remember how dada used to think i hated him? that’s cuz i wouldn’t say “dada” until i was 20 months old. well, ees-nano has been saying “mama” all week. mama mama mama all day long. i’m trying to teach her to say “dada” so that his feelings don’t get hurt again.
i got your back, dada!
have you noticed that ees-nano goes to see the doctor a lot? a LOT. i have never been to the doctor except for that one time when i smashed my fingers in the door and i thought they were broken. oh, and regular checkups, of course. but i would even skip those if i could.
ees-nano has doctor’s appointments all the time. there’s her regular doctor, her kidney doctor, her head specialist, and today she went to a new doctor for her skin. (more on that later.) every time she sees the kidney doctor, she is told that everything is fine but that she should come back again for monitoring… just in case. it’s the same story with the head specialist. i used to feel bad for her that she has to keep going to all these doctor’s appointments. they are terrifying. but then it dawned on me. she likes it!
i think ees-nano has been making up all these issues so that she can meet lots of doctors. and even though there is nothing wrong, she keeps going back so that she can keep seeing them. i’m on to her. she just wants to marry a doctor.
if you’re wondering, the reason ees-nano gave to get an appointment with a dermatologist is that the soles of her feet and palms of her hands are peeling. mommy thought it was just normal newborn molting, but it never went away. her regular doctor was stumped, but guessed that it might be athlete’s foot. how silly! ees-nano is not even athletic. mommy put athlete’s foot cream on her feet for a couple of weeks, but that wasn’t helping. plus, ees-nano has recently started sucking her toes. so, no more cream. and off to the dermatologist they went.
the doc took one look at ees-nano and announced that she has a mild case of atopic eczema. he showed mommy ess-nano’s hands and all the lines on her palms. he said that is common in people with atopic eczema. mommy never noticed all the extra lines because she has them too! apparently, that’s what’s causing the peeling on her feet and palms, too. doc said that ees-nano will eventually outgrow the eczema, and in the meantime she should avoid environmental allergens. he said to stay away from tide laundry detergent and use all free clear instead (we already are — dada is so smart!). he also recommended cerave lotion because it replenishes ceremides in your skin, something that people with eczema have less of. and that’s it. the dermatologist must not have been cute because ees-nano didn’t say that she has to go back “for monitoring”.
last night, mommy and auntie judy went to the sharks game. mommy told auntie judy that she could pick one kid to bring to the game. so ees-nano and i made our cases.
this was my pitch:
i have team spirit. i know how to do the shark chomp and yell “go! go! go!”. (i learned that from watching football, but it applies to hockey, right?) ees-nano’s yelling just sounds like “eeehhhhh!!!”.
ees-nano took a different approach and appealed to auntie judy’s sensibilities: “i will be a fantastic wingwoman and sit still on your lap all night.”
i think it’s clear from the photos who auntie judy picked. *sigh* she had her at “wingwoman”.
at least ees-nano was true to her word. she sat still all night, and she got the attention of all the boys sitting around her — except for the ones wearing enemy colors, of course. one guy held her hand and one even took a photo of her. and by “her”, i mean ees-nano, not auntie judy. so what did auntie judy do with these guys after ees-nano got her the in? no idea. they won’t tell.
auntie judy, whatever you did with those guys, i hope it was worth it. i’m going to remember this!
ever since ees-nano came along, i’ve had to share all my stuff with her. she uses my car seat, stroller, and crib. she reads my books, plays with my toys, and she even wears my clothes. i don’t mind at all. i didn’t even mind when mommy started mushing up my veggies for her to eat.
but about a week ago, ees-nano got teeth. she has two little bottom teeth coming in. and to help soothe her gums, mommy started putting my fruit into my mesh feeder and giving it to ees-nano to chew/suck on. nooo… not my fruit! i told mommy no. i told her that those were kyden’s strawberries. and kyden’s apples. and kyden’s pears. but she didn’t listen. ees-nano loved them and chomped away.
and then for the next few days, ees-nano screamed in pain whenever she went poo-poo. also, her butt was red and irritated. we think that the acid in the fruit changed the pH in her poo and that it was hurting her when it came out. apparently, this can happen with babies who have extra-sensitive skin. so, ees-nano stopped eating my fruit and now she’s all better. she’s happy, i’m happy… everybody wins.
i told her to stay away from my fruit. i hope she learned her lesson.
ees-nano found her tongue recently. i don’t know why it took her so long, but now that she’s found it, she won’t stop showing it to everyone. and everyone thinks it‘s sooo cute. i don’t get what the big deal is. it’s a tongue. everyone has one. and how come it’s cute when she sticks out her tongue, but it’s a no-no when i do it?
and while we’re on the topic, there are lots of things that ees-nano does that are sooo cute that i get in trouble for. like when she grabs my feet, it’s cute. when i grab hers, i get a very stern “be gentle”. when she blows bubbles, it’s cute. when i blow bubbles in my milk, my milk gets taken away. when she kicks her legs wildly, she gets encouraged. when i thrash around like a wild shark, i’m told to stop (especially when it’s during a diaper change). when she smacks someone in the face, it’s cute. when i do it, i get a time out.
