This week's Friday Frustrations is about something that happened last Thursday when I picked Logan up from his babysitter's where he has been going 8 hrs a week for over seven months. Until now I've had absolutely no complaints or problems with his sitter - she has been a Godsend. The closest I came was when he was 11 months old she fed him oranges (pediatricians and all of the parenting books out there do not recommended citrus until a year old). He was only one month away but Logan still ended up having diarrhea and a diaper rash, so I told her not to give him anymore in the future. A couple of months later he had orange juice for the first time at home and has done fine with oranges since. I figured I was bound to have at least one other issue at some point, as no daycare or sitter are perfect, but I didn't expect it to be this because I thought this news was already EVERYWHERE (but if not, then I'm glad my post can be educational to other moms)!
When I picked Logan up last Thursday, October 29th he was still eating lunch. I noticed he was eating a sandwich and at first I didn't think anything of it (he's had sandwiches at home before). Babysitter had a Halloween party for them that day and so we talked about that and she gave me a cupcake Logan had made for me (put the sprinkles on) as well as a goodie sack and another cup full of treats from one of the other boy's moms. I can't wait to see the pics of their party.
Anyway, as Logan was finishing his sandwich I noticed some purple on it. I felt a little uneasy as I asked, "What kind of sandwich is that?" She said, "Peanut butter and jelly."
I didn't say anything but I left feeling really upset. The Academy Of Pediatrics says to wait until children are THREE before giving them peanut butter or anything with nuts. Peanut allergies are one of the worst out there! Sometimes just one taste can be fatal! Do you all remember that story a few years ago about the teen girl who died because she kissed her boyfriend who'd eaten a pb sandwich 9 hrs earlier? (Article is here.) I have a friend who works at a daycare center in Iowa and she said they aren't allowed to give it to any of their kids, no matter what the age, because it's like my Friday Frustrations last week about my dogs: if you don't let kids come up and pet the dogs then you'll know for sure nothing bad will happen.
Back when I was growing up, parents gave peanut butter as soon as their babies could eat food. Joe's baby book has him eating it regularly at a year and I'm sure I ate it as a toddler. But there has been such an increase in allergies over the past few decades, experts are saying some of this has to do with foods being introduced too soon. Studies have shown that the longer you wait to introduce certain foods the less chance of developing allergies. Pregnant women should also refrain from nuts and peanut butter in their third trimester of pregnancy, as well as when nursing (I did not know this at the time, so I did eat some peanut butter, however it wasn't often. For other "don'ts," I wrote a post when I was pregnant titled The Do's (and a couple don'ts) of Pregnancy.)
Chances are, Logan is fine with peanut butter. Nobody in either my family or Joe's has peanut allergies. And, he didn't show any reaction last Thursday (the symptoms are: hives, difficulty breathing or asthma symptoms, swelling of the mouth or throat, vomiting or diarrhea, loss of consciousness). He also hasn't shown any other signs of allergies these past 18 months (typically kids who are allergic to peanut butter are also allergic to other things, especially if they have asthma). But Logan had his 18 month check up this past Monday, November 2nd and his doctor was upset when I told him - he said to still not give it again for another year-and-a-half because often times the first eating of peanut butter has no reactions because the body doesn't have the allergen yet. Now, after eating it, Logan's body has the allergen and so if he is allergic then the next time could be extremely serious. So, I called his babysitter that evening and informed her about the situation (she said "no problem").
Logan came in at 25 lbs, 1.25 oz, and was 34.5 inches tall (that's the 40% for weight and 90% for height - both percentiles shocked me, I expected the opposite, haha. I'm 5'2.5", Joe's 5'8.5", and Logan eats non stop). His head was 18 3/4 (70%). He received his third DTaP and first polio vaccine and as always did excellent (both getting the shots and afterwards acting happy and no side effects).
Typically children don't have another check up until they're two years old, but we're going back the end of January so Logan can get his final DTaP and second polio vaccine. Then at his two year appt. he'll get his final polio and first Hep B. We'll go again that summer/fall for his final Hep B and MMR. We'll go again that winter to get the first Hep A and then his final Hep A will be at his three year appt - which means he will be caught up to the standard schedule a year-and-a-half from now (except for the flu vaccine and chicken pox - we don't plan to ever give the seasonal flu shot and aren't sure if we'll ever give the chicken pox vaccine. We also have the option of a much safer and mercury-free H1N1 shot this Thanksgiving (since we didn't give the regular one) so we might do that (not because of the flu itself, but because some toddlers are developing additional problems with their organs if they get it).
