Dear Goob,
Twice in a month! You're napping now, so I figured it was a good time to do a quick documentation. You have molars sprouting up everywhere. I think we are waiting on one on the lower right side, but everything else has come in. And those canines are still SLOW poking along.
You did a somersault for the first time yesterday. You enjoy doing 'Downward Facing Dog' and a Mowgli style walk, but this time you just stuck your cute little bum up higher and higher in the air and flipped over back/sideways! It was pretty exciting. We clapped and cheered and you shrieked and laughed and stomped your feet and then started crying. As you often do when exploring what you can do and learning new things.
You are now saying 'arm' and 'nose' and it kills me with how cute it is. 'Nose' is said rather nasally, with an almost absent 's'. You also say banana like 'nahnahnblahnahblah' and always get excited and stomp your feet and clap. Dude, you are your mama's child! I loved bananas as a kid too.
Yesterday you pointed to the blue and green pyramid rings, respectively, when dad asked you to point them out. We were floored. Dad practices your colors with the legos, and you and I practice with books, but we've never asked you to point out a specific color before. You are one astute little dude, and you love to learn!
Also, you ate a lot of broccoli this week, for which I feel victorious. I've been chopping it up really small and mixing it with shredded parmesan, taco meat, and rice. Win!
*Edit: It's been several weeks since we've nursed; you are officially weaned! You've become a little more snuggly since we've stopped breastfeeding, which is nice. You would have been happy to keep nursing each morning, but I was getting too desperate for my clothes to fit normally again. You've adjusted pretty well, overall. *
Thanksgiving was two days ago and that didn't bring much in the way of exciting new flavors for you. You really liked the sweet potatoes with the streusel topping, and gave the bacon squash a fair try. We were with friends for Thanksgiving and tried a lot of fancy new dishes that were probably a little too unusual for you. BUT, you loved running around the yard and playing with the dog and cat.
I've been trying to do regular play dates with other moms in the ward so you can get out and run around at parks and interact with other kids. You really do love exploring and running.
As always and for always, we love you.
Showing posts with label Anderson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anderson. Show all posts
Saturday, November 26, 2016
Sunday, November 13, 2016
My Dear Little Man, 11/13/2016
Dear Goob,
For a long time I called you Little Man. And then another lady in our ward picked up on it and started calling her baby the same thing. So now I do not call you that anymore.
Boy, a lot has happened in the last few months! You are growing and developing so quickly. You took your first steps in the middle of August and were officially walking independently by the beginning of September. Just like you would practice crawling and "bulldozing", you practice running and stomping. And my child, you are one speedy dude! You've also started climbing things and pulling yourself up. Right now it's mostly your crib and the counters, but we'll wait to see what else you discover.
Words! You are starting to express yourself and your opinions, both non-verbally and verbally. Your first official word was probably "hot", since you like to touch the oven doors and I wanted to make sure you associated that word with the oven. Now anytime you feel something remotely warm you exclaim "hot!". Your second word was "cheese" and you sound so stinking cute when you ask for cheese. It also happens to be your favorite food. Your third word was probably "dad" or "teddy". They tend to sound the same and you get excited for both. Fourth word was "ball", fifth word is "apple", which you just said this week. Your comprehension is pretty awesome too, since you understand the concept of eating time, bath time, come out, shut the door, please stop, come here, read a story, and prayer time.
Speaking of prayers, we used to hold you during evening family prayer. You HATE this, and it ended up feeling like a nightly control struggle. We decided to pray behind the rocking chair, with dad and me on either side, hemming you in. You are now a rockstar prayer participant, as you sit quietly with your sippy cup while we pray. We usually say "prayer time!" and you go running to the chair. We love that you decide to come and sit for prayer, and manage your own behavior.
You are able to point or react with most of your body now. You blink your eyes rapidly when we ask where your eyes are, wrinkle and snuffle your nose, chomp your teeth, or make a "blaaahhhh" sound with your tongue. You point to your head and hair, elbows, knees, and you LOVE your belly button.
We weaned you to one nursing every day/every other day. I think you are probably okay weaning completely, but my milk supply still gets sensitive every few days. I'm anticipating in the next few weeks!
We bought you some shoes yesterday. Your cute feet are so wide, they fit into size 7. However, your length is at a 4/5.
Lately you've been a papa's boy and get so excited to see him and have him play with you. I thought for sure we were transitioning to one nap a day, but it seems you still do best with a short 30-45 nap in the mid-morning and a 1.5-2 hour nap mid-afternoon.
I love how you enjoy learning and trying new things. You can sing with papa and I now, dance, and make elephant noises to your safari books. When you first try something new, you usually end up laughing and then crying afterward. I love that you try new things, even when it makes you nervous or scared. Keep learning and growing, even when it's scary!
For a long time I called you Little Man. And then another lady in our ward picked up on it and started calling her baby the same thing. So now I do not call you that anymore.
Boy, a lot has happened in the last few months! You are growing and developing so quickly. You took your first steps in the middle of August and were officially walking independently by the beginning of September. Just like you would practice crawling and "bulldozing", you practice running and stomping. And my child, you are one speedy dude! You've also started climbing things and pulling yourself up. Right now it's mostly your crib and the counters, but we'll wait to see what else you discover.
Words! You are starting to express yourself and your opinions, both non-verbally and verbally. Your first official word was probably "hot", since you like to touch the oven doors and I wanted to make sure you associated that word with the oven. Now anytime you feel something remotely warm you exclaim "hot!". Your second word was "cheese" and you sound so stinking cute when you ask for cheese. It also happens to be your favorite food. Your third word was probably "dad" or "teddy". They tend to sound the same and you get excited for both. Fourth word was "ball", fifth word is "apple", which you just said this week. Your comprehension is pretty awesome too, since you understand the concept of eating time, bath time, come out, shut the door, please stop, come here, read a story, and prayer time.
Speaking of prayers, we used to hold you during evening family prayer. You HATE this, and it ended up feeling like a nightly control struggle. We decided to pray behind the rocking chair, with dad and me on either side, hemming you in. You are now a rockstar prayer participant, as you sit quietly with your sippy cup while we pray. We usually say "prayer time!" and you go running to the chair. We love that you decide to come and sit for prayer, and manage your own behavior.
You are able to point or react with most of your body now. You blink your eyes rapidly when we ask where your eyes are, wrinkle and snuffle your nose, chomp your teeth, or make a "blaaahhhh" sound with your tongue. You point to your head and hair, elbows, knees, and you LOVE your belly button.
