Been awhile

It has been awhile since I've posted, not because things have not been exciting around here, but because things are just busy. Isaac just turned 9 months, and we had our check up today.  Other than being a huge drama queen about finger pricks and flu shots he's a happy healthy little boy.  He's slimmed down a little, and is now in the 75% clear across the board ~ 21 lbs 11 oz and 28 1/4 inches long. He's also getting all four of his front teeth at the same time!  Kinda surprised me when the doctor told me cause he hasn't been drooling as much as he used to and I couldn't feel anything in his mouth. Teeth are coming though!

He is doing great with food and his sippy.  We actually have dropped 3 bottles including his last bottle before bedtime, which I thought would be a challenge.  He just has one more bottle with his afternoon snack.  Everything else is in a sippy now and with a meal.  We are looking for more options for finger foods, because he has started to reject some of the normal mush.  He really does like eating "people" food, so if you have found anything that has worked for you all, please share!  Thanksgiving was fun to try some of the table food, and I think we'll be starting some pastas, and casseroles soon.  I just have to get over my small case of OCD before I let him make a big mess.

I LOVE Christmas time, but decorating was a little different this year since Isaac is cruising along. I'm sure for those of you with full on toddlers, its been quite an adventure to baby proof Christmas time.  Luckily, Isaac responds really well to word no.  We're talking full on tantrums when he hears that word!  Adam and I just laugh when we see that lip pout out and the tears start pouring.

We're also going through some pretty bad separation anxiety when I leave for work.  His nanny is nice, but if he's awake when I leave there is always a meltdown.  Like everything now, we're just trying to ignore the behavior and make nothing of it so he doesn't reinforce those habits or get spoiled.  It was so nice to have the past week off, and I'm looking forward to having the last 2 weeks off in December to just stay home.  I do go a little stir crazy sometimes though, so if Emily and Melissa want to hang out, I am open and available!

Well, I guess that's it!  Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas season!! ~Andrea

Turning it back around on us!

So babies like to imitate. I thought that meant that Hadley was supposed to imitate us. However, that game is apparently not as "fun" as getting us to imitate her. Lately, everything she does, she tries to get us to do it too. When I feed her Cheerios, she tries to feed them to me. I give her a toothbrush to hold on her own while I brush her teeth. While I am brushing her teeth, she tries to brush mine with the toothbrush she is holding. Today she even tried to feed me her sippy cup. AND she thinks it is SO hilarious! It is about the cutest thing ever, but every new thing she does is the cutest thing ever.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

--Amanda

All things for one year olds...

So I can hardly believe that my little boy is 1 year old already. We had a great time at our birthday party, although he slept most of the time, and of course it was the same weekend as the cold snap in North Carolina, and since it was an outside tailgating party it was a little stressful for mommy. But we all managed and his little friends had a good time and Andrew got his first hug and kiss from one of my husband good friend's little boy. They are about 4 months apart and they we SO CUTE together!

So anyways, I thought I would fill you guys in on some new "Andrew" thoughts. He is totally on whole milk. I think his reflux is rearing its ugly head again because he is beginning to spit up again and this stuff stinks like vomit. Plus he is waking up in the middle of the night which is unusual for Andrew. My good friend told me when her son was Andrew's age he started doing this too and his doctor said that sounded like reflux. So when we take him for his first year check up that is first on our list of things to ask. I don't like the idea of putting him back on meds, but I don't want him to be uncomfortable. In case you are wondering why he hasn't already had his appointment. He has been a little sick the past couple of weeks. First pick eye with an ear infection. Then the stomach bug, then another ear infection and now he is just kind of snotty with a little cough. They won't treat the reflux until he is back to normal, and I don't want him getting shots until he is feeling better either.

He is finally using a sippy cup!!! It took a long time and a lot of money wasted on the nice expensive sippy cups, but what can I say, my baby...I mean 1 year old...has cheap taste. The only one that has worked for us are the "take and toss" variety. We went cold turkey on bottles this week, and thank goodness for daycare because it saved this mommy her sanity! This little bottles you can kind of squeeze so they would let it pool in his mouth until he finally got the hang of it. Plus it helped that they gave him some crackers before hand to make him thirsty. Such smart ladies! Oh and the one bit of advice that I have learned is that at his age milk is a beverage, not part of his meal. Of course dehydration is an issue, but if i just give it to him when he is thirsty then he will drink it. Duh, why didn't I think of that. That has helped with my stress level tremendously. The only thing is that these cheap sippy cups leak, so eventually I would like to change him over to the "no leak" kind or at the very least ones that don't leak as bad since this little guy likes to throw his milk when he is done.

No progress in the food department. The doctor has reassured me it is because of the reflux issues in his past and he probably will take his time getting used to finger foods. But I know what this little guys likes and it is all things bread. I spoke to his PT lady (remember me telling you that he was being evaluated because of not wanting to put things in his mouth? This was MONTHS ago.) and she said that it might take a long time before he is over his texture/reflux issues as it pertains to eating- like until he is 2! She also said because of this I shouldn't be surprised if he is a little slowing with his communication skills because all this is related. And then she sent us on our way. We have closed out his case and mommy and daddy are on their own. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. As much as I felt excited to show her all his skills monthly, I always left these session feeling let down because he never felt like he was up to pair. I have started to see a pattern emerge and basically I think he is about 1-2 months behind his friends at daycare, which really isn't that big of a deal. In fact he is doing all the physical things his best friend is doing (they are one week apart) which includes walking full steam ahead! I HAVE A WALKER!!!

