"I Outgrew FPIES!"

The video says it all.

As many of you are aware, it's taken me a long time to write this post.  The video above is from November 23, 2015 when Myra passed her final food challenge (a retrial of a food that had previously caused a reaction-in this case, avocado).  It's just that I don't even know what to say.  For almost 3 years, our lives revolved around FPIES and special diets, first mine (for Myra's breast milk as proteins do pass through to breast milk) then Myra's.  You guys, kids eat a lot...like five times a day, if not constantly.  And for us, basically all of that food had to be separately prepared.  No restaurants, no potlucks, no friends hosting meals...I mean, those things happened, but always with our own food prepared ahead of time for Myra.  Her health and all of our sleep and sanity depended on it, don't get me wrong it was well worth it, but now that's all just done.  No more FPIES!  I got her a kids variety basket at Joe's Crab Shack a few weeks ago and didn't even read what all came with it.

Of course, we've gotten off to a great start of feeding Myra, and now Niko (who shows no signs of FPIES at all) nutrient rich foods like quinoa, spinach, and squash.  Myra is used to hearing no, and doesn't really argue if I tell her she can't have something.  It hasn't been all bad-I know a lot about nutrition now!  She's still a toddler who wants what she wants even if it's the same thing she's had for the last two weeks (and two years!).

I have to thank everyone who has been mindful of Myra's FPIES and special diet over the years.  It really means a lot when people remember, ask, leave labels out, and especially prepare things so that she could be included, too.  It's not easy, trust me I know, but it hasn't gone unnoticed.

I also have to thank the wonderful people I've met along the way.  Thanks to medical professionals and the world wide web, I've crossed paths with some great people who have understood our struggle and shared their wealth of knowledge and that has been such a blessing.

People have been asking me if it's weird just feeding her whatever now.  Somewhat, yes.  But we've been so hopeful and optimistic this day would come, it's like we shut the door on FPIES as hard as we could when it was time.  But yes, it's weird and great and exciting and relieving and...you name it.  We ditched her MedicAlert FPIES bracelet and got her a new bracelet with our phone numbers on it since she really did like her jewelry.  And that, my friends, is a wrap.  For the FPIES/allergy families who are following along or will read this sometime in the future, please don't hesitate to contact me!  I am happy to share our experience, offer insight, or listen to venting at any time. I mean it!

A Day In The Life: Fall 2015.

I love these posts.  Looking back I would do more photos.  I make a conscious effort not to be attached to my phone all day, so it's a weird switch when I do these posts.  They are kind of a pain to put together, but it's really fun to look back and read them.  I haven't been totally consistent with them, and I wish I had done it at the really busy times in life.  I didn't because we were so busy, but those would really be the times to remember.  This past spring, for example, with a newborn, toddler, house on the market, preparing to move, husband really busy with school and the Guard, etc.  Anyway... Here is this edition of ADITL.  I keep track of our day for 24 hours, from midnight to midnight.  Click the 24 hours or A Day In The Life tag to read the others.  Click here to see all the others who participated this time.

There really is no such thing as a typical day, so I just picked a day after seeing the reminder post from Julia.  At the end of the day, however, it turned out that this day was incredibly atypical.  Trevor was home most of the day (this never, ever happens), Myra had a totally off night at bedtime, and morning ECFE messed with Niko's nap, so he slept most of the time we were at home, late bedtimes.  It is what it is, but you all should know Trevor had been essentially gone for a week prior to the day I chose.  He was away for a three day drill weekend and had a really busy week with school and was on campus studying before I woke up until 9/10 at night.

I am 28 years old (I recently had to do math to make sure I had my own age right), Trevor is 33.  Myra is 2.75 (will be 3 in January) and Niko is 8 months old today.  Rowdy is 5.5 years old.  Trevor is in his first year of dental school.  I am working part time for a transitional housing non-profit organization.

2:30am Niko waking up to nurse, he's pretty quick (10 minutes at most?) then I go to the bathroom.  It's the worst crawling back into bed then realizing you should have gone to the bathroom first.

6:55am Niko awake.  I realize Trevor is still in bed and panic thinking he overslept.  It turns out he doesn't have to be on campus until this afternoon (see? we seriously hardly spoke the last week it was so busy).  I'm lazy in bed for 15 minutes looking at emails then get the kids up.  They are both usually happy in their cribs and just messing around, singing, doing whatever.  Myra is in this stage of wanting to do things herself, and she can do a lot herself, and I try to let her, but it takes so long and sometimes she gets frustrated.  How can you get one arm out of your pajama shirt, but not the other?

