Vaccine of the day: Flu

It's this time of a year again. The flu season just started and so did the endless (free) flu shot advertizements. I don't watch TV (except for HGTV and only when in a hotel, like now, as we don't have HGTV at home), so I don't notice the scare commercials so much these days. I have also never have and never will get a flu shot. Nor will I allow P to get one before he is 21 and can decide for himself. But either way, I decided to do a bit of research on how really dangerous is the flu. Please note that my only source of information is CDC website, so it's all legit (well, as legit as it gets, anyway).

Estimates of Deaths Associated with Seasonal Influenza --- United States, 1976--2007 (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5933a1.htm):

"A previous study (2) presented an average annual estimate of 25,420 influenza-associated respiratory and circulatory deaths during a 23-season period; this study estimated an average of 23,607 annual influenza-associated deaths using the same model but over a 31-year period. The findings in this report are similar to those of previous CDC studies (2,3) and other cross-decade studies that used similar models (4,7).

(...)

Variations in influenza-associated mortality by age group also should be noted. As reported in this and other studies (2,3), approximately 90% of influenza-associated deaths occur among adults aged ≥65 years. An estimated annual average of 124 persons aged <19 years and 2,385 aged 19--64 years die from influenza-associated respiratory or circulatory causes. (...)"

If I am reading it correctly, an estimated average of 124 persons aged 0-19 died of influenza annually between 1976 and 2007. Per Census data (http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-03.pdf), there were 74,181,467 persons under 18 in 2010 (we are not even including those who were 18 and 19 in 2010, which would make the chances even smaller). 124 accounts then for... 0.000167% (rounded here), which is 0.00000167. Just to compare, the chances of getting stuck by lightning are 0.00000143. This number includes those with compromised immune system, so the chances for a young healthy person are most likely significantly smaller than even that tiny number.

Let's look at the rest of the population. Again, if I am reading it correctly, an estimated 2,509 persons 65 and younger died annually of influenza during the same time period. The same Census report estimates 308,745,538 total population for 2010 including 40,267,505 over the age of 65, which leaves 268,478,033 younger than 65 (again, this number doesn't include people who actually were 65 in 2010). This means that an average person younger than 65 has 0.000935% or 0.00000935 (rounded) chance of dying from the flu.

Just as a comparison, here is a link to Leading Causes of Death (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm) which lists the following 10 top causes and the numbers:


Heart disease: 596,577
Cancer: 576,691
Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 142,943
Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 128,932
Accidents (unintentional injuries): 126,438
Alzheimer's disease: 84,974
Diabetes: 73,831
Influenza and Pneumonia: 53,826*
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 45,591
Intentional self-harm (suicide): 39,518

* includes both Influenza AND Pneumonia

With approximated 25,000 deaths per year (90% of which in population 65 and older), influenza is far from being a real threat.

Now, even if you do get the vaccine, the antibodies, which are supposed to prevent you from getting the flu, do not develop in the body until about two weeks after vaccination (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm). However, even if it worked, the vaccine is designed to work against only 63% of all flu viruses (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/news/nasal-spray-effectiveness.htm):

"Of the subtyped viruses reported to CDC from the week ending October 5 through the week ending October 25, 2014, 387 (31%) have
been H3N2 viruses, 387 (31%) have been influenza B viruses and 16 (1%) have been H1N1 viruses. Another 466 influenza A viruses were not subtyped."

The flu vaccine works only against the H3N2, H1N1, and influenza B, therefore it does not work against 37% of other influenza viruses.

Now, I showed above that there is a really, really, really small chance of dying of the flu. But the flu isn't fun anyway, I get that. I would rather not get the flu, and not feel like cra* for a week. Unfortunately (to those who think getting the shot will prevent that) there are some side effects you are likely to get after getting the flu shot (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm). Ant they are:

• runny nose, nasal congestion or cough
• fever
• headache and muscle aches
• wheezing
• abdominal pain or occasional vomiting or diarrhea
• sore throat
• cough, chills, tiredness/weakness

Well, if I feel like this, I really don't care if you call if a flu or flu vaccine side effect.

Lastly, if you actually do get the flu, you can still be treated! Per CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/antivirals/whatyoushould.htm): "There are prescription medications called "antiviral drugs" that can be used to treat influenza illness." Don't get me wrong, I do NOT recommend taking them (what I would do if I got a flu is a story for another post), but there clearly are alternatives or options for someone who does get the flu.

So, no flu vaccine for us. But, as always, you need to decide for yourself.

Vaccine of the day: Measles

A while ago, over a year, actually, I promised myself to do research about one vaccine (or disease) a month. This went nowhere as I would always find some great articles about other vaccines/diseases and get sidetracked. But today I found a lot of great articles from US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health that are related to Measles and vaccines against it. Here is the list, not in any particular order:

1. Measles incidence, vaccine efficacy, and mortality in two urban African areas with high vaccination coverage. (“Even though 95% of the children had measles antibodies after vaccination, vaccine efficacy was not more than 68%.”) - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2230232

2. Measles-specific neutralizing antibodies in rural Mozambique: seroprevalence and presence in breast milk. (“A notable proportion of the population in Manhiça, Mozambique apparently remains susceptible to clinical measles despite recent mass vaccination campaigns.”) - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18981523

3. An evaluation of measles serodiagnosis during an outbreak in a vaccinated community. (“A history of prior vaccination is not always associated with immunity nor with the presence of specific antibodies.”) - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3168353

4. Herd immunity. Measles outbreak in a fully immunized secondary-school population. (“We conclude that outbreaks of measles can occur in secondary schools, even when more than 99 percent of the students have been vaccinated and more than 95 percent are immune.”) - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3821823

