs. This is when we first started talking a little more regularly. We met for lunch a few times, we met up with a few mutual friends, we occasionally called or texted. But we were still unsure. I kept thinking "ah he is too nice" and he didn't seem overly driven to make anything happen. That Fall I even dated someone else for a little bit.
November 2005- We were finally getting over whatever was holding us back the past 4 years. I was going as his date to work events, we talked daily, the spark was back.
December 2, 2005 we finally went on a true, real date as a couple. Mike surprised me after work with Bon Jovi concert tickets! It was awesome and the first time we were both open about our feelings.
December continued this way. We lived an hour apart, but we spent pretty much every weekend together. New Years Eve it became official. Shortly after the ball drop he asked me if it was okay to change his MySpace status to "in a relationship" (I'm seriously laughing out loud as I type this)!
St. Patty's day 2006 was the first time he said I love you (and I immediately threw up... But that's a story for another time)
December 2007 he proposed
March 3, 2008 we closed on our first house
And most importantly we got married June 26, 2009!
I can't believe this June is 5 years married and this Fall it will be 10 years since our first kiss!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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