New Germs Need Not Apply.

We've had enough of your sort running through this house in the past two weeks.  First, there was the stomach bug that decimated us.  Next, Ivan the Elder brought home a nasty little head cold from his Habitat for Humanity stint. 

The Boy is still having trouble breathing through his nose.  His ped prescribed Claritin but it's not half as effective as Benadryl, so today that's what he got, along with much saline drops and aspiration.  Both of which he enjoys not so much at all.

His acid reflux is back, so he's on Zantac and for now additionally a probiotic - he's been having a lot of trouble lately and his pediatrician thinks it's because the stomach bug wiped out all his good bacteria.  I think he might have trouble with the soy milk, so we're trying - don't giggle - hemp milk for a little bit.  It's more easily digested, so while his flora is rebuilding itself, it should make things a bit more normal.  It seems to be doing the trick, but that could also just be the probiotic.  Who knows?  He can't tell me, so I must guess.  And I guess we'll finish out the probiotics and hemp milk and gradually reintroduce soy for him and cheese for me.

What's new?  Putting lids on things:

Yes, that's a glass candle.  No, I carefully did not get excited.  But wait!  Not only does the lid fit that candle, it fits this one...

Sort of.  I'm sorry to say, the breakable candle no longer resides on the hearth.  My nerves just couldn't take it.

Also at risk for exploration are the AV components that remained unmolested for so long...

And you may notice his "reorganization" of our videocassette collection.  This is a daily activity.  I'm waiting to see when he figures out that the latter gets inserted in the former.  We've only watched a few things (Baby Einstein videos from Auntie Liz) and he wasn't paying attention to the procedure, so I'm good.  For now.  No, I won't take bets on for how long.

Developments...

In addition to his continued and increasingly more sophisticated need for parity - everything he does must include one item of identical or very similar persuasion in each hand (such as two cars, two crackers, two videocassettes, two candles) - he now is willing to negotiate.  He knows, "Drink some water first," "Drink your milk," "Fruit first, and then I'll give you the cracker," and responds to each.  Thank goodness; I'm not sure what I'd have done if he was prepared to out-stubborn me. 

He's switching between cruising platforms easily (table, sofa, me).  He's doing more crawling since we've been having races up and down the upstairs hallway.  He'd still rather do his inchworm thing; it's fast, it's efficient, and he's happy with it, so why change?  But every now and then he gets cross-locomotion.  Next year he will be in pre-school (Mother's Morning Out) with two other babies his age, so I'm hoping he'll learn as much from them as he has the toddlers with whom he currently plays on Monday and Wednesday mornings.

He's doing a LOT more babbling.  He still communicates with raspberries as much as with syllables, but he has several consonant sounds now - a few hard ones and a couple different sibilants - and he is clearly trying to develop language.  No Baby Signs yet, other than the one for milk (which he does on my chest, so I'm not sure that really counts?).  Sometimes he'll wave, sometimes he'll give high fives, but it's always on his terms and never with regularity.  He initiates games of peekaboo now, which he finds hilarious, and loves when all three of us get under the blanket.  He still hates to snuggle, because he'd rather be on the move, but every now and then I get hugs and kisses.  And do I live for those?  Indeed.

He's awake - I hear him muttering to himself in his crib.  When I go in, he'll be sitting up or kneeling with his hands on the top rail, smiling fit to burst.  I melt.

Even now.

Sick Family = No Posting.

And precious few pictures, which I've linked on Facebook.  There will be more as we get back into our groove.

Of course, I compounded that nasty stomach bug by losing my mind and having a healthy (heh) spray of Reddi-Whip on a dessert I'd made to celebrate being able to eat again... which poisoned The Boy.  Yep, finally got the memo - no liquid dairy of any sort, whatsoever.  I've also cut out butter unless it's cooked, and soft cheeses.  If I must give them up, I will, but they don't seem to do the damage the liquid stuff does.  So it's non-dairy creamer and Cool Whip for me.

