And then we were 1

Mon Jun 29 18:03:01 CDT 2009

Update!!

After only a month….

She keeps us pretty busy.

Well, first and foremost, Angela Katherine Bryan turned one year old on Saturday, June 27, 9:15 am.  We celebrated with some Chinese take out from Asia Market/Cafe, a Finding Nemo birthday cake, (she likes the little fish), and ice cream, the latter of which I forgot until people were leaving.  I don’t know if there is some psychology behind that or not but now we have 1/2 gallon of Blue Bell strawberry – homemade vanilla, and a pint of rainbow sherbet. (btw, why don’t they just go ahead and put another ‘R’ in sherbet?  No one calls it ‘Sher-Bet’, and everyone calls it ‘Sher-BERT’ anyway, and it is easier to say.)  Uncle Billy, Aunt Judith, and Aunt Erin came over, and helped us sing Happy Birthday, and brought some great presents, too.

She liked having extra people over and getting some more attention, and mom and dad didn’t mind someone taking over for a bit.

She didn’t seem to mind wearing the little birthday hat, but didn’t seem to know what to do with the cake, and was taken aback by all these people singing happy birthday.

We had another sedated ABR hearing test, rather Angela did, last week.  Results were the same as last December.  She has some hearing loss in the higher frequencies.  That is, the sound has to be louder than 20db for her to hear it.  They use 20db as the metric.  We have an appointment with a pediatric ENT Wednesday and will discuss then about what kind of plan going forward.

I got a call today from a lady Carol who is a referral coordinator for early childhood intervention for children who might be or are at some risk to be developmentally behind. I don’t know if she is behind now or not, but don’t want her to get that way.  She called to explain to me what happens next, which is that someone will call to set up an appointment to come out to the house and we will do a developmental screening questionaire with them for vision, nutrition, and hearing, and go over the results, then next event is someone will come and do an actual observed Assessment and go over goals and strategies.  If everything is cool at this point, ie no problems, then they will or can do an follow along program where she is re-evaluated every 6 months.  There was something about bringing in a hearing specialist from the Leander ISD.  I hope she doesn’t have to wear any kind of aid just yet, but we’ll see.  At home we haven’t noticed anything that would cause us to wonder about her hearing but we can’t tell what she is not hearing or hearing well enough. She ‘talks’, repeats ‘words’, will say things herself for appropriate pictures without prompting, not pronounced totally correct but don’t know if that is from hearing or just not being able to yet.
Ok, since last time…

-Today Aijuan told me that Angela had climbed up on the sofa and was standing up on it.  She hadn’t climbed up there before. so going to have to watch that.  But we are watching her 100% anyway.

-She’s not walking-walking yet, but will do a transfer from one thing she is holding on to, to another thing, so she has to have one hand free while she reaches.  She seems happy to be able to do that.

-She can climb up the stairs by herself now and likes to go up there and play in the rooms up there.  Aijuan has put toys out and a quilt down in the loft room.  Have just gated off the computer room but is free to wander and explore the rest.  Still under supervision.

-I think when she is crawling it is pretty much standard 4-wheel drive now, and not the modified army crawl like at first.  We put a big rug out in the entry because that tile was sort of hard on everyone, and didn’t want her conking her head too hard.

-We’ve got electrical outlet covers on all outlets now.  Have a toilet seat lock and some bumpers but haven’t put them on yet.

-She may be doing some more teething lately.  For a couple of weeks she has been waking up a time or two at night again, and is hard to get her settled down.  My current trick is to carry her and hold her while looking in the refrigerator. That will pretty much stop the howling and wailing.  Gets her attention and breaks that crying jag.  I think the light, the coolness, the colors, the feel of cold things on the door shelf, snap her out of it.  Then she likes to play a bit with the magnets.  At that point can usually lay her down on the living room quilt and stay with her and she will go back to sleep.

-Aijuan says she is eating more.

-She might be saying ‘ma ma’ and ‘ba ba’ for Aijuan and me respectively, but I’m not yet convinced it’s 100%.  Aijuan says when Angela hears me come in, she will say ‘ba’ or ‘ba ba’ but I don’t know if she is getting prompted.

-She will kind of dance some to music.  Just sitting and bouncing when some active, up beat music is playing. (”It’s got a good beat.  You can dance to it.”).

-She likes to hug her big bear and her Elmo.  When she sees her Elmo she will say “uh-muh!”  She’s never seen on TV yet, so just knows from home.  We actually don’t do any TV with her, is pretty much limited to home movies and picture slide shows played to the TV from the Apple TV.

-Aijuan is making more of her food now than before, so is getting more real people food, although it is prepared for a 1 year old. She loves her Cheerios, and seems to prefer vegetables over fruit and meats.

