A friend of mine came over on Tuesday and mentioned that she blogs about her kids. What a great idea! She can look back anytime and read about the early days of her children's lives.
Hence forth, the Kinley and Elizabel blog is created.
Elizabel is just over 4 weeks old now. After many days of sporadic crying out due to gas pain I decided to switch her formula to Enfamil Gentlease. I read reviews that you should give that a try before switching to soy formula which would surely cause constipation (I do remember that with Kinley- scary, hard, big green balls).
I cannot possibly go into why she is on formula and not breast milk, it is too sensitive of a subject. I feel I deal with public scrutiny on a daily basis because of it. We are after all in Alaska, beautiful, natural and sustainable. Elizabel is now sleeping after a four ounce bottle of her new formula, let's hope it works. Elizabel is becoming more of a cherub daily and she now holds and looks for your gaze. She is a happy baby, only crying when gassy. I have kept her sheltered inside due to the weather (18 degrees, windy, snowy) and due to the H1N1 pandemic flu hovering over our small community. Many of our friends are sick. Tim, Kinley and I have all been vaccinated for the seasonal as well as the H1N1 flu.Kinley is currently at dance (Miss. Ginny's) with Tim. I asked Tim to attend this time because Kinley has consistently been hurt in some way from a giant 5 year old who shouldn't be in the same class. Since I have stopped working I have done my best to keep Kinley busy with play dates and activities. She does really well listening at dance. She may have occasional breakdowns but that is to be expected from a 3 year old. One thing I would like to note is that she does have this obsession with sticking her tongue
out while dancing. According to Tim's mom, Tim did the same thing at that age. It is just one of Kinley many quirks, just like her fascination with "bruisee's", which are actually pieces of lint stuck between her toes.When Elizabel was born, Tim and I did not know what to expect from Kinley. The first day she visited her in the hospital she just gazed at her with strong curiosity and sat on Tim's lap. She refused to hold or kiss Elizabel. We did do a gift exchange, giving Kinley a backpack with "bubber" (a form of mold able foam) and we said it was from Elizabel. That gift sort of took away the attention from Elizabel for that visit. My mom was here for the c-section and stayed for ten days after. I had mixed feelings when Elizabel was born. I was overcome with such love for Elizabel and also overcome with major guilt that I had stolen the limelight that Kinley has had for over the last three years. I often saw sad gazes from Kinley when I was feeding or holding Elizabel, it wasn't my imagination. I was told by my mother that these feelings would soon pass. I did the best I could to keep Kinley's routine the same. My mom and Tim took turns bringing and picking her up from preschool and also dance. Besides being catered to by Arizona Nana and soon Seattle Nana (ten days after my mom left Kathy came), Kinley seemed OK with our new addition.
Kathy left last Sunday and normal routine has commenced. Tuesday I hosted my monthly meal swap. I have noticed that Kinley is having sporadic meltdowns during play dates. Kinley's friends, Wynne, Paxon and the nine month old siblings of the two- Stokely and Gus were over here playing. Kinley consistently had meltdowns over tiny things. Kinley and Tim just got home from dance and her friend Abigail was dropped off with her. This Abigail play date has been planned since before Elizabel was born. We had to put it off last week due to Abigail having a cough and runny nose (not taking any chances with Elizabel exposure). Kinley has already had two meltdowns. Could this be an act of territorial possession due to her sister's birth? When will this pass? I feel like I need to ban play dates from our house until it does. My friends understand and say it will pass.
I want to include this note from Ms. Candy (Kinley's preschool teacher):
Hi Angi,
I just wanted to let you know that your daughter is a genius!:) We are learning the letter "J" and I showed the children pictures of images of things that start with that letter and asked if they knew what they were. A couple of the "J" pictures were difficult, but I showed them anyway, just to expose the children to new words. Kinley was the only child (in the entire class) that knew what jacks and jack-in-the-box were called. Just thought you'd like to know! :)
Can't wait to see Elizabel.
Candy
I love to get notes like these from her teachers. I really feel that preschool has been the best thing for Kinley. Kinley strives in environments that push and challenge her. She is so smart- no, really she is! I can write all day about Kinley!
It sounds like I need to go mitigate Kinley and her new play date before Tim goes crazy. Maybe a snack will do.
Angi
