Shay Dockery: January 2013

A while back my pediatrician said that I should go see a GI doctor about my vomiting. It doesn't happen all that often, but it's more often than it should be, so she wanted me to see someone who knew more about it. Mommy and I went to the doctor first and it wasn't all that bad. The worst part was when I had to lay down (I hate laying on my back at the doctor's office! I think my fear stems from being held down on my back to receive my monthly RSV shots last year!) and the doctor felt my tummy. Not so bad. He said to restart medicine for reflux, just a different kind, and have an "upper GI procedure." It was scheduled a week later at the hospital where I spent most of the first few months of my life. The parking garage had changed, so Mommy ended up driving on the wrong side of the road with a truck coming at us! I didn't really remember the hospital, but Mommy was not very excited about having to go back. They even made a mistake and sent us to the fourth floor where I stayed, just a different area. We spent most of our time waiting -in two different waiting rooms- but at least I had packed some good books! And I wasn't allowed to eat anything that morning, so eventually I started getting a little grumpy. When we finally got into the radiation room, I had to change into a tiny yellow robe. I was allowed to walk around the room to get used to all of the equipment. Mommy answered some more questions and was allowed to stay in the room with me. The procedure itself was not fun! I had to lay on a board and they strapped me to it. They tried to start and rotated me to my left, but I flopped forward and refused to drink. Turns out, I was strapped in all wrong and they had to re-strap me. Then they tried again and the barium mixture that I had to drink wasn't mixed all the way and was clumpy, so I had to wait for them to make it again....all while being strapped down. Mommy did her best to help me stay calm, but I was not! I was allowed to hold my stuffed monkey and she asked for a pacifier and I got a brand new one, which helped a little bit. And I didn't want to drink from their cup, so thank goodness Mommy had brought one of mine just in case! So I had to wait for them to switch the drink to my cup before they finally started the procedure! Once I was strapped in correctly and feeling a bit more secure, and I was allowed to drink from my own cup, I did great! I drank about four ounces of grape-flavored barium contrast material. It was chalky and gross, but I hadn't eaten in about 13 hours at that point, and Mommy kept saying, "Mmm, yogurt! Drink some more smoothie!" So they rotated me to the left...then facing up...then to the right...then back to left....then stop drinking...then drink some more...then back to the right...then something really fast because my stomach was about to empty...or something like that! When I was done, the doctor said we needed to wait in the room for the other doctor to look at the video. He gave Mommy a baby blanket to wear "in case he spews." I laid on Mommy's chest and didn't move until he came back. He said that all my anatomy and muscles and muscle function looked good. He didn't see any reflux during the procedure, but that doesn't mean that I don't have it, it just didn't happen on the video. They gave me a snack of juice and graham crackers and Mommy and I sat in another waiting room to eat. I'm glad it is over with and that everything checked out OK. I'll continue to take the reflux medicine to see if that helps, and then follow up with the GI doctor in March.

-I've learned some new animals sounds. I'm past the barn yard residents and onto more exotic animals, like crows ("caw!") and monkeys ("ooh ooh ah ah"). Although I'm learning the names of some animals and not just their sounds ("cow" and "pig" and "penguin")
-I'm pretty much obsessed with "apes." Not the large monkey apes, but "shapes." I just leave off the "sh" sound. Mommy bought me a shape puzzle and I have a shape book. I like to bring them both to the nearest adult and demand: "Apes!" Or I put all of my puzzle pieces in my "back-it" ("basket") or "bucket" and carry them around, including the animal and color puzzle pieces. My favorite shape? OCTAGON! ("ah-gee-gah") I even brought Mommy a trial-size floss container that was shaped like an octagon and told her, "ah-gee-gah!" She didn't believe me and had to count the sides to make sure!
-I can do my puzzles with only a little bit of help. I know where the pieces go, but I'm not great at rotating them to make them fit
-My "L" sound is a big ol' tongue flap, so words like "umbrella" and "gorilla" are just down-right hilarious to Mommy and Daddy because it's really like I'm flicking my tongue in and out of my mouth a few times
-I know all of the kids' names at school!
-I'm a DIY-er, as in, I don't want the cookie that you handed me and will scream, "No! no! no!" but I will put my own hand in the bag and take out the exact same cookie Mommy just tried to give me and be perfectly content with it
-I laugh when I toot!
-I can identify most of my family in pictures
-Most everything is the color "black" or "purple"
-I can identify and name all of the letters in my name. When Mommy spells it for me to repeat, I usually say "Y" before I'm told. The letter "Y" is also my favorite. "ooh-why!" I also like "X" for some reason
-I'm trying to count when I'm playing or stacking blocks, but it usually comes out, "two...two...two..." Sometimes there is a "six" after someone else counts to five
-The Five Little Monkeys is my favorite song and book, although Old MacDonald ("ol-mee-donna") and The Wheels on the Bus are right up there too. I like to say, "No no, monkeys!" while we are singing or reading the book, and shake my pointer finger at them! I ask for "monkeys please" in the car and can sing, "dumpin'" (jumping). I know they jump on the "bed" and hit thier "head" and grab my own head and say, "Ow!"
