Roseola and a First Tooth

Elliot had a super high fever all weekend, and then Monday morning, the tell-tale rash appeared on his belly: Roseola!

Thank goodness that's all it was. Tuesday, it was fading from his belly and spreading onto his back. Wednesday, it was fading from his back and spreading up the sides of his cheeks / under his ears, and down the front of his legs. Today, it's mostly gone.

Tuesday, he cut his first tooth - bottom right. He must have been so miserable all weekend with fever AND the tooth coming in.

(You can hardly see the tooth I circled, but believe me, it's there!)

Funny how his sister is losing teeth, and he's finding them!

He's eating like an old pro now, and my babyfood-making affinity is in full swing. I'm trying to stuff him full to make up for all the time he lost - and he's happy to oblige. His 9-month visit is fast-approaching and I'm hoping for some improvement on the ol' growth curve. When you're already in the 1st percentile, there's literally no where to go but up, right?

Elliot Eating, Part Two

So in just a matter of weeks, Elliot has gone from gagging on food so strongly he throws up, to begging for the food to be put in his mouth faster! It's been an amazing transformation.

Once the gag reflex subsided, he started accepting a wider variety of foods and will now pretty much eat anything we put in his big gaping maw. I've even started adding formula to some of his more liquidy foods in hopes that he'll get used to the flavor and take a bottle or two this weekend for Ryan while I'm away at the church's women's retreat. (Not sure I'll have enough milk pumped to last him the whole weekend, but I'm working on it!)

Just a week ago, he started wanting to eat more but still didn't have the mechanics of it down. He was so used to me putting bits of crumbled food like bread on his outstretched tongue, that every time I tried to get a spoon in there, his eager tongue would inadvertently push it out of the way. Today, after practicing a few times daily for a week, there is no tongue fighting my spoon and feeding him is a much simpler process. He will happily scarf down three meals a day.

Now all of a sudden, the big question isn't, "When will he start eating and growing?" but, "Whoops - he wants to eat all the time and we don't have anything to feed him!" So this morning while Jacob was at preschool, me and the girls took him to Pathmark for groceries to make baby food.

*Tangent: Three kids at the grocery store is immeasurably better than four. I'm not sure why, but I'm thinking it has something to do with a heaping dose of perspective... and only one kid walking around freely. End tangent.*

Now his daddy won't have any trouble figuring out what to feed him while I'm away - worrying about him refusing to take a bottle will be enough trouble!

Elliot Eating

Today, Elliot ate this much bread for dinner (plus about a teaspoon of shredded lettuce) and this much apple for lunch. Then he was really tired. For Elliot, this is a TON. No making himself gag so hard he puked - I guess there's hope yet!

