Maxsmom » Teething

Just so busy..

Rachel — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:05:12 +0000

So these days I am just so busy and it is all good. Being in school has been amazing but it means that during my day I am working and if I am not working, then I am with the kids. I do get one day where I can get some acupuncture, go food shopping alone and run errands. I swear just going to the grocery store alone is a treat. I love school. I am attending a distance learning program at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and it is amazing. I am learning so much and will be so excited to be a health counselor. I am aiming to work with families and helping them to get as healthy as they can be. I would love to start with a woman during pregnancy and then help with nutrition with the kids. It is just amazing but I am finding less and less time to blog.

Max is doing great. He has probably about 500 words and he is getting more and more comfortable using his words. He loves school and we are watching Max grow up so fast. It is just amazing. He has a tough timer sometimes in the am and he says he wants to stay home but the minute we get to the school parking lot he starts running. It is so cute and then he does not even say good bye-he just grabs his ELMO bag and goes into class. He looks so grown up and I swear I dont even know where my little boy went to.

As for Miss Samantha, she is already singing. She does the shhhh from the wheels on the bus and she says MA for max. She is hysterical. She is so full of personality. She just tried to stand the other day and then miserable on her face. Poor little girl. She is cutting 4 teeth right now and not so happy but for her not so happy is another babies great day.

Both of them have birthdays in December. Sam tuns 1 on the 7th and Max turns 3 on the 20th. Sam’s b day we are having a small family thing and Max’s b day will be at a place called Bouncetown and they do an awesome party.

What an exciting month for my babies! And what an exciting year fort myself. I am realizing so much about myself and slowing down and just taking stuff as it comes. I feel like these babies have forced me to grow so much and I am so grateful.

We made it! We are at the beach!

Rachel — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:52:27 +0000

So we arrived Monday. It was a little crazy getting here but we arrived. The house is so beautiful. I love it. The kitchen is white and the house is an open layout and we are just a walk to the bay or the beach.

Just in the past 2 days Sam has rolled over from her back to front and I swear is eating pizza late at night cause she looks huge. Max has a crew cut for the summer and not because I chose that. Max had his hair cut the other day and my sitter took him and he cried endlessly and so the cut was not so good so I thought the hubby should shave it since ALL boys know how to cut hair.WRONG!! not my hubby so he shaved a test run from front to back-GO FIGURE. I cursed, he yelled, I cursed, he cursed and I cried. I took Max, who was screaming bloody murder to the kid barber for an emergency shave. I had to hold him down in a wrestling move but he actually looks adorable. Yeah he is that kid that screams with snot coming out of his nose and mouth.

Regardless we made it but I did not lock the front door. yes you heard me. It was not locked because my mom had come over and I guess she just closed the door and I never checked it so our alarm went off last night because it just opened with the rains and the wind. I was amazed that the hubby was so sweet and understanding. He is generally very calm with that stuff but come on the front door. he just said that we all make mistakes and it was a crazy day. What a sweetie.

So Sam is not sleeping. I know she is teething really bad and will only sleep after a small dose of tylenol. She also will only sleep in her swing. UGH! She also does not like food at all. Could this all be teeth? I knew over the past 3 weeks that she was getting bad since she was sleeping half the night in her swing and if not, she screamed and screamed bloody murder. Daphne Goldberg, her doctor and I felt that it was more important to have her sleep that to force her to sleep in her crib but do they make swings that can hold a baby past 20 pounds. I know she is in pain and so I just dont have the heart to let her scream. I know she knows how to sleep and I know she is in discomfort. I tried giving her some homeopathy, Chamomilla 30c, and it seemed to work for a little but did not hold. I will probably call the homeopath today. Teething sucks.

But the beach is awesome and as soon as I get the camera charged I will upload some pics. We will be here for 10 weeks and already I feel relaxed.I found a local moms group that is letting me join for the summer. I am so psyched.

Max is talking after a few diet changes.

Rachel — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:03:02 +0000

So we changed Max’s diet to no wheat, gluten, dairy, corn, sugar, soy or yeast and he started saying some words. He says dada, ball, yes, lease for please, and blue. He also is making tons of animal sounds. Amazing. Max has always been on a limited diet but he was eating sugar lately and the occasional bagel at the market, something at a play date and stuff on vacation but we really cut it all out and he started sating those words. His doctor felt that his brain would not be able to work if he was having allergies to these foods. People always ask what he eats and luckily Max loves rice cakes and dried fruit snacks. I guess he also sees me eat that stuff and so maybe it is easier since he has my exact food allergies but he is able to eat oats and I cannot. I also bake little muffins for him that he snacks on but all in all-we are good and friends have been great on play dates. I offer to bring the snacks-ones that Max can eat.

