A Picnic at the Park

It was rather nice out yesterday, so we decided to head to the park for a picnic dinner.

Since we are new to the area, this park was a first for us.  It was really nice.

Someone might have been a little excited...

I brought the ergo to wear this little guy, but by the time we were done eating it was a little too cold for my liking.  So I kept him bundled up in the stroller.  He didn't seem to mind.

Swinging was definitely her favorite!

She was still acting like she was afraid of the slides.  I have no idea what that is all about.  But Michael went down next to her once, and then helped her down and she was fine.  Silly girl.

It started to rain, so that was the end of our adventure.  Hopefully we will be able to enjoy some nicer weather soon.

OMT

Originally we were going to have to wait 3 weeks for Logan's first OMT (Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment) appointment.  Luckily, there was a cancellation for Good Friday, so we went to the appointment in the morning before leaving town.

The nurse took him for a minute and said she could tell that he was stiff.  The doctor came in and talked a little bit about his diapers (we are still having mucous, but she thinks we should just keep with the formula we are on), his eating, sleeping, and overall mood. Then they went to work on him.

She said he isn't as bad off as some she sees, but that he was definitely stiff, had a start of a flat spot on his right side, and she could tell that he generally preferred to look that way.  Some kids can't look both ways.  He can.  He just favors one side.

She said things like the bumbo are good for him, because babies spines naturally come out in that shape.  I guess before there was such a thing as a bumbo, they use to make seats that are similar for kids who needed therapy.  She said they were all elated when it was available for the general public.  We had actually already started using the bumbo, so that was good.  Now we make a conscious effort to use it at least once a day.  Sometimes more if he tolerates it.

Even though he has great neck strength and control when holding him, he does not do that great with tummy time. She said that they are actually two different muscle types and skills and that I really need to be diligent with the tummy time.  I was trying to do it once a day, but she wants me to do it every wake cycle. He hates it.  He cries the entire 5 minutes almost every time.

She said that being on the tummy and lifting the head is more than just being able to do a push up.  It actually has a lot of correlation with other developmental skills.  We all know that babies use to sleep on their tummies and moved to "back is best" approach because of SIDS.  She said they saw a decline in the rate that milestones were met once babies started sleeping on their backs. This even includes things like speech.  How interesting!

She agreed that for safety purposes, it is best that he still sleep on his back.  But that if I am sitting right next to him for a nap, I should try to have him sleep on his stomach for a bit.  I actually had tried this before she mentioned it. Just as another way to give the back of his head a break.  Unfortunately, he is not a fan.  I have tried a few times since and he wakes up right away and fusses.  I guess I will keep trying.

She also wants me to try to put "interesting things" on his left to force him to look that way.  I honestly think he does look left and sometimes he even sleeps that way, but I am trying it anyway.  She said I could physically force him to look that way, but that it is not helping him learn that habit and willingly use those muscles.

So we are doing what we can.  He is willing to sit up more for longer periods of time.  He doesn't push his whole body back to lay down as much as he was doing.  Obviously, the main reason for these issues is the size of his head (which we can do nothing about).  We just have to keep working with him to help strengthen the muscles necessary and to prevent any further damage from happening.  We go back in a month for a follow up and another treatment.

The baskets

We all went to bed once we got home on Sunday night, so we ended up doing their Easter baskets first thing Monday morning.  

I ordered a basket for Logan that was the same style as Olivia's.  The boy choices were limited, so I went with the best option.  (Unfortunately, you can't choose the font.)

Logan got a stuffed bunny, a toy, a soft (boy!) book, a hat for summer, sunglasses, and his eggs had bottle labels in them. 

Olivia got a Minnie Mouse toy, Frozen book, Doc McStuffins puzzle, Sofia the first amulet, a chocolate bunny, peeps, and some eggs filled with goodies.  Out of all of the "non food" lists I saw out there, there was really nothing we needed.  We have so many art supplies, bubbles, chalk, socks, bathroom supplies, etc.  So her basket ended up being all fun.