Random Kid Update

- Sam's first day of preschool was last week, and Jacob started back at preschool last week, too. Sam cried for the first five minutes and then was fine.
- Elliot slept thru the night for the first time EVER two weeks ago, at six months. He did it once more this weekend. Here's hoping his nights of waking up to or three times to eat are finally at an end, because Mama's tired, kid.
- Yesterday, Lily finished "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" - phew! And last week, she finished the first Handwriting Without Tears book (it's orange). A couple weeks ago, I had switched her from Explode the Code (ETC) book 1 to book 2 before she finished book 1 because I thought it was too easy for her, but then she was making too many mistakes in book 2, so I'll have her finish book 1 before moving her on now.
- Two weeks ago, Jacob finished "Get Ready for the Code" - the first ETC primer. Now he's on "Get Set for the Code." He has absolutely no problem with the phonics in this book and should probably be on book 1 with Lily (he's on lesson 36 of "...100 Easy Lessons). I'll probably skip "Go for the Code" and put him right on book 1 when he's done with "Get Set..." The problem is he's sort of able to properly form letters with lots of help and concentration, but still prefers scribbling and very quickly loses focus, so the two required skills for this book are so far apart from each other (reading and writing) that I feel strange advancing jumping him ahead for one reason when the other is so far behind.
- Samantha is still an excellent color-er.
- Elliot has now tried rice cereal, bananas, applesauce, avocados, broccoli, pancakes, whole milk yogurt, and I'm sure lots of other things, but he still HATES it all. Except for this one random night, he was very happy with all the broccoli Ryan was finger-feeding him off his plate while holding him during dinner, but I was not happy with him waking up ALL NIGHT because, HELLO? broccoli?? Actually, food usually makes him throw up. Literally. First the avocado and then the yogurt. He gets it anywhere near his throat and he gags so hard he pukes all over. So what do you do with a kid who won't take a bottle and won't eat?!?!
- Lily's self-proclaimed favorite subject is math. She's currently doing addition and uses her fingers to add (I need to start drilling her with flash cards soon). It's very rare that she gets one wrong, though her 7s and 9s are frequently backwards.
- On that same note, Lily has had a lot of trouble distinguishing between b's and d's the last couple of months, which is kind of strange because she didn't used to have this problem. Can a child develop dyslexic tendencies with certain letters/numbers AFTER not having any?
- Jacob's favorite school book is his Kumon Tracing book. He could care less that he's already done each page at least twice and is happy to continue tracing over what he's already traced before. I'm just happy that he'll sit and properly (and eagerly) hold a pencil for long periods of time, regardless of what he's doing.
- Sam hates pooping. TMI? She could hold it in forever, but as the days wear on and she becomes increasingly, obviously more uncomfortable and therefore crabby, we have to force her to sit on the potty until she poops. (Fortunate for us she's a little delayed in her gross motor skills and can't get off the potty herself, so she has no choice.) There is much screaming - half in anger at us, half in pain/fear of the poop. But she is always sooo happy and relieved the minute it all comes out. Though her poop stops up out toilets. Seriously! No matter which one she uses, we have to unclog it after every time she goes, because she holds it in so long, it's like trying to flush a baseball. There is much prune juice and fiber gummies in her every day life. She's doing great with potty training otherwise...
- At his 6mo checkup, Elliot was in the 2nd percentile for weight. Argh.
- Lily has a super loose tooth. We discovered it almost two weeks ago and it's now hanging on for dear life. It's on the bottom amidst three other not-as-loose loose teeth. She's afraid to just pull it out bc it's the first one and she's not sure what will happen, but I don't see it staying put thru tomorrow. I'm so excited for her! Better get my Tooth Fairy pennies ready...
- Elliot sat unassisted for about 10 seconds today.
- Jacob is restless and frustrated. I'm wondering how to better boost his morale and encourage him more. And how to ultimately stop.the.WHINING. Sometimes I think he's just bored, but when I give him things to do I think he'll like, he just complains or quits or finds an excuse to get mad about it. I'm not sure what to do with him...
- Elliot rolled over from belly to back at three weeks, from back to belly at 4 1/2 months, and started rocking on his hands and knees two weeks ago (at six months). I finally caught it on video yesterday. He's so desperate to get moving and get into everything! I'm not looking forward to having to use the baby gates all over again, having to remember to keep the basement door closed, keeping all the little Barbie shoes and hair ties and broken crayons and everything else out of harms way, etc.

More Elliot Stats

Note Mid-January: I started this stats page a while ago and didn't publish it until now, because I was missing a few stats in there. I am STILL missing a couple weigh-ins, but better late than never!


Elliot's 6-Week Stats
10 lb, 3.5 oz - 44th%
22.5" long - 69th%
39cm head circumference - 53rd %

Elliot's 11 1/2-Week Stats
10 lb, 15 oz - 18th%
23" long - 33rd%
41cm head circumference - 60th%
(12% overall for combined weight and height)

Doctor Craig was a little concerned that Elliot wasn't gaining enough weight (something like 1/2 ounce per day being the bare minimum?) so she's having him come back at three months - one week from now - to see if we need to start supplementing him. Not so crazy about the idea of having to get out the breast pump... I was going to say I think this is the earliest I've ever had my milk supply run so low, but then I remembered going through a phase with Jacob where he was down to the 5th percentile for weight (after being born at the top of the chart at 9lb 5oz). I'll have to go back and see how little he was when that happened and see what I did about it. It's strange going from super chubby baby Samantha to barely-gaining-weight Elliot.