Logan was given our pediatrician's top health, even though his skin looked jaundice (yes, seriously). Doc said it's because Logan likes carrots (he eats them every day!) and so the beta carotene is showing up through his skin! He said it's not harmful, but too much vitamin A can be, so limiting carrots to every other day will guarantee he won't have high vitamin A but will allow him to continue to get the benefits of carrots. Ironically, Logan refused carrots the rest of the week! I don't want him to not eat them at all as they are healthy. . .geesh, could he have actually understood what we were talking about behind his back and that's why he suddenly wouldn't eat them?!
As for the peanut butter again, the symptoms listed above can occur within a few minutes or a few hours, so keep your eye on your child after they eat peanut butter and if he/she develops these, call 911 immediately - like I said before: peanut butter can be fatal.
Friday, November 6, 2009
First Peanut Butter
Thursday, October 29, 2009
The Dog Expert Has Been Called
*I'm posting this a day early because my mother-in-law is coming over tomorrow so I have to use that day to clean the house!
The topic of my Friday Frustrations? My dogs.
If you've been reading my blog for awhile then you already know the background story (to read the posts now, click here and here). I have two maltipoos. Bella, a female, born 1/30/05. Cosmo, a male, born 10/31/05. Both were easy and ideal until the summer of 2007 when we put our house for sale. Not long after that I got pregnant and we moved. Over the past two years I have lost control over them. They bark, and now as of the past six months, they both bite.
This past May Bella bit Logan for the first time (he was 13 months old) and so I began taking both of my dogs for walks every time I went with Logan because I'd heard and read that might help a dog get out any built-up aggression (even though she wasn't showing aggression at any other time - this came out of nowhere). It worked until August - then she bit him again (he was 16 months old and again this came during a week when she was playing and kissing with him galore). So I was given the name and number of a dog behavior specialist in our area; I wanted to first try to see if having an expert work with my dogs might help so that I wouldn't have to just immediately give them away. However, we were required to get them a physical first and two months quickly went by before we've had the chance. Fortunately, Bella's been good since then.
However, if you read Tuesday's post then you saw I said that something upsetting happened on our walk Monday. Cosmo started freaking out with every car that drove by and every dog that barked or he saw. This has been his behavior the past two years and so I jerked his collar like I always do and firmly told him to stop it or else he would be going home. I should have taken him home. But, he began walking well (we passed several houses with people outside and he didn't bark) and then we passed a house with a cute little girl around the age of five. She said politely, "Can I pet your dogs?" We've been asked this pretty much on every walk we've taken since we moved here and it's never been a problem. I said, "Sure" and she ran over. Both dogs were perfect and we actually talked for a good five minutes before I said "nice meeting you" and then I went on with Logan and the dogs.
We rounded the corner and as we were walking down another street, two little girls about the age of seven said the same thing, "Can we pet your dogs?" Feeling comfortable since Bella and Cosmo had both done great with the girl before, I said, "sure" again. I parked Logan's stroller and the girls walked over. One reached down towards Bella and the other reached down towards Cosmo. Only Cosmo decided to lunge, growl, and snap at the sweet little girl who tried to pet him! She happened to jerk her hand back at the same time he nipped at her and so I actually heard the sound of her skin slide against Cosmo's teeth. I was sooo hoping beyond hope that she wasn't going to flinch. But she looked down at her finger and started crying. I saw that a piece of skin had been pulled back. It wasn't bleeding, but red was showing. My heart fell to the ground. I apologized profusely and put my hand on her back trying to comfort her, but I thought I was going to start balling myself!!!
There were two women standing outside the house where they had come from and one of the women came over, I was hoping it was her mom but it was the other girl's mom. I kept saying, "I'm so sorry! I'm so so so sorry!" She looked at the girl's finger and asked her if she wanted to go home or if she wanted to wash it off inside their house. The little girl stopped crying and said she wanted to stay at their house. So she and her friend ran off and the lady pointed to the girl who was now playing and said that she was clearly fine. But I couldn't stop apologizing and I told her we wouldn't ever be letting any kids come up to my dogs again.
I'm crying as I write this because I still feel so awful. I feel worse than I did when Bella bit Logan. I had a horrible headache and stomachache on Monday night and a really hard time falling asleep, then did not sleep well at all. I think it's worse when it's someone else's child. Innocent kids see my two dogs (I doubt they ask if they can pet rottweilers) and never think they would be mean to them. The kids asked my permission - trusted me - and I betrayed them. Now, because of me, this little girl will never be the same. Joe reminded me that kids get hurt all of the time, are resilient, and she probably didn't even put a bandaid on her wound. That is true, it's not the injury which was bad - but the fact that I have now written negatively on that little girl's slate in life. Until now she looked at dogs with innocence, but because of MY dog she probably won't ever run up to a dog and ask to pet it again. She'll probably be hesitant from here on out. I don't ever want to be someone that has a negative effect on anyone!!!!