We weaned you to one nursing every day/every other day. I think you are probably okay weaning completely, but my milk supply still gets sensitive every few days. I'm anticipating in the next few weeks!
We bought you some shoes yesterday. Your cute feet are so wide, they fit into size 7. However, your length is at a 4/5.
Lately you've been a papa's boy and get so excited to see him and have him play with you. I thought for sure we were transitioning to one nap a day, but it seems you still do best with a short 30-45 nap in the mid-morning and a 1.5-2 hour nap mid-afternoon.
I love how you enjoy learning and trying new things. You can sing with papa and I now, dance, and make elephant noises to your safari books. When you first try something new, you usually end up laughing and then crying afterward. I love that you try new things, even when it makes you nervous or scared. Keep learning and growing, even when it's scary!
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
My Dear Little Man, 08/09/2016
Dear Goob,
It's been many months since I last wrote about your growth. You just hit the 11 month mark, weight about 26 pounds, are 11 inches in length, and are fitting nicely into 2T clothes and size 5 diapers. After your lower lateral incisors cut in May, you cut all upper incisors over the course of a month. You are currently working on canines, and they are a beast! I can see them slowly working downward, and you are a drooly mess.
You hair continues to grow! It's a pretty reddish/gold mix. The back and sides grow really fast, so we've given you several more haircuts.
You began cruising in May and started consistently walking with assistance at the beginning of July. You are now able to balance independently on occasion, and have even taken a few independent steps! It's fun to watch you balance perfectly as you're distracted. As soon as you notice you're balancing without anything to hold to, you pitch toward the nearest standing object.
You are saying 'nana', 'dada', 'mama', 'dddd', 'ttthhhhh' and snuffle with your wrinkly nose. You sing along with us, high five, clap, and can point to lights and your tongue when asked politely. We are working on ears and nose.
You're eating solids regularly now and are down to four nursings a day and are doing well with a soft straw sippy cup. We will probably wean you soon. I decided that it would be wise to re-introduce your food sensitives in my diet prior to weaning you, just to see what your reaction is and to provide you with the food proteins in a secondary form. We've done wheat and walnuts, neither of which seem to do much. I'll do almonds and then pecans over then next week or so. Fingers crossed for good diapers, smooth skin, and a happy disposition!
Your favorite food is spaghetti. You also love cheese, bananas, and black grapes. You try almost everything and end up eating it, though we've had to reintroduce a few foods to help you acclimate. Peas, for example. And cottage cheese. You are hesitant about a lot of textures, and I've found it helpful to either mash or puree things at first. I did this with broccoli and avocado.
Over the past few weeks you've begun playing constructively instead of deconstructively. For example, rather than emptying the legoes all over the floor when we put them away, you help to clean up. You help us unload the tupperware from the dishwasher, load laundry into their respective machines, and have started building things with legoes, rather than dissembling everything that papa makes.
You love bathtime and taking walks in your stroller. You LOVE books, especially the cozy classic style books, where classics are simplified to a single word and picture per page. For example, Moby Dick, Pride and Prejudice, and War and Peace. You love opening and closing drawers, cupboards, and doors. We've baby proofed the house up to your current level, although you opened the fridge for the first time this morning. We may need to get an adhesive belt, similar to one we have for the oven. You still persist in playing with the living room lamp, despite knowing it's a 'betise'.
Last week you scurried under the one of the futon style couches, continued all the way to the back near the wall, and carefully navigated out the side. It was pretty funny to watch. You also enjoy turning over the rocking chair footstool. You'll rotate it onto its side, then upside down, onto its other side, then right side up. Repeat.
You LOVE animals.
Your sleeping schedule is pretty awesome, although naps are still hit and miss. Right now, for example, you woke up from your morning nap after 20 minutes. I'm choosing to let you stay in your crib, even though you are upset. A typical, good day looks like 7am wake, 10-11ish nap, 3-430ish nap, 730 bedtime. You are sleeping through the night! And everyone is happy about this.
Some of my favorite things about you and your current stage: you have such a great sense of silliness and humor. You love to play peekaboo and chase. Your favorite spot is behind the rocking chair. Yesterday you crawled back there with a carrot to chew on (teething) and Teddy, and I joined you with my book. We spent several minutes snuggled up back there. You are also a hugger! You will often crawl up to us and wrap your arms tightly around our necks, especially if we ask for a 'hug'. You are so curious and so fast. You love learning and trying new things.
You especially love when Papa and I are in the same room with you, even if we are all reading or doing our own thing.
You are a lot of work and whole lot of laughter and joy!
It's been many months since I last wrote about your growth. You just hit the 11 month mark, weight about 26 pounds, are 11 inches in length, and are fitting nicely into 2T clothes and size 5 diapers. After your lower lateral incisors cut in May, you cut all upper incisors over the course of a month. You are currently working on canines, and they are a beast! I can see them slowly working downward, and you are a drooly mess.
You hair continues to grow! It's a pretty reddish/gold mix. The back and sides grow really fast, so we've given you several more haircuts.
You began cruising in May and started consistently walking with assistance at the beginning of July. You are now able to balance independently on occasion, and have even taken a few independent steps! It's fun to watch you balance perfectly as you're distracted. As soon as you notice you're balancing without anything to hold to, you pitch toward the nearest standing object.
You are saying 'nana', 'dada', 'mama', 'dddd', 'ttthhhhh' and snuffle with your wrinkly nose. You sing along with us, high five, clap, and can point to lights and your tongue when asked politely. We are working on ears and nose.
You're eating solids regularly now and are down to four nursings a day and are doing well with a soft straw sippy cup. We will probably wean you soon. I decided that it would be wise to re-introduce your food sensitives in my diet prior to weaning you, just to see what your reaction is and to provide you with the food proteins in a secondary form. We've done wheat and walnuts, neither of which seem to do much. I'll do almonds and then pecans over then next week or so. Fingers crossed for good diapers, smooth skin, and a happy disposition!
Your favorite food is spaghetti. You also love cheese, bananas, and black grapes. You try almost everything and end up eating it, though we've had to reintroduce a few foods to help you acclimate. Peas, for example. And cottage cheese. You are hesitant about a lot of textures, and I've found it helpful to either mash or puree things at first. I did this with broccoli and avocado.
Over the past few weeks you've begun playing constructively instead of deconstructively. For example, rather than emptying the legoes all over the floor when we put them away, you help to clean up. You help us unload the tupperware from the dishwasher, load laundry into their respective machines, and have started building things with legoes, rather than dissembling everything that papa makes.
