Esai is weaned.

Dec. 23, 2009

Two years, nine months, 11 days. I know that's much longer than most, but I'm still sad about it. But it was time. I was starting to feel awkward about it. And nursing two kids is just exhausting, even though Bug was only once a day. It was still tiring.

So, on Dec. 23, he asked for nummies, and I told "OK. This is the last time forever." He said OK and nursed for about 20 minutes. I held him, soaking up every moment, taking about 4,000 mental pictures. I talked to him and told him about the first time he nursed. It was our moment.

The next time he asked ot nurse, I told him "No, remember you're a big boy now." And he said "And big boys don't need nummies!" very proudly.

Hardly traumatic for him. Very sad for me.

My Bug is One of a Kind!

He walked a little late, but a week later he was running.

He talked a little late, but a week later he was talking in full sentences.

And we thought he'd wear diapers to college ... but all of a sudden: We haven't used a diaper (other than for naps and nighttime) in three days.

I'm so proud of him. He knows what's right for him, and he will do things when he's darn good and ready. Good for him!

Matias is weird.

He won't drink bottles, but is fine with sippies.

He doesn't like purees, but prefers to feed himself chunks of food.

Isn't he supposed to be a baby?

Menu: Nov. 16 to Nov. 22

Monday
Enchiladas
Mexican Rice

Tuesday
Leftovers

Wednesday
Slow-cooker pot roast
potatoes, carrots
crescent rolls

Thursday
Orange chicken
Veggies

Friday
Leftovers

Saturday
Burgers
Steak fries

Sunday
Seasoned chicken with rice
Veggies


Baking: Pumpkin pancakes ... ? 

Weekly Menu: Nov. 9-15

MONDAY

Enchiladas

Mexican Rice

TUESDAY

Leftovers

WEDNESDAY

Cheesy Acorn Squash

Steaks

 

THURSDAY

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan

Mushroom rice

Veggies

FRIDAY

Leftovers

SATURDAY 

Homemade pizza

Weekly Menu: Nov. 2 to Nov. 8

Monday
Beef Fajitas with tortillas, cheese, guac, sauteed onions and salsa
Refried beans
Mexican rice

Tuesday
Pork chops
Seasoned noodles
Veggies

Wednesday
Leftovers

Thursday
BBQ Pork Sandwiches
Veggies with Rice

Friday
Fish Sticks
Steak Fries
Veggies

Saturday
Leftovers

Sunday
Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff
Veggies

Extra Baking
Zucchini Bread
Caramel Apple Crumble Pie

Starting over ...

I've been horrible about keeping this blog up. But ... I'm starting over. I'm rededicating myself. I will blog. I will. At least once a week.

So, since my last post ... I'm now a stay-at-home mama! Love it. I don't love being broke, but I love watching my boys grow every day. I love watching them thrive. I am just so in love. Love, love, love!!!

Matias just wasn't doing well in daycare. He was completely rejecting bottles. And who can blame him? Nummies are just so cuddly.

My challenges are ... finding order to our days and weeks, accepting that order will be fleeting, making sure that their brains are stimulated, and finding adults to interact with during the day. As a means to solve at least a few of those issues, I'll be using this blog to post weekly menus, activities we do, activities we want to do, and -- of course -- PHOTOS!!!

I just want to say ...

God, I love my kids.

That's all.

After two weeks ...

Things are going quiet well at the Casa. I have to brag about my boys ... Esai's doing GREAT as a big brother. He knows the best way to calm a crying baby is to let mama hold him; so if Matias even peeps or grunts, Esai announces "Baby crying. Mama hold?" Yes, he has moments of jealousy (well, I'd call it more stress or confusion), but overall he's doing very well! I couldn't be prouder of my Bug.

Matias is a gem, as well ... of course. His first two weeks were sleepy, and he was quite content. It's only in the past few days he's developed (very suddenly) some gassiness. He seems really uncomfortable when he goes through it, and spends about two or three hours alternating between grunting, straining and crying. Other than that, he's still such a good baby! Very alert and STRONG ... man, he's got some neck muscles going already! He sleeps ... eh, fairly well. As an adept nurser, he can nurse while laying down; so that allows mama to get some sleep. And at his two-week appointment, he was already weighing 9 lbs 3 oz (that's TWO pounds above his birthweight).

Our biggest challenges are bedtime and naptime. Esai's kinda high-maintenance in those areas, so getting him down quickly (while Matias is asleep and content) has been a little stressful; but Rene's been awesome at helping us work through that one.