-I can sing the "E-I-E-I-O" part of Old MacDonald now
-My language is catching up with my typing abilities: "More cookie....please?"
-I'm using a fork to eat most of my food. Mommy used to have to put it on my fork for me, but now I can sometimes get it myself. I'm also able to use a spoon to get food ~~to my mouth~~ on my shirt
-I still enjoy putting things in containers and dumping them out, or carrying them around
-When I knock over a block tower, I exclaim, "Whoa!" or "Oh my!"
-I love being tickled and chased and try to do things over and over that make Mommy and Daddy laugh. They especially like it when I squeal! I think the anticipation of being tickled is better than the actual tickling!! Oh, and my elbows are ticklish!
-I learned about turkeys at school for Thanksgiving and told everyone that they say, "gobble gobble!" (Only I might have said, "dobble dobble")
-One day at breakfast, I put my cup of milk in one cup holder and my cup of water in the other cup holder, then spread my arms out wide and yelled, "Ta-da!" ("tee-dah")
-I fell asleep sitting up in the corner of my crib one time!
-Mommy went to her first Parent-Teacher conference! Miss Jessica said only good things about me too! (Or maybe those are the only things Mommy told me...?) She said that I learn new words very quickly and that I'm starting to come out of my shell and interact with some of the other kids more. She said I need to work on not being upset when Mommy drops me off in the mornings though. She showed Mommy a picture of one day when I fell asleep standing up while all of the kids were outside playing! I had my head leaning on the outside toy storage bin. She told Mommy that sometimes I get cranky around 10:00 so they put me in a pillow pit to let me calm down, but that I usually fall asleep for 15-20 minutes and my power nap helps get me through to the longer afternoon nap
-I finally stopped fussing in the morning when Mommy leaves! It only took three months! I like to wriggle out of Mommy's arms when she gets the check-in slip and then it's my job to carry it in and put it in the bowl. Then I go in and play with my friends or toys and most of the time I don't even know when Mommy leaves!
-I say, "Peeeeeeeeas?" when I need Mommy to change to the next video
-I say, "ABCs" to request the song or book
-I'm starting to like the ride-on toys at school
-I ask Mommy or Daddy to "oh-pee" things for me. Or I say, "oh-pee peas" ("open please")
-I bring someone a book and say, "Read it." as I hand it to them. Mommy is trying to add a "please" to the end of that. Something about sounding too demanding
-I've poopied in the potty a few times! The first time, I was putting my refrigerator magnets in and out of the small potty and kept saying, "pee pee." Mommy asked me if I needed to go pee pee, and I ran to the big potty. She stripped me down and sat me on the small potty and told me to try to go potty. I tried really hard but all that happened was a tiny toot! Mommy and Daddy applauded my efforts (and cracked up laughing!) and then about 30 minutes later, I had all of the tell-tale signs of needing to go potty, and that time, I did it! I've gone a few more times too, and once I even accidentally peed! I'm not really ready to tell anybody when I need to go, but if you catch me at the right time, I don't mind going in the potty!
-Mommy is very careful now to put my diaper back on right away so I don't pee all over the floor again
-I like to give Wrigley treats and will take Mommy or Daddy by the hand and lead them to the jar of treats and ask, "teets?" I have to tell Wrigley, "Sit down." and then tell him, "Good boy!" after I give him the treats
-I've become quite the dancer! My moves consist of various combinations of the following: flapping my hands by my head, rocking forward onto my toes, stomping one foot as a go around in a circle, nodding my head forward, shaking my fists
-I say, "Bless you" when someone sneezes (or coughs!). And sometimes I'll even add my own, "choo!" ("ah-choo")
-One day, I accidentally dumped (cold) leftover water from the teapot all over Mommy and I (enough that we both had to change our clothes!), and innocently looked up and Mommy and told her, "Oops"
-I'm exploring "imaginative play" more often. I like to put various things on my head and tell everyone, "hat!" and I hold almost any flat object to my ear and say, "Hello?!" I also have Mommy's old tea set that I like to pretend to stir and eat
-Mommy and Daddy put the Christmas tree up so when I woke up from my nap it was a surprise! I pointed at the lights and said, "Pretty!" ("pih-tee"). I also pointed to the ornaments and said, "Balls!"
-I copy almost anything I hear, like when we come home and I say, "Hey Wrigs!" with the exact same inflection that Mommy usually uses!