i think there’s a double standard around here, don’t you? no fair!
today, isaac had a party to celebrate his (belated) birthday and break in his new house. two parties in one. cool!
since it was a special occasion, ees-nano (that’s “sienna” in kydenese) knew that she had to accessorize. when she was just a few days old, auntie barbara taught her that accessories make the look and that she must accessorize any time she is entertaining visitors or going out. good thing that she has more than a dozen headbands and hair clips in a variety of colors. most of them were gifts from auntie barbara, of course.
so as mommy was strapping ess-nano into her car seat, i pinked a pink bow hair clip for her to wear with her outfit. mommy tried to trick me into choosing a purple flower clip or a fuchsia ribbon clip, but those didn’t match. gimme a break. i know my colors.
anyway, we made it to isaac’s new house. he has a whole room just for his toys! he also has a lot of really great friends that i had fun playing with. we played with his big train set, leaptop, xylophone, and a funny-looking potato. (the potato had feet, eyes, a hat, but only one ear — no wonder his glasses wouldn’t stay on). i also found a sheet of stickers and decided to accessorize myself… and the stuffed dog that was hanging out in the playroom.
happy birthday issac, and congrats on your big bad beautiful house!
baby sister had a follow-up appointment today to check out her flat head. just like last time, she had to wear a do-rag. and just like last time, she looked funny. but today, baby sister started crying as soon as mommy laid her down in the magic box. i don’t know why. she didn’t cry at all last time.
there wasn’t much change in baby’s head measurements between last month and today (numbers are marginally better). she is in the grey area between normal and needing helmet therapy. everything we were told made it seem like a helmet would be cosmetic only (like braces for her skull) and that her mild case of flat-headedness won’t cause problems with her vision or jaw alignment. but still, they want to continue to monitor her and have her scanned again next month.
i don’t get it. there wasn’t any significant change in the past month, and there’s no reason to think that things would suddenly get worse next month, right? and it has already been determined that any treatment would be cosmetic only, which also means all costs are out-of-pocket. and baby sister definitely doesn’t like being scanned — i think that’s obvious from the photo. so, for all those reasons, mommy is thinking of not bringing baby sister back. but then auntie ann (who is a pediatric physical therapist) told mommy that she should continue to have baby sister monitored just in case. what do you think she should do?
personally, i think baby sister should go back because the head scanning place is really close to the palo alto junior museum and zoo. scan for baby means zoo for me 
happy 6 month birthday to baby sister!
things she likes:
things she doesn’t like:
before today, baby sister sat through all of her doctor’s visits all smiley and happy. she was just too little to understand that at the end of her appointment, she was going to get stabbed with those long needles. i knew she’d get it one day. that day is today.
i went to baby’s appointment with her this morning. she goes to a different doctor than i do (i know it’s weird — ask mommy about it) so i didn’t recognize the building from the outside. but when we entered the waiting room, i knew it looked familiar. i had been there once before. i nervously told mommy that i wanted to leave, but she promised me that i wouldn’t get any shots. i believed her. so i just played on the slide in the waiting room. it was fun.
when we went into the exam room, i found a basket of toys to play with and a book to read. i hung out and played while we waited. a couple of times, i told baby that we should go, but she didn’t listen. mommy undressed her and put her on the crinkly paper, and she SCREAMED. i told her to escape while she had the chance, but she didn’t listen.
the nurse managed to measure baby sister through all that screaming. here are her stats:
when the doctor came in, i tensed up. again, i asked mommy if we could leave, but she said no. and she was saving her best ammo for that moment — “words”! she let me play 14 games of hanging with friends all by myself. i even managed to guess 2 words correctly! a 14% success rate won’t set any records, but not bad for a 2 year old, right?
that was enough to get me through the rest of the appointment. i barely even noticed when mommy put baby sister back on the exam table for her 3 shots and yucky syrup. baby sister noticed, though — she started crying as soon as her body touched that crinkly paper. maybe she’ll listen to me next time when i tell her to get outta there.
remember back at the end of november when i said that baby sister got her first tooth? it turns out that i was wrong. i was trying to count her teeth the other day (just like mommy counts mine) and there were none. NONE! she is waaay behind me in the teeth department. baby sister does blow bubbles though. so if you ask me how many teeth baby has, i will tell you “bubbles”. now, it totally makes sense why baby hasn’t been eating when she sits with us at the dining table. she doesn’t have teeth to chew beef and yam fries and all the yummy foods that i get to eat. (if you ask what baby eats, i will tell you “mommy” 
)
but tonight, baby sister got to eat oatmeal mush for the first time. she acted like she liked it, but i don’t know how she could know — it didn’t seem like she was actually swallowing much of it. mommy said it’s okay though, because baby is just practicing using a spoon. and in a few days, she will be 6 months old and she’ll get to eat real food. for my 6 month birthday i got carrots. i wonder what baby sister will get.
