Potty Train

Emilia started potty training about a week ago. She has been sitting on the potty for a while now, though she never actually peed. I guess she just liked imitating what some of the older kids at the daycare were doing in the bathroom. At home she would follow me into the bathroom and do exactly what I was doing, on her own potty. When she was moved up to the Preschool class, the first thing the teacher wanted to do was potty train Emilia, because 1) she was refusing diapers, 2) she loved sitting on the toilet, and 3) she was able to put her pants down and pull them up by herself. I was reluctant to do it because I thought it would be too overwhelming for her: a new sibling, then moving to Preschool, and then having to use a potty for real pee-pee.
Any way, she finally is able to pee on a toilet. She understands the urge to pee and she knows that when she gets that urge, she has to either run to the potty or alert a grown-up that she needs to go to potty. Over the past week there was lots of progress, though she stills gets an accident here and there. The daycare was right, she was ready. I am glad I didn't give up after trying for only 2 days. She is a big girl now, for sure...

D-D-D-D-Dora the Explorer!

These days Emilia is all about Dora the Explorer. I never knew I would become one of those parents leaving a smart phone or iPad in their children's hands to bribe them to be quiet in public places. We do it occasionally and I cannot help feeling embarrassed when a passerby gives Emilia and us a glance. I know that look. I used to give the same look too.

I never knew either that I would be one of those parents who buy their children TV character merchandise. Now she has at least 6 Dora colouring and sticker books, a Dora jigsaw puzzle, a Dora doll (a gift from her uncle), and eats Dora graham cookies. We bought VIP tickets to the Dora the Explorer Live show in December, which cost us $95 each person including Emilia, but the VIP tickets will give Emilia a chance to have a photo taken with Dora and a Dora-themed backstage party before the show. The other day I was shopping for Dora underwear (but couldn't find any so didn't buy). My brother just told me two days ago that he had bought some Dora toothbrushes for Emilia.

I start to wonder whether it's me who is fueling this frenzy by surrounding her world with all kinds of things Dora. Yes, she's a kid and she can be crazy about Dora, but am I feeding her desire and getting her hooked more and more on Dora? Naturally I want to give her what she likes and make her feel happy.

Any way, it's too late now. Emilia is absolutely crazy about Dora and there is no way we can back track it. We don't even show Dora shows too often, but Netflix made it very convenient for us to show it to her at any time we want and Emilia also knows that it's on Netflix anytime she wants. Right now, Friday night is Dora night for Emilia. We play 2-3 episodes and log out of Netflix. Of course, turning it off creates such a drama, to put it mildly. There will be about 10 minutes of crying and screaming (she cries "Doraaaa... Booooots...Dooorraaa...Boooots") until she gets distracted by one of her Dora colouring books. I need to give credit to Dora though. Emilia picked up quite some words and phrases by watching the shows, including, to our dismay, some Spanish words. I wish the Canadian version Dora would teach kids French instead.

I hope this is just a phase... or is Dora simply going to be replaced by another TV or movie character? As my husband says, maybe we should be thankful that she's not into Thomas and Friends, which would have cost us a fortune to collect all the toy engines.

Halloween - First Trick or Treat

On Oct 31, the weather was terrible so despite having bought her a Halloween costume, I didn't want to take Emilia out for trick or treating. Past 6 pm, kids started knocking on our door and I asked Emilia to assist me with the job of handing out the candy to the kids. After 4 times of answering the door, she started to realize that it was CANDY that was being given out, to OTHER KIDS!! She started to make her trademark sad face (such a cute one), not knowing what to do. She didn't want to give up the candy but mommy kept giving it out to strangers. She kept saying no and refused to give the candy. So, eventually, even though it was rainy and windy, Daddy took her out, just to 2-3 houses across the street and she came back with a beaming smile. She spilled the content of her little bag on the floor (10 candies) and did an inventory and put everything back in the bag, just to take them out and count them all over again. She named each candy, like Red Candy, Triangle Candy, Green Apple Candy, Purple Candy, etc. She called the candy "trick or treat". She went to bed with her "trick or treat" and when she got up the next morning, she even took it to the day care. Luckily she has not eaten any of it yet. She traded 3 of them with me for a cereal snack and the rest is still in the bag.

