VISIT FROM GRAMMA!!

Finally!!! :) We had been dying for a visit from Gramma! Although only a 6-7 hour drive away it's not always easy to get in a visit with our busy schedules. So last weekend was amazing!! My mom drove out with her boyfriend Jon and Sienna and Chase and stayed with us for the weekend. We had our friends over for football on Saturday (the usual) and my mom was able to steal Lou for a little one on one time. They took a walk down to our local park and then had the whole night together while we went indoor skydiving for Jenn's birthday. Then Sunday we all headed over to the pumpkin patch to get Lou a pumpkin and hang out with some of his friends.  After that it was time to say our goodbyes :(  which is always a tearful event...  We miss eachother so much and have a hard time being apart.. especially now that Lou is here. We do our best though, and will continue to try and make time for visits every other month.  Next visit will be Christmas when we head back to California.. yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!! :) We love you Gramma!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PROJECT PLUMP UP LUCAS

We received some disturbing news last week when I took Lucas in for his follow up appointment for his ear infections.  Doc weighed him and we noticed he was essentially at the same weight he was 2 months ago (just a few ounces heavier).  Which dropped him yet another weight percentile (now down to 15-20% which is a huge drop from his original 90%  - this sort of drop is definitely cause for concern). This prompted me to discuss with the pediatrician his latest trend of refusing all solid food.  Mealtimes for the past several months had been a challenge and seemed to get increasingly worse with every passing day- to the point that when dinner rolled around and I put him in his high chair he would clamp his lips shut and shake his head no. And the foods that he should be able to chew up and swallow at this point such as puffs, teething biscuits, rice cakes etc. - he will pick them up, put them in his mouth, chew them up and then spit them out. And if he accidentally swallows a piece he usually gags. :( I of course. in true Charlaine fashion, have been an enormous worry wart, frantic to figure out what is wrong with my poor baby.  Frist thought was a food strike due to teething since he is clearly on a sleep strike (he is currently on 2 months of waking every 1-2 hours at night - poor guy is having such a hard time with his teeth coming in). But the thing that has been in the back of my mind ever since he was born was the possibility that he could have EE like his cousin Devin.  It tends to run in families and Doug is pretty certain he had something very similar, if not the same thing, when he was little.  It just wasn't diagnosed back then...  Anyway, it's a pretty severe food allergy that affects the esophagus and can cause eating to be painful - to the point where kids that have the disease will just stop eating altogether and may even need to be tube fed. :( 

I'm trying to remain hopeful that this is not the case for Lucas and today actually boosted my spirits TREMENDOUSