Big Boy Seat!

Although Zacharey had not outgrown his infant seat (Graco Snug ride 35) we decided to switch him over to a bigger, more comfortable seat.
We purchased a Diono Radian RXT for him about a month and a half ago, but were waiting for the weather to warm before installing it in the van (and switching him over).

I was expecting installation to be a royal pain in the ass. Surprisingly not so much. The only pain in the ass is the strap adjustment on this seat. I wish it ether had different strap pads or was allowed to be used without the strap pads. I just find it is really hard to get snug as a hug tight enough when the strap covers are so thick and bulky. Clearly they are designed that way for optimal safety, but it is hard to adjust. Perhaps once the seat gets worked in a bit more, it will be easier to adjust. Or maybe once Zacharey is bigger.
All in good time I guess...
 

Avoidance

To those 5 people who actually read my blog. (Okay, I know there are more than 5 of you, I look at my stats religiously. Shout out to Germany, China, France, Finland, Greece, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, the UK, Ireland and of course Canada and the US) I  know you have been anxiously anticipating an update on Zacharey's weight. Sorry for leaving you hanging. I have been avoiding blogging about this.

Zacharey had his 7th month weigh in on the 19th of February. Only he was technically 7.5 months, it was the earliest they could get us in for a weight check. He also needed a check up to see how his lungs were doing.
We finally get called in, almost 30 minutes after our scheduled appointment time, and to my horror we are with nurse formula. If it weren't for the fact that we really needed his lungs checked I would have turned around and walked out the door. No check. Nothing.
But no. So I bite my tongue so hard I can nearly taste blood. Suck up my own personal feelings and apprehensions and follow her into the office of doom. I was very short with her, almost rude. I answered every question I could with short one or two word answers.
She leaves the room to go get the scale. The 'other scale' the one that he is not weighed on. Thus meaning, it is not an accurate measurement. I asked if it were possible to have the scale that he is normally weighed on. With an eye roll she said it was being used.
Okay.
I undress the bean down to the diaper and wait for her to get the scale ready. She made a comment on all the self inflicted scratches on Zacharey's legs, back and belly. (he has a thing for grabbing exposed skin, my skin is included in this). I told her that he has a thing for skin and we make an effort to always have clothing on him.
Zacharey was weighed. 15lbs 5oz. Shit. No gain. Nothing. Naturally it has to be nurse formula when we have no gain. I am not sure what I was expecting. Zacharey had been really sick. He was throwing up almost every feed. Yet, when weighed at the hospital he was 7.74kg (17lbs .5oz). Yes, it was fully clothed. So let's say an oz for the diaper- maybe two it is cloth. 2oz for the diaper, an ounce per booty, an oz for his jeans, an oz for the diaper shirt, an oz for the socks, and oz for the sweater. Brings us to 8oz. Which would put his weight roughly at 16lbs 10.5oz. Could the hospital scale be off by a whole lb? Yes. It really could. I guess I was just expecting SOME weight gain.
Off to the measurements now.
Head? 43cm (16.9 inches) no change. Fuck!
Length? 68cm (26.8 inches) He shrunk? Impossible! Babies don't shrink! (last month he was 27.6 inches long)
Don't say anything, bite tongue. Grit teeth.
Well, I said, he was really sick. She just looks at me. I told her we needed a check up for his lungs. I know full well she is not qualified to do it. She does it anyways.
She said he sounds clear. I can hear him rattling without a stethoscope.
She asked if I was allowing him to have real food yet.
Yep.
She asked how he liked real food.
He hates it.
She said that the Doc will be calling me with feeding instructions
I dress him and leave the office.