Overall ... just bliss. Seriously ... absolute BLISS!

Matias Isaiah Ornelas

Born at 12:58 a.m. on May 19, 2009
7 lbs, 1 oz.
19.5 inches long

10 toes, 10 fingers ... and I'm on cloud 9.

No surgery ... yet.

We met with an ENT about Esai's many symptoms. Apparently, he has huge tonsils and adenoids. He may or may not grow into them in a few years. The doc said we'll probably have to have them removed. We can do it now, or later. It's not an emergency.

At first, we were going to schedule the surgery for June. But then ... no. We just can't do it. Not yet. After watching the Bug recover from his last surgery, we're just not ready for that again. Selfish as I am, I can't endure it. I can't watch my baby go under anesthetic and pray that he wakes up. I can't let a happy boy go to sleep; then watch a confused kid wake up in pain and not really understand why.

If it were an emergency, we'd do it in a heartbeat. But not now.

At our last pediatric visit, the doc added Singulair to Esai's daily Zyrtec. That seems to have done the trick. In the past week, Esai hasn't had any cough-vomit fits. He hasn't been coughing in his sleep. His boogers have dried up. So, we can do this for a while. He doesn't seem to have any side effects from the drugs ... no sleepiness, no bloody noses, nothing. So, we'll do this for a while. If he gets bad again, or the drugs stop working, we'll re-evaluate the surgery angle.

Ahhh ... a return to cosleeping.

At 2 years old, most parents are struggling to get their kids out of their beds. Not us.

Esai started sleeping with us when he was about 5 months old. At about a year, it became apparent that NO ONE was loving the situation. Esai was not sleeping. I was not sleeping. Daddy was not sleeping. So ... we had to move him to his crib again. It was a rough adjustment for a week or so; but eventually, everyone slept better.

But I missed him so much. I missed hearing his snoring all night. I missed looking at his little chubby cheeks as he slept like an angel. And Rene has always been a fan of co-sleeping.

Then about two weeks ago, Esai got out of his big-boy bed for some water and asked me "Mommy's bed?" ::: swoon ::: And so, he slept half the night with mommy. And I just laid there and stared at him.

And since then, Esai's been spending anywhere from four to seven hours in his own bed; then climbing into bed with us. If he gets too restless or squirmy, he goes back into his bed. But for the most part, he wakes up with mama.

My gut is telling me this might make his transition into big brotherhood a little smoother. Plus, if he's already in bed with me, I don't have to get up in the middle of the night to tend to him when he wakes up. So it's a win-win.

And as a really cute side note: He doesn't ask for nummies when he lays down with me. He likes to hold my belly button. Once the "baby button" is in his hands, he can peacefully drift off to sleep.

Belly Henna by The Bug

How does a too-exhausted-to-play-Mommy-Horsey-or-read-"Going Up with Grover"-again mama keep a snowbound, high-energy toddler with cabin fever occupied?

A Letter to Esai's Doc

March 31, 2009

To: Dr. Chavez/Nurses

From: Sara Ornelas

Re: Esai Ornelas (Birthday: March 12, 2007)

After a very long, rough night, I thought this would be a good time to further address some of the allergy issues Esai’s had. I mentioned them to Dr. Chavez at Esai at the 2-year well-child appointment on March 26; but I don’t think I pressed the issue enough. It’s much easier for me to write these things out then to say them. I always forget to mention something. Plus, a high-energy 2-year-old running around the office is a bit distracting.

I don’t want to be that crazy mom (although, that’s probably not too much of a stretch) who demands invasive procedures on her kid, but I also don’t want to be that mom who just waits for things to unfold at the expense of my child’s health and comfort.

When I look at Esai’s symptoms, I see something very similar to what I saw in Anthony (our older son). Although I’m Anthony’s stepmother and didn’t meet him until he was 8, Rene and Anthony’s mom (Angela) have filled me in on a lot of Ant’s symptoms when he was younger: frequent ear infections, asthma, respiratory issues, very frequent colds and viral infections, snoring, mouth-breathing, and coughing fits that end in vomiting. Ant’s issues eventually led to 80-something percent lung function. However, many of his symptoms were eased when he had his adenoids and tonsils removed when he was 13 years old. He was able to get off daily-maintenance asthma meds (and instead manages his asthma with an occasional puff from the inhaler and allergy medicine), he gets sick A LOT less often, and he stopped snoring altogether. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if we’d thought to remove Ant’s adenoids and tonsils earlier in his life.