7:45am Both kids are dressed, Niko has nursed and Myra is eating a muffin (or a cupcake, as she calls it, this recipe with minor substitutions).  I sent Trevor this post sometime last week and we briefly discussed it.  It's short but I hadn't even finished reading it when I sent it to him.  The part about this being the particularly chaotic and exhausting part of our lives stuck out so I just sent the link.  I know life will always be exhausting in ways, but with two small kids, one who requires mostly separately cooked meals, dental school, me working part time (even though much of it is from home), plenty of time spent on military duties (both at home and away from home), etc. It's busy.  I digress.

8:00am I get in the shower.  Trevor is entertaining the kiddos.  Check out Niko's jungle gym of laundry (hey, it's clean, folded, and sorted by person!).  Myra's "little plate" with her "cupcake."

I'm out of the shower for all of 10 seconds and Myra bursts into the bathroom with this musical toy.

8:30am I get Myra another muffin.  She left half of it on her "little plate" on the couch when she came into the bathroom and Rowdy got a hold of it.  I start the dishwasher.  We have a portable dishwasher so I can't really use the sink while it's running and I can't just let it run at bedtime (I could, but the faucet drips a little so I'd really rather not).  I try to time it well, but it usually results in dirty dishes backing up more than I'd like.  Better than no dishwasher, I know, don't throw tomatoes at me.  I nurse Niko and change his diaper (in hopes that he will be fine in the sibling care room all through Myra's ECFE class).

8:45am I'm ready to go.  I had yelled to Myra, who was in the living room with Trevor, that we had to leave for school.  I assumed (there's where I went wrong) Trevor would get Myra's shoes on.  Don't get me wrong, I love that Trevor got to spend some time with them this morning, but both of our routines were thrown off which can goof us up.  So, Myra gets socks on with help, can't find the other shoe, have to take the socks off and wear sandals, she wasn't happy about that.  Parents: you know how these things happen.  It wasn't a huge deal, but any little thing like that can slow us up.  So, I get grouchy and we're all hurrying to get out the door.

9:00am-11:00am is Myra's ECFE class.  The set up is different than what I am used to.  Myra seems to love her class (which is awesome, but I do still miss our old teachers and I know she does, too).  The adult part is more chatty/conversation/social hour style than an actual 'class' setting, which is fine, but different.  

Myra has a lot of fun with the other kids, but no photos for them because who knows how their parents would feel about them being in bloggy world.  She did painting, dress up, read books, a hand print class project, played with blocks and toy tools...all in the time I was with her.  Then we do circle time, bathroom and wash hands, then snack.  There are limited options for snack and so far it's been things she can have.  Then the parents separate and go to a different room.  I had to go change Niko's diaper, who was tired but struggling to fall asleep, before joining them.  Our weekly topic was discipline and it was nice to hear what other parents are doing and struggling with.  We had two dads and a grandpa this week and that's a nice perspective.  Half way through, I got called down because Niko was sad.  He was so tired (this class is right during his morning nap time) and just couldn't fall asleep.  Usually he's the super happy baby no matter what, or one time he just passed out, but not today.  I nursed him and he fell asleep, but he just perked right up so I brought him back to the adult classroom with me.  A friend is in our class and she had her baby there, too, so Niko and his baby friend got to stare and swat at each other.

11:00am Class is over, we returned Myra's toy vacuum to the school's toy library and checked out a fine motor lacing toy, a baby toy, and a memory game.  Myra usually insists on "climbing up" into the car seat herself, which is actually helpful, but the dawdling......!!!

11:18am I check my phone, respond to a couple texts (awesome family member might be moving closer to us and another friend whose husband is deploying very soon),  We leave school and head home. Myra is saying "I would like Fritos chips, pweeeaaaase" on repeat.  For a while, everything was "I need ____!!" so we started working on "I would like" and it's adorable and so much easier to hear 100 times a day.

11:25am Home, Myra still would like Fritos chips and she's singing one of the jingles from school "come on over and sit right down..."  Child, why must you always take your shoes off int he car?

So much paper: handouts, flyers, projects.  I take photos of the artwork and do photo books of it all.