But you know what's funny? This is number four, and I'm not concerned at all. Little buddy is generally very happy (after a SUPER fussy first month of life - praise the Lord that passed!) and content. He spits up like nobody's business (perhaps acid reflux?), but generally never acts like he needs more to eat as a result. And after looking at his overall weight/height curve since birth, Dr. Craig said she felt a little better that he's on his own little curve and perhaps he will just be a smaller person...so not well over 6' like his daddy.

And like his brother seems like he will be ;)

We shall see!

Elliot's 3 Month Stats - 10-30-2012
 9oz - 12th%
DTAP, IPV, Roto

Elliot 12-07-2012
12lb, 10oz - 6th%
25.5" long - 63rd%
This was the visit that really bothered Dr. Dana b/c he had dropped to the 6th%...  So I went home with the resolve that I would  nurse him on both sides whenever it was convenient, continue nursing him throughout the night whenever he woke up (which was ALL THE TIME...arghhh), and to continue trying to get him to take a bottle. No such luck. He haaaaates it.

Elliot 12-17-2012
??? Have to find that little piece of paper.
He had maintained his 6th% weight (1/2 once per day) since his visit on the 7th, so Dr. Dana was happy. She had me schedule his next weight check 3 weeks from now, when he'd be 5 months 1 week.

Elliot's 5 Month Stats - 12-31-2012
13lb, 4.5oz - 4th%
Brought Elliot in for a sick visit. He had a hacking cough, super junky chest, and runny nose. He was having trouble nursing/sleeping/taking a pacifier b/c his nose was so stuffed up. I wanted to be really sure he wasn't wheezing (no RSV, no asthma). Fortunately, he did not follow in his brother's footsteps and no nebulizer treatment was needed. We had him weighed while he was there, and he had pretty much maintained his weight, so Dr. Craig said instead of coming back the following week for his previously-scheduled weight check, to push it out one more week (so 5 months 2 weeks).

Elliot's 5 1/2 Month Stats - 01- 14-2012
13lb, 9oz - 3rd%
DTAP, Polio
Dr. Dana wasn't too concerned that his percentage went down a little since the last time she saw him (mid-December).

One day last week when Elliot was in a nice and happy mood, I figured, what the heck, let's start you on solids and see if that will help with the weight gain - I waited the full 6 months with the previous three kids - which turned into two days of TORTURING him with rice cereal. How DARE I put anything so foreign on his tongue? The gagging! The awful faces! The crazy extrusion reflex! Oh, my...this boy really does not want ANYTHING to do with ANYTHING other than nursing.

So today I thought we'd throw caution to the wind and give banana a try - which I've never given any of the kids until after they've had rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, barley cereal, green veggies, and orange veggies (yes, I'm a little hyper-vigilant about the order of their first foods). Guess what? He GAGGED. I'm sorry, buddy, but seriously? Who doesn't want a whole lotta sugar goodness? And I'm especially eager for him to start solids because then he'll stop spitting up. 

 And really? I'm ready for 5 1/2 months of being puked on all day to be over.

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Homemade Yogurt in the Crock Pot

The Tired Chef recently sent me a link for a homemade crock pot yogurt recipe. We go through a lot of yogurt, so I figured I'd give it a try. Following the recipe, I threw some ingredients into the crock pot:



And 1/2 day later, voila:



From 1 cup of yogurt and 1/2 gallon of milk, we got 8 cups of yogurt (64 oz...or, twice as much as the large 32oz container I had originally bought from the store). I think I figured out that after the cost of the ingredients (about $2.50), it made $5 worth of yogurt. Not too shabby for just sitting around waiting for milk to spoil ;)

(I love that top pic, with little Sam in the background, eating the last of the store-bought yogurt as I work on making some new homemade stuff...)

NOTE: The yogurt came out great! Jake and Sam loved it, and the consistency was perfect - even had the liquidy whey on top! Yay :) And since I won't have to actually BUY yogurt to make yogurt any more, that brings all subsequent batches to the cost of just a half gallon of milk, or around $1.80. Even better!