Seeing all that unfold with Ant, then seeing it start to occur in Esai makes me worry that Esai is headed down the same road. And, even Anthony is concerned about his little brother.

OK. So, here are Esai’s issues, which you probably know; but I wanted to put them all together in one place and see if we can come up with some sort of solution:

· Frequent Ear Infections and Fluid: I don’t know how many infections Esai’s had in the past two years, but I’m going to guess that it’s been between eight and 12. And while many of these have been diagnosed at an immediate-care clinic, follow-up visits have been done at your office; and it’s been noted in most cases that Esai’s still hanging onto fluid (if not infection) two to four weeks after the infection. In fact, on March 26, Esai still had fluid in his ears left over from an infection in early February.

· Mouth-breathing: Esai almost ALWAYS breathes out of his mouth. This has been happening since he was just a few months old. It’s worse when he has a cold, or when his allergies are especially bad. And his dry mouth wakes him up at night, asking for water.

· Coughing and Vomiting: Esai almost always has a cough. The severity of it varies with the weather. But many times he coughs so much, gags and vomits. And he vomits A LOT! Tons and tons of vomit. But almost immediately after he’s done vomiting, Esai’s fine, asking for food. He also tends to cough a lot after intense physical activity. I really don’t want to limit his physical activity or outdoor time if I don’t have to. The child loves outside, and he loves to run around (probably like every toddler).

· Snoring (and maybe mild apnea): Last night was particularly rough. Esai coughed several times each hour. He doesn’t wake up much (although, I can’t imagine he’s getting the quality of sleep he needs with that much coughing), but I can hear him; so I decided to go lay down with him in his bed. Now, I know Anthony (and Rene, for that matter) had pretty severe apnea, where they would stop breathing for several seconds. I didn’t notice Esai doing that last night, but he does hesitate in his breathing (maybe for about five seconds), particularly after coughing. I don’t know what qualifies as apnea though. Also, he does snore, even when he lays on his belly. Granted, most of the time it’s a light snoring; but it can get quite loud at times.

· Frequent colds and respiratory issues: Esai had RSV twice before he was a year old. Additionally, he tends to get colds very frequently. Granted, he’s in daycare, but he seems to get colds even more frequently than other kids in his daycare. And his colds tend to hang on longer and increase the intensity of his other symptoms (coughing, vomiting, snoring, etc.).

· Allergies: Esai’s been on once-daily Zyrtec every night for about a year, I think. He started out with half a teaspoon, which helped. But then, things got worse, so I gave him about two-thirds of a teaspoon. Again, he got better and I gave him three-quarters of a teaspoon. When he turned 2, I started giving him a full teaspoon. At this point, he’s still coughing quite a bit. And while I believe allergies are worsening whatever problem Esai might have, my intuition is telling me it’s not allergies that are the problem.

Also, Dr. Chavez gave us some samples of Nasonex to try with Esai; and I have some questions about that, as well:

· Is there some way to give this to a toddler without feeling like the most horrible mother on earth? Esai hates it, and I feel like I’m abusing my child. I have to hold him down, while he cries “Mama, no. Stop.” It breaks my heart, and I would be open to any suggestions on how to make this easier on him.

· Are there are behavioral side effects linked to Nasonex? Esai started the Nasonex on Thursday (March 26). He’s always been a very easy child. He listens well, very agreeable and loving. Sure, he throws the normal toddler tantrums, but not more than one a day; and they generally don’t last long. Since Friday, he’s been an irritable bear. Tantrums that last for 30 minutes or more, and several times a day; and I have to wrestle him to get the simplest tasks done (things he usually loves or at least kinda likes), like baths, diaper changes, getting in the car seat, etc. I might just pass this off as normal 2-year-old tantrum; but the timing on starting the Nasonex on Thursday; and the behavioral changes on Friday … it’s too much of a coincidence.

One other long-shot I’d like to mention is that a friend of mine has a child (who is a teenager now), who had almost identical symptoms to Esai when he was a toddler. They tried allergy meds, steroids, asthma meds, etc. Finally, the child was referred to a pediatric pulmonotologist (not sure if that’s the right name). After some evaluation, it was discovered that the child was developing frontal sinuses, which I guess is very rare? The family then met with a GI and they did a scope on him. The child was diagnosed with reflux and esinophilic esophagitis (again, not sure about the spelling). The child was put on prilosec twice a day and his symptoms GREATLY improved. Eventually the child outgrew the issue, as he grew into his esophagus.