11:30am Get us all inside, get Myra set up with her new lacing (big buttons and string) toy.  I check my work emails and quickly reply, put the clean clothes into the appropriate bedrooms (baby steps, people), get lunch ready.  Meanwhile, Rowdy is prancing around whining to go outside to chew on grass and twigs, so I put him downstairs to chill out a bit.  I make coffee (I drink decaf), Niko is whining and needs a nap since he still hasn't really slept all morning.  Myra is trying to share with him (yay) but giving him toys he shouldn't have (boo) while wanting to take his baby toys.  

Noon Myra is eating lunch (peanut butter toast with chocolate chips - FPIES soybean oil trial means lots of options!) The chocolate chips and peanut butter are nothing new, but toast is!  Niko is really not happy now, definitely needs a nap.  Things Myra said during lunch: "Lub dub - is that what Myra's heart says at my clinic? (this hasn't happened for a long time, but she remembers)" - "I got drops in my eye (she had her eyes dilated last week)" - "Daddy, you're in the living room talkin' to me"

How to manage food trials for two kids.  We don't suspect FPIES for Niko, but we are being cautious until he 'passes' all the major FPIES triggers (rice, oats, dairy, soy).

12:07pm Niko is changed (he had pooped), fed, and in his crib.  He falls asleep right away.  I eat lunch with Myra.  Trevor came upstairs to eat and explain the class he has this afternoon.  It's not a 'normal' class, but a team building/working with other medical professionals workshop type class.  After lunch, Myra goes to the bathroom and gets ready for her nap.

12:47pm Myra in bed.  I have more work emails, I read them and reply.  I make a work call and send a follow up email.  I microwave my coffee, Trevor is getting his stuff ready and leaves.  I do some apartment searching for work (my job is helping people with housing -- I won't really get any more specific than that due to confidentiality).  

1:15-2:15pm I tidy up the living room, start laundry, and sit down with my planner to see what's going on next week and meal plan.

Before

After

This will fill quickly, always does.  Pink checkered is when I will be watching a friend's baby, "hello" is a play date with another friend and her kids.

2:15 Meal planning, which involves searching for some new recipes, digging through our recipe box for some favorites, etc.  Here's my meal planning for dummies system.  We for sure have something new and something we love every week.  We often have spaghetti on pasta night, but sometimes lasagna, sometimes a new pasta dish.  Pizza is usually frozen pizza, but last night we did homemade.  It gives me a starting point so there is far less head scratching involved.  I intentionally left the glare on Sunday because it says Mexican and should say Hispanic.  The week I printed this our Hispanic dish was Mexican Vegetarian Casserole, so I typed Mexican and I do know the difference.

3:00pm Myra is awake.  I get her up, get her a snack, and let her color at the table while I do other random stuff in the kitchen/dining room.

3:30pm Trevor is home (again, totally unusual to have him home this much, I swear).  Niko is awake, but playing happily in his crib.  Trevor and I blurt out all the things we've been meaning to talk about with each other for the last week.  We end up having a conversation about the good old 5 year plan and various avenues he/we could take in terms of the military and education benefit options.  We were, of course, talking over Myra the whole time, trying to acknowledge what she wanted to say while helping her learn that sometimes mom and dad need to talk.  At some point during this time, I got Niko up and fed him, and Myra switched to playing with her scarves.

This is a sunset, she says.

We wrapped up family conversation time with some Bilibo bongos.

4:30pm Part of this workshop class Trevor had is learning about stressors and how to deal with them.  He learned he doesn't spend enough time in nature and suggested we all go for a walk since the weather was so awesome.  Speaking of how awesome the weather was, Trevor still bundled up because he is much less of a fan of fall than I.

Sorry I snapped a photo of you making the weirdest face ever.

Rowdy pooped on our walk.  He's only pooped on a walk one, possibly two times ever.  He really prefers to poop at home.  Trevor scooped it up with the instruction manual for Niko's Burley insert thing then hopped through some tall grass to find a garbage can at a park.  Note to self: put plastic bags in Burley.

5:25pm We are home, Trevor got an Army call as we were unloading kids.  Myra wanted to run around the front yard and play with sticks and wood chips.  Once inside, I got right to work on supper.  Friday is brinner day and this week I was going to make a mash up of hash browns, eggs, and sausage.  I had the eggs on the counter and Myra reached up for them, forgetting that not all eggs are hard boiled.

