Getting Over Our First Cold

On Tuesday Hunter woke up from his first nap with a panicked scream like I've never heard. So loud that Adam heard it through his techno blasted headphones and came running. (I didn't even towel off from the shower I was taking, perhaps that scared Hunter even more.) It was way worse than any scream from shots and it lasted for about 3 minutes. 3 HORRIBLE MINUTES. It doesn't seem that long but when you have a baby trying to cry and scream and gasping for air 3 minutes is for FREAKING EVER. That was the beginning of Hunter's first stuffed up nose.

Once he calmed down we found he was totally stuffed up. Maybe a sinus headache too? He had a very low fever and we figured he was in pain from the scream so we gave him some baby acetaminophen. He was able to relax a bit but still wanted to play. His sickness was clearly harder on us than on him after the initial screaming incident.

The worst part was all the mucous. He was so congested he could barely eat. I track all of his activities with a cool little app called Baby Esp so I know exactly what his input and output is every day. And on both Tuesday and Wednesday he was eating half his normal intake. But he seemed ok. That mucous just ran a muck though; it had him snoring, he couldn't eat, way more drool and snot than I could have imagined.

To combat all that mucous our pediatrician recommended Baby Simply Saline and the ball syringe. It was great. He was able to eat a bit more after getting the saline rinse. It's kind of like a neti pot so it clears things out for a bit. We also use an anti mold/bacteria humidifier, we have for the past few months because it's so darn dry in the valley and the moisture helps to keep things moist (duh). But it's the dry warm nasal passages that can keep viruses and bacteria nice and comfy. You need that moisture to help things move through.

So today he's all better. He hasn't had a fever since Wednesday morning. So I'm hoping we're on the tail end of this thing. He ate better last night and is eating like crazy this morning, he's already eaten more than he ate yesterday. I think we're definitely on the road to recovery.

Likes

Hunter Likes

Peas!

He actually ate some pea puree, and I was kind of convinced he wouldn't eat many veggies. Hooray!

Frozen burp cloths!

Wash cloths or burp cloths will freeze easily for his favorite teething soother. Thanks Lisa S.

Hanging out naked!

A few months ago he hated being out of his clothes and now he hates being in them.

Chilling with Ringo!

They both love lying on our big bed, especially together!

Daddy!

xoxo,

Lauren

Too Fast!

It's amazing how fast 2 1/2 weeks have gone by. It's not like it's been any busier than usual, well maybe a little. Hunter is turning into a bit of a handful. Not bad at all, quite the opposite actually, he's starting to do so much so it's a lot more work. But soooo fun!

Happy 5 month birthday little man!!!!!

Here's an update

He loves to play!

We got him this bouncer off Craigslist. He loves it! He loves to play with all the activities and he reaches out to play with things hanging out of his reach. He also loves to stand ALL THE TIME. So much so that Adam and my arms were tired passing him between the two of us. So this has definitely taken a weight off our shoulders, literally.

On a side note, notice the white bar in the foreground with shiny screws. Those screws are notches for the bouncer to move up as Hunter grows. A few days ago Hunter had a super cranky day; no naps, lots of screaming and eating. The next day, he wakes up and I put him in the bouncer while I make his morning bottle and realize we have to move the bouncer up a notch. He actually grew overnight!

He's mobile!

I've been putting Hunter in this activity walker for the last 10 weeks just so he can stand. He will hang in it while I shower or just for a few minutes when I need to put laundry in the dryer or something. Last week I brought it into the kitchen while I was cooking and Hunter moved a foot. I was so excited and hollered for Adam to come watch him move at a snails pace. But the next night he moved five feet and we had to put up safety gates. Now he's cruising all over the house! He's also getting interested in the cabinets so we'll be baby proofing those in the coming weeks.

He's also rolling over quite often, he sits in a propped position, and he does this weird downward dog move that may be a crawl in a month or two. It looked like he tried to scoot on his rear today, but he may have just been trying to stand

He's onto solids!

It took him a while to warm up to some of these new tastes. He hates rice cereal with a passion, he purses his lips and won't let anything through. So we moved onto pears which he tolerated a bit more but not completely. He really likes banana and sweet potatoes and tomorrow we will move onto peas. And I've heard pureed avocado is great so we'll try that in the next few days. Yum?!

Here are some other cute pics from the last few weeks:

As for Adam, he continues to work like a madman. I swear as soon as he gets a moment of rest he immediately starts working again. That is good news though. And he's been biking like crazy as well too. He is a total mountain biker dude now.

Not too much is new on my end except for my weight loss and overall fitness. I'm a little over 10 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight and I've dropped a full pants size. I'm running crazy mileage, 11 miles this past Saturday. And I think before I run my marathon in March I might run the Malibu 1/2 marathon in November. Just for fun, ya know ;)

I'll try not to be so tardy with my next post.

xoxo,

Lauren

Some People

So Hunter and I were in Trader Joe's a few days ago picking up a few items for dinner. He was in his Baby Bjorn, happy as a clam, checking out all the colorful produce. And while I was getting some cabbage (for fish tacos, yum!) this girl fairly close to me turns to her very pregnant friend, and loud enough for me to hear, says "You didn't register for a Baby Bjorn did you? Those things are terrible for you and the baby. And don't even get me started on forward facing carriers." I immediately turned towards her, mouth totally agape, and stared. She stared right back, and totally scowled at me, and she and her friend walked off.