Oh, so what did Emilia dress up as? A cowgirl, complete with a cowboy hat and pink boots. Here are the pictures.

Emilia is a big sister

Lots of things are happening with Emilia. First, on Oct 10, Emilia became a big sister to Olivia. Emilia was a bit sad and jealous for the first week or so. After that was a phase of ignoring Olivia's existence altogether. She acted like it was still just three of us in the family. These days she kisses her little sister and pats on her head and says "pretty". I think she is amazed by Olivia's little hands and feet. She likes to squeeze and tickle them.

 Nonetheless, everyday she comes into the master bedroom, where Olivia's crib is, to claim everything that belongs to Olivia. She points at everything from body lotion to nail clipper, calling them "Emilia's". When I gently tell her they are Olivia's, she retorts "no, it's Mommy's" - I think she would rather see they belong to mommy than Olivia. Any way Emilia gets a bit clingy sometimes but she's been a trooper. I am certain she will be a good sister to Olivia.

When Olivia first came home

Emilia, corrected age two

Emilia is two years old, corrected. Actually I have dropped the "corrected" part for a while now when I tell people how old she is. I am now comfortable to tell people her actual age because I know they won't ask any questions regarding her age. She looks and acts like a 2 year old.

Last weekend, on the day she turned two years old corrected, we got her photos done at the same studio where we had her 1 year old photos. This time the session was so much longer and harder, which was expected, but being 33 weeks pregnant, I think I was more exhausted than Emilia herself.

Today, we were visited by the York Region Early Intervention. The EI was not concerned with Emilia's growth and development. She did all the things that she was expected to do, including putting 3 words together in a sentence. I always felt that Emilia's language was behind, but finally in the last few months, she has shown a lot of progress and we can now have a meaningful 2-way communication with her. It's so much more fun reading books and playing puzzles together now that her vocabulary is expanding.

Her PT was also visiting us 2 days ago, and she is being referred to orthotics. Emilia might need special shoes or even brace for her left foot/leg. Her high tone issue in the left left/foot is not very visible to others but to us, being her parents, it's noticeable and is always a concern.

The Early Interventionist said this morning that Emilia seemed like a very strong-willed, determined kid and that is why her outcome has been so great. I truly believe so. Every single day, when we look at her face, we cannot help but feel awed by how well she's grown, how beautiful she is, and how clever she's becoming.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can't remember what a 30 week preemie looks like

I've just hit 30 weeks in this pregnancy. Initially 30 weeks wasmy goal but now that I looked at on my own blog what Emilia looked like around 30 weeks, I now realize that I do need to keep this pregnancy going as long as possible. I pictured a 30 week preemie was going to be a huge baby (compared to a 25 weeker like Emilia) but looking at the pictures from July 2011, I can see how small the baby is still.

Any way, this time around, I got into the third trimester, which I skipped entirely with Emilia. Each passing week since 25 weeks was something to celebrate.

So, does Emilia now know she will have a baby sister? I don't know. She rubs my belly and calls it "baby". She also kisses on my belly saying "hi baby". But still, I don't know if she really knows what's coming. Regardless, I am sure she will be very upset the first few days after the arrival of her sister.

Hand Foot and Mouth Disease is back!

Well, I don't know if there is an outbreak right now, but it looks like Emilia has it for sure. I do not know where she got it. Probably from her day care. But we also went to the splash pad, playground, and Yorkdale mall food court on the weekend so she's been touching a lot of different things "in public places".