This means he hasn't had much of an appetite, although we're getting back to good.  I am mortified to announce he prefers Tyler Florence's Sprout Baby Food pureed vegetables to mine.  He loves their fruit too, but at least he'll still eat mine.  Peas and green beans, no go.  I don't know if it's the texture, superior product, very nicely integrated herbs like mint (in the peas) and spices like cinnamon (in the squash and sweet potatoes), or just that my veg purees suck - but he loves the Sprout offerings, and doesn't want my pureed peas no mo'.

My banana bread is a different story, very much one of his favorite foods, so I don't feel too rejected.

We're doing more cruising and going back and forth between people and furniture, and although he's still inching instead of crawling, he's moving his legs independently more often.  This is good!  I'm trying to get down and crawl with him while we play so that he sees more crawling; since he's the only baby at his Mother's Morning Out program, he's with toddlers that are past the crawling stage and thus, doesn't see much of anyone else doing it.  I do what I must.

Hark, he awakens - after a day of no naps yesterday, and getting up once last night, I hope we can find our rhythm again today.  It feels like Spring outside, so I think we'll go celebrate.

Sick Baby = No Posting.

The Boy is sick.  Oh, and teething.  So I usually have a lap full of cranky baby.  He just has a cold - every time I swear he has an ear infection, and he never does - so nothing serious; but all is Not Right in his world and he wants to make sure I know it.  And he's rather indignant that I haven't yet fixed it.  So not much time for writing - naps are very short - but hopefully as he feels better I'll get some more pictures posted.

He's been doing some waving lately, and he's getting really good at cruising.  He wants to stand on his own a lot more, and pushes my hands away.  Sadly, he's not very good at it, so he plops on his butt a lot, which makes him even more indignant.  This, too, shall pass.


Coughing - sniffling - he's awake again.  Poor little guy.

Snow, again?

No, I have no pictures of it.  It's snow.  It falls everywhere and doesn't look any more particularly spectacular falling on our patch of earth than elsewhere.  So, think cold white stuff.

This, on the other hand, is worth viewing:

So this week we are boycotting texture.  Lumpy oatmeal, squash, anything gets spat out.  So does peas, unless they are carefully disguised with my lunch.

We are playing peekaboo more spontaneously now, and learning the word "No." I'm sure none of my gentle readers and Boy fans can imagine why we'd be using that word a lot.

He is quite the little scientist.  Currently gravity is the fascinating experiment.  We drop things.  Lots of things.  Any things.  All things.  We follow their descent with great intent.  Mom picks them up.  We repeat.  What do you know?  The same thing happens!  Amazing stuff.

We are very much into feeding ourselves.  So lately I've been giving him crinkle cut carrots, peanut butter crackers, fish sticks, and sweet potato fries.  He's not eating terribly much at the moment so it's hard to make sure his nutrition is balanced, but we do our best.  He loves his soy milk and would cheerfully drink that instead of eating, so I have to be firm and not break it out until the end of the meal.

Tentative steps are being made, with more exuberance than balance, and I predict the start of the horrible pictures that look like I've been beating him, with black eyes and knots on the forehead and scrapes and scabs from landing hard.  And then those glorious first assured unassisted steps.  How much fun we still have in our future!

Indeed.

Meet The Boy

Mooooom!

 

So expressive.  So very, very expressive.  He has the eyebrow quirk from his dad.  He wrinkles his nose like his mom.  His tongue is stuck out any time he's focused on something, which is almost always, like his sisters.

He is so active that his pediatrician noticed it and called him a "handful."  I think she meant it in a good way.  He is currently pulling himself up to standing and cruising around the furniture, although he still favors doing his inchworm impersonation over actually crawling.  He pulls up to standing from his stomach (the kid has a six-pack), but refuses to go from stomach to sitting up.  I'm hoping that as he gets more used to kneeling, he'll eventually figure out that he can go from kneeling to sitting, and then it's a short transition from tummy to sitting.

Favorite position: standing, one hand firmly on the table

He is experimenting with crossing the gap from the coffee table to wherever I am (usually on the couch, chair, or floor), which is all of three unassisted steps, but does not quite have the confidence to let go.  On the other hand, he will climb anything that holds still, and some things that don't.  He's climbed out of his crib, out of his exersaucer, over my shoulder, off the arm of the recliner, off my leg and onto the table, off the dog onto the couch, the list goes on.  He considers people to be launching platforms and will cheerfully dig his toes into your ribs to get a better vantage on something shiny.  He believes, with all his heart, that he can fly.