THE BIG BUT is that I don’t think that is all of it. My hubby and I both has learning stuff and we found our way in the world but it was hard at times so we thought it is best to keep going with the early intervention. So a teacher will come to the house weekly starting March 31st and a speech pathologist as well starting in April. I am excited to be taught how to better teach Max. He is such a happy kid and I think talking will make meal time easier for him.

But since we took binky away during the day and the TV is on less, he is loving his books. It is so cool to watch him grow. There is still a part of me that feels those 6 months when his ears were really bad before tubes just put him far behind but you never know and it really is not important. We just need to advocate for Max and we are.

My apology to you Max!

Rachel — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:15:58 +0000

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My dearest Max,

I am sorry that today I have no patience. I know you are teething. I know you are in pain. I know you are tired even though you slept for 11 hours. I know all of these things but still I let my impatience get the best of me. I know you are just a little guy that cannot express his needs clearly. As we were driving to class this morning at 9:30 am, you almost feel asleep and I had to open all the windows and shake your feet but still you wanted to close your eyes. I thought you would be fine at class but I should have realized you were not feeling good.

We had to leave class in the middle because you wanted to play with another kids hoola-hoop and not your own and you threw yourself down on the floor screaming. We left the room and you pointed to the door to leave. I put your shoes on and you were off to the elevator to push the button. I did not have my shoes on and the elevator came and you stepped in by yourself. When I got to the elevator I was so worried and scared that I yelled and grabbed your hand and said, ” No Max go alone in elevator. Only with Mommy.” I was still so angry with you. I was not gentle when I picked you up. I carried you to the car with your body straight in anger and frustration. We got in the car and I had to breathe. I had to regroup. I gave you a bottle and your binky and you still cried with snot pouring out of your nose. I wiped your nose and started driving. I called your Daddy and tears rolled down my face. I felt overwhelmed. I am not sure why. I felt sad and angry at the same time.

I should have known when you woke up this morning and were not your usual happy self. I am sorry for letting my grown up plan for our day get in the way of you just wanting to be at home watching TV and probably snuggling and drinking lots of bottles and sucking on your binky.

Even when your momma gets upset, I always love you and I will always say I AM SORRY when I am in the wrong.

Love,

Your Momma

Not the greatest mom this evening

Rachel — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:55:28 +0000

I think I am a good Mom but I think I have my days where I just have no patience and today was one of them. Let me start by saying that Max has been a cranky kid, who is not sleeping well, and teething for over a week now. I am just having a rough time with the tantrums. I feel like anytime he does not get his way, he goes into a full blown tantrum on the floor and tears flying off his face. I try and stay patient. I do try but by 7 pm tonight, I was actually saying to the kid.. NOW COME ON MAX! ENOUGH. MOMMA LOVES YOU BUT ENOUGH.

I felt so guilty and horrible. And let me also say that I am not perfect and there are other times when I loose my ability to see love but tonight I just felt so bad. He clearly feels like crap but I also know that he is almost 20 months and he is just testing the limits with everything.

He wants what he wants when he wants it. I would let him have it all but that just makes a spoiled brat and I do not want to raise a spoiled brat that walks all over me. So when he gets pissed and tantrUms, I try and say something like..I AM SURE YOU ARE FRUSTRATED THAT YOU CANNOT GET WHAT YOU WANT AND IT MUST MAKE YOU UPSET BUT I KNOW YOU WILL WORK THROUGH IT AND MOMMA IS HERE IF YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT. And then he continues to throw himself on the floor until he gets over it unless he is teething or tired…JUST MY LUCK HE IS BOTH THIS WEEK.

Anyway, any suggestions or is this just part of him growing up?

Teething and Sleep

Rachel — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:12:37 +0000

I think I figured out why I am feeling so run down..my kid is teething and not sleeping. When Max is not feeling well, he my be up about 4 times a night and does not go into a deep sleep. I have been going to sleep later because he is waking up at 10 pm and by the time I get to sleep myself it is 11 pm and then he is up and then I am up. It has been hard and I guess I never think about the sleep thing because I have never had a good night of sleep since max was born but now that I am pregnant, well I am so damn tired.

Today was one of those days. I woke up and looked in the mirror and there were bags under my eyes and my eyes were swollen. I woke up irritated and tired. I felt like there was nothing in my gas tank. I felt like I wanted to scream and cry at the same time. It is not just taking care of Max..it just feels like everything.I know this is not real…it is just because I am tired and not sleeping.

Max did not want to go down for a nap and I felt so irritated and felt like saying why me.

Then my hubby did not put away the soup in the crock pot from this am (which I had asked) and I wanted to say why me. **(even though I just forgot something yesterday for him and it was not big deal but Iin my head TODAY it was a big deal)

I need to pay some bills and I want to say why me.

I need to take back a pair of awesome shoes I bought and get a smaller size and I want to say why me.