You love bathtime and taking walks in your stroller. You LOVE books, especially the cozy classic style books, where classics are simplified to a single word and picture per page. For example, Moby Dick, Pride and Prejudice, and War and Peace. You love opening and closing drawers, cupboards, and doors. We've baby proofed the house up to your current level, although you opened the fridge for the first time this morning. We may need to get an adhesive belt, similar to one we have for the oven. You still persist in playing with the living room lamp, despite knowing it's a 'betise'.
Last week you scurried under the one of the futon style couches, continued all the way to the back near the wall, and carefully navigated out the side. It was pretty funny to watch. You also enjoy turning over the rocking chair footstool. You'll rotate it onto its side, then upside down, onto its other side, then right side up. Repeat.
You LOVE animals.
Your sleeping schedule is pretty awesome, although naps are still hit and miss. Right now, for example, you woke up from your morning nap after 20 minutes. I'm choosing to let you stay in your crib, even though you are upset. A typical, good day looks like 7am wake, 10-11ish nap, 3-430ish nap, 730 bedtime. You are sleeping through the night! And everyone is happy about this.
Some of my favorite things about you and your current stage: you have such a great sense of silliness and humor. You love to play peekaboo and chase. Your favorite spot is behind the rocking chair. Yesterday you crawled back there with a carrot to chew on (teething) and Teddy, and I joined you with my book. We spent several minutes snuggled up back there. You are also a hugger! You will often crawl up to us and wrap your arms tightly around our necks, especially if we ask for a 'hug'. You are so curious and so fast. You love learning and trying new things.
You especially love when Papa and I are in the same room with you, even if we are all reading or doing our own thing.
You are a lot of work and whole lot of laughter and joy!
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
The Allergy Saga
This post has been so long in coming. Partly because we are still working through the dregs of it, a big part because it was so stressful and I felt so overwhelmed and like I wasn't being taken seriously, and partly because there are so many aspects to it. Every time I've considered taking the time to write everything down, I felt re-overwhelmed :)
I remember feeling so helpless, scared, angry, and lost as I tried to find posts from other moms, talking with our pediatrician, consulting a pediatric dentist, seeking out a specialized acupuncturist, switching pediatricians, researching, researching, researching. And it is insanely frustrating. I am SO glad we are at a better point now.
So. One paragraph at a time.
Also, this post will be graphic. Like, descriptive soiled diapers, pictures, etc etc.
I first suspected something was up when Anderson got some horrendous baby acne. I know baby acne is "normal" but when I put a little breastmilk on it, per a helpful mommy forum, it went out of control. I'd already been able to see the acne was primarily where milk would have spilled during his feedings, around the mouth, across cheeks, occasionally around eyebrows, and down neck and onto chest. In case your eyebrows are raised, I would refer you to my nursing saga post where I mention how crazy nursing was for months. For awhile I tried cutting out dairy and soy, which seemed to help out a little bit. In spite of the acne, everything else seemed to be going pretty well, and I trusted that it would eventually clear up, which it did.
It was around 6 weeks that we began noticing a change in diapers. Prior to this point, Anderson's diapers were pretty perfect as far as breastfed babies go. Fairly runny, seedy mustard/gold/yellow diapers. At 6 weeks they began to foam. And the size of his bowel movements was remarkable for how small he still was. He was having 12 soiled diapers, each one was huge. After a moment of consultation with the Eternal Manfriend, we concluded that a few good descriptions are as follows:
-Mustardy whipped cream. Like, literally, half and half that has been whipped and funneled into a diaper.
-If you've ever made caramel, the truly soft-ball stage where it starts to get a little thicker and foamier, without actually hardening. Now make it orange.
It was also during this time he got some bad "eczema". It didn't matter what we put on it (cetaphil, aquaphor, shea butter, coconut oil, lanolin, etc), nothing improved his skin. I took Anderson to the pediatrician (refer to the nursing saga post), and was told that Anderson was just getting too much to eat.
Enter in the complications of milk oversupply, forceful letdown, and lip/tongue tie.
After we worked out the oversupply issues, the diapers and eczema were still a problem. I'd taken the liberty of cutting out dairy and soy for several weeks. By this point in time, end of October/beginning of November, the diapers had gotten pretty runny and foul smelling. They ranged in color from gold/yellow to brownish green and were very slimy/mucousy. Like, blowing your nose when you have a horrendous cold kind of slime (sorry, gross). Pediatrician thought reflux might be a problem (even though very few of his symptoms indicated reflux) and prescribed prevacid, with no noticeable difference. Ped switched us to zantac, and Anderson began spitting up huge quantities. It was also around this time he began displaying more typical symptoms of "reflux", arching or twitching, pulling away during nursing, etc.
We visited the pediatrician again and did a Fecal Occult Blood (fob) test. Even though I couldn't visibly see blood in the diapers, the fob came back positive. The pediatrician shrugged her shoulders and suggested I keep eliminating diary and soy and possibly try Nutramigen, acrazy expensive formula at $500/month. *jaw drops. I mean, who can seriously afford that??? Certainly not us low-income new parents on a tight student budget!
This next section contains a few pictures from this rough time period. We ended up doing some crazy cloth diaper stuff to make sure the runny explosions stayed contained.
All this time I'd been researching infant allergies, spitting issues, diaper issues, "contact dermatitis" issues, lip/tongue tie issues. There is a whole lot of useless information! Happy Healthy Mama posted and included the first truly helpful pictures I saw. She did a follow up post here that talks about how things progressed. I also did a lot of youtube video searches about "reflux", "colic", and decided that those terms are catch-all words that doctors use to nip a problem that they either don't know how to treat, or whose treatment might go against their westernized medical training.
In some of my research I came across frenectomy references. I took a close look at Anderson's mouth and called the ped dentist (see nursing post) for a consult. She confirmed pretty serious lip and tongue ties, and we scheduled a frenectomy for the last week in November. I knew that nursing issues could be exacerbating the allergy issue and wanted to knock out any of the possible problems.Turns out the frenectomy helped a TON with latch/pulling away. As I suspected, it didn't do anything in terms of diapers.
Anderson is now 2.5 months old.