Fortunately, so far, she has no fever but she has lots and lots of the red bumps/blisters. The blisters seem to bother me more than Emilia actually (does she even know she has all these rashes??). I feel bad that there is nothing I can help her with because there is no medication for HFMD. We were debating whether to take her to her pediatrician, but what for? I knew immediately it was HFMD when I saw the familiar rashes on her soles and her thighs/bum area. Just surprised that she didn't have any fever in the last few days. When she had virus last year around this time, I think she had a high fever and sores in her mouth, which prevented her from eating for a day or so. I am reluctant to send her back to the day care tomorrow. I don't want other kids to contract the disease but at the same time, she's not showing any fever so I want to tell myself that she's okay.

Coincidentally it was right around Canada Day last year too when she had HFMD. Hopefully she will get over it before the Canada Day long weekend is time. I was actually hoping to go camping before my baby bump gets too big and heavy.

Eating ice cream cone for the first time

We went to a splash pad with Gandparents and Marru on Saturday. Marru and Emilia each got treated to a nice ice cream cone by Grandparents. Here Emilia is eating her first ever ice cream cone... she enjoyed it so much that when I took a bite, she was screaming and crying.

what better way to spend Father's Day afternoon

...than enjoying time Emilia with at a splash pind.

Having some father-daughter time (that does not involve any diapers)

Emilia turned two on May 31!

First cake on May 31

Second cake on June 1 at Grandparents' place

(That's cousin Marru trying to blow the candles)

 

 

I wanted to post right after her birthday, but I've been just procrastinating, and then today I realized it's been a week since her birthday already.

Emilia is 84cm tall and weighs 13.4kg. She still is a good eater, and I am sure that is one of the reasons she has been able to stay relatively healthy.

Terrible Two is here. She's so stubborn and independent, but I think she's still a good baby compared to some other toddlers. She loves books, especially the ones with pictures of animals (farm, jungle, and ocean). She has a lot more words now but still does not use a sentence. But she started repeating after me when I tell her a word. Sometimes she says it all wrong but it's still a nice try. When I call her name, she repeats it: "Mia". When I tell her an owl says "hoot-hoot", she says "boot-boot". No matter how many times I tell her it's "hoot", she still says "boot-boot". She loves singing "happy birthday" - though her version has simplified lyrics: "happy happy...to yoooou"

Cheers to the last 2 years, and to all the good fun we will have together in the many years to come. Happy Happy To You, Mia!!

Emilia is going be a big sister!

Emilia is going to be 2 years old in 2 days. As I think back those days leading up to her birth and the following months in NICU, I cannot help feeling emotional and also being amazed at how this little baby survived and has grown up to be a perfectly bouncy bubbly toddler.

And as I am expecting another baby now (19 weeks now), I cannot help reliving those memories... I keep thinking it is bound to happen again and I will fail this time also. I have been mentally preparing myself, even though I am now seeing a high risk doctor and even got cerclage put in 3 weeks ago. What is different now is I have a living proof that shows that I can have hope. Even if I end up delivering early, Emilia is my proof that preterm birth is not the end of everything I dreamed about having and raising a kid.

Better-late-than-never Easter photos

"Let's see where all the eggs are"

 

Searching for eggs

 

So cute with a bunny hat

Decorating Easter eggs

We were visiting my brother's family in Hamilton for the Easter weekend. Emilia and her cousin Marru had a blast. Next year's Easter egg hunt will be in the backyard!

On being a preemie parent

I was browsing Baby Centre forums yesterday. One of the forums is Premmie Parenting, which I had not visited a long time ago. One of the discussion topics was "what is it like being a preemie parent?". I didn't click on it to read all the posts, but just looking at the title of the post made me reflect on the past two years, from the day I was told I would have a high risk of preterm labour, all the way until the present day. Emilia is so busy playing with her kitchen set banging the pots and pans with a ladle. When she was first born, I could not have imagined that she would one day be walking and playing like other toddlers. So, being a preemie parent is being grateful. Despite all the small and big bumps on the road along the way, I feel blessed for what I have been given.

