Six Months

I can't believe it!  Our little boy is already half a year old! Where does the time go?

We went for his 6 month appointment yesterday and he is still doing great.  Developmentally, he's right where he should be, a little ahead, in fact.  For height and weight, he's still lingering in the middle of the pack.  He was 16 lbs, 10.5 oz (45th percentile), 26 3/4 inches tall (50th percentile) and his head circumference was 17 inches (50th percentile).  He jabbered away to the doctor all through the appointment along with trying to eat his stethoscope.  The only minor concern we had for the appointment was that he's had red eyes and a runny nose for a few days.  We were wondering if he had a cold, but the doc suspects it is seasonal allergies.  He told us we could give him 2 mL of Benadryl if the stuffiness is affecting his eating or sleeping.  Considering he has been waking every 40 minutes for the last week, we jumped on the opportunity to give him some Benadryl last night (everyone needed a more restful night of sleep) and he had his first full night of sleep since vacation, save for the 2 a.m. feeding we have to set the alarm clock for.

We were a little nervous about all the vaccinations (he was so mad after his 4 month appointment that he stopped eating to within an ounce of the point that we need to take him to the hospital), but he seems to have done fine this time around.  He even got a flu shot on top of all the other shots and he was still just fine.  Thank goodness!

He is officially crawling.  It started about 3 weeks ago with some partial army crawling, partial frog hopping, partial belly off the ground crawling.  It wasn't pretty, but it got him where he wanted to go with a great deal of effort.  As soon as we returned from vacation (4 days after he turned 6 months old), he had put things together into a respectable crawl -- look out world!

He can sit on his own for long stretches of time.  He's still trying to master getting from sitting to crawling, but he's getting better at it.  While we were on vacation, he tipped forward from sitting to reach for a toy and he forgot to catch himself.  His poor little face hit the hardwood floor and he cried and cried.  By the time he lifted his head from the safe comfort of my shoulder as I comforted him, there was a little trail of blood running from his nostril.  His first bloody nose.  =(  He went right back to playing after a little snuggling with Mommy, but he does seem to be being more careful when he tips forward -- thank goodness!

He's doing very well with eating.  He still takes about 32 ounces of formula per day, but it's starting to be in more 6 oz servings instead of all in 4 oz servings.  He always takes 6 ounces at bedtime, in the middle of the night and first thing in the morning.  He's taking in quite a bit of solid food at dinner, too.  He eats sweet potatoes, squash, apples, bananas and peas (he LOVES peas).  Sometimes, he'll finish an entire container in one meal, but most of the time, he only eats about half.  He also gets a few banana puffs at breakfast (mainly just to keep him busy while we eat), but although he can pick them up, he doesn't seem to want to put them in his mouth.  His older brother tried helping him the other day ("Open wide!"), but the puffs that made it into his mouth that night must not have made much of an impression on his palate because he's still not interested in putting them in his mouth.  He picks them up and throws them off his tray, much to the dog's delight.

He still loves watching his big brother and is fascinated by his red crocs shoes.  Whenever he sees them, he crawls with all his might to touch them.  He also likes his brother's trains and matchbox cars.  He also still spends a lot of time thoughtfully contemplating his opposable thumbs.  He can literally sit and stare at his fist opening and closing, and his thumb appearing and disappearing for 5 minutes at a stretch.

He's starting to be very roly poly on the changing table.  It's sometimes a miracle we can even get a diaper on him as he's tossing and turning and flipping.  He's just too busy sometimes to pause for diaper changes.

He's starting to add more vowel sounds to his babbling.  We get lots of "ahhs" and "eeeees" along with lots of happy squealing and belly laughs, but I'm also staring to hear some D sounds, which probably means this will be our second baby who says Daddy first =)

He still takes the title of the world's best baby.  He is a great sleeper, a great eater, he plays quietly and happily and he is the sweetest little snuggler.  We really are the luckiest parents to have such a good baby.  I love this little munchkin SO much!

