My complaining post

I am really discouraged. Yesterday, Avery was officially diagnosed with a milk allergy. The doctor said he's not sure if it is a lactose intolerance, or a milk protein allergy, but it looks like an actually allergy. She gets hives every time she eats cottage cheese, has had diarrhea for the last two months and has had a horrific diaper rash complete with blisters and open sores. Poor baby!

I'm mostly frustrated because we have worked so hard to get her to like eating. Because of her severe reflux and long memory, she did not want to eat because it caused pain. Months on Prevacid had made her happy to eat again, but now she flat out refuses anything because her stomach has been bothering her for so long.

I feel like I'm back at square one with her. I guess I wouldn't worry so much if she wasn't so tiny. At her last appointment she was 1st percentile for weight. She used to be in the 80th. She has crossed so many growth lines that she meets the criteria for failure to thrive. How am I supposed to not worry?

I am really overwheled by this right now. Even that makes me feel guilty. My Avery-won't-eat-just-like-Bailey trial is so small compared to what it could be. She is relatively heathy. My life really is great. I just feel so frustrated that I have to keep doing this over and over again. First Bailey. Now Avery. Do I have to do this with a third child too?

I hope she eats something soon...

August in review

This month, I have obviously not kept up with the blog. Here are the highlights of this last month:

• Avery took her very first steps! She really wants to walk, and practices standing all day long. I'm sure she will be everywhere soon.
  
  
• My toothless baby is toothless no more. (Maybe she'll start looking like her age). Poor thing had six teeth coming in all the same time.
  
  
• Avery finally slept the entire night long- from 8:00pm to 7:00am. Yeah! And we didn't have to let her cry it out! She has yet to repeat the performance, but we are getting close.
• Avery has also found a new favorite game:
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• Bailey got her second ever haircut- from her two-year friend, Bailee. Luckily, even though the trash can was full of her beautiful curls, her hair is so thick you can hardly tell. One side is noticeably thinner. Oh well. I think it's time for another haircut.
• Mike and I had our first full day sans kids at King's Island, an amusement park in Cincinnati. We had a great time.
• Mike thought he had decided on general surgery, but is having a hard time letting go the great hours and equally great pay of orthopaedic surgery. He's doing radiology next month, and that specialty is still on the table. He's seriously thinking about interventional radiology because of the lifestyle and pay. Applications can be submitted Sept. 1st, only a few days away. Hopefully a brain wave will come his way ASAP. Maybe I'll set up a poll and take everyone's opinion...

The joys of parenting

Today I took Bailey and Avery to Papa Murphey's while Mike tried to "figure out his life." There was a line, so a young professional woman in very nice clothes moved over on the bench to make room for Bailey and me. Bailey promptly said to me, in a rather loud voice I might add, "Mom, you have lots of boogers all over your nose!"

Nice. I didn't actually have boogers all over my nose. I've had a wonderful summer cold this week so my nose is chapped and sore. On top of that, who knows when I last brushed my hair. Or how long the boogers have been on my shirt (and no, I have not been wiping my nose on my shirt. They belong to Avery who has the same cold as me). Needless to say, I was relieved when the fancy woman got into her fancy Honda SUV and drove away.

All I can say is, you don't know until you've been there.

American Idol

Bailey is pretty famous for her singing. Here is a video of Bailey singing a few of her favorites. Watch out American Idol!

Mommy's make-up bag

I'm sad that these shots are blurry. I turned the flash off, and then I couldn't get the picture to sharpen. Oh well. Bailey and Avery had a great time playing in my make-up bag. What a beautiful finished product!

A day at the bird pond

Today we braved the hot Reno weather and went to Virginia Lake, just a few blocks away from my mom's house. Bailey had a great time feeding the birds, which included a very few ducks, lots of geese, even more pigeons, and a variety of other little birds.

Avery wanted me to put her down so she could crawl after the birds, but, I just didn't want her to get that dirty!
This picture doesn't do these birds justice- they were huge! They were as big as Bailey.


When she realized there would be no crawling in the dirt, she tried to get me to let her pet a bird. Poor Avery.
Bailey ate just about as much bread as she fed the ducks.


We tried to play on the playground out there, but it was just too hot. I wondered why the playground was so empty. So we decided to take a walk around the lake, but there was not enough shade and we were sweltering. We took a seat on a bench to watch the birds and after a minute there is a big splat right in front of me. I looked up, and we were sitting directly under some birds. We had missed being pooped on by inches! After that, we just called it a day and headed back home for a drink and air conditioning.

The worst airport experience ever

On Monday, we flew from Salt Lake City to Reno and we were lucky to make it. My first mistake was to underestimate the amount of time it took to get the airport. We got there really, really late- only 45 min. before our flight. I had also assumed the the SLC airport would be just like the Columbus airport. I had forgotten the SLC airport is always busy, so when I walked inside and saw the long line at the check in counter, I almost cried. On top of that, I had luggage and carseats on a smartcart, Avery in the sling, two carry-ons over my should and a screaming Bailey who wanted to hold my hand. Unfortunately, one of my hands was pushing the cart while the other was keeping the carseat from toppling off. I got in the long line, despairing, and I felt like everyone in the whole airport was staring at me. Bailey was out of control. While she screamed at the top of her lungs, she was also hitting, scratching and biting me. I didn't know what to do! I was practically in tears.

I finally grabbed an airport employee and told her of my dilemma. At this point, it was 3:50 at our flight was at 4:20. She told me there was no way we were making it. And then she said I could try to get SkyCab and maybe, just maybe, we could get there on time. Of course, he was already helping someone else. He soon helped me, even though I didn't have any cash, and we ran off to security.

I was prepared for security. I didn't go through the long family line, didn't have any liquids, had Avery in the sling, and was wearing flip flops. I least at did something right. (In case you are wondering, Bailey is still screaming.) We made it through, and a good samaritan carried the car seat and one of our bags right to the gate. That allowed me to hold Bailey's hand and the horrible screaming ended.

The plane had already boarded, but luckily we got there in time. After twenty minutes of Avery crying, things finally settled down. They were great on the plane.

Unfortunately, I will flying back to Columbus by myself as well. I think I will get to the airport a little earlier next time.