Toddler tips

I'm a hypocrite. 

When I was pregnant, my husband & I were so sure of the type of parents we were going to be. Our daughter, Mia was going to eat SO healthy & "none of that electronics at the dinner table nonsense."  Everything seemed so black and white. Then, 12 months later we have an independent, teething,  toddler/monster (sorry, Mia!) on our hands and bam, our pre-conceived ideas of how to be a perfect parent fly out the window. 

So I'm siting at Saltgrass with my in-laws, trying to decide if I'd rather have every body in the restaurant hate me,  or give my overstimulated, tired,  (don't forget about the teething) daughter the cellphone she is so desperately & very loudly trying to obtain. I imagine that in her mind, it's TOTALLY insane to sit at a table for  (gasp) an hour or more when it really only takes 5 minutes to eat two bites of sweet potato which is all she seemed to think she needed for dinner that night. 

That evening, I had an epiphany. There are, in fact, other people who have gone through the same exact challenges we're going through & there is a vast sea of knowledge just one click away. Thank you internet! After finding a multitude of websites & reading half of ton's of articles, I am happy to report that I may actually be a good parent & my toddler is just a toddler. 

I have comprised a little "goody bag" via a pinterest board, full of wonderful toddler tips. Everything from healthy foods that your kiddo might actually eat,  to encouraging independent play (so you can maybe take a shower) to some comical relief is included! 

Here is the link: Goody bag

Some of my personal favorites:

For yummy, organic,  baby recipes:http://nurturebaby.com

 *Their "one to grow on" birthday cake was a hit with Mia. 

http://weelicious.com

Baby app I love:webmdbaby

Awesome chart to remind you of all the stuff your kid hasn't eaten yet today. 

My favorite, stress-free toddler activity of the week:

1. Find a large, very sturdy, (the freezer kind) ziplock bag.

2. Obtain some cheap paint

3. Squeeze two colors of paint into bag & seal it tightly

4. Tape bag to window. From my experience, I say the more tape the better. 

5. Let your child draw on & squish paint around. This is also a great time to discuss things like blue + yellow+green! 

6. Sit back and smile, because you're totally owning this parenting thing. 

annaangenend.com ©

A few tips of my own:
1. A good playlist always make for a better day. With the right jams, you can turn a tantrum into a dance party almost instantly.  For awesome playtime background music, check out Rockabyebaby http://www.rockabyebabymusic.com

2. Rearrange their room. I discovered this when I had to rearrange her room to make a place for Christmas decorations. All her toys were repositioned & she spent a lot of time exploring & playing with toys that she had forgotten she had.

3. Bubbles. Ok, everybody knows kids love bubbles, but can I recommend Gymboree's bubbles? The ones they sell at their gyms, are amazing! They're non-toxic & sugar based which mean they last forever. Literally, I'll find bubbles stuck to my furniture two days later. Also, they have a very effective, mess-free blower. It also works to put water in the bubble tray & let your little one go to town "blowing bubbles".
Just GO GET THEM.


 Feel free to pass this on to someone you think could enjoy it. I'd also love it if you would leave a comment & let me know what tricks you've got up your sleeve to deal with a moody toddler.

<3

The first day of 2014 in the lives of The Angenends

 Remember when... nobody gave Apple computers any credit? When we all figured dial-up was the best we were ever going to have & when enormous car phones were "high tech"?  I never imagined back then, that by my early twenties I would feel nostalgic for things like Lisa Frank notepads, Skip-it's & Polly Pockets. 

It makes me wonder what things that we're familiar with today will change in the near future. It also makes me wish I could have frozen just one day from my childhood to go back & relive whenever I want. Until we have time travel machine, photographs are the best we can do to preserve those priceless memories. So, to start out the new year I wanted to create somewhat of a time capsule of our lives today. I intended to just document an average day in my personal life, but as the day unfolded I ended up photographing a little of the world around me too. 