*****

Getting back to her speech... I had anticipated a referral to a speech therapist when going to the neo-natal follow-up clinic but the speech pathologist said "it will come". She was indeed right. It has been coming, slowly. Emilia is picking up a new word every 2-3 days now. She still does not have "enough" words according to her Early Interventionist who visited her few weeks ago, but I am not worried because she is gaining a new word every few days and I am fine as long as she is progressing. Supposedly she should be saying two-word sentences very soon and in order to do that she needs to have 50 words, which she is nowhere close to right now. I don't mind her seeing a speech therapist but at the same time, I don't mind her just growing at her own pace. She has been meeting all the milestones a little late any way, so to me speech is one of them. She will do it soon but just not at the same time as most kids do.

I start to wonder which ones are truly preemie issues and which ones are just normal individual differences. I know her left side muscle issue is a preemie issue for which I will do everything I can to fix. But walking and talking late to me might just be any baby, not just micro-preemies. This is a big change in my attitude. Until last year, I was so anxious that Emilia might not meet the milestones on time, but I have become much more relaxed now. I think the gap between her chronological age and corrected age has become smaller.

But let me admit that I still worry too much even though I don't want to be an overly protective, over-reacting preemie parent more. For example, Emilia these days hates wearing long sleeve tops. She pulls the sleeves and tries to take off the clothes. Dressing is such a difficult task these days. Immediately I thought the words "sensory issues" I read somewhere on preemie parents forums. Does she have sensory issues when things touch her skin, or is it normal for a toddler to all of a sudden refuse to dress? I am sure she has life-long effects from the early days when she had to fight for life but it's so hard to separate what is due to being a preemie and what is just part of growing up. So, being a preemie parent, for me at least, also means constantly worrying and feeling guilty - the guilt forever burned in my heart will come back every time a problem turns up.

Emilia - 18 month follow up clinic

I don't know why updating this blog has become such a difficult thing. One of the reasons probably is that I am just too darn tired after getting home from work and putting Emilia to bed.

First of all, she has adjusted to the Toddler Room really well. No more crying and clinging during the morning drop-off! In fact I went to my very first Parent-Teacher interview (I didn't know I would go to one this soon) few weeks ago and the teacher reassured me that she was doing well.

We had a visit with the neonatal follow up clinic in early March. It was for her 18 month check up. Growth-wise, no concerns at all. She was trending the way she always was (somewhere in the 80th-95th for weight and head circumference and just above average for height). For developmental test, they used the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. It was basically a series of game-like tests where Emilia had to sit at a table and play with toys and solve puzzles. Some games were timed too. She was amazingly engaged, as the speech pathologist who was conducting the test said. I had not known Emilia could be so concentrated and focused for a long time. She had to take a few breaks during the test but she was very co-operative.

At the end of the follow-up appointment, they told us that she had no issues with cognitive skills and her speech was OK. But they mentioned again about her left side (high tone muscles), which I expected. Since the very early days of her life, I have been aware of the issue, though I have to admit I have been in denial. During the NICU days, her brain ultrasound scans suggested periventricular leukomalacia (PVL for short). The prognosis at the time was basically cerebral palsy but the doctors just could not know to what degree she would be affected. The follow-up clinic told me it was very very mild CP ("at the end of the mild spectrum") but they still recommended physiotherapy. As Emilia grows up, there is going to be a higher demand on her body for physcial activities (playing soccer, running, etc) and the mild symptom now could later be more noticeable and hinder her from taking part in the normal activities other kids do. So, we got referral and are back on physiotherapy. The first session is this coming Wednesday. I am so anxious to hear what the PT is going say about her.

Video from today

I was testing out my new phone camera with Emilia and she started posing when she saw herself on the screen.

Walking, talking, and more

Emilia can walk quite well now. I think she's finally ready to move to the Toddler Room at the day care. The day care teacher told me that Emilia was acting like a little baby to get attention and also she was imitating what the younger babies were doing. She definitely has more confidence in walking now, although she still falls often.

The biggest development in the past week is that she finally started repeating the sounds after me when I teach her words. The first was "mommy" - she said "mammy". And then when I showed her a banana and said "banana", she said "nana."

