Reflux Update

Today (12-17-10) we took Corina to Dr. Russo, a GI doctor. The appointment went well. He saw none of the "red" flags that would cause him to worry and act immediately. He is sending us to a speech therapist for a swallow study, and also ordered an upper GI done. After he gets the results of these tests and is able to see what's going on inside her body, he'll be able to better make a treatment plan. We'll go back in six weeks so he can put it all together.

Christmas Program

For the first time, Lukas performed in the Riverside Butterfly School Christmas Program. He was such a HAM! He was on the end of the row so he had a huge wide open space to work in, and boy did he work it. He sang, danced, lifted up his shirt (luckily he's only 3), sat down, turned around, hugged on the girl next to him, etc. Oh and towards the end of the program he left the stage to visit with Eric, who was recording, before being told to go finish the song. It was the PERFECT 3 year old performance!! And no worries, we videoed it.

Here's my terrible picture since I had to use the flash to get one remotely in focus. Lukas is in the red and black plaid shirt on the top right end. :)



Lukas, Mimi, and Corina.



The Swaynes

8 Months Old

I've gotten behind in my posting, so this one (and several others) is a bit late.

Corina at 8 months:
- weighs about 16.5 lbs
- is about 28.5 inches tall. (the wiggly baby on a measuring tape...may not be accurate)
- waves at you if you wave to her. It takes her a bit to process sometimes that it's time to wave, so just be patient and she'll get there. Once she starts though, she'll wave for the next 5 minutes.
- is now clapping. :)
- wants whatever Lukas is playing with. Playtime is getting interesting.
- is speed crawling.
- is pulling up to her knees.
- finds everything you don't want her to have (no matter how well you thought you put it away).
- politely cleans off all table surfaces within reach.
- chews on everything.
- still only has 2 teeth. She is hard at work on a couple more, and her doctor said that all (like 8) the top ones are coming down (just not ready to pop through).
- is slowly starting to babble. Dare I hope that she won't talk quite as much as Lukas?
- still has major reflux issues.
- eats great! She currently can eat sweet potatoes, white potatoes, peas, green beans, spinach, squash, avacado, carrots, tofu, zucchini, turkey, chicken, banana, pears, apples, peaches, mango, apricots, puffs snacks, yogurt melts, and cheerios.
- loves her Mommy, Daddy, and Brother more and more every day!

Santa 2010

Tonight (12-3-10) we went to Bass Pro to visit Santa and enjoy their holiday activities. We had a blast, and to top it off there was hardly anyone there. We didn't have to wait in line for anything, and Lukas actually got to play with the remote control cars and train instead of watching the crowd play.

Great picture with Santa. Corina tolerated it, and Lukas even smiled.



Concentrating very hard to drive the remote control car.



Riding the carousel for the first time. Standing beside it she kept pointing at it, so we decided to try it. She had lots of fun!



Lukas, of course, loved his carousel ride. He was sad the reindeer didn't go up and down, but very excited to actually get to ride a reindeer.



Coloring.



Corina while Lukas was coloring.



Mommy's last photo attempt before we left.

Family Day

Traditionally we try to use the Wednesday before Thanksgiving as a family day before the Thanksgiving festivities begin. The past 2 years this has been disrupted by Lukas being sick. Thankfully this year we got all the sickness out of the way last week, so we were good to go for a fun day. We decided to go to the Children's Aquarium at Fair Park since we are Dallas Zoo members and can get in for free. They've redone the whole thing, and it's nice. In Lukas' opinion the coolest part was "sting ray bay" where you get to pet the sting rays. It's not huge, so don't plan an all day affair out of it, but it works well for something short and sweet. After the aquarium we walked around Fair Park a bit. I had no idea there was more down there than just a couple museums, the music hall, and the state fair once a year. It's actually quite pretty. We then tackled lunch at Fudruckers and came home for naps.





















Showing off his souvenir.

Love...

Teeth

Corina has teeth! Her first tooth came in November 8th. It was the one on the bottom, middle left. We're unsure exactly when her second tooth officially broke through, but it wasn't more than 3 or 4 days later. It was the bottom, middle right one.