The celebrations last night woke Mia up & kept her up late into the night. So, for probably only the fourth time in her life, she "slept in" today. Therefore, it was almost 8:30 before I was awake enough to remember I needed to grab my camera, and kick off my first project for the new year. 

Usually, we have eggs, toast & fruit for breakfast, but today we are out of eggs. Apparently, the winter this year has been so cold up North that the chickens have decided not to reproduce. That is why I can almost never find our "Organic, grain fed, cage free" eggs at HEB. So today we're going for cinnamon apple oatmeal. 

First order of business today, write the rent check before I forget. 

Mia was getting impatient waiting for her oatmeal to cool & almost had chips for breakfast. Her own doing of course. 

The spoon is just an accessory.

If I want my day to go right, I need to start it out with a good playlist. Spotify was featuring a hangover playlist for all you party animals out there. Not my cup of tea, but their "get creative" mix did the trick. 

Post-breakfast playtime, and also avoiding the dreaded CLOTHES. 

Mia is most content in the mornings after a good nights sleep & a yummy breakfast. If I'm lucky, this is when I can squeeze in a little "me time" & have my guilty pleasure of the day, coffee. By the way, am I the only mom who doesn't know what it's like to have a HOT cup'o'joe? By the time I even pour my coffee, its luke-warm & once I finally get around to my last sip (up to two hours later) it's ice cold! 

The calm can never last too long! Time do start our chore list. Glass and knives are unloaded first & as quickly as possible, because it won't be long before...

My little helper shows up on the job.

Nap time. This is when I usually go into a small frenzy, trying to decide which project on my "to-do" list I'll tackle first. Anything from taking a shower in peace, to catching up on emails.  Pretty frequently though, I'll end up cuddling with her while I  read whatever parenting, photography or craft book I am in the middle of. 

Lunch time! 

I can't put off getting ready any longer.  Long gone are the days of hour long primp sessions in the bathroom. Today, it's 10 minutes via the breakfast room mirror where I can keep an eye on Mia who is  contained in a high chair and happily chattering between bites of veggie rolls & grapes. 

Off to check the mail & drop that rent check. The office may be closed for New Years Day, but unfortunately bills never take a day off. 

Somehow checking the mail as an adult isn't nearly as exciting as it was when I was a kid. 

Headed to the grocery store to see if we'll get lucky & find some eggs! I swear I just washed this car, but it turns out that rain is just about the filthiest thing ever. 

Mia is all settled in for story time with her best bud, George. I think this might be my favorite picture of the day. 

Our trip to Austin earlier this week left us a little low.

Being the Christmas fanatic that I am, I always have little bit of difficulty coping with drastic post-holiday changes. Spring is sprun at H-E-B and I think I see Valentine's Day creeping around the corner too. 

I photographed this, because I suspect they won't be around much longer. Even for a family like ours, (who does not have cable) we can rarely depend on Redbox to have the movie we want & we usually end up streaming something on Netflix. 

They had eggs, and as usual I came across some other items that we "need".

Grocery prices. It's hard to imagine that these prices will seem shockingly low one day, but I'm sure thats inevitable. 

Laundry. Ugh. I don't like anything about it except....

convincing my daughter that it's cool to run around with a washcloth as a hat. 

More play time. Oh to have the schedule of a 14 month old again! 

Trying to supervise playtime while getting some editing done.  After observing her pull the "child proof" plugs out of an outlet the other day, I've decided it's pretty necessary to keep her in my sight at all times. 

Packing up lunch for my man. On the menu today: southwest chicken breast, baked southwest egg rolls, spanish rice & chocolate chip pudding cookies. I'm a pretty big fan of these recipes, so I'm going to share them.
Egg rolls: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Southwestern-Egg-Rolls/

I  used cheesecake pudding mix instead of vanilla.  I also added a crushed toffee "crust" to the bottom of each cookie.  I think it might be my favorite cookie yet! 

Ryan gets some cuddles (during Mia's second nap of the day) before he heads out for work. 

Playtime. 