The words that she says and KNOWS the meaning of:
nana - banana
peesh - fish
aah da - all done
hi - hi

She continues to talk in an alien language but she picked up 3 new words in 3 days of time so I am very hopeful.

We now have a walker!

Emilia has officially become a toddler. She does not want to crawl any more. It's an exciting time for her, and for her mommy and daddy too.

 

Emilia is Gangnam style!

Video from January 29.
Emilia shows off her Gangnam style dance! I don't know where she learned the dance moves.
She used to do the dance moves everytime someone said the words "Gangname Style", but these days when I request the dance, she does it only when she's in the mood for it.

Oblivion

As I mentioned in my past posts, Emilia has had lots of colds since she started day care. Around the middle of December, however, her "daycare cold" was no longer just a simple cold when she started to wheeze. Her doctor prescribed a puffer (blue one) which we used for about 10 days until she got over the cold. Since then, she has had mid cold symptoms: sniffling, runny nose, and little bit of coughing. Last Thursday, I noticed her wheezing again and gave her 2 puffs before bedtime. The next morning, she looked okay so we just sent her to the daycare without her inhaler. When I went to pick her up in the afternoon though, her breathing had gotten so much worse that I felt like she was going to be out of breath even if she moved just a little bit. I gave her 2 puffs at home, which seemed to help her only for 1 hour.

We rushed to the Children's After Hour Clinic, and the doctor there prescribed another kind of puffer (orange one) in addition to the blue one. Also he put her on prednisolone for 3 days. We thought everything would settle down because we were now armed with 2 different puffers and liquid medicine. However, on Saturday afternoon, her wheezing didn't get better. I gave her 2 puffs of the blue inhaler almost every hour for 3 hours and finally we took her to the emergency of Hamilton Children's Hospital. The doctor there explained us that she didn't think Emilia had asthma but her prematurity didn't help her in the already bad cold/flu season at the daycare. For one, she has chronic lung disease, something I had put behind us and forgotten about since she got off home oxygen last year.  In fact, I didn't hear those three words since February last year. Oh, how much I dreaded seeing "CLD" written in Emilia's medical files in the NICU.

How could we forget how vulnerable my little baby is, even though she looks so healthy and strong. We were fooling ourselves because she seemd to be thriving. I became lax with handwashing - not mine, but hers. I always scrub my hands when I come home but I wasn't diligent with HER handwashing. It was a reality check for us...

The good thing is she is much better now. We got her checked by her doctor today. He listened to her chest and said he didn't hear wheezing. He does not think it's asthma either. He thinks she didn't have enough time to recover from the first cold before she got the second one, which was basically what the doctor at HCH told us on Saturday.

Progress on walking

Emilia suddenly started walking a lot more than before. The day care also told me that she was walking all day long today.

 (By the way, at 0:24, that is her blowing a kiss)

Christmas and other photos

I know it's been almost a month since Christmas, but....

16 months update

Well, I cannot believe I didn't write anything for 2 months. I should have at least posted some Christmas photos, but life at home is getting busier and busier as Emilia becomes more mobile.
She had bouts of cold and last week she got roseola, which gave her a high fever for several days and then rashes when the fever was gone. Between me and my husband, we had to miss work for 4 days in total. Having to excuse myself from work AND staying home with an ill child - not excting at all....

Emilia started walking few steps at a time in November and eventually few steps became 10, and then 20, depending on her mood. Well, she is still not 100% walking, but she "chooses" to walk rather than crawl a lot of times and that's a good sign. She seems to acquire new skills everyday. The day care is planning to move her to the toddler room pretty soon. I think as soon as she can walk with more confidence, she will move to the toddler room.

Speech/language-wise, she is talking constantly but in a language only she can understand. However, today she greeted her daddy with "hi". She also said "hi" on the phone to her grandpa. How exciting! I guess this is what parents are - becoming so thrilled about every little thing their child learns and does.

And last, but not least, I am blessed that Emilia is still a great eater. I have never seen a toddler who loves eating this much.