Speech woes

I had a parent/teacher conference yesterday for TheMiddleChild. Like I thought for TheOldest, it felt a little silly. What is Mrs. H. going to say? "She is doing a great job and doesn't run with scissors."

Mrs. H. did say she's the perfect Montessori child. She watches other children intently and learns from them. Then when it is her turn, she does the work without needing too much help. She puts away her work. Right now, and this bugs me, she only plays with one little boy. She doesn't play with any other kids but this one. So the teacher suggested having a playdate with some other kids. She also has been working more in the Practical Life area which is normal for her age group.

She also said that she can tell when she's about to have a meltdown and if they don't catch it right away, it's all over. Hey, I don't call her my drama queen for nothing. Once the meltdown starts, she ends up needing to be walked down to the office to calm down. Call me a mean mommy, but I just had to laugh. She's like that at home too. She has these "oh my god, my life is ending" meltdowns for the most ridiculous stuff- like if we sing with the radio. She wants to be the only one singing.

But Mrs. H. did say something that made me concerned. She said she was having trouble understanding her. TheOldest is in Speech Therapy and has been since she was 17 months. I did have TheMiddleChild evaluated a year and a half ago or so. She didn't need therapy then and has honestly been so much more advanced verbally than TheOldest that it never crossed my mind. I knew she was hard to understand at times, for other people of course, I can understand her 90% of the time.

Yesterday afternoon, TheOldest had her private therapy session. I asked her therapist Karin about TheMiddleChild. Karin ended up taking TheMiddleChild into TheOldest's therapy session and observed her. Unfortunately, she qualified so she starts therapy next week.

I pointed to TheYoungest and said to Karin, "should i just sign her up now?"

Honestly, I'm a little perturbed by the whole thing. We already do three therapy sessions for TheOldest a week. Now we're adding in one for TheMiddleChild. And we have swimming lessons and Kindermusik during the week as well. Not to mention 5 days a week of half-day Montessori.

No wonder I'm always tired.

Bloggy Giveaway- Winner to be announced shortly

I know I'm new to blogging, but I just couldn't resist the bloggy giveaway hosted by Rocks in my Dryer.

I'm giving away a brand new, unopened bottle of LUSH. Yes, that's right, a bath gel of lushy goodness. "B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful" Shower Gel is a discontinued item, but was made last fall in a special discontinued round LUSH did for their forumites.I bought two bottles and have one to give away.

Leave me a comment if you want it! And if you are a LUSH fan, tell me what is your favorite product. I'll end this on February 3rd and then pick a random comment to win.

TheYoungest's first few months

Today I went to TheYoungest's allergist to get her test results. They did the RAST test.

I'm kind of getting ahead of myself....

TheYoungest is almost 5 months. I'm nursing her. I nursed TheOldest and TheMiddleChild as well, but I had some issues with TheOldest and had to give it up quickly. Actually she was the one with the issues, not me. I didn't realize that until she wasn't talking at all at 17 months. After some testing, it was determined that she had oral motor problems. Then it all made sense. She couldn't suck. The fact that the Lactation Consultants said her latch was fine, but she was still losing incredible amounts of weight. And the fact that she got so tired out using a bottle that we had to go up in nipple size much sooner than the recommended time. But I didn't realize any of this when I was trying to nurse her. Back then, I thought it was all my fault.

Nursing TheMiddleChild went much more smoothly. We lasted until 7 months or so when LushMan and I went to Vegas for a long weekend. With two kids in 13 months and LushMan at Kellogg getting his MBA, we really needed some "us" time. I pumped throughout Vegas and nursed when they came home. My supply was a little low, but I thought I could get it back. But the next day, I got very sick and the girls went back to my mom's. At that point, I decided to quit.

So, this time around, I was determined to make it work. And it did right off the bat. She was doing well, gaining weight, happy and I was thrilled it was going so well.

Then, at 2 months or so, she came down with an ear infection. And life as I knew it crashed.

She was born on 9/4 weighing 9#9.

10/4 (1 month): 10#9
11/4 (2 month): 11#11
12/7 (3 month): 12#0
12/10 11#11 Diagnosed with an Ear Infection
12/19 11#9
12/26 11#7 *started supplementing pumped milk
1/2 (4 month) 12#2; she was put on Zantac for reflux.
1/4 Introduced formula and she got sick.
1/9 13#4
1/25 14#14

In December, we were trying to figure out why she was losing weight instead of gaining. We thought maybe it was from the ear infection, but then when she got better, she still didn't have a big gain. Like I said, she was happy, but sleepy. Her poops were greenish, but I assumed I had a hindmilk/foremilk imbalance because I was trying so hard to get something in her. I was told to start supplementing so I started giving her my pumped milk. When I ran out of that, we used formula.

