Fishy Friends

 

Hello

 

Happy Halloween!

 

Cookie Monster

 

Popscicle?

 

Eating is Such Hard Work

 

A Trip to the Beach

 

A Bird House?

On our trip to Ocean City, some bird decided to come in the house and visit.
 

Lots of Ian Stuff

On Tuesday Ian had his six month check up. He weighs 19lbs 11 oz, and is 27 1/4 inches long. He had three shots, and did relatively well with them. The dr. was not concerned about his lack of rolling over and was amused by his head shaking (no) when she took away his book.

Ian rolled over from his back to his belly. He only did it once, but hey, It's something.

Ian also started eating "baby crack", also known as Gerber Fruit Puffs. He likes them a lot. He also had a popsicle, which scared him.

Today, he said mama. He dad was holding him and he wasn't really happy about it. He looked at me and said, "Mama". I just about died. 

A Trip and a UGI

This weekend I took my first trip with Ian. We went and stayed overnight at Aunt Melissa and Uncle John's shore house. We had fun. Saturday night he was a doll, and even stayed up until 8:00pm with no protesting. Things began to slide slowly downhill in terms of the crankiness factor from there. I personally had a good time though. I learned how to play Mah-Jong (the real way, not the computer way) and how to say "Hello little red one" in Japanese. I ate some Johnson's Carmel Corn (drool. so. good.) and drank some wine. I talked with adults. However, all good things must come to an end, and they quickly did on the drive home where Ian screamed his head off for 61 minutes. Ick.

Ian became a different baby over the weekend. All of a sudden he wants to be into everything. If he can reach it, he has it. He's even trying to scooch a little to get to things. I also caught him trying to pull the camera off of the table with his foot. He shakes his head "no" constantly now. He also wants to be on the floor a lot. No complete rolling over, but lots of rolling onto his side. I think the complete rolling is not far behind, now that he has the desire to grab things.

UGI = Upper GI scan. This morning we went to St. Christopher's to have his scan done. The experience was hellish. Lots of crying on his part. But we did find out that there are no anatomical issues that are contributing to his reflux. That's a good thing. Tomorrow we are off to the pediatrician for his 6 month well visit.

Also wanted to say sorry for the lack of pictures lately. Now that Ian does the whol closing eyes for the camera flash thing, it's hard to get good pictures. I have a few on the camera to post later. :) 

Happy 6 Month Birthday!

Dear Ian,

Today you are six months old. I can't believe that 1/2 a year has passed since you were born. We've been having a lot of issues with your reflux lately, and on Monday we are taking you back to St. Christopher's to get an Upper GI. You seem to be feeling better. The Prevacid, Mylanta, Dr. Brown's Bottles, cereal in bottles, & smaller feedings seems to be helping. You still have your cranky days, and I think it's been hard for you to get used to me going back to work. I know that you like your caregivers: your grandmom and Denise.

You're not really that into your baby gym anymore, but you are starting to like your Excersaucer. Justine was nice enough to lend you a jump-a-roo, but you don't really jump in it. You play with the toys and then get really mad because you can't eat them. You've also been fascinated with the remote control, and you still love your sippy cup. Your favorite foods are applesauce and sweet potatos. You also eat peas, squash, peaches, pears, prunes, and carrots.

I'm a little worried because you're not doing a lot of physical things; you don't roll over or sit up alone yet. However, you are working on both, and you can roll onto your side like a champ. You've also been reaching for things and doing really well at grabbing them. Even though you don't roll or sit, you are such a wiggle worm! You are constantly squirming and you learned how to pick up your feet when standing, like you are stepping.

Your favorite person is your dad. Your face just lights up when you see him.

I love you Ian. :)

Love,
Momma 

Hello, to Ian, We're So Glad to See You....

Today Ian and I went to a music class. We had tons of fun. He really liked the singing and dancing, and I got a workout lugging his 19lb butt around during the class.

The whole going back to work thing has been going ok. It's weird not being with him, and very tiring, but it's nice to be doing something else besides being a mom. He's doing ok with the transition, except that he's not really sleeping a lot during the day, which makes for a very very cranky baby when mom gets home from work. Hopefully he'll settle back into some kind of schedule soon and make everyone's life a little bit easier. 