5. A persistent outbreak of measles despite appropriate prevention and control measures. (“This outbreak suggests that measles transmission may persist in some settings despite appropriate implementation of the current measles elimination strategy.”) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3618578

6. Major measles epidemic in the region of Quebec despite a 99% vaccine coverage. (“Vaccination coverage for the total population was 99.0%. Incomplete vaccination coverage is not a valid explanation for the Quebec City measles outbreak.”) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1884314

7. How threatening is measles in a civilized country. Clinical and epidemiological findings during a measles outbreak occurring in a population with a high vaccination coverage. (“One or more complications were reported for 68 cases and in 8.9% of the studied cases hospitalization was required.”) - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8668833

8. The 1992 measles epidemic in Cape Town--a changing epidemiological pattern. (“The possible reasons for this [outbreak] include both primary and secondary vaccine failure.”) - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7740350

and the last but not least:

9. Lack of correlation between the number of measles cases (goes up and down) vs. vaccination efforts (increased with time). However, there seems to be another trend: With more children being vaccinated over the years, more of the little ones become sick with Measles (median age fell from almost 7 years to 14 months and to 11 months. Note, first Measles vaccine is given in China at 9 months). Monitoring progress towards the elimination of measles in China: an analysis of measles surveillance data ("The number of provinces that reported an annual incidence of less than one case per million population increased from one in 2009 to 15 in 2012 but fell back to one in 2013. Median case age decreased from 83 months in 2005 to 14 months in 2012 and 11 months in January to October 2013. Between 2008 and 2012, the incidence of measles in all age groups, including those not targeted for vaccination, decreased by at least 93.6%.") - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4007128/

Enjoy.

Parker turns 3

I can't believe Parker is already 3! I don't have much time to write now so this will be quick. Just wanted to note that he dropped his naps almost entirely (takes a nap 1-2/week). Wakes up around 7 am and goes to sleep at 6 if you let him. :) Unfortunately, due to our work schedule we can't put him to sleep until closer to 7 or 8 (we don't come home until 6:30-6:45). In this case he is exhausted and his sleep is not very restful as he wakes up multiple times. Those days he is likely to fall asleep at 6 pm. Last Monday I teleworked from a coffee shop and Aga and Parker came to see me on the way from school. We had lunch together and they decided to stay as there was a playroom attached where Parker played. Parker and I walked home and he ended up falling asleep in my arms at 5:45. Marc and I tried to wake him up for an hour after which we changed him into his PJs and let him sleep,. He didn't wake up until 6:45 am.

Parker goes to a Montessori school 5 days a week from 8:45 to 12. He likes it a lot and really likes one of his teachers, Ms. E. Drop off was pretty hard the first few times but now, after over a week, he is happy to go and there are no tears.

P's allergy "status" has changed since last year. We have confirmed that he has dairy and chick peas allergy, however he does NOT have sesame seed allergy. Unfortunately, he has a pretty bad soy allergy.

He loves soups, pasta, and rice. He likes broccoli, cucumber, tomato and avocado in a form of guacamole. :) He also loves the "healthy" (if such exists) cereal. :)

Parker loves letters, numbers, and shapes. And he is into languages. His first language is Polish (still) and second is English, of course. Lola still speaks to him in Spanish but he is no longer as interested in Spanish as he was a couple of months ago. His new love is Russian! He taught himself Russian alphabet and asks us to tell him how to say things in Russian. He names letters in Russian (so B is Veh and P is R).

Here is the newest picture taken on our vacation at the OBX a few days before his third birthday.

Vaccine of the day: Polio

Parker hasn't been vaccinated for the most part. He got the HEP B vaccine and vit K in his first 24 hours of life.

Parker also has dairy, sesame seed, and chick peas allergy (that we know of). I may be a coincidence or it may not.

We will be faced with the decision about vaccinating very shortly, as we have decided to postpone vaccinating (if we ever decide to) until P is at least 2. The first two years are crucial for the development of a child's immune system so we didn't want to interfere with it.

Since his 2ndbirthday is approaching, I decided to do research about each vaccine/disease separately in order to see whether we vaccinate against it or not. My research will concentrate on two fronts:

1. The benefits (severity of the disease, chances of getting it, etc.)

2. The risks (what's in the vaccine, how it's made, potential side effects and long term risks, etc.)

Also, I want to rely on sources that are not against vaccines by default. I.e. as a source I may use a study cited on an anti-vaccine website, but the articles on such website will not be used as primary evidence.


POLIO

The research about Polio disease has proved to be fairly straight forward.

WHO site (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs114/en/) as of July 3. 2013:

- 223 reported cases in 2012.
- In 2013, only three countries (Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan) remain polio-endemic, down from more than 125 in 1988.
- One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis. Among those paralysed, 5% to 10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized."


CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/polio/in-short-both.htm):
Polio is spread by person-to-person contact and only affects humans.


There are 7 billion people living on earth, the chance that it will be you or me is 223/7,000,000,000 (my calculator couldn't display this number as it is so small). That's assuming we all have the same chance of getting it. The fact that we don't live in any of the "hot zone" countries, diminishes the chances even further.