Dinner time. Picking up on a pattern yet? In the name of encouraging independence and maturity,  I let her have at it on her own at meal time. Well, at least on the days I'm not too worried about preserving her outfit. 

Which means that she always needs a bath immediately after dinner. 

She always has lengthy and very serious sounding phone calls in the bathtub. 

One time I tried to leave the bathroom with her before she brushed her teeth. She cried & pointed at her toothbrush then grabbed the door frame to try & stop us from leaving. No cavities for this girl! 

Another favorite part of our day. Stories before bed. 

Now I have from about 9:00 until when I go to bed (usually pretty close to 1:00) to do whatever I please. I'd like to tell you I do yoga & study, but that would be a lie. I do often think about yoga though.  Since becoming a mom, I often wonder if I am bad a time management. I never worried about this before, but it seems like I accomplish shockingly little in a day with my toddler constantly at my feet.  I've learned to just wait until she goes to bed before I do any of my "work".  Needless to say, I have never  wondered what I'll do with myself once she is in bed.  Tonight, I'll be enjoying a glass of wine while writing. After all, it is New Years Day!

Cheers. 

Enjoy every moment of your life, every step you step, enjoy every breathe you take. Because you don't know when your eyes would shut, and never reopen. -Serdyuk Oksana

Monday, December 31st:

  Mia woke up from a nap with a 101.6  temperature. All during my pregnancy & the first few  months of her life I had been told that if her temperature reached 100.4 she should see a Dr. That in mind, Ryan & I were pretty concerned that her temperature was so high, so we rushed to the emergency room. Once we arrived at the ER, her temperature was down 100.7. A nurse checked her vitals &  asked us if she had any other symptoms. Since she had no other symptoms & her vitals were good, they instructed us to give her some tylenol & sent us home. Over the next couple of days, her temperature continued to spike from 100 or below to 102. We managed it the best we could with tylenol & a cool bath. 

Wednesday, January 2nd:

  Finally, the Pediatricians office was open, so I took her in to be examined.  She was not running a fever Wednesday morning, but I still wanted the Dr.'s opinion on what had been going on. He checked her ears & throat asked me if there were any symptoms (there were not) He told me it was most likely a virus or possibly teething, but she seemed fine now. The rest of the week, her temperature continued to spike (never higher than 102) & after an hour or so it would come back down to 100 or below. After getting no help from the hospital, the nurse hotline, or the pediatricians office, I came to the conclusion that it must be teething. She was showing many other signs of teething but no cold, flu or RSV symptoms.  

Tuesday, January 8th:

Mia's fever had been gone the past couple of day.  That Tuesday was mine & Mia's first day of "work".  I was taking  Mia with me to watch a friends three boys. 

During Mia's nap that afternoon, I noticed her breathing heavily & went to check on her. When I picked her up, She felt feverish & sure enough her temperature was 101.8. 
Since I was at work & did not have any tylenol on me, I took off her clothes to help her cool down. That was effective enough, because an hour later her fever was gone.  She was fine the rest of the day and even seemed to enjoyed "flirting" with her new friends. ;)

6:00

When we got home Tuesday evening,  Mia was VERY hungry. Ryan went to give her a bottle so I could get dinner started. A few minutes later he came into the kitchen holding Mia & said "something is wrong". She was laying in his arms with her eye closed, and was not responsive when I called her name. Her hands were purple & clenched in a tight fist, the color had gone out of her face making her appear ashy, it was subtle, but enough to severely frighten us. She had very labored breathing & her eyes were glassy.  Ryan explained that she had only made  it 1oz. into her bottle before she pushed it away & started to fuss, then he saw the discoloration in her hands. "OMG! what's wrong?!"  I exclaimed.  By now, she was spitting up the milk he had just given her. Assuming she was having an allergic reaction, our biggest fear was that her airways would closing up.  Luckily for us, there is an Urgent Care clinic literally next door.  Just like in a movie, it was dark outside & pouring down cold rain, as we wrapped Mia in some blankets & ran out the door to the clinic.

