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To put it simply Maya simply adores her little sister. It was love at first sight. I don’t know that I can adequately describe what they have been like together over the past week. Words cannot do it justice so I’ll let these pictures do the talking.
You can see the bond developing already. These two are going to be quite the pair. I love my girls and I love seeing the sisterly bond growing between them already.
Somehow Lorne and I, neither of us being sufferers of allergies beyond the very mild seasonal allergies that I sometimes suffer from, have managed to birth a child who is allergic to everything. Not only does she have her peanut and tree nut allergy but she also has pretty bad indoor and outdoor allergies. She is even now, apparently, allergic to our cats. There is a family history of allergies, including pet allergies, on Lorne’s side of the family. Both his brothers suffer from indoor and outdoor allergies, including pet allergies. So, it’s in her genes, but man, I was not expecting this. It breaks my cat loving heart to have a child who is allergic to cats.
The pet allergies appeared when we got back from Australia. Maya has always suffered from mild nasal congestion all year long as a result of allergies but has never shown signs of being any worse around our cats. When we got back from Australia it quickly became obvious that she was allergic to the cats. Every time she touched them, particularly if she was hugging them or kissing them, she would break out in hives on the areas of her skin that had contacted the cats. One day her eye practically swelled shut as a result of 5 hives developing below her eye after a particularly close encounter with our cat Lily. After talking with her allergist it was determined that we had basically skin tested her and she is indeed allergic to pet dander, oh joy. She is already on Zyrtec and his recommendation was to keep her on that and since she doesn’t have any asthmatic symptoms he wouldn’t recommend any other medications at this time. He doesn’t believe in over medicating if it can be avoided. We considered skin testing her, but really it isn’t necessary to put her through that since we know what she is allergic to and won’t really glean any new information from the tests. So, we decided to hold off for now.
So then it was on us to decide what to do. Getting rid of the cats is not an option at this point. Not only are they part of our family and 13 and 12 years old, but Maya is very intensely attached to them. She loves her kitties dearly and taking them away from her, especially right now with all the other changes on the horizon, just isn’t something I want to do. Since her allergies, when controlled with Zyrtec, are mild and she will likely stop getting hives as her body re-desensitizes (totally made that word up!) to being exposed to the cats the allergist and her pediatrician are not saying we have to get rid of them at this time. The idea is to treat her allergy symptoms with Zyrtec and do a few things around the house to help reduce the amount of pet dander she is exposed to. A few things we are doing, or plan on doing are:
- Purchase allergy reducing mattress covers, pillows and pillow covers for her bed.
- Keep the door closed to her room at all times and make it a cat free environment.
- Wash her bedding more often.
- Invest in an air purifier for her room.
- Purchase the best air filter we can get for our furnace.
- Keep the vents in her room closed whenever possible, and place an allergy barrier on the vent for those times when it needs to be open. We’ll also put allergy barriers on the vents in the other rooms too.
- Bathe the cats more often, likely once a week, with dander reducing shampoo.
- Brush them more regularly, our vet and the allergist both recommend daily in a room that Maya does not frequent (we’ll probably do it downstairs in the basement).
- Use baby wipes on them every day to help reduce the amount of dander coming off them and settling on the furniture.
- Vacuum and dust more often, especially the furniture.
- Try to keep Maya from spending too much time cuddling the cats and make her wash her hands after she has pet them (this one will be a challenge).
My hope is that all the above will work to help manage her allergies and we won’t have to confront the possibility of getting rid of the cats. It isn’t something I want to do since I love them dearly, and I know Maya would be devastated.
I was talking to her pediatrician today about her allergies and she mentioned that some children completely grow out of allergies as they get older, or they develop much milder reactions. I’ve got my fingers crossed that she falls into one of those categories.
Do you or your children suffer from allergies, particularly pet allergies? How do you manage them? Any tips or tricks you have for me would be greatly appreciated.
![5-16-11 Having fun on the ferry [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/5-16-11-Having-fun-on-the-ferry-640x480.JPG "5-16-11 Having fun on the ferry [640x480]")
When I think about the words I would use to describe my sweet little girl right now, at the age of 3 and a half (+), this picture captures them all. She is full of life, loves to joke and make people laugh, and has a smile that could light up any room and any heart.
It is hard to sum up all that is Maya right now, all the tiny parts that make up who she is. She is definitely a stubborn (very stubborn), independent 3 year old. She is opinionated and strong willed and can battle with the best of them to get what she wants. She is also full of life and giggles and has more energy than anyone I’ve ever met. She loves to entertain us by dancing and singing and doing things she finds funny. If she is doing something that she thinks deserves applause she will tell you to clap. If she is doing something that she finds funny she will tell you to laugh (even if she has done it a million times and it has long since lost its humor).
In a couple of months, a little less actually, she’ll be starting preschool. She is ready in so many ways for this next big adventure. I can’t wait to see what she learns, and how she grows from this new adventure. One of her favorite games to play right now is school. She sets up all her guys in her bedroom, which she calls her very special library, and declares herself the teacher. She teaches her guys new things and reads to them, it is adorable to watch.
But, before she starts school, an even bigger change is coming for Maya. She is about to become a big sister. Her little family, the family she has known her whole life is about to change. Her little world is about to be turned upside down. The transition will be made so much easier since she is so excited about becoming a big sister and really looking forward finally getting to meet her baby sister. I know there will be some struggles, but we’ll handle those as they come. She has so much to give as a big sister and will be an amazing big sister.
