Bird on the Street

Nutrition, Drew Brees, and a Reader Treat

8:37 pm

Long ago, before I had the baby, so like, two weeks ago, I took Charlie to what was probably his second-ever well-child visit. This is probably shocking to a lot of you, but when you’ve got seven specialists, surgery, and a nasty case of epilepsy, you tend to forget some of the more basic things including well-child visits. Also, that whole thing where they hand you a chart so you can check off the things your child is doing? That chart can bite me. Things are a bit calmer now (knock on wood), and I wanted to talk to the doc about the tongue-tie thing, so I went ahead and scheduled Charlie for a five year well visit.

The visit went really well–Charlie’s pediatrician rocks and knows his history, so we don’t waste a lot of time covering old news. Bonus points: I didn’t even have to fill out one of those terrible questionnaires.

One question she asked got me though–she asked me if we saw a nutritionist. This is a perfectly legit question–Charlie did have a feeding tube at one time and was even diagnosed with Failure to Feed, but we’ve been doing so well for so long that I never really thought about it. I got a little nervous, but then I told her about his diet–two to three eggs in the morning with cheese and ketchup, school lunches, and toddler-friendly fare for dinner: mac n cheese, spaghetti and meat sauce, beans and rice, etc. She was actually impressed with his diet! She said he had more variety than many of his typical peers.Yay! But she did mention that we need to start adding more fruit and veggies.

Well, I have great intentions in these areas, but I’m a slow-goer in general. It was total kismet that GoGo squeeZ contacted me like the next day to see if I’d like to do a giveaway. Yay! It got even better when they told me that they’d partnered with Drew Brees for their latest initiative. Drew Brees plus anything is good for this NOLA girl’s heart.

My prima donna five-year old didn’t want to do pictures, so Louie offered to help out. Note: the cap to the GoGo Squeez is not for kids under three.

So here’s the deal: GoGo SqueeZ has partnered with Drew Brees to create an interactive story book on Speakaboos called When I Play. Basically, you get Drew Brees reading a story to your kids (I know a lot of Moms who would mind that!) plus fun, interactive elements. It’s very cute and reminds me of an ipad app, but on a Windows computer. Also, it’s free.

To celebrate, they’re giving away samples of their newest product, AppleMango Squeez, and a free tote bag to one of my readers. The AppleMango Squeez is 100% fruit and sweetened only with juice–this is great because even my super-picky Charlie will eat it, and he doesn’t eat much. It’s an added bonus that you can eat this stuff without a utensil–my little man hasn’t totally mastered the spoon just yet.

So. . . want to win some free?

Here are the details:

Leave me a comment to be entered to win–tell me your favorite fruit.

The drawing will close at midnight on July 3rd.

I’ll select someone at random from the comments below.

Now go let Drew Brees read your kids (you) a story!

Filed UnderGiveaways

Special Delivery

9:24 am

Rex Aristide was born on Friday morning. He weighed in at a whopping nine pounds, three ounces and I can’t say that I’m surprised–in the end I FELT like I was lugging around a small anvil.

Checking out our new man’s generous cheeks.

His name is a combination of things important to Hubby and I, but also a departure in some ways. Rex is the first non-family name we’ve used, but we thought it sounded right with the other three. Aristide is a very old family name that was used by early immigrants in Hubby’s family in the late 1700s. We thought it sounded nice with Rex and I loved the meaning: One of the good ones. I thought that was the perfect moniker for a little guy joining a great big mess of a family.

baby

So, that’s the scoop. I would like to make a moment to recognize the many, many milestones that my family achieved this week:

This was our first child to arrive at the scheduled time.
This was the first child to leave the hospital at the same time as me.
First child to be breast fed.
First child to be walked out of the delivery room by my husband.
First child allowed to be in my hospital room and held by visitors.
First child in the nursery and not the NICU (look, ma, no tubes!)

While the twins birth was a huge improvement over Charlie’s, I don’t think I ever thought I’d have a simple delivery. In the back of my mind I’ve been waiting for them to find something, or for something to go wrong. My parents said the same thing as we sat talking in my recovery room. I have learned to handle a lot with regards birthing children, and I think I could have done it again if I had to. I’m really glad I didn’t, though. This was a new experience for this family, and a pretty great one at that.

Note: I don’t have a picture like this with any of my other children.

Filed Undergood things, motherhood

Might As Well

12:46 am

So, still pregnant. Just a few days left, though, so this is the home-stretch. One of the strange things about pregnancy is the dreams. I remember being pregnant with Charlie and imagining that a lion was trying to steal my baby. You know, because lions are a real issue in Central Arkansas. Luckily, in my dream my husband was able to chase the lion down and rescue the baby.

Well, the other night I had one of those bizarre dreams. In it, Hubby and I were some sort of outlaw couple a la Bonnie and Clyde and we were escaping through the desert. We were holed up in some hotel room and Hubby returned and he didn’t have Charlie with him. I looked at him and asked, “where’s Charlie?” but in my heart I knew that he had killed him. Again, this is a weird pregnancy dream, not reality! The twins didn’t exist at all in this dream. We were on the run and taking Charlie with us was a bad idea. I could picture Hubby digging the hole and my heart sank.

boy in high chair listening to iPad and clapping

Must be a good song.

At that exact moment one of my twins started crying and I rejoined reality. You know how there’s a split second when you wake up from a dream and you’re not exactly sure what’s real and what isn’t? Well in that moment I sat up and thought, “just put me in the hole with him. There’s no other reason to live.” I meant it.

I think there’s a great misconception out there that it’s a kind of reprieve when a child with special needs passes away. That somewhere in their hearts, parents breathe out. I don’t think that’s true. There might be some peace if the death brings the end to a lot of suffering, but I can’t imagine that the loss of the child is ever a cause for relief–not even a child with complex medical needs.

Charlie and I have worked together, side-by-side, towards so many goals. We have accomplished much as a team. I know him better than I have ever known another human being. His good days are my good days and I sleep uneasy if he’s having a tough time. Right now, as I type this, I can see him sleeping in his bed and my heart is full. Life without him is unfathomable.