More Doctors Appointments... More Good News!

I promised to keep you all updated, so here it is:

After all the tests came back fine, our doctor wanted to do one other test to rule out Cystic Fibrosis (something that PA didn't screen her for, weird...), so on Monday we went in for what they called a Sweat Test. All we had to do is check for how salty her skin is (a symptom of CF) and also to put this contraption on her arm and put her in her winter coat and let her run around (and for those of you who know Harmony- this is not a problem) until we collected enough sweat to run the tests.

We went early in the morning (got to see our fav nurse ever -sorry Beth!) and were told the results would be ready by 2. So i called at 2. Not finished. Called at 3. Still not finished. That's when my mind went crazy and I thought it was going to return positive, and Harmony was going to be sick her whole life. I was in a panic by the time Mike got home, and it was not a fun scene. But he, being the amazing husband he is, reminded me of God's faithfulness, and that no matter what, Harmony was going to be fine. So i took a deep breath and called one last time, asking as nicely as I could that I really wanted to know the results that day, and that i didn't want to have to wait until the next day. So one of the nurses stayed late to wait for the fax, and called me to tell me the great news that it came back negative!! WOO HOO!

So what next? Well, we are still focusing on her diet. The girl HATES to eat. She is too much of a busy body to be bothered with it. I am so lucky that so many people reached out to us and gave us so much advice and encouragement, and I am forever grateful to you all! It's getting better, but no where near what i want. It takes me a good hour to feed her at meals, and most of that hour is spent waiting for her to stop throwing fits, and wanting to get down. We really want her to know that her high chair is where she eats, and setting up healthy eating habits. so we now make an effort to eat together, and to let her see us eat. It's been helping. Also, if she is really fussy, we put on her favorite movie and let her watch it while we feed her. This helps SO MUCH, but we hate doing it because that isn't something we want her to get used to. But for now, if she eats, I'm happy. I can correct the behavior at a later date, preferably when she isn't labeled "failure to thrive"! So don't judge!
:-)

I'm convinced that she is just going to be a peanut. But I am trying lots of new, fatty foods to bulk the child up. Her favorites are mac and cheese with hot dogs, meatballs, organic sausage patties, yo baby yogurt, ham, high fat cheese, buttered veggies (she could eat just veggies and not bat an eye- so NOT her father), french fries, and Pediasure (we have her off formula and solely on that-it's much higher in fat, but still has so many nutrients).

Other than that, Harmony is the poster child for a "thriving" toddler. She is so smart, so social, and so so funny. I need to start taking more videos of her craziness so you can see what I'm talking about. She now points to everything she wants (which is nice because now I know when she is thirsty, or what food she wants to eat. But now she also says "no" to me all the time. It was really cute for the first day, but now- not so cute. She LOVES to dance. We have a ipod dock in our living room, and when she wants to dance she points to it. There are certian songs she loves most, and if I don't play those songs, she looks at me like "you think I'm dancing to THIS?", and once a song she likes comes on she spins, claps her hands, she "drops it like it's hot"!, so funny, you don't even know!

She's still teething like mad... I can't wait for this stage to be over. She gets so congested and her mouth is so sore. I'm sure that doesn't help with the whole eating thing either... but she got her first tooth in May, and it hasn't stopped. I feel so bad for her- it must hurt so much.

That pretty much is what's going on in the Shipman home. Mike is tearing it up at The Father's House, and I am the proudest wife around. I'm LOVING teaching Pre-K with Becca, and my kids are amazing. Harmony loves going to her "class" for the mornings, and is now transitioning from the baby room to the wobbler room. Her teachers are so amazed at how well adjusted she is, and how independent she can be. She is only there for a little under 3 hours, only 3 days a week, but she gets so excited when we get ready in the mornings. She stands at the door and says "Bye? Bye?" until I'm ready to put her in the car. Love it. It makes it so much easier to put her in day care when I know she loves it so much.

Speaking of the peanut herself, I hear her playing in her crib- throwing every toy, and every blanket on the floor, so I must go tend to her.

Oh, and BTW- congrats to my blog buddy and friend, Beth on getting knocked up again! I'm so excited for you!