The Doc did eventually call, she said she was very concerned with his 'serious weight loss."
I explained to her that he didn't lose weight. He just didn't gain anything. I said I think the most likely explanation was his recent illness. She agreed but then went on to say that she was very concerned about his lack of growth and his very slow weight gain (over the course of his life). That even though her own children were long and skinny, and always in the 5-10th percentile for weight, that Zacharey's second drop in percentile was very concerning for her and that she would really like to refer him to a pediatrician for testing. Just to rule out any serious illness that would cause slow to no weight gain. She said that she knows I am a competent parent, and that perhaps she is just a fussy old doctor. But she she would feel more comfortable having a second look and some testing. I agreed to the referral and and admitted that I am becoming increasingly neurotic about his weight, but stated that developmentally he is well above where he should be. (He just learned to pull himself up and walk around things. AT 7.5 MONTHS?!) I explained that I would love for him to gain better, to beef up, to not have to work so hard for every oz of gain. I explained that I just don't think that Zacharey will ever beef, regardless of what he is being fed. That formula has less calories than breast milk, less fat. That he eats well and frequently gorges himself.
I asked what chart he was being looked at, a formula fed chart or a breast fed chart. She admitted it was a formula fed chart, but that it doesn't make a difference in the long run as all babies even out. WHAT?! It makes a HUGE difference! Yes, Zacharey is small, YES he hasn't had great weight gains. But how can you compare him to much bigger over fed formula babies?!?! No wonder he never fared well. How was he supposed to?
In the mean time? I get all butt hurt over friend's status updates over how well their breastfed babies are gaining, how chubby and chunky they are and I force feed Zacharey bottles of pumped milk after feeds. 1-1.5 oz and he hates it (hates the bottle, hates begin forced to drink more after he is all full and sloshy.) He hates a bottle being shoved in his face so much that he is now refusing a sucky. Which means bedtime just became hell.
Nurse, force feed pump. Nurse, force feed pump. Nurse, force feed, pump.

Two Whole Hands and a Finger

So. I seem to have an eleven year old. Because that is all kinds of okay.
Actually it isn't. I am not ready to have an eleven year old. After eleven comes twelve and then thirteen. Ew teenager *shudders*
As I try to be fair and do for one kid as I would do for another, I made another round of rainbow cupcakes for Alex to take to school. I also made Adam take the day off work so I wouldn't have to walk with three kids and 30 cupcakes.
I seem to have it down to a science now, it was much easier to make the second time. I had asked Alex want colour he wanted for the icing and he said; "Baby blue. NO! RED! NO BLACK! I WANT BLACK!"
I am pretty sure the WTF look on my face said it all because he then said; "What ever, I don't care. You pick."
Alright.
Yellow it is! haha
He had picked East Side Mario's for dinner (total win, no McDonald's). I had called ahead to make sure it was okay if we brought our own cake in (for allergy reasons). They said that people do it all the time and that it was no problem! I failed to get any birthday morning pictures as he was being a grumpy jerk. Closed the door in my face and everything. I will have to be more stealthy next year.

The line up

Baked ready for icing

Sadly I didn't get nay pictures of him opening his presents. He got a Jay's hat, some Transformers KreO Lego like stuff and a kinder egg.

Happy 11th kid! <3

The Party!

Last year we decided it was cost effective and mind-saving to throw a joint party for the older boys.
Parties tend to stress me out... and make my anxiety shoot through the roof. Two kids, one month, one party. It just makes sense!
We have been doing a pool party at a local pool here for three years in a row. We pay for one hour in the gym, one hour in the pool, and one hour in the party room. It is perfect (and inexpensive! Just over $100 for the whole thing plus food, drinks, and cake).
This year had a great turn out and I think everyone had fun. No complaints anyways. Which I guess is a bonus.
We almost ran out of food this year, which is great as last year we ended up eating pizza and cake for 3+ days.
Three jumbo pizzas, a case of juice boxes, 1/2 a case of water, a fruit tray and a veggy tray. Plus the two cakes. All we had left was 1/4 of a veggy tray and 3 pieces of cake.

Capes

Sometimes I really need to take a step back and realize I am not a creative person.
Sometimes I need to be reminded that I am not a creative person.
Sometimes I need to be reminded that I am not a patient person, especially when it comes to creativity.
I tend to have great ideas- for others to do.

This year for the boy's birthday party, I really wanted to get the guest something that will be used, and not just a bunch of junk that will be tossed out. Normally I spend a small fortune at the dollar store and over stuff loot bags. This year, I decided that I was going to make capes for the younger kids and buy small Lego kits for the older kids.
Simple right? Go to fabric land, buy some material and thread... some Velcro for the clasps... Order the Lego kits online. Done!
Nope.
The Lego kids I bought online at chapters. They were on sale (yay!) plus I had some gift cards kicking around so I only paid $20 out of pocket.
The capes on the other hand... Oy

We used a pizza box for a template and cut a 'cape' shape out. I traced the cape 12!!! times on each colour of fabric.
That was day one.
Day two I started to cut the shapes out. Adam helped (he did 4).
Day three I finished cutting the capes out and borrowed a sewing machine from my neighbour.
Day four consisted of the boys getting yelled at for managing to spill an entire bag of milk on the already made capes and the prepped material.
Day five was a lot of ironing, a lot of F bombs and I am not going to lie, a lot of tears.
Day six was the morning before the party, I had stayed up until 3am trying to get the damn things done. The sewing machine kept having a hissy fit and throwing up thread. The Velcro tabs weren't working properly, and I was almost out of thread. I had mere hours to finish them or the younger kids would be going home empty handed.
Thankfully, an old friend came to my rescue and finished (and corrected) my mess. KayeLle Handmades
(Thank you sooooooo much!)

