Brandi Stratman, P.E.

Stratman Consulting, LLC

Office Phone - 816.554.9826

Mobile Phone - 816.769.0034

E-mail - stratman923@earthlink.net

 

 

random

I am starting to feel the bitter part of the bitter sweet end to nursing.  I guess it was just so unexpected, I nursed the older boys well into the 12 month and had to really work at weaning.  I never thought Ryan would just stop, on his own 2 months shy of his first birthday and leave me feeling so, I don't know, rejected I guess.  But I guess nothing with Ryan has ever really gone as expected.  It amazes me how different he can be.  Kyle and Grant were typical into everything babies, but they never went for the toilet.  Ryan on the other hand makes a bee line that way any time I turn my back.  I am trying to look at not nursing in a positive light and realize it gives Jason a chance to feed him bottles, something that I think he enjoyed for the first 3 months only to have snatched away when we got the go ahead to ditch the fortified breast milk.  It's hard though, I would give anything for one more night to cuddle up with him in my room.  The picture is not me looking my best, but I love the light on Ryan's little face.  The other two are very random.  One is Jason's orchid which bloomed this week.  We picked it out for his birthday, last year, meaning that it has taken about 56 weeks to bloom.  I personally would have given up around 20, but not Jason, he kept tending to what to me seemed and empty pot with some sticks sticking up and look at the result.  The other is a picture Kyle drew after Pipa Smith and Grandma Deb took him to a motorcycle race in St. Louis a couple of weekends ago.  To say my dad and step mom are not picture taking type people is an understatement and this is the only record of what I think was a great trip.  They went to the rode the metro link to the race, ate at Cracker Barrel twice and went to the top of the arch.  He has just gotten so independent, I don't think he had any problems on the overnight trip at all.  I guess that makes 2 of my boys that are growing up too fast.

CHD Families Picnic

In addition to playing in the late March snow, we went to the CHD Families picnic on Sunday. I kind of didn't want to go, I thought I would feel out of place, but we ended up having a really good time. It was very casual, just a nice lunch and a bunch of kids running around. With the recent snow, they couldn't play outside which was kind of a bummer, but someone brought painting stuff and an indoor bowling set. Eventually, all of the boys seemed to be using the plastic bowling pins as light sabers. I am sure my boys had nothing to do with that. I bought a couple of things in the silent auction and we had a chance to see the Knipps from our church. The picture is of their son, Will, with Ryan. Kim made the blanket that was in the CHD Families care package, so it was a very small world story when I realized that we attend the same church. They are so nice and it was good to have some time to hang out a little with them. I think I am going to do the heart walk as well. I usually hate asking people for money and I will probably just make a large donation on my own, but I probably will send out a few emails since the director of CHD Families has worked very hard to get the funds restricted to CHD Research. The other pictures are one of the whole family before the picnic. By some miracle, we were ready a little early and I wanted a nice picture of all of us. But as you can see, Grant thought that was a little to much to ask. The other picture shows how he quickly redeemed himself by holding Ryan's hand in the car. He always does that now and it is pretty darn cute.

Busy Week

I really don't even know where to start this week.  I finally have some work to do, so I was in a much better mood.  I didn't realize how much I enjoy our schedule when I am working.  I don't know how full time stay at home moms do it, I was about to go insane. I guess I will just start with Monday.  Grant had his 9 month checkup with the new pediatrician, Dr. G.  He continues to do amazingly well, 20 pounds, 29 inches long, great numbers for any baby, let alone one who had a two month delay to making any progress.  He was just getting over a cold and had some fluid in his ears, but other then that was the picture of health.  I loved the new doctor and wish I would have switched months ago.  She asked me lots of questions about Ryan and even asked me how I was doing, if I was sleeping well and said it is not unusual for hospital moms to experience anxiety for quite some time after their kids are doing better and reminded me that one of the best things I can do for all of my kids is to take care of myself.  I can guarantee that would have never crossed the mind of previous doctor.  That was Monday, which ended up being a big heart day.  That night was a CHD Families meeting.  I was able to deliver the blankets I had been making.  The pictures are of Kyle with the one he picked out and Ryan with all 6.  These blankets will be given to parents who have a kiddo at Mercy going through cardiac surgery and are similar to the one we received from what turned out to be a family from our church.  I stayed for the meeting, but don't know if I will in the future.  Everyone was so nice, but most have kids with CHD's that are more severe and require multiple surgeries.  At the meeting, I also delivered some goodies to include in baskets CHD families is making for Doctor's day, along with cards that I made on Snapfish with Ryan's picture.  I include on the back one from the hospital and it is truly amazing how far he has come.  Just this week he has started big time cruising (at the doctor's office, he went from chair to chair around the entire waiting room) and even learned yesterday to walk behind his push walker.  He smiles from ear to ear when he does it and you can tell he is so proud of himself.  I think he is also signing more, although I think right now he just thing is means "I am eating" and knows it gets a reaction out of me, but it is a start.  He is pretty much done with baby food as he much prefers to pick up little bits of table food.  Friday, he ate half a piece of pizza for dinner and threw a fit when I even suggested a little bit of baby food.  In other kid news, Grant is obsessed with opposites after discussing the subject in preschool.  What's the opposite of apple? Banana.  Closet?  Bunk Bed?  Clothes? PJs and our favorite, Gun? Light saber.  I should probably explain that some words don't really have opposites, but the toddler word association is to much fun. Kyle wanted to go with me on my run/walk on Wednesday.  I thought I would have to nag him to keep up a fast walk pace.  Boy was a I wrong.  The big loop around our neighborhood that took me 16.5 minutes the night before was covered in less then 13 and I don't even think it was a big challenge for him.  He is 6 and is running well over a mile!  The big thing I didn't do was let my baby stand up on the chair while we were making cookies and let him fall and bump his head on the hard wood.  Only a complete idiot would put a baby standing up in the chair!  I would know that would mean no sleep for me tonight because I would be so worried that I want to check on him every hour and that it would ruin an otherwise perfect weekend.

