We have Teeth!

And no pictures of them, because they are the bottom ones, and every time I try to show them off, he sticks his tongue out and covers them.  I could take a picture of them when he is angry, but it's not a flattering look, and he'd be mortified in years to come.

Daddy still gets the big laughs

 These were taken a couple days before The Arrival Of The Tooth.

Climbing Mount Daddy

And this was the morning of The Tooth:

I'm trying to be happy...

Followed on Wednesday the 6th by the arrival of The Second Tooth.

So we have two teeth!  He's still a bit drooly and wants to eat everything, but a close examination of his gums one angry day leads me to believe we have some time to wait before the arrival of the next set.  And hopefully he'll continue to pop 'em out in pairs.


Things To Know About Ivan Dean Jr

• His back is very ticklish and guaranteed to provoke a giggle when stroked lightly
• He loves peaches in his mesh feeder almost as much as honeydew
• Watermelon is a close third
• If the bath temperature is plus or minus 3 degrees from ideal, he will let you know.  Loudly.
• He has the biggest crush on Nigella Lawson
• Seriously.  He hears her voice and whips around.  As soon as she's on screen, he smiles as if his heart was melting.
• All the toys are belong to him.  But he will share if asked nicely
• He does not like baby fruit purees, but he will eat sweet potatoes from a jar if he absolutely must
• Fruit leather is a huge hit, but he fights for possession of it, so it is a rare treat
• He absolutely, always has to fuss a little before falling asleep in his crib.  Even if he's already asleep.
• This drives me nuts.  
• He awakes from his feet up:

 and then the blanket needs to be played with:

Two seconds from meltdown

• He boycotted the jumparoo for longer than 2 minutes at a time until today.

I love jumping!

•  He sometimes wakes up sunnily... and sometimes not:

I'm still in the chair?

 

 

•  And upon awakening, wants OUT of the chair like, two minutes ago:

I have a six-pack from trying to break out, people.

•  His hair has not made up its mind as to color:

Hello, Mommy. 

 But we're pretty sure his eyes have:

I'm really not cross-eyed.

So, still the most amazing baby in the world... oh, and he's officially 20 pounds now.  Next week we'll get another weight and length as he has his 6-month check up.  I know, I can't believe it's been six months, either.  We have shots and find out if it's time to add in lunch and meats to his menu.  I inadvertently gave him dairy, and he didn't handle it well, so he may be lactose intolerant; then again, it may be that his little digestion system wasn't prepared for it.  Either way, we will not try dairy again for a few more months. 

Now that he's got his teeth, he seems to be doing better with naps, and I hope that means more time for updates more frequently - I will do my best to post the 6-month check-up stats posthaste!


Ed:  It would help if, after writing this, I pressed "publish post" instead of "save now."  I wondered why it didn't publish to my Google Buzz feed.  I'm sorry!

And Now It's October!

But not too October, so I'm okay.

I can't believe I have no idea where the camera is right now, but I'm sure I'll find it tomorrow.  I just had a few minutes to post and BY GOLLY thought, "I better take advantage of this!"  Because otherwise, I may not have the time anytime soon.  So, no pictures, but update!

And, you ask, how IS the little prince?

Smashing.  He's growing so much.  In fact, we'll be needing a new car seat a couple months sooner than I'd anticipated, since his feet are almost at the end of his current one (and that spells trouble).  He is currently wearing mostly 9-month and 12-month -sized clothing and fills my lap when we snuggle.  And he's a good snuggler.

He's also a (very) good eater.  He likes orange vegetables (except carrots, but I think the baby ones we have aren't as sweet as the regular ones, so we will revisit), papaya, mango (when mixed with his cereal; otherwise he's not fond of the texture), avocado (mixed with papaya or cereal), and his brown rice cereal.  On the menu for the coming week we have white pumpkin (slightly different taste), sweet dumpling squash, and kiwi.  Oh, and spinach mixed with something, probably pumpkin since he loves it so much.  Trying new foods is fun!

One of the new foods that we accidentally tried that wasn't so fun was a bit of cream... in Mommy's zucchini soup.  He was watching my spoon like a hawk and drooling, so I thought, "It's zucchini!  Good for little princes everywhere!"  And fed it to him.  And he loved it.

Until the stomach pain began.

So the odds are pretty good that he, like his father, eldest paternal uncle, and eldest sister, is lactose intolerant.  There's an off chance that his stomach simply wasn't ready for dairy, but honestly, that's a long shot in my book, with his family history.  If we're lucky, at some point he'll be able to tolerate yogurt and cheese, and if not, well... there's goat's milk and Lactaid.

