Maia Update

I just heard from the doctor's office, and it turns out that our doctor suspects Maia is not eating enough fiber and drinking enough water. Her abdominal x-ray revealed a lot of stool in her abdominal area. Yes, that's right, the ugly constipation word. Though I've never noticed it, and she goes pretty regularly, the doctor suspects it is not enough and things are getting backed up. The result, if the food stays in your stomach too long and doesn't go out the way it should, is for it to come out the other way.

Who would have thought? Well, I am so relieved it is not more serious and will be on a campaign to get Maia to eat more veggies. Usually, I try not to battle about food, and she eats really well, but she doesn't always like her veggies. It's odd to me that other people we know don't eat anything but pizza and hamburgers, but have no constipation problems. Maia eats a fairly well-rounded diet! Maybe she doesn't have veggies with every meal, but definitely fruit. So much for not being obsessive over what she eats! I'm going to have to be the controlling parent telling her she HAS to finish the veggies.

The other thing about water intake makes sense to me, because we've been working on staying dry at night, and one of the suggestions for that is to limit water intake after 6 p.m. or so. Usually, Maia drinks tons of water all day long, and now I'm thinking that limiting it wasn't such a great idea. But she's stayed dry for about three weeks now, so maybe limiting the water won't be necessary anymore.

Okay, we are all back to being healthy again for the moment, so I guess I won't have to find a shrink after all. Wish me luck with the vegetable campaign!

Worry

When Spring finally arrived this year, I was so thrilled that we would finally get a reprieve from all the sickness we had the entire winter. It seemed like the children spent most of the winter with runny noses and coughs. Then there was Tai's infamous breathing episode that struck fear into our hearts.

Well, the month of April was wonderful, but now that May is here, it looks like the kids are getting sick again. On Friday night, Tai started wheezing, and his inhaler didn't work. We got to spend the evening in the urgent care, where he got a breathing treatment and was fine minutes later. The doctor suggested asthma triggered by a virus as the culprit. We were pretty lucky this time because I recognized the symptoms of the attack instantly and got Tai help right away. He never stopped running around and playing throughout his breathing episode, even though he was wheezing heavily.

Wow, this parenting gig is tough sometimes! Though I'm not a worrier by nature, I often find myself fraught with anxiety about my the health of my kids. As I drove into the urgent care parking lot on Friday, I found myself thinking that it would be so convenient if they had a counseling center for the parents near the urgent care. Just imagine the conversations I would have!

As if this were not enough, Maia has been waking up and complaining of feeling sick during the night. Not every night, but once a week or every other week. Her belly is upset and she throws up...not once, but every 20 minutes or so for 2 to 3 hours. The first couple of times, we assumed she had the stomach flu, but this has been going on for too long. The interesting thing is that she is absolutely fine during the day and eats really well. Once her nauseous time is over, it's like it never happened.

The doctor is concerned about this and has no idea what it could be, so yesterday Maia had to have an abdominal x-ray and blood work. We should know the results sometime today.

Does anyone have the number of a good shrink?

Cleaning Kiddos

Accomplishing a task is so much more complicated with children underfoot. I cannot tell you all how much I rue all the unproductive hours I wasted before I became a mother. Quite often, I imagine how industrious I will be once the kids are old enough not to need constant entertainment. I wonder if I will keep up my vigilant cleaning/cooking schedule, or if I will begin to slack off. Actually, I have the perfect plan. The KIDS can assume some of the cleaning responsibilities. How brilliant is this?

As you can see from this cute video, I am already training Tai. Maia was trying to steal the spotlight, but I think most viewers will be able to observe that Tai is a cleaning prodigy.

Minor Accident

Yesterday, Tai and I were involved in an accident. We were heading home from the gym to hang out for a couple of minutes before it would be time to pick up Maia from preschool. As I was waiting to turn left onto my street, a car rear-ended us. It seems she tried to avoid the collision at the last second, so most of the damage is on the right side of my car.

I was surprised to see that she was also a mom and had a little boy just a bit older than Tai in the car. Immediately, my sympathy went out to her. Though I am pretty vigilant in my driving habits, I've had moments when I should have been paying more attention to the road than the kids. It's hard not to when you have small children. Thankfully, I've been lucky so far and have not caused an accident in many years. We won't talk about my younger days!

So begins the red-tape that ensues when one is at the wrong place at the wrong time. Police report. Insurance agency. Car repair. Deductible. Reimbursement. A hassle to say the least.

Even in this situation, I find some positives. Thankfully, no one was injured. The woman who hit me was responsible and had insurance. She was not some dead-beat who fled the scene or tried to avoid accepting responsibility.

I would rather not have had an accident, but since it was my turn to have some unfortunate luck, I'm glad that it didn't turn out worse.

Blessed

We are so blessed to have many good friends (near and far.) I love that my kids can go outside on any given day and have great kids to play with. This is what life is about!

Notice how Maia is holding both babies' hands? So sweet!

Our neighbor and one of Maia's idols, Kaja is in this picture. She and her sister are getting older and will soon be away at college. Boy are we going to miss them!

What happened to April?

Wow, April has only two days left, and I haven't posted any entries yet. This is not good. I have definitely fallen away from my blogging routine. There is so much to say, and yet I find that I can't summarize it well enough for a coherent post. I'll do my best.

Roula Update: I went to the doctor's and though I am otherwise healthy, my thyroid is acting up again. I guess I shouldn't say again, because it's been this way for over a decade. After Tai was born, I stopped taking my medication. I would usually forget, and I felt fine, so I thought perhaps my hypothyroidism had cured itself. Alas, 15 months later, I am not feeling so great, and the blood test results came back way above normal range, so I am taking my medicine again.

I know, I need to take care of myself! I'm working on it...

Yoshi Update: Yoshi is doing great and enjoying his garden. We are excited to eat some home-grown vegetables this year. He is still hoping to win the lottery one of these days:)

Maia Update: She is still her spunky little self. Last week she went to her Kindergarten screening and did very well. We are so proud of her! She really wants a pet, but we are not ready to take that step yet. Both Yoshi and I are still sad about our Psipsina, and the thought of caring so much about another pet and going through the pain of losing them is too much to handle. Perhaps we will change our minds in a couple of years.

Tai Update: Our little man is doing great. He is running around and LOVES being outside. He also enjoys playing with other kids, particularly his sister and boys. It's so strange to see how he identifies with other boys already, and it is very sweet. One thing he does not do much of is talk. As a matter of fact, he talks so little that I was really concerned for a while that he had some sort of speech delay. Our pediatrician said to give it a couple more months before being concerned, and he seems to be improving already.

The thing I'm realizing is that he CAN talk, but he is just not a big talker. Most of the time, I have to ask him, can you say ______? He sometimes surprises me and repeats what I said, but he does not usually initiate. So, I am officially not worrying about it anymore. Apparently, he is a typical man in training?

Love the Hair!

Yet another picture of the fun we have at bedtime.



Compare to back in August:



Maia and Tai seem so grown up compared to just a few months ago. Sometimes I wish I could freeze time.