September 4, 2011 - Posted by Molly - Comments Off
We just got back from a long weekend at the beach. Good times had by all and photos to follow soon. But I have a short story to tell.
We were trying to coax Morgan onto the beach and away from the pool (which was, admittedly, a very nice pool). So I told her I’d buy her some pails and shovels to dig in the sand and I took her into the hotel gift shop on Friday morning. And we pick up an assortment of pails and shovels. Done. Then she spies a My Little Pony type thing for sale. Two little ponies, one pink, one purple, a comb, a brush, and a couple of other such things. She wants it. I say no. And then I say “maybe we’ll get it before we leave, for the car ride back.” And I immediately forget about the whole thing.
Fast forward to Sunday morning, as we are talking about how we are going to go to the pool one more time before heading home. It’s the 3 of us talking and she says “well, I think I want something to take home with me from the trip.” And for the briefest of moments (before I remember the whole pony thing) I’m wondering how she knows what souvenirs are (does she want a sweatshirt? a hermit crab?). And Jim (looking slightly puzzled) asks her what she wants. And she sort of hems and haws for a minute or so. Until finally…”I don’t know. I was thinking about something, maybe something like a pony.”
Not only did she remember the whole pony thing (with no additional discussion between Friday and Sunday morning), she knew to bring it up before we left, and she wasn’t completely straightforward about what she wanted. She didn’t say “Mom, you said I could get the pony before we left” but rather went through a rather winding, elaborate, and earnest set up in asking for it. The kid is getting good.
August 8, 2011 - Posted by Molly - Comments Off
Morgan (hands on her hips): Mommy, I am going to count to 3 and if you don’t blah, blah, blah, you are going to your room!
(brief pause as she stares me down)
Morgan: 1…2….3. Okay. Come with me!
Me (trying to stifle the laughter): Morgan, you are not the boss of me. You cannot send me to my room.
On the positive side, if this is how she sees me, it’s not so terrible. I wouldn’t have been embarrassed to have that all go down in public (obviously, since I’m talking about it here).
August 4, 2011 - Posted by Jim - Comments Off
We got the lab results from the 3-year checkup, and the nut allergy news is promising.
The only nut/peanut allergen (of those tested) that had any reaction was peanuts, which is down to .47 kU/L (IGE) from 1.48 last year. Almonds, sesame seeds, cashews and pistachios no longer meaningfully register. <.35 is the cutoff for “indistinguishable from 0″. 4 is the cutoff below which they’ll begin doing food challenges at age 4. In the forums and support groups and so forth, it’s not unusual for kids with serious reactions to be in the 20-100+ ranges.
Morgan’s only reaction so far has been local contact swelling and blistering (as opposed to systemic), so her allergist is quite optimistic.
So, another year of strict avoidance (including of all foods “processed in a facility that also processes nuts”) and if her IGE tests come out anywhere near this well, they’ll start food challenges.
August 4, 2011 - Posted by Jim - Comments Off
Morgan’s 4th of July celebration included:
* The usual class parade/picnic at her school (imagine a boombox playing some Sousa in the background of those photos)
* An afternoon with the neighbor kids on their new inflatable plastic waterslide (set up between our houses), followed by a hearty McDinner
* Fireworks in the street in front of our houses. Morgan didn’t tolerate the noise very long, validating our decision not to take her to a real show.
July 18, 2011 - Posted by Molly - Comments Off
Morgan was stung by a wasp last night at the pool. She was playing in the kiddie pool and a bug was perched on top of her head. I went over and kind of waved it away (successfully). At this point I wasn’t sure it was a wasp. Then it landed in the water in front of her and before I could stop her, she reached out and wrapped her hand around it (she said later she was trying to get it out of the pool). And then screaming.
We gave her some Children’s Benadryl (which we always carry with us) and kept an eye on her. No allergic reaction. While that is reassuring apparently bee stings are a different venom, so we’ll still have to watch out for an allergy there.
We actually ended up staying at the pool, getting dinner and a frozen treat and playing some more.
July 17, 2011 - Posted by Molly - Comments Off
Morgan and I were reading a book about a baby hanging out in the womb (a womb with no view) before he or she is born and the baby is complaining about how it has nothing to do. So Morgan asks “How do babies get in mommies’ tummies? Do mommies eat them?” Seems like a reasonable guess, but in fact, no, that is not how babies get in mommies’ tummies.
