Crunch Time

The week got away from me and now it is Friday night and I am exhausted. We have had a great two weeks since I posted last. Phoenix is such a cutie. I washed all of the 6 month clothing and realized how many cute "dressy" outfits we had and decided we better starting wearing them regardless if we were going anywhere or not. Here she is in one of the many girly dresses she has. 

 It has been crunch time as I desperately tried to get everything done that I intended to do during my maternity leave. I had to pull in extra help, a.k.a Axel, during some major cooking/baking last week. Axel did a great job of helping me feed Phoenix for about 3 minutes until his arm got sore. I still had to stop the baking of his bread, cookies and dinner to feed her, but it was worth a try :)

 Phoenix loves Axel so much that she is content watching him play most of the time. Here is a funny picture of her completely entranced by him playing with Alfie and talking with her.

 Last Saturday, Keith and I were able to ride for the first time together. It had been over a year since we had this luxury. Phoenix and Axel were watched by Annika and Marlena for the two and a half hours we were gone. Elizabeth their mom, had to come over the last 40 minutes as Phoenix started to cry because she was hungry and Annika didn't want to put her down to make her bottle. It was very cute and I understand the difficulty of hearing a crying baby. Annika and Marlena are going to watch Axel and Phoenix again tomorrow as well. We will see if they need Elizabeth as back up again. We are very grateful to have such awesome neighbors and basically an entire family of babysitters :)

 It was a hot one the day Keith and I rode. Axel and Keith went over to Annika's house to jump in the pool. Here Axel is playing with Marlena. Phoenix and I came over later after she woke from her nap. we are pictured above, trying to stay as cool as possible.

 On Sunday morning, we had the pleasure to visit with the McFarrens. Unfortunately, I didn't get very many pictures, but here are the 4 kids and half of Kristi :). It was very nice seeing them and we are hoping to have more play dates during their future visits to San Jose.

 On Sunday afternoon/evening was Max's 5th birthday party. The Bartolos went all out and got the big bounce house with a slide. Axel needed help initially, but eventually was able to go in, bounce and go down the slide without being afraid. This is the first time he has warmed up enough to completely play independently without mommy or daddy near.

 Here are the three boys, Rishaan, Axel and Max the birthday boy.

 Phoenix continues to get better with her hands. She wants to stick anything and everything in her mouth likes most babies.

 Even objects that are too big, like this cylinder, she tries to suck on. It is terribly funny to watch her, although, I do feel bad as she gets frustrated when she is unsuccessful.

 I promised Axel I would learn how to make him rice, corn, and wheat free noodles. Here is my first attempt. These are soba noodles, or buckwheat noodles that are without the wheat that the Japanese traditionally add to the buckwheat when they make it. I added tapioca starch in place of the wheat. Lets just say they looked prettier than they tasted. they were a complete fail in tastiness, but I am determined to make tasty noddles. Up next are egg noodles. I am hoping they turn out better in the taste category.

 On Tuesday, Keith took the day off and Phoenix spent her first day at day care so that Keith and I could spend the entire day together. It was wonderful to be kid free for 9.5 hours. It felt like we were dating again. We went on a bike ride, ran errands, held hands, talked without interruptions. We had such a wonderful time that we vowed we need to spend at minimum one day per year like this :)

Phoenix did well at day care. She drank all her bottles and she did nap, although her naps were short. She was so tired the next day that her first nap in the morning was 3 hours long, rather than the usual 1 hour. I am hoping she traditions quickly to being comfortable at Angela's. I am still nervous about leaving her, but I know that she couldn't be in better hands.

Yesterday, I dressed Phoenix in the tie dye shirt that Grammy Carol bought her. Axel then changed his clothes in order to be like sister. They looked so cute, I couldn't help but take the opportunity to take pictures of them together.

Firsts

Phoenix continues to rapidly grow and improve her ability to move and sit. She no longer needs support to keep her upright in her high chair. 

 She is also becoming quite skilled at reaching for objects and inserting them into her mouth. She also started practicing rolling from her back to her stomach. She can't quite make the full 180 degree turn yet, but she is consistently getting onto her left side. Per the request of daycare I have started the process of unswaddling her. For two days/nights I left out her left arm and today for the first time I left out both arms with her halo wrap. Since I stopped fully swaddling she has been sleeping wedged up against her bumper mostly on her left side with her left cheek against the bumper. It is very cute!

 Axel has been on a project run with play doh, drawings and cutting shapes. He is becoming quite the artist. I  need to take a picture of one of his latest masterpieces and post it on the next blog. It is amazing at how quickly his artistic and fine motor skills are developing.