The stats!  He is 31" long, which is still off the charts for height, and 21.15 pounds heavy, which is 75th percentile for weight.  That's a percentile drop of 10 from his 6-month checkup.  I'm not starving him; his pediatrician says that since he is so very active, it's to be expected.

Another reason for him not gaining so much may be that we've discovered his second food allergy (he's allergic to unpasteurized apples, too, like his daddy).  Sadly, it's a doozy.  Whereas I thought he only had lactose intolerance, and therefore restricted dairy from his diet, it turns out that he has a milk protein allergy, which means I needed to cut out dairy from MY diet.  Sure enough, as soon as I cut the dairy, he stopped having diaper issues (the details of which you will thank me for not sharing) and he looks a little more filled out to me already.

He likes papaya and bananas, is okay with mango, and loves him some peaches.  Green peas are only okay if they're made by Sprout, Tyler Florence's company, and mixed with garden beans and a touch of mint.  Daily we do not know if we like kabocha, butternut, and sweet potato.  Most of his veggies get mixed with lentils so he has protein, because he's not fond of the stringiness of chicken meat and I don't do a lot of red meat.  Mushrooms are a no go.  I'm wanting to experiment with fish., but no shellfish until he's a year.  We did go ahead and test out peanut butter, which he's seriously convinced is manna.  Especially when delivered on a piece of graham cracker.

He loves chocolate, and chili colorado, and chorizo, and curry.  He doesn't digest them well so I have had to sit on excited family members to limit his intake.  Thankfully, he also loves Silk soy milk, which was recommended by his pediatrician.  He's still nursing and doesn't show any sign of weaning in the near future, but we're down to between 4 and 6 feedings a day.  I will be ready when he is.  Soy milk is a good supplement, and I will keep his diet high in lentils, beans, and oatmeal to ensure his folic acid, iron, and proteins are optimal.

He loves dog food, too, but I try really hard to limit his intake.

He has five and a half teeth; that sixth tooth simply refuses to break through.  There are four (three and a half) on top and two on bottom.  There might be two more coming in on bottom, but he's not fond of letting me stick my fingers in his mouth to check.  We have a deal; he doesn't bite me while nursing and I don't poke around his mouth too much.  I prefer to maintain that status quo.

He is a clown.  When he's tired, he's giggly.  Anything makes him laugh, especially if it's a noise that sounds like a body function.  A good snort will send him into hysterics.  He loves exaggerated facial expressions.

He plays peek-a-boo and gives high fives.  He will toss his arms over his head when we say, "Yay!" He doesn't clap yet and he doesn't wave bye-bye, but you can see him processing gestures.  He knows the signs for "milk" and "hungry" and "more" and "all done."  He knows who daddy is, sister, doggy.  I thought he was calling me "Mom Mom" and that he was fascinated with saying it, until it became apparent that he discovered the phrase was optimal for blowing spit bubbles.  Try it sometime - it really is.  Ivan says he still knows and says "Mom" but I don't want to get my hopes up.  We are currently working on blowing kisses.

In short, we have no bursts of genius, no physical virtuosity, no early talking or walking or reading.  But we do have a very expressive, agile, active baby who sees EVERYTHING and loves to explore his world.  And he gives the BEST hugs ever.

We are in love.

Chasing Ivan

Wow, Blogger ate my post.  I'm really pretty unhappy because I had some great pictures, some great notes, and a game plan for more posts.

I started taking Ivan to Mother's Morning Out at Highlands Presbyterian Church twice a week, so he could have some socializing time playing with other preschoolers, and so I could get more done.  I usually run around like a madwoman doing chores while he naps (and it's always a guess how long he will nap) and that doesn't leave me much time for blogging (or scrapbooking, or sewing, or...).  So I've decided I'm going to use the majority of my morning out time to catch up on... well, him.  Because if you thought he was amazing before, you're truly in for a treat now.

Sadly, because Blogger is evil and hates me, I've used up most of my free time already, so I'm going to try this again on Thursday.  I will post pictures, and stats, and milestones, and all sorts of fun things.

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!