Meanwhile, over the next two or so weeks, Anderson's diapers continued to get worse. By this point they were very green and foul foul foul smelling, and we were having 7-8 BLOWOUTS a day. Also, very runny. Think water with a dark green tinge, occasionally accompanied by sea-foam like specks, or smaller chunks of slime. Also, we frequently saw either specks of blood, or small strings of blood. Spoke with Ped again. Shrugged shoulders again. I pressed and pressed. They finally gave us a referral for a full fecal lab panel. By this point I was so frustrated with our pediatrician that I prepared to switch pediatricians. It was incomprehensible to me that they assumed if he was a good weight that there wasn't much of a problem. In short, they told me I would have to either wait 5 weeks for the records to transfer or pay a $30 fee, since their records aren't digitized (Obama passed a bill a few years back that mandated digitized records), and most of their office staff was on vacation (leaving one receptionist and one billing/records specialist). To keep an intensely emotional week short and simple, I found a new pediatrician with good reviews, let them know the situation so they could contact and request records, then called up the "old" pediatrician and really let loose on them. Within two days the records were transferred. In the meantime, we delivered the appropriate stool samples to the lab at the hospital. These came back negative for various pathogens, but positive for blood cells.
Enter crazy elimination diet phase. Starting at the beginning of October, I kept track of what I was eating and occasionally made notes. After seeing little improvement when I cut dairy and soy (including the hidden/disguised sources!), I decided I needed to start with a blank slate and then slowly reintroduce foods. I wrote down everything I ate from mid-November to February, documented his nap schedule, wet and dirty diapers, nursing length, and any other notable reactions in terms of behavior or physical health. I wanted to have tangible evidence when I went in to see doctors, but also to refer back and pull out correlations between my diet and his reactions. I removed from my diet: corn, beans, soy, dairy, eggs, wheat, nuts, sugar, fish, strawberries, chocolate, citrus, and bananas.
It was awful. But, within about three days I noticed a drastic improvement. Most doctors recommend waiting at least a week if not 2 to make any judgment calls, but Anderson seemed to make a pretty quick statement whether something was good or bad. I introduced black beans and his symptoms manifested again in less than 24 hours. Cut out black beans and symptoms cleared up within 2 days. Corn yielded a similar result. Introduced strawberries and waited a few days, no problem. Dairy for a few days, no problem. Wheat promoted a bad reaction in less than 24 hours. At this time we began talking with a friend (we'll call her friend #1) who'd gone through something similar with her son, who was a few months older than Anderson. This friend happens to be a professor in Garrett's department, and is a member of our church in a neighboring city. Her son had exhibited the same symptoms, but with projectile vomiting. She'd heard from a friend (friend #2, also in the school department) about an allergy acupuncturist in Indiana, where they graduated from. She was skeptical at first, but after discussing it further with friend #2, decided to give it a try. Turns out friend #2 and her hubby had both personally had some severe food allergies that had been eliminated through the treatment. Since friend #1 knows friend #2 pretty well, she felt it was a worthy investment. Friend #1 flew out for 1.5 days, did the treatment with her son, and noticed major improvements within a week. She said within a few weeks they went from 13 blowouts a day to 1 or 2 regular diapers. Crazy spit-up stopped. And nearly 8 months later, the results are still good.
I was nearly going crazy with the elimination diet, even though we were making good progress. Our grocery budget got uncomfortably tight, and we realized that even if I had to keep eliminating things for a few more months, it would put us in a tight position mentally and physically. We figured if the treatment was successful, Anderson wouldn't be so sensitive, and I'd be able to eat more. Additionally, the treatment (we got a groupon and anticipated spending $500-$600) would be cheaper than doing an expensive formula. We called and scheduled an appointment for the second week in December. We drove 13 hours (driving takes so long with a baby!) through the night, did several treatments the first day, stayed the night, did another treatment the next morning, and drove back home. We later found there are two practitioners within 2 hours of us....whomp. BUT, it was nice to go through the same clinic that treated 3 people we personally knew. And it was our first time seeing Indianapolis. It reminds of me a dirty city in Idaho.
As far as details go, we went to allergy solutions of indiana. The specific method of treatment they are certified in is Advanced Allergy Therapeutics (AAT). Tom, the owner, is a registered nurse and is accredited/trained in a gajillion different eastern/oriental medicines. I think what they specifically did with Anderson is muscle testing, or applied kinesiology, but it used a computer and a cuff that monitored his response and sent small charges through his body. (the lady who did the actual testing and treatment is also a registered nurse, ibclc, accupuncturist, etc). She would treat but queing up the specific allergen family in the computer, click on a subcomponent which would signal to the cuff what we were treating, and then would run a little vibrator down his spine. we had five total sessions. The first session was an hour long and we spent the first 30 minutes just assessing. Each following treatment was 30 mins, and we only treat a single group at a time (some treatments can cross treat. Corn and sugar for example, since so many sugars are made from corn). The last treatment also retested sensitivity on everything we treated. His sensitivities were affecting his skin. stomach, large and small intestines. We found the following:
I'd already discovered the B vitamins (black beans!) and corn, and suspected the wheat. Within a few days his symptoms were gone and I quit eliminating everything altogether. Diapers were improved, the arching and gassiness were gone, he was sleeping better, and his rough/sandy skin was much smoother.
Just to be safe and follow up with Western Medicine, we had an appointment with a pediatric gastroenterologist the following week who said Anderson was a GIANT healthy looking baby. He said if we saw any other problems, to try eliminating dairy and soy again. I'd heard this refrain so many times by that point (and hadn't eaten any dairy or soy for two months), that I rolled my eyes to his face.
HOWEVER, over the christmas break some of his symptoms began cropping up again. Even though I'd quit the elimination diet, I was still documenting everything. Karen had cautioned me that since wheat is such a strong allergen, it's possible that people can continue to develop sensitivities to other components of wheat that they weren't previously sensitive to. She suggested I cut out wheat first, which I did, and noticed some improvement. I decided to do nuts next, since we never tested for nuts and I eat a LOT of them (almond milk, almonds, walnuts, pecans, etc). Within two days the remaining symptoms cleared up. I tested peanut butter awhile ago and he didn't have a problem with it. The weird thing with the wheat, is that if I eat highly refined (boxed cake mix) products, he doesn't have a problem. When I eat heartier breads, he shows signs within a day. I feel it's important to note that Anderson does not have much of a negative response to dairy or soy, and probably hasn't since he was just a few weeks old.
So, six months, three hours writing this post, and a happy, healthy, clear-skinned, normal diapered boy later, I feel confident that wheat and tree nuts are out of the picture for the next while. Eliminating them is obnoxious, but isn't a catastrophe, diet wise. The hard thing with allergies is that they can come and go as Anderson continues to develop and mature. We will probably do another few treatments when Garrett is done with his Ph.D, and have a little more wiggle room financially, but are okay with where we are at now. We've started introducing Anderson to solids and have yet to see any reactions, even to fish, eggs, peanut butter, strawberries, etc.