At the clinic they told us that she was getting enough air &  we should go ahead & take her to a hospital where they could check her out & help her breathe if necessary. Again, luckily for us, there is a hospital no further than 10 minutes away.  I held on tight to Mia as Ryan rushed to the ER.  Her eyes were darting back & forth & even when she did focused on me, I could tell she wasn't really seeing me. I think thats what scared me most of all. Her color was gone from her face, but I was relieved that her lips were not blue or purple, that was a good sign. I didn't know what was happening, and all I could think at that point was the worse. "What if she just stopped breathing right there in my arms?" 

By the time we arrived at the ER (about 20 minutes since the attack had first started) her breathing was coming easier & her eyes were starting to focus. They took her temperature (101.8)  & then sent us off for a chest x-ray. By now, Mia's color was back & she was responsive & content.  After the x-ray, they swabbed for flu & RSV, took a urine sample, & checked out her ears & throat. They didn't find anything alarming. Ryan & I still thought she must have had an allergic reaction to the formula we had given her to supplement breast milk. 

10:30

We were finally home again. I fed her (breast milk!) and put her to bed.

1:00

 She started to fidget & fuss in her crib. Thinking she was hungry again, I went to get her a bottle. When I came back & picked her up I noticed her breathing was heavy & irregular...again. She did not open her eyes to look at me when I spoke to her or nudged her.  I flipped on some lights & sure enough her fist were purple & her face ashy.  Although she had labored breathing & discoloration it was not nearly as severe as the last time. I woke up Ryan & told him it what was going on. As long as we could hear her getting air, we tried not to freak out.  This time, we decided to pack a bag & head to the children's hospital which was a bit further away then the hospital we had gone to previously.

  When we arrived at Methodist Children's, her episode was over but her temperature was 102.7, the highest it had even been. They quickly got us into a holding room in the ER, gave her some tylenol, & took some blood to begin testing.

 Although she was extremely tired, Mia continued to coo & smile as if nothing was wrong. My hero. I usually do not want to be messed with when I have a 103 temperature! She is a better person than I am. 

Wednesday, January 9th.

  By 5:00 a.m. they had swabbed her, pricked her, given her a lumbar puncture, IV, & hooked her up to several monitors. All of it was brutal, but the lumbar puncture is especially painful. During the procedure, I stepped out of the room to find some warm water for her bottle. I wanted to be able to feed/soothe her as soon as it was over. When I started walking back, I was relieved that I no longer heard her screaming, thinking it was over. However, when I stepped into the room I discovered that she was crying so hard, she literally wasn't making a sound anymore. Wow, I would much rather have to go through that a thousand times myself, then to have to watch my baby go through it once.

11:00 

Finally, the pediatrician came in to speak with us.  We doubted that Mia had experienced a seizure, mostly because she was still during the attack opposed to having out of control jerky movements. The pediatrician explained to us that she could have had reflux, choked, or just "froze up" while breathing, but there was only about a 3% chance she had a seizure.  He informed us that we would have to be there a minimum of 48 hours to get back all the test results. They were already starting her on some antibiotics to hopefully prevent whatever sickeness she might have from progressing. Also, the pediatrician had requested a reflux test.

4:00

The nurse came in & started a second round of antibiotics to combat bacterial meningitis. Although it was not confirmed that she had meningitis, they had found bacteria in her spinal fluid at the first glance (before it's sent off to the lab). We suspected it then, but we would not find out for sure until Friday that the bacteria had come from her skin because of a sloppy entry during the lumbar puncture. That also explained the extremely high red blood cell count (3,000) in the spinal fluid.  It was very frightening, but still hard for me to believe she had meningitis. She had not been the least bit irritable, or shown any symptoms of meningitis. They assured us that some babies never show any signs of being that sick.  

The plan was to move her to an intermiediate care room, but there were no beds available that day. That first night, Mia slept in the hospitals "bassinet",  Ryan had the cot since he was returning to work the next day, and I attempted  to sleep in chair that only half way reclined.

