Parental Sick Days

Today's post is brought to you by a sick Robby.  I'm home from work, so you get to benefit.  Robby is sleeping one of what is hopefully 5 million naps today so that he can kick this thing.

You already knew about the double ear infection.  The tubes.  The crazy high fever.  And...it continues.  Yesterday, when I picked him up from daycare, he had another full-body rash.  Now, this struck me as odd because the LAST time we were on extra-strength augmentin for an ear infection, he got the same rash.  I rushed him over to the doctor (messing up our afternoon nap) to make sure it wasn't a drug allergy.  The doctor said she thought it was just viral.  Now, not that I don't believe her, but this was the same doctor that said his ears looked fine at his 9 month well-visit, and then we had to come in 2 days later with another double.  Just sayin.

So, we get home, I have a cranky baby who hasn't napped, and won't eat, so we put him down at 6.  Then he wakes up for 1/2 an hour at 8, so we give him his drugs and change into pj's.  At this point, I was terrified of how the night would go...and it went about as expected.  He was up at least every 2 hours, and unfortunately, 2 of those times he had vomited all over the entire crib.  We had to fully change sheets, pajamas, my pajamas, and give him a sponge bath.  He still reeks this morning.

Since he had been so pukey, we decided not to give him the augmentin this morning (as it is REALLY rough on his stomach), and that I'd stay home.  This is a little stressful as we're busy at work, but I felt terrible about sending him into daycare YESTERDAY (admittedly, he had puked once the night before, too), so we're home.  Hopefully he'll be more healthy by tomorrow.

The Lion at 10 Months

Wondering why he has to take pictures with the wrong mascot.

Robby is now even more mobile, though, we did not make it to walking this month like I thought we would.  He is getting more and more fun to be around, and, in certain ways, easier to care for.  Yes, he moves faster than the speed of light, but his moods make more sense, and he is more content entertaining himself.

Size

Robby is weighing in at 21.5 pounds, and I have no idea how tall, though he regularly hits his head on the breakfast bar, and that is 27.5".  ;)  Though, that's more than an inch shorter than the doctor said he was last month.  I don't know.  He is solidly in 12 month clothing now, though we still use some 9 month pants to aid in walking.  (Meaning, they look like capris, but he doesn't trip on them.)  He has moved up to size 4 diapers, even though they say they start at 22 pounds.  He was having some serious issues with plumber's butt.

Health

Robby has continued to get entirely too many ear infections.  Most of these pictures were not taken until the 25th because he was too sick and miserable.  (but see above for a real month picture)  Obviously, keeping him in the chair is also now trying.  We have now hit our 5th double ear infection, and he has a tube consult scheduled with the ENT on April 18.  I'm actually very happy to be moving forward with this, as I can't stand how much pain he has had to deal with.  Last night (24th) after already being on antibiotics for 2 days, his temperature hit 104.5 after we had given as much tylenol as your allowed.  I called my bridesmaid Missy, who coincidentally is a pediatrician, and she thankfully was willing to act as a doctor and tell me to try giving ibuprofen before freaking out completely and taking him in.  Fortunately, the fever broke within the next couple hours and he was able to get a little sleep.  (us, too!)

Mental Leaps

He is still restricting his word use, after initially having so many.  Since he's been more mobile, he pretty much only says Mama, Dada, and babbles a lot.  I'm sure it'll come back.  He is SMART about figuring things out, though.  He can open and latch the dog crate, open and shut the pet food containers (that have screw on lids), and I was watching him mess with a cabinet latch today (do NOT figure that one out yet, PLEASE).  He now will point the remote AT the tv when playing with it, follows a lot of commands (though laughs when you say "no"), and loves figuring out how things open and shut.

