Chip Off the Old Block, Unfortunately.

My son won't eat macaroni & cheese. Do you know how much this pains me?!?!?! Adam is trying to blame Jeremiah's picky eating habits on ME, can you believe that? However, some of the things that Jeremiah refuses to eat are my favorites! So how can that be my fault? Noodles. He won't eat noodles of any kind, for crying out loud! I could live off noodles! This is what Jeremiah does with noodles (or anything else "mushy"):

Our daycare provider, Michelle, had a small victory this week-- she got him to eat ravioli and peas! Apparently there were some tears, lots of song singing, and applesauce as a "chaser." But he did it! And he even said, "Mmmmm." So, we were bound and determined to continue this at home this weekend. Today for lunch we attempted spaghetti-o's.... and it did not go well. I held Jeremiah's arms down and held his head still while Adam tried to spoon a spaghetti-o into J's mouth (as he was screaming and wildly shaking his head back and forth). We got 1 "o" in there and Jeremiah promptly stuck his fingers in his mouth, grabbed it out, and threw it on the tray. Hmmm. Well, in an effort to show our 13 month old that we indeed ARE the parents and he WILL do what we say, we tried again. And Jeremiah spit out the "o" again and then started gagging. Huh. So, the 13 month old won, we gave up and he gobbled down applesauce, string cheese, and muffin instead.

So, are we crazy? Is our 13 month old running the show here? Being a picky eater myself, I feel bad MAKING him eat stuff he doesn't like. However, I do feel that he WOULD like a lot of different things if he would only TRY them and actually chew them up and swallow them (I wonder if this is what my own mother went through with me?). But really, we can force food into his mouth all we want, but how can you force a kid to chew and swallow?!?!?

In an attempt to get Jeremiah to try some fruits (because we can't just cut them up and he'll eat them. No, he just uses his little finger to smoosh them.) we bought those little mesh feeding/chewing things. We thought if he just gets a TASTE of a fruit and likes it, then maybe he'll be more willing to pick it up off his tray and eat it. I tried pineapple yesterday, and although I think it was a bit sour for his taste, he chewed away on it and sucked the juice like crazy. So then I tried strawberries at dinner time. And he basically smooshed the mesh bag in his hands and watched the red juice squeeze out. So. There goes that great idea.

Oh well. I'm not ready to stress out about Jeremiah not eating mushy foods. He's as healthy as an ox and getting bigger and taller every day! So he must be doing okay on his "bread diet." I figure he'll come around sometime and will soon realize just how GOOD mac & cheese is (maybe I need to try Spirals?)!

One person (kind of) who is benefiting from Jeremiah's eating habits?

Molly LOVES meal time! :)

In other news, Jeremiah got another "owie" yesterday. It was Jeremiah Vs. the metal puzzle holder, and Jeremiah did not win. See his lip?

He likes to pull all the puzzles out of the rack. Then yesterday he thought he needed to carry the puzzle rack somewhere, and then he fell and it flipped up and hit him in the lip. Ouch.

If you are in the mood for cute, here's a little video (sorry about the shaky camera... how do people walk and take video at the same time?!?!?!).

Our Little Book Lover

Pictures like these make me (as a mommy, and a teacher, and a lover of reading) so proud! Grandma Wiers described Jeremiah as not "having a lot of 'sit'" in him, and that is so true. Usually he is all over the place playing with his toys, getting dish towels out of the drawer for mommy, chasing after Molly, etc. BUT, he will also sit down by his bookshelf and just look and look and look at his books! This afternoon he sat for a good 20 minutes looking at book after book (for a 1 year old, that's pretty good, right?!?!?). Of course, he never sticks with 1 book for very long, but that will come, I'm sure! :) Here's a video of him "reading" (it might be a bit boring for anyone besides grandparents!).

Of course, Jeremiah is also showing more and more interest in the TV, and was pretty into one of the March Madness games last night after his bath. And that makes his daddy proud. :)


And one more picture, because he's cute.

Highlights

Here are some of the highlights of the rest of Spring Break!

More good weather and time at the park!