I cleaned up the eggs, but let her wipe up the Lysol as more of a symbolic/on principle measure.  So, we had sausage patties, hash browns, and toast for Myra/English muffins for Trevor and me.  Niko had squash and applesauce.  Supper clean up is my least favorite.  I want to get the kids to bed on time and not super rushed in the process, but I don't want to be stuck cleaning up after supper after they're in bed either.  Myra's room is connected to the kitchen and the door is just a pocket door, so I try not to be too noisy while she is falling asleep.  It doesn't seem to wake her once she's sleeping though.  I know lots of parents consciously choose not to do house work after bedtime, and I wish I could say the same, but with much of it falling on me while Trevor is in school, there just aren't enough hours in the day.  I am by no means a neat freak, but eventually our laundry needs to get done and dishes need to be washed.

6:55pm I do Niko's bedtime and Trevor is reading and playing with Myra.  Bedtimes are pretty simple here.  Niko gets a diaper change, pajamas and sleep sack, nursed, I read him one story (Goodnight, I Love You), and sing him the ABCs.  I put him in the crib and turn on his sound machine and he goes to sleep.

7:09pm Niko is in bed and Trevor is helping Myra get ready for bed.

Myra's routine is pee, diaper ("only for sleeping, because I'm still learning"), pajamas, brush (and sometimes floss) teeth, read two books of her choosing, sing Twinkle Twinkle and the ABCs.  Then she turns on her sound machine and we "jump her in" to her crib which means we count to three, she jumps, and we lift her in.

Trevor loves a good selfie.

7:30pm Myra is in bed, Trevor and I are watching a Bad Lip Reading video of one of the Republican debates.  Usually this part of the evening is quiet, I can get some stuff done (clean, work stuff) and also relax (read, watch a movie even though I'm terrible at doing that, waste time on the internet), but as you're about to see, this was not the case.  Surprise! Welcome to parenthood.

From about 8:15-9:00pm, Myra whined/cried out to the extent that we went into her room five times.  First for water (she got a tiny bit from one of the medicine cups like a shot glass), then because she pooped, then because she wanted her Daniel Tiger book in her bed, then because she wanted her Daniel Tiger book out of her bed (SO THROW IT OUT...), then because she wanted us to do her saline spray/Nose Frida.  These nights make me so nervous during food trials, especially since we are dabbling into the world of soy with soybean oil, but there was no mention of anything hurting which is good.  [In hindsight, she has a cold and the whiny factor is worse for a Myra-cold than it is for a man-cold; I don't say that lightly]

9:15pm She is still whining about her boogers and asking for "Mommy tuck you in again."  When she does this, which really is not often at all anymore, I just can't relax and do other stuff until she quiets down.  It's stressful to hear and I also worry she will wake Niko up.  So, I waste hours deciding if I'm helping or hurting the situation by going in to her.  But there is really, truthfully nothing I can do to help.  She just feels crappy and we've done all we can, she needs to get some sleep.  I promise, if there were something I could do to help her and make it stop, I totally would.  I think after 5 or 6 times we explained to her that we were all done and it was time to sleep, blah blah blah.

9:50pm Myra has been quiet for a little bit now.  I'm hanging up the diapers I washed this afternoon.  I line dry darn near everything here.  We have two drying racks and a full 5-line clothesline in the basement, plus a dehumidifier.  AWESOME. 

10:11pm I'm sitting on the couch...brain fried.  Must go brush teeth.

10:20pm Myra whining again.  

10:28pm Niko making some noise.  It's a miracle he's slept through all this, despite each kid having their own sound machine.  I go brush my teeth to kill time while waiting to see if he's actually waking up.  Trevor is in with Myra.  I go feed Niko after brushing my teeth.

10:45pm In bed, doing a YouTube loving kindness meditation track a friend recommended.  Fingers crossed tonight ends better than it started...

Myra's First Food Challenge: Dairy.

Bottom line up front: Myra passed dairy!!

I don't even know what to do with myself.  Over the course of her dairy yogurt trial then straight milk, we started to see this moment coming, yet I still don't know how to put into words what's going through my mind right now.  I'm scared to call it official, incredibly relieved, optimistic this means she may have outgrown FPIES all together, trying not to get ahead of myself, and super overwhelmed thinking about the cooking possibilities.

Dairy was the first food that led us on this FPIES journey.  We noticed something very early on, but her symptoms were so atypical of 'normal dairy issues' it took a while to figure out.  I eliminated dairy from my diet while breastfeeding from 4 months until after we switched Myra to formula.  In that time, I tried putting butter on two pieces of toast in hopes that dairy wasn't the problem...confirmed.