That was it. I didn't say a thing, but it totally hurt my feelings. Seriously? WTF? I really want to use the real F word but I'm using some restraint. And, of course, I kept seeing her in the store and was thinking of all these witty retorts, but it was just too late. And she got her point across, because I immediately went home to research all the terrible things I was doing to Hunter by forcing him to face forward in this deadly carrier.

The first site I looked at was Baby Center and the thread directed me to this link for a company called Sleepy Wrap, similar to Moby Wrap. And my first thought was "of course they won't endorse the Baby Bjorn because they want to sell their own product." But they're basically against any type of hanging carrier because it isn't supportive enough for the spine and can actually cause spinal stress called spondylolisthesis if worn for a "long period" of time. But in the spondylolithesis article the writer recommends using a sling. And the US government issued a statement that baby slings can and do suffocate infants. The article also states that 60% of Eskimo's have spondylolithesis, most likely due to the papoose, but I'm imagining they're wearing it for much longer than the 30 minutes Hunter is in his each day.

As for forward facing carriers, infants can get overstimulated and can't look away. But if they're facing you, they can look side to side and then curl into you and fall asleep. That is awesome that some kids do that, Hunter does not. If he's sleepy, I put him in the stroller, but he craves social interaction. Every once in awhile I face him in, but he gets screamy and kicky until I turn him around and I feel like it's forced motor-boating.

So I'm writing this post, mainly, because I'm super annoyed at that B in TJ's. But you know what? Everyone is going to have their opinion about what's best for children whether it pertains to sleeping, eating, or transport, etc. And not every kid is the same. I have the Moby Wrap and Hunter hates it, I'm so lucky someone bought me the Bjorn or I'd be up a creek. I also know people whose kids really like rice cereal and other that really like avocado, and kids that only sleep on their stomachs, and one of my favorite bloggers that loves her slings and makes them (here's an easy tutorial if you want to make your own.) Oh, and ALL these kids are still alive. Imagine that.

So I did the research, and the truth is, I don't think Hunter is at any risk and I will continue to use the Bjorn as I have been, for maybe 30 minutes a day. I adore my carrier and I love being close to my baby. That lady can suck it. And I swear if I see her again at MY Trader Joe's...

xoxo,

Lauren

Roll Over Beethoven

Or don't. That's cool too. Hunter just isn't into rolling over. He rolled over for the first time a month ago and I thought that was it; he was gonna roll over all the time. Yeah, totally not the case. He didn't roll over again until a week later, then five days later again. Last week I took him to the park and he rolled over 3 times, but hasn't since. I talked to my friend and she said her daughter (who is now 3 and can totally roll over because she showed me) skipped that milestone all together. But Hunter looks like he'll roll over and then just stays in this position on his side:

I hear walking can be this way for some kids as well. There will be a step and then nothing for a few days. But then some kids just get it and are off running. Hunter is starting to sit on his own now. He can stay sitting for about 10 seconds, but as soon as he turns his head, he falls over. So we still have a little ways to go.

He's also really starting to enjoy his walker and bouncer. It's so awesome to watch him try to move his legs back and forth. He actually bounces a bit now. I love watching him.

xoxo,

Lauren

Screech

No, I'm not referring to the dude from 'Saved By The Bell' (although, for name-dropping sake, Kelly Kapowski was in my prenatal yoga classes.) Screech is Hunter's new nickname. Or Shrieky, McScreamy, etc.-you get my drift. The kid has learned to scream and it is ear piercing and migraine inducing at the very least. Now that he's learned how to do it that's all he wants to do.

He started out with a little screech only a few days ago. And he would smile and shriek and it was so damn cute. Now he's learned that it really gets our attention, so he cries and shrieks and I'm sure the neighbors think we're torturing him or that we've adopted baby pterodactyls. And instead of getting a little fussy before naps he now gets all shrieky and I'm about ready to pull my hair out.

We're still not doing the best with sleep and I'm wondering if I should start sleep training. We're doing 2 feedings a night which is fine, but he's having a hard time with naps now too. Which was never a problem before, he was a GREAT napper. And I KNOW it's due in part to the pre-teething (still no visible white caps) but we've tried a lot of the remedies and they haven't helped much. I finally broke down and gave him some acetaminophen today. He needed to sleep and boy did it help.

And I need to get his naps back on track too, because I know good sleep begets good sleep. And it is so hard with Adam working at home. Rock music is not conducive to napping. Hunter slept so soundly as a newborn, but he is a much softer sleeper at the ripe age of 4 months.

But back to the sleep training. I feel like he's definitely ready to be at 1 feeding a night. He was there for over a month and the teething seemed to change it. It could have been a growth spurt but those usually only last 2-3 days, a week tops. I hate the idea of letting him cry it out. Some of the methods require letting the kid cry for 5 minutes. My uterus twists after 20 seconds. I also tried dream feeding before this change to help him sleep through the night but didn't seem to help much. I may try it again to see if we can get back to one feeding.

I think it's definitely too early to wean feedings all together. It's clear he still needs some extra calories at night. But maybe the extra feed just needs to be replaced with something else that's soothing. I wish he would take a pacifier, but screech is still a lazy sucker!

xoxo,

(Yawn)

Lauren

One Year Ago Today