July 5, 2011 - Posted by Molly - Comments Off
Morgan has developed both an fascination with and a fear of bears. Her eyes light up when she is doing the ‘going on a bear hunt’ bit with the ‘one wet shiny nose, two big googly eyes, and two big fuzzy ears.’ She clearly finds it highly entertaining. And she can pretty much do the whole thing herself.
On the flip side, she often asks one by one about each exterior door in the home, asking if they are locked. When I confirm that they are she is relieved and says ‘good, no bears can get in.’ We have told her no bears live around here. They live in caves which are very far from here. That doesn’t seem to help. Though Jim told her that the ‘no solicitors’ sign as we come in the neighborhood says ‘no solicitors and no bears.’ She has mentioned that several times.
July 5, 2011 - Posted by Molly - Comments Off
The AAP book we have lists some milestones that many children hit by the end of the 2nd year (i.e., their 3rd birthday).
Movement milestones: Climbs well; Walks up and down stairs, alternating feet; kicks ball; runs easily; pedals tricycle; bends over easily without falling. She hits all these except perhaps the walking down stairs while alternating feet. I’ve seen her do it before, but she doesn’t do it consistently.
Hand and finger skills: Makes vertical, horizontal, and circular strokes with pencil or crayon; turns book pages one at a time; builds a tower of six blocks; holds pencil in writing position; screws and unscrews jar lids, nuts, and bolts; turns rotating handles. She can do and has been able to do all of these things for quite a while. Among the more interesting tricks is her ability to reach up and turn the deadbolt, either letting herself out of the house or locking us on the outside of the house. And she is now able to write an M and an O when she signs her name. And she will then say “I’m going to do the RGAN different.” And then she makes a separate and distinct scribble for each of the four letters.
Language Milestones: Follows a 2 or 3 part command, such as ‘go to your room and bring back the teddy bear and the dog’; recognizes and identifies almost all common objects and pictures; understands most sentences; understands physical relationships (on, in, under); uses four and five word sentences; can say name, age, and sex; uses pronouns (I, you, me, we, they) and some plurals (cars, dogs, cats); Strangers can understand most of her words. She knocked all of these out of the park ages ago. She knows her last name as well as her first. She knows the name of the road we live on and the road prior to that. She knows the name of the city we live in. We pass 2 gas stations on the way home and she often says “When there is one gas station we say gas station. When there are two we say ‘gas stations [with an emphasis on the final s].’”
Cognitive Milestones: makes mechanical toys work; matches an object in her hand or room to a picture in a book; plays make-believe with dolls, animals, and people; sorts objects by shape and color; completes puzzles with three or four pieces; understands the concept of two. Again, she’s been doing all of this for a very long time.
Social milestones: Imitates adults and playmates; spontaneously shows affection for familiar playmates; can take turns in games; understands concepts of ‘mine’ and ‘his/hers.’ Again, she’s been doing all of this for a long time.
Emotional milestones: expresses affection openly; expresses a wide range of emotions; by age 3, separates easily from parents; objects to major changes in routine. She does all of this. She even recently has started telling me she loves me. She had dragged her feet on this for quite a while. In fact, when I would say “Mommy and Daddy love you” she’d smirk at me and say “I love Daddy.” Which oddly enough made me smile. I’m quite certain my mom thinks it serves me right in some way.
June 27, 2011 - Posted by Jim - Comments Off
Visits from:
- Uncle John
-
Aunt Angie, uncle Andy, and cousin Caroline
- Grandma and Grandpa Wetzel
Activities:
- Trip to Baltimore Aquarium
- Bowling Birthday party with neighbors and friends
- Opening gifts at home
- Weekend trip to pool
- Birthday party at school
June 9, 2011 - Posted by Jim - Comments Off
We returned to Ocean City for Morgan’s 3rd annual Memorial Day start-of-summer-beachfest.
Past trips:
Highlights of this trip:
- Grandparents Wetzel were able to join us and do some babysitting so mom and dad got to go out at night.
-
Morgan was finally tall enough to hit some rides and was a surprising daredevil! She was excited to jump on any ride that would let her on.
- Morgan still doesn’t seem to care that the ocean is something like 50F that time of year, loves playing in it.
- Morgan was really excited to see the beach, boardwalk, and sand dunes because Dora apparently goes to a beach with a boardwalk and sand dunes; when she asked where the blue ladder was, we noted that it wasn’t actually the exact same beach Dora went to, just similar.