We ended the week with a trip up to Sioux City to see Grandma and Grandpa Wissink, Auntie Rachel (Uncle KB was out of town), and Kyan and Kobe. Jeremiah traveled very well for the 3 hour trip there and also on the way home! Some of the highlights of our trip:

Friday Jeremiah and I went to the school where I used to teach to visit the teachers and staff (Hi to all my Unity friends-- it was GREAT seeing you all!!!). Oh, and then we had lunch at The Pizza Ranch-- YUM!

Then Friday night I met my good friends Stephanie and Natasha in Orange City for Mexican food (in Dutch-ville? Yep.), chatting, and LOTS of laughs! SO GREAT hanging out with yous girls again!

We're a fun bunch!

We really just wanted our picture taken, but the lady just kept bringing out props! How do you say no to a sombrero?

Jeremiah enjoyed more outside playing and exploring at Grandma and Grandpa's house!


Look at him-- he's going to be such a good daddy someday. He LOVED pushing his little puppy in that stroller!


Saturday we all went to a place called Play All Day. Pretty much every kid's dream, I think! Jeremiah loved it (once he got over his uneasiness... apparently it was MUCH too similar to the church nursery).

He played in the little ball pit...


Built a castle with daddy...


Checked in with Grandpa...


Played with Auntie Rachel...


I'm sorry. Wait a minute. How did he get this big and independent?!?!?!


RELIEF! Still Mommy's boy!


And we also took Jeremiah on a little field trip. We visited the dairy where Adam used to work so that Jeremiah could meet some cows for the first time! He is such a dog and animal lover, so he obviously was very excited to meet the baby cows! We first stopped in the Maternity Barn, but then mommy accidentally say a cow giving birth and quickly put a stop to that tour. Then we headed over to the calf farm, where the much cleaner, cuter baby calves live (which is where the video was taken).

It was a great trip, full of friends and family time. And now we are back home, gearing up for the week. Tomorrow it's back to school.... can't say that I'm thrilled about that. Spring Break is always bittersweet-- it's GREAT to have a week off, but it's just a tease! It gives you a taste of summer vacation, and then you are reminded that summer vacation is a long ways off (with NO days off between now and then...). But I'm trying to think positively-- 1. The weather is warming up, so recess duty won't be SO INCREDIBLY FREEZING out on that windy prairie! 2. The weather is warming up, so maybe the COLD air blowing from the vent in my classroom will actually feel good! 3. We are done with conferences for the year and have approximately 8 weeks to go. 4..... ? I'm still working on anything more. I'll miss spending each day with Jeremiah, that's for sure!

Spring Break so far...

It has been a great Spring Break so far! Days off from school are ALWAYS good, but spending time with my feller and 50-60 degree weather make it even better!

On Monday, Jeremiah and I met up with some friends for a playdate! We went over to Tristan's house, and all of Jeremiah's buddies were there to play.

This is Jeremiah with his girlfriend, Ruby. They are destined to be together-- they have already spent one (fully supervised) night together in the nursery at Mercy Hospital! Jeremiah and Ruby are just starting to notice each other and interact, which is so cute! Of course, in this picture Jeremiah is showing off a great smile and Ruby is ignoring him....


Here is Jeremiah with all his friends (and mommy's friends, too)-- Ruby's mommy, Ruby, Tristan, Parker and his mommy, and Ryker and his mommy. We had a great time watching the little ones play (or just sit there) and chatting about babies! Hopefully we can do it again! :)

Of course, when Mommy gets together with her friends, sometimes Jeremiah ends up wearing silly things. Remember this?. Jeremiah may or may not have been seen in a tutu while we were there (Celeste has those pics!). He also sported these for awhile:


So today we had nothing going on, so I decided to try my hand at making homemade bread. Too much reading blogs/websites like The Pioneer Woman, I think! And what did Jeremiah do while I baked?

Very similar to a picture of his Uncle Matt wearing a Jello mold on his head, huh Mom? :)

Jeremiah also did this for awhile. And he napped. It's kind of a long process (which is probably why I have never attempted it before). Doesn't it look good? The house smelled heavenly, too!


And when Jeremiah got up from his nap, we decided to brave the low 50's weather and take a walk up to the park!