 Phoenix has been on 100% Neocate for 5 days now. She continues to spit up quite a bit. I have resorted to using bibs in order to save on changing her outfits 5 times per day. We go through 3 bibs and 2 outfits instead. I am still amazed at how she can soak through the entire bib after each feeding. The GI specialist wants to put her on reflux medication, but I want to give Neocate the full 2 week trial to see if it "heals" her gut and reflux like they claim to before resorting to medication.

 Axel has been able to play with Max and Rishaan once a week. I thought this was really cute. They were holding hands running around together.

I took the kids to the farmers market for the first time on Saturday. Axel insisted to have sister sit with him in the stroller.  They both did great.

 Daddy took us out to my favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner yesterday. It was the first time we went out since we have been parents of two.

 I was able to enjoy a yummy margarita and my favorite meal.

 We let Axel eat a quesadilla warning him that he would be quite itchy. He said he didn't care, but at 2:30 am this morning he asked me to not let him eat the food anymore as he was incredibly itchy and uncomfortable. This was the second time that we let him "cheat" warning him that he would be more uncomfortable. He is finally learning that he rather not get flared up by indulging in food with corn, rice or wheat! The good news is he is loving what I have been making for him. I found awesome pizza crust, scone, cookie, pancake and bread recipes that we all have been enjoying.

I leave you with a cute clip of brotherly love!

Phoenix turns 4 months!

Phoenix turns 4 months today! She weighs 12 lbs 5 oz and is 24.75 inches, which puts her in the 13th and 63rd percentile, respectively. This past week she suffered her first cold, but she is finally on the mend. Last night was the first night that both kids slept until 3:30am and they were both back to sleep by 4am. It was a great night of sleep for the entire house since we are all trying to get healthy. 

Today is the big day where I plan on trying to give Phoenix a bottle of 100% Neocate. Wish us luck. I am hoping it will be a smooth transition. I started eating without restrictions at the end of last week. It took a couple of days to get myself use to eating dairy and other starches, but now my body has transitioned well. I ate a huge bowl of berry salad this weekend, sipped a latte at breakfast, and had an ice cream peanut butter sundae for desert one night, all with a huge smile on my face. I feel blessed to be able to eat any foods that I want, unlike my children. 

Speaking of allergies, Axel loves the bread and oatmeal pancakes that I made him and is excited to try our first batch of corn, rice, wheat free cookies that we are going to make tonight. He is transitioning well and getting use to what he can and cannot have. His skin continues to improve. Last night was the first night in weeks that he only woke once and was able to put himself back to sleep fairly quickly. I think half of it is mental and half of it is physical. I was extremely proud of him.

I was also extremely proud of Axel because he had a bowel movement yesterday at daycare and went and wiped himself without any help. He did this at home last week as well. For him to take initiative and want to do a big boy thing like wiping his bottom is a huge milestone for him. I hope that it will continue. He has also put aquaphor on himself a handful of times over the past week,which is a huge step for him as well. 

Phoenix started rolling in both directions a couple of days ago when placed on her stomach. Here is a video of her rolling from her stomach to her back. She is very attentive like Axel was and is. She is mesmerized by Axel's train in this video.

  I have a few cute videos of her watching the train go around and around, but wanted to post a video of her and Axel laughing at each other instead. It is not a great video for watching, but it is a fun one to listen to. Everyone who meets Phoenix cannot believe how smiley and happy she is. The doctor yesterday was just another example, when Dr. Vicki Chou said that her cooing and smile, "melts my heart". One of my girlfriends who doesn't want kids said that if she was guaranteed one like Phoenix she would consider having a child :) Next time I will try to get a video of Phoenix's face while she is laughing, smiling and cooing, but for now you will just have to imagine her face as you hear her laugh!

Axel managed to play with Max for an hour last week. The boys had fun climbing and hanging on the play structure. They also had fun rolling down the slide. It is fun to see Axel become more brave, but at the same time it is hard for me to let go and not worry that he is going to hurt himself. 

I guess we all have to learn are own limits by doing. And he will figure out what he can and cannot do just like we all did. Hopefully, it will only consists of scrapes and cuts and no broken bones :)

We hope you all enjoy your long weekend!

Happy Times

I was hoping to write this on Monday, but unfortunately, woke up with a mild head cold on Sunday that turned into a big cold that knocked me off my feet for a few days. 

 Phoenix has mastered rolling from her stomach onto her back over the past week. She has also started scooting a little on her stomach. I am amazed that she is tucking her knees up under her belly and then pushing forward. Once she gets her arms/upper body involved she will be doing the military crawl in no time.

