Miss Scarlett Turns TWO - The Festivities

Oh my goodness ... Miss Scarlett is already TWO!  Can you believe it?

We had two birthday this year:

1.  A small gathering at our home, including Auntie Liz and Grandma Janet.  Scarlett absolutely loves the Disney movie Tangled with Rapunzel, so Rapunzel's tower was this year's theme.

Scarlett opened her presents at the park, while wearing the birthday dress Granny and Grandpa sent her.  Thank you - we all love the dress! :)

Her doll (my old Baby Elisabeth) was perpetually naked, so one of our friends go a cute little outfit for the doll, so Scarlett could dress her. 

Here she is patting the baby.  Scarlett is such a little Mommy!

Grandma Janet shows Scarlett how to put a diaper on Baby Elisabeth

We have a friend, Victoria, who turned 2 just days before Scarlett did, so we had birthday party playdate one morning with lots and lots of friends.  Hello Kitty was the party theme!

And Mommy made Hello Kitty cookies for everybody at the party!

Scarlett's Last Days as a One Year Old

January 6th is coming all-too-quickly ...

A Sick Christmas Baby

Our poor Scarlett:  Out of the blue on Christmas, she threw up three times over several hours.

 

She fell asleep on the floor for quite some time. Since she's always on the go, we knew she really didn't feel good and needed the rest.   Poor baby. :(

 

 

The Living Doll

Easy Rider: The Scarlett Years

Christmas Candy

Scarlett has finally discovered she likes sweets ... and I have to hear about it every single time she sees chocolate somewhere.

Today she discovered the Christmas lights next door. Apparently she thinks they are candy.  :)

Hello!!

Our Little Shopper

Scarlett got a box with a handle, loaded it up with ribbon and walked off with the box hanging off her arm.  She made a beeline for the same collection of ribbons when we went that store again a few days later. The girl knows what she likes!

Slippers in Public

Slippers on an adult in public?  Absolutely not!  Slippers on a little princess in public  at her insistance?  Absolutley!

Our Little Secret

Unbeknownst to Christian, Scarlett gets to play with his treasures when we drop him off at school.  Shh .... He would absolutely flip out if he knew!!

Scarlett's Follow Up Gastrointestinal Appointment

Today we took Miss Scarlett for her follow-up gastroenterologist exam.  At the last appointment - or any doctor appointment for that matter - she gets hysterical to even have her heart listened to.   However, this time, she let the tech weigh her, measure her, listen to her heart, etc. without any hysterics.  We couldn't believe it.  We knew it was a good sign.

The LPN, Shantel, had the same good fortune - a well-behaved Scarlett during the exam.   In fact, Scarlett was a little monkey - climbing all over the place, and also very talkative.  I was thankful, because it demonstrated that despite the concern for her petite statue, Scarlett is developing quite normally in all other areas. 

Scarlett had gained hardly a pound since her last appointment on 9/11/13.  We discussed, at length, what Scarlett eats, how much, when, etc.   And thankfully, Shantel never mentioned giving her meds to make her hungry.   She simply sent us home with the same list of calorie- and fat-rich foods to feed her.  We also got small supply of more nutrition shakes to try, and a request to come for a follow up visit in February.

Scarlett is still well-below the curve on the growth chart, but Shantel's comment is that she'd simply like to see Scarlett progress on her very own growth chart, and that made me happy.  The standard growth chart is just that ... standard.  If we follow that chart, she'll never be on it.   

For his part, Christian was Captain Hook and had a grand time talking all about his adventures with Shantel.

Scarlett's Followup Gastroenterologist Appointment

Today we visited the gastroenterologist (Shantel) again.  Should have seen her back in November, but um, Mommy remember the appointment time incorrectly.  Ugh.

But moving right along ...

Scarlett's weight is currently in the 19 pound range (at almost two years of age) and she gained barely a pound since her last appointment on September 11th.  We had cut back on the breastfeeding, as recommended, and we feel she has been eating much better in the past two months.

Scarlett was remarkable well-behaved for this appointment.  She didn't fuss one bit when the assistant weighed and measured her (in the past, she's been very upset).  She didn't fuss when Shantel examined her, either.  In fact, Scarlett was in great spirits, full of energy, and had lots to say.

And that was a very good thing, because I think Shantel was able to see that Scarlett, while very petite, has no developmental issues.  And happily, she made no mention of medication to make Scarlett hungry.

Shatel's conclusion is that Scarlett simply isn't getting enough calories (still).  She suggested we stop the overnight nursing, because it is probably impacting how Scarlett eats during the day.  She suggested the usual round of high calorie, high fat foods and beverages.  We were sent home with another brand of nutritional shakes for Scarlett to try.

They'd like to see us back in February. Shantel (who is a nurse practitioner) is moving, so at our next appointment, we'll see an actual gastroenterologist ... it will be interesting to hear what he has to say.  We're hoping he'll just accept that Scarlett is a petite princessa.

Christian's thing these days is to make sure HE gets in the pictures and videos at every opportunity. :)

Scarlett is playing her favorite game, "Tag! You're it!"