Physical Bounds

Robby is FAST.  Maybe we shouldn't so much call him lion as gazelle.  Turn around, and he's gone, or up the stairs, or into something he shouldn't be.  He still is crawling or cruising, though.  He WILL stand unassisted for a fair amount of time and has attempted to take a step, but immediately falls.  Yesterday, I was impressed that he tried to push up off of my stomach as I was laying on the floor into a standing position.  That takes balance!  He can now turn everything he uses as a walker, so that give him easier access to all the places he shouldn't be.  Sigh.

Food

The Lion is now eating anything except nuts or shellfish.  Usually in large chunks.  His favorite foods continue to be meats or bread, though he likes bananas and asparagus a lot.  He's gotten good at using a sippy cup and will feed himself with a spoon if you pre-load it.  He thinks it's hilarious to feed the dog, even if we do not.

And the cage match goes to....OSU! 

Sleep

This continues to be good!  He goes down between 7:30/8:00, and then sleeps until around 5, when he wants to nurse, but then will go back to sleep until about 6:30.  However, he recently has occasionally skipped the 5 o'clock feeding, and just woken up at 5:45 or 6.  I'm not such a fan, seeing as then 1) I have to get up and 2) I have to entirely get ready while entertaining.  Oh well.  He usually will sit in his highchair with some food, so it works.

Favorite Activities

Robby loves the swings, playing with doors, and pots and pans.  He likes standing against the sliding glass door and watching out.  He LOVES playing ball with the dog, and by this, I really mean that Robby throws the ball, Harper brings it back, and repeat.  He only throws it a couple feet, but STILL.  It's pretty amazing to watch.  They'll play tug, too.  Robby also likes playing ball with us, and Harper knows she's not allowed to bite Robby's ball (since she'd pop it), so she's pretty good about hitting it with her nose and rolling it towards us.  He also likes chasing after/beating on/grabbing the cat.  Monster is VERY patient, but this activity really worries me, and I'll be that someone ends up getting clawed at some point in the near future.  Hopefully he learns "gentle" soon.  He is a total goofball, Chris now says my favorite word is "goose", and he gives the best gigantic grin when he's goofing around.  

Least Favorite Activities

Reading.  Cuddling.  Sitting still for any reason what-so-ever.

Overall?  I'm really enjoying this age, too.  He's a comedian, a tornado, and SUCH a boy.  Sure, I sometimes am jealous of people who have sweet, cuddly children, but I don't think I'd trade my bundle of energy for the world.  
 

 He definitely continues to look bigger!  9 months versus 10 months.

And a fun one for the road...

Happy St. Patrick's Day

This St. Patrick's Day was fairly different from the ones of old, though perhaps I didn't mind so much.  I did wish we could try the local brewery's take on a "Guinness" style beer, but oh well.  I never did like the crowds. One of the St. Paddy's day low points would be when I was having a panic attack in an over-crowded bar in my early 20's, and was staring at a picture on a wall, just trying to hold it together and some obnoxious guy kept trying to hit on me, and when I wasn't responding, he started making fun of how obviously freaked-out I was.  Classy.

This year, Tim, Cathy, and Dean came over for lunch, we wore a lot of green, and then we stayed in and ate corned beef and cabbage for dinner.  Pretty chill.  But we had a good time.  Robby LOVED corned beef, and mashed potatoes even more.  And this was after he had demolished a full hamburger patty, 1/2 a cup of fruit salad, and 1/2 a cup of pasta salad at lunch.  The kid is hungry, what can I say?

It's interesting to note just what is different at different stages.  Obviously, Dean is walking and Robby isn't, but the more interesting bits are the ones that are small and don't cross your mind until you witness them.  For instance, they were sitting on our kitchen floor playing with canisters full of utensils.  They both were happily pulling them out and banging them...but only Dean was putting them back IN the canister.  Oh, to think, Robby might be able to start helping clean up one day soon!  ;)

Anyway, Happy St. Paddy's Day, and I hope yours was wonderful!