-I can point to Santa in pictures and know he says, "Ho Ho Ho!"
-Clocks say: "kee-kah, kee-kah" ("tick-tock, tick-tock")
-I'm finally wearing 12 month pants!!! And they only sag a little bit. I'm asking Santa for a heiney this year!
-Mommy asks me, "Are you hungry?" and I always say, "Eat!" and then waddle over to my highchair
-I love "boo-bay-ees" ("blueberries") and shove them in by the handful! I've even had them in my pancakes!
-I tell myself "Sit down" ("ee-dah") when Mommy asks me if I want a snack, and sit on the floor and wait for her
-One time when I went shopping with Mommy and Grandmommy, I ran over to a rack of clothes with my arms spread out wide, grabbed as many clothes as I could, buried my face in them, and yelled, "So soft!"
-To help reassure myself that Mommy will return, I asked, "Mommy back?" and then I tell myself often, "Mommy back!"
-Daddy is so proud that I say, "foo-bah!" ("football"). I'm pretty good a throwing, really good at spiking it, and still working on catching. And I swear he had tears in his eyes when I spun my arms around each other and then shot them both up in the air saying, "Roll Tide!"
-I'm chewing on my fingers and sometimes try to get my entire fist in my mouth. More teeth?
-Some of my 12 month pants are getting a bit short. Mommy measured me and I'm 30.75 inches (I was 30 inches even at my last NICU follow up visit at the end of September)
-I say, "Oh no!"
-I still have 'phone conversations' while holding random objects to the side of my head and saying, "Heh-LOOO!"
-They call me a 'chatterbox' at school and tell Mommy that I am "really good with his words!" and that I repeat "everything!"
-My new favorite thing to do in the bathtub is dump. Like the pouring-out-water kind of dump!
-I'll let you know when my snack cup is "empty," as well as other containers, and then they turn into a "hat!"
-I know what it means to 'call' someone when they are in the other room, upstairs, etc. and stretch their name out and use the right inflection: "Moooomm-meeeee?" or "Daaaad-deeeee?"
-Mommy is collecting Injury Incident Reports from school. I've fallen quite a few times, bit my bite once, and been scratched. I'm a tad bit clumbsy and still working on keeping my balance
-I've done a lot of artwork at school. Mommy's favorite is the one with two small brown marks in the corner of a large piece of construction paper, with the title "My Squirrel" written on it
-Blueberries are "boo-bay-ees" and strawberries are "daw-bay-ees"
-We started the month long Christmas traditions! An elf appeared on the mantle one morning. He is very tan, so we decided that he must have been vacationing in the islands near Uncle Chad and we named him Marley (Mah-lee"). He is in a different place each morning and I like to put him back up on his "shelf." Mommy and Daddy say that I'm not allowed to touch him next year though. I also get to move the mouse in Daddy's advent calendar that he had when he was a little boy. As soon as Marley is back on his shelf, I point -"Mouse!" to the calendar and then Daddy walks me over so I can move him into the next pocket. But I have to give him a kiss first and try a few of the wrong pockets while saying, "Nope...nope...nope....yep!" I heard Daddy say that once and now I have to say it each time. Then we point to "Santa" ("tan-ta") and Mrs. Claus ("caws") before Daddy puts me down. It's everybody's favorite part of the day!
-"Oh no! Spill the water!" came out of my mouth after I knocked over one of my cups!
-Grandma was giving me a bath one night and called for Daddy to come help her. Except she called him "Paul." So for the rest of the bath, I yelled, "Paaaaaaaul!!!" over and over and over!
-I willingly ate green beans. They have garlic and olive oil on them, and weren't that bad. I even said "gee-beans"
-Mommy gave me some cookies for the car ride one day and I said, "Thank you, Mommy." She looked like she had tears in her eyes but I was too busy with the cookies to be sure
-At breakfast one morning, I had eaten all of my pancake, so I put my face really close to the empty plate to make sure it was gone, looked at Mommy with a concerned face and my hands upturned and told her, "Oh no! All gone, Mommy!"
-I finally use my hands to cover my face when we play peek-a-boo, and I can very clearly say it too
-I got my first bad haircut. It was short and choppy and uneven and I had to go back to get it fixed. It's still not great, but at least my hair grows fast and I have a lot of it!
-I've learned from Mommy and Daddy to tell Wrigley, "Drop it!" when he steals one of my toys
-Cheerios is "heh-wee-woes" and they are yummy!
-I can open the green snack cabinet and help myself to animal crackers or goldfish
-I'm trying to jump! I bend my legs and then straighten them really fast, but my feet don't leave the ground! Sometimes one foot does and I go up on my toes on the other foot. And of course, I have to say "Jump!" ("dump") every time I do it!