What else... he seems to be suffering from a touch of reflux, which he will likely outgrow.  But he has this wheezing thing he does and he also still spits up a little bit right before meal times (which is a sign of active stomach acid).  And his pediatrician said, "It's likely aggravated by those two teeth coming in."

Say what?

But yes.  He finally is cutting teeth and, in true Ivan fashion, doing two at a time.  His bottom front ones.  They're not out yet, and we can't really take pictures because every time we try to get him to open his mouth he licks our fingers or sticks his tongue out and covers the little darlings.  But when he is upset (meaning, screaming his head off), you can totally see that the gums are swollen, white, and the right one is almost completely through. 

Very exciting. 

Although I do love his little toothless grin.  And I'm not really ready for him to be so grown up.  But time waits for no mommy.

Arthritis is starting to get the best of me, so I will close here with a promise of more pictures forthcoming.

Wait - It's September???

Wow.  I'm not quite sure where this month has gone.

We did have a lovely visit from Uncle Michael, who spoiled his nephew shamelessly (his first Halloween promises to be CUTE - pictures will be forthcoming) and bought Mama the Kitchenaid immersion blender she (I) wanted for making purees - and it's certainly gotten a workout:

Carrots are awesome.

We like to be in charge of our OWN spoon, Daddy...

So far, Ivan Jr can eat squash, carrots, and brown rice cereal.  He appears to be sensitive to oatmeal and every single fruit I've fed him (he breaks out around the mouth), including but probably not limited to apples, pears,and grapes - the last fed with a Munchkin mesh feeder:

I like grapes, but they don't like me.

He also loves bananas, but they are too tough on his system for now.  We'll be revisiting fruits in another month or so; for now we'll stick with orange veggies and start trying some green ones.

That booster chair you see in all his feeding pictures has been so awesome, I turned down an offer of a high chair because really, we don't need one with that thing around.  There's a travel high chair I've got my eye on, which is on Ivan Jr's Amazon baby registry, for when we don't have a handy chair to put the booster seat on.  In fact, I've updated his registry recently to take off all the stuff we ended up not needing/outgrowing and to add gift ideas/items we need now.  So if you've an urge to get him something, visit the registry!  

Other fun things we've been doing lately... lessee... oh!  Bath time is new and improved with a smaller tub;

You can't tell, but my bath is a duck.  For serious.

We've discovered the other, older and more leery of small hands dog:

Cheap entertainment.

We've been initiated into the world of Men:

It's a swish, then a shake? Got it.

The jumparoo offers new and exciting toys now within our grasp:

I think... they match!

And in summation, we are still (more) smitten, infatuated, in love with our little man.  Well... who wouldn't be?

More updates much sooner next time.  And I'll toss some more photos up on Facebook for those of you who can't get enough (and you know who you are).

Our Child Is A Beast.

Seriously.

So, our visit with our new pediatrician went very well; while no one can replace the superhero that is Dr. Danelle, we do like Dr. Brittany (both last names are Wilson, so we differentiate thusly).  First, the stats!

Weight:  18 pounds, 11.5 ounces (yes, I include that half-ounce, my back feels it!) - this is 95th percentile
Head Circumference: 44-something cm, also 95th percentile
Length;  28.5 inches - this was off the chart for his age.

If he has no talent for basketball, I will be convinced the universe is out to get me.

Officially, he is in the 99th percentile for height.  I was sorta prepared for this, because I've already started hip-carrying him, and I was thinking it was a bit early to do that (remembering my time with the girls).  Most people do guess him at 6 months, which is where he is developmentally in many respects - sitting unsupported, standing balanced while holding onto something, the strength of his arms - and while he does not yet scoot, crawl, or roll over, Dr. Brittany said, "That's because he doesn't have to; he's already able to reach and grab and enjoys the vantage view."

Not that I had secret fears about our kid being slow.  Yes, I know, it's silly.  But I did, because I am convinced that my hubris over our wunderbaby is going to bite me in the ass and he will not be reading until he is 10 and will be in diapers til he's five.  So it's good to have the affirmation that he is hitting milestones, just out of order.

The other thing we have started, although I swore up and down that I wasn't going to do this until he hit 5 or 6 months, is oatmeal.

Well, okay.  When I swore that, I did not have a child whose growth was off the charts.  So I think I should be allowed a pass.

