Much ado

I know I have been a negligent blogger when I have to log back in to my account to post an update. And much has happened during the past couple of weeks to write about, I’ve just been too tired to do it. Since I last wrote:

• Colin has added a second type of eczema to his “collection” of skin problems
• Colin has been tested for celiac disease (the test came back negative — that’s not what’s causing his problems)
• Colin needs to go back to the ophthalmologist to find out if he has an underlying problem that is causing his eye irritation (and his constant blinking)
• We are finishing Day 5 of 30 of a completely lactose-free diet for Colin to see if that’s what’s making his tummy unhappy. 

This last one is killing me. Do you know how hard it is for this Wisconsin girl to make 30 dinners in a row without using dairy? (Okay, I have a planned a couple of dinners that involve dairy for the rest of us — I just have to make a second dinner that’s dairy-free on those days for Coin.) 

Do you know that Nutella is made with skim milk? I didn’t — despite the fact that they print it right on the label in big type. Great, we had already made it through four days and had to start the clock over. (On the plus side — for the kids at least — I just discovered Biscoff spread, which is dairy free and REALLY yummy. Just what I need. More temptation.)

Do you know how expensive lactose-free milk is? Even more than my organic milk. Yikes! And now I'm having to use it for baking too. We’re taking this lactose-free thing pretty seriously. 

What makes this even worse is that so far it doesn’t seem to be helping. Colin continues to have stomach problems with about the same frequency and type as before we stopped the dairy. Honestly, both John and I still feel like it’s the gluten that’s bothering him, even if the test shows that he doesn’t have celiac disease. But the doctor thinks it may be that the stomach virus he had a couple of months ago may have damaged his intestines, making it hard for him to digest the milk and that it may heal itself after the 30-day break. So we’re trying it.

On the bright side, Colin has not lost much weight; he weighs 24 pounds 9 ounces, down from just over 25 pounds (little peanut), but he’s grown an inch and now stands at 34.5 inches. And his language skills have really taken off over the past couple of weeks. He now will start conversations, tell long stories and sometimes even win the “who can get the most words in at the dinner table” contest that every meal is. 

Veronica is growing too. She now stands 36 inches tall, and weighs 28 pounds 6.5 ounces. She is obsessed with yoga, and has appropriated the Athleta catalog that came in the mail last month and regularly “reads” her “poses magazine” while trying to imitate the poses the models are doing. I’m trying to find a kids yoga class (or a Mommy and me class) for her, but most of them either fall at nap time or are for slightly older kids. 

We’re still flirting with potty training. Colin has been less interested recently (probably in part because he hasn’t been feeling 100%), but Veronica has stayed dry the last several afternoons, and was pretty close to dry this morning too. I think if we can get Colin back to feeling good and just spend a few days really focused on it, we’ll be able to get there. Maybe next month. 

Potty training?

Last night at bed time: 

“Veronica, your diaper is still dry. Good job. Do you want to go on the potty like a big girl?”

“No!”

“But Veronica, if you want to start wearing big kid underwear, you need to go potty on the toilet, not just keep your diaper dry.”

“No! I want a disposable diaper on. I don’t want the potty.”

Sigh. “Okay. I guess we’re not quite ready for potty training yet.”

Veronica, wailing, “But I want to go to potty training! I want to go to potty training!”

Colin, in a little voice from the other side of the room. “I go potty in the toilet. I go to potty training.”

So clearly we have a bit of misunderstanding about the concept of potty training. “Veronica, potty training isn’t a destination. It’s a process. And it means that you have to go on the toilet … all the time.” (Yes, I actually talk to them about destinations and processes. Maybe that’s part of the problem.)

I’m pretty sure Colin is ready, and if we had the energy to focus on switching him out of diapers he would be successful. Veronica, on the other hand, isn’t quite there. And the thought of trying to potty train one at a time seems harder than just waiting. So for now, we’ll still be washing diapers and waiting. Sigh. 

Big kid beds

We have [finally] graduated from the cribs and moved the twins into big kid beds — and to sharing a room. This was the plan from the start. But with their very different developmental stages in those early days, and the different sleep patterns that came with those differences, we ended up having them in separate bedrooms and splitting up so we could each be in with one. 

And while they still aren’t consistently sleeping through the night, we decided at Christmas that it was time to take the plunge and move them in together. We figured it could be absolute torture, or it could be about the same as it is now, but it wasn't going to get any easier so we might as well do it. 

So far, 10 days into it, the results have been mixed. But the room looks great, and they LOVE all the space for playing.

The new big kids room, where all three kids love to play
and someday (maybe) the twins will love to sleep.

We got everything set up first thing in the morning, so the kiddos could take their naps in the new beds/new room. Disastrous nap times are much easier to deal with than disastrous bed times. Veronica fell asleep pretty quickly, but Colin chatted for an hour before John finally got him to sleep. Unfortunately, he woke up when Veronica did. So she got a normal nap; his was only about half an hour.

That night, Colin was the super chatter again. Only this time, he also enjoyed the freedom that came with a toddler bed, and occasionally sprang up, flung the bedroom door open, and came out of the room calling “Mommy!” I think it took about an hour and a half to finally get him to sleep. Since then, however, they’ve done a good job about staying in their beds and falling asleep relatively quickly and quietly. 

It’s the middle of the night and the early mornings that are causing the problems now. Unfortunately, this pattern is the same as what we experienced when they were in separate rooms, so I don’t see a solution anywhere in the near future. John and I take turns sleeping in the room with them right now, so at least we’re able to get a night of somewhat uninterrupted sleep every other night. 

Veronica “sleeping” in her new bed.

Colin “sleeping” in his new bed.
(He actually does sleep almost sideways like that.)

On a side note, we now suspect that Colin might be lactose intolerant. We have been giving him soy milk for the past several weeks, and his digestive problems seem to be better. John introduced a little milk to his diet again on Sunday, and Sunday night was a very bad night for our little boy again. So we’ll be talking to the pediatrician today at our 2.5 year appointment about getting testing done. 

It’s always something, isn’t it?