I could go into a long tirade about our food industry and health care system, but will keep it short by expressing how difficult it is to truly find out what goes into our food and how it's grown and treated. There are so many words to disguise an ingredient or process, and new labels are marketed all the time in an effort to stay ahead of consumers. It's also been really frustrating to find a supportive and open minded doctor. We try to make clean-eating our lifestyle, and even being mindful of what we consume, I was shocked to discover just how much our food is processed and how euphemistic labels can be.
I hope we'll be at a point financially and geographically with baby number two, where we can better track where our food comes from, and what it's been exposed to.
I remember feeling so helpless, scared, angry, and lost as I tried to find posts from other moms, talking with our pediatrician, consulting a pediatric dentist, seeking out a specialized acupuncturist, switching pediatricians, researching, researching, researching. And it is insanely frustrating. I am SO glad we are at a better point now.
So. One paragraph at a time.
Also, this post will be graphic. Like, descriptive soiled diapers, pictures, etc etc.
I first suspected something was up when Anderson got some horrendous baby acne. I know baby acne is "normal" but when I put a little breastmilk on it, per a helpful mommy forum, it went out of control. I'd already been able to see the acne was primarily where milk would have spilled during his feedings, around the mouth, across cheeks, occasionally around eyebrows, and down neck and onto chest. In case your eyebrows are raised, I would refer you to my nursing saga post where I mention how crazy nursing was for months. For awhile I tried cutting out dairy and soy, which seemed to help out a little bit. In spite of the acne, everything else seemed to be going pretty well, and I trusted that it would eventually clear up, which it did.
It was around 6 weeks that we began noticing a change in diapers. Prior to this point, Anderson's diapers were pretty perfect as far as breastfed babies go. Fairly runny, seedy mustard/gold/yellow diapers. At 6 weeks they began to foam. And the size of his bowel movements was remarkable for how small he still was. He was having 12 soiled diapers, each one was huge. After a moment of consultation with the Eternal Manfriend, we concluded that a few good descriptions are as follows:
-Mustardy whipped cream. Like, literally, half and half that has been whipped and funneled into a diaper.
-If you've ever made caramel, the truly soft-ball stage where it starts to get a little thicker and foamier, without actually hardening. Now make it orange.
It was also during this time he got some bad "eczema". It didn't matter what we put on it (cetaphil, aquaphor, shea butter, coconut oil, lanolin, etc), nothing improved his skin. I took Anderson to the pediatrician (refer to the nursing saga post), and was told that Anderson was just getting too much to eat.
Enter in the complications of milk oversupply, forceful letdown, and lip/tongue tie.
After we worked out the oversupply issues, the diapers and eczema were still a problem. I'd taken the liberty of cutting out dairy and soy for several weeks. By this point in time, end of October/beginning of November, the diapers had gotten pretty runny and foul smelling. They ranged in color from gold/yellow to brownish green and were very slimy/mucousy. Like, blowing your nose when you have a horrendous cold kind of slime (sorry, gross). Pediatrician thought reflux might be a problem (even though very few of his symptoms indicated reflux) and prescribed prevacid, with no noticeable difference. Ped switched us to zantac, and Anderson began spitting up huge quantities. It was also around this time he began displaying more typical symptoms of "reflux", arching or twitching, pulling away during nursing, etc.
We visited the pediatrician again and did a Fecal Occult Blood (fob) test. Even though I couldn't visibly see blood in the diapers, the fob came back positive. The pediatrician shrugged her shoulders and suggested I keep eliminating diary and soy and possibly try Nutramigen, acrazy expensive formula at $500/month. *jaw drops. I mean, who can seriously afford that??? Certainly not us low-income new parents on a tight student budget!
This next section contains a few pictures from this rough time period. We ended up doing some crazy cloth diaper stuff to make sure the runny explosions stayed contained.
All this time I'd been researching infant allergies, spitting issues, diaper issues, "contact dermatitis" issues, lip/tongue tie issues. There is a whole lot of useless information! Happy Healthy Mama posted and included the first truly helpful pictures I saw. She did a follow up post here that talks about how things progressed. I also did a lot of youtube video searches about "reflux", "colic", and decided that those terms are catch-all words that doctors use to nip a problem that they either don't know how to treat, or whose treatment might go against their westernized medical training.
In some of my research I came across frenectomy references. I took a close look at Anderson's mouth and called the ped dentist (see nursing post) for a consult. She confirmed pretty serious lip and tongue ties, and we scheduled a frenectomy for the last week in November. I knew that nursing issues could be exacerbating the allergy issue and wanted to knock out any of the possible problems.Turns out the frenectomy helped a TON with latch/pulling away. As I suspected, it didn't do anything in terms of diapers.
Anderson is now 2.5 months old.
Meanwhile, over the next two or so weeks, Anderson's diapers continued to get worse. By this point they were very green and foul foul foul smelling, and we were having 7-8 BLOWOUTS a day. Also, very runny. Think water with a dark green tinge, occasionally accompanied by sea-foam like specks, or smaller chunks of slime. Also, we frequently saw either specks of blood, or small strings of blood. Spoke with Ped again. Shrugged shoulders again. I pressed and pressed. They finally gave us a referral for a full fecal lab panel. By this point I was so frustrated with our pediatrician that I prepared to switch pediatricians. It was incomprehensible to me that they assumed if he was a good weight that there wasn't much of a problem. In short, they told me I would have to either wait 5 weeks for the records to transfer or pay a $30 fee, since their records aren't digitized (Obama passed a bill a few years back that mandated digitized records), and most of their office staff was on vacation (leaving one receptionist and one billing/records specialist). To keep an intensely emotional week short and simple, I found a new pediatrician with good reviews, let them know the situation so they could contact and request records, then called up the "old" pediatrician and really let loose on them. Within two days the records were transferred. In the meantime, we delivered the appropriate stool samples to the lab at the hospital. These came back negative for various pathogens, but positive for blood cells.
Enter crazy elimination diet phase. Starting at the beginning of October, I kept track of what I was eating and occasionally made notes. After seeing little improvement when I cut dairy and soy (including the hidden/disguised sources!), I decided I needed to start with a blank slate and then slowly reintroduce foods. I wrote down everything I ate from mid-November to February, documented his nap schedule, wet and dirty diapers, nursing length, and any other notable reactions in terms of behavior or physical health. I wanted to have tangible evidence when I went in to see doctors, but also to refer back and pull out correlations between my diet and his reactions. I removed from my diet: corn, beans, soy, dairy, eggs, wheat, nuts, sugar, fish, strawberries, chocolate, citrus, and bananas.
