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.

SNOW! and not much sleep

Wren woke every 2 hours last night and didn't sleep after 5am so here we are sitting in the darkish living room hooting at the snow and listening to the Kiro 7 Pinpoint traffic report. I don't know why I am watching the traffic report - I have no intention of going anywhere - but its a ritual for me when its snowing because Seattle gets in such a panic about snow. Traffic is bad without snow and when we have an inch on the road "it is a real mess out there and its not over yet!"


Wren was finally persuaded to eat some yoghurt. You can see it all over his face and down his front.

The view from our window. We have about 2" on the ground.

Look at all the snow out there!

Wren didn't have a fever last night but he had trouble with the cough and was wheezing and breathing quickly in the first part of the night. When we got up this morning he had a few fits of coughing and retching until he managed to spit up some of the phlegm in his throat. Since then he has felt better although he will need two naps and I hope I can share one of them.

Sunday update

Wren is feeling better although he is still retracting and coughing in a chunky way. He had a good nap and had good energy most of the day. He hates the antibiotic for sinus infection but we suspect it is helping because his nasal secretions have reduced and become clear instead of goopy. He has nose crusties instead of constant gray boogers!

He has gone to sleep easily and nursed well all day although he refused even his favorite foods like grapes, yoghurt, custard and applesauce. He even refused broccoli. When food was offered he shook his head and signed "all gone" and said "bu bye!" then waved. His message is clear!

He was very frustrated at being kept home all day. At one point when Joshua took him to the basement to put the garbage in the garage Wren climbed into the stroller and pointed at the garage door. It was clear he wanted to go for a walk. Later, he went to the back door and tried to get out, crying when I refused. He popped the cat door open and stuck his hands out until Joshua took pity on him and took him, bundled up, into the winter sunshine for a short while.

Overnight update

Wren slept well last night because of the fever. He did not cough as much but wheezed and was breathing fast (50 bpm approx) all the time. Around 5am his fever broke and he rested easier but had more coughing and spitting up milk.

This morning I noticed that his retractions were worse - I can see his ribs at the back and side when he breathes in - BUT he is feeling much better. He is walking around, has more normal color (no purple rings under his eyes) and playing with toys and talking.

I suspect the fever will return later but am glad to see he is feeling better now. I am watching that wheeze and retractions and may mention it to the doctor later.

Viral pneumonia

I took Wren back to the ped today because he was running a fever and was tired, flushed and weak. He had also been vomiting a bit during coughing fits. The doctor noticed he was doing a bit of worker breathing and grunting. Even though his sats were good (96%) she sent us to Children's for an x-ray.

The chest x-ray showed bi-lateral inflammation in his lungs which the radiographer described as viral in appearance. He said it was diffuse rather than deep and did not look like RSV inflammation although it could be.

Wren is on antibiotics in case he has a sinus infection (this cold & cough has been going on almost 3 weeks) and we are watching him carefully for any signs of increased stress on breathing. If the fever persists through Monday we will take him in on Tuesday morning. Otherwise there is nothing much we can do.

On the advice of our naturopath he is having bryonia alba, some thymactiv, castor oil rub on his chest with obelia tincture and can have honey loquat cough tea. We shall get some tomorrow.

He has remained sick and weak all day although he will still walk around a bit until he remembers he is feeling bad then he flops down in my lap. It is sad and I am worried about him.

We discussed Wren's weight and we have been referred to the nutritionist at Children's Cardiac clinic to do a calorie count and advise us on diet.