My kids are always doing and saying things to make me laugh. And all kids (or most kids, I should say) do the same thing, so I know it's nothing out of the ordinary. But don't you hate that moment when you start to tell your spouse/mom/sister/friend etc. about the hilarious thing one of your kids said or did and totally go blank on what it was? Yeah, I do that all the time.
At one time, I started doing this index card memory box thing: when one of the kids did something I wanted to remember or we did something special that day or I just wanted to record a particular memory, I would date an index card, write down whatever I wanted to record, then file it away in the box. I was really great about doing that almost every evening before bed until Kyden came along. I kept the box next to the bed, but because we had a newborn sleeping in our room (and still do, though he's not a newborn, because he still wakes up every 2 to 3 hours to nurse, which I fear will be habit until he goes off to college), my index card memory writing became very sparse, and now, I can't tell you when was the last time I recorded anything. I hate that, but thank goodness for Facebook's timeline and blogging, where I can easily look back to see all the things I have posted about the silliness of these Anderson kids, who are growing up much too fast and will eventually find all these silly sayings and musings embarrassing and eye-roll-worthy, at least until they reach adulthood and hopefully appreciate this tired mommy's efforts to preserve as many little moments and memories as I possibly could.
That said, I wanted to share some of the silly things that I've seen and heard around here lately. Yesterday, Cohen was eating lunch, and at one point he got up and went into his room (which was a big mess at the time). When he didn't return after a minute, I asked him what he was doing, to which he replied with a sigh, "Just looking at my disaster."
Kyden, though only just shy of a year, has his own silly personality and is surely following in the footsteps of his siblings. One day, I had put his shoes on him before heading out for the afternoon, and as I was gathering things together to leave, he pulled his shoes off and stuck them in the shoe bin by the front door (it's a big basket full of everyone's various pairs of shoes). Not only silly, but smart, that boy is! He also pulls out Mommy and Daddy's shoes and tries to wear them.
And finally, I have to share Emberlynn's "book" with you. She made this completely on her own yesterday with no help or prompting from me except when she needed help stapling all the pages together. So here is how her story goes (each sentence is on its own page complete with an illustration):
Title: Emberlynn and Kyden
"Kyden was a baby."
"Emberlynn was big."
"Go out and play now."
"One day Emberlynn made a mess." (She drew a picture of herself standing in a her messy room.)
"Lots of silly words she said." (Sounds like something Yoda would say.)
"Kyden loved Emberlynn."
"They have fun playing."
"Emberlynn was so nice to him."
"Emberlynn and Kyden go play."
"Emberlynn did clean her room now."
"Mommy gave him a snack." (She drew a really cute picture of Kyden in his high chair.)
"Then Mommy makes tea." (My favorite part.)
"And they live happily ever after." ("Happily" is spelled "habaly".)
This little book is definitely going in her baby book with her other keepsakes. And she reminds me of myself because I started writing stories and small books when I was about her age. Maybe she will have a love for writing like Mommy...
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
April Clinic and the Kiddos
First, I want to say how much I appreciate everyone's prayers and concerns for Cohen (and for all three kids, for that matter) as we approached his and Emberlynn's recent clinic visit, which was last Thursday. Matt requested the day off when I made the appointment so that if the decision on the feeding tube surgery needed to be made, he would already be there with me. My sister Shauna graciously watched Kyden for us (a big thanks to her!) since he is now walking and would have had to be cooped up in a small exam room for two and a half hours, not to mention it gave Matt and me a chance to be able to focus just on Emberlynn and Cohen and talk to the nurses and doctors with minimal interruption.
In short, the biggest issue for Emberlynn and Cohen is and always has been their weights, or more specifically, their BMIs. They are supposed to be at or above the 50th percentile for BMI; poor weight gain and maitenance can be detrimental to their health because it affects lung function. For Emberlynn, the feeding tube helps tremendously by giving her extra calories via overnight feeds. We are not strangers to this, given that Emberlynn has had her g-tube for nearly five years now.
Cohen, as he has grown taller and gotten more active, has had trouble maintaining an "acceptable" BMI. He is not unhealthy or undernourished, and I have seen far skinnier kids, but those kids don't have CF, so it's not so much a concern for them. We have spent the last couple of months trying our best to "fluff" Cohen up (a term my friend Emily uses, which I kinda love) with extra calories in his meals and snacks plus supplementing with Pediasure and Boost Kids. I have weighed him every week, sometimes several times a week, especially during the last couple of weeks leading up to this last visit. He had put on two pounds, which was our goal, and then a week before the appointment, he got a virus (which Emberlynn and Kyden also picked up shortly thereafter). Go figure that the virus lasted a week and completely wiped out his appetite. He barely ate or drank, which caused him to drop over a pound. Once weighed at the clinic, it showed he had gained about a pound since his previous visit, which was not stellar but a step in the right direction, at least. It bumped him from the 33rd to the 41st percentile, which isn't too shabby, in my opinion. If he hadn't gotten sick, he would have been back above the 50th percentile. (The doctor actually asked me if Cohen could be faking sick since Emberlynn was also sick, but I told him Cohen was the one who was sick first, and no, he wasn't faking it. And as his parents, I think we would know. Sheesh.) Most importantly, we were able to "shelve" the feeding tube conversation for now.