Sam's First Cereal

Little baby Samantha will be 6 months old in two days. (Holy cow, that's just unreal. Wasn't she just born, like, yesterday?) And in this house, 6 months means it's time for cereal!



I couldn't get over how happy she was to be eating - she even laughed after her first or second bite! Like, "This is great! Maybe I'll start sleeping through the night now!"

Haha...a Mama can dream.

What I really loved was the interaction between Sam and the other kids. Lily and Jacob were so interested and curious. I gave them each a bite of cereal after Sam was done. Jake said it was OK, then adamantly refused a 2nd bite. Lily made a super awful face, spit it out ON THE FLOOR, and then GAGGED a few times so forcefully I thought she might throw up, before whimpering a little bit, like, "I can't believe you just did that to me!"

Such a difference from the first time she had cereal:



Grabbing the spoon, opening her little mouth for more - so into it! Unlike Jacob a.k.a. the Lump, who gagged on almost every bite his first time:



I was happy Samantha's grandma could be here for her first food, and then her Aunt Ilse was here for her second this afternoon. She will be an eating rockstar once she learns to get her tongue out of the way - you can't lap it up, silly baby!

Click here for Jacob's First Meal

PS Is it just me, or does everyone else think Lily & Sam look EXACTLY THE SAME?

Lily and Jacob: 101

To Mom (x2) and Aunt Ilse...who will be here in shifts whilst I recover from having a body part removed Friday.

Foods Jacob Eats:
Rice and Rice Cereal
Oats and Oatmeal Cereal
Barley and Barley Cereal
Sweet Potato
Butternut Squash
Pumpkin
Carrots
Corn

White Potato

Zuchinni

Peas
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Spinach
Green Beans
Prunes
Bananas
Apples
Peaches
Kiwi
Pears
Avacados
Papaya
Egg Yolk (no white)
Bread
Pancakees
Split Pea Soup
Squash/Pumpkin Soup
Mashed Potatoes
or, any jarred food in the pantry
or, any food cubes in the freezer
**Definitely no nuts or fish or eggwhites or citrus**

Foods Lily Eats:
Everything but nuts and shellfhish

Vitamins:
On the kitchen tabel, labeled w/name and doseage, once/day

Nursing:
5 or 6 a.m.
Before breakfast
Before lunch
Once in afternoon
Just after dinner
Before bed
Once around midnight or 1 a.m.
*I'm not sure how this will translate to bottles, or how much he will take each time. Good luck!

Food Ideas for Jacob:
Jacob eats three times a day, same as when we do . There are jars of baby food in the pantry and cubes of frozen food in the top of the freezer, but he really likes REAL food the best, i.e. table scraps or fruits/veggies processed just small enough that he can't choke. He loves soup (anything warm is usually a hit). His favorite food is banana, followed closely by avacado. Another easy snack is applesauce. He has not yet had yogurt, cheese, or meat.

Food Ideas for Lily:
Lily would be happy with oatmeal every single morning (and will probably ask for it as soon as she wakes up!). She is also a big fan of eggs ("Look, Lily - chese!") or pancakes. For lunch, we normally have leftovers from the fridge, and if there are none, grilled cheese or mac-n-cheese are always popular. She likes to snack on yogurt, applesauce, hard-boiled eggs, Cheerios, or of course junkfood. If she's acting picky, adding ketchup, bbq sauce, or shredded cheddar usually helps ;)

Jacob's Sleep Habits:
B/t 5 - 6 a.m. - Up to eat, then back to sleep
B/t 7:30 - 8:30 - Up for the day
B/t 10 a.m. - noon - First nap (not long! Usually 20 minutes, at most an hour)
B/t 2 - 5 a.m. - Second nap (maybe longer, but 20 minutes still common)
Night: b/t 7 and 9 p.m., depending on when he last woke up
Night Waking: Up once around midnight or 1 a.m. to eat, then back to sleep

