Figured it out

Have I mentioned that it's been snowing on and off pretty much all week? No, well just assume that it's always snowing here and I'm so over it. A little update on some stuff I've been posting about, the bottle situation is going much better (knock on wood). Olivia is so particular so I had to find a way that would work for her and I think I got it figured out. She will only drink milk if it's slightly warm, in an open cup, with a straw. That's how I've been giving it to her the last few days and she likes it again (no bottle necessary). I'm so glad she's been drinking it and I hope she continues. Thank goodness that I kept trying because I was so close to just giving up and giving her a bottle again. Oh, I still haven't found a job, that's been pretty stressful. If I cant find something by the end of the month then I'm going to just apply anywhere and everywhere, even if it's just temporary. On a better note, yesterday was a fun day! I took Olivia to my sisters house so she could play with her cousins. They had a good time, Olivia is obsessed with all the trucks and cars they have. Today we went to playgroup, Liv's favorite part is the bubbles. Actually, all the kids go wild when the teacher does bubbles, it's funny to watch. I'm exhausted, it's been a really long week (it seems that way at least). Tomorrow I'm going to the movies with my friend, I really need a break so I'm looking forward to it! Right now I have to go finish laundry and then it's off to bed.

Farmer Liv.

The unpredictable toddler

In my last post, I foolishly talked about how excited I was that Olivia didn't need a bottle anymore. Well, that hasn't been going quite the way I thought it would. She did so great drinking milk from her cup that whole day and the next morning but for some reason, she changed her mind about ditching the bottle. Every time I put the cup of milk in front of her, she pushes it away and gets mad. I've tried a few tricks to get her to drink it, most of them didn't work. When I pretended to drink it myself, she got slightly interested and drank some but next time I tried to do that, she wouldn't copy me. Then I put the milk in a regular cup and let her drink it with a straw, she drank all of it so I got excited again. I don't know why I get excited because she is so unpredictable.. like all toddlers, right? I hope I'm not alone in this! Anyway, that trick only works once in a while. It's so frustrating but I refuse to give her the bottle, I have to make this work. When she wouldn't drink any milk, I got her to drink water so I don't have to worry about her not getting enough fluids. I've also been giving her more cheese and yogurt to get enough calcium into her. If anyone has better suggestions, feel free to message me!



No more bottle feeding

Yesterday I took Olivia outside to play in the snow for a while, it was surprisingly warm. She always has a blast in the snow, she definitely doesn't take after me in that aspect. When Paul got home from work, we went to a few stores and Olivia's favorite place (the pet store). She is always so excited to see all the animals, she was cracking up at the guinea pigs whenever they would run around really fast. She thought it was hilarious, it doesn't take much to entertain her. This morning it was snowing again, just flurries though so we were able to make it to playgroup. She was in a really good mood which I was not expecting, she didn't get much sleep last night. For some reason she woke up three times in the middle of the night and during one of those times, she stayed up for almost two hours. She is taking a much needed nap right now and I hope it's going to be a long one. Hopefully she wakes up in a good mood again! Yesterday I decided it was time to get her off the bottle, I've tried a few times over the last few months but it didn't work out. I got some suggestions from her therapist this time. Since Olivia still likes her milk warm, I made it the same way as I usually do but I also added a little bit of chocolate to it. She loved it, she drank the entire cup! Her therapist also suggested adding a little less chocolate each time and this morning I just gave her regular whole milk without any chocolate and it worked. She drank almost all of it, we are officially done with the bottle! I know, she's almost two and I should have done this a long time ago but weight gain has been the main priority. Now I just have to get her to drink it cold, although that's not really a big deal. I don't mind warming it up if that's what she likes and the important thing is that she is drinking it and from a cup. The things I get excited about now that I'm a mom are so different than the things I used to get excited about. No more bottle feeding, YESSSS!