 This past weekend we had the luxury of celebrating my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. We were bummed that it was short, but are glad that we had a few hours to visit with some of the family. Hopefully, next time we all get together it will be for longer, so that we have an opportunity to visit with all of the family members attending :)

Here are a few photos I managed to get when we first arrived. Grandma Sonia and Grandpa Bruce with Phoenix.

 Auntie Shannon, 7 months pregnant, with Uncle Ryan.

 My Aunt Robin with her grand-daughter Sophie. Both looking awfully cute!

 The great grand children playing with Lego's.

 And the beautiful couple, great Grandma and Grandpa Burgess, that we were there celebrating with. It is hard to believe they have been married 60 years. They both seem very young to me, both mentally and physically. Working in a field where I am around people of all ages, all of the time, they are extremely with it compared to people 10-30 years their junior. I hope that is a good sign for the rest of us Burgesses. Hopefully, we will be both physically and mentally healthy and alert as these two wonderful people are.

I just wanted to take a quick moment to thank great Grandma and Grandpa Burgess for being a wonderful example of what marriage should be like. As Grandpa told me, marriage is a lot of work and that is what makes a good marriage. If you love the other person enough to constantly work at it, and both individuals are on board, then you will have a good marriage. Well, these two individuals have shown love, respect, patience, and honesty to each other and all of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I feel extremely honored to be apart of this family. Thank you for always thinking of all of us and loving each of us as individuals!

 Speaking of great-grandchildren, here are 8 of the 10.

 Here is our extension of the family.

 On our way home from the anniversary celebration we had a mild set back. Axel got extremely sick and threw up everywhere. It made for an interesting last hour in the car as I was squished between the two kids, in the back seat, holding a blanket full of vomit with a child covered in it nodding in and out of sleep. We managed to get Axel bathed and to bed by 11 and the car seat and car cleaned as well. Unfortunately, right when I was headed for bed Phoenix woke to eat. When I finally got into bed at 12:45 am Axel woke screaming he was itchy. We weren't able to get Axel comfortable and asleep until about 2 am so when the morning came and I woke with a cold I wasn't surprised. The sleep deprivation had finally caught up with me. Luckily, we had a relaxing Mother's Day. Keith and Axel picked flowers and made flower arrangements for me. I also got 30 minutes of cuddle time with Keith on the couch, while Axel played with his new Lego set and Phoenix took her morning nap. It feels like we haven't done that in years, just to sit together and talk. Maybe we should thank the Lego company for keeping our child entertained enough that he allowed us to talk to each other in his presence :) It was the perfect Mother's Day treat!

Phoenix gave me a small arrangement

and Axel gave me a bigger one with a card he made at school.

 Here is a shot of both of my cuties!

As far as other news Axel is officially off of all corn, rice, wheat, peanuts, sesame seeds, walnuts and soy. It was a hard week for him getting use to and trying new foods. He ate quinoa without too much of a fight, but he was not a fan of millet at all. Luckily, my first bread that was made of sorghum flour, millet flour, potato and tapioca starch was a big hit. He ate a piece with his fish for dinner last night and another with his eggs this morning. He seems to be doing better with less incidents of his face becoming flush during meals. 

 We are getting the carpet and couch steam cleaned right now so that Axel can have his play room back. They guarantee removal of all bacteria/dog dander/allergens. I also have an air purifier on the way. We are going to see how the small unit helps him in his room at night and if it makes a big difference we are considering installing a whole house air purifier. Taking an antihistamine twice a day is also helping a bit. Our goal is to eliminate as many external factors that our contributing to his itchiness so that the only itchiness that is left is from his ichthyosis. Slowly but surely we are tackling all possible contributing factors. 

In Phoenix news, she continues to do well with the transition to neocate. She is up to 3 oz of neocate to 1 oz of breastmilk. Unfortunately, she is still eating half her calories at night. Hopefully, this improves so that the night wakings disappear over the next month or two. Considering how frequently Axel woke I really can't complain with Phoenix. She really only wakes twice a night. Last night was 11:30pm and 4:30am. If I didn't have to get up at 2 am to put aquaphor on Axel it would have been a pretty good night of sleep. It is just hard to not get one full 4 hour sleep cycle. I am still hopeful this will improve over the next couple of weeks as my maternity leave quickly comes to an end.  

Developmental Milestones

Time continues to tick on by a little faster than I would like. This past week we went to the Palo Alto Museum and Zoo with my friend Tiffany and her two kids Avery and Charlotte. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of the older kids because I left my phone in the car, but I did manage to capture a picture of the two little ones at lunch.

Axel has been working hard at his drawing, coloring and cutting skills. His cutting skills have improved significantly over the past couple of months. As far as drawing and coloring, he loves to do them both. He mastered the art of drawing flowers on Friday.  He couldn't wait to show daddy all of his artwork.