It was awful. But, within about three days I noticed a drastic improvement. Most doctors recommend waiting at least a week if not 2 to make any judgment calls, but Anderson seemed to make a pretty quick statement whether something was good or bad. I introduced black beans and his symptoms manifested again in less than 24 hours. Cut out black beans and symptoms cleared up within 2 days. Corn yielded a similar result. Introduced strawberries and waited a few days, no problem. Dairy for a few days, no problem. Wheat promoted a bad reaction in less than 24 hours. At this time we began talking with a friend (we'll call her friend #1) who'd gone through something similar with her son, who was a few months older than Anderson. This friend happens to be a professor in Garrett's department, and is a member of our church in a neighboring city. Her son had exhibited the same symptoms, but with projectile vomiting. She'd heard from a friend (friend #2, also in the school department) about an allergy acupuncturist in Indiana, where they graduated from. She was skeptical at first, but after discussing it further with friend #2, decided to give it a try. Turns out friend #2 and her hubby had both personally had some severe food allergies that had been eliminated through the treatment. Since friend #1 knows friend #2 pretty well, she felt it was a worthy investment. Friend #1 flew out for 1.5 days, did the treatment with her son, and noticed major improvements within a week. She said within a few weeks they went from 13 blowouts a day to 1 or 2 regular diapers. Crazy spit-up stopped. And nearly 8 months later, the results are still good.
I was nearly going crazy with the elimination diet, even though we were making good progress. Our grocery budget got uncomfortably tight, and we realized that even if I had to keep eliminating things for a few more months, it would put us in a tight position mentally and physically. We figured if the treatment was successful, Anderson wouldn't be so sensitive, and I'd be able to eat more. Additionally, the treatment (we got a groupon and anticipated spending $500-$600) would be cheaper than doing an expensive formula. We called and scheduled an appointment for the second week in December. We drove 13 hours (driving takes so long with a baby!) through the night, did several treatments the first day, stayed the night, did another treatment the next morning, and drove back home. We later found there are two practitioners within 2 hours of us....whomp. BUT, it was nice to go through the same clinic that treated 3 people we personally knew. And it was our first time seeing Indianapolis. It reminds of me a dirty city in Idaho.
As far as details go, we went to allergy solutions of indiana. The specific method of treatment they are certified in is Advanced Allergy Therapeutics (AAT). Tom, the owner, is a registered nurse and is accredited/trained in a gajillion different eastern/oriental medicines. I think what they specifically did with Anderson is muscle testing, or applied kinesiology, but it used a computer and a cuff that monitored his response and sent small charges through his body. (the lady who did the actual testing and treatment is also a registered nurse, ibclc, accupuncturist, etc). She would treat but queing up the specific allergen family in the computer, click on a subcomponent which would signal to the cuff what we were treating, and then would run a little vibrator down his spine. we had five total sessions. The first session was an hour long and we spent the first 30 minutes just assessing. Each following treatment was 30 mins, and we only treat a single group at a time (some treatments can cross treat. Corn and sugar for example, since so many sugars are made from corn). The last treatment also retested sensitivity on everything we treated. His sensitivities were affecting his skin. stomach, large and small intestines. We found the following:
Eggs (chicken)
zinc
levitin
vitamin e
gold vitellogenin
methionine
tryptophan
zeaxanthun
egg cholesterol
ovoglobulin
albumin
xanthophylls
Digestive/Food Enzymes
sucrase
pancreozymin
invertase
pancreatic alpha amylase
somatostatin
cholecystokinin
Corn/Sugar
corn
corn sugar
corn syrup solids
high fructose corn sugar
carotenoids
corn starch white corn
zeaxanthin
subcomponents:
vitamin K
rutin/quercetin
Vitamin B:
B-12 pangamic
B-15
B-2
B-17
para amino venzoic acid
hydrocoalbumin
folate
nitrosides
nicotinic acid
subcomponents:
pangamic acid
riboflavin
nicotinamide
nicotinic acid
pantothenic acid
Wheat/Food Coloring
gliadin
glutenin
gluten
cracked wheat
khorasan wheat
wheat flour
white flour
agglutinin isolectin A
alpha/beta gliadin
prealpha/beta gliadin
HMU glutemine subunits
matable glutenin
subcomponents:
122 azorubine
red 10I'd already discovered the B vitamins (black beans!) and corn, and suspected the wheat. Within a few days his symptoms were gone and I quit eliminating everything altogether. Diapers were improved, the arching and gassiness were gone, he was sleeping better, and his rough/sandy skin was much smoother.
Just to be safe and follow up with Western Medicine, we had an appointment with a pediatric gastroenterologist the following week who said Anderson was a GIANT healthy looking baby. He said if we saw any other problems, to try eliminating dairy and soy again. I'd heard this refrain so many times by that point (and hadn't eaten any dairy or soy for two months), that I rolled my eyes to his face.
HOWEVER, over the christmas break some of his symptoms began cropping up again. Even though I'd quit the elimination diet, I was still documenting everything. Karen had cautioned me that since wheat is such a strong allergen, it's possible that people can continue to develop sensitivities to other components of wheat that they weren't previously sensitive to. She suggested I cut out wheat first, which I did, and noticed some improvement. I decided to do nuts next, since we never tested for nuts and I eat a LOT of them (almond milk, almonds, walnuts, pecans, etc). Within two days the remaining symptoms cleared up. I tested peanut butter awhile ago and he didn't have a problem with it. The weird thing with the wheat, is that if I eat highly refined (boxed cake mix) products, he doesn't have a problem. When I eat heartier breads, he shows signs within a day. I feel it's important to note that Anderson does not have much of a negative response to dairy or soy, and probably hasn't since he was just a few weeks old.
So, six months, three hours writing this post, and a happy, healthy, clear-skinned, normal diapered boy later, I feel confident that wheat and tree nuts are out of the picture for the next while. Eliminating them is obnoxious, but isn't a catastrophe, diet wise. The hard thing with allergies is that they can come and go as Anderson continues to develop and mature. We will probably do another few treatments when Garrett is done with his Ph.D, and have a little more wiggle room financially, but are okay with where we are at now. We've started introducing Anderson to solids and have yet to see any reactions, even to fish, eggs, peanut butter, strawberries, etc.