Polio symptoms from CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/polio/in-short-both.htm)

Approximately 95% of persons infected with polio will have no symptoms. About 4-8% of infected persons have minor symptoms, such as fever, fatigue, nausea, headache, flu-like symptoms, stiffness in the neck and back, and pain in the limbs, which often resolve completely. Fewer than 1% of polio cases result in permanent paralysis of the limbs (usually the legs). Of those paralyzed, 5-10% die when the paralysis strikes the respiratory muscles. The death rate increases with increasing age.:


Polio vaccine

Ingredients from CDC (http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/polio/in-short-both.htm):

Polio (IPV – Ipol): 2-phenoxyethanol, formaldehyde, neomycin, streptomycin, polymyxin B, monkey kidney cells, Eagle MEM modified medium, calf serum protein

2-phenoxyethanol - preservative. From http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9926486:

Potential Acute Health Effects:
Extremely hazardous in case of eye contact (irritant). Very hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of ingestion, of inhalation. Inflammation of the eye is characterized by redness, watering, and itching. Skin inflammation is characterized by itching, scaling, reddening, or, occasionally, blistering.
Potential Chronic Health Effects:
Extremely hazardous in case of eye contact (irritant). Very hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of ingestion, of inhalation. CARCINOGENIC EFFECTS: Not available. MUTAGENIC EFFECTS: Not available. TERATOGENIC EFFECTS: Not available. DEVELOPMENTAL TOXICITY: Not available. The substance is toxic to kidneys, the nervous system, liver. Repeated or prolonged exposure to the substance can produce target organs damage. Repeated or prolonged inhalation of vapors may lead to chronic respiratory irritation.

formaldehyde - preservative. In 2011, the US National Toxicology Program described formaldehyde as "known to be a human carcinogen".

In another study I found the following: Formaldehyde is weakly genotoxic and was able to induce gene mutations and chromosomal aberrations in mammalian cells. DNA-protein crosslinks are a sensitive measure of DNA modification by formaldehyde. However, the genotoxic effects were limited to those cells, which are in direct contact with formaldehyde, and no effects could be observed in distant-site tissues. In conclusion, formaldehyde is a direct acting locally effective mutagen.

neomycin, streptomycin, polymyxin B - antibiotics


monkey kidney cells - well, monkey kidney cells

Eagle MEM modified medium - one of the most widely used of all synthetic cell culture media. I haven't found any signs of it being toxic.

calf serum protein - haven't found anything of toxicity but it is derived from unborn calf fetuses in a non humanitarian way.


Meanwhile in India (from PubMed.gov http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22591873):
It was hoped that following polio eradication, immunisation could be stopped. However the synthesis of polio virus in 2002, made eradication impossible. It is argued that getting poor countries to expend their scarce resources on an impossible dream over the last 10 years was unethical. Furthermore, while India has been polio-free for a year, there has been a huge increase in non-polio acute flaccid paralysis (NPAFP). In 2011, there were an extra 47,500 new cases of NPAFP. Clinically indistinguishable from polio paralysis but twice as deadly, the incidence of NPAFP was directly proportional to doses of oral polio received.

[ME] The oral polio vaccine contains a live polio virus and has been linked to polio-like paralysis. Polio vaccines used in the US and Western Europe do not include the live virus, but polio vaccines used in India, and Africa do.

Read more: http://digitaljournal.com/article/323371#ixzz2YCGqHuQ8


Decision: Not vaccinating.

Parker 18 months

It's been a long time, I am slacking off. I only have a few minutes so this will be quick. I will try to add something later.

Parker is 18.5 months today; he really is a big boy now.

- No more bottles, he drinks water from a sippy cup since January and milk since February (off the bottle well before 18 months).

- Parker doesn't wake up at night any more so mommy and daddy are getting more sleep.

- He understands pretty much everything and uses signs to communicate, although no really speaking yet. He says "highchair" and "dada" and "Aga", he will try to say "trzy", but that's all for now. He does use the signs though.

- Favorite books are "Squishy Turtle and Friends", "Good night moon", as well as "What's wrong little Pookie" and (recently) Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton.

- Parker loves dogs

- We are still on no dairy diet and doing fairly well. It seems like we can't go to a restaurant without Parker getting a rash right after, so we kind of gave up. We cook a lot as Parker loves his food. He loves meat, bread, fruit and some veggies. His favorite are broccoli and avocado, but he also likes peas, cucumber, and Polish pickles.

- Parker loves playing pick-a-boo and hide-and-seek. He just recently learned how to screw and unscrew a bottle or jar.

About the unscrewing bottles we learned the hard way. I gave him a juice bottle to hold while I walked around the car to his side to pick him up. By the time I got there, all the juice was soaking into his clothes and the car seat!

We also went to visit our Charlotte, NC friends last weekend. Parker did well on the plane on the way there, the trip back was a bit more troublesome (we had to wait 45 minutes before the the take off due to the weather). He loved the warmth weather and loved playing in our friends yards. Too bad we moved to a condo. :)

But seriously, the condo is great and we are still loving it. Having some issues with the neighbors downstairs complaining about the noise (I think steps, ours and Parker's). But other than that - we are super happy.

Another trip is coming up in early May, we bought tickets to go to Poland! We are very excited for Parker to meet his family and for everyone to meet him. I don't want to think about the flight, just hope he will be able to sleep.

Parker has a stomach flu

Poor thing, Parker got a stomach bug. He didn't eat much dinner last night, which was suspicious to me, and the spat up a hole bunch of milk before bed. At 11 he woke up again to throw up whatever was let in his tummy. He was very thirsty and wanted water but couldn't keep down even that. He also had two episodes of diarrhea before morning. All in all, not a fun night.

He woke up feeling even worse in the morning. Still couldn't keep down even water although insisted on drinking. We finally switched to a regular cup, as he at least drank slower this way. It definitely helped. In the meantime, Marc got us some coconut water so we switched to that. He was so thirsty he didn't mind the taste.

Finally dr. K called in a prescription for Zofran (some other brand name, but essentially that's what it is). We gave him the first dose (5ml) at 4:30. By 6 he ate half a banana, slice of French bread and requested for his drink to be switched to water (opened the sippy cup, showed me to the kitchen, and pointed at the fridge where we get the water for his sippy). He is such a big boy!