Lily's Sleep Habits:
Nap: anytime b/t 12-5, usually lasting 1-3 hours
Night: b/t 7-8 p.m. and 7:30-8:30 a.m.
Night Waking: Usually sleeps through the night, sometimes wakes up looking for her pacifier, sometimes wakes up a million times for no explainable reason

Lily's More Common Hard-to-Understand Words:
Rah rah rah - Pacifier
Shah-sheet (or rubs cheek w/back of hand) - Blanket
Shah-sheet - Jacket
Nyoke - Milk
Away - Awake
Heep - Asleep
Hopchop or Hoppy-yop - Jacob
Foo foo Fay - Uncle Jay
Wori - Lori
Taytum - Kirsten (also pumpkin)
Feffrey - Jeffrey
Oh-hee - Oatmeal
Hnah - Snack
All of her words are very deliberate and always repeated exactly the same. She does not normally chatter (except to herself), so if she looks at you and says something, it's something specific you can figure out if you ask her enough questions or make enough guesses.

Jacob's Mobility:
He is rolling all over, so don't leave him on a bed or a couch or a chair. He can take a nosedive off. He is pushing himself backwards on the floor, and just Sunday, really started getting his knees under himself and lifting his belly to crawl backwards. Just make sure when you put him down that Lily (or anyone else) has not left anything small enough for him to choke on lying around, like a hair barette or a piece of a crayon. He can sit "unassisted" on the floor, but put a pillow or something behind him, because he is very fond of throwing himself backwards when he is done sitting.

Diapers:
Diapers and wipes for each kid are in the top drawers of their dressers. Extra diapers are on their closet floors. There is also a small diaper/wipes station in the dining room. It can be restocked from the diapers in their dresser drawers. Lily is a size 4 and Jacob is a size 3, but if it's too difficult to tell which is which, it doesn't really make a difference. As long as she's not in a size 3 overnight, she's good. Dirty diapers go in the guest bath garbage or the kitchen garbage.

Clothes:
PJs are in their dressers. Lily's shoes, jeans, overalls, dresses, onesies, and matched sets are in her closet. Shirts and sweatpants are in her dresser. Socks and tights are in her nighstand. Jacob's onesies, socks, and shirts are in his dresser. Pants, sweaters, overalls, and sleep sacks are in his closet. It's normally too much of a hassle to put shoes on him (not like he's walking), but if you feel like it, his shoes are in the Star Wars backpack in his closet. Good luck fining a pair that fits. We typically put two sleepers on Lily over her onesie when we put her to bed...so it's like she's wearing an undershirt, pjs, and a blanket. We put a long-sleeved sleepsack over whatever Jacob's wearing when we put him to bed (if he's wearing something stiffer like jeans or corduroys, we'll change them for sweats first, so he's more comfortable).

My goodness, I feel like I've written a book! I know this is way more info than necessary, but it's also nice to have it all written down so I can look back someday and see what they were doing at these ages (8 and 25 months).

Jacob's 1st "Solid" Meal

Today was a big day! Jacob had his first "solid" food - rice cereal flakes mixed with expressed milk. I keep putting "solid" in quotes because it's such a misnomer. Baby's first table food is runny and dribbly. You don't call the ocean "solid" because there's a little sand mixed in.

I digress.

Here is a video of the little man in action:



He didn't seem too into it. Poor little guy gagged a lot, didn't really realize he should be opening his mouth, had a strong extrusion reflex - a lot of the food got automatically pushed right back out by his tongue - and he didn't even seem all that comfortable sitting upright in the chair. He will be doing great with a little practice in no time, and I'm looking forward to watching his mad skilz develop.

It's funny how different his experience was from our other little person's first meal at the same age:



Lily was SO ready for solids. But then again, she was also SO wanting to be done with breastfeeding.

Jacob? He could go on and on and on and on. And on. I bet he would nurse all day if I let him...content just to lay there in his Mama's arms, smiling up at me every chance he got.