I could go into a long tirade about our food industry and health care system, but will keep it short by expressing how difficult it is to truly find out what goes into our food and how it's grown and treated. There are so many words to disguise an ingredient or process, and new labels are marketed all the time in an effort to stay ahead of consumers. It's also been really frustrating to find a supportive and open minded doctor. We try to make clean-eating our lifestyle, and even being mindful of what we consume, I was shocked to discover just how much our food is processed and how euphemistic labels can be.
I hope we'll be at a point financially and geographically with baby number two, where we can better track where our food comes from, and what it's been exposed to.
My Dear Little Man 05/03/2016
My Little Man,
Holy Cow, you are growing so fast! You are crawling everywhere, kneeling, and lifting yourself up to standing position all by yourself. You love trying new foods, as long as you can see the mom and dad are eating the same thing.
This last week you got a cold. And then started teething. Things got a little crazy, but we made it through, and with the addition of your two lower lateral incisors! I'm curious as to when any of your upper incisors will come in.
We are doing a little more sleep training to help us all get through your 4:30am wake up. Today was day 3, and the waketimes are getting shorter and shorter. Additionally, you are beginning to nurse as soon as you get up again!
You are 25 pounds, 30 inches, and are consistently wearing 18-24 month clothes. I started making a pair of stretchy jeans for you out of some of my old pants. They fit great last week, but when I resumed work on them this week, you'd outgrown them. I think you're developing under your adorable rolls, without losing any of the fat roll itself!
I've been very mindful of what we are eating, and you haven't had any allergic reaction to foods in quite some time. I'm really hoping that as you continue to get older, your sensitivities will settle down and we won't have to walk on tiptoes around food.
You continue to love bathtime and enjoy getting out and about. I took you to petsmart two weeks ago and you loved the brightly colored fish. You are usually very happy to see anyone smile at you, and enjoy attention when we go out.
It's been so special to see your personality continue to develop. You get quite a kick out of giggling at your papa and me, regardless of whether we prompt it or not. You are, overwhelmingly, a happy and smiley baby, and we love you so much!
Holy Cow, you are growing so fast! You are crawling everywhere, kneeling, and lifting yourself up to standing position all by yourself. You love trying new foods, as long as you can see the mom and dad are eating the same thing.
This last week you got a cold. And then started teething. Things got a little crazy, but we made it through, and with the addition of your two lower lateral incisors! I'm curious as to when any of your upper incisors will come in.
We are doing a little more sleep training to help us all get through your 4:30am wake up. Today was day 3, and the waketimes are getting shorter and shorter. Additionally, you are beginning to nurse as soon as you get up again!
You are 25 pounds, 30 inches, and are consistently wearing 18-24 month clothes. I started making a pair of stretchy jeans for you out of some of my old pants. They fit great last week, but when I resumed work on them this week, you'd outgrown them. I think you're developing under your adorable rolls, without losing any of the fat roll itself!
I've been very mindful of what we are eating, and you haven't had any allergic reaction to foods in quite some time. I'm really hoping that as you continue to get older, your sensitivities will settle down and we won't have to walk on tiptoes around food.
You continue to love bathtime and enjoy getting out and about. I took you to petsmart two weeks ago and you loved the brightly colored fish. You are usually very happy to see anyone smile at you, and enjoy attention when we go out.
It's been so special to see your personality continue to develop. You get quite a kick out of giggling at your papa and me, regardless of whether we prompt it or not. You are, overwhelmingly, a happy and smiley baby, and we love you so much!
Monday, February 8, 2016
My Dear Little Man, 02/08/2016
My Dear Little Man,
I write this at the end of a long day and I'm pretty irritated about nothing really important. I think it's been one of those days where small things just added up and, combined with fatigue, yo mama is ready to punch a wall.
That said, you had some pretty stinking adorable moments today. As well as being pretty cranky yourself. I've already mentioned that both of your bottom teeth have come in and are continuing to grow. You've only bitten me twice and have been pretty good about not biting people in general. You continue to try new pureed foods with admirable gusto. You are starting to develop a very small bump where your upper left incisor is slowly pushing through.
You are rolling over in your sleep! This was an exciting and slightly disconcerting achievement. Fortunately we started training you to sleep on your back as soon as you started rolling, so we put you down on your back and you end up on your stomach. Also fortunately, you seem to sleep better on your stomach in general. Naturally as I type this, you are squawking in bed even though we put you down 30 minutes ago.
I just went in to check on you. You rotated 90 degrees, on your back, perpendicular to the crib and had your head and feet pressed against the sides of the crib. Did I mention you've been wiggling all over the place?
It doesn't take much time at all now for you to be put down on your back and flip over. You seem to enjoy rolling over, though you hate ending up on your stomach. You seem to particularly enjoy rolling over when we are cleaning your ears or changing your diaper. I'm hoping you'll continue stretching your body and exploring and learn to roll from your back to your stomach soon.
As far as sleep goes, your nighttime sleep is quite lovely. We usually put you down at 7pm and typically go until 5am before you start waking. I feed you for about 15 minutes, Dad does a diaper change, and we put you back down for another 2-3 hours. We've really been working on improving your naps lately and I think increasing your waketime is working. For example, Your first "wake" is fairly brief, 5am-5:45am. Then usually 8-9:30ish, 12ish-2:30ish, and 4ish to 7pm. The past few days you've slept about 2 hours for each of your naps and have been able to put yourself back to sleep (or even sleep through!) the 45-60 minute mark as you're transitioning through sleep cycles. The other AMAZING thing is that when you're appropriately tired, have been fed, and have a new diaper, I can lay you down awake and you'll quietly chatter for a few minutes and then fall asleep. Sometimes you just fall right asleep. It's quite lovely.
We've started cloth diapering you at night again. It seems a combination of a pocket diaper with a prefold, hemp doubler, and wool doubler do the job. It's bulky but it keeps leaks contained and continues to pull moisture away from you. We usually cover it with wool pants.
Overall you are an adorable, chunky, happy and eager to smile baby. You get a lot of attention wherever you go and you usually have a toothy wide grin to flash. My favorite is when you're sleepy and I hold you. You tend to curl up and "koala" against my chest, with your head tucked under my chin and your hand and arm tucked behind mine. I LOVE rubbing my cheek against your soft hair (which is an interesting reddish gold color!) and smooching your chubby cheeks. You are such a healthy big boy!
And, blessedly, you are now asleep!
I write this at the end of a long day and I'm pretty irritated about nothing really important. I think it's been one of those days where small things just added up and, combined with fatigue, yo mama is ready to punch a wall.
