Women Infants and Children

This post is to thank the WIC PROGRAM for all the work they do to provide nutrition and breastfeeding education to families all over the country.  I worked as a breastfeeding peer counselor for two years and stopped when I had Liam.  Shortly after, funding was cut and all counselor jobs with it.
If I had the energy I would describe here in detail all the research about the benefits of breastfeeding, peer support, and talk about the state of the economy, and priorities and funding and... etc etc.  But I can't get to that right now. And Liam's starting to fuss in the background.  And I'd be preaching to the choir now wouldn't I?
Suffice it to say: Thank you WIC program, heres to you!

la playa en Diciembre!

It was a perfect day at the beach!  Late December, mid seventies.  Oh yeah. Lupe played in the playground, rode her new scooter (there were a few other kids with new scooters and bikes, just a few!).  Liam lay on the blanket, showing off how strong he's getting.  It was just a couple of weeks ago I think that I was helping him prop on his arms and elbows, and now he can do it!  This last couple days I've even noticed he doesn't arch as much, lifting his legs when he's on his tummy. Next goal: rolling over, and grabbing his feet.

Lupe.  Three is a real challenge, there's a real battle of wills happening sometimes.  Did I say sometimes? Feels like often.  She is a pretty good kid overall, I mean really good, but she saves all her whining for mom, and for home.  (Sound familiar moms?)  But three is also really cool.  To have her discover rhyming, to make up silly words.  To learn how to spell her name out loud. The curiosity, "What letter does Ariel start with mom?"  Last night she said, "Mommy you're the best cooker. Ever."  That was after she told me she didn't like spaghetti wth sauce. I guess she changed her mind.  Dancing in her underwear to Lady Gaga! Wobbling out to her playhouse in her new dress up shoes. This morning I heard her laughing in her sleep.  What were you dreaming about Lupe?  "Cucu" she responded (that's her grandparents neighbor- a good friend). 

We are planning  a trip to Mexico to see our familia- it will be interesting how our non-stop-talker deals with her Espanol.  She can understand but isn't talking much. A ver como le va!

merry christmas eve!

words and pictures cannot capture how beautiful my kids are.

in a high chair for the first time!

my little guy is sick for the first time (not bad- he's almost 6 months!) and has a racking cough on top of his normal congestion. but obviously in good spirits! just look....

lupe got to see santa again today.

she is now in the living room talking to santa about the scooter she wants. 

feliz navidad to all!

Infant Development Clinic

Five and a half months. Yesterday we returned to Sierra Vista for an Infant Development Clinic so that the doctors who saw Liam in the NICU and the physical therapist could evaluate his progress, his developmental level and to see if we were getting the services we need.
When I saw Dr Ochoa, the one who told us we had a baby with Downs Syndrome, the one who tracked his progress in the NICU, my throat got all tight with emotions.  It brought back lots of memories of last July and all we went through.  The PT said she sees that a lot.  Liam was fast asleep in the Ergo, but I got him  out and he wasn't ranky at all. Au contrair.  He started to show off!  On tummy time, he rested on his arms and lifted his head more than I've ever seen him do.  He tracked objects with his eyes, reacted to the bell, was interested in looking at himself in the mirror, and even passed a toy from one hand to the other!

They were so impressed.  And I felt good having my own intuition about his progress validated.  She said it was in large part due to our excellent work as parents in seeing he gets services, working (i.e. playing) with him at home, stimulating him and doing extra things like cranio sacral therapy.
On their evaluation sheet he was at a 5 month old level in everything, except the slightest delay in gross motor development (rolling over, etc).  I felt so good leaving the hospital.

The above picture is Liam sitting for the first time in a bumbo seat that the occupational therapist leant us and playing with a new toy.  SHe had brought it for him to play with telling us we could find them at Target if we liked them.  Liked it?  Liam had a little baby coniption fit of excitement when he saw it and could grab onto it.  So she said, "Merry Christmas, it's yours!"

...?

Throughout the day I think of good topics to write about. And then I forget them.  Thanks to grandparents who come over to distract the 3 year old and do the dishes.  Thanks to Robyn Berry Photography for our family portraits.  Thanks to my hard working husband, though I bitch and moan sometimes, yo estoy agradecida por todo que haces.  Thanks to Andrea Herron, lactation consultant who helped us so much at the beginning, and to the other NICU mommies in that group.
Thanks to my Lupe for her paciencia.  Sorry for losing my patience and yelling so much.

5 months old and so much changed this month

Where to start? I feel like so much changed this last month.  Liam, my little guy, you'll be 5 months old tomorrow!! How can that be? The other day I took a meal to friends who just had a baby and she was only 3 weeks old, and that was SO long ago for us it seems! Now it feels like: oh, 2 weeks in the NICU?, what a short time. But it felt really really long at the time.

Check out this picture below.  I put Liam on the blanket and came back to look and he had scooted off a bit.  I feel like each little thing Liam does is so big.  The picture above, the first one, is us on the beach in Cayucous after we had gone all the way there for a cranio sacral therapy appointment only to arrive late and miss it (Lupe has the most inconveniant times to use the bathroom sometimes!).  Estaba tan molesta en perder la cita, pero mira.... Our therapist called and offered to come to our house for Liam's sessions, as she is usually in San Luis on Wednesdays anyway.  Small blessings.

Twice I have dreamt that Liam surprised me by talking.  In the first dream I see a wet spot on the bed and ask, "Who did peepee on the bed?" and to my surprise he answers, "I did". And Pedro dreamt the other night that he was walking.  He was in Mexico with his mama and said to her, "Everyone told us he would be slow in achieving all these things/ Todos nos dijeron que el tardaria mas en lograr estas cosas..." Y empezo a llorar.

And Liam now likes sitting and standing. No more laying down for my guy.  Our neighbor loaned us a - como se dice?- round sit in activity center thing.  And....he likes it!  Lupe had one and never liked it.

Life is good. We are happy!