Day 3, 4 and 5!

Day two ended up with Zacharey wheezing really bad, Adam and I debated taking him to emerge that night but as the other boys were already in bed, we decided to wait it out and see how he was in the morning.
The morning fared no better, so after finding out that the COPC is closed for the break (because that makes complete sense, let's close the child outpatient centre... during a time when children would need it most.) I called my doctor office and asked if there was any way they could squeeze him in. Thankfully they are really flexible and know I only call if we really need to be seen. We ended up seeing the doctor who delivered Nathaniel and I laughed a bit when she introduced herself, I guess she doesn't remember me. Anyways, she took one look at Zacharey, and his breathing and told us we needed to get to emerge ASAP for chest x rays and wrote us a requisition.  She also said that to her it sounds like bronchiolitis and wrote us a script for two inhalers and an aero chamber.
Since Adam dropped us off, we walked over to HDH and were immediately sent in for an x-ray. They placed my poor boy in a tube! He was so upset, real tears and everything! I stood there with him, while they irradiated his tiny body, twice.
We were told that we could go home at this point and that our doctor would let us know in 2-3 days.  I told them we would wait for the results in emerge. There is NO way I was waiting 2-3 days for results of a chest x-ray on a 7 month old.
John was able to watch the older two and Adam came and waited with us. After about an hour of waiting (and me getting covered in barf and mucous) we were placed in another room to wait for a doctor. Another hour or so rolled around and we were sent a barely English speaking had to have been a first year resident. He was awful! Telling Zacharey to 'hold still' and to 'breathe deeply'. He gave him a tongue depressor to keep his hands busy (he kept trying to grab the stethoscope) and then told him, "no no baby, don't put in your mouth!"
I looked at him and asked if he knew he was a baby or not... *insert eye roll here*
Thankfully after summarizing what we had said several times and still not understanding why we were there he sent in a real doctor.
This guy was AMAZING. Told us that radiology said the spots on Zacharey's lungs were inconclusive and because they can't see Zacharey and hear his breathing said it was most likely viral.  The doctor said that it was sounding like it was turning into pneumonia and that he 100% agreed with the other doctor's diagnosis. He wanted to prescribe antibiotics as pneumonia in small babies can be fatal and almost always mean a hospital stay. We were all on the same page with not wanting an antibiotic for no reason as they are commonly over prescribed but in this case, it was warranted. We really didn't need Zacharey getting any sicker.
I mentioned that he was prescribed two inhalers and an aero chamber and that they would be quite costly as we don't have drug coverage. Especially the areo chamber, as it doesn't even have a prescription code so it wouldn't be covered even if we did have drug coverage.  He was very accommodating and had the nurse give Zacharey a dose of the inhaler, which would mean both the aero chamber and inhaler would need to be discarded as they are one use items. Instead of discarding them as hospital waste, they just sent us home with them!
We needed up having to pay for the antibiotics and the one inhaler. Unfortunately it still set us back $84.00, but I knew it would have been well over $300.00 if we would have had to pay for all 4 items.

Day 4
Zacharey was feeling much better but I kept all 3 boys home. My friend Miranda came over and brought us coffee. Much needed and loved coffee.  Kim ended up coming over for Grey's night. It was a pretty mellow day.

Day 5
Today the boys seemed to grate on my nerves a little more than usual. Probably because Zacharey was up seven or eight times last night. He is feeling much better but his night waking has increased trifold. I didn't think it was possible for him to wake up any more frequently than normal. He is usually up every two hours, demanding a boob. (Yes, my 7 month old still nurses like a newborn, especially at night)
He hates his meds and ether spits out his oral or throws them up.
Giving him his inhalers is torture. He screams the entire time.
Although, he is improving and I only had to give him his emergency inhaler twice today.
He also learned to pull himself up to a stand!! Crazy baby! Slow down!

