Category Archive for ‘Aidan’ at beautifulinmyeyes.net

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Resources from “Preemieville”

Published on October 27, 2008 in Aidan, Parenting and Prematurity. 5 Comments

If you are a “regular” blogreader of mine, you might notice a new tab on the top of the page. It is Resources from “Preemieville”. This is something I have been meaning to work on for a long time. I finally started today. I only have 2 pages up, but it’s a start and I will continue to add as I find the time.

When moms or dads of new preemies find Aidan’s page, one of the things that happens most often is that I get questions from them about resources or what we have personally been through. I LOVE talking to other parents of preemies, so please don’t stop sending emails. But I realized it might be helpful to the shy passerby to really document the things I found helpful and what I have learned along the way.

Not all of the information I put up on the Resources page will apply to or help every parent of a preemie, but I’m hoping it might help some.

Let me know if you have any suggestions of other things I could put up. I am planning at least the following: Our experience with oral aversion and feeding therapy, resources on birth trauma and PTSD, information on HELLP and pre-e, information about RSV, and some others I am spacing at the moment.

And since I am completely incapable of posting without a cute picture. Here they are. One of Aidan in his new winter coat (he looks SO darn old sometimes), one of him figuring out how to take the bottom plug out of his piggy bank, an interesting angle from above when he was outside with Brandon over the weekend, and some of us at the pumpkin patch yesterday.

Blooming

Published on October 16, 2008 in Aidan, Parenting, Prematurity and Toddlerhood. 2 Comments

I love being witness to the periodic leaps in development that Aidan encounters. I never know when they are going to come, but BOOM! Suddenly he is doing a TON of new stuff…almost overnight.

The generally accepted rule for adjusting a premature child’s age, is that you go by their due date for the first two years. But many medical professionals I have encountered (Aidan’s pediatrician included) are beginning to believe that you should adjust a preemie’s age for as many years as they were months early. (So in Aidan’s case, he was 3 months early, allowing for age adjustment until age 3) Still other experts believe that you do at least that, and if they were hospitalized past their due date you can adjust even beyong that.

So it is so interesting to me to watch what Aidan has done socially as of late. He turned 3 years old on August 30 of this year, but his “due date birthday” is coming up on November 23. I felt like Aidan was caught up to his peers in pretty much every way by his second birthday except for social skills. Aidan was certainly the right size for his age (err….downright big for his age). His intellectual skills are above age in many areas. For example, he has known his phonics for many, many months and has had a dozen or so sight words. He was caught up in his physical milestones save for one foot leaving the ground slightly before the other when he jumped.

Aidan spent a good deal of his first year and a half with not a lot of social contact. We had immature lungs to deal with. Oxygen, RSV shots, etc, etc. So I wasn’t surprised that he progressed well socially but just seemed a few months behind. It is with that knowledge that I decided no preschool this year.

But this kid has had a crazy developmental week! Some of the highlights.

Just suddenly “got” the jumping. Both feet leaving the ground at the same time. It is all he wants to do. Things are taking me 3 times as long because he wants to jump everywhere instead of walk.
I took him to the Pacific Science Center last Friday. He was so behaved. Very curious. Asking me questions. Exploring levers, wheels, dinosaur bones, etc. We went into the Tropical Butterfly Room and he was a perfect angel. There was a gorgeous blue butterfly that had landed on the ground. I told him he could get close and watch but NO touching. I stayed close, fully prepared to yank him away when he tried to touch the butterfly. He sat there squatting and watching that butterfly for seriously 3-4 minutes.
He went to storytime at the library with me on Tuesday. I had my doubts about this too. The librarian who does the toddler/preschooler storytime is wonderful. She always chooses a theme, sets out books, stuffed animals, pictures, etc. She always reads 3 books but breaks up the in between time with interactive songs and the like. Again, Aidan was an angel. He loved the song where he got to use his hands to quack like a duck, flap his wings like a chicken, roll in the mud like a pig, hop like a bunny, and so on. Then she did Ring Around The Rosey. Aidan cheerfully looked at the little girl next to him and said, “Hold my hand?” We have a huge fan of Ring Around The Rosey now.
Aidan went to dinner with Brandon and I and 4 of our friends on Friday. He was the only little one and he was so well behaved. He picked up on all the adults saying “Cheers” and clinking our wine glasses. So Monday night, suddenly, Aidan lifts his sippy cup (looking at Brandon and I) and says “Cheers!!!” Too cute.
Whenever he wants to try something by himself he says, “Mommy can watch!” I love it. A unique, Aidan way of saying “I’ll do it myself.”
He is hugging his playmates, giving high-5’s, chasing each other, etc.
And today at lunch as I was offering him a bite of my pizza, he really threw a curveball my way. We work on using manners a lot, but with kids this age it takes time. I could tell he didn’t really want a bite of my pizza and I expected the normal routine of shoving my hand away, but instead he said, “No thank you.” You could have knocked me over with a feather!!! I was so proud.