I pray that since we've all been bit my dogs and most of us are still animal lovers she will still be, too (when I was 13 I had to go to the ER because my uncle's mastiff bit my hand & lip and I even got a tetanus shot).
Maybe I should have gone over to her house to talk to her parents. I was so caught off guard by this, and with two dogs and Logan, and her house was in the opposite direction - if she had chosen to go home I would have walked with her but since she didn't, I just grabbed Cosmo and told him how bad he was and carried him the rest of the way home as I fought back tears. Then I threw him in the basement for an hour. I tried to go back out just with Logan, but I was so upset I could no longer enjoy our walk. I don't even want to go to that part of my neighborhood again. I'm so embarrassed and humiliated.
Needless to say, first thing on Tuesday I called the dog behavior specialist. I'd already scheduled an appt. with our vet for November 3rd because of Cosmo's bump which I mentioned last week, so I am adding a physical for both of my dogs so we can get this started right away. I made the appt. with Sally The Dog Lady (that's her title) for November 4th. Because, on Monday evening I wrote out a "free to a good home" ad and was in the process of uploading a picture to post on our city's advertising website until Joe told me to hold off until we try the dog expert. Monday night I was truly ready to give them away. Since it's been six months of considering this option, I am more used to the idea than I was then. It'd still be absolutely heart-breaking, though. Logan is best buds with Cosmo, even though he's only 18 months old he would miss both dogs if they were gone (and it has to be both or none). As for Joe and I, what more can I say besides our dogs are our family. Despite these "bad times" we've had so many more good times. I would definitely be in a depression if I had to give them up.
So hopefully this dog behavior specialist works. She was SUPER nice when I talked to her on the phone. She said that I won't have to give them away. She does more training of the parents than the dogs - the same type of tools we learn when parenting our kids. I don't let a stranger go up to Logan and pick him up - Logan would be scared - and so is Cosmo when kids come up to him. Therefore, she teaches all dog owners to say "no" to this (even if the dogs have never bit before) to avoid such things as this from ever happening. Of course now I can add on that it's because my dogs bite. :(
She explained that Cosmo does not need to go on a walk with Logan, me, and Bella anymore. Using parenting again: if I take Logan somewhere that he constantly screams, cries, and misbehaves then obviously that is a sign I need to stop putting him in that situation. Cosmo hasn't adjusted to walks in two years, so he obviously can't handle it. She said it is a myth that we have to socialize dogs in order for them to get along. Just as some people will never be social butterflies, there are some dogs that will never be, either. Just as I follow cues with Logan - I must do that with my dogs, too. Every time I take Cosmo for a walk I put his anxiety in overdrive. I've been doing it because I thought it would help him but how long would I force Logan to go somewhere that was causing him high stress and anxiety? It's the same for dogs. We have a fenced in yard and a big house, my 10 lb. dog can get his exercise other ways.
I must learn what I can and can not do with both of my dogs individually, just as I already know with Logan. I do not need to feel guilty or treat my two dogs equally because they are not the same and so they will actually do better in the long run this way.
She explained that when dogs bark and bite it's because they are feeling that they have to be in charge - they have to be the one to protect from whatever sparked those behaviors because Joe & I aren't going to do it for them. She thinks after just one time at our house she will be able to change this. (She charges $214 for two hours.) I sure hope so because there's just no avoiding kids in the future. If anything, our life will revolve more and more around kids with each upcoming year so my dogs need to stop being intimidated by them. I can't exactly keep Bella & Cosmo confined to the basement every day for the next 10+ years!
I'll conclude with pics from our past Halloweens together. 
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Baby's Neck, Mommy's Hair
This was originally written on Thursday, April 16, 2009:
I'm finally participating in my first weekly meme, Friday Frustrations, started by Maria from Conversations With Moms!
We had Logan's appt. with the ENT today. Unfortunately after Logan finished the antibiotics last Saturday, the infection on his neck started to grow again :( Good news is that it has appeared to stop again and so Doc said that we are to keep a close eye on the bump and as long as it doesn't stay the same or get bigger over the next month then everything is going in the right direction. Once it's gone it will be gone forever because this has nothing to do with the brachial cleft fistula or the surgery. Apparently both of those went 100% well and the inside of his neck is healed. This is a skin issue. It takes two months for the sutures on the inside of the skin to completely dissolve, and so since this infection happened pretty much exactly a month after the surgery, it is clear that's what got infected. The ENT looked & felt Logan's neck very thoroughly and said it is definitely not infected anywhere BUT the skin. So that's the main thing.