-There’s this one book, “Going to Bed Book” that has a crescent moon in the latter pages, and she’ll point to that and proclaim “MUH! MUH!”.  I tell her “moon”, but when she says it, it comes out “muh”, but she knows the word for the shape apparently.

-There are pictures of things on the wall in the bedroom and other places, and although she can’t say them yet, she seems to know them by the words.  Aijuan will ask here “where’s the fish?” and she will look over to that pictures, etc.

-Her hair has gotten a bit longer, and now has a little curl in the back.  It’s still brown, but sometimes looks like it wants to be red, and sometimes like black. We’ll see.

-I think she has gotten even cutre!   ;-D

-She will sometimes take the brush and brush my hair too, if I’m brushing her hair.

-I know she is learning more Chinese, because I’ll say a word or phrase in Chinese and she’ll look at me like “Hod did YOU know that?”  Like “beedzi” for nose, “wo ai ni”, I love you, and such.

-There’s probably more that I am not thinking of right now, but I will add later.

10:01 pm

Remembered a couple of things:

-I showed her how to work the light switch on the wall, and maybe it is unrelated, but she’s discovered the power switches on her toys, at least those with batteries, which is most of them.

-She’s learned to crawl through the end table in the living room, it’s like a little tunnel, open on two ends and slats on the sides, and raise up a bit.  There’s just enough room for her to sit up in there.

Best,

Johnny, Aijuan, Angela

Update continued….

Sat May 30 01:09:04 CDT 2009Sat May 30 01:09:04 CDT 2009

Ok, back again.  Let’s see what else….

• She has just enough hair now that it is enough to brush, make a part.  Looks cute, like in a portrait, but doesn’t last long.  Sometimes she will take the brush and move it around like she is trying to brush her hair, but her arms won’t work that way so well just yet, but it looks like she has the idea.
• She doesn’t tolerate hats much AT ALL.  Aijuan keeps trying to get a picture of her with one, but the poor thing looks so miserable it’s no good.
• She will climb over me if I am laying on the floor. She seems to enjoy that.
• She likes the peek-a-boo game only we say “there she is!!”.  One time I pulled a fast one and put two covers in front of my face and when she pulled the first one away was surprised to see another one instead of me, and thought that was funny.  She likes unexpected kind of surprises.
• She is curious about a lot of stuff and wants to touch everything she sees.
• She likes to point at the things in her little books and say “AA!!”, and wants me to see too.  I tryt to say what it is but what do you do with “Diplodocus” ?  (someone’s old cloth book).  So I just say “Diplodocus”.  I mean that’s what it is, not much else simpler.
• I can’t think of anything she is afraid of, for better or worse. But she really doesn’t like getting her hands and face washed with a cloth for some reason.
• She like pulling her socks and shoes off. Aijuan will have a time out shopping and will have to go tracing back her steps to find some toy or sock or shoe that got tossed overboard.
• She’s not much into a pacifier, but thumb is still the Real Thing, although Aijuan tries to get her not to do it.  I don’t know, she’s 11 months old and is a way for her to soothe herself. I don’t think it is a developmental or dental issue yet.
• She’s become fond of this soft bear they gave her at the hospital 5 months ago when we went for the sedated ABR hearing test.  I’ve tried to encourage her to use it as a “transitional object” or whatever the term is, since she seemed to already like it.  There is a little soft lamb that is favored also, along with an assortment of little bears from a mobile. That are a nice “hand” size.
• When I give her something soft like a little bear or something, she will hold it up to her nose and smell it for awhile.  I think she is seeing if it has that comforting funky smell.
• I’m trying to establish a consistent bedtime routine, like a bath or wash, change diaper and put on pjs, go to living room and “read” a bit, maybe is just turning pages and pointing out pictures, but it sort of chills her out a bit.  Then there is a music box that was Mom’s that playes “How Great Thou Art”, that I’ve used forever with her and nightime, and play that during bottle time.  Then she will usually fade out and I can get her to the crib without incident.  Usually.  I’d like to bring that time up to like 8pm or so, but I’m don’t know what her eating schedule is…need to get that.
• She tends to not eat much when I feed her.  However when Aijuan is out, I let her experiment with her food a little, get her hands in it, see what it feels like, etc.  She seems happy to do that. Aijuan tries to keep her pretty neat and clean but come on.  I eat messier than that.
• She likes to play this game where she will put a Cheerio in my mouth and “feed me”.
• She does this deadpan expression nearly everytime we take a picture.  She’ll be doing something hilarious or cute, but bring the camera up and try to get her attention, and she stops. Just looks at me as if to say, “What? !”
• She enjoys going outside, shopping, stroller, but sometimes is still frightened of people she doesn’t know if they come on a little fast for her.