So, in a way, I am convinced that there are aspects of a preemie’s development that really do follow his/her adjusted age. Aidan is coming up on his “adjusted 3rd birthday” next month and his social behaviors are really falling into line with your average 3 year old.

At this moment in time, I am in awe of my child. He impresses me so much. He always finds a way to surprise me with something new he is learning. He has come so very far from such a rough beginning. There is no other way to say it….He is my hero.

Some Aidan cuteness from the Science Center….

And last night in the tub.

Cuteness from the mouth of a 3 year old

Published on October 9, 2008 in Aidan, Funny, Parenting, Prematurity and Toddlerhood. 3 Comments

Recently out of the mouth of Mr. Aidan:

“I wanna go up the esca-elevator!” Pointing to the escalator at the mall.

“Mommy WATCH! Aidan do it with teacher Dana!” grabbing my hand and sitting me down on the sidelines in Little Gym because he wanted to be a big kid and do his warmup without mommy’s help.

“I love you forever” after reading the book before bed with Daddy.

“Let’s go pay for this” after picking up pretty much anything that catches his eye in any store lately.

“Maybe for Christmas” which is what I have been telling him with pretty much every toy he wants recently.

Below are a couple of cute shots in the last week or so. We took him to the Mariners’ last game of the season and he fell asleep on Brandon near the end of the game.

And here he is out at the driving range with Dad. Brandon says he is getting pretty good.

A visit to the zoo with Aidan’s friend Jaymin. Jaymin is also an almost 28 weeker almost exactly 1 year younger. They really enjoyed each other as you can see by the game of chase that ensued.

Potty Mommy training

Published on September 30, 2008 in Aidan, Parenting and Toddlerhood. 4 Comments

Cross your fingers folks! I have been hesitant to post about this, lest I jinx myself. But…I think our dear boy, Aidan is getting the hang of potty training. Well, really at this point, it is more like Mommy training.

I really want to instill a sense of self confidence in Aidan surrounding this issue, so I don’t want to be too pushy. But I was getting the sense that perhaps Aidan needed a gentle nudge in the right direction.

I felt lost as to what to do. It seems there are a million different methods of potty training with no one method being right for every child. I decided to start with the easiest thing to deal with. Going peepee at home while awake.

I have tried Pull-ups on him a few times and he seems to think they are just a diaper. So, last Monday I went to the store and just bought some “big boy underwear”. I put them on him while he is awake and at home. On the first afternoon (last Monday), he just wet them every time and didn’t even seem distressed. Ugh. Did I really have a child who just doesn’t care if he feels wet?

The next day, I set up more of a schedule…or mommy training as I have heard it called. He goes as soon as he wakes up in the morning or from a nap, before meals, and at set intervals in between. I am surprised to say this has been going pretty well. We have had very few accidents in that 8 days time. Maybe 4 peepee accidents and 2 poop incidents. He is elated to put a Disney Cars sticker on his potty chart every time he goes peepee.

I attempted to have him do a bowel movement on his potty, but he got scared. It seems he is not ready for this step yet. I can’t believe his ability to understand things sometimes. I told him, “Mommy understands you’re scared about pooping in the potty. Just go peepee, Mommy will put on a diaper for you to poop in, and then we can clean you up and put your big boy underwear back on.” He looked relieved and that’s exactly how it went.

Now I am looking for advice. How long might it take Aidan to start coming to me to tell me he needs to go potty instead of me scheduling him more or less? Or is this how it works for a while? Does anybody have any ideas for getting over the poopy fears other than the 3 books we already have? Other general helpful ideas about this….I feel like I am flying blind!