Thursday, January 10th: 

My mother in law came to stay with me at the hospital that morning since Ryan had to return to work. I'm so thankful she was there for encouragement, to bring us food (very important) & to help with Mia so I could try to rest (that never happened).

11:00

 They finally had a room available! At last, we were moved into a more permanent place.....with a shower & a mirror! The bed situation only got worse however, a crib for Mia, (which she seemed very content in) and a fold out bed for Ryan & I to share. 

By late Thursday afternoon, the knots in my stomach were starting to untangle. I was so relieved that Mia's fever had not come back since that first time they had given her tylenol & she hadn't had another episode. Best of all, she was full of smiles & spirit. In fact, the nurses in the ER had nicknamed her Houdini because of the multiple times she had taken off her monitors & messed up her IV  (despite excessive amount of tape, & all of us trying to deter her) 

I wonder if Mia knew how therapeutic her smiles were for me. As long as she was smiling, I was ok. Also, I was  able to get a good hose down in our new room & that can do wonders for a person after 24 hours of sitting in the ER. Unfortunately for Ryan, that was probably his toughest day.  I know it killed him to be away from us. 

2:00

My dear mom had driven in from Houston per my request. Until we had test results back, I didn't kow if our stay would be a few days or weeks. I NEEDED my mom there. Even though my mother in law had to go into work that afternoon, she stayed until right before my mom came so Mia & I would not be by ourselves.  

Sometime between 4-6 My brain was operating on very little sleep at this point, and quite frankly the entire hospital stay felt like one long day.

The pediatrican came into speak with us. The good news was that at that point, no bacteria was growing on any of the tests in the lab. The bad news was, they never did get an urine sample since the Methodist hospital in Stone Oak had taken one on Tuesday night. The Stone Oak hospital had since then disposed of the sample. It would not do much good to get another urine sample at this point,  because she had already been on antibiotics since Tuesday night. So even if the urine was clean, there would be no way of knowing if it had always had been clean, or if the antibiotics were helping. Also, she did not have any reflux during her test (the test was watching her through an X-ray machine, while she ingested Barium). In hindsight, I realized how pointless that test was. Even though she didn't have reflux during the test, it didn't prove anything because she could still have reflux any other time. What a pointless reason to expose a 3 month old to radiation. 

The pediatrician also explained that he was considering the possibility that she had previously had meningitis, but had recovered on her own. However, it could have caused a abscess in her brain, hence the "seizures". He wanted to discuss the possibility of doing a CT scan with a infectious disease specialist.  Although no brain damage was currently apparent, he pointed out there could be long term damage (a real optimist). I promptly informed him that even if they agreed that it was possible she had an abscess, I did not want to expose her to anymore radiation. At the very least, I wouldn't agree to one until the end of the 48 hours or possibly not unless she had another episode. There was nothing else to do at that point then for him to talk things over with the disease specialist & wait for more results from the lab.

Friday, January 11th:

Not much happened during the day besides waiting to hear back from the pediatrician. Sometimes late that afternoon the Infectious disease specialist came in to hear our account of what had been going on with Mia. She was the THIRD person to ask me if I had videotaped it "that would have been interesting to see" she commented. Ok, I can see how video footage would be helpful, but seriously? Who says, "oh, let me go get my camera" when there infant is non-responsive & turning purple. Anyway, her overall  demeanor was not encouraging. After speaking with us & observing Mia, She & the pediatrician stepped into the hall to compare notes. 

This was the first time I felt sick to my stomach. What if Mia wasn't ok? She looked great, but maybe they had found something. What if she did had untreated meningitis, some brain damage, or what if they told us they wouldn't be surprised if these episodes continued? What would we do then? It certainly hadn't calmed me down to to be in a children's hospital & see all the babies, toddlers & young children laying sick in their beds. Some with machines breathing for them. I'm sure many of their parents spend months at a time in the hospital, and just like anyone else they probably never imagined something like that could happen to their precious child. Would I be fortunate enough to take my healthy baby girl home tomorrow? Or could my whole life be about to change? Everyone else in the room (Ryan, My mom & my mother in law ) remained completely calm. I've got to learn to be more like that! 