I love all the little parts that make up this sweet little girl, even the parts that make me want to pull my hair out sometimes. I’ve watched her change and grow and become who she is today over the last 3 plus years and I’m looking forward to continuing to watch her grow and change. She is one amazing little girl and I’m so glad I get to call her my daughter.
![060 [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/060-640x480.JPG "060 [640x480]")
Love you bunches sweet baby girl.
Maya is now, officially, a Certified Super Big Sister!
![001 [640x480]](http://www.letstalkbabies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/001-640x4801.JPG "001 [640x480]")
This weekend I took Maya to a Sibling Class offered at the hospital where I will be delivering Baby Girl 2.0 (same hospital where Maya was born too!). The class was for kiddos 2-9 years old that are becoming big brothers or big sisters. The idea of the class, according to their description, is to introduce the kids to some of the things they can expect when their new baby brother or sister comes home.
I was super excited for the class, and so was Maya. When I told her we were going to the class today she said, super excitedly “Oh, is the baby going to come out now!” I think she is definitely ready to get this show on the road 
I reminded her that her baby sister is not allowed to make her appearance until after daddy comes home!
Our class was packed. There were about a dozen other kids in the class. One family had 5 kids already with baby #6 on the way. I’m guessing the older siblings could have taught the class since they’ve done it so many times already! Most of the kids, with the exception of the older kids in the large family, were in the 2-5 year old range. The nurse who taught the class did a good job of gearing the class towards the younger kiddos. You could tell she had taught the class many times and loved doing it.
A majority of the class focused on how the kids might feel when their new brother or sister arrives and what they can and cannot do with a brand new baby. There was a lot of discussion about the different feelings they might have and how, no matter what they are feeling, it is okay and they should always tell mommy and daddy how they feel. The video they showed and one of the hands on coloring activities talked showed them each of the different feels from happy and excited to sad and angry. Maya said she was just happy because she loves her baby sister, it melted my heart. Each kiddo in the class got to take a turn holding a baby doll and got their picture taken to show they were now Super Siblings. We took a tour of the obstetrics floor including a tour of a post delivery room where they got to play with the buttons on the bed and a quick look in the nursery at a few of the babies who were born this weekend.
The class was great, and Maya did a great job in the class. The only thing that freaked her out a bit was when they talked about how mommies have to stay at the hospital for a few days to rest after the baby is born. Maya will be having a super fun sleepover with her best friend Claire at my friend Heather’s house during my stay in the hospital so I talked to her about how fun that would be. She was okay with it once we talked about that but made me promise that she could come to the hospital to spend lots of time with me too. This is the part I’ve always known she would have the hardest time with, which is why I have arranged for her to spend the nights away from me with her favorite people. She adores my friend Heather and loves being around her little friend Claire so I know the distraction of having a super fun sleepover will be just the thing to take her mind off of being away from us over night for the very first time.
I’m very proud of my big girl and I know she is going to make an amazing big sister. The class was a great way to reinforce the things we’ve been talking about for a while and to get her even more excited about the arrival of Baby Girl 2.0. I’m really glad we did it.
Who knew that enrolling your child in preschool required practically as much paperwork as buying a house!
Maya will be starting preschool in August when the new school year begins. The school district we live in has an amazing preschool program and we had her added to the wait list last fall for the half day program hoping for 2 or 3 days a week. While we were in Australia we got the call that a spot had opened up for her in the new school year. After a little interesting phone tag across very different time zones and finally an email exchange I was able to secure her spot in a two day a week half day program. The assistant principle said they would mail the paperwork to our house and set the due date for 2 after my return to the US so I didn’t have to worry about it until I got back.
I returned home to a mountain of mail, one of which being a very thick envelope from the school district that I knew contained the enrollment paperwork. I figured it was a few forms and the handbook. It never dawned on me that majority of the thickness of the envelope was the paperwork I would need to fill out and the handbook took up a mere 10 pages. The amount of paperwork I have had to complete the last couple of weeks just to get my daughter enrolled in a preschool program is seriously ridiculous. I feel like I’m signing over my life, similar to how I felt when I was filling out paperwork to buy our house! I’ve been buried in a mountain of preschool enrollment paperwork for 2 weeks now and finally dug myself out. After much running around to get the necessary documentation to prove I live where I said I lived and to get all the medical forms (4 of them) completed by Maya’s pediatrician, and lots and lots of time spent sitting at our desk filling out form after form and signing permission slip after permission slip I am finally done.
Today I had a meeting with the assistant principle to drop off my mountain of paperwork, get a tour of the school and talk about our expectation for next year. Can I just say I love this school. The preschool is currently in summer classes and camps mode. It was nice to get to see some of the teachers in action and see how comfortable the kids are in the environment and how much there is for them to do. The school is adorable but also very well stocked in the necessities of early childhood learning, including some pretty fantastic tech gear like an interactive activity station that allows kids to use their bodies and movements to learn things like reading and math skills. The program seems to offer everything I was hoping for.
I’m excited for Maya to start preschool. She is definitely ready for this next big step in her life. The program is very child led so her learning will be broad and based on what she is ready to learn and wants to learn while being guided by the teacher. I can’t wait to see how she changes and grows from the program. That being said it seriously freaks me out that my baby is already old enough to be in school. Who told her she could grow up so quickly!