Axel has also been practicing the sounds of the alphabet and using the sounds of letters to spell. At dinner time Axel picks a word and he sounds out the word to spell it. He is independent in spelling easy words like mom, dad, bat, sat, etc. He thinks it is the funnest game yet!

Phoenix is growing by leaps and bounds. She is very strong as you can see her sitting nicely in the bumbo chair.

Because she is so strong and decided to get the high chair down. This way she is at our level instead of the floor while we are eating our meals. Unfortunately, we will not be able to start solids until 6 months, but in the meantime she will get use to sitting at the table with us during meal time.

Phoenix is becoming very attentive. You can see her fascinated by the lights on this little music box. She amazes me because no matter where I put her down she always looks for me and is able to find me. I can't remember Axel looking up over his head or down at his feet to find me if he heard me in the room.

On Friday afternoon the neighborhood kids were able to play for a little bit at the park. Our nightly summer play dates I think are going to be a thing of the past. Max's family announced that they are moving to Singapore so they are working hard at preparing for the big move. Rishaan's family is busy with little Nishka and their always visiting family and well, we are busy with our little Phoenix. Hopefully, the boys will be able to play weekly during the summer months before the big separation in August as Max and his family move across the world!

Sunday was a weird partly sunny, gloomy-ish day. It was difficult to tell it was nice out until you stepped outside into the windy but warm day. Keith suggested that we walk down to the middle school and fly Axel's kite.

We also brought Axel's bat and ball. He was a bit intimidated by the big field. After missing his first attempt he was interested in practicing hitting the ball.

Daddy did convince him to run around the field.

After checking out the field Axel and daddy had a great time flying his kite.

Axel got the hang of it and was able to fly the kite a bit on his own.

On Monday Phoenix hit a couple of milestones. It looks like her depth perception is kicking in, along with her eye and hand coordination. She is regularly able to grab an object and bring it to her mouth, which makes her incredibly happy.

She is starting to get into a routine of three naps a day and 6-7 feedings. The big news of the week is that Phoenix is starting to eat and sleep really well and is 100% on the bottle! The big change was I called Neocate to see if I could return all of the cans I purchased because Phoenix just wasn't drinking it no matter how little was mixed in with breastmilk. The nutritionist suggested giving up nursing all together and going strictly to the bottle in order to get Phoenix to take to the Neocate. After getting off the phone with her on Friday I did exactly that. Put 1/2 an ounce of Neocate in a bottle of breast milk. To make a long story short, she has been on the bottle every since and is now up to 2 oz of Neocate to 2 oz of breastmilk again without any fussiness at all. She is drinking 25 ounces a day!!!! I am ecstatic because as of last night she slept a 6 hour stretch again! I am extremely grateful and hopeful that Phoenix will be thriving on 100% neocate soon and as a bonus I get to start eating again!

Speaking of food, the other big news is that we had Axel's allergies retested. Unfortunately, Axel's very itchy skin, constant eczema, constant rash and hives is not only because of his severe allergies to grass, trees, and weeds, but also to dog dander, corn, rice, sesame seeds, peanuts, and walnuts. Wheat, soy, eggs, cashews, and milk also came back as a positive, but he thinks that eggs, cashews and milk were false positives. The allergist is uncertain if wheat and soy are false positives, but considering the very high reaction to dog dander, corn, rice, sesame seeds, peanuts and walnuts he felt was enough to tackle right now.

We started with removing Louis from the one carpeted room in the house and not allowing Louis to go into any of the bedrooms. Next up is to get an air purifier for Axel's room and or possibly for the house because getting rid of Louis is not an option and he is likely going to be around for 3 to 5 years or longer.

As of last night we removed corn, rice, and sesame seeds from his diet (we already had been avoiding peanuts and he has never consumed walnuts). Now the funny thing about these allergies is that these are the exact foods Axel ate a LOT of when he had the dairy and soy allergies the first three years of his life. He lived on rice milk, hummus and crackers. I find it extremely ironic that the three most common ingredients/foods he ate for those years his body can no longer handle.

We also started Axel on nightly Benadryl which seems to be working better than Zyrtec. We are also considering giving him a morning dose of Allegra or Zyrtec to help his system combat all of the allergies he is exposed to outside during the day. We also restarted the hydrocortisone and have upped the aquaphor even more. All in all he seems to be doing better and is able to sleep better. He is only waking once a night, although it takes him an hour to fall asleep after 3 or more applications of aquaphor.

Well, we are excited to see both of our kids thriving despite their many allergies over the coming weeks and months. Hopefully, both kids will be sleeping through the night within the next 4 weeks just in time for my return to work :)