This Little Piggie

You would think with how much Robby likes food that we'd have a chubby little man on our hands, but we really don't anymore.  He's slimmed down considerably since those early days.  Our food journey has involved a lot of intertwining paths.  Some of it has to do with allergies, some of it has to do with when I read about a method, and some...well it's just gut instinct.

Butternut squash puree

Robby's first solid was rice cereal.  He hated it, wouldn't touch it, we quit trying.  It turns out this was a good thing, as he's still unable to digest rice, and we don't feed it to him.  His second food was butternut squash puree.  Also?  Allergic.  It's a contact allergy, though, so according to the pediatrician, we could feed it to him and just slather him with Vaseline...but we do not.

At this point?  Typical methods of feeding a child were not going so well.  I started following my gut, and while I went crazy before he even started solids with puree-making, I started adding chunks.  He ate hunks of avocado, banana, and chewed on whole apples.  He was MUCH more interested in food if there was texture.  He did still continue to be fed purees, though, with mixed success.

Around this time, I started reading about Baby Led Weaning, and joined a support group.  This is the concept that a child should LEARN on chunks of food, rather than purees.  That when they can feed themselves, they are more likely to develop good chewing and swallowing habits, and also will eat appropriate portion sizes.  I also learned about how some people now believe that grains, in general, are a bad idea for children under the age of 1, and infant cereals are one of the worst early foods we could give them.  Our experience with rice cereal seemed to reflect that!  (Robby did, and continues to occasionally eat oatmeal, however.)

Spaghetti

Since I had a huge stock of purees, and it was easier for the daycare, Robby continued to eat purees while at school.  This is NOT recommended.  When following Baby Led Weaning, typically you avoid purees so that they don't get confused with safe swallowing until their habits are well established.  We never had any trouble, though, probably because this transition was not made until 7.5 months or so.  Around 8.5 months we did have one choking issue with a piece of apple, but I was able to scoop it out of his mouth.  Otherwise, he has no difficulties eating "real" food.  I was so proud that at a recent party, he chowed down on everything, as I watched a much older child still eat a jar of puree.  It just opens up a lot more options for us, and he's actually a joy to eat at restaurants with!

 Asparagus, Steak, Potatoes

Today?  There is less and less cutting of food taking place at our house.  Meat still needs to be for the most part, but otherwise?  He's a champ and eats the same foods that we do.  He did just have his 7th! tooth cut through, so he has plenty of chompers, but I still am amazed at what a little man he is.  He continues to breastfeed and get pumped bottles at daycare, and I intend to continue this until he is 1, when we will start the transition to whole milk.

Fish sticks, french fries, cucumber ... yeah, not the healthiest day

Overall, I would say I have learned so much in the process of Robby learning to eat solids, and I'd like to say a second kid would be a breeze, though I'm sure they'd have their own quirks!

The Nursery is not Monster Proof

I actually have a bunch of cute pictures, but here's a quick story about this morning since I've been terrible about posting.  ***EDITED to include Chris's super cute pictures from this morning I didn't know he took!***

I WANT. TO KILL.  THE CAT.  So, this morning Robby woke up as always at 5:15 to be nursed.  I acknowledge that this isn't EXACTLY sleeping through the night, but it's close enough for my taste.  Even if the pediatrician harassed me about it.  Normally, we both go back to sleep at 5:30, I get up at 6, get ready, then wake him up at 6:30 to get him ready.  I leave at 6:50 for work, and then Chris drops him off at daycare at 7:15.  Which, apparently, has just started being very sad since Robby now cries and clings to him (which he never used to do).  We have finally reached the separation anxiety stage.  :(

At 5:35, Monster started clawing at his door, and somehow set off one of his toys.  I have no idea how, but there was music playing, and points being scored on his basketball hoop.  I went in to turn it off, and Robby woke up, but I got him back down pretty quickly.  5 minutes later, the cat somehow OPENS the nursery door, and he's awake again.  I brought him up to our bed in the hopes that he might sleep a bit, but that seems to be an invitation to play these days.  So, we all had to get ready together this morning.  GRR.  Monster (really the cat's name) was close to getting baby gated downstairs today.