Before you go feeding my kid, don't.  Haha, but seriously.  Dairy frees up a LOT of options for us, but she still has a laundry list of foods she can't have, including soy which seems to be in everything.  We are hoping to start a trial of that this weekend and, if all goes well, continue with the other failed foods, but it's a very slow process.  We are incredibly excited about this, but will continue to be diligent with recipes and ingredients until we have ruled out all of her FPIES trigger foods (hopefully SOONer than later).

I don't even know what else to say.  I think we'll see how she likes mac & cheese tomorrow!  I'll be doing cartwheels at the thought of being able to feed my kid mac & cheese while many parents of toddlers wish theirs would eat anything but.  HA!

Cheers!

Dairy Yogurt!

The first thing that led us to FPIES was Myra's dairy issue.  Even only having milk proteins through breast milk, she was such a different baby without it.  I tested it and she was a nightmare after I had just put butter on toast, so I remained dairy free for the remainder of the time I breastfed her.  We have had great luck with some risky FPIES foods (eggs, corn, wheat, barley, peanuts) and she's getting closer to an age where many kids start outgrowing FPIES, so we thought we'd give dairy a try.  Because of how yogurt and other dairy products are made, some kids can have those but not actual milk.  We started with yogurt because it has the highest 'pass rate' among dairy products for FPIES kiddos. Note to other FPIES families: we made an informed decision to do this food challenge at home.  Many kids do challenges in clinics or even hospitals, sometimes hooked up to an IV as a precaution.  This is definitely a judgement call and no one size fits all.  Be sure to factor in your past experiences with reactions and gather any and all information you can about your options before deciding how to go about challenges with your own children.

We started with one baby spoonful on day one.  Two spoonfuls on day two.  We worked up to half a cup by day five and more than that by the end of the first week.  Even though plain Greek yogurt tastes a lot like sour cream, Myra loved it.  She thinks yogurt is so cool.

Then we took a break.  You've all heard me say a lot of FPIES kids don't have a reaction to a food until they have had a break from it.  It would be impossible to continuously feed Myra all of her safe foods, so we build the break right into the trial ensuring we figure that part out straight away.  It was unreal being able to feed Myra a giant bowl of 'regular' yogurt and I was so nervous we would have to take that away from her after the break.  That's when her reaction to avocado happened, after a break from it.

Then she got a cold.  Myra's sleep is awful with a cold even though she's in good spirits all day.  Rather than risk being confused by horrible sleep symptoms, we extended our break.

The first day after the break we started small just in case.  The second and third day we went wild and let her eat as much as she was willing.  She slept great, no barfing, no complaints.  We are shocked and THRILLED that Myra can eat dairy yogurt!  Next we will do cheese, as soon as I get to the store to buy some.  The pass rate for hard cheeses is very similar, so we anticipate that will go well.  After that, straight milk.  If that goes well, we will consider all dairy as safe for her.  

Percentages are pass rates, numbers on the right are kids who passed vs tried the food

This is a HUGE step in figuring out if Myra may have outgrown her FPIES.  We are really hoping to make enough progress to figure that out by Thanksgiving.  What a relief it would be to not have to worry about substitutions, cooking second versions of everything, keeping some separate before adding other ingredients, food spills, etc.  We'll keep you all posted, but for now, this is amazing progress!!!

I didn't even plan the cow shirt, but how fitting.

For more info on our FPIES journey, click the "FPIES" tab at the top of the page.

Updated Food Trial Method.

It's been a while since Myra has had a reaction during a food trial, 10 months to be exact. When Niko was born, we chose some foods with a really high pass rate to trial so we could continue adding to her diet without setting ourselves up for failure with a newborn in the house. As we have tiptoed into some riskier foods and still been blessed to not have any reactions, we have also loosened up our trial method. I was fortunate to find another FPIES mom, Jamie V (click here for her website), who has done plenty of research and trial and error of her own and used her wisdom in figuring out which foods to trial. Now, I am using her same method for the trial itself. Originally, we could trial one new food every 14 days. With this method, we are able to trial two new foods every 20 days. The big caveat is that it only works if everything is going well. Thankfully, that has been the case for quite some time now.

Click here to see how we used to run trials.

The combination of not having a reaction for a long time, Myra having great communication skills so she can tell us if she isn't feeling well, and not having any unique circumstances lately like teething or illness is what makes us able to do a faster paced trial. As a reminder, the important aspects of a trial for us are to start slowly yet build to a full serving size, take a break, then come back to the food while starting slowly and building to a full serving size again. Many FPIES kiddos don't react to a food until they have a break from it, so that is an important part of our trial.  This is the new method that has been working well for us.

