Mum and the Moon

The blog has been quiet in the past few days because life has been extremely busy. My mother is with us for a visit from Australia and we have been dashing about and Doing Things before collapsing in bed in exhaustion. Meanwhile, Mum has been taking some wonderful pictures of Wren and Frost and a few passable ones of me.

Here are a few. First, Wren playing with the brio trains. He loves to help them along the track and push them through the tunnel.
Tonight, we watched the total lunar eclipse. Even Wren saw it before bedtime.

Wren was playing the drum before we tried to photograph him. Then he was less enthusiastic.
Wren likes to help unpack the Pioneer Organics box. Here he has the carrots and is biting them on the couch. He offered to let me bite them too.

Aah! He will play the drum after all!

Much better today

Wren seemed his usual self today. He spent the morning with Heather and enjoyed being outside. She told me a funny story about him in the garden. She noticed him standing very still making a strange clicking noise and pointing. He had been doing it a while and wondered what it was. When she went to where he was standing she realized he was watching a squirrel on the fence which was eating a nut (hence clicking which is his noise for eating).

He stood and watched the squirrel for a long time. For about ten minutes after it ran away he kept saying "bye bye" and waving at the place the squirrel was.

He is such a sweetie. At Value Village (thift store) his favorite area is the big bin of stuffed toys. He takes them out and hugs and pats them. Today he picked up a baby doll and stroked its head gently and patted it. I think we should buy him a baby doll to play with.

Sickie update

Wren no longer has a fever but has something viral. He couldn't sleep well last night and woke hourly after 10.30pm until 5am. He was awake from 12.30am-2am. This morning it took him a long time to stop crying.

However, today he has been a clingy but happy version of himself. He loves being outside and tries to run off up the street at the slightest opportunity. He rushes the front door, climbs down the porch steps AND the rocky steps to the street, looks back once to check I am following and heads up the sidewalk at a an almost run. It is clear that he is fed up after months of confinement.

I hope we can spend a lot of time outside next week or even on the weekend and I hope also that tonight gets me some rest.

Joshua has txted me saying: I am not going to let him cry for an hour tonight. I would rather be up all night with him.

He didn't cry for an hour solidly but it was close to that with us going in and out after midnight. Even nursing didn't put him to sleep.

I took Wren to the doctor today. She said he does not have any obvious signs of infection but it is good that the fever has gone down. Apparently it could even be the flu. She mentioned that if Wren got the flu they would give him Tamiflu (I always want to type Tamilflu..) to mitigate its course. She said they have not had a bad flu season so far this year but that the vaccine is not very effective because the A and B's have few matches. I have no idea what that means but it sounded bad.

In other news, my mother is due to join us in Seattle (from London) on Saturday but I am waiting to hear whether she will make her flight. She may have to stay on with my grandfather because he was overdosed with morphine from his morphine patch which the nursing home staff administered for back pain. The doctor has since pulled the prescription but it was touch and go for a while. We are very excited to see her but may have to wait a few more days.

Sick, Again

Wren has a low fever and is feeling miserable. He has a bit of a sniffle and and upset stomach. He is breathing a bit fast and grunts a bit although I think it is more from discomfit than difficulty breathing.

I hope it passes soon and no-one else succumbs to this latest virus.

Frost vs Wren

The boys have been fighting. Yes, a 13 month old can fight with a 6 year old. This morning he threw a huge rock at Frost's foot and bruised him. In retaliation, Frost taped Wren inside his lion playhut so that he couldn't escape.

Frost has learned that if he wants to get Wren out of a room he shuts him in the room. As soon as the door opens Wren rushes out of captivity and can then be locked out.

Wren grabs a pen and scribbles on Frost's robot drawing. Frost takes Wren's interlocking blocks away from him.

I tell Frost to go and play in his room and not bother Wren with his own toys. Frost cries... "But sometimes I want to play with his toys. I want to make something!"

I suggest he gives Wren something new to distract him then take the interlocking blocks to his own room and shut the door. Frost dumps a whole tub of toys at Wren's feet. Wren is not fooled and follows but is thwarted by the door. Minutes later Frost calls me to admire the smiley face he has made from interlocking blocks and lego. It is very happy and smiley.

Wren pulls it apart.

This time Frost doesn't mind because he was finished. Still, I empathize. I suffered the same invasions from my younger brother. I explain to Frost that sometimes it is hard to be a big brother because Wren wants to do everything he wants to do because he's his hero.

Frost says "I am a superhero and Wren is my side-kick. Or I am Batman and he is Robin."

Uh oh. I hear shouting and doors slamming and now Wren is crying. Oh, and the telltale rattle of bead curtain tells me that another battle has been waged.

Nutrition Appointments

Wren had two appointments this week to discuss his low weight gain and improving his calorie intake.

NATUROPATHIC ADVICE
Yesterday, we saw our Naturopath Sari. Overall, she said she would not be concerned if he did not have a CHD but she would like him to eat more and be a bit more interested. She felt that he may have a low appetite from the pneumonia he had and the stomach flu a few months earlier. She also worried about his intestinal flora after 2 bouts of antibiotics. So, she recommended:

Smoothies: Made with rice protein powder, ground almond meal or soaked almonds, pasteurized honey and good fruit.

200mg Vit C / day which is supposed to stimulate appetite.

Brewer's yeast in OJ.

Thymactiv homeopathic. I dropper full.

Oil in applesauce. In particular, 1/2 tsp/day or flax oil.

