Kyle's GI follow-up

The facts:

Weight: 18.5 lbs (gained less than a pound in 2 months, no gain in the last two weeks)

Height: 31 inches (gained a whole inch! Bam!)

What we're doing right: Breastfeeding 2x per day is a good thing(according to the specialist). Kyle sure is happy about that. He's at least getting some nutrients from me. Also, Kyle is drinking more liquids in general than before. (He used to dislike water or any other liquid for so long.)

What we can try: Encourage even more of his boost drink mixed with whole milk (only after he has attempted solids). Bring back the medication, but maintain original dosage. We are to feed/encourage ANYTHING that he likes no matter what it is.

Overall, we just want him to be healthy. Our frustrations come not from how small his is or his exact weight, but from just how little he consumes on a daily basis. He can be small. He can be thin. Basically, he can be just how he was created to be. We'd just like to see him eat better. Oh, and lose the "failure to thrive" label.

Our little Dinker. The doctor looked at him after our consult(where Kyle was rearranging every piece of furniture in the room) and said, "He's just too active!" So... our sleep coach advised giving Kyle every possible opportunity to burn energy(calories) in order to sleep better. Our doctor advises more quiet, inactive play in order to save every spare calorie. What are we supposed to do? :) We're going to just let him be him. There's really no stopping it, just funny that our two major problems offer conflicting "solutions!"

Kyle's 1st Elephant Ride!

And first trip to the zoo!! :) Since Kyle has taken an interest in monkeys, we decided to go local and hit up the Santa Ana Zoo where they have quite a few monkeys. Grammie and Auntie Michelle joined us for this highly anticipated "first!" And while there, Ru and Kyle got an elephant ride. This elephant's name is Kitty. She weighs about 9,000 lbs and is 43 years old. She was very well behaved and didn't give us any scares. Then, Michelle and I got a turn.

Turkey Trot!!

My sister and I ran a 5k together on Thanksgiving day. We had a blast doing it and have agreed that we will definitely sign up for another run in the near future. We might try to better our 5k time and then do a 10k next! I normally do not enjoy running, but this was actually fun and pretty easy. The 3 miles came and went and before I knew it we were crossing the finish line. Now, for the first time in my life, I'd consider doing a half marathon or something. That's if my hip flexors will cooperate. Surprisingly, I made it through my sporatic training and the actual run, but today I've been hurting. I think our grand finale sprint was what did it. Without a doubt, I'm glad my sis convinced me to join her and that our family came to support us.

Here we are before the race and amped up with lots of energy!!!

The starting line. What line? Yeah, it was a mush of thousands of people.

Poor little Shmu didn't understand why his mommy was running away from him! Seeing him cheer for me was just about the cutest thing ever. I so badly wanted to stop and squeeze him!
"Yay Auntie!!"
Our nicknames... Don't ask! :)
A cheesy sister picture and the route we took along the boardwalk at the beach.
Ru's homemade "Yay Mom/Yay Auntie!" signs.
Thanks Dad, Mom, Ru and Kyle for cheering us on. It really helps!
Then, Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house.


We are so thankful for the many, many blessings we have, and especially our little Shmu.

Giro giro tondo...

That's the first line of Kyle's new favorite, singing, Italian bear named Giovanni. Grandma Sally sent it in a package and its been a big hit. He loves to press the button and say, "button!" Then, he will press it repeatedly until his favorite two songs begin. When they do, he lights up with a big smile and starts to dance. It is beyond adorable. Now he's got us singing along all the time, everywhere!! And we're learning Italian! :)

Kyle has a system here. He wants to go in the swing with Gio and wants everything "just so!" He will let us know if we're doing anything wrong by pointing and saying, "Maynko!!"

Funny faces...

Today, on our way to the park with Gio, the dump truck and shovels, Kyle continued to press the button and bounce to the music. Here, it looks like he's catching on to what you're "supposed" to do when Mom pulls out the camera! Oh, and he's holding Gio's hand!!
Pressing the button.

Arriverderci!

Can you find Kyle?

When Kyle was 6 months old a photographer in my MOPS group needed 6 month old babies for a Baby Lulu - Pepper Toes clothing line photo shoot. In return, we got a crazy expensive but so not practical outfit and a photo. It was just for fun. And although the Baby Lulu website hasn't been updated yet for it's fall collection (hello??), I did find Kyle on several links where Pepper Toes is sold. This one was kind of fun, because it's like going on a "Kyle hunt." He's so different looking here that it's almost hard to tell it's really him. See if you can find him! :)

http://www.forgetmenotkids.com/Pepper-Toes--Ships-725-815_c_1354.html

Girls' Getaway!