Ready to go!


J LOVED the swings, of course!


This was his first time at the park as a walker, so he was a bit hesitant to walk on those strange wood chips! Eventually he got the hang of it, though. We had a great time-- it's supposed to be warmer tomorrow, so we'll probably head back then! :)

Jeremiah gets down with his bad self

We have a dancin' fool on our hands! Jeremiah likes to play with his magnetic farm and then dance to the music-- who wouldn't break into a dance when they hear "The Farmer in the Dell" or "Oh Susanna"? Here's a video! And here's another cute one, too. :)

In other news, Jeremiah is back to eating like a normal 1 year old (if normal 1 year olds hate cut up fruit, noodles, or anything else that doesn't pass the "finger smoosh" test). He's been eating shredded mozzerella by the handful, as well as Nutri-Grain bars, Puffs, cheese sandwiches, and yogurt-- all his regular staples. Tonight we'll branch out and try chicken nuggets again. It's just so good to see him wanting to eat again! He's taking Augmentin 2 times a day for 10 days, which doesn't seem to affect his tummy at all (except for his poops, but I won't go into that...).

I am officially on spring break-- woohoo! We're going to have a wild and crazy time here in Iowa! :)

Frustration!

This dear, sweet, cute, lovable, huggable, squeezable, happy little guy has had a rough time lately. It all started last week Wednesday with the doctor appointment where he was diagnosed with the "start" of an ear infection. Adam said the doctor said, "If you had come in yesterday, I would have told you there was nothing wrong. If you had come in tomorrow, it would have been a full-blown infection." Okay, so one would think that a little antibiotic and our guy would be good to go, right? Well.... instead of going with one of the 3 other antibiotics that Jeremiah has had before, the doctor prescribed yet another new one-- Cefdinir? I had never heard of it. And we were supposed to give it once a day for 10 days! All for just a mild infection? Seemed like a lot to me, but what do I know?

So we gave J his first dose Wednesday night.... and by Friday we had a changed boy on our hands. Our normally GOOD (maybe a little picky) eater had started refusing all foods, even his favorites, and not acting one bit hungry! You should have seen the look of pure joy on his face when we used to break out a Nutri-Grain bar! Oh, he LOVED those things! But all of the sudden he started not wanting ANYTHING, no baby food, no animal crackers, no chicken nuggets, no Nutri-Grain bars, no PUFFS! Seriously, NO Puffs?!?!?! We could get him to sometimes eat a little bit of yogurt or cheese sandwich, but that was basically it. And it was hit or miss with the bottle of milk-- sometimes he would drink all 6 ounces, sometimes he'd scream at the sight of the thing. Weird. Oh, and if he DID eat anything, after a few bites, he would start gagging and sometimes vomit (our child has an extremely strong gag reflex, unfortunately), even on food he normally devours! He wasn't acting hungry at all, even after going days without eating hardly a thing!.

So, Adam and I were left to wonder what was going on. Was the antibiotic making his tummy hurt? Making him nauseous? Were his teeth bothering him? Did my mother's curse that I would have a strong-willed, picky eating child just like myself coming true? We had no idea. So on Saturday, I called the Mercy nurse and explained the situation. She assured me that this is completely normal and ALL antibiotics mess with a baby's tummy, and as long as he's getting fluids and not vomiting all his food up then he's fine. Hmmm. I was still skeptical, but she said to continue with the antibiotic. So we did. Then Monday rolled around and our little guy continued to not eat. He just cried when we would even put him in the highchair! So AGAIN, I called the Mercy nurse, and she basically told me the SAME exact thing I had heard on Saturday. ALL antibiotics do that to babies (nevermind the fact that he's been on other antibiotics and has NEVER had this side effect before), and as long as he's keeping some food down and getting fluids then he is fine, and we should continue with the antibiotic for the full 10 days. So, I gave him his daily does on Monday evening (the antibiotic, by the way, can be taken with or without food), and that was a big mistake. He was crabby ALL evening and was up many times just crying and crying between 8 and midnight, and he was crying like something HURT, and I am sure it was his tummy. :( I think it was about midnight that Adam said to me, "We are NOT giving him that antibiotic ever again." Finally after midnight, Jeremiah went to sleep for the night, and was happy as a clam when I woke him up in the morning on Tuesday.