He had a couple more diarrhea episodes but no throwing up any more, lets keep our fingers crossed. He is asleep now. Fever about 102F and moaning in his sleep. :( I am hoping his body will fight off the virus and that the night will be better than last and the morning will bring recovery.

BTW, Parker will be 17 months tomorrow! He weighted in 10.760 kg which is roughly 23 lbs (before he got sick, it may be very different now), which puts him in the 50th percentile for weight, a place we have never been before! He is 84 cm or 33" tall - between 75th and 95th percentile, as usually.

We have become very radical and strict with his dairy free diet and it started to pay off. His skin is so much better! Skin on his legs is smooth and olive color, rather than bumpy red and sandpaper like. W hope this will also translate to a better immunity as he has been getting sick very often this winter season.

Also, Parker has a new favorite book! It is the Goodnight Moon book. I had to read it to him four times the other night! :)

Parker: 15-16 months update

Parker is 16 months and one week, which means that I missed his 15 months update. Bummer. He started the 2013 with bronchitis (we went to the doctor on Fri Dec 29) and I just forgot all about his update. He is pretty much completely recovered now. We gave him a cough sirup (honey based Chestal) to loosen up the phlegm so he can cough it out. Otherwise, he was gasping for air during his long cough episodes, especially at night. He also got LymphDrn 5-6 drops 2xday and some other homeopathic drops (need to provide the name), also 6 drops twice a day. He got much better on Thursday, Jan 10, almost two weeks later. We stopped giving him the medicine the following Sunday.

And here is the general update:

Parker still sleeps with mommy and daddy, but we now have a king size bed! What a difference! He still wakes up twice a night for milk, one about 12.30-1.30 (although yesterday it was 11.30) and once about 4.30-5.30. He drinks his milk, turns around and goes back to sleep most of the times.

Since we are talking about beds and sleeping, here is P's bedtime routine. We usually start a bath between 7.15 and 7.30. Put PJs on and have milk about 7.45. We then read a few books and after the milk is gone we brush teeth and go to bed. When P was sick with bronchitis a couple of weeks ago, he would fall asleep during the reading and we wouldn't be even able to brush teeth. Or he would drift off as soon as his head touched the pillow, before I got to turn down the lights. It's not as great now, he usually takes about 10-20 minutes to fall asleep. And sometimes even up to 40 minutes.

Parker's nap times change from time to time. He used to go around 12.30 and still does it on weekends. During the week, however, he falls asleep between 11 and 11.30 while eating and sitting in his highchair! We have a few really cute videos of him passing out.

Food. Parker loves fruit (pears, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, bananas, mangoes, kiwis, you name it!). He even likes tomatoes! Veggies are harder; likes broccoli, avocado, and peas, but that's about it. He still loves meat and bread. He doesn't eat oatmeal anymore so we have decided to change his breakfasts to a bagel with cream cheese (slowly introducing dairy) or whole wheat waffles. He also eats (adult) cereal from time to time. As for lunch and dinner, he pretty much eats what we eat. I was so proud to be able to say that in front of my girlfriends last weekend!

Parker's favorite stuffed animal is still his Bamboo Buddy Zebra who he sleeps with. He also takes his "Spioch" which is the "Boyo" by Keptin-Jr to bed. As for day time toys, he loves playing with his new pots and pans that he got for Christmas. Still likes regular Mega Bloks and the Alex Jr. Baby Builder plastic connecting elements. He absolutely loves playing in the kitchen so we got him the Little Helper FunPod for Christmas, too.

Parker definitely like to read now, or, to be read to, I should say. He will bring a book, sit himself on my lap, and wait till I start readying. He usually gets up after a page or two to find another book and repeats the same ritual. :) But he pays attention and can sit through three or even four books while drinking his milk before bedtime.

Another disappointment at 6w6d

We headed out to the ultrasound with mixed feelings. We knew what the possibilities were, yet we hoped that the child who was miraculously conceived wouldn't be taken away from us so soon. Well, it turns out there wasn't even a child. Not even a fetal pole. By 6w5d we should have seen an embryo and even heard a heartbeat. As always, they try to say that it's early, earlier than you think. Well, unless the sperms can live inside me for two weeks, I am no longer pregnant. Period.

I am disappointed and angry with God, again. We weren't even trying! Why give me a false hope?? Why make me turn from not being ready to making myself ready and even excited and then take it away so quickly? God has a cruel sense of humor.

I am still waiting to hear from the midwifes. The U/S tech won't diagnose anything, just suggested to come back in a week. I know there is nothing to be waiting for, just hope I won't have to have another D&C.

I feel nauseous now. I think it's the stress. I wish I didn't have to be here (at work) today. I know I could leave, really, but there are people who are relying on me. I will do my job, go to the dentist, and then go home and have a wonderful evening with my baby boy.

I can't stop crying. :(

I got a BFP!

I got a BFP on Christmas Eve! I kind of knew for a few days already, as my cycles are 24-27 and I was already a week late at that time, but I refused to take the test. I guess I didn't really believe that I could get preggo after having sex ONCE(!) last month!!

The good thing is that this way I saved myself a lot of worrying. I know it will come (although it hasn't yet, thank goodness). I just reread the first few post from when I got BFP with Parker and I got it at 3w3d. Now I am about 5w2d so it's almost two weeks later!

The only symptom I have so far is mood swings and tiredness. Although with the <6h of sleep the tiredness is no surprise.

BTW, we have finally moved! Christmas at the new house went pretty smoothly. My sister and her friend cooked for the New Years Eve and my mother in law and cousin cooked for Christmas Day, so I could concentrate on unpacking and cleaning up.

The move itself went all right as well. It was long but the movers were pretty good and didn't charge an arm and a leg. Unfortunately we were left with a few pretty bad scratches on our new hardwood floors.

I have to go now but will try to post every now and then. This reminds me, I still need to do the 15 month Parker update!