I guess that’s the bigger stuff.  I want to see about getting her into some kind of day care/playcare/mom’s day out kind of thing a few times a week just to help with her development across the board, and give Aijuan a break some during the day.  It has been 11 months, every day and night, and we are both fried.  She’s getting mostly Chinese at home during the day, and I use English with her when I’m home but during the week that is maybe two hours.  I want her to learn and be fluent in both, but don’t want to “under learn” English right now since she is going to have to operate cognitively in that language over the next 5 years, wwith respect to school, etc.

Ok, 1:32 am, long week, ridiculously long day.  Out for now.

Here’s a couple of pretty recent pics, and more here :   http://gallery.mac.com/johnbryan

Catching Up

Fri May 29 21:45:56 CDT 2009

Fri May 29 21:46:49 CDT 2009

OY!!!

Has been really busy at work and at home.  Wanted to post just some things that are new, in no particular order intended:

• Angela started pulling herself up a couple of weeks ago.  At first it was just in her crib.  That was around May 8, the last post.  She mostly pulls herself up on the sofa and ottoman because that is where she mostly hangs out, on the quilt on the living room floor.  She will walk along it, kind of sideways, moving her hands along as she goes, until she runs out of sofa.  In the beginning she would try to hold on and go around the sofa corner but there’s not much to grab and her skill not yet advanced and she would flop down on her sitter.  But she would keep trying.  Still does.  She really loves being vertical and seeing around.  She pulls up on other stuff now also.  She will crawl to another room or another place and pull up there.  So our “baby safe” zones have moved from immediate floor level only to about a two foot high line.  You can tell because everything below that line, that depth, is tidy and neat, and the “mess” and clutter migrates ever upwards.  She’s not really doing a walker, although she will if I push/pull it slowly forward.  She hasn’t got the idea yet apparently what the purpose is.  Is busy playing with the toys cleverly placed at the top.  Ok, enough of that.
• She also is now doing some “proper”, ie “all fours”, crawling, but not a lot and not all the time.  I guess when the need and circumstances are right.  I think the sofa walking has helped with that.  It may be harder to coordinate moving four limbs like that than two.  She has for a long time gotten up on her hands and knees and rock some but doesn’t put it to forward motion yet.
• She likes taking some plastic toy and taking it to the tile entry way, where she tossed the toy down to make it bounce across the floor, then she will go chase it.
• She calls a duck a “ga”.  ”Ga” is what Aijuan tells her a Ya (duck) says.  ”Ga ga ga!”, instead of quack quack.  I wasn’t convinced she just wasn’t making the sound, but she uses it when pointing out other ducks in general, so there is some indication.
• She is able to carefully hold her cardboard books on the side so she can see the edge of the pages and carefully get her fingers in so she can actually open the book and turn the pages herself. It’s hard for me anyway.

dang, gotta go, am summoned; back when can….

Uprising

Yesterday Aijuan told me that Anfela had pulled herself up to standing position in her crib. That was pretty exciting. She hadn’t done that by herself before. We will hold her or spot her while she practices while holding on to something. She likes holding the window sill and looking out at the back yard, pointing and ‘talking’.

So tonight I put her in the crib to sleep and Aijuan called me to come look and she was standing up in her crib again. With the rail at her tummy so that wasn’t going to work. Lean a little to far and we’d all get a surprise.

So lowered the crib mattress to the last level and she still pulls herself up but at least is just at chin level.

She seemed pretty pleased with herslef too so we made a big deal of it. She was a little excited maybe and wouldn’t sleep so had to rock get and give her a little formula and she was out.

Here’s some pics from before I lowered the mattress and after…

This always gets me…

Tue May  5 17:53:16 CDT 2009

The Brothers Four “Turn Around”
The Honey Wind Blows (1965)

http://artists.letssingit.com/brothers-four-lyrics-turn-around-sv5qvmb

Where are you going my little one, little one
Where are you going my baby my own
Turn around and you’re two
Turn around and you’re four
Turn around and you’re a young girl
Going out of the door

Turn around
Turn around
Turn around and you’re a young girl
Going out of the door

Where are you going my little one, little one
Little drendils and petticoats, where are you now
Turn around and you’re tiny
Turn around and you’re grown
Turn around and you’re a young wife
With babes of your own

Turn around
Turn around
Turn around and you’re a young wife
With babes of your own

Where are you going my little one, little one
Where are you going my baby my own…

Still Hungry

4/26/08/0132

Man. She got 6oz at 10pm, and got her to sleep pretty easy.  Is normal.  But she woke up crying at 12:30a, and after walking her, rocking, pushing around in the stroller in the entry way, Aijuan says to try more formula.  I had just gotten her settled and didn’t want to rouse her, but Aijuan presented another bottle and she took all 6oz, and was soon asleep enough for me to transfer her back to the crib.  At least that’s all it took and she’s not apparenlty waking up in pain like before.