I started making the capes for the birthday party on Sunday. I decided that I am sick of spending money on loot bag garbage that I know just ends up in the trash. This year I am making the little kids capes and the big kids I purchased small Lego kits.
Next time I have the bright idea to be creative, someone please kick me and remind me that I AM NOT A CREATIVE PERSON!
I will blog about the cape process tomorrow. (ish)

March Break- Day 2

We're two days in, and the boys are still alive.
I received an email from a friend today, she asked; "How is March Break going so far? Are all your children still unharmed?"
Pssh, give me some credit, we are only two days in haha

Today Adam did not work, which worked out in my favour as I had made plans with Siobhan and her son William to see the reptiles at the Frontenac Mall. We should have come earlier, as there were so many adults there, with their children, blocking the way. I am unsure how much of the show the boys actually saw...  They did however get to pet some snakes, which was pretty cool.
After wards, we went over to my friend Lisa's house. It was her birthday today, so we bought her a coffee (which she won a donut on yay!) and a birthday donut. It was super nice seeing her and the kids. Although, I am feeling guilty going over when we all still have our colds. Zacharey especially, the poor kid sounds awful.




We ended up having to rush home instead of taking our time on the way playing Ingress. John arrived for dinner slightly earlier than anticipated. The house was not yet company ready nor was dinner even started. Thankfully homemade lasagna doesn't take too long.  He brought yummy cesar salad (real homemade dressing) and garlic bread with cheese. Nom!

I'll upload pictures later, most are on Adam's phone and I am waiting for him to send them to me... 


UPDATE!

(it is so hard to get pictures of Alex, he avoids the camera like the plague!)

March Break- Day 1

Day one consists of Zacharey coughing and gagging so bad he is vomiting up everything in his tiny belly, Alex being so loud he woke up the entire house, and Nathaniel refusing to remove 2 sizes too small shark rain boots (which I might add, are on the wrong feet).
I really need to get this place organized and cleaned, too much stuff in a tiny space makes my skin crawl. We need a better system. I also need to get my hands on a six box cube shelf.
I wonder if the boys would even notice if I just started throwing everything out. I am sick of looking at it, and sick of stepping on it. But then the cheap frugal side of me remembers what we have spent on all this crap... *sigh*

7 Months!

Today Zacharey is 7 months old!  It also marks 7 months of breastfeeding. What a huge milestone!

Zacharey is a very funny baby, he is so bright eyed and happy- although, still rarely laughs. He has discovered he has wrists, and now spends a lot of his time moving them. He is still not crawling but is getting really quick at scooting (usually backwards). I have caught him on several occasions getting on his hands and feet (bear craw position). He is crazy strong and will climb up a person or try and wriggle his way out of hands.
Although he is not a large baby, he now wears 9-12 month clothing and is on the mid rise to most of his diapers. (clearly malnourished ;) )
As for teeth, he doesn't have any yet but his drool output has increased and he has red rashy cheeks. I think I will be bitten very soon.
Zacharey's current favourite foods are apples, bananas and beans.

7 months old
Unknown weight

Mr. 5

Yesterday was Nathaniel's 5th Birthday. A whole hand!
When he woke up I called him Mr. 5. He told me he didn't want to be Mr. 5. He wanted to be my Nathaniel. Naturally, I told him that he will always be my Nathaniel. I asked him if he felt any older, and he said that he did, because he is a whole hand now.

First picture of Mr. 5
Telling me the flash hurt his eyes

I always write a message form Mr Banana man. Usually they remind Nathaniel to eat the banana...

Adam had taken the day off work, as his non scheduled hours would have made it difficult to go out for birthday dinner and he may or may not have been done in time to take Nathaniel to the hockey game.
I had made rainbow cupcakes the previous night with green icing (his favourite colour) for him to enjoy at school with his class mates. For the record, rainbow cupcakes are a total pain to make.

They were a really big hit!

 When asked where he wanted to go for his birthday dinner, he loudly exclaimed, "MCDONALDS!"
Although, it is not were I wanted to eat, I am happy he didn't request Chuck E Cheese haha
We picked him up from school (Alex too) and went for an early dinner, as part of his birthday present was going to see "K Hockey"

Being picked up from school- he was really excited that we got him a balloon!

This is the reason I buy cakes for their actual party ahha
It tasted much better than what it looks ;)

The too big hat- we are going to be exchanging it today...

The ONLY thing he asked for- a monster truck to play in the sand box with

Overall, I think he had a great birthday. He got tons of stuff, got to spend alone time with Daddy at a hockey game, and got to eat crap food.

Happy 5th Lil' Monster <3