Endless conversation

A. is usually very quiet when we're out and about. She's a bit more talkative around people she knows. But when it's just the family -- especially just A. and I -- she talks endlessly.

I transcribed the last 5 minutes of her bath tonight. She usually just sits in the tub and babbles as I stand at the counter and read or web surf, helping as she requests. I had to leave out some of the repetition, but hopefully the flavor of it will come across. I stopped transcribing when she started demanding to come out of the tub.

Daddy hungry. Daddy hungry. (unintelligible) More. (She eats bubbles)

Foot foot foot. ? want. ? want.

Horn. Rhyme rhyme rhyme. Dance. (She sings the song we sing when brushing her teeth) da da dadada da da. Brush teeth. Out.

Trouble. Trouble. Done done done.
Hang hang hang (she attempts to hang the bath net).
Up top. Up top.
One. Here! Help. (Still trying to hang it)
Heh. Silly.
Done hang! Done hang! Done done done (hands me the net).

Turtle. Mommy turtle. (She has a mommy turtle bath toy and 2 baby turtles).
Age age age. Baby. Baby baby. Toddler! Baby toddler baby toddler. Age.
[A.] age? (I tell her she's 1)
Mommy turtle? Mommy turtle? (I tell her she's 30)
Baby turtle? [A.] turtle? [A.] turtle?
Mommy say? Mommy say?

Feet.
Friend friend friend friend friend.

Mommy thirty. Mommy say.

Bunnies? (Graham cracker bunnies she gets in the bath) Please? Bunny please? Bunny please? (I give her bees -- we're out of bunnies)
No more. No more. I do not!
Nummy! Nummy tummy. Nummy tummy. Nummy tummy.
More? Bees? More bees?
(I count out 6, tell her no more)
No more!

Soap. Soap. Soap eyes. (I ask if the soap gets in her eyes)
Yes!
Wash eyes. Wash eyes! Wash eyes! Wash eyes.

Kiss. Kiss. Kiss. (She kisses the mommy turtle)
Nose rub. Nose rub. (She rubs noses with the mommy turtle)

Crash Jr.

Poor A has had a rough time recently. The family got wiped out by a nasty cold that left A and I sick for over a week.

Then, just after recovering from that, she stepped on a piece of broken light bulb and had a "boo-boo foot". That didn't slow her down much, luckily.

The next day, during some overly-enthusiastic bouncing at Big Bounce Fun Zone, JJ bounced her feet out from under her and she fell badly. She tweaked her knee and spent two days barely walking. She's back to a barely-noticeable limp now.

Still, it's been a rough few weeks. I think we partially made up for it when JJ took her to the Magic Kingdom for a long day of rides (off-season and cold weather means short lines). I really hope things calm down for a bit now.

Another blog

I've started another blog. This one is public, so I'll avoid too much identifying information. Its focus will be on the projects and work I'm doing as I "homeschool" A. I've just been keeping it for a few days, but you can keep an eye on it at http://homemade-homeschool.blogspot.com.

Trip north!

We packed up and headed north this week for a quick trip to visit family. We scheduled it between Thanksgiving and Christmas and right around JJ's birthday to take in as many holidays as possible.

We had lots of family to see, so it was quite a whirlwind. We did have time to fit in a trip to a local ski resort for A.'s first peek at snow. She could barely walk in her marshmallow-like suit of snow gear, and she didn't know what to make of sledding at first. But she warmed up to it quickly, and had a blast being pulled up the slope and riding back down with various family members.

We'd spend a few months preparing A. for the trip by writing a book about what would happen and who she'd meet, complete with photos. It seemed to pay off. Her previous visits with the family didn't go well -- lots of screaming and hanging on to us. But she recognized everyone and was very comfortable with them from the get-go. She ended up having a blast.

Two days of travel, two days with family, and we're back home barely knowing what hit us. It was a good trip, though. I think A. is looking forward to our next one.

Not crazy!

We've been dealing with A.'s cow's milk protein intolerance (CMPI) for over a year now. It's been a rough trip. We're very lucky that A. has an intolerance, not an allergy -- her immune system isn't involved, so we don't have the danger of an allergic reaction. But because it's an intolerance, there's no way to clinically test for it. Blood and skin tests won't show a reaction. All we have to go on is the recurrence of symptoms after a challenge.

It's all very vague, and that makes me second-guess a lot. Allergies are a lot more researched and understood, and I felt like I had to be very defensive and assertive to get A.'s issue recognized.

So imagine my relief when I discovered a trove of medical papers relating to CMPI (look, I even have an acronym now!). I'm not crazy! Among the validations I found: a small but noticeable percentage of infants suffer from CMPI (3%). Intolerance is separate from allergy. Food challenges are the "gold standard" for diagnosis. Milk proteins do pass through breast milk and affect the kid. Treatment is the avoidance of CMP for some number of months (they suggest 6) and then a re-challenge.

Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of cow’s milk protein allergy in infants

The diagnosis and management of cow milk protein intolerance in the primary care setting

Cow's Milk Proteins Cause Infantile Colic in Breast-Fed Infants: A Double-Blind Crossover Study

I'm so very glad to have found support in the medical community and not just in the mother-to-mother forums online. I'm a Western medicine sort of girl, and to see A.'s problems scientifically researched and studied is such a weight off. I feel relieved that the approach JJ and I have taken is the right one, and I'm newly energized to keep doing this as long as we need to for A.'s health.

For Sale

I'm selling some of my crafts! Check it out at http://www.uptownsales.com/toys/jbtoy.php.

Happy 18 months!

A year and a half. Wow. When A. was born, 12 months seemed ages away. 18 months seemed... impossible.

A.'s in the middle of an amazing developmental spurt. Her independence and language grow every day. She's such a big girl.

In honor of her birthday, I'm going to record A.'s current vocabulary. It's just over 70 words and growing in leaps. I left to go to a 30 minute long HOA meeting, and came back to find that she's working on "hippo" -- she's saying "hipp".

Mommy, Daddy, A., Baby, Nana, Pop-pop

Hi, bye, no, done, happy, nummy, side (nurse), boom, wow, uh-oh, help, beep, cool/cold

Up, down, in, out, play, pull, hop, pee, poop, pat, flap, eat, nap, spin

Eye, knee, hand, arm, toe

Pea, apple, pie, roll, meat

Pink, purple, brown, yellow, blue

Puppy, cat, doll, WALL-E, key, Halloween, boo-boo, bee, boo (ghost), ball, moon, broom, man, Pooh, pen, bow, hat, flag, balloon, bubble, Peep, plane, park, bobby (socks), pool, bump, top, pom-pom, home, tape, bat