Five Months

Taken a few days late this month, but here he is, our cute-as-a-button five month old boy!

He enjoys sucking on his toes, playing with his toys and watching everything his big brother does.  He is trying very hard to be mobile and has mastered the art of sequential rolling (he literally rolled from one side of the basement to the other, squealing the whole way the night we got home from our big road trip...I think he was happy to have some space to move around). 

He is starting to want to sleep on his side at night.  I'll put him in his jammies and his sleep sack, feed him his final bottle of the night and substitute a pacifier for his bottle once he takes the last drink.  As soon as I lay him in his crib, he spits out the pacifier, rolls onto his side, grabs a handful of sleepsack and stuffs it in his mouth.  He lulls himself to sleep by sucking on his sleep sack.  It is pretty cute.  Sometimes, he'll roll all the way over onto his belly and get upset, so I'll have to go flip him back over (he can do it himself, but I think he just gets so upset that he's no longer sucking on his jammies that he forgets to roll back over and just cries for me instead).  Once I return him to his back, he immediately rolls back onto his side and resumes sucking on his sleep sack.

He's pretty enthusiastic about his jumper lately, too.  He often jumps and squeals while I cook dinner or while I'm chasing after the little man.  Sometimes, he jumps as we're holding him.  It seems like his little legs and feet are constantly kicking and moving.  I also don't think it will be long before he starts crawling. He can push himself up on his forearms very well and has even started to get rugburn on his toes from kicking his legs so much into the carpet trying in vain to propel himself forward. He is so eager to keep up with the little man, you can just sense his determination.

He's starting to get some good torso strength and has been able to do some supported sitting. He tries to sit on his own, but he still has to use his arm to tripod himself upright and we need to stay close because he is quite tipsy.  It won't be long, though.

He has great facial expressions and he still gives us the pouty lip, Mr. Grumpy Face look from time to time, which is so so cute.  He also has an adorable sour face expression that he reserves for when i'm attempting to feed him rice cereal (he's NOT a fan).  Most of the time, we get smiles, though.  He still takes the prize as the world's best baby -- so happy, so agreeable, so snuggly.  He is a breeze to put to sleep and uber-cooperative as we wake him in the middle of the night to feed him.

He's wearing size 3 diapers now (we had several blowouts on our road trip and decided it was time to move up a size) and is still in the 3-6 month clothing, but is starting to reach the limits on some of the outfits. It won't be long before we're digging into the 6-9 month bin. 

His list of states visited has grown exponentially recently.  He now has Colorado, Michigan, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio and Nebraska -- not bad for only being 5 months old!

It's hard to believe he has already grown and developed so much.  Time certainly does fly!

4 Month Immunizations & 1 Mad Baby

We had a bit of a scare with LB this weekend. He went for his 4 month check-up on Friday and all was well, but AFTER he came home from the doctor, he wasn't quite himself. He was mad and crying (he's usually super happy and he hardly ever cries unless he's hungry or needs a new diaper). We suspected he was a bit fussy from the shots, so we gave him some Tylenol, but that didn't help either. He also started coughing and his nose started running. He was so mad that he would barely eat anything.

We weren't sure if the coughing and stuffiness was from all the crying or if he might have picked up a virus while he was at the peditrician, but the fact that he was barely eating was really concerning. Our instructions from the metabolic clinic are that if he eats 1/3 less than he normally does (they call this "the rule of thirds"), it is cause for concern and we should give them a call. All weekend long, we were practically force feeding the poor kid and he was within an ounce or two of the rule of thirds. I got nervous and called the clinic on Saturday night. They reassured me that he would be ok as long as he didn't drop below 20 ounces for the day (he normally eats 30-32 ounces). They also suspected the shots combined with a possible cold were to blame. We kept him dosed with Tylenol and reverted to our routine of waking him every 3-4 hours during the night instead of every 6, just to make sure he had enough nutrition in his system.

We had a couple of tough nights, but by today, he was right back on schedule. It's amazing how quickly kids bounce back from illnesses.