New food #1 for 5 days (working up to a full serving size by day 5)
New food #2 for 5 days (working up to a full serving size by day 5)
Back to new food #1 for 5 days (working up to a full serving size by day 5)
Back to new food #2 for 5 days (working up to a full serving size by day 5)

If all goes well by the end of the second five-day period, we consider that food a pass.  This allows us to take advantage of the break rather than just letting time pass.  If we see or even suspect a reaction, though, we can't introduce the second food during the break.  In that case, we would use the break to see if the symptom goes away or if it is unrelated (teeth, illness, seasonal allergies, etc.).  It is much easier now that Myra can tell us what is bothering her.  She was struggling with sleep for a while which was our first red flag, but now she is able to tell me that her "nose feels yucky and her eyes feel ouch" which was my indicator to get her Zyrtec refilled.

I wouldn't feel comfortable doing two risky foods in the same trial period, just to be safe.  For example, we wanted to do peanuts and wheat.  Peanuts aren't quite as risky for FPIES kids, but because it is a legume like soy, green beans, and peas (all fails for Myra) we were nervous.  Had one or the other gone bad, we wouldn't want to risk confusion between the two or derailing the whole trial, so we paired each with a less risky option.

Three Months with Two Kids.

Wow - these past three months have been BUSY.  We have so much happening right now, I'm grateful for all Myra taught us in her first four months and even more grateful we haven't had the same struggles with Niko.  I'll break it down for you.  This one is a doozy (weird, right?).

Big Sister Stuff
Like most parents (I think), one of my biggest fears when having another child was how it would affect Myra.  In the long run, I knew it would be great for all of us-we were giving her a sibling; however, we had no idea what sort of growing pains we might have to deal with.  I'm pleased to say there has been absolutely zero new baby drama.  The first week after Niko was born, Myra regressed in her potty training a bit, but that was over as quickly as it started.  If he really gets going crying, she will cover her ears and sometimes do this obnoxious screechy cry herself, but I can't blame her.  She absolutely adores Niko and gets bummed when he is sleeping.  She'll ask, or even try, to go get him.  If I have him in a wrap/baby carrier, she often asks to see him (his face).  She loves to talk to him and says adorable things like "there's my smile, buddy!" and "Maybe he does want his Nuk!"  Sometimes she even wakes up crying asking to see him.  She still cites her Big Sister book and talks about helping Niko be "warm and cozy."  She loves to do what I do, she uses a kid sized neck pillow as a Boppy to nurse her baby ("baby needs some milk!") then burps her ("we're burping together! two burpings!").

New Baby Stuff
Niko is great.  He is currently sleeping in a crib in our room and usually sleeps all night (8pm until 530/630am).  Sometimes he will nurse once during the night which is fine because it usually allows me to sleep in a little longer in the morning.  I do, however, have to reach over and shove his pacifier in his mouth quite a few times throughout the night so I am anxiously waiting for him to find his thumb.  He's trying so hard!  Babies are hard, newborns are a-holes, I stand by all that, but there have only been just a couple nights where Trevor and I have given each other the "WHAT DID WE DO?!?!?!?!" look.  Babywearing has been a lifesaver and I have been incredibly intentional about getting him to sleep in his crib.  When Niko first came home, we did a few days of musical where-will-the-baby-sleep-best and landed on "on mommy's chest" which is neither the safest nor most comfortable option.  I slept on the couch for the first 8 weeks (don't be sad for me, our couch is awesome) and gradually worked Niko into sleeping on his crib mattress on the floor.  At 8 weeks, I moved back into my room and brought the crib mattress with me.  Just a few days ago, we put it into a legit crib situation.  These have all been informed decisions that I've felt a decent amount of guilt about because I know the guidelines about infant sleep, but I also know the importance of a well rested family (heck, even semi-rested family).  I've learned you really can't force a newborn to do anything, so I just kept working towards the safest goal.  He also sleeps on his tummy which is not my favorite, but hopefully he learns to roll over himself sooner than later so I can let that go, too.  Myra never slept in our room and I have confirmed I do not enjoy a baby in my room, but it is temporary and it's working-at least he's not in our bed.  I could go on and on about the fussy evenings, crazy gas, refusing to be put down, refusing to be held by anyone but me, loud crying, not wanting to go BACK to sleep during middle of the night wake ups, and all the newborn stuff that makes me bonkers, but we're just creeping out of that stage and I'm not feeling inclined to reminisce. So, hopefully simply mentioning all of those things will suffice.  Today Niko rolled over (from belly to back) for the first time so that was fun -- one of his first milestones!