I promise I haven't forgotten to fill you guys in on the eye doctor experience, but we haven't gone yet. And I promise I am not trying to procrastinate here. We had an appointment but then the doctor was sick, and then we rescheduled and then Andrew got sick. And now the the next early morning appointment isn't until December 10th, this way his daddy can come to it...I am still not comfortable with what we *might* hear, but I guess this is what being a parent is all about.

So this post is insanely long so I will end it now. Hope everybody is doing well. Turkey day is just a short week away!

Melissa

Finally, some variety!

This picture is of Molly when she was having a bad rash day. It looks a little odd cause she has Eucerin cream on her cheeks. But she's still happy!!!









The poor girl, Molly has had nothing but butternut squash and rice cereal for the past 5 days. But I must admit, her cheeks are looking fabulous! A little dry but I think that's because of the weather, especially how it keeps changing from hot to cold. Finally, day 6, she actually gets to eat something different, though not drastically different. It was sweet potatoes and rice cereal for breakfast! I think the plan is to do a couple of days of sweet potatoes, with some butternut squash thrown in every once in a while, and then try a banana. I really don't want her to be allergic to bananas but it will be nice to know what it is!

I have heard that most children grow out of allergies or sensitivities by age one so I hope that is the case here. I will keep you posted!

Emily

Here are some pictures from Halloween! She was the cutest lion around!

So much for Thanksgiving!

Ok, so I said I was going to follow up when I mentioned Molly's rash on her cheeks and her bad diaper rash. Well the easier of the two to fix was the diaper rash. Turns out she has a yeast infection so Nystatin ointment was the way to go. We still have about a week left of using the ointment but it's starting to look a lot better. Now about that cheek rash....

About 3 weeks ago I gave Molly egg yolk for the first time. Everything seemed fine and she had it for 2 days in a row and then this rash came. Thinking it was the egg, I stopped giving it to her immediately and expected the rash to go away. 2 days later she had her 9 month appointment. The doctor agreed that it didn't look eczema-esque and to see if stopping the egg would help. Well, 2 weeks later the rash was still there. But it wasn't the same all the time. Throughout the day it would flair up and then sometimes go down to almost clear. But she hadn't had egg that whole time so I was starting to think that egg is not our problem. So I took her back to the doctor and that's when we discovered the yeast in the diaper area. She does think that the rash is something related to food but does not advise that we do an allergy test just yet. It involves taking blood which is just so traumatic for baby and mother alike! So we have to go about it the old-fashioned way!

So....back to basics. :-( I have had to stop all table foods (she advised holding off for about a month) I have had to go back to bland foods and reintroduce everything all over again. The PA said that babies can show a reaction to a food months after it's been introduced. Ugh! Poor Molly, for the past 3 days she has had nothing but butternut squash and rice cereal. On the bright side, her face is really clearing up! I think what is left is more a response to the cold weather than food. Next I'm going to add in sweet potatoes. Honestly, after looking at everything that Molly was eating during the past 3 weeks and when her flair ups occurred, we are thinking she might be allergic to bananas. Yup, bananas, Molly's favorite food. After we do sweet potatoes for a few days I think I'm going to give her a banana and see what happens. Poor kid!

So, the excitement of Molly trying all the table foods that Thanksgiving has to offer is no longer a reality for us. But as long as she is healthy and happy I can be inconvenienced for a while!

I have a picture of her face rash (don't worry, I won't post pics of the other rash!) but it is on my computer and I have switched computers with my dad for a few days. I am back working with him part time and will post about that too! (Man, am I behind or what?!?!)

Happy One Year Birthdays to Andrew and Laine!!!

Emily

9 months (plus 2 weeks)!!!

Melissa's comment made me realize that I never posted Molly's 9 month bunny pictures. We were at the beach but I took her blanket and bunny and we made do. Molly isn't really in a sitting still phase of her life but I think they turned out alright.


She figured she could just crawl right off the chair! Luckily I was able to catch her and the moment!

Molly's going to kill me...

For posting this post! You all must remind me, if we are still writing this blog when are kids are in middle school, that I MUST delete this post so poor Molly doesn't feel exposed! :-D

Ok, so I know it's been a while since I posted and I have a lot to tell y'all. I'll probably do it in a series of posts but I wanted to start with this situation. For those of you who have girls, or will have girls in the future, this may help you feel a little more at ease if the doctor gives you the same news (it's not as bad as I'm making it sound!)

Anyway, lately Molly has had a really bad rash on her cheeks and really bad diaper rash (I will post more about those later). Anyway, her body was trying to heal the diaper rash by closing up the little blisters but it seems that her body is an overachiever! Those little blisters weren't the only thing that was closing... What does she mean?!!? you ask yourself. Molly's female area was also closing up! After learning this about her and talking to some people, it seems that while not common, it's not that unheard of.

So for the past 2 weeks we have had to use an estrogen cream on Molly to help things open back up. Over time it would have opened naturally but the longer it's closed the more risk she would be at for bladder infections and uti's so we are helping it along.

Things are opening and we now only have to use the cream once a day (instead of twice like the last 2 weeks). We still have about 3 or 4 weeks to use the cream before things are really back to normal.

We try to look at the bright side: in Todd's words: "At least she can't get knocked up!"

I just hope, if you get similar news in the future, you can think back to this post and know that you are not alone!

-Emily