2 Month Appointment Early

Nathan is only 7 weeks and had his 2 month pediatrician appointment today. If you do the math it doesn't make any sense! His pediatrician saw him early because he needed to get shots to start daycare. (Everyone in the office was confused about the 2 month appointment too.)

The doctor decided to change Nathan's formula from soy to...alimentum. That's the same stuff Natalie was on due to her milk protein allergy as an infant. It's expensive and stinky! We'll shell out a small fortune for it over the next year believe me. Luckily we can buy it in bulk from Amazon.com and save some money through Amazon mom, but that's our only saving grace. He was having an allergic reaction to the soy which was evident by the dry skin on his forehead. He was pretty fussy before bedtime when getting fed and had gained too much weight. Hopefully this new formula will help him in the weight department and make him feel better.

It was also determined that he has an umbilical hernia just like his sister. We'll wait until age three to see if it has healed on its own. If not, he'll see a specialist who will surgically correct it. We've been through it before and understand the entire process. The hardest part is after the surgery when the kid isn't supposed to run around, etc... It's hard to ask a three year old to stay still.

Nathan will see a pediatric urologist at the end of September about his hydronephrosis (dilated kidney). Who knows what that treatment will entail. As it is right now he takes a daily antibiotic for supression. It's not supposed to have an effect on his immune system because it's being given in such a low dose. It may actually help him prevent ear infections though. (Natalie had tubes at 8 months due to back to back ear infections and I've heard it's heredetary.)

He'll go back to his pediatrician again in November for a four month appointment.

1st Week of School

Natalie had a great first week of school! Every afternoon whem she got home she asked me to take her back to school! She loves her teacher, is getting used to the routine, and has made some best friends (although she cannot remember their names!) There's a girl who sits at her table in the classroom who is her "best friend" and every morning Natalie asks me, "What's my best friend's name again?"

Since I'm on maternity leave I have to take advantage of the time I have. Today I went to school to eat lunch with Natalie. I know I won't have that opportunity once I go back to work. I bought her a Subway lunch and we ate together at the parent table. We had a nice lunch but were interrupted a lot with teachers and custodians coming to our table to talk and see Nathan. Natha drank a bottle through most of lunch which didn't give me a lot of time to eat, but that was okay. We still had fun.

Natalie got a star each day in her behavior chart and got to visit the treasure box. She's so enthralled by the chart that she set up a behavior chart for our dog, Max. He has to "be good" all day to earn stars and he's rewarded with a treat. If you know Max he's not all that well behaved and will probably not be earning his daily treat by Natalie's standards.

She also had her first speech class which she was thrilled about! They're going to play games and earn prizes. That sounds like it's right up her alley! She even told me tonight that she couldn't wait until Monday because she was going to speech class.
I'm glad she had a great first week.

Natalie's First Day of Kinder

 

Today is Natalie's first day of kinder! This is what I like to call the second best day of the school year (the last day of school definitely ranks as number one!) She was so excited and nervous about her first day. Last night she woke up several times asking if it was time to wake up to go to school. Once she arrived at school she got to meet the school's namesake and the principal who greeted and spoke to her at the door. She found her classroom and where she's supposed to sit in the hallway. We were going to leave but she asked us to stay until the first bell rang. It was strange for me to be at my own workplace as a parent and not as a teacher. I am officially one of "those parents" now that hangs out in the hallway before school. Ugh!

Meet the Teacher

Yesterday afternoon Natalie met her kindergarten teacher at Meet the Teacher. Natalie was shy about meeting her. She got to unpack her school supplies and leave them at her place at the table. She also got to pick out her cubby. She picked out one that was red even though she would have preferred a pink one (as she told me later on.) Her classroom is decorated with monkeys and bananas and very well organized. I walked her to the gym, music, computers, art, and showed her the cafeteria. She's pretty excited about Monday!

Tumbling

I don't know if I mentioned this in a previous post, but Natalie has been taking tumbling classes since the end of June. Lately she has shown a lot of improvement, especially in her cartwheels. She's working on all kinds of skills with her class - cartwheels, handstands, backbends, back walkovers, and trampoline skills. These classes are so athletic and require a lot of balance and coordination. It's a pretty steep learning curve, but she's slowly getting there.

Hungry Guy

Nathan has graduated from the small four ounce bottles to the large eight ounce ones. He's eating about six ounces every three hours or less. It seems to be a lot for such a small fry, but it's helping him grow into his feet!

Nathan's Smiling

Nathan smiled a big, gummy smile twice today!

Art Camp

 

Natalie's attending an art camp half days this week. She's enjoying every minute of it! I already have two large bags of art work that I have to find space for now. I'm glad she's having a good time though!

Houston Trip

 

This past weekend we decided to take a trip to Houston. We visited the Houston Space Center on Saturday. Natalie seemed to enjoy parts of the Space Center, but wasn't thrilled with it. Maybe it was the fact that she was so tired. I think if she went back in a few years she would appreciate it more. We went on a 90 minute train ride where we got a tour of the grounds. We mainly drove past buildings and they explained what they did in each one. We were able to get out and tour the facility they use to train astronauts. We saw the astronaut memorial area where they honor fallen astronauts by planting trees. I enjoyed seeing it at least. I guess it's hard to appreciate it when you're five! She played a little in the space center when we returned and did some hands on activities and then we left.

That evening we walked from our hotel to the Galleria Mall. I think I could have stayed there all weekend! We ate dinner there, looked at The Microsoft Store, and shopped at the Hello Kitty store. I could have spent the evening in the 7 for All Mankind store!!

The following day we went to the Houston Aquarium. It has to be the best designed aquarium I've ever seen. It's not huge, but it's so well decorated and designed. Natalie was sick of looking at fish and ended up in time out in the middle of the aquarium. Her tune changed once we got close to the end of the aquarium and viewed a white tiger. He seemed to not appreciate the smaller aquarium patrons as he would pace and lunge at some (good thing there was a large piece of glass between us!) On the aquarium grounds there's a train ride that takes you to an enclosed shark area. Sharks swim all around you (again - enclosed in glass) as you watch from the train. At the end of the ride a fake shark leaps out of the water. Natalie just about jumped out of her seat! They had a few rides too. We went on the carousel together. Afterwards we ate at the aquarium's restaurant. The meal was pretty good, but we were freaked out halfway through lunch by a woman screaming "help!" at the top of her lungs. We didn't know what was going on! It turns out her young son was choking on something he had eaten. A woman at the table next to us got up and administered the Heimlich maneuver on him and saved his life. The woman said it was the third time she'd done that at a restaurant! How lucky she was sitting so close to the boy!

It was nice to get out of town for a while and see some new sights. I'd definitely make a return trip anytime! I'd stay in the same hotel and just visit the mall though!

Playtime

Tummy Time

 

Nathan was a month old yesterday, so that's when we decided to start tummy time. He's doing well with it. He moves his head and tries to push himself up. Natalie has a great time interacting with him during tummy time and he seems to enjoy looking at her.

12 Days until School Starts

Natalie is starting kinder in twelve days and she's really looking forward to it! I am looking forward to her going to school too! She's got all of her school supplies bought, unpackaged, labeled, and in her backpack already. Next week is meet the teacher night. I'm heading to school to work in my room tomorrow for a bit and am going to sneak into the office to get a peek at who her teacher is.