So, yes - we have a teaspoon of oatmeal mixed with 2.5 teaspoons of milk twice daily.  I will hopefully get some pictures of the fun time that is feeding time when Ivan is home on the weekend; I cannot for the life of me hold a baby sitting on the dining room table (I honestly wasn't expecting to need a high chair this early, so I sit him on the table and kinda hold him with one hand, because when he gets excited - and he does get excited - he forgets himself and loses his balance), the food, and a camera at the same time.  Not to mention I suspect he wears more oatmeal than he actually swallows, and this means that I, too, wear oatmeal.  We are both a sticky mess when all is done, and the camera does not need a shellac of baby drool and mush.

I now remember why most parents bathe babies in the evening.

I promise pictures will be forthcoming this weekend (barring disaster) - I need to charge the battery, and the little prince is awakening from his (hooray!) nap.  This means it's tummy time, singing, and space baby all afternoon for us.

I couldn't be happier.

Remiss!

I know... it's been far too long.  In my defense, I've had a busy month to date.  I was sick for the week leading up to my surgery on the 11th (just outpatient surgery to move stuff back where it needs to be after the kiddo moved it all around on his way out), then recuperating, and then Ivan Jr got sick (well, both Ivans did, but Ivan Sr requires far less of my care than the younger).  Sadly, I am recovered and am making no more antibodies, so the poor little guy suffers patiently.  Well, mostly patiently.

So!  Updates and pictures!

I thought this was a cute "Then and Now" type thing:

Then (5 days old)

And

Now (14 weeks)

We've been very busy growing, as you can see.  Our next appointment is on Monday, and I promise faithfully to provide the official height and weight update posthaste.


Milestones

The kid has been blowin' through 'em left and right; just when I think he's a bit behind, he catches up and surpasses expectation.  I told Ivan Sr last week that I was concerned about his lack of vocabulary; I started singing to him and talking more, and yesterday he finally started really talking back.

But!

Here's the really big one:

Sitting Up

Yes.  He is sitting up mostly by himself.  We plop him down on his padded behind and he will sit up happily, by himself, for a good five or ten minutes at a time.  I think this is to make up for not rolling over or scooting; he will do tummy time and pushes himself all the way up on his hands, but he much prefers sitting or standing.

That right there is the absolute cutest butt in the whole wide world.

I do believe rolling will not be terribly far behind, as his feet are often in action:

And he has actually discovered them:

While he can only get them in his mouth at present with a little help (bad Mommy), I'm sure the day won't be far behind that he explores them on a regular basis in his favorite fashion:

Taste is my world.

As you can see, he now uses both hands to grab things.  Every things.  Any things.  He is currently frustrated by the mean Mommy who will not let him explore a.) her glasses; b.) her cell phone; c.) the remote control, or d.) her computer keyboard.  Well, okay - I did let him play with the last, but he keeps shutting down my browser and trying to exit Windows, so I had to negotiate control of the keyboard.  Might makes right; I'm not proud but I am adamant.

So he "talks," grabs things with both hands, sits up, scoots around on his elbows but only in circles, plays with his toes, plays with my toes, plays with the dog's toes (which are apparently tasty - Roger is such a GOOD dog), has finally decided he loves the jumparoo (pictures of that coming later), and is at his cutest when the camera is in the other room.  Except this time:

Well, okay - and this time:

Say somethin'.  Go on.

And... this time.

Update next week, without fail (well, barring unforeseen catastrophe; I don't want to jinx myself).  Stats to be included!

A Year In The Making.

A year ago, we conceived, and this blog began.

I still can't believe it some days.  I look at our son and marvel that he's really here, he's ours, and we get to keep him.

It's funny, because I barely remember morning sickness, or not being able to breathe, or any of the misery of pregnancy.  I do remember the sense of awe and serenity every time I felt him move.  I vaguely recall, but without any visceral reactions, the fear of losing him. I know there were nights Ivan had to reassure me that everything would be okay, but I don't remember them nearly as clearly as I remember the sense of anticipation, the feeling that we were in our own little club of two and that we had a secret.

It all seems so long ago and kind of unreal.  I look at the ultrasound pictures and think... wow, can that really be our son?

 

 It is.  It's him, and our life is new and everything has changed.  I am not the same person I was a year ago.  None of us are.  The girls dote on their little brother and make time to spend time with him.  We've talked more, laughed more, cried less.  Ivan is more patient, happier, more driven to not just succeed, but to excel.

With him, we are really a family.  Finally, we feel complete.


Milestones

Ivan now reaches for people as well as for things (like, toys or, just as an example, dog tails and ears).  It melted my heart when Kate was holding him and he reached for me.

He's sitting up with support so well now that Ivan has to keep telling me he's too little for a high chair.

His scooting is getting more productive, but he's still not rolling over.