Breastfeeding Stuff
Thankfully I don't have too much to say here, but I thought I would give this its own little section.  If you're not interested in breastfeeding stuff, don't let the door hit you on the way out. Niko was a tad sleepy with nursing at first in the hospital.  I wasn't concerned and just kept trying and he caught on really well.  My milk came in, tons of it (very common for the first 6-8 weeks or so), he bounced back up to his birth weight by 7 days old (awesome!), etc.  Then right around the 6 week mark I started having some pain, more on one side than the other.  I decided it was due to a lazy latch in the middle of the night one night and I would try not to let stuff like that slide and hoped it healed quickly because OUCH.  Niko continued to be a bit chompy on that side which was so, so, so painful.  Most women have a lesser producing/slower flow side and that's the side that was painful, so I figured he was annoyed.  I started pumping on that side while he nursed on the other side (and continuing to nurse both sides as well) to increase my milk supply and hopefully even it out.  That was not fun either because my poor nipple never got a break.  I had a crack and occasional bleeding and there was crying and it was awful.  If we hadn't had so many issues with Myra which terrified me to try formula with Niko, I'm pretty sure I would have given up.  I just cried.  I know breastfeeding doesn't always come easily, but to have this much pain start at 6 weeks seemed nuts.  I broke down and made a lactation appointment to make sure his latch looked good, no tongue or lip ties, etc.  Everything looked perfect but the nurse noted that with the amount of redness I had, I should go see my doctor if it didn't improve in a few days.  Well, I'm stubborn and waited a week with no change so I finally made an appointment with whomever could get me in.  As it turns out, I had been dealing with thrush that whole time, not poor latch, which is why nothing was getting better no matter what I did.  By now it's been over 6 weeks of this nonsense.  Things really started improving last week but then the pain came back.  I've been doing all sorts of tricks to try and kick this thrush (yeast) to the curb and today has been better, so hopefully I'm on the mend...again.  I have no evidence Niko has/had it, but with how long I've been battling it I don't see how he could have dodged it.  I have a follow-up appointment with my doctor in a week, so if it makes a comeback again we can figure out a new plan together.  All that said, I'm so glad I didn't quit nursing.  It was so tempting and I was just miserable, but he was gaining weight well, not having any issues like Myra did, and his latch was great, so I didn't want to give up.  I just needed an explanation for the pain and a plan to make it go away -- hopefully we're on our way now.  (Photos: Gentian violet is a very common and generally quite effective thrush treatment.  It's also very messy.)

Two Kids Stuff
I've pretty much covered it all, but I just want to give a couple examples that show how, even though things are going really really well with two kids, ish still gets crazy sometimes.  Last week, Myra woke up in the middle of the night flipping out and I couldn't figure out why or make it stop...which woke Niko up...and I was home alone.  Juggling two crying children in the middle of the night is even more annoying than it sounds.  This has happened at least twice.  (Note: I eventually figured out Myra's seasonal allergies are back and she's been sleeping much better now that she is back on Zyrtec.)  Tonight, Niko and Myra were ready for bed at the exact same time.  I picked the kid who is most self sufficient (Myra) and got her to bed first while Niko was whining off and on during her bedtime routine, how relaxing.  She was messing around in her crib while I was feeding Niko and getting him ready for bed, no big deal.  Just a couple minutes after Niko had fallen asleep in my lap, Myra starts whining and escalates quickly.  I checked our video monitor and she had gotten herself stuck in her crib rails thigh deep.  The only way to get her out of that mess is to shove it back through which results in shrieking and much more crying all while Niko is right next door so I'm in panic mode to just make it stop so I don't have a crying circus on my hands.  I'm sure you've noticed the bruised goose egg on Myra's forehead.  That was the result of letting her entertain herself (run run run run up and down the kitchen) while I was tending to Niko and cooking supper.  Myra launched herself into the corner of a drawer she left open.  I don't get too worked up about injuries ("brush it off!") but I didn't know where she hit and what was injured, just that she was freaking out big time.  Thankfully Myra is a great communicator and was able to show me where she got hurt even while crying so hard she couldn't breathe.  Naturally, Niko wasn't just giggling peacefully by himself through all of this, he got worked up, too.  So, while I love both of these kids and things really are going quite well, there has definitely been some crazy, too.