Parker: 14 months

It's almost the end of his 14th month, he will be 15 months old in only 4 days. Let's bring a bit more structure tot he monthly update entries.

NAPS: Parker transitioned to one nap a day within about 3 weeks. We were all over the place (putting him down from 11 am to 1.30 pm and anything in between) before establishing that 11 am lunch followed by noon nap most consistently produces naps over 1.5 hours. P can sleep from 1.5 to 3.5 hours now, although he gets tired if the 1.5 naps go for a couple of days in a row.

NIGHT SLEEP: Today is the first night of 3 oz for 1st night bottle (we decrease the amount of milk by 0.5oz every Sunday) and P is starting to drop one of his night bottles again, just like last time. He still wakes up any time between 11 pm and 1.30 am for his bottle, but will usually go back to sleep fairly easily if I you give him a pacifier (and stay in bed with him). He did it twice last week and it looks like tonight will be the third night (last two nights I didn't have the paci ready so it was my fault). On the nights that he skipped the first bottle, he had only the small one (3.5oz) at his usually 2nd night bottle time (4-5am), which is different than what we did a few months ago.

Parker sleeps int he big bed now, including naps when with mommy and daddy. He still sometimes sleeps in the crib when with Grandpa and Lola.

WALKING: P started to really walk on the last day of being 13 months. This is when he first time waled a few steps, stopped, and walked again. Now, almost a month later, he can walk very well now although he still falls quite often. I keep thinking it's his shoes, but I do notice that he does that more when he just wakes up, as if he needs some time to get going. It is a lot of fun to take him to a playground now. He can get up the steps by himself and slide down the slide (he learned to do it on his tummy; I think it's time to start teaching him how to slide sitting up though).

FOOD: P feeds himself all meals now, with a little assistance with breakfast (oatmeal). He does not like to be fed so breakfasts are not his largest meals. Although when Grandpa and Lola feed him, they still entertain him during the meal, so he tends to eat more for breakfast. P doe not like soups anymore, again, most likely because he can't eat them himself. So soups appear on the menu only once a week, if that. I made a whole new batch right before he stopped eating them, so we are covered with the soups for a while. He loves to eat whatever we are eating, tonight it happened to be tacos. He didn't have a taco made in one piece but ate pretty much everything what goes on a taco: meat (like), tomato (like), lettuce (no like), tortilla (like), avocado (like a lot). :) No cheese and sour cream due to the allergy. Here is his usual menu at 14 months:

Breakfast: Oatmeal or rice cereal with almond milk, fruit
Lunch: turkey sandwich or toast with almond butter or jelly, soup once a week (if that), fruit
Snack: Fruit (banana, mango, apple, kiwi, pear)
Dinner: Anything we eat

Parker also has one 4-5-oz bottle of hemp milk a day. I just realized that he is supposed to have almond milk during the day and sometime between the last post and now we switched to hemp 24/7. Good that I am writing this blog! :)

P loves fruit but veggies are hard. He will eat broccoli, and cooked carrots, but that's about it. It's not his fault, really, it's mine. I am out of ideas for veggies rather than those two. Something I need to work on.

DAY CARE: The schedule is the same - Grandpa and Lola 2xweek, Mommy and Daddy the rest with some help from Miriam, who is our on call babysitter from Bright Horizon Back-Up Care. Miriam stayed with Parker twice on my telework day and when I had my implant done. She will be coming next Friday on Marc's telecommute day and I have to schedule her for Mon for my telecommute (again, thank you, blog, for making me realize that).

NEW THINGS: Parker understands a lot now, even though he doesn't say much. Actually, he says A LOT, we just don't understand. :) He will bring anything you ask him to, he knows to give something to someone, he understands that he should point to a toy on a Xmas tree and wait until we give it to him, etc.. The first time we realized how much he understood was about a week ago. I noticed that he was chewing on something and tried to take it out of his mouth, worrying that it was something not edible. He didn't like me doing that and made it impossible. I started asking "Parker, what is it that you are eating, show mommy" and he went to the stroller and pointed at a cup with his little star snack in it.

Parker enjoys time with Daddy much more now and most of the time doesn't cry when mommy is not there any more. This is probably thanks to the fact that Marc spends more time with him and... my attitude. When P cries, I give him a hug and explain that it's ok to stay with Dada. I think he learned that mommy no longer will give in to his cries and he doesn't bother.

BOOKS: I am still waiting for the time when he will sit on my lap and listen to a story. He looks at books himself a lot (The Very Hungry Caterpillar is still his favorite although closely followed by Furry Friends and a couple of other books) but won't sit still to listen and look at pictures. So reading to him is still just as reading to yourself :) with him looking at other books or playing with other toys.

TOYS: P discovered how to throw a ball. He enjoys putting stuff in his little bucket and carrying it around the house. He still loves to un/screw tops on bottles. He absolutely loves his Zebra and sleeps hugging it. The blocks are not as big of a hit at the moment but he played with them a lot just a week ago. Loves "baba w babie" and ring stacker (his new toy). Still absolutely loved his cardboard nesting stacking blocks.

MOMMY'S READING: I am done with the "Easy to love..." book and have to say that it changed my life. I used to get frustrated when P wouldn't do what I ask or want him to do. I know think differently, for a different perspective. I feel that I have more respect for him and his choices, and it make me calmer. I also have more patience because I no longer expect that he will understand (and comply) immediately. I now know that sometimes I have to repeat what I want 3 or 4 times and then show him what I mean, and it's not because he disrespects me or doesn't want to listen. I also see how I can help him learn how to interact with other kids. My life is much easier because of this book. :)

I am currently reading "What's Eating Your Child" by Kelly Dorfman. My conclusion is that we are feeding Parker right for the most part. Reading the book encourages me to stick with natural rather than processed food, and I am starting to cook more (made two batches of meat balls for the whole family last week, and backed muffins from scratch this morning!).