The bad news is that if the bump does get bigger or doesn't go away by May 18th (we made an appt so that we know we'll be with our ENT and not his PA again like what I wrote about in my post, 11.5 Months Old) then we have to come back and get it drained. This made me cry because he said it is not practical to put Logan under or to even give him pain meds or a novicane shot for this, so he will have to be restrained and fully aware and will feel all of the pain of a needle going into his neck. :( So please pray that this draining doesn't have to happen. Like I said, the bump does look a lot better today than it did on Monday & Tuesday. It's smaller and not as red. Doc said it wasn't necessary to put anything on it because it's closed (we put bacitracin on it last night and I wondered if that was why it looked better today) but if it does start to look bad again then I might do the bacitracin anyway because it's not going to hurt and if for some strange reason it does work I like that option better than Logan having a needle in his neck!!!!
In other news, I'm never having my hair colored again. In a previous post I said that last Friday I had my hair dyed dark brown with blonde high lights so that it would grow out looking natural (because I'd already made the decision that I was done coloring it forever at that time but had red in my hair so it was looking bad as it grew out).
Well 24 hrs later my hair turned gray. It was so awful I wanted to cry. I had thought my red color since December & February was bad but at least I could go out in public. I wore my hair in a pony tail for four straight days which I never do (I don't know why, I just never wear them) and immediately contacted my hair stylist to fix it. She was able to get me in yesterday morning (so I had to beg Joe to go to work late so that he could watch Logan even though he has a ton of stuff to do).
I was disappointed that she acted like there was no problem with it. Even Joe thought my hair looked gray and he usually can care less what color my hair is, or if I don't like it he's like "it's fine." So I knew when he admitted yes, it looked gray that yes, it was gray. Even worse, I remembered this happened before! We actually did this style back in 2006 and I totally forgot because it was brief (I only had "the striped look" for about 2 months), but I had to come back that same week and she'd fixed it. So I thought it would be in my file or something and she would know what to do to fix it this time. Instead, it came out looking even worse! Rather than trying to even out/blend the two colors better, she added more of the white-blonde color which in combination with the very dark brown made my hair even more gray! I decided right then and there that I was never going to her again.
I feel bad because I like her as a person (we've talked about everything under the sun) and I have been going to her for 4.5 years! (For my first 1.5 years after I moved here I actually continued to go to my stylist in Iowa but decided that wasn't practical anymore and so when I got a "free 1st visit" flyer in the mail for this salon, and I had no problems with my first visit, I thought I was set for as long as I lived here.) It's not a dinky place or anything (she's won awards and goes to hair shows and takes classes for certifications, etc.) and it's less than 5 minutes from my house so it's super convenient.
But, I have given her time to know my hair as I've colored it 10 different colors in these 4.5 years! Over half of them have required me to come back and get the color fixed. Even though the second time always worked (until the red), I just don't have time anymore with a baby to spend so much time at the salon. I need my hair to be done right the first time. Until now I'd given her the benefit of the doubt because I thought it was my hair. She swore that other people didn't have the problems I did (when I first went blonde in 2005 it turned bright orange so she didn't even allow me to leave that time because it took three tries in almost 5 hrs to get it right).
But today I went to the most popular salon in Omaha and my stylist there said there is nothing abnormal or strange about my hair. She was actually really mad that this was done to my hair and said there were numerous things wrong. She was determined to try to fix it but it was really hard because it was already colored to the max so she couldn't color it anymore or else my hair would start falling out and would be ruined. Luckily there's, like, a hundred people who work there and so other stylists were coming over and offering their advice and trying to find a way to get it decent. She ended up putting toner on my blonde so as to make it "golder" rather than "whiter" which really helped the top half. But the toner didn't help the bottom half of my hair. It still looked gray which I thought I was going to have to leave with and so I started crying which then made her start crying because she "felt so bad that I was having to go through this, it wasn't necessary." And so another stylist came over and said that if they put bleach on the bottom half of my hair it should take all of the color out and so then at least it wouldn't look gray. But this would mean I was going to have to buy products to use on my hair every day so as to start getting it healthy & in good shape again (I don't usually use anything) -- but if we just give it time my hair will be back to normal soon.
I've never had good hair (which is why I've colored it so many times, it's the only way I ever like it) so the bleach seemed scary (I don't want to think about all of the chemicals that absorbed into my system) but it did work! My hair is totally multi-colored right now (some of the red from before is showing up, along with my natural light brown, the dark brown, the original blonde high lights and then the gold high lights) but it looks a lot better! I am actually happy with it and I liked the stylist, so even though the salon is 20 minutes from my house I'm planning on going there from now on. My new stylist gave me $24 off today, plus 10% off the two products I bought, and coupons for future visits. I was going to go to Stacy (Jaxson's mom) if I ever switched salons but I didn't want her to have the pressure of today's disaster! So thankfully now I won't look like I'm 100 years old for Logan's birthday this Saturday.
P.S. I'm a ding dong and didn't take a picture of my hair disaster so there's no photo to go with this story. :(