Livy's 18 month checkup

Olivia turned 18 months old on Saturday and her checkup was today (well.. technically yesterday), I can't believe she's one and a half already! While we were in the waiting room, she was playing with all the toys and running around (per usual). They have a fun house mirror on the wall and it made her head look really long and big so she kept touching her head while she was looking at herself, she seemed so confused. It was so funny, I couldn't stop laughing and everyone probably thought I was crazy. She was such a good girl at the appointment, she cried for her shot but once I showed her the Sesame Street app on my phone, she was fine. She was mad at the doctor though, she wouldn't say bye to her. The doctor said she looks great, she went up a bit in height (15%) and stayed on her curve for weight (10%). I know those are low percentages but I always keep in mind that she was below the charts at one point so for her that is pretty awesome! The doctor suggested weaning Olivia off the bottle but she will not drink milk cold or from a sippy cup (she will only drink water from her sippy cup) so this will be a challenge. Any tips or suggestions on that, feel free to comment! Her next check up wont be until she is two, which seems so far away but I'm sure it will come a lot quicker than I want. I had to work tonight but Paul and Livy came to visit me and have some dinner, it was fun seeing them for a little bit but I wish I could have left with them. Work was pretty busy and now I'm exhausted. Once I got home, I sat on the couch and watched my shows while eating a nice big bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, it was pretty amazing. Now it's time for bed, (way past what a normal bedtime should be) hopefully I can get some sleep tonight!

 The waiting room is her favorite part!

This is what she was doing when we got home, my goodness.

The struggles of feeding a picky eater

Sigh. I have no idea where Olivia got her lack of appetite from but it's definitely not from me. I love food, a little too much probably. Me & Olivia have the opposite problem, I need to lose weight and she needs to gain, neither of us are having much luck. Instead of feeding her breakfast, lunch, dinner & snacks, I feed her about every three hours as much as she will possibly eat (usually not much). Now that she is sleeping through the night, I have to get more calories into her during the day (it's not easy). Instead of being able to just make her whatever I think is best, I have to have a variety of options because one day she loves something, the next day it just gets tossed on the floor. It's so frustrating because I hate wasting food, I really hate it. To avoid wasting food, I give her really small portions. Sometimes that backfires and she ends up wanting more but by the time I get more, she just wants to get out of her highchair. My plan while I was pregnant was to feed her healthy, organic, nutritious food, unfortunately my plan was a bust. I still try of course but when it comes down to eating a little unhealthy or nothing at all, I rather her eat something. Something is better than nothing. I wouldn't do that if her weight was normal but she's so low on the curve that I really don't have much of a choice. By unhealthy I mean pizza, ice cream, cookies, pudding.. of course she loves all that stuff. I don't give it to her all the time, it's always as a last resort (trust me, I cringe every time). Here's an example of how she eats, for dinner tonight I gave her milk (2oz), pasta with butter (a few spoons), white bread (1/4 slice), a banana (one bite and spit it out), applesauce (2 small spoons) & a cookie. It's exhausting and it's a lot of different things but it's really the only way that has worked. For a few weeks I tried feeding her really healthy and if she didn't want it, I would wait till the next feed (hoping she would be really hungry) and she would just refuse again. I still give her a few purees, just to get some veggies into her but now she's really starting to refuse puree so that will be another challenge. So far the only vegetable she likes is broccoli, so I give her that as much as I can. I spoke to a nutritionist a few months ago and she suggested giving her more protein (yogurt, eggs, chicken, beans, cheese) I thought that was a great idea, unfortunately Olivia didn't like any of that stuff. The only thing she ate from that list was yogurt & sometimes cheese. It was worth a shot though. I'm hoping once she can talk, she can tell me what she wants to eat, I feel like that will help a lot. Although maybe not, I know older kids who are picky eaters too. I kind of just wanted to vent about that cause feeding her dinner tonight completely drained me. I get tons of advice on feeding her (most of which I've already tried) but I'm always open to new ideas, if anyone has some, feel free to share.

Olivia's many options. (smh)

Here comes trouble

Guess who's walking! Okay, she's trying, she's not perfect yet. She walks the same way as I do after I've had one too many drinks. She's getting better though, today she took about fifteen steps without falling, her previous record was eight.

 

(Insert proud mommy tears here) She is growing up way too fast! I still can't believe she is now known as a "toddler" ..well not to me, she's still my little baby! We were clapping for her and she was so proud of herself.

Today was gorgeous out, it was the perfect day to be outside so we went to the park. Olivia is not too fond of the swings anymore, last year she loved them. She was holding on for dear life and the sun was annoying her, she kept squinting so we didn't stay that long but it was fun. She's been babbling up a storm, I wonder what she thinks she is saying, it seems like she is trying to tell me a story sometimes, makes me laugh. I can't wait till she starts saying more words and can form sentences, I feel like she's gonna be a funny kid. Well everyone is sleeping and I'm just not tired at all but if I don't at least try to sleep, I'll regret it in the morning, night!