Four Months

Here is our smiley, happy guy at four months old!  Already one third of a year, so hard to believe.

We went to his four month appointment today and he is still doing great.  Developmentally, he's a little ahead and size-wize, he's making great strides.  He was 14 lbs 15 oz (50th percentile) and 25 inches tall (also 50th percentile), so he is catching up from his days in the 10th percentile.  Unfortunately, he got 4 vaccinations today, three injections and a liquid that he didn't enjoy drinking, so he was a bit unhappy, but we're glad that he continues to be strong and healthy!

Metabolic Appointment

We visited the metabolic clinic again this week.  This was LB's second appointment with them.  We did the usual things -- height and weight, a visit with the genetic counselor and a visit with the metabolic doctor, followed by a trip to the lab for some blood work.  In general, things are going really well.  He's growing and developing right on schedule and his weight of 6 kg means that we can let him sleep for 6 hours at night before waking him to feed him.  We'll have to keep to that schedule until our next appointment in October.

A couple new things that we learned at this appointment...

• Sometimes, kids with MCADD need a supplement of levo-carnitine.  Carnitine is a substance that removes toxins from your body.  Since people with MCADD can't break down medium-chain fats, their body treats those fats like toxins and uses carnitine to get rid them.  The problem is that they also need enough carnitine to get rid of the other, normal toxins in their body (don't know exactly what those are since I'm not medically trained, but anything that a normal person's body would use carnitine to get rid of).  If a person with MCADD can't make enough carnitine to take care of the normal toxins, plus the added fat toxins, an oral supplement of levo-carnitine is prescribed.  The oral carnitine can also be used in conjunction with polycose when a person with MCADD is ill (presumably to take additional stress off their system).  We were sent home with a prescription for carnitine and he has bloodwork done at every appointment that monitors his carnitine levels.  They told us that it's unusual for a child as young as LB to need carnitine supplementation, but that testing him regularly helps them establish a baseline.  They don't expect that we'll need to give him a daily dose of carnitine, but they want us to have it in our cupboard in case he ever needs it when he's ill.  Here's what it looks like...
• They can do DNA sequencing to determine which specific gene in LB's body mutated to cause his MCADD.  A portion of the test is covered by insurance, but there are some out-of-pocket costs associated with the sequencing.  It doesn't change his treatment, but it can give us a thorough picture of which gene is responsible.  Although not necessary, we opted to have the DNA sequencing done.  We figure it might add to the knowledge base about this disorder and that can't hurt.  Plus, they already took the blood sample when he was there for his first appointment, so it doesn't involve another poke.

Three Months

Where did LB's third month go? The days sure seem to fly around here. We’re already almost at 4 months and I still haven’t given his 3 month update! Because I am so tardy, I will include all of the things he did while he was enjoying his third month.