It's so awesome how God gives us what we need when we need it and we don't even realize it until we're looking back. As a first-time-mom, I loved Lily's Independence. I had no desire to hold a baby all day. But the 2nd time around, I know all too well how quickly babies grow up; how quickly they want to go off exploring the world instead of relaxing contentedly on Mama's lap (did Lily EVER relax in a lap?). This time, God gave me my cuddly little buddy because He knew that was just what I needed. And if it takes him a little longer to have an interest in solid foods because he'd rather take an interest in me? That's just fine in my book.

For anyone out there about to start solids with babies nearing or at six months of age, get thee to Amazon.com to order Ruth Yaron's "Super Baby Food" book! It is indispensable when it comes to baby's first (and second and third) food, making your own baby food, knowing how to feed baby, knowing WHEN to feed baby what (great chart in the back), and everything in between. I just broke out my well-worn copy to refresh my brain as I re-enter this exciting baby phase.

And lest you leave thinking little Dee-dob's first foray into the world of solids lacked excitement, just look how excited our little rocker was after he got all cleaned up:

Lily's 9-Month Pediatrician Visit

Lily's 9-month pediatrician visit was this Wednesday. She saw Dr. Schluper, Dr. Polonsky's daughter. We've only been to her once or twice before and I never really had an opinion about her methods either way. After this visit, I still feel the same.

I'm so grateful for the wonderful 8+ months I had with Dr. Polonsky before she passed away. I feel like I'm over the hump with the majority of baby questions I may have had related to food, weight, breasfteeding, vaccines, etc. that I had with Lily, and that I'll do my best to remember with subsequent babies. Every day, Lily seems a little less baby and a little more little person. And little person is so much less of an unknown health-wise. So yes, I'm thankful for a wonderful 8+ months.

I asked the receptionist about what happened with Dr. Polonsky. Seems she wasn't feeling well during the day, felt OK before bed, and then never woke up. So it was pretty much as I had heard. I didn't ask if it was a heart attack, because it didn't really seem necessary - either way, she died in the night. There is going to be a memorial service for her at some local gardens on a Sunday morning in October. Apparently, the garden owners will be dedicating part of the grounds to her, in appreciation for her help with their special-needs children at her alternative-medicine office. I'm still debating whether or not to go - it's right during church.

Lily did great at her check-up. She is in the 90th percentile for height (tall like Daddy) and the 50th percentile for weight. I asked Dr. Schluper if the big gap between the two percentages was a problem, and she said for a girl of Lily's age and activity level, it was completely normal. She's not underweight, just extra tall.

I mentioned that Lily is about eating us out of house and home, and Dr. Schluper said she wished she had that problem with her kids - they're picky eaters. It always amazes me that Lily doesn't gain more than about a 1/2 lb at every visit, with the mountains of food she devours. That little mouth is ALWAYS OPEN, waiting for the next full spoon to come sailing in. And oh the drama if you don't get it to her mouth fast enough! Apparently, her uncle Seth was the same way. Aunt Ilse tells stories of having to eat in the closet when he was around, because of how much he wanted whatever you were eating. So Lily not only LOOKS like my brother, she EATS like him, too.



When is she going to start resembling US? Come on, now.

Foods Lily Has Eaten

Following the advice of this wonderful book, "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron, and of my [now deceased] pediatrician, Lily has eaten the following foods by 8.5 months:

Rice, Oatmeal, Barley, and Multi-Grain Cereal
Carrots
Sweet Potatoes, White Potatoes, and Red Potatoes
Summer Squash and Zuchinni (from my garden)
Green Beans
Peas (smooshed)
Chicken and Turkey
White Fish
Avocado
Bananas
Applesauce
Apricots, Nectarines, and Peaches
Plums and Prunes (in a packet)
Spinach
Butternut Squash and Corn (in a packet)
Watermelon and Canteloupe
Blueberries (in a packet)
Cinnamon (in a packet)
Egg Yolk (no whites!)
Grapes (cut really, really small)
Cherries (in cereal puffs)
Provolone Cheese

These were going to be in order with dates, but that got a little complicated once I started combining things. I'll add to this list as she tries new things. And I've got plenty of new things in the fridge for her to try!