about bliss...

I am writing this post about Bliss. I have a concern and after finally getting him in at the clinic to absolutely dismal reception I am turning to all of you.

Bliss is a healthy child, always has been. besides Rotavirus as a baby and a few colds and stomach bugs he has never been ill. He eats really well. Poops 3-5 times a day and is brilliant.

When we left California a little over a year ago he weighed 78.8 pounds. He has always been stout but never a problem. He is tall and has some belly chub but never any worry.

After we were here a couple months his weight went down to 75 pounds. I figured the lack of corn syrup in EVERYTHING in the states may have been a factor and was not concerned. About 6-7 months ago he got some bug and spent a Sunday night throwing up. He was fine the next day but a week later it repeated. He lost more weight, down to 72 pounds but it went back to 74 after a few weeks.

He began having intermittent nausea and would ask for "bubbly water" and a bath. he never threw up again but I worried.After a month of this one or two times a week he was down to 72 pounds and I decided to take him off the vitamins we had started a few months before.

Things seems to get better with the intermittent nausea but his weight went to 70 pounds. It varied up and down 70-72 and I have been watching it. He has been eating well, whole foods, lots of fruit, good portions. He is not any more active than usual nor is he lethargic.

Two days ago he was doing Wii Fit Plus and it said in the last 17 days he had lost 1.8kg so I had him weight himself again and it now says he weighs 68.8 pounds.

Needless to say I am now officially concerned. He is 51.5 inches tall now and his BMI had gone from precursor to overweight to healthy weight to underweight. He is not skin and bones, he looks healthy weight wise. I just am concerned about a 7 year old losing 10 pounds in the past 16 months.

He does not have a family doc here as none are taking new patients, I am working on that but as a result I got a jerk today after 4 hours of our day was spent waiting to be seen. He wrote a basic blood panel only after I pressed but would not take my word or his previous records from the states and seemed nonplussed.

If anyone has any insight it would be so greatly appreciated.

P.S. and as for Google I get squat except for weight loss crap

soul stats...

height: 29.5 inches
weight: 17lbs 15oz
head: 45cm

Soul had a check-up this week. She is almost 11 months, kind of a 9 month and year rolled into one. She is weighing 17lbs 15oz which is 5th percentile for weight. She has been riding the 18 pound mark for a while but with her mobility and running around now it makes lots of sense. Her head measured 45cm or 17.72 inches which is right at 50%. Her height was 29.5 inches and is up at the 90th percentile.

She is eating lots of things but mainly breast milk and part of whatever I am eating. She loves hummus, pasta, potatoes, strawberries, blueberries (sometimes) and although I had previously mentioned she adores avocado I can no longer give it to her as it backs her up badly. Trust me, very very badly.

She is in many ways like a toddler, she is in the not wanting to be held phase and tries to squirm or dive out of my arms which I do not enjoy as it scares me when walking up stairs.

She is currently, this week, only doing one nap a day, and not a long one, which has almost made me lose my mind. But she has also just cut her first tooth and her second one is currently cutting (other front tooth) and it may well be this causing the hyper no naps, late to bed craziness.

We recently tried her first time at a restaurant and after 3 forks flew across two tables, she twisted out of the high chair and crawled across the table, took all straws out of all cups and threw them it was tag team dining while she was out in the car. Bliss went through this phase too, but way way way older.

Needless to say we are not going out much these days. It will be great for her when she can run around outside but we still have snow on the ground, half melted and icky and all she tries to do is eat it. So needless to say I think Soul has a little bit of cabin fever.

Her eyes are brown but they truly are a yellow/cream center over gray that appears brown and beautiful.

Her hair is deep brown with some copper/amber shine and seems to be coming in on the sides and back. Her top is still long but I cannot tell if she will lose that or not. The mohawk width seems to be getting skinnier, we shall see.

Her beautiful brown skin is darkening earlier than Bliss' did and I think when she gets in some sunshine this summer she will be a beautiful brown baby really quickly.

Her naming ceremony is tentatively planned for May 2nd. I will be sneaking it in under the wire before she turns 1 two days later. I will write another post about the ceremony I have planned and how it is an extension of what Bliss' was when he was a baby.

first finally...

Soul finally cut her first tooth at 10 months and two weeks. Sheesh!! And it is her top front left tooth of all things. I have never even heard of a top tooth cutting first.

She has been in OK spirits but hyper and wriggly and taking extremely short naps or only one a day which I am not enjoying. She is also waking up at night or early morning sometimes just to be awake for an hour or two. But she is adorable and so smart and so funny and more adorable than should be legal. She and Bliss are still besotted with one another.

All is ok. Still waiting for high speed internet, still stressing about money and bills but getting through.

I finally received her naming ceremony outfit. I am hoping to have her ceremony right around her first birthday. Bliss had his around 6 months of age but I had so much more time on my hands then.

Here are pics of Soul in her outfit followed by pics of Bliss in his when he was a baby.






















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smooch...

Are these the cutest pictures or what? One may be inclined to think my adorable daughter has mastered kissing with all her other AMAZING feats of late like running, climbing stairs, opening packages etc. One would be, however, incorrect.

Yes folks, these freaking adorable pictures are NOT of her kissing. They are of her doing this cute sniffing thing that makes us all laugh many times a day when she does it. I would upload a movie of it but that would take a week if it would even work. I added one of these to the right so I can "pretend" she is kissing because as of yet she does not do it.

About once every two or three weeks she will kiss me by sucking my lip or lips and I LOVE it and freeze to ride it out as long as possible. But they are few and far between.

Bliss was kissy from the get go pretty much and I am working on it daily with Soul but for now I shall have to be content with holding her often, hugging her often and kissing her all the time. She will kiss back eventually, and it will be worth the wait.

In the meantime, I just keep looking at these pics, and laughing with a joy filled heart.

Bliss and I are also doing well.