According to the doctor, as of November 22nd she is working very hard to get both top middle teeth through, as well as the two bottom teeth on either side of the two middle teeth she already has.

Teething has brought with it ear trouble for her (just like Lukas). If she gets another flat tympanogram, we'll be seeing the ENT about possible tubes. It's not the worst thing in the world, but I was hoping to avoid it.

Stomach Bug 2010

The stomach bug hit the Swayne house hard this year.

It started with Corina.



Then moved on to Eric. Then found it's way to Lukas, and he got hit the hardest.

For Lukas, day 1 went pretty well. He didn't feel great, but not awful.



By day 2 he was dehydrated, lethargic, and completely unlike himself.



The doctor sent us to the Flower Mound ER. If you live near here and need an ER, go here. They are connected to Medical Center Lewisville, so if you need a hospital they'll send you.

Lukas received 3 rounds of IV fluids, IV Zofran plus a prescription, 4 popsicles (although he only ate 2 whole ones, and a bite out of the other 2), and juice. He got rock star treatment since he was (I think anyway) the only one there.

Getting his fluids.



A weak smile for a popsicle.



He'll go back to the doctor tomorrow to be re-evaluated, and hopefully he'll be back to his normal self in a couple days.

3.5 Years Old

I thought it was time to include some of the things Lukas has accomplished since I did his 3 year old post.

Lukas at 3.5 years:
- weighs about 29 lbs
- is about 39.5 in tall
- can navigate his computer games mostly without anyone's help.
- is reading at some level slightly beyond word recognition. If he tries to read (sound it out) he can't do it, but if he just looks at it (small words of course) then he's reading them.
- asks some really complicated conceptual questions, but understands and applies the answers.
- is potty trained while awake, but still working on at night.
- has a mind of his own. He will lead the pack or follow the leader just so long as he's having fun.
- is a negotiator. He has a reason for every action, and will tell you exactly why something needs to happen a certain way. Example of a recent coversation: Lukas: "Daddy, can I watch tv when we get home?" Eric: "No. When we get home, it's time to take a nap." Lukas (without missing a beat): "I want to sleep in my pajamas." Eric: "Okay. If you're still awake when we get home, we'll put on your pajamas." Lukas: "So, while I'm putting on my pajamas, I can watch tv?" We both nearly fell over laughing because the logic of his argument came so natural, and it was a pretty good one too.
- can (and does) talk to anything and everything. He never stops unless he's sick or asleep.
- is absolutely amazing with Corina. He loves her so much, at least until she tries to play with his toys. At that point, he tells me she needs to go in her excersaucer or jumper.
- is learning Spanish at school, and will now use the Spanish words interchangeably with the English ones.
- has the largest imagination! It is so fun to watch him play as he creates worlds and stories for his dinosaurs, knights, dragons, puppets, etc.
- has seemingly found his daily asthma medicine. In September, he was started on Dulera and it has made a huge difference. After starting it (and getting over a cold right after starting it) he went 3 weeks without needing Albuterol (the rescue med). To those that do not know him very well, this is quite possibly the first time this has ever happened. I'm now seriously praying that the good fortune of the first month on the medicine continues because he asthma hasn't ever been this controlled.
- is simply amazing! At the risk of sounding like an over-generous parent, he does things everyday that are just amazing. Things I didn't know he could do. He understands things that I had no idea he would get. He says things that make you think. Example of that came the other day when he told me "Mommy, God put the joy deep in our hearts. We need to keep it there." For him it was a completely random comment, but for me it was a deep profound moment.
- loves his Mommy, Daddy, and sister more and more every day!!








Lukas singing "Twinkle Twinkle".

7 Months Old

Corina turning 7 months snuck up on me. All of the sudden I looked at the date and wow, she was 7 months old. Usually I watch the dates closer than that to see it coming. Oh well, we've been really busy!

Corina at 7 months old:
- weighs about 16 lbs.
- is between 26.5 and 27 inches long. My oh-so-accurate measurement with a wiggly baby and measure tape.
- is true crawling (10-18-10) everywhere...and getting rather fast at it.
- is pulling up to her knees.
- will wave at you sometimes.
- laughs at more and more things, and the better she feels the more she laughs.
- provided she feels good, is still the most laid back baby in the world.
- observes everything.
- likes technology as much as Lukas.
- enjoys reading books.
- is still battling reflux, but we've got it mostly under control.
- loves watching and playing with Lukas. She thinks he is hilarious and amazing. I wonder how long that will last....I hope a while.
- loves Mommy and Daddy more and more every day!

