Brief Summary

I keep getting behind on here, so I’ll need to be brief. Then hopefully this weekend I can catch up with photos!

1) Skyler had a blast last Friday with Heather and her 1-year-old, Braden. Heather said Braden would make noises at Skyler and she would just crack up at him. And I knew Skyler had fun because that evening, she was the craziest, happiest I think we’ve ever seen her. She had all kinds of new words and sounds, and had the most energy. It was like she had such a great day and didn’t want it to end! Thanks again, Heather!

2) We also started at daycare this week. She hasn’t cried yet, and seems just fine when Darlene takes her from me in the mornings. Darlene said she and the 6 1/2 month old boy play very well together, and that Skyler flirts with a 14 month old boy, Caiden. She said Caiden is the only one who’s earned a smile from Skyler yet, and for him, that’s all she has all day!

3) She’s still got bottle feeding issues. We got more Zantac from her doctor, but she’s still just so inconsistent with what she eats. Now and then, she’ll suck the whole thing down in no time at all, but the other times, it’s work to get her to drink 2 ounces. She’s not fussy at all, just seems to have a pure lack of interest. I’ve done some asking around and reading on the Internet, and it’s possible she’s working on teeth. You can actually see her 2 bottom middle teeth right under her gums now. She’s also had some yucky diapers this week, which I’ve heard is also a sign of teething. I’ve even read that some babies will just wean themselves from a bottle at a younger age and are better off using a sippy cup. That would be fine if Skyler would drink out of a sippy cup! But that’s a no-go as well. So we’ll see. I’m going to weigh her again next week to make sure she’s still gaining weight and then decide if a trip to the doctor is necessary based on that.

4) Skyler’s mobility is still very primitive. When on her belly, she’ll tuck her knees and then push forward, but not bother to push up from her upper body, much like an inchworm. Then she’ll roll over, push off from her back side, roll back over, and do it again. Amazingly, it works – she can get all the way from one end of the couch to the other that way, but it sure seems like crawling would be easier! I’ve tried holding her mid-section up while putting her on her hands and knees and showing her the crawling motion, but she insists on nose-diving her face into the couch and doing the inch worm thing. Meanwhile, she blows slobbery zerberts face-down on the couch cushions and laughs. It makes for a soggy place to sit. I guess as long as she’s having fun, our little workouts are good for both of us!

5) And lastly, my hypermiling experiment was a success! My gas light went on 50 miles later than it usually does, and after everything averaged out, I got 3 more miles to the gallon than I used to! If I fill up twice a month, and get 50 extra miles each tank, that adds up to almost 1200 extra miles I can go per year, without having to spend any more on gas!

Fingers crossed

Skyler seems to be getting even more opposed to her formula, so I placed a call to the doctor. I wondered if it could be that she needs to go back on Zantac (for stomach acid). She was sent home from the hospital on that but her cardiologist didn’t refill it. She said our pediatrician could continue it if we felt she needed it. So we let her off it for awhile. It seems like since then, she’s steadily gotten less interested in her bottle. I actually had a teeny bit left, enough for a couple days, so we tried that recently and it seemed to help. So I talked to the doctor’s office about it and they called in another prescription for the Zantac. She had a dose tonight and has still not been into her bottle, but maybe it takes a few for it to kick in and calm her tummy. I really hope that’s all this is and it’s not something worse! Please pray that she just needs to stay on this stuff a little longer and that’s all that we are dealing with here!

In other news, I think we found a daycare to try out starting next week. I’m not completely sold on this place, but we will try it out and see. The price is reasonable, the house is nice, the daycare lady is nice, and Skyler seemed comfortable there. The only thing I didn’t like was the lady’s appearance – she was a bit disheveled looking, and was wearing dirty sweatpants. Granted, it was afternoon and she’d been playing with kids all day. I guess I would’ve at least changed into some jeans if I knew someone was coming to interview me, but maybe I’m just being too picky. And, she was recommended to me by a friend at work who grew up in her neighborhood and hung out with her son. She’s known her for a long time and said she’s great, so that in itself means more than if I met a nice-looking daycare teacher that was a complete stranger. So, we’ll see…

Tomorrow my mom and Ronnie’s mom could neither one watch Skyler, so my friend Heather (she has 1-year-old son Braden) is going to watch her! She stays home with Braden and has offered to backup on daycare anytime we need it, so tomorrow is the perfect opportunity! Weather permitting, they are going to go meet some other kids at the park. Hopefully between that fun trip and all of Braden’s toys, Skyler should have a blast!

Writer’s block

I haven’t posted much lately because I just haven’t been in the mood to write! I’ve been super busy, whether it’s keeping Skyler entertained (she gets bored so much faster these days), working out when she’s sleeping, catching up on laundry, or searching for a new daycare. Yes, we are on the search for a new daycare, and I’m really sad about it. We loved Skyler’s daycare and felt really comfortable with it. Our spot was even being saved till she was recovered from surgery and the doc released her to go back.

But something happened, I’m not sure what. I could never get a hold of her daycare teacher to finalize the details on her return. She was supposed to have her baby around that time, and last I knew, she had been put on bedrest. That was about a month ago, and after several phone calls, and messages, I gave up. I’m not mad about it at all, but I’m more concerned. She was very professional and normally very quick to return phone calls, and she was very supportive during Skyler’s hospitalization – she came to visit, sent a card signed by the other families at the daycare, and called often to check up on Skyler.

I’m terribly afraid that something happened with her and/or her baby and they are not in a position to call us back and worry about daycare. I’ve been praying for them and hoping to hear from them that their answering machine broke and they never got my messages. But I’ve also had to give up and start the search for another daycare. If you have a moment, please say a prayer for them that all is well and it was just a miscommunication and not something bad that happened. And say a prayer for us that we can find another wonderful place to care for Skyler. It’s going to be especially hard this time because she is even more weary of strangers, and we are more weary of who will care for her since they have so much more to be aware of than before. I’m not looking forward to the day I have to drop her off for the first time! It was so easy before because she was too young to care or know what’s going on. But our girl is much smarter now. I’m afraid she won’t take it so well this time!

Anyway, someday soon I’ll get caught up with photos and videos…I’ve got lots to upload.