As for Emberlynn, she lost a little bit of weight, but she also had the same virus as Cohen, causing her to have no appetite whatsoever (her appetite is not that great to begin with). We couldn't even use the feeding tube to help make up for everything because it was making her throw up. So now that she is over the funk, we are playing "catch-up" by putting her on her feeding tube six nights a week as opposed to five nights (per her dietician's instructions), which is what we have been doing for some time now.
Emberlynn and Cohen will have another clinic visit in two months instead of the normal three months to make sure their weight gain is good. As long as we can avoid another hiccup (like a week-long virus), I am optimistic they will receive good reports.
And now we come to Ky-Ky, who is growing up way too fast (you'd think I'd be used to that, right?). Yesterday, as I was browsing the dollar store, I found monkey-themed birthday party stuff, so I bought it for him seeing as his birthday is one month away. One month away! I mean, seriously, wasn't he just in my belly? Now he is walking(and running) and talking (he says "Dad", "Daddy", and "Hi") and eating whole bananas (since he refuses to eat it if I cut it into small pieces), among other "big boy" things. (But I sure would love if he learned this "big boy" thing called sleeping through the night. That would be awesome.) He is also still nursing, which is fine for now, but once he turns a year old, I'm afraid he won't be too keen on stopping. He loves the boobies, what can I say? But I suppose we will cross that bridge when we come to it, as they say.
In short, the biggest issue for Emberlynn and Cohen is and always has been their weights, or more specifically, their BMIs. They are supposed to be at or above the 50th percentile for BMI; poor weight gain and maitenance can be detrimental to their health because it affects lung function. For Emberlynn, the feeding tube helps tremendously by giving her extra calories via overnight feeds. We are not strangers to this, given that Emberlynn has had her g-tube for nearly five years now.
Cohen, as he has grown taller and gotten more active, has had trouble maintaining an "acceptable" BMI. He is not unhealthy or undernourished, and I have seen far skinnier kids, but those kids don't have CF, so it's not so much a concern for them. We have spent the last couple of months trying our best to "fluff" Cohen up (a term my friend Emily uses, which I kinda love) with extra calories in his meals and snacks plus supplementing with Pediasure and Boost Kids. I have weighed him every week, sometimes several times a week, especially during the last couple of weeks leading up to this last visit. He had put on two pounds, which was our goal, and then a week before the appointment, he got a virus (which Emberlynn and Kyden also picked up shortly thereafter). Go figure that the virus lasted a week and completely wiped out his appetite. He barely ate or drank, which caused him to drop over a pound. Once weighed at the clinic, it showed he had gained about a pound since his previous visit, which was not stellar but a step in the right direction, at least. It bumped him from the 33rd to the 41st percentile, which isn't too shabby, in my opinion. If he hadn't gotten sick, he would have been back above the 50th percentile. (The doctor actually asked me if Cohen could be faking sick since Emberlynn was also sick, but I told him Cohen was the one who was sick first, and no, he wasn't faking it. And as his parents, I think we would know. Sheesh.) Most importantly, we were able to "shelve" the feeding tube conversation for now.
As for Emberlynn, she lost a little bit of weight, but she also had the same virus as Cohen, causing her to have no appetite whatsoever (her appetite is not that great to begin with). We couldn't even use the feeding tube to help make up for everything because it was making her throw up. So now that she is over the funk, we are playing "catch-up" by putting her on her feeding tube six nights a week as opposed to five nights (per her dietician's instructions), which is what we have been doing for some time now.
Emberlynn and Cohen will have another clinic visit in two months instead of the normal three months to make sure their weight gain is good. As long as we can avoid another hiccup (like a week-long virus), I am optimistic they will receive good reports.
And now we come to Ky-Ky, who is growing up way too fast (you'd think I'd be used to that, right?). Yesterday, as I was browsing the dollar store, I found monkey-themed birthday party stuff, so I bought it for him seeing as his birthday is one month away. One month away! I mean, seriously, wasn't he just in my belly? Now he is walking(and running) and talking (he says "Dad", "Daddy", and "Hi") and eating whole bananas (since he refuses to eat it if I cut it into small pieces), among other "big boy" things. (But I sure would love if he learned this "big boy" thing called sleeping through the night. That would be awesome.) He is also still nursing, which is fine for now, but once he turns a year old, I'm afraid he won't be too keen on stopping. He loves the boobies, what can I say? But I suppose we will cross that bridge when we come to it, as they say.
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