Month 3 was eventful…

• He now smiles, a LOT, and very socially which is tons of fun for everyone.
• He flew on an airplane for the first time, attended his first wedding, visited his first new state and his first foreign country (he has a leg-up on his big bro on this one since it was his big brother's first venture off US soil, too).
• He was finally convinced that his bouncy chair is entertaining. He can now kick and bounce with fervor instead of just looking forlornly for someone to come rescue him from the ergonomic, vibrating comfort of his seat (I kept telling him that adults would LOVE to have a bouncy seat like his).
• He experimented with new types of vocalization beyond simple cooing. He can now screech, squeal, giggle and seems to be performing some early babbling – I could have sworn he said “thank you” when I retrieved his lost pacifier a few days ago.
• He figured out how to hold onto things, his favorite objects to hold include – burp cloths (by far his favorite, he stares at any burp cloth you are holding until you actually give it to him and then he squeals as he puts it into his mouth), his ring of baby keys (I tell him they are the keys to Mommy’s heart and he smiles), his telephone rattle and his toy ball. He also really likes the grasping rings on his toy zebra and toy firefly.
• He loves to watch his big brother and he loves to fly with his Daddy. He always keeps an eye out for Mommy, though. I’m still his favorite person to snuggle with. I’m holding onto that one for as long as I can since I know how much more fun Daddies can be for little boys who like to rough-house.
• He has gained a lot of torso and leg strength as he can now bear weight on his legs (while we support him, of course) for quite a while. He often prefers to stand instead of sitting or being held.
• He became mobile. He can now roll from his back to his front…and he looks pretty darn proud of himself when he does it. The pride lasts for a few minutes before he realizes that he can’t roll back onto his back and he’s not very crazy about being on his tummy – MOMMY!! HELP ME!!
• He successfully weathered his first illness (coxsackie virus that causes hand, foot and mouth disease) without missing a beat on his feeding schedule and without needing any medical interventions -- woo-hoo! It was a mild case with only blisters on his hands and feet. The mildness of the illness was especially nice since it materialized two days before we were supposed to fly to Detroit for my brother’s wedding and we were concerned about 1) taking a sick baby on such a big trip and 2) potentially having to deal with hospitalizations in a different state. He did just fine and I feel like this gives us a little more confidence that he IS going to be a relatively normal kid.
• His food intake grew pretty steadily. He’s now up around 32 oz per day and some of those feedings are in 6 oz increments. We’ve switched to the larger bottles and to the higher flow rate nipples in response to his growing appetite.
• He continues to be a great sleeper and can fall asleep in practically any situation – noisy birthday parties, while hanging out on the bathmat as his big bro gets ready for bed, in the middle of a blanket while Mommy makes dinner (or dashes to prepare a bottle) and his big brother crashes around him with toys and books and other toddler antics. He can sleep for about a 6 hour stretch at night before we have to wake him, and most nights only involve one middle-of-the-night feeding.
• He continues to gain weight and is now sporting the 3-6 month wardrobe. The idea of hand-me-downs between the boys hasn’t been so successful thus far. Despite the fact that I packed away all of our older son's clothes as he outgrew them, the fact that he was so always so big for his age and LB is more on the small-to-average size for his age combined with the November and March birthday span has made us almost exactly one season off with clothing. I opened the 3-6 month clothing bin to find it is mostly long sleeves and cozy fleece sleepers when I really need shorts and rompers for summer. Oh well, at least he got to use the 0-3 month sizes for a while.  His brother only wore them for a few weeks before he busted into the 3-6 month sizes (as a 1 month old!).

Two Months

LB had a big day today. It was his two-month check-up! He was 11 lbs 11.5 oz (30th percentile) and 22 inches tall (10th percentile) with a 60th percentile head measurement. I was stunned. After the our older son (who was never less than 85th percentile on any measurement at any point in his life), I didn't think it was possible for us to have a 10th percentile kid. I know I shouldn't compare them because LB is completely entitled to do his own thing, but to put this in context, our older son was 21 1/4 inches tall WHEN HE WAS BORN, so this whole 10th percentile thing is a bit shocking for me. Oh well, at least he's getting use out of those 0-3 month sizes. He's also a healthy and happy little guy who is completely on track developmentally, so that's really all that we can ask for. Very thankful for that!

He is starting to do a lot more smiling and he almost has a laugh, but it's still not time for belly laughing yet (that's one of my favorite milestones). We can tell his cries apart and the cry for "feed me Mommy!" is the most emphatic, followed closely by the cry for "you have no idea how messy my diaper is right now Mommy!" He loves looking at the toys hanging from the shelf over his changing pad and the animal mobile hanging over his crib and he sometimes cries when you take him away from those spots when he isn't ready to leave. Sleeping is one of his favorite things to do, especially when he's in Mommy's arms for a nap. He's also a champion eater and usually packs away somewhere just shy of 30 oz of formula in a day (in 3-4 oz increments about every 2 hours during the day and about every 4 hours at night). We can now set the alarm for 4.5 hours at night based on his weight of a little over 5 kg (we could probably go for 5 hours, but we are trying to remain conservative just to be on the safe side).

Here are some pics of our big (in heart) little guy...