Ian's Pediatric GI Visit

Today we went to St. Christopher's to see the pediatric GI. The drive was uneventful, Ian slept the whole way there. The waiting gave me plenty of time to reflect on exactly how tired I was (1.5 hours of staring at the wall and walking with a cranky baby will do that too you). The Dr. was very nice. Young. She spent a good deal of time with us, which was good, considering the amount of time we waited. She basically felt that reflux was a "piece of the puzzle" in terms of his crankiness and irritability. She mentioned personality as one of the other pieces, but I quickly gave her a look, that was probably not the nicest look I have ever given someone. The end result of the visit is this:

1. Ian will continue to take 15 mg of prevacid 2 times a day.

2. He can take Malox, 4ml, up to 4 times a day, as needed.

3. Mylicon can be used to help with gas.

4. Decrease formula (to 24 oz) and increase solids.

5. Give smaller more frequent feedings of formula (4 oz 6 times a day)

6. Have an Upper GI to rule out any problems with the formation of the stomach, bowel, etc. This is not a test for reflux, but to make sure the "plumbing" is intact.

She does not feel that allergies are a part of the proverbial puzzle. She mentioned that he could have a scope & endoscopy to see how irritated his esophagus is, and check for allergies. She felt it would be overly aggressive to pursue that right now. I'm inclined to agree, since I am seeing some relief from the prevacid/mylanta combo. She also spoke of the lovely, "outgrowing" of the reflux.

I guess I was expecting a miracle. The visit was satisfactory in all ways, minus the waiting. We have a few new things to try, and hopefully we will see more improvement. 

Reflux Sux

So the saga of the reflux continues. Yesterday was not a great day. My poor baby was very uncomfortable, crying, arching is back, not eating, etc. I did some Internet research and found a website called MARCI-Kids (Midwest Acid Reflux Children's Institute). One this site was some research that indicated that Ian was being seriously under dosed in terms of his Prevacid (and his Zantac as well). Upon doing more reading, I began to find out more information. The more I read, the more I knew that we had to go to see a Pediatric GI and get this under control. So today, after many phone calls, Ian got his Prevacid dosage increase and an appointment with a specialist on Thursday. Today was a much better day, we gave him the new dose of Prevacid and gave him three doses of Mylanta (1/3 tsp). He was a totally different baby. I'm hoping tomorrow brings good results as well. 

Nemo & Ian

 

Pork Fat Rules!

Ian so anxious to have meat that he's eating the plastic pig on his toy. 

Ian and his Mama :)

 

Dancing With Aunt Melissa

 

Ian Update

Ian never threw up again after Thursday, but it took several days for him to feel better. He had two really good days on Monday and Tuesday, but today was a disaster. Hopefully tomorrow will be better and we will continue to see improvement with his new reflux medication, Prevacid.

He's learned how to scream and make a really weird noise that sounds like he's choking (but he's not). He's got a new Nemo that he loves (from his Grandmom). Still no rolling over, but he does roll onto his side really well. Up until today, when he went on a solid food strike, he was really enjoying sweet potatoes, peaches, pears, applesauce. He'll eat, but doesn't love, carrots and peas. He also has decided that he doesn't want the cereal from the box that cost like 2 cents per serving. Nah, he wants the cereal that comes in the jar mixed with fruit. :) He's such a booger.

I'm gearing up to go back to work (*sob*). He'll be alternating between my mom and a babysitter (Denise). He seems to be doing ok at both places, but I'm worried because he can be so fussy. I feel so bad leaving them with a crying, fussy baby.

In addition to our reflux issues, Ian is teething. We've been saying this for a month, and still no teeth yet. I swear they are coming though. Every morning I stick my finger in his mouth and hope that the "tooth fairy" has visited.

On a totally unrelated note, Walmart is evil. Why they can't ORGANIZE that store is beyond me. 

Attack of the Sweet Potatoes, part Deux

They look ok going in, but coming out is a whole other story. My baby is sick. :( He threw up four times in an hour (a lovely orange shade I might add). We waited 1.5 hours at the peds and another 20 mintues in CVS to get pedialite and to drop off a perscription (he's getting new meds for his reflux - prevacid). I must go comfort the ailing child, but more updates later.