And since I have a hard time posting without including a cute Aidan pic, here are a couple from a couple of Saturdays ago when he heard me blowdrying my hair and came in to try it. He said, “Aidan do it. Mommy watch.” Toooo darn cute!

It’s inevitable

Published on September 19, 2008 in Aidan, Parenting and Toddlerhood. 5 Comments

We’ll be getting a dog someday. Not right now. We are still in the hunt to relocate to Phoenix in the next year or so, and I don’t want to move us, a toddler/preschooler, two cats, AND a dog across country. But Aidan LOVES dogs. Big breeds seem to be his preference. He seems drawn to hunting dogs, sporting dogs, etc. Our dear friend Catherine has a beautiful 9 year old Viszla, Bela. Aidan and Bela have become very good friends over about the past 9 months or so.

Aidan has NO fear of dogs whatsoever. He wants to pet every dog we see. He loves it when his face gets licked. Most kids are annoyed or scared by this, but not our boy. I am trying to instill respect for dogs he doesn’t know, but not fear. So we are working on him asking the owner of the dog if the dog likes to be petted.

Last Sunday, Catherine and Bela met up with Aidan and I at the park. Catherine brought Bela’s ball thrower and Aidan was simply giddy.

I have a feeling that 3 years old is going to be a ton of fun.

Mommy and Aidan watching the ducks.

Mommy and Aidan getting ready to play fetch with Bela. “Come on girl!”

“How exactly does this work, Mommy? Show me.”

This is one of my favorite pictures of the whole summer! Doesn’t he look like he is having a blast?

Overheard at the playground

Published on September 13, 2008 in Aidan, Family, Parenting and Toddlerhood. 1 Comment

I am painfully aware that I am far from a perfect parent, but I am always a little sad when I see a parent who doesn’t seem to know how to let loose and have fun with their child. Story upcoming. Let me set the stage.

We have had a great week here in Seattle as far as the weather goes. It was in the high 70’s and it was perfect weather for sneaking in a few more glorious days outside at the park. I went online and found some parks we had not yet been to in the area. I get bored going to the same ones time after time.

We went to one park on Thursday afternoon and then different ones on Friday morning and then Friday evening when Brandon got home. Aidan is in his element outside. He loves to have the freedom to run freely. He really seems to love the open space. I have heard that children learn differently just from playing outside and I don’t doubt it a bit.

On Friday morning, we found a park with a sandbox. Wow, does Aidan love sandboxes! Here comes the thing I can’t believe I heard at a playground.

Mom to boy about 2 years old who is picking up bark and scooping sand with his hands, “Eww!!! Don’t do that! That is dirty! Come over to the swings.”

Ummm…SERIOUSLY? I had to exercise a lot of self restraint not to blurt out, “You do know you brought him to a playground, don’t you?” Yikes. I feel sorry for a kid who is not allowed to explore and get dirty when he is playing outside. Isn’t that part of the point?

Here are some cute pictures from our recent outdoor adventures.

A peekaboo through a tunnel on the playground equipment.

A really tall slide he LOVED.

I loved this picture because he was going back and forth on this little “bridge” several times letting both his hands graze the bars and listening to the musical noise he made while going across. I love watching children explore and learn like that.

Showing Dad some of his climbing skills.

Fun in the sandbox.

He gets such grownup looks sometimes when he is thinking. Brandon captured this gem.

We ended the Friday of park outings with a trip to Red Robin. By the end, Aidan was resting on Brandon and telling me “I’m so tired.” I actually managed to tire him out! Pat me on the back!

I’m 3 years old!

Published on September 1, 2008 in Aidan and Toddlerhood. 4 Comments

A longer catchup post to come. We have had two trips away in two weekends and I have not had the chance to download all of the pictures and put together a proper blog post in honor of Aidan’s 3rd birthday.

My brother and sister-in-law threw a wonderful birthday party for Aidan and once he figured out we were singing Happy Birthday to him, he was so delighted! Check out the excitement on this kid’s face.

Life is so good it hurts.

Almost no words necessary

Published on August 19, 2008 in Aidan, Funny, Parenting and Toddlerhood. 3 Comments

This kid is getting more and more daring. I left the room for not even 2 minutes to use the bathroom and I came back to this.