She went right for the chocolate!

I think she was pleased.

Easter

We were about 30 minutes out of town on Friday when I realized I had left the kids Easter baskets in their hiding place in my closet.  I kept reminding myself to get them out, but after packing for 4 people it just got forgotten.  So our Easter morning didn't start with a visit from the Easter bunny.  Luckily we are still at the age where she doesn't know any different.  Instead, we just rushed around and made it to church just in time.

We were able to get a family picture after.  I am pretty sure this is our first family picture with all four of us.  I really need to get better about that.  We do have family pictures schedule for a few weeks from now though.

We had lunch at my Aunt Donna's house.  Then my grandma had a little egg hunt for the 4 little kids that were there.

These sweet girls are only 3 months apart in age.

 I told my cousin ahead of time that I was pretty sure Olivia was not going to do well at the egg hunting.  All of the "egg hunts" we have been to have been a field of eggs right out in the open.  I'm pretty sure Sonja's kids found ALL of the eggs first.  Even when an egg was pointed out to Olivia, someone snatched it up before she could even get to it.  She is slooooooow and methodical.

My cousin Allison tried helping her out.

Of course the other kids shared and everyone got a fair amount.  Since Olivia had no idea what was going on, she didn't even notice anyway.  We'll have to practice for next year. :)

We went back to my Aunt's house (they are neighbors) and she checked out her loot.

She got an Easter basket from my mom and was all about her Frozen book.

My younger cousin Andrew has a little girl that is just two weeks older than Logan.

So we had to get a picture of them together too.

Of course, Olivia wanted in on the action too.

Logan with his GiGi (my grandma)

With both kids--Olivia was pretty much just done at this point.

It was a good visit though.  Olivia loved staying at GiGi's house.  Hopefully she will get use to the crowds, noise and chaos at some point.  She has to, right? :)

Time with Cousins

We decided to head to Ft. Wayne for Easter this year.  None of my family there had met Logan yet, and my grandma had asked us to come.  Four out of my seven cousins on my mom's side live there, so we thought it would be fun to see them and to let Olivia play with her second cousins.

We got into town on Friday night around 5 and headed straight to my cousin Sonja's house.  They were flying kites and we just joined right in.

John took over feeding Logan.

 

And Sonja patiently worked at untangling a kite string.

Sadly, that's all of the pictures I got. We had pizza, the moms talked inside while the dads talked outside, and the kids ran around playing.  My child mostly opened and closed the sliding glass patio doors.  The freedom to go in and out of a house was new to her and she found it fascinating. :)

We had plans to go to the park on Saturday for a picnic lunch, but it was way too cold out.  So my cousin Sonja brought her kids over to my grandma's to play for a bit.

We tried to get a picture of them all.  This pretty much sums Olivia up the entire weekend--unsure!  She was not use to so many kids being around.  She tends to be more on the mellow side.  My cousins kept reminding me that she wasn't "normal". ;)

Everyone napped and then we finally made it to the park in the late afternoon when it had warmed up a bit.  My grandma kept Logan though, because it was still too cold for a baby to be out for that long.

My cousin Erica going down the slide with her youngest son Henry.

Everyone was pretty much running around and doing their own thing.  Olivia was being silly and wouldn't go down any of the slides.  She was acting like she was afraid, but she goes down slides all the time.  She was a little off the entire weekend.  I'm guessing because everything was so new.

But when the kids decided to run up the hill she had no problem joining in.  This is my cousin Erica's daughter Molly and Olivia.

at the top of the hill

Then the all ran down the hill to look at the water.

This is all of them but Ryan.  As soon as he joined the picture Olivia left.  Of course.

John took Sonja's kids over to his mom's and the rest of us went out to dinner.

Molly and Ryan both wanted to sit by Olivia.

Ryan talked her ear off.

The night ended with kids in bed and the mommy's playing cards with their grandma.

I love my cousins!