Mommy Detective

Taking a ride in the cart at the store

Today Dominic is 18 months old!!  I'll write more about that in my next post.  I told you last week about his “diaper issues.”  They have improved but continue to be a problem.  The doctor’s office received the results of the stool samples and found nothing (so digging through his poop was for nothing!), but being the mommy detective that I am, I think I figured out what the problem is!  Dominic has been drinking the pool water, which contains saline instead of chlorine.  Apparently, saline is used as a laxative.  I asked the doctor's office about this, and they agreed that this is the likely cause.  There’s not much I can do to prevent this in the future as long as Dominic is swimming in saline pools except try to encourage him not to drink the pool water, as if he would listen to me.  I'm just glad that I know the reason for all of the dirty diapers. 

Over the weekend, Brian and I took Dominic to Imagine It! Children’s Museum in downtown Atlanta for our neighbor’s 2^nd birthday party.  I've been planning to take Dominic all summer, so it was perfect.  Dominic loved it even though he was a tad on the young side for a lot of the activities.  He enjoyed the climbing “exhibits” the most.  It kind of reminded Brian and me of the SciTrek museum that we used to go to as kids which has unfortunately since closed down .  This children’s museum is geared for kids 8 and under.  Because I was still exhausted from hosting my dad’s party the night before, it was harder for me to get around, but I still had fun with my boys.  I’m excited to go again!

My favorite 1 1/2 year and me at the Children's Museum 

So cute trying on a batting helmet...hopefully he doesn't get lice

Our little baseball star

Sliding - or walking - down the slide

Riding on a tractor :)

Daddy and son...so cute together!

Weirdest exhibit ever...milking a cow!

um...okay

driving a truck

climbing!

splish splash

Our fireman

climbing and running around

Dominic is doing well with his new schedule, eating lunch at 12:30 and napping at 1:00.  I’m really glad that I started the new schedule so far in advance before he starts parents’ morning out (PMO), so he’ll be completely used to eating and napping at those times.  Once PMO starts, I’ll pick him up around 11:45/12:00, take him home, feed him lunch, and put him down for his nap.  Fridays will either be relaxing or productive for me!  J

This is how Brian gets woken up almost daily. 

Dominic’s set amount of time for sitting in the highchair when we’re out to eat and at home seems to be lessening by the day.  I’ve been putting it off, but I’m about to bite the bullet and buy him a booster seat to see if that helps.  We’ve been working on using a plate instead of eating straight off of the tray.  The plate ends up on the floor here and there, and the food, on the tray, but overall, it’s been working out. 

Another challenge we are facing is how inattentiveness when we're reading books.  Dominic seems to be growing tired of the books after just a few pages, wanting to either read another one or just get down out of our laps to walk around.  Does my child have ADHD or is this just normal boy/toddler behavior?  I’ve tried buying new books and also giving him choices between books, but neither seem to help.  I’m going to try buying more pop-up and touch and feel books to see if more interactive books work better.  We shall see!

I’m 24 weeks pregnant.  Only 16 weeks left till we meet the newest Morton!  I had an OBGYN appointment last week that went well.  The appointments are pretty short these days because I never have many questions, considering that I was really just pregnant with Dominic.  My next appointment is the dreaded Glucose Test.  My biggest dilemma from the appointment is whether or not to store BCM’s cord blood.  My OBGYN highly recommended that I do this because if BCM gets sick with certain illnesses such as cancer the stem cells from the cord blood could save his life.  It’s a huge 1-time initial cost and then a smaller annual payment.  The initial cost quite honestly is just too expensive for us.  We opted not to store Dominic’s cord blood for the same reason, and that was back when I was working and we had MUCH more money.  Living on one income makes expenses like this pretty out of reach.  However, I would really like to find a way to make it happen.  Not only would it benefit BCM if something ever happens to him, but it could also help Dominic or another sibling. 

I’m continuing to have the same symptoms – heartburn, ring rash, back pain, and tiredness.  My back and tailbone pain have become increasingly worse.  It’s becoming harder and harder for me to move around especially where Dominic is concerned.  I feel so badly that I can’t chase him around much anymore even though it’s his favorite thing to do.  It’s hard for me to get out of the car and standing for long periods of time is torture.  These are things that I don’t remember happening till much later in my last pregnancy.  

My sciatic nerve is really bothering me too.  I have random shooting pain in my lower back that shoots downward.  This is in addition to my tailbone killing me on my left side, which I suffered from since I was pregnant with Dominic.  Too bad I can't take Ibuprofen.  Naps are no longer optional if I want to be able to get off the couch the rest of the day…they’re now a requirement especially because I'm sleeping so poorly at night.  

Yesterday was Fulton County’s 1^st day of school and last Monday was Dekalb’s.  I have to say that the 1^st day of school is the time of the year when I most miss being a teacher (along with times when I miss having money haha).  I love back to school shopping and all of that stuff.  Last year was my first 1^st day of school where I didn’t participate since before I was in preschool, and that was pretty hard for me.  I was still figuring out this full-time mom thing and finding my niche.  Although I was nostalgic for my teaching days all day yesterday, it was much easier this year than it was for me last year.  Even though I miss teaching a lot, I would miss experiencing Dominic - and now BCM - grow up even more if I was still teaching.  I’m extremely lucky and happy to stay home and raise my children myself, and I'm honestly happier than I've ever been. Plus I really hated waking up at 5am every morning when I was a teacher.  Waking up at 8:30 in the morning is way better…and nothing can compare to having Dominic kiss and cuddle with me during the day. J

Dominic can officially climb into his car seat (rear-facing - no easy feat!)...now if he could just strap himself in!