So cute and getting so sure of himself in his body and trying new things. Like climbing up onto things not anchored to the wall…yeah, gotta fix that one.

And this picture is bittersweet. Aidan turns 3 in less than 2 weeks. (He is almost 36 months actual and 33 months if you adjust for his prematurity) But does the picture below look like a 3 year old? DH and I were blown away when I downloaded these from the camera last night. My husband said, “Geez, where did our toddler go? He looks at least 4 in that picture!”

I love you Aidan. You are my daily reminder that life is miraculous and wonderful in ways I could never have imagined before you.

Preemies? What preemies?

Published on August 13, 2008 in Aidan, Parenting, Prematurity and Toddlerhood. 2 Comments

We have had a couple of really nice outings with Nathan and Preston and their mom Kim in the last week. Nathan and Preston were born at the same hospital as Aidan, about a month earlier than him. They were about 10 weeks early weighing in at 2 lb 12 oz and 2 lb 14 oz. They are great little boys (thanks to their great parents) and it is always wonderful for Aidan to hang out with them. Kim and Cecil have just done a wonderful job with these 2 boys. We all went to the zoo on Friday and all 3 boys loved feeding the giraffes and seeing all of the other animals.

On Tuesday we went to the aquarium. Aidan was quite excited to see them and was very excited to say hi to Nathan and Preston when they arrived. All 3 boys are not quite as enthralled with the aquarium as the zoo, but had a really good time nonetheless.

Watching these 3 little guys run around is almost surreal. To think of how early and small they all were and how close they all came to disastrous outcomes makes me feel so grateful. These 3 little boys are active, curious toddlers and I dare say that most people would not be able to guess how early they all were. Almost three years ago when we had overlapping NICU time, I am not sure that Kim, Cecil, Brandon or I would have ever guessed we would be dealing with the amazingly relative normalcy that we are. Instead of discussing apneas, bradys, vents, NG tubes and the like we are talking about when to start preschool, tantrums, and the like.

It seems like Aidan is looking more and more like a little boy and less like a toddler every day. Brandon got him a Nike baseball cap last weekend and I was stunned at how old he looks with it on. Here is a shot with him in it and one with his favorite “grandma” Catherine. Oh…and a really cute one where he is trimming Brandon’s toenails. Too funny.

In other news, the hubby and I are getting ready to take our first weekend trip together away from Aidan. My very gracious brother and his wife are watching him for 3 days next weekend. Aidan will be great. He loves his cousins and will probably have the time of his life. Me? I haven’t been this anxious to go on a trip in a long, long time. I can’t wait to get some time alone with Brandon. We are going to Santa Barbara for a friend’s wedding and making a weekend out of it. I can’t even imagine how great it will feel to have some extended one on one time with my better half.

Life is good. Very, very good.

A tale of two cities

Published on August 4, 2008 in Aidan, Parenting and Toddlerhood. 3 Comments

I went off this weekend and had my very first weekend away from Aidan since the day he was born. (a much more thoughtful post to follow) I really felt ready to do it and it was a ton of fun! I went over to see my college girlfriend Lisa. We met the first week of college during freshman year and have been the best of friends ever since. We both realized we have now known each other over half our lives! (yes…if you can do the math you have figured out about what age I am…ugh 37!) Her ex had her daughter this weekend, so we were going to be childfree together for the first time since her daughter was born almost 7 years ago!

Here is me leaving for the weekend.

We enjoyed a gorgeous sunny weekend in the 80’s/90’s over in central Washington. We did a little shopping, a little (ok…a lot) of drinking and a lot of just catching up and getting to just be ourselves and forget for a while that we are moms.

Her boyfriend took us out on his boat.

Here we are enjoying a few pina coladas.

Then we stopped for a nice dinner at a restaurant overlooking the water and had some rum barrels.

I had a wonderfully relaxing time and I am so glad I did it!

Meanwhile…over in Seattle, my boys had their first weekend without mom. They had a blast of course! They went to a makeup class at Little Gym, hit golf balls, watched the Blue Angels practice and went to Red Robin. On Sunday, they went to a Mariner’s game. Brandon got Aidan his first baseball jersey to commemorate the event.