So we got 6 days worth of the antibiotic into him. And now here we are with a boy who still won't eat. Adam and Jeremiah came to visit me at school last evening (I had P/T Conferences) and we tried to feed Jeremiah his dinner. He took one bite of bananas and refused the rest, then gagged on the first bite of Nutri-Grain bar we offered. That's all he had for dinner! Thankfully he took a 5 oz bottle before bed, and then drank another 6 oz bottle this morning. But now Michelle (his daycare provider) said that she struggled to get him to eat ANYTHING today! To me, that is just not right! He's 1 year old, he should be eating/drinking more than milk in a bottle! It's frustrating that the nurse says this is "normal." Not for MY son! Dinner tonight consisted of... a yogurt. He actually at the whole thing, which is an improvement. But everything else we offered was refused.

So I just called another nurse for Jeremiah's pediatrician, and she said that this is probably NOT from the antibiotic (HUH?!?!?). She thinks that because he didn't get the full does of Cefdinir AND because his appetite is not improving after going off the antibiotic, his lack of appetite is probably from his ear still being infected. Soooo.... maybe this stupid horrible antibiotic wasn't even helping?!?!?! Grrrrrr.

So, for now, we are not giving Jeremiah the antibiotic, he's still not eating anything, and we have an appointment to see the doctor AGAIN tomorrow morning at 9:30. Oh, and one other thing... this antibiotic is white, but is strawberry flavored, and turns a baby's poop bright red. What the heck is in that stuff?!?!?!

Thankfully, even though the little guy has not been eating, he has still been acting normal and happy.

Here's a video of the fella playing tonight. A couple things about this video: 1. Grandma Wiers, your are going to love this one! He does your favorite lip-smacking/kiss thing at your picture! 2. He's shirtless because we had just cleaned him up after dinner-- he had totally demolished a pop-tart all over himself (getting none of it in his mouth, of course). I think in the video he even still has some on his face.

And here's another fun video of Jeremiah having fun in the bath! He would play in there all day if we would let him, and he always cries when it's time to get out! :)

I Turned My Baby Yellow

Let me clarify. My "picky eating habits" turned my baby yellow! So, ever since Jeremiah started eating baby food, he definitely preferred carrots, sweet potatoes, and especially squash (that's his fave!). Peas and green beans were okay, but sometimes met with some resistance. And he's ALWAYS loved the fruits! So, being the picky eater that I am, somehow I transferred that (subconsciously) to Jeremiah. When it was time for me to feed him I would naturally gravitate towards the squash/carrots/sweet potatoes because I knew Jeremiah liked those. Adam, on the other hand, was much more adventurous and didn't hesitate to feed him the mixed veggies or green beans with rice or whatever other crazy concoctions they had.

So, this weekend, we had Jeremiah's 1 year pictures taken by our AWESOME friend Celeste. As she was editing the photos and as I was telling her that J hasn't been feeling well lately, she mentioned to me that in the pictures his skin had a yellowish tinge to it. Huh. Weird. So when Jeremiah got up this morning, I looked at him a little differently. And sure enough-- kinda yellow! Adam noticed it, too, especially on his hands and neck. So anyway, Adam mentioned this to the doctor when he brought Jeremiah in today (for other reasons). The doctor also noticed the yellowish-ness, and pricked Jeremiah's finger for a Bilirubin test. Thankfully that test came back normal, and Jeremiah's liver is functioning just fine! But the doctor did say that the yellowish color to Jeremiah's skin is most likely a result of him eating lots of squash! Shoot-- who knew something like that could happen?!?!? Not me, obviously.

Anyway, our fella has had a rough couple days (he has been a CRAB!) because of a combination of things-- fever due to a reaction to the MMR vaccine from last Monday, molars coming in, and the beginning of an ear infection. Not to mention the part about being yellow-- I'd be crabby about that, too! Needless to say, he had peas tonight.

See for yourself-- a sneak peek of Jeremiah's 1 year pictures (yellow or not, he's still cute)!