I am also reading "The Wonder Weeks" by Hetty Van De Rijt and Frans Plooij on per need basis. :) His next to the last stormy period just ended so I won't be reading it for the next few weeks.

I also downloaded "Bed Timing, The Parent's Guide to Getting Your Child to Sleep at Just Right Age" by Marc Lewis and Isabela Granic. I used their guidance when P started falling asleep on his own around 5-6 months and I want to learn what they suggest as far as making toddler's sleep better. I haven't started reading it yet but I will report back once I do.

Just a quick update on the new place front. Our closing is scheduled for Thursday, December 20! Yay! We are hoping we can move in that Saturday (or even Friday!) and spend Christmas at our new place. They is still a lot to do int he house; dehumidifiers are still running (which worries me) and appliances and floors/carpets are not there yet, in addition to some cosmetic touches that need to be done, so I am not entirely confident we will close on time. Although I still have hope. :)

Not a baby anymore

I think I can say that Parker is officially walking! He still doesn't want to be "made" to do it, and still crawls on many occasions, but he walks about 50% of time. He can take anywhere from 3 to 10 steps at the time before he falls. But more importantly, he can stop and start again, he can even squat and get up! My boy is growing up! He will be 14 months tomorrow! I still can't believe that he is not a baby anymore!

Parker: 13 months

Our little First Year calendar for Parker is up and I don't have any place to document his accomplishments, so I decided to post them here (duh). I am going to try to make monthly updates, which is not very less ambitious goal and therefore more likely to be accomplished. :)

I also realized that I need to modify the entry titles to include P's name, in case at some point he will have a little brother or sister. I will also state the month number/age.

I am still planning on writing about other stuff that happened around this time, not related directly to Parker, either in "his" posts or separate posts.

So here we go!

Parker is 13 months and 17 day today.

- He is starting to transition to one nap a day. Has been sleeping until after 7 am more often (still only 1-2 times a week) and refused to take his morning nap for the last few days.

- Parker is starting to walk by himself. Since Babcia and Ciociobabcia Halinka (a.k.a. Ciocia) came to visit on September 18th, Parker has been walking (on two) more than before, although at first it wasn't really his idea. :) He can now take 3-4 steps all on his own before falling back on his butt.

- Parker is allergic to egg. Dr. Kim (his wonderful pediatrician, or actually, our family doctor) has indicated that he is "not responding well to egg". However, he was perfectly fine after eating a french toast a few weeks ago. So I gave him a scrambled egg for dinner on Saturday and... it all came back 15 minutes after he fell asleep. Poor baby, bad mama!

- Parker is a very good eater - he loves almost everything, and one of his favorites is broccoli. Here is his typical menu:

Breakfast: Oatmeal or rice cereal with almond milk with fruit (blueberries or raspberries or blackberries.
Lunch: Home cooked soup
Snack: Fruit (banana, mango, shredded apple)
Dinner: Sandwiches with either ham, turkey, jelly, or almond butter, plus some veggies (although most of the times we are not successful in preparing those on time)

Parker also has two 6-oz bottles of almond milk a day.

Food is something I worry about a lot. I feel that maybe he doesn't get enough during the day, and that's why he needs the bottle (or two) at night (more about it later). The problem is that he is a very slow eater. Each meal takes 30-45 minutes as is, and ends a lot of time because he is bored and wants to get out, rather than that he is full (he will still eat if you feed him while he is playing). I really don't want him to learn that eating a meal (unlike snack) not at the table is ok and I am being torn between this and his night waking.

- Parker had a great time with Babcia and Ciocia for over a month. Unfortunately they had to go back eventually, and now Grandpa and Lola are filling in two to three times a week. Mommy and daddy are staying home/telecommuting three times a week with a bit of help from Ewelina (while telecommuting). All until our wonderful Ciocia Aga comes back in mid-December!

- Parker's favorite book continues to be The Very Hungry Caterpillar and he's song is still My Jestesmy Krasnoludki (he is slowly starting to raise his arms on "pod grzybkami mamy budki" and "a na glowach mamy czapki". His first language is definitely Polish, he can show someones eye (oko) and nose (nos). He knows where lamp is (lampa) and clock (tik-tak). He loves to play with blocks. Parker's favorite youtube video Animal Song is slowly giving away to the Shapes Song 2. Parker also loves the Giggles iPad game and one with the animals in a zoo. He also loves the Night Night game.

- We are teaching Parker to move on to doing other things after hearing a "no". We also try not to say "no" when this is not possible. This is very challenging sometimes as it involves ignoring him throwing food items on the floor (we just keep repeating: "Give it to mommy/daddy when you don't want it"; it's finally starting to work occasionally).

- Parker naps in his crib. He also sleeps in his crib first part of the night probably half of the time, and the other half he sleeps in the big bed. He always ends up in the big bed eventually though, which mommy loves. :) He wakes up only once a night for his bottle most nights. He used to wake up for a 11-12 am bottle and then last until the morning. Then we tried to wean him off that bottle, only for him to now start waking around 3-4 am. Plus he will still request a bottle around midnight on occasion. I think it may have been to early to wean him off; all kids are different. Since all efforts to wean him off are more troublesome than actually giving him the darn bottle (plus they don't work), I accepted that my son will drink milk at night for the next several months and am perfectly happy with it. He let us know when he was ready for solids, he let us know when he was ready to drop his third nap and now his second nap, I strongly believe that he will let us know when he is ready to drop his 4 am snack.

- Parker loves falling asleep with mommy or daddy (or any other person, although mommy is clearly the most favorite), although he is getting too big to sleep comfortably in our arms.