Vacation 2010

This year's family vacation was taken in the Houston area. We decided to save money on a hotel by staying at my parents house. That would also give us the flexibility to use a kitchen to cook a few meals and clean Corina's bottles, and also give a home base with room to spread out. All in all a good set up when everyone needs naps, and early bedtimes. And that's not even to mention the extra help Mema and Grandad provide so Mommy and Daddy aren't entirely worn out at the end of the trip. Eric and I were even able to spend one night away in Kemah for an added bonus.

Thursday (10-7-10)
Activities: Eric and I went to Kemah and stayed at the Boardwalk Inn. We ate amazing food, rode the train (as seen in our picture), and enjoyed kidless company.



Friday (10-8-10)
Activities: Mommy and Daddy come back from Kemah. Go to park where Mommy gets EATEN UP by mosquitos. Eat a yummy pizza dinner at Grimaldi's Pizzeria.











Saturday (10-9-10)
Activites: We visited 7 Acre Wood farm. While there Lukas was able to ride a train, pet animals in a petting zoo, play on a playground, ride a pony, scout a pumpkin patch, and play with finger puppets. After naptime Lukas and Mema made cookies, and we relaxed.











Sunday (10-10-10)
Activites: We went to the Houston Zoo. We were able to see the very cool dinosaur exhibit as well as all the other animals. We then finished the day off with a train ride through Herman Park. The day was perfect! Exhausting, but perfect.

Lukas

Do you ever get those glimpses into your kids future that just kind of frighten you? Lukas has given us these glimpses since early on, and now they are nearly every day. The kid is brilliant. I don't say this out of parent bias (I mean, I am of course), but it's just true. He remembers EVERYTHING! If you have to repeat it to him most likely he analyzed the information upon receiving it, found it to be not currently useful or beneficial, and therefore discarded it. This doesn't happen often though. Anything he's heard or seen is a possible topic for conversation for months later. This has us constantly racking our brains trying to figure out where he's heard or seen something. And when he asks questions he wants the real answer, not some easy short answer. This of course brings on major mental gymnastics on our part to find ways to explain what he wants to know in ways he can understand (I mean he is only 3.5), and then of course also brings out even more questions that half the time end up in me saying "I don't know how to explain that". He understands concepts that I would never expect a 3 year old to grasp, and then he turns around and applies them. From a parental point of view it is amazing and scary at times. I feel a bit at a loss as to how to teach him anything because he seems to grasp everything (which of course is not true). I know all kids can do this, but his out of the blue questions make me think about things I haven't thought about in years. I'm so grateful he is able to go to preschool because there they can help keep up with his avid need for knowledge. As a mom with two kids to keep up with I can only do so much.

I pray that God continues to show us how to help him put his mind to work because without focus I know he'll be bored and unmotivated. I am amazed by him daily (even on the days I'd like to give him away). His future is something I can't imagine, but I know he'll be genius at whatever he puts his mind to. I love my little man more than I could have ever dreamed possible!

Getting Places

I tried to post a video about a month ago when she first started her semi-crawl, but the one I filmed was too long. After that I just never remembered to get another good one shot when Lukas wasn't running around interrupting her playing. I did today, and she's even closer to real crawling now. As of today (10-12-10) she is also picking up her hands independently (I think she does it in the video) while on her hands and knees. When she tries to move them forward in a crawling manner, however, she usually face plants like she has been.

Enjoy!

Picture Fun

Just a few pictures of what we've been up to lately.

Crafts



Building



Painting



Smiling



More Smiling



Playing with Aunt Ashley



He got his face painted like a Tiger at CiCi's one night.



Viewing a HUGE grasshopper.



Making banana bread with Mommy.



Showing Corina how the tools work.



"Crawling" around. As soon as she starts moving her arms, she'll have a full crawl together.



Playing with Mel Mel.



Helping Lukas play his game.