10 long minutes later, the pediatrician came back in the room to talk to us. They hadn't found ANYTHING (pheeeew). His conclusiion was that it must have been some virus. The episodes could have just been choking. They wanted to do a couple more test to see if they could find the virus for everyones peace of mind.  We agreed to it & they showed up promptly to take more blood. They missed the vein, bruised her arm & didn't get enough blood, so they had to prick her foot.  So frustrating! But, like a champ,  as soon as they were finished Mia was back to her happy, fun, self.  She fell asleep for about 30 minutes afterwards, but woke up crying shortly thereafter. We though she might be hungry, but she refused to eat. Her heart rate jumped to 210 & she continued to cry harder & louder. Ryan I started checking all her monitors trying to find the problem (sometimes they would pinch her). We eventually got to taking the sock & tape off of her arm where the IV was,  her hand was extremely swollen. The IV needle had come out of the vein and was in the tissue. The nurse came & immeditaly removed the IV. Poor Mia's hand was already so puffed up it was rock hard, that had to have been extremely painful. By then, I thought that if I saw anyone else approach her with a needle, I just might punch them. As soon as she recovered from that trauma and fell asleep, someone else came up from the lab to take more blood. Apparently, since they had taken blood from her foot, the potassium levels were too high from the previous test. We informed her & our nurse that we were not putting Mia through anymore test, and we did not want them putting her IV back in. We were done. She had not run a fever since Tuesday night, she was alert, active, attentive, responsive & happy. We did not see the need to make her endure any more pricks & prods. So, Mia got to keep her remaining blood & boogers, & after four days, she could enjoy being needle free. 

They did still want to do a sonogram to take a look at her kidneys. I guess that was their last Hurrah. Since there is no radiation involved, & it's non-invasive, we agreed to it. They didn't find anything abnormal. 

Saturday, January 12th:

 After spening all day waiting around for final word from the pediatrician & discharge papers, we finally spoke with the Dr. around 3:00. Since they never got an accurate urine sample, he prescribed Mia antibiotics for a uti. We've opted not to give them to her. I really did like the peditrician, but I find his zeal to prescribe SOMETHING, (even if he had no proof it was ever an issue)  unecessary. I am content not having any answers as to what happened, as long as she is ok. 

FINALLY, The nurse came in with our discharge papers & told us and escort was coming for us. After waiting for said escort about 10 minutes, Ryan grabbed all are stuff & headed out the door. We left the hospital with a nurse literally chasing us down the hall explaining we had to have an escort. It satisfied her to ride with us in the elevator to the bottom floor, then she waived us on our way upon learning that we were parked pretty far away.

 On the way home Ryan commented, "we didn't bake some pansy baby, that girl is tough".  I couldn't agree more. She was incredibly resilient through it all.

Sunday, January 13th:

I don't remember every enjoying a day more than I enjoyed this Sunday. Truly, everything was miraculous. Being able to pick up my little girl with no cords attached, having the peace  of mind that she ways OKAY, the luxury of a warm shower, a hair bursh, my own food in the refrigerator, and a bed I could share with Ryan...priceless.

Tomorrow makes one full week that Mia has been fever free, her longest run since New Years Eve. Maybe the virus finally ran its course, maybe the antibiotics helped, but more than likely it is beause of all the prayer from our family & friends. Thank you all so much. Your encouraging words & your prayers mean the world to us. 

Our first stop to the ER @ Methodist Stone Oak. 

This is at Children's, right after the first time they took blood. Instead of falling asleep, she stayed up to chat with daddy.

Reading with Mimi

Since we first discovered I was pregnant, we've looked forward to hearing her laugh. She laughed for the first time in the hospital on Friday. It's beautiful & contagious!

Her hospital buddy, a bear given to her by a nurse at the hospital.