On a positive note, Robby was happy as a clam getting plunked in his highchair with some bananas and cheerios.  So, things went fairly smoothly.  Thank you, little man!

Needless to say, I'm drinking quite a bit of coffee.

Dean Turned 1!

Happy Birthday, Dean!

I know, I know, I said we weren't going to make it to the party, but we did!  Amazingly, all of us were healthy and not contagious, and so we went after all.  And...admittedly, I never actually got pick eye.  I just got paranoid with all the rubbing and itching Chris was doing.  However, Friday...  Well, Robby had yet more trouble breathing, so I took him into the doctor.  Again.  For the second time this week.  It turns out he has ANOTHER round of double ear infections.  They said they have one more medicine left that they have not tried after this one, and then they'll talk tubes.  It scares me, though, because the one that's left is sulfa, and I'm allergic.  I know that means nothing, but, hey.  I'm an overly concerned mom.  It is what it is.

ANYWAY.  This antibiotic, other than upsetting his stomach, seems to be working VERY well for the little man, so he was cheerful.  Which is good because Tim and Cathy had quite the turn-out!  There were a ton of adults and children there, and it took about 20 seconds after we walked in the door for someone's grandma to try and get Robby to walk with her.  Unfortunately for her, he had been sleeping in the car and was not feeling sociable yet.  He warmed up quickly, though.  I think the only person he might have actually RECOGNIZED was Jen because she watched him within the past couple months.  That being said, we really need to make a point of hanging out with people more.

The decorations were adorable, and giraffe-themed.  And the food was perfect!  It was delicious for all of us adult-types, but Robby still made out like a bandit.  He had pizza crust, and grapes, and cucumbers, and a ham sandwich, and apple bread, and...I'm sure there was more.  He stuffed himself silly.

 And, of course there was cake!  Dean wasn't so sure what to make of that, though...

Dean seemed to enjoy himself and was as sociable as any good little host should be.  Which is impressive with the number of people filling his house!  I wouldn't blame a kid if he got overwhelmed, but not Dean!  He was a champ.  I can't get over how much all the kids have grown.  There were 4 of us that were pregnant at Cathy's shower, and now there's even a baby that's younger than any of them that was there!  Time flies.  Happy birthday, Dean!  We were so glad we got to celebrate with you!

Past My Breaking Point

I know blog posts are few and far between now a days.  Partially, I'm busy.  Partially, I just don't want to be depressing, and that's what I've got.  I'm SO sick of being SICK.  And having my entire house sick.  We are at over 2 weeks of the most random crap hitting us one, after another, after another.  We've had flus, rashes, coughs, colds, fevers, and now?  When the congestion, coughs, and rashes still linger on?  We have pink eye.  At least Chris and I do.  Give Robby another day, I'm sure it'll happen.  Which means, we're probably missing Dean's 1st birthday party (sorry Tim & Cathy).  I bet you'd prefer health over our company, though.

This week, I have had shockingly little sleep.  Mostly because Robby feels cruddy, though my cough has a little to do with it.  Last night, I again got ZERO.  Robby woke up 5 sets of times between 11 and 5:30.  That's not 5 times, that's groupings.  I'd get him down for maybe an hour at a pop.  Chris finally got up with him at 5:45 so I could pretend to sleep for 15 minutes.  And now, I have to work another 10 hour day, and somehow find time to go to the doctor for the pink eye.  I believe a lot of why Robby was so miserable last night is he got a vaccine at the doctor yesterday which she "assured" me wouldn't bother him.  It does turn out he's 28 3/4" (70th %) and 20 lbs 4 oz (40th %), so at least my fears of him not growing are unfounded.

Oh, and yesterday I also learned that miso soup contains clam extract.  The hard way.  Meaning my shellfish allergy told me.  Guess I know not to do that again.

So, don't you wish I had just continued to not post?