Sunday, February 27, 2011

7+ months

A while ago I posted a picture of my growing belly and said I was six and a half months along.  I was actually halfway through my sixth month, making me five and a half months along at the time.  It's all very hard to keep track of, but I have figured it out and here is a picture of me after completing 32 weeks.  That makes me a week into month eight, or seven months pregnant.  Confusing, right?

Sunday, February 20, 2011

More Soup!

Lately, Kenzie has been really into making tea and soup with her kitchen toys.  She doesn't just prepare this food, she serves it.  Each person in the room will get his or her own bowl and spoon and Kenzie will check in often to make sure everyone is eating the soup.  I've been encouraging her to feed her babies in hopes that she might lay off me a little, but I have yet to be successful.  Dustin and I call her the Italian grandma.  She's always trying to get us to eat.  When she's eating breakfast she won't stop saying, "Mama, eat!" until I get a bowl of cereal and sit at the table with her.  She also makes sure that everyone eats a vegetable.  Dustin might have to bite the bullet and start liking peas.  At dinner she demands, "Daddy peas!  Daddy peas! Daddy eat!"  She's pretty persuasive.

Soup for breakfast.

"Bite, Mommy! More! More!"

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Unwelcome First

Ty Beanie Babies Beak the Kiwi Beanbag Plush Toy
First words, first foods, first steps: all things to celebrate.  First trip in an ambulance? No one was cheering.  McKenzie added another notch to our parenthood belts a couple weekends ago when she woke up in the middle of the night gasping for air and unable to catch her breath.  I called 911 and within minutes an EMT was here.  It didn't take long for McKenzie to calm down a little and start to catch her breath, but we were still quite worried.  After a few more medical personnel arrived at the house we decided we would like to take her to the hospital.  We rode in the ambulance to Hartford Children's where she was, fairly quickly, diagnosed with croup.  



It seems that every parent I tell this story to says, "ah, croup.  My son/daughter had that."  Now that we know what it is and how to treat it we will be able to respond a little more effectively next time (if there is a next time).  Perhaps baby #2 won't have to ride to the hospital because we will recognize the symptoms and react calmly.  People always say that they wish kids came with a owner's manual.  The funny thing is, I've read about croup before, been aware of it's symptoms, but that manual didn't do me any good when my baby girl couldn't breathe.

Throughout it all, Kenzie was a champion.  She stayed calm, cool and collected while many different people poked and prodded her.  She didn't cry when they put an oxygen mask on her face or took her blood pressure.  And she even got a new stuffed Beanie Baby toy out of the whole ordeal.  I think she actually enjoyed herself.