On 1/3, she had liquid formula. It was those little nursette bottles that they send home with you from the hospital. Drive me insane by the way because as a nursing mom, I shouldn't have been given formula. She seemed ok on them. Still pooping green, but that wasn't anything new at that point.

On 1/4, we switched to powdered formula. After downing 6 ounces (I wanted to cry), she projectile vomited twice. Minutes later she had head to toe hives.

I immediately saw that she was breathing ok and called the doctor. Otherwise I would have called 911. Benadryl took care of the hives quickly and the doctor said that we needed to give her Nutramigen formula from now on as well as keeping milk out of my diet. He also said we needed to see an allergist.

I'm being paged so until tomorrow...

The Montessori Method

My girls go to Montessori for preschool. I also went to a Montessori so I am pretty familiar with the whole concept, but the principal at my girls' school realized that a lot of parents there do not understand it. She said some parents say to the their kids, "if you do your sound book today, we can...buy a new toy...go to McDonald's...whatever the kid has been asking for."

So NOT Montessori.

I don't get it. They pick Montessori and have no idea why. Maybe they've heard a Montessori school is a good school so they pick the closest one to home, maybe they think you get what you pay for as our school is more expensive than others in the area. Who knows, but how could they send their child to a program and have no idea what the program is about?

The principal decided to have the teacher's Montessori trainer come hold a lecture for the parents. It was last night. It was great! He explained the "Follow the Child" concept. This concept means that children have control over their learning. The adult is merely an observer in the child's development, directing, not correcting, when needed.

From www.montessori.edu

The potential of the child is not just mental, but is revealed only when the complete "Montessori method" is understood and followed. The child's choice, practical work, care of others and the environment, and above all the high levels of concentration reached when work is respected and not interrupted, reveal a human being that is superior not only academically, but emotionally and spiritually, a child who cares deeply about other people and the world, and who works to discover a unique and individual way to contribute. This is the essence of real "Montessori" work today.

I've been so happy with our Montessori experience. TheOldest has her strengths in the mathematics and she really shines there (along with burping, I suppose). TheMiddleChild is very strong verbally. She is very "advanced" when it comes doing the sound table, but advanced really doesn't mean anything in the Montessori world. Yes, she is showing a lot of interest in the sound table compared to other 3 year olds, but she is doing what she loves and is learning from it. I love it because it allows both of them to work on their strengths and weaknesses at their own pace.

Preschool parent/teacher conference

TheOldest had her parent/teacher conference at Montessori today.

Kind of crazy for a 4 year old. I guess it is even crazier that the 3 year old has hers next week.

But as it stands, TheOldest is a happy, friendly, good worker who like to burp a lot in class.

Yup, that's what Mrs. M said. She is doing great, she puts away her work, she plays well with other kids, she plays well independently, but we are working on one thing, her manners. WHAT? My precious child has impeccable manners, thankyouverymuch. Oh, yes, it seems as if whenever the class is quiet, TheOldest takes a sip of water and burps very loud. Then she laughs.

I'm so proud.

Here Comes the Sun

I'm in love. Seriously. Like I'd marry it if I could, and if I wasn't already married to LushMan. Who's LushMan, you ask? He's my honey, my one and only, my rock, and my provider. We'll talk later about why he's LushMan though. Now I have to get back to my love.

My love is sunflower butter. Sunbutter to be exact. Natural Crunch Sunbutter to be even more exact. TheYoungest has food allergies. I'm nursing therefore I can't eat anything that she might be allergic to. To sum it up, just about everything. At least I can't eat until we get her testing back. That's all for another day too.

But I can eat Sunbutter. I ate some yesterday for the first time. Then I ate some more. And then I ate some today. It is so beautiful, so rich, so creamy. I thought about taking a picture of my Sunbutter bagel so you all could see how wonderfully delicious it is. But then I thought Nah. So I ate it.

I'm in love.

Look how pretty. I could curl up and snuggle with it right now. Or open it and start eating by the spoonful. OK, maybe it isn't the Natural Crunch, but Creamy is just as pretty in her own special way. We don't want to give her a complex, you know.




Maybe we'll have sunbutter sandwiches for dinner tonight. Quick, easy, delicious. No, never mind, I'm not sharing. So there. Don't even ask, you can't have any. You have to go buy your own. And when you do, pick me up one, would you?

*I have not been paid, encouraged or threatened by the Sunbutter company to post this endorsement. In fact, they have no idea who I am which kind of breaks my heart because I love them so much now. That makes me sad, I think I'll go eat some more.

Why I won't try for a boy

I don't know why people don't think I'd be happy with my girls. They are perfect. I don't have the need to have a son. Would I take one if one fell into my lap, or however they come about? Of course, but asking me if I will be trying for a boy makes it seem as if you think my life is incomplete without one.

My life isn't incomplete. How could it be with these three beauties.