He's consistently sleeping 7 hours at a stretch every night.  Naps are still inconsistent and infrequent, but twice now he's played in his bouncy chair while I took a shower.  Still doesn't like me checking email or typing while he's awake, though, and he still needs to be rocked to sleep for naps.

Smiles and belly laughs are commonplace, but we all still treat them like the priceless treasures they are.

Three Months And All Is Well.

I could stare at him like this all morning.  So could Ivan, Sr., which makes it tough for him to get out the door to work.  Luckily, my work IS the little prince.  I can't even begin to express how grateful I am that we planned for and were able to have me stay home with him, particularly in light of his checkered medical history to date.

It occurs to me that I spend so much time documenting said medical history that I don't get to write much about the normal baby stuff.  Let's see...

He has discovered his hands and opposable thumb.  This is good, because he can now grab everything (okay, sometimes this is good) with an adult grip... and bad, because his favorite use of his thumb is as a binky replacement.  However, anything that can go in his mouth will, like... the blanky:

the fist:

the towel:

this too:

and you can tell he's seriously plotting how to eat this:

He does not babble yet, but he does talk to his toys:

especially if there's a chance they'll talk back:

He also yells at me with really awesome subvocalization when I don't get him out of his crib fast enough.  It sounds much like a Siamese talking; all, "mwow wom ma maow!"  I will confess I've delayed the rescue just to hear him talk.

He doesn't roll over, but he does scoot, turning himself 90 degrees to get to a toy or a dog's tail unwisely left in reach.  He has good neck and upper arm strength and stands very nicely.  This has allowed me to purchase a babysitter!

No, not Kate... she's free. 

No, not the dog.  The exersaucer!

He's still too little for the jumparoo that Cousin Bruce and Nancy sent, so I got a stopgap... and he loves it:

And it has a lion puppet that is the coolest thing since sliced bread:

The piano toy has three modes - animal sounds, music, and the names of the colors of the keys (red, yellow, and green) in English, Spanish, and French.  A multilingual baby.  He loves, loves, loves it.  It has three height adjustments, so my fervent hope is that we will get much use of it before it's time to move to the jumparoo (which I can't WAIT to see him enjoy).

So big sisters are still cooler than the exersaucer:

And Daddy is still his favorite chew toy:

And I still get lots of these:

And Savannah has all the best pictures of her and the little prince, so I'll have to grab some from her later.  For now, I will leave you with a serious bit of advice:

Food and toys may come and go, but you can chew on fingers forever.

Twelve Weeks and Surgery, Ivan-style.

Beaming up the away team.


So, with Ivan's fistulotomy surgery scheduled for Tuesday the 6th., on Monday the 5th, he decided to get creative again.

As I was changing his diaper, I noticed what looked like a third testicle up higher than the typical pair.  Dr. Bhatia had previously warned us that he might have a hernia at some point, since his inguinal canal had not closed fully (and I cannot for the life of me recall the name of the opening of that canal).  Nothing to be concerned about, as this happens to thousands upon thousands of baby boys across the demographic - as have all of his issues so far.  But still, it would need repair. 

Luckily, we knew a surgeon.

So, Tuesday morning we head out:

This is at 5 AM.  None of us are awake.  Which is good, because I wasn't allowed to feed him after 3 AM... and we both slept through it.  So the kiddo was pretty hungry by the time we got to the hospital.

Fortunately, we got checked in and had him in his hospital gown by 8 AM:

His vitals were:  15 pounds and 25 inches... yes, he grew that much in two weeks.  Crazy.  But it's very reassuring to know he's getting enough nutrition from nursing and is flourishing in spite of the creative things he does.

Dr. Bhatia came in and confirmed that we would indeed be having three surgeries instead of one - she would drain the hydrocele that formed (the lump I felt), correct the hernia, and then perform a double fistulotomy.  Easy peasy, we'd be done by 10 AM.

And so we were:

And he was awake and flirting with my friend Dee (our chauffeur for the afternoon) by 11:

So, we are finally off the antibiotics...
Finally have all surgeries completed...
Are still healing three incision sites...
And sadly, we have toxic poo.  I had to take him back to Dr. Bhatia to find out why his incision sites on his bottom were looking so inflamed.  I was very worried that his right side had become infected.  She said his site looked very nice and clean, although it wasn't healing as fast as she'd like, but that his poo was "toxic." This made me giggle on the inside, particularly after Ivan showed his displeasure at her examination by trying to coat her in it.

Anyway, she took a sample and is doing a culture, and we should know something back soon.  In the meantime, it hurts our little guy to have movements, but he seems to forget about it shortly after, so all is well.

I say that cautiously.  But he's beautiful regardless.