Anyway … I thought this might be something to consider as well. Just throwing it out there.

So, with all this information, I’m hoping to get one (or more) of the following solutions:

· A referral to an allergist (if we still really think it’s allergies, although my non-medical brain is thinking it’s something else, which is exacerbated by allergies, rather than just allergies).

· A referral to an ENT doctor to check Esai’s adenoids and tonsils.

· A referral to a GI to explore the reflux angle.

· Or, if Dr. Chavez does not want to refer this out, perhaps some more careful evaluation of Esai’s symptoms, a more distinct diagnosis and more effective treatment – especially considering his family history.

Again, I’m sorry for not bringing all this up at once at Esai’s 2-year appointment; but I’m much better in writing than I am in person. J I hope having all this written in one place can help to give Esai some relief of his symptoms. I just know how active he is, and how much he loves to be outside and play. I’d hate for him to have to limit any of his activities because of something that we can fix (or at least help).

Please let me know what you come up with.

Thanks so much!!!!

Sara Ornelas

316.680.8268

Blogging About Boys ...

We've had several comments from people who find out we're having another boy:

• "Oh, well ... you can try again for a girl."


• The sympathetic "Oh ... ."


• "Oh my. You'll have your hands full."

I, on the other hand, am THRILLED to have a house full of rambunctious boys. I might eat my words some day, but for now ... I'm in love with blue!

First of all, I already have all the clothes and gear for a boy. So, it's economical.

But also, I am so happy about the idea of my youngest boys sharing a room. And a very small room, at that. Love grows best in little houses, and I suppose the same can be said about little bedrooms. I love the idea that Esai and Matias (that's the name we chose ... but we're still stuck for a middle name) will talk each other to sleep at night; they will battle the boogeyman; they'll share in goodnight prayers; they fight over the top bunk; and each will (hopefully) find a best friend in his brother.

As for my big, big boy, Anthony ... I think having a little brother who worships him has done wonders for his self-esteem. Having two little brothers who think he hangs the moon ... I am so happy about that, as well.

Sure, I'm a little sad that I'll never be able to splurge on pink clothes and nursery bedding. I won't be able to help my daughter get ready for her prom, or pick out her wedding dress. But the trade-off of giving my sons another brother ... it's well worth it, if you ask me.

A house full of boys ... le sigh ... heavenly chaos. At least that's my hope, and those are my prayers.

Esai's 2-year doc appointment!

55th percentile in weight
33rd in height
80th in head circumference (big brains!)

Esai did really well through the shot, but screamed when he saw the bandage. I don't know why, but the child freaks out at bandages. Poor baby.

Esai's allergies, I guess, are pretty severe. The doc said he had fluid (but not infection) and some nasal irritation from the allergies. So, we'll keep doing the Zyrtec nightly and add in some Nasonex spray. Hopefully this will eliminate Esai's mouth-breathing and coughing at night.

The doc was really impressed that the kid who couldn't say more than about five or six words at his 18-month appointment is now speaking in full sentences.

What a big boy! <3

So, my baby is ... (sigh) ... 2!

In all my prayers, hopes and dreams for my child, I want him to grow; and he is. Thank you, Lord. I just don't know how it's happening so quickly. It seems like yesterday that my water broke and Esai popped out. Now we're researching preschools and navigating toddlerhood. And I'm not one of those parents who wishes each stage away (I can't wait for him to walk, talk, etc.). I've enjoyed every waking (and sleeping ... though there have been more waking than sleeping moments) moment of his life.

He's talking. He went from incoherent babbling to full sentences in the last month or two. He's running and jumping. He's testing the waters ... and on rare occasion, my patience. He's entertaining and letting himself be entertained. He's picking favorites and becoming quite particular. He's loving and letting himself be loved. He's learning to trust and fear. He's counting (all the way to 5!) and alphabetting and coloring and absorbing. His brain is a sponge. He's struggling for independence but still desperately needs comfort and security. He sleeps ... sometimes.

As we prepare to bring the next addition to our family into this world, I'm overjoyed and scared. Overjoyed for obvious reasons ... a brand new baby boy! But scared about what this will mean to Esai and our special connection. Will I still have time to sit on the couch and eat yogurt with him? Will I still be able to read to him and rock him to sleep? Will he be jealous? Will I love the new baby as much as I love my Bug? Is that possible? Can I just grow a second heart? This one seems to be completely full of Bug Love.

I know it'll work out. Just the ramblings of a sentimental, hormonal mama to a beyond perfect baby Bug.