That said, you had some pretty stinking adorable moments today. As well as being pretty cranky yourself. I've already mentioned that both of your bottom teeth have come in and are continuing to grow. You've only bitten me twice and have been pretty good about not biting people in general. You continue to try new pureed foods with admirable gusto. You are starting to develop a very small bump where your upper left incisor is slowly pushing through.
You are rolling over in your sleep! This was an exciting and slightly disconcerting achievement. Fortunately we started training you to sleep on your back as soon as you started rolling, so we put you down on your back and you end up on your stomach. Also fortunately, you seem to sleep better on your stomach in general. Naturally as I type this, you are squawking in bed even though we put you down 30 minutes ago.
I just went in to check on you. You rotated 90 degrees, on your back, perpendicular to the crib and had your head and feet pressed against the sides of the crib. Did I mention you've been wiggling all over the place?
It doesn't take much time at all now for you to be put down on your back and flip over. You seem to enjoy rolling over, though you hate ending up on your stomach. You seem to particularly enjoy rolling over when we are cleaning your ears or changing your diaper. I'm hoping you'll continue stretching your body and exploring and learn to roll from your back to your stomach soon.
As far as sleep goes, your nighttime sleep is quite lovely. We usually put you down at 7pm and typically go until 5am before you start waking. I feed you for about 15 minutes, Dad does a diaper change, and we put you back down for another 2-3 hours. We've really been working on improving your naps lately and I think increasing your waketime is working. For example, Your first "wake" is fairly brief, 5am-5:45am. Then usually 8-9:30ish, 12ish-2:30ish, and 4ish to 7pm. The past few days you've slept about 2 hours for each of your naps and have been able to put yourself back to sleep (or even sleep through!) the 45-60 minute mark as you're transitioning through sleep cycles. The other AMAZING thing is that when you're appropriately tired, have been fed, and have a new diaper, I can lay you down awake and you'll quietly chatter for a few minutes and then fall asleep. Sometimes you just fall right asleep. It's quite lovely.
We've started cloth diapering you at night again. It seems a combination of a pocket diaper with a prefold, hemp doubler, and wool doubler do the job. It's bulky but it keeps leaks contained and continues to pull moisture away from you. We usually cover it with wool pants.
Overall you are an adorable, chunky, happy and eager to smile baby. You get a lot of attention wherever you go and you usually have a toothy wide grin to flash. My favorite is when you're sleepy and I hold you. You tend to curl up and "koala" against my chest, with your head tucked under my chin and your hand and arm tucked behind mine. I LOVE rubbing my cheek against your soft hair (which is an interesting reddish gold color!) and smooching your chubby cheeks. You are such a healthy big boy!
And, blessedly, you are now asleep!
Friday, December 25, 2015
Dear Little Man 12/25/2015
My Sweet Little Man,
I've been meaning to start writing these little letters to
you, documenting your advancements, quirks, and happenings. Most recently
you've developed greater eye/hand coordination. As in, once something is in
your hands, it goes directly to your mouth. You are also doing better with
tummy time and developing your arm muscles. For the longest time you HATED
tummy time. You developed neck strength early on, but had a hard time utilizing
your arms for support. Because of your neck and head control, we were able to
start holding and propping you upright at about 6 weeks. We got a bouncer for
you at about 2 months, and you've taken off. You LOVE your bouncer. It is
hilarious to watch you careen side to side with bounding marshmallow steps, or
to spring, both feet in the hair, several inches off the ground like a Highland
dancer (I should know!!!). I feel sorry for our downstairs neighbors, but they
haven't said anything yet. And you are developing some incredible leg strength,
so we'll continue to let you explore and challenge yourself. It's so fun to see
your interest in the world around you and your desire to be involved and hands
on. You are such a strong, sweet, and inquisitive little boy and we love you so
much!
You've also started growing out fuzzy hair again. You were
born with what the midwife called a "rat tail" (I found this highly
unflattering but had to agree). You had some light reddish hair all over your
head but it was about an inch longer and darker in the back. The back kept
growing, so I took the liberty of shaving it. Twice, in fact. And then when you
were about two weeks old I gave you a bath that washed your adorable little
fuzzy hair off. I was devastated the rest of the day. You had an adorable fuzzy
little old man cul-de-sac before you grew the faintest fuzz on your head. It
stayed like that for a few months, until just a few weeks ago (the beginning of
December) when your hair started growing. It's now about a centimeter long and
I LOVE rubbing my face on your head. Which inevitably leads to smooching your
adorable cheeks. You, my child, have the most smoochable chubby cheeks I've
ever seen. I kiss you more often than I smooch your Father, and that's saying
something! Your hair initially came in a blondish red, and I think you're
trending more toward blonde now. We're excited to see how your coloring will
progress.
You began smiling real smiles (as opposed to gassy/dream
smiles) the last week of September, and began regularly smiling in earnest the
last weeks of October. You have the cutest wide mouthed, gummy smiles. Your
first laugh was around the middle of November, and you began laughing more
regularly the first weeks of December. You often laugh and cry at the same time
when you're tired and it's again, just adorable. You are most ready to laugh when
you first wake up and we keep you on your back in your crib. You like hearing
me say "bugaboo" and dad say "chicken tikka masala". I'm
pretty sure you just like it when we talk really close to your face and make
faces of our own at you.
You are also a heavy little dude! You've been off the charts
since you were a month old. At 3.5 months, you are just under 19 lbs and
25" long. Most people assume you are around 6 months old. The Pediatric GI
doc called you Godzilla and just laughed and laughed when he saw your adorable
chunky thighs. We love your rolls, but they are quite the challenge to clean at
night and during your bath! You also have my feet. You are able to flex your
feet and toes individually. It makes trimming nails a little more challenging.
We are also pretty sure you're teething, since you launch toward things and
start gnawing on them ravenously (even shortly after feeding). And Little Man,
you have quite the jaw strength!
One huge improvement that your daddy and I have been working on is sleep training. We read so many books with different ideas and theories, but eventually we found that letting you cry at graduated intervals has been the most successful and gentle for all of us. You are so much happier when you sleep! And consequently, so am I. Last night you slept from 8pm to 4am, with only some minor squawking throughout the night. AND we can now put you straight to bed without getting you to sleep first. We just lay you down awake, and you're usually quiet and asleep in five minutes or less. What. A. Blessing!
Most of all, I love how you gaze at your Papa and me. You
melt our hearts. And as frustrating as working on your sleep schedule has been,
all it takes is a steady gaze and smile from you to melt us. We love you. So.
Stinking. Much.
Smooch!
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