See such privileged problems but still when I am tired and pregnant..well nothing matters. I am sure I will feel better tomorrow and hopefully Max will sleep tonight.

Max the Gardner and other stuff

Rachel — Wed, 28 May 2008 00:21:17 +0000

Well here is my little gardner. he was very helpful as long as he had a shovel, my shovel and his water bottle. I am still not sure how I managed to get all my veggies planted with being sick and taking care of a sick boy but I did. We planted cauliflower, collard greens, swiss chard, lettuce and tomatoes. I am so excited for the veggies to start growing.

I do have to admit that it was tough to get into the groove with Max trying to pick up every gardening tool and playing with the dirt and trying to re-plant to plants. Luckily his Dad was eager to have the garden finished as well so they played while I worked in the fields. Lately the pregnancy hormones have been making me feel a tid on the bitchy side and so Scott has been stepping up to help more with Max.

Max is getting in his molars as well as being sick and so he is in no mood for anything. He is fussy and cranky and crying for no reason and this pregnant fussy and cranky mom just feels tired. He has the teething red butt and he is just not happy. I gave him a huge dose of Tylenol, chamomilla homeopathic remedy, a binky and put my little guy to bed. I feel like I need that too.

Tell me! Am I the only one that finds this pregnancy thing tough running after another kid? Where did my patience go? Will I ever get it back?

Just asking.

Max’s Personality

Rachel — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 01:11:01 +0000

We had family over tonight for a birthday party for me. My mother in law and Scotts’ grandparents came over for dinner. It was a lot of fun and Max was so well behaved except for the toddler freak out during the witching hour-you know the one at about 4 pm..but anyway Max was great. We always hear from people, doctors and family that Max is really a special boy. He is so sweet and so smart and just so connected to people and of course, to us, his parents. I know I talk about his ears and allergies a lot and that he is not a good sleeper and that he still sleeps with us half the night but I also wonder how much it has helped him to feel confident and comfortable. I am by no means saying that kids who do not co sleep are not confident but I know that Max is sensitive and I wonder-for sensitive ids if the way to help them past the fears of being alone are to sleep with their momma and papa. We are the only culture who does not believe in this.But on the flip-I think he feels better sleeping on his own, now that he is getting older. I have decided to wait a month and then do some sleep methods with him. As soon as I feel comfortable about him not being in pain from his ears etc then I am comfortable with letting him learn how to self soothe. Hey-I am a first child and I am not comfortable with self soothing. It has taken me years to learn this concept so hopefully I can help Max learn a little earlier than in his 30’s as well.So we will get his homeopathic remedy tomorrow and a nutritionist is starting him on a few supplements to heal his stomach, which will in turn, help his allergies.All in all, no matter what any family does-it has to be right for the family.

Those damn teeth

Rachel — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:28:06 +0000

I think it is the molars. Max actually has had a black and blue mark on his upper right gum for about a week and a half. I am sure it is not making his ears feel any better. And of course, he got another ear infection. I think if I kept him in a bubble he would still get them. Luckily I love my chinese herbalist and I am convinced that if I did not have her-he would have been on 7 cycles of antibiotics.All in all he is going to get through this and maybe not sleep well but it will end, right? WHEN?We had a good time today. It was nice out and we went clothes shopping for Max, shoe shopping for Max and played outside all day. We also played outside after dinner and it made me realize how much I have missed those kind of evenings. I sipped my tea while watching Max run, yes he is running now. It was so cute and so awesome. I am just enjoying his personality so much..he is so stubborn just like me. He laughs when I say NO because he knows that he is just testing me but I explain to him that he cannot laugh at Mommy and the whole yada yada but he does. I am sure he is testing the boundaries. Hey, I still test them. LOL

Using Homeopathy with infants and Going back to Florida

Rachel — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 03:13:06 +0000

As I said yesterday, I have been using homeopathy with Max and it seems to be working.

This morning I gave him Aconite, Pulsatilla, and Camomilla. I do notice that the cold is not as severe as it has been in the past. I know his immune system was lowered by his 4th tooth on the top coming in..yes, you heard me..4th tooth. I am convinced that the Vitamin D in the Florida sun has helped my son to get a whole bunch of new teeth.

And yes, don’t hate me, but we are going back to Florida on the 20th. Scott has to go for business and the baby and I are tagging along. Well he was only going to go for two days but now we are staying for 7 days. YES, another 7 days in the sun for little old me. I am so super excited. Let me just say..that I am sending Cakerwakers, aka Christy, some beach love since she truly needs a vacation.

Well, I am hoping my son gets better and I am hoping a nice last week of work for me and then it is Mommy Time. Time for me to just relax in Reiki Class, hang out with some friends, my hubby and just be a good mom. Today, life is good..WHY?? Because I let go this morning. Well, just for today. LOL