School Stuff
Myra and Niko are both in ECFE classes this spring.  Myra has so much fun there and her teachers are her heroes.  She loves going to the SibCare room just as much as she loves going to her actual class and she gets excited to "drop him off" at SibCare so we can have some one-on-one time.  Trevor just finished the marathon that was earning his Bachelor's Degree.  Graduation was last weekend and what an accomplishment that was, for all of us!  He spent the last 14 years working towards that goal, taking breaks for three deployments, being put on orders to work full time for the Guard, a marriage, buying a house, a dog, two babies, you get the idea.  Now he has the summer off of school work and will begin dental school in August.  We will miss our local ECFE dearly when we move, but look forward to making friends in a new program near our new home.

House Stuff
Putting your house on the market while being the primary caregiver for a toddler and a newborn (and recovering from childbirth yourself) is not my favorite combination of things I've ever done.  I am not meant to be a neat freak and I have taken 4, possibly 5, naps since bringing Niko home from the hospital.  My house has never been cleaner, but I can totally understand why people say to forget the cleaning and just enjoy your kids.  I do the best I can to do both, but as soon as our house sells I will cut back on the cleaning big time.  It's stressful.  We have had an open house and 15 showings so far and I'm exhausted.  Trevor has definitely helped with the big stuff and done the best he can, but a lot of this has fallen on me (which is fine, life has been nuts for him, too).  Again, babywearing has been a life saver.  To everyone who keeps asking us if we've found a new place to live yet -- no.  And actually, that's not really how it works.  Our house hasn't sold yet, so there's that, and rentals are much more short notice for the most part.  We have looked to get an idea of what's out there, but most everything is available immediately or June 1st and we don't really want to move until July at the earliest.

Helping her baby do the "activity"

Keeping busy with most of our toys packed

So.Much.Cleaning.

Killing time during our open house

Work Stuff
Trevor is busy as usual with his Guard stuff.  "One weekend a month and two weeks a year" turns into "four day weekends a month, sometimes more and three+ weeks a year...oh and LOTS of emails and phone calls in between, usually during supper or at bedtime."  I'm not complaining, it is what it is, just trying to point out that it definitely keeps him/US busy.  I went back to work gradually when Niko was 8 weeks old.  I have a beautiful position doing something I love, part time, with the opportunity to completely create my own schedule and even complete some of my duties from home as needed.  I don't really get into the specifics of my job on social media due to the nature of my position.

Food Stuff
We did our last semi-risky food trial for a while in January, before Niko was born - white beans and Myra has done fine on them.  We picked some foods with really high pass rates to do for a while as we adjusted to all the changes happening in our family.  There have been no food issues with any trials lately and we're starting to consider throwing a few riskier foods into the mix.  I even have a little nagging voice in my head telling me she may be outgrowing FPIES, but I don't have the courage for that just yet.  We will start with some generally risky foods in the near future, then foods risky for Myra in specific (three of her scariest incidents involved legumes, so we'd start with a different legume).  If all of that goes well, we'll discuss challenging previous fails.  Many kids outgrow their FPIES by age 3 and she'll be 2.5 in July, so keep your fingers crossed for us!  So far, Niko has really shown no signs of FPIES.  He's a gassy baby, but I expected no less considering the man I married ;)  We're certainly not in the clear, but optimistic.  We were having major issues with Myra at this point.  Today we restarted our tomato trial.  Last week I gave her a cherry tomato and she wasn't so sure, so we switched to ketchup and she was definitely a fan.  Luckily she has already passed onions and corn, both are ingredients in ketchup.

Dog Stuff
Last but not least, Rowdy, our first child.  He is adapting well despite the chaos.  He gets a little antsy and definitely barks more (protective, I assume), but he's such a good boy.  I wish I could explain to him that this time of year is tough, new baby or not (cold, rain, plus the house prep stuff) but I just do the best I can to get him exercise.  Myra loves going for walks, so if it's at all nice outside we take advantage.  He has been going to his favorite place EVER, doggy daycare, a little more often lately until our house sells.  He needs the exercise and attention and we're happy to send him.  A tired dog is a good dog.  :)

Blog Stuff
I really want to do better!  Now that Trevor has started a weekly activity again, I'll get some weekly 'me-time' too.  I have very low standards for this and I usually choose some combination of coffee, nap, book reading, and blogging.  I have a handful of drafts in the works, just need to finish them up!  I also plan to update the photos on my page to include our newest family member.

No fancy ending here -- I'll try to be better about the posts...again.