Life Is Good: Toddler Defined

Friday, April 18, 2008

Toddler Defined

Nutrition is really big with me. I love it and hate it. It terrifies me and excites me. It confuses and intrigues me. I studied it in college, and at one time I considered pursuing a career in the field of nutrition. Alas...I spent some time today trying to find some information on what to feed my wonderful toddler. I came across the following on one of the sites (http://www.wholesometoddlerfood.com/):

We like to define a toddler as:

A child who is between the age of 12 months and 48 months old (1 year and 4 years old)
One who loves to eat [xyz] food one day and then dislikes that very same [xyz] food the next day
One who requires a lot of clean laundry, tidying-up after, and lots of attention, and constant amusement and stimulation
One who is methodical and focused in his or her attempts at launching a spoonful of mashed potatoes as easily as a robotic arm assembles a car!
One who's innocence and wonder inspires us to do better
One who possesses an abundance of love.
One who is unconditional in the giving, and delightful in the receiving of that love, along with showering hugs, kisses and smiles to those around him or her;
a true joy and a true blessing to treasure

I love it! I must address points 2 and 4 today. When I first read point 2 I chuckled, but it wasn't a laugh of agreement. It was more of a "yea, okay..." Now I laugh in agreement. Ryan has always loved mashed potatoes, and tonight I put a pile of them on his tray. He stuck his sweet little hand in the potatoes and commenced to look at me like I was crazy. I spooned a little of the potatoes into his mouth of which he gave me on of those "that's the most disgusting thing ever; what do you expect me to do with that?!"

Point 4 is becoming more and more of a normal around our house. The dogs absolutely love his new found excitement in watching his food hit the floor. Along these same lines...Today Ryan was drinking from his bottle. As the contents were near the end Ryan thought nothing of casually pitching it across the room. I guess he was finished. The things he comes up with....

Ryan is such an amazing little guy. I feel tremendously blessed. He delights my heart everyday!

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Brandy Danielle

Brandy is our firstborn, our precious angel baby girl. Her entry into this world wasn't without excitement. At 26 weeks I started preterm labor with contractions 5 minutes apart. With 10 weeks of strict bedrest, most of which were in the hospital, she made it to 36 weeks.
Brandy was diagnosed with "possible/probable" heart defect around 28-30 weeks gestation. After her birth she was whisked away to the NICU for monitoring and after a few days her defect was formally diagnosed and labeled...atrial septal defect and a cleft mitral valve.
Brandy, upon indications of failure to thrive and pulmonary hypertension, underwent her first of 2 open-heart surgeries at 4 months of age. A week after her surgery on the day of her anticipated discharge home Brandy coded for 13 minutes...a stoke.
From that point on Brandy's life was full of doctor's visits, endless crying, pain and suffering. She underwent another heart surgery, fundoplication and g-tube surgery, treatment for infantile spasms, and a mountain of tests and procedures. Her brain damage was extensive.
Upon counseling of our wonderful, most amazing heart surgeon, Dr. Christopher Knott-Craig, and many hours of prayer, we finally called in hospice and called off all of the extensive medical interventions and surgery needs that would prolong her suffering while possibly prolonging her life. Brandy, our precious baby girl...our angel...passed out of our arms and into the arms of her Saviour, Jesus at the tender age of 17 months.

Ryan Andrew

Ryan, our micro-preemie miracle, is a ball of life. After nearly a year of trying to conceive imagine our delight when we finally knew he was on the way. My pregnancy with Ryan was uneventful at first. It seemed perfect and with all of the precautions for preterm labor being taken and monitored we entered this pregnancy with cautious anticipation covered over by a whole love of naive excitement.
At 20 weeks we discovered our "Baby Peanut" was going to be a little boy. We began to make plans and began dreaming about the day we would meet our son.
Almost 2 weeks later everything changed in our lives. It wa a whirlwind of fear and emtions as I began to bleed, was sent for monitoring in L&D and eventually had an appointment with my OB only to find out that it was serious. I had incompetent cervix with hourglassing membranes. The doctor admitted me to the hospital immediately and an emergency cerclage was placed. The statistics were grim, but the hope was to keep our son inside for at least 10 more weeks. We only made it 10 more days.
Early in the evening of February 11, 2007 our son, Ryan, came into this world in emergency fashion at only 23 weeks 5 days gestation. He weighed 1 pound 8 ounces and was 12 ½ inches long. He was so tiny. All I could think of was “oh my goodness is he really that tiny? And is there any way he could actually make it?” I tried to hold on to hope, but in all honesty I had never met anyone with a baby born that early and that small that ever made it.
Ryan did make it! It was a long, hard road, but in the end he spent 90 days in the NICU. He was on a ventilator for 2 months. Finally on one fine glorious day in May we bundled up our 4 pound 4 ounce baby boy and went home...May 11, 2007.
Ryan is now a spunky, lively, strong-willed little boy. His laughter is contagious and his spirit is compelling. He is our miracle. There are no words strong enough to share our delight and joy that God has blessed us with this little boy.

Evan Alexander