Well.

The holidays snuck up on me!
K had her appt with the endo. She's up to about 19lbs! That's great improvement! And she's on the growth chart for length now! (10% I think) The Endo said that we'll do a recheck in 6 months and if she's had as good or better growth we can be discharged! (possibly do a bone scan to estimate her height first. We will discuss that when it comes)
James is almost 30lbs finally. He weighed in at 29 1/2 when he and Kaylee got croup just before Christmas. He's loving hockey, and preschool. His new favorite lunch: Buttered bread with a slice of cheese and dill relish. Not so appealing to me but he LOVES it.
K still drinks her toddler formula. Which is ok but she doesn't let me brush her teeth very well and with that stuff she really needs it! I already need to call and get her teeth cleaned again. I want to switch her to a straw cup so badly but I don't want her to stop drinking her "milk" in protest. It's a catch 22. SHe is getting much better at chewing and eating though. The other day she used a spoon to eat her soup and ate the whole bowl! And she loves cereal bars (Big bird bars she calls them because the brand we bought has big bird!)

Tomorrow James turns 5. I can't believe it! I made him a hockey cake on Sunday when my parents visited. And in October he asked me out of no where for hockey pucks as his birthday treat for school. Yeah sure son. But I'm proud to say I did it - it took some failures but I did it! (we have oreos dipped in Hershey's chocolate - peanut free of course as per school rules - Finger jello hockey pucks and hockey puck krispie treats which are just round chocolate rice krispie treats)
On the high calorie front I really don't have any new tricks. Advice for the picky though: Be persistent. It takes forever and a day but it does start to pay off. I've had some luck getting J to try new things by letting him create his own "recipe."

Halloween!

We've been having a fun fall! I've been making a bunch of fun Halloween sandwiches (just sandwiches cut with a cookie cutter) Butter, cheese and pickles is the current favorite. James' own creation. If he likes it who am I to complain. Here's a ghost with grape bugs and eyeballs:

Acorns (a treat)



Spider (cheese, pretzels, raisins)


We're still plugging along. Kaylee hasn't been weighed recently. I tried to get her in to see the Developmental specialist but they make it impossible - shouldn't be that hard for existing patients to be seen! I mean really?! I have to call 3 months in advance and the appointments fill up that fast and really you can't schedule into the next month? You want me to call every day until you have the new calendar available? Really!? Anyway..... She sees the Ped Endocrinologist in December.
James weighed in at 28 1/2 lbs when he was seen for his cough last week. I just don't understand. Would my kids not weigh anything if I didn't go to all the extra effort to boost calories like I do??!? I guess I'm getting myself into one of my frustrated moods. Kaylee has decided it's grand fun to drop her food on the floor. She eats a few bites and then it's game on. I really want to force her to cut back on the toddler milk, but I know she gets all her calories that way.
On a bright note: She's learned to bite things! Cereal bars, cookies, chips, muffins, lots of things! And she loves that danonino yogurt. She grabs them out of the fridge and says "ogurt pleeeeasseee!" How can I refuse even though i know it's going to mean an extra bath?! She loves feeding herself yogurt.


A tip to increase calories for this post: I add cool whip to chocolate pudding. I am lazy and I buy the store brand (Hunts I think has the most calories per serving) and I add cool whip. You can make a cute ghost with it using sprinkle or chocolate chip eyes.

New Schedule

James is now in preschool 3 days a week. That's caused us to have a slightly new schedule. This has led to Kaylee falling in love with her snack cup! She seems to be eating more. She'll have a snack while waiting to get J from school and still sit down and eat lunch with us.
And the "fun" lunches have been cut back. The good thing is that J seems to come home hungry (even though they give them a snack) He now likes peanut butter and banana sandwiches and bread and cheese and pickle sandwiches. A monkey (use your imagination!) A pig and a bear with some bear friends. Halloween is coming - I have lots of ideas! (we'll see if I can get into the groove of this new schedule and find the time)


As for calorie options: Kaylee had raviolis (gerber toddler ones) and we added butter to the top.
James has started eating hot dogs (cut into bite size pieces) inside a hotdog bun with ketchup and mustard. He will eat 2 buns, 1 hot dog for lunch this way. *But be sure the ketchup is on the bottom! haha*
We've been snacking on cubed cheese (colby jack). They like it with crackers or veggie sticks or just about anything! And apples with peanut butter or caramel dip. Fried apples are good and you can top pancakes with them but the kids aren't really fans. I bought some mini muffins at the store (little debbie maybe?) and they both like those in the morning (So do I) I must get myself a mini muffin pan asap!! The fall baking season is about to start!

Fun lunches

Just getting started so cut me some slack. Here's our first "fun lunch". A sailboat sandwich with pirates treasure fruit and dip. (and veggie sticks)

James ate the whole thing and more fruits and veggie sticks.

I'm collecting more "tools"and gadgets for more fun lunches. Hopefully more creative than this one~ stay tuned!

First Post

I'm planning on trying to make this blog a food idea blog for parents of other under weight children. I'll probably also include personal struggles and successes and updates on my own kids. If I get really ambitious I'll start including some craft ideas and activities we love!

So here's our story. James was born in 2006 weighing 5lbs 9 ounces and 21.5 inches long. Stretch and string bean certainly applied then - and still does. At around 9 months of age we started really noticing his weight drop off the charts (his height has never been an issue) At 12 months we were sent to a developmental specialist where they tested him for lots of things (all came back normal) It was all stressful and very scary, especially the test for Cystic Fibrosis (sweat test)- but he "passed". So for the last 3 years we've been struggling to include high calorie foods in his diet. The boy LOVES fruit and most veggies. (well get to how to ramp up the calories on that in later posts!)He is currently a happy energetic 4 year old who weighed in at 28pounds and 39 inches. He's your typical preschooler so we're having some power struggles over eating.
In 2009 along came our "squeakuel". She was small even before birth and I was monitored closely for IUGR and put on restricted activity. I had weekly ultrasounds and twice weekly NST (non stress tests) throughout my entire 3rd trimester. She was born weighing 5lbs 12 ounces and 20 inches. We're on the same path with her that we were on with her brother except she's thrown in her own loopholes. She weighs less and has some muscle tone issues that she will be getting therapy for starting very soon. So she still faces some more doctors and tests that her brother didn't have. At 12 months she's finally transitioned from breast milk to toddler formula in a cup. She has NEVER taken a bottle, she flat out refused. She now weighs 13lbs 12 ounces and is 28 inches. With her low muscle tone chewing seems to be a little bit of a challenge for her, but she starts OT soon to work on that.

So that's who we are. Your typical family. Mom, dad, 2 kids and a cat. I'm a stay at home mom and I TRY to be fun and do creative things with the kids. The small, the big and the tiny - this is our life.