Hungry Little Critter :-D

Her appetite is coming back now.  Got 6oz at 3a, 6@8a, 5@230p. Has gotten several little boxes/jars of bb food, several oz of pedia/water mix, snacky little finger food. Is not snacky in trashy sense btw. Is still grabbing ear(s), waking up at night crying, but is getting better. 

Sick as a Baby

I tell you what, “Sick as a dog” ain’t got nuthin on “Sick as a Baby”.  I’ve never seen anything or anyone so abjectly miserable.  Part maybe not know why or how long or anything, just that you feel lousy, nothing’s right, and no one knows what you want, and they keep doing things to you.

Angela started coughing a bit last Sunday, April 19, and we started reading the Manual, (Baby Health book), about it, and they didn’t offer much insight.  Said some fever is ok, use humidifiers, fluids, etc.  By Monday night she was waking up several times, crying in apparent pain, and just about unconsolable.  She also started not eating, or rather stopped eating.  She would just eat the little store bought finger food some and was totally off her formula, after getting 3-4@6oz/day. After a number of calls to the pedi office and nurse call backs, with me being the “middle man” between Aijuan and the nurse, we finally decided we wanted her to get looked at, so Aijuan called them and communicated such and they told her to come in 6:30p, Tuesday.

I met them there before that but they had gone in early and had already been seen. Verdict was that she had an ear infection (both?) and that is apparently was kind of far along.  So they got her started on an antibiotic, some Tylenol, fluids, etc, and all that.  Tuesday night, Wednesday still the same.  But maybe ear pain better some.  Talked to the nurse again Wednesday and they called in some Rx ear drops for pain, switched us to Motrin, and said to give pedialyte and water half/half so not dehydrate.  So Wednesday night we started that regimen.

Thursday Aijuan reports the cough (remember that?) was better, but still not taking forumula or eating and is still waking up several times during the night. We’re both about at the end of our ropes, too.

Friday…I call them in the afternoon to give a status report and see what they might have to say for us going in to the weekend, and they said bring her in 6:40p.  The idea being to take a look and see which way the infection was going. So we got there a little early, another Dr saw her, said ears still had fluid behind them, but were not angry looking, could see throat was a little red but tonsils ok.  Said push the formula by bottle or cup, instead of pedia because it had better food value.  Kept all current meds.

So Saturday Aijuan reports that she got alost 6oz formula at 3am, (she hadn’t wanted any of it at 10pm Friday), and another 6oz at 8am, then another 5 or so at 2:30p.  Also that she had gotten several boxes/jars of baby food, finished off some of the little finger food stuff, was taking the pedialyte mixture and was rewarding us with ‘deposits’ a few times a day again.

So she is getting better finally, after a week from where we started.  Have another week to go on the antibiotic, and I hate, as does she, adminstering that.  Is worse than dosing a cat with liquid med.  Cats have claws, on four feet, but babies cry and wail and look at you like “what are you doing! why are you doing this to me?!”, and I’m afraid I’m imprinting some deep psychological trauma that will be so preverbal as to be unreachable by anything but YEARS of therapy. But whaddaya do. Sigh.

So 11 more doses to go, and 6 days.  But I tell you what, before she started getting treated I’ve never seen a more pitiful sight as that baby girl just crying in pain, that look on her face, or just crying out and rolling around on the floor holding her ears, and just about nothing we could do to help other than what we were doing, and try and comfort her.  I wanna say “never again” let it go this long without diagnosis and treatment, but there were no clues prior to last Sunday, and surely this won’t be the last time we get to be parents caring for a sick child.

Here’s a picture from the Dr yesterday.  She was just looking at her ears, nose, eyes, etc, but Angela does not like it.

Teeth

10:10 pm

Aijuan saw tonight Angela MeiMei has two MORE teeth coming in!! Sounds like incisors. ?? Canines?? So will have four upper and two lower. The two front ones on top seem bigger than I’d expect but whatever.

Also tonight she got bored playing with me on the living room quilt and hop/crawled into the big bathroom where Aijyan was drawing water for Angela’s bath.

She knew where mommy went and went off to find her. I followed at a discreet distance and she would turn and look back over her shoulder to see where I was, and on seeing me along would smile and then proceed. She’d stop and listen to the sound of water running, etc., before moving forward. Pretty fun. She got right up to where Aijuan was and we picked her up and hugged her for being so clever.

Sippy cup

Mei Mei has been practicing with a little sippy cup. She does pretty well I think.