Nut butters and honey or barley malt or fruit juice concentrate made into cookies.

Sacroyses Florstar good intestinal flora.

She also recommended keeping on nursing on demand but offering these calorie and nutrient rich foods at each meal.


THE CARDIAC CLINIC NUTRITIONIST
The nutritionist we saw today was not concerned. She said as long as he isn't LOSING weight its okay. Weight gain can be slow but as long as it is occurring they are happy!!?? As it happened, Wren had eaten well today and weighed a wopping 22 lbs 15 oz which is 7oz more than 2 weeks ago. Its weird. I think it is a factor of the scales.

Anyway, she suggested we feed him 6 small meals a day - 3 normal mealtimes and 3 snack meals. She did not feel I should limit nursing but wanted me to feed him solids before nursing at mealtimes.

Her suggestions for calorie rich foods included: smoothies, Carnation instant breakfast, egg white milkshakes, ovaltine with cream added, anything with cream added, avocado, icecream.

She also gave me a list of expected servings per day which was utterly unrealistic. If Wren ate all that is intended he would be a hippo.

I am too tired to post more (Wren missed his PM nap and has been a fussy sleeper recently, waking at 4.30am today) but I feel better equipt and encouraged after the information from both 'experts'.

Scheduled week

This week I have lots of meetings, appointments and activities. Yesterday, I attended a global Health Seminar at UW. This is part of my plan to return to work in January 2009 and my hope to work in Global Health and/or an International NGO. The seminar was on the major issues in Global Health and I felt very at home in the discussion and among the attendees.

Today, Wren is going to the naturopath to check his chest and get Sari's views on nutrition and growth and breastfeeding. Tomorrow, we have an appointment at Children's with the cardiac clinic nutritionist. They are going to start us on a 3-day calorie count study and give us some advice on nutrition from their perspective. Wren's perspective is all about nursing, yoghurt, nuts, pasta and cheddar. You may notice he has enlarged his menu slightly which is great but still eats very small amounts at a time and has little stamina for sitting in his high chair.

On Thursday, Josh has a dental appointment so I don't have the car followed by the cat vaccination on Saturday morning and a birthday party on Saturday afternoon. Friday I work at school and on Wednesday we are doing school tours for prospective families. Oh, and there is a board meeting thrown in on Tuesday night too.

I am not sure how people do this while working full time. I guess they don't:)

When Raccoons Attack!!!!

This morning Wren slept later and I felt much better. I needed that extra energy because when I opened the back door Wren and I were greeted with a great mess. Some noctural forager had discovered our compost bucket which I leave on the back step. The contents were spilled down the stairs. I put on my rubber gloves to scoop up all the rotting vegetable trimmings and one of the gloves was full of icy water. It was horrid.

In the picture you can see Wren pointing going "OOOH" when he sees the mess.

Wren still has a very rough sounding chest and has retractions off and on. He is not grunting and seems to have good energy and improving appetite so I am not too worried. Still, I am keeping him out of baby group for another week.

Much better but not at night

Wren is very much himself today. He only coughs after waking and then he has a rattly chest for a short period. He seems to have plenty of energy. The doctor said it would take at least a week for the inflammation to subside but if I didn't know that he had it I would have said he just had the end of a cold.

This is not so for his sleep.

Last night he woke at 8pm (after 45 minutes sleep), 11.30pm, 12.30am and 4am before rising for the day at 5.45am. At midnight he was up for close to an hour.

Neither Joshua nor I have a clue what is going on at night. It could be that he has become accustomed to nursing on demand through the night as I allowed him to nurse 2-3 times while he was having trouble breathing and we wanted to avoid crying. Now he throws a tantrum when he wakes and I refuse to nurse. In the end I caved and he nursed at 1am and 4.30am. Ugh.

I am getting quite fed up with his attitude to nursing. He is very demanding with his signing. During the day he follows me and signs MILK when he feels its time. If I offer another liquid or some food he gets very angry, cries, falls on the floor, grabs my legs and complains until I give in. If I do not give in he is a monster until he is distracted from the idea.

God forbid I should try and sit on the couch where we usually nurse. Even if its not a nursing time he climbs on me and signs MILK. If I refuse the whole tantrum thing is set off again.

This morning he had a good nap and is sleeping again now. I slept for over an hour this morning so I feel fabulous by comparison with the past week of sleep deprivation . I have been dragging myself through the afternoon like a wet sock.

Anyway, time to wake Wren so he gets to bed on time.

The Golden Granadilla

This post is for my Australian/South African friends and family.

Today, I was looking at the Durban Daily Photo blog I follow and noticed the prices of main dishes at the restaurant board in the picture. They translate to about $5-10 dollars per dish. By contrast, yesterday I spent $3.20= R23 for A SINGLE GRANADILLA!

Oh, wait. I spent $6.40 for TWO #$#@$!! granadillas.

It was a mistake. They were not priced in the produce section of QFC and they looked great. They felt heavy and were wrinkled. For the granadilla/passionfruit connoisseurs among us, that = delicious. I put them in the cart meaning to ask the price at the checkout but I forgot. I looked it up as I unpacked at home and nearly fell down flat. I ate both, immediately, so as to not be reminded of my folly.

Yes, they were fabulous.

Grandad Punchy used to have a tennis court at 137 Northway and the whole right hand fence was covered with a prolific granadilla vine. As kids we would climb the tennis fence to pick the purple fruit and eat many of them. Many many of them, over ice-cream.