Ryan's First Trip to the Zoo

Being spring break, I felt some pressure to do something kid oriented even though 2 of my 3 kids are home most of the time anyways. So we up and went to the zoo on Thursday with my good friend Julie and her 3 kiddos. "We" included Mom and Lilly (note the picture, I did her piggy tails), so it was quite the group, 3 adults, 7 kids, 3 strollers. I was anxious to see how Ryan did with a longer outing, we didn't really go anywhere over the winter as I have said many times. While I can't say he was thrilled, he did a pretty good job in the stroller (even though I forgot the tray part and it looked like he was just haning in by the harness). He only got fussy at the very end and that was remedied by a bottle in the van on the way home. I have been worried that he isn't nursing enough to get enough fluid, so I started giving him some of that next step formula in his sippy cups and yesterday took it to the zoo in a bottle and to my shock and slight dismay, he sucked it down. He still nursed this morning but was all fidgety again in the afternoon and he wasn't feeling super well, so I tried the bottle again and he chugged it right down. I would have thought I would have been more sad about this, given how hard I fought at the beginning to nurse him and I probably am on some level, but he does seem to enjoy the bottle and act like he is ready to move on. Getting rid of the nursing bras will be nice to. The only thing I haven't done this week is buy my 3 year old Fruit Loop Cereal straws at the store just because he said "Please" and clasped his little hands to his chest.

Weekend Blues

Here is my best recollection comments Grant made this evening about the wedding picture that hangs in my bedroom.  "Mommy, you are a ballerina and daddy is a teacher", "You went to church and you got those flowers and you dropped Kyle and I off at the park to play", "The next time my friends are here, I am going to show bring them here and show them this picture".  I was about to lose it, I don't think I have ever talked to him about our wedding or that picture, this just all came pouring out of his little brain.  The attached picture is not the one he was talking about, but I haven't downloaded pictures this week (I tried to take 9 month pictures of Ryan and never had much luck) and I remembered I have a few very low resolution digitals of the ancient event.  It seems like a million years ago, especially this weekend.  Jason didn't work, which was so nice and I tried really hard to be in a good mood, but it just didn't seem to happen.  It was even a nice day on Saturday and Kyle's 1st soccer game was at 3:30, so we decided to all go, which was really nice (we took turns last season so one of us could stay with Ryan).  We ended up playing against this coach I hate (he has his team of 5 year olds practice indoors all winter, 5 year olds!) AND we were short players and had no subs.  It wasn't pretty and I was afraid Kyle would be really upset, but he did really well, I think I was more upset them him.  I really need to learn to not get so invested in his sports and while I am at it, not to volunteer for so many things, I was trying to pass out shirts because I volunteered to do that and keep track of an extra kid because I volunteered to give him a ride to the game.  Yes, I have alot to learn.

9 Months and Counting!

Ryan is 9 months old tomorrow! I wanted to take him and have his picture taken, but I have been hearing/reading that flu and RSV just got a late start this year and are pretty prevalent right now, so I will probably wait again. It could just be me being lazy and having a good excuse. We are having trouble with the time change. I always look forward to getting the kids into bed at an earlier time, but they always end up actually going to sleep later and wake up so tired. This coupled with the fact that I have gotten back on the wagon with limiting their screen time has produced a few tears this week. But hopefully things are looking up, we had a pretty good day, topped off with a dinner of tacos with "whack-a-mole". Ryan continues to amaze and entertain us. This is such a fun age, he is just learning things so quickly. His big thing this week has been learning how to sit (or plop) back down after he has pulled himself up. It is so cute, I tried to get a video clip, but they never do it the same way when the tape is rolling. I also started some stage 3 baby foods and he seems to really like them, he also love when I just put small pieces of food on his tray. The picture is the one I used for some cards I made on Snapfish for Doctor's day. Having not celebrated Doctor's Day before, I decided to go all out this year. CHD Families gives baskets to the big 5 areas at CMH (CV Surgery, Cardiology, NICU, PICU, 4S) so I ordered 5 for those, then ordered some extras. I thought I would send them to the cardiologist that diagnosed him at Menorah (Dr. O'Laughlin) as well as the neonatologist that cared for him there (Dr. Skooly) my OB and the doctor that delivered Ryan. Hopefully they will enjoy a word of thanks, even if they don't remember Ryan specifically. I am also planning to send one to the pediatrician I just left. I do appreciate the care we have received there, but I am glad that we have moved on. I can't even imagine bringing up my worries over Kyle's eating habits to him. I think things are getting a little better in the area, he actually ate a cookie yesterday. He continues his obsession with magic. He bought a new set at Target and want to have a big show. I am trying to explain that he needs to practice, but the message doesn't seem to get through. A couple of did nots:

My 3 year old does not know how to hit the snooze button on the alarm clock that sits on the dresser across from my bed. He always sleeps in his own bed and if he does wonder into our room I gently guide him back to his like they say to do in all of the parenting magazines. If he did know how to do this, he wouldn't say, "Oh, no, there it goes again"

The same 3 year old didn't wonder out loud to Jason "What can I do to make mommy happy so she will give me an apple?"