A couple months ago I had mentioned to a few of my mommy friends how much fun it would be to get just ONE night off and actually sleep!!! That thought led us to plan a fun trip to the mountains. So, this weekend 4 of us went up to Lake Arrowhead where one of my friend's family owns a second home. I think the others had done this sort of thing before but for me, it was my first night away from Kyle. Monumental, right?? :) I had actually been debating about not going because I am still nursing and he has been waking up at least a couple times a night and Rudy *claims* to not hear anything! :) However, with enough encouragement from Rudy, my sister, and friends, I took the plunge and disappeared for 24 hours!! And I'm so glad I did! Kyle and Ru had a great time together, Kyle ate (What??), and slept pretty well! Success! I, on the other hand, didn't sleep as well as I wanted to and still woke up at 5:30 and couldn't fall back asleep. Even so, it was nice to just lay there and not have to get up! Instead, I got to spend my early morning finishing a whole cup of coffee, uninterrupted, while sitting out on the balcony breathing in crisp mountain air and watching colorful leaves fall 3 stories down. It was perfect.

My friends had gone for the whole weekend, while I left Saturday morning (I couldn't bear to be away from Kyle for 2 nights without nursing him - for a couple of reasons!). Since my grandma lives at the base of the mountain, I dropped in on her before heading up. When I reached the top, I met my friends at the Village and we had lunch and shopped. And this was my lucky day!! I finally found my first pair of boots! I've looked for years and haven't found anything I liked that I could afford. So with a huge Veteran's Day sale, I got $120 boots for $40, thanks to a friend who went in on a buy one get two free deal! Woohoo!!! I couldn't resist coming home and trying on everything I own while wearing them.

Later that night we all snuggled by a fire and read, ate dinner, and watched a chick flick at the home's movie theater downstairs. The whole time I felt so giddy with excitement ... as if I was at my very first sleep over or something. Has it really been that long? Am I really THAT deprived? :) So fun. So glad I went!

Lake Arrowhead's Village

I was really excited about that fire and quality reading time.

My morning view of the lake.

Thank you Ru and Kyle, for letting me get a much needed break! And Dinker, thanks for being such a good boy for Daddy.

A family favorite

We really enjoy our beach trips and as Kyle grows, it gets easier and more exciting to take him.

Starfish galore. And my favorite, sea anemones.

Outside, water, birds, sand, and Papa. What more could the little man want? :)

Just beautiful.

A weekend with GG

We had such a fun weekend. GG flew in Friday afternoon and that evening we went to Rudy's brother's first ever art show!! It was so cool to see my brother-in-law showing his work in this way. We were so dang proud of him!

Randy's
Marlon's (a good friend of Randy)

Marlon, Me, Rudy/Kyle, Randy
Then we had GG all to ourselves for the next 3 days! Normally, we see her when she comes in on an overnight layover, so this was extra special to have more time. Kyle loved playing with her and Ru and I both loved having the extra time to catch up on things. Why can't she live closer?

Eating sweet potato puffs. Few calories, but he was eating!! :)
And feeding Mr. Elmo. So cute.
Playing peek-a-boo with GG.

I even got to make a list of grocery items and before I knew it, the 3 of them were off to do the shopping! I could definitely get used to that idea!

Kyle and shopping = not so much fun. The little car couldn't even hold his attention for long!
GG and Kyle played non-stop it seemed, but they managed to fit in a few moments of sitting/snuggle time as they looked at pictures on GG's laptop. Kyle loved pointing out people he knew.

Sadly, GG got on a plane today. Ru and I were just saying that we'd had a really great weekend. I think Kyle would definitely agree!

New tradition

A few weeks ago Kyle decided to drop a nap and is currently down to one nap a day. Because this nap is during our weekly library story time, I decided to start a new tradition for my one and only day off with him ... going to the beach! Now, to make this optimal fun for both K and myself, I carefully planned our location which is right next to a cafe/coffee shop (for me!), very short distance to the water, bathrooms, and water to rinse off all the sand. There's even an elementary school playground on the sand that we could crash if he wanted to. It's a great spot. We packed simple and K had a blast splashing in the water, watching a seal surf over and over not 20 feet away from us (It was SO cool!), and dumping sand everywhere with his shovel. We had so much fun in the water. Kyle wanted to go in so badly that I ended up taking off his pants and letting him get pretty soaked as he charged right in. He was not intimidated in the least by the waves and claimed the water for his own.

The best part... I got to enjoy the beach,too. Not only was it fun to play with K and see his elated reaction to everything, but he's finally old enough to where he "gets" it and can play by himself, too. I got to sip my coffee and enjoy a little piece of my former life, in my little happy place. Yay! We came back for Kyle's nap and now I have 2hrs (?) to tackle my to-do list. I've decided I reeeally like my day off.