- Parker loves playing with (or rather observing) other kids. With our busy schedules, unfortunately we don't have many occasions for this to happen. Now, when we don't have any guests staying with us, I will try to arrange more play dates. Then when Ciocia Aga comes, we will set some play time with other kids to be a part of a routine. Also, our friend Magda mentioned that she would like to drop off her 3 year old son a few times a week, which would be a lot of fun for Parker.

Our new place is closer and closer to getting ready, the drywall is up so now it's only cosmetic. We are shooting to close sometimes in December and hoping to spend Christmas already in the new place.

I am currently reading "Easy to love, difficult to discipline" by Becky A. Bailey and highly recommend the book. All advice about approaching children seem to make so much sense to me, and I now joined the team against spanking. Not that I think an occasional (light) slap on the butt would damage my child but I do think it sends a wrong message and teaches them how to (wrongly) approach others that don't do as they wish they did. Many other things I am trying to correct in my own behavior, toward adults too, not only children. Love the book.

This blog post is NOT sponsored

This blog post is NOT sponsored, I promise! But I just have to express my love to Diapers.com. I am actually in love with both, diapers.com and Amazon. I do about 80% of my shopping there. But this post was inspired by my today's purchase. Went to Amazon (where items are generally about 1$1-$3 cheaper than on Diapers, and the 2-day shipping is always free) to buy two (to compare) seat liners for our Cameleon and a belly bar for the City Mini. It's Monday, Amazon promised to deliver the liners on Wednesday but the belly bar wouldn't arrive until Friday. We leave for the beach on Friday so this wasn't acceptable. Went to Diapers and it turned out all items were either the same price or only $0.05 more. With the purchase totaling well over $100, the next day shipping is free. And guess what, I just got an email that my stuff will be arriving tomorrow! I love you, diapers.com! :)

I realize I owe a regular post about Parker. I haven't even done his first birthday post yet. All soon to come. Now off to work!

Summer update

Lots of changes on our end! I don't even know if I had mentioned before. We sold our house a couple of months ago and moved to an apartment. We bought a house, a condo actually, but it's still being build. We are supposed to move in December/January. It's twice as big as our old house and I am also excited about living in a brand new place, after having to repair something every freaking week in the old house.

Parker still wakes up once during the night for food, usually around 11 pm. It's not too bad as we don't go to sleep until midnight, usually. But I know he is not hungry at that time, as he then can last until 7 am. I don't want him to get used to eating just because, but it may be too late for that.

Also, P stopped falling asleep on his own and is not sleeping through he night yet. Ever since he started crawling, he would get on all four in the middle of the night and cry. We would then have to help him to laying down position. Then he started pulling up on his feet and got used to my assistance. So now he usually wakes up at night at least once (in addition to the 11 pm feeding) and cries. On top of that, he has been sick lately and is now teething (has three teeth already but I think more are coming as he is putting his hands in his mouths more than ever). So now I actually pick him up and rock him to sleep at night! I feel like we are back to when he was 6 months. Except he now is more stubborn. I will rock him almost to sleep and then put him down. He is almost asleep and then suddenly gets up and smiles. :) During naps it's no problem, he will close his eyes and fall asleep. But at night he keeps fighting and getting up. Sometimes it takes me almost an hour before he falls asleep. When I tired to rock him to sound asleep, he would wake up several times at night and want to be rocked. So I know try to put him to his crib "drowsy but awake" as they say. I am not terribly worried, I know he will stop this eventually but it would be nice to have 6-7 continuous hours of sleep again. All my friends are doing some type of cry it out method of sleep training but I really don't believe it's necessary (unless you need/want to speed the process, and I don't think it's worth the crying) so it's hard to talk to anyone about that...

Now food. We give P mostly jar food and some little cereal for finger food. He is really lazy about feeding himself (which is good on other hand because I don't have to worry about him eating dirt and other trash off the floor); he can hold his own bottle but that's about it. Even with the little cheerios he can hardly make it to his mouth! Again, I am not worried much but I would like to start feeding him some "real" food. I feel like he is getting bored with the jar food. But how do you find the time? We usually eat at 9 or 10, after P goes to bed, which happens around 7-8. It would be so great to have family dinners, though!

P also pulls up to everything and he tries to stand without holding on to anything now. He can stand holding on with one hand pretty well already. He cruises along everything very comfortably too. He can also somehow get on top of boxes that are half his height! I was so amazed! (We still have some unpacked boxes laying around).

Parker also started having separation/attachment issues. Man, it's starting to be annoying! He doesn't even want to go to his Daddy when I am around. :(

I can't wait till August! We are going to the Outer Banks of North Carlina with our friends who have a baby girl 3 months younger than P. It's going to be fun!

P is crawling!!!

Parker started crawling today! At 8 months 2 weeks and 3 days old! In the morning, Marc put him on the carpet in the corner of his room and called his name from the other side. P didn't want to do his tummy crawl, I guess he no longer thought it was efficient enough, but didn't know how to coordinate his arms and legs just yet. He got frustrated and started crying. But then later on, while with my sister, he carefully made a few steps and... now he is crawling like a pro! I will post a video when I figure out how. :)

Tooth #2

Tooth #2 has officially made an appearance today, that is May 18th. :)

8 months - Sleep regression?

Parker made his first step crawling (on all four, tummy off the floor) in the walk-in master closet of our new condo model on Saturday, May 5. :) Mommy was so proud! She took two videos! This also marked the beginning of a week of sleepless nights, for both, Parker and me. His poor little body wanted to practice crawling even in his sleep, so he not only had a really hard time falling asleep (crawling all over the crib, unable to lay still) but also would wake up several times a night on all four, totally freaked out. I had to pick him up, calm him down, and rock him back to sleep in the glider. This coincided with a growth spurt, so he wanted to eat pretty much every time he woke up. We both weren't getting much rest but I did enjoy snuggling with him so much during this time! He sleeps much better now (last night was second night when he didn't get on all four even once) and I already miss our cuddling time.

