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March 2011
March 30, 2011
Has it really been this long since I posted an update? Sorry, readers. I just seem to have so little free time these days.
First, let me update you on Anastasia's sleep. She's been taking Valerian and Lemon Balm for more than a month now. We're using a dose of 320 mg Valerian and 160 Lemon Balm (up from her starting dose of 160 and 80 mg), which we found in a small pill from Nature's Way. It works! It's not a silver bullet; she occasionally still has a tougher time sleeping. But at least 95 percent of the time, she's now getting enough sleep that she's rested during the day. Like the medical studies done on kids, we've seen a huge improvement. And, as I told the sleep doctor long ago, once Anastasia gets enough rest, she's like another kid. A much easier-to-live with kid.
This makes me a bit angry at the sleep specialist. This combination of herbs has been studied on children and shown repeatedly to work. Why wasn't this the first thing he gave us to try? Thank goodness he sent us to a behaviorist who has knowledge about sleep issues in children.
Her teacher has also seen improvements at school, which is a relief for us all.
Zane plugs along as our sweet, shy, smart little guy. I wish he would talk more, but occasionally something big comes out of his mouth. For example, last weekend he said at breakfast, "Love bacon!"
He hasn't had a bout with hives since being diagnosed with an egg allergy...until today. I have no idea why he broke out. He didn't eat or touch eggs. I chose not to call the doctor, because the hives weren't severe. And I know sometimes people have hives for no obvious reason. But if they occur again, I have a list of what he ate before breaking out.
Tid-Bits:
* Anastasia recently discovered Dora The Explorer (which Zane calls "DohDoh"). The other day, Miss A. said: "Zane's counting in Spanish - in baby talk!"
* The kids recently got new shoes. It's not
surprising to me that Anastasia loves getting new shoes; she's such a
girl that way. But Zane loves it just as much. He was thrilled to
get shoes and when his Daddy tried to take him to do something "more
interesting" while Anastasia tried on shoes, he insisted on staying and
watching. Then when we got the shoes home and the kids opened the boxes,
you would have thought it was Christmas morning.
* Miss A. to me, after rambling a long time about something:
"Mommy, you tell Daddy that for me."
Me: "Why don't you tell Daddy yourself?"
Miss A.: "I don't want to talk that much."
(This made some elderly ladies who were walking
past us laugh. They laughed even harder when I replied, "Since when?!")
* Miss A.: "How big is heaven? Is it as big as a mouse? Is it as
big as a house? That's just a little poem I made. Just call me Anastasia
Seuss."
* Miss A. is learning to sew! She's been begging for a long time, so I
thought perhaps she could try a little hand sewing. She does pretty
well!
* Miss A. loves her ballet class. Zane enjoys
watching her. The last time we went to class, Zane sat down on the floor
and mimicked the stretches he saw the girls doing.
* Zane is quite something with the blocks. He plays with them several
times a day, and often yells in frustration while doing so. (I'm certain
he's swearing in baby talk.) He's very precise in his creations and
seems to know exactly what he wants to build. Here's an example. Notice
the blocks that look like they've fallen over? He did that on purpose.
Sometimes he manages to balance blocks in a way I'm certain I could not.