After a week and a half practicing he still is not crawling, really, but he is very comfortably standing on all four and rocking back and fort. He can also lift his arm to grab a toy, as well as go from laying on his back to sitting up (I witnessed this first time this morning!) He hasn't figured out the right hand left leg idea yet, though.

The same day, Sat, May 5, Parker also started holding his bottle when drinking his formula and water. He still doesn't do it all the time today and prefers when we hold his bottle. But he is getting better every day.

Parker is also slowly learning to pick up small pieces of food and put them in his mouth. He is having trouble getting the pieces off the flat surface of the high chair's tray but does much better when I hand him a piece. He then manages to put it in his mouth most of the times.

It's absolutely fascinating to watch him learn new things every day, literally. I feel that our lives were so empty before he came about.

The first tooth

My baby boy has his first tooth! At almost 8 months (4 days short), after four months of drooling. :) His first little tooth is not very visible yet, but you can feel how sharp it is very well.

I have been slacking off with the writing, I know. A lot has been happening. We sold our house, bought another and are waiting for it to be built. My mom is back home, my sister took her place caring for Parker.We went for a two weeks vacation (well, it wasn't really a vacation as I was working 90% of the time) at the beach. So yeah, we have been busy.

A little update on Parker.

1. He continues to grow. He is very "long and lean". :) At less than 8 months he wears size 12-18 months.
2. He is starting to take longer day naps. While he used to sleep up to 45 minutes, his standard now is 1-1.5 hour.
3. He still sleeps through the night, most of the nights. His last three (before last night) were a bit worse as he was waking up a lot but I think it was due to teething.
4. He loves his solids! Eats fruit, vegetables, rice cereal and oatmeal. He still drinks a decent amount of formula, although we tried to feed him solids only (during the day) and he did great. Only later I read that he should still be drinking more formula and went back.
5. He is not crawling on all four yet but he is very efficient in the "army crawl". He can et wherever he wants that way, and get there fast!
6. He started sleeping on his tummy.
7. He snuggles more.
8. He is still not on a schedule. Sleeps till 5 or 6 or 7 am (usually falls back asleep when get his paci at 5 am) and goes back to sleep around 8 or 9. Sometimes he will fall asleep in the big bed with us after his morning bottle. He stays awake for 2-3 hours at the time and has a bottle ever 3 hours or so. Solids in between.
9. He is a very happy baby, smiles all the time and has a great sense of humor.
10. He loves goofing out with daddy and snuggle with mommy.
11. He is my life.

Priceless donation

I donated my frozen breast milk yesterday. And now I am sad. It's like a part of me that belongs to my baby was given away, lost. I know the baby who got it will benefit from it. But I am still upset that I let my mom stop me from giving it to Parker. Maybe it would have prevented his UTIs! I read in many sources that breastfeeding is the main weapon against those early UTIs. I am still upset with my mom. I told her yesterday that the lady picked up my milk for her baby. I don't think my mom realizes how precious breast milk is and how very very beneficial it is to the babies! My older sister and I were both on formula from the first day, and doctors back then never mentioned that breast milk is so beneficial. So when I encountered breastfeeding trouble, my mom's natural advice was formula. Now, after living with her for 5 months, I know that she says stuff before she even thinks, and that only when pushed, she will re-think and sometimes even change her mind (although she won't admit it). But back in October, I just followed her advice, without much questioning. So when she suggested we stop giving Parker my breast milk because it may cause his fussiness, I just did. And I was too scared to bring up giving him my milk again. Now I know that it was stupid, I shouldn't have felt that way. But it's too late, my milk is gone.

I told my mom yesterday that a woman will be coming to pick up my milk. I was hoping she will realize that breast milk is not just another way of feeding a baby. That women give their babies someone else milk because of how beneficial it is. Why did I not give my milk to my baby? I still don't know. :( I feel stupid for giving it away. Parker is not allergic to the milk, we know it. And now it would have been beneficial to him just as much as any other time. UGH! I have to stop thinking about it because I am getting upset with myself!

Almost 6 months: Sleeping through the night

Parker is almost 6 months (three days short). Everything is falling into place. He started falling asleep in his crib a few weeks ago and now this is pretty much the only way he falls asleep, even for naps during the day (actually during the day it takes him shorter to fall asleep, for some reason). And he now is starting to sleep long stretches of time too! He slept from 7 to midnight on Sat night, ate, and then slept until 5.50 am! He stirred and called for a pacifier a few times but went right back to sleep. Last night he slept from 8.30 till 2.45, ate, and then woke up 5.45. And I only had to give him his monius (paci) once, right when we went to bed and made some noise. My baby is sleeping through the night! And we didn't have to sleep train him!

That's right, after all this talk, we decided not to sleep train P. I just couldn't do it. I couldn't bring myself to letting him cry at all, not even talking about leaving him to cry for several minutes! We didn't have to do it, though. I got inspired by some website and started thinking why is he waking up. We figured that it was because he got used to falling asleep with a bottle. And we were right! Once he learned to fall asleep w/o the bottle, he started sleeping longer periods of time, pretty much instantaneously. We would give him milk but when we saw that he was drifting off, we would take it away. He would wake back up and we would give him the bottle back until he was done. Then we would rock him to sleep. It was a bit hard the first two days, as he wouldn't fall asleep immediately, we had to rock him for 20-30 minutes at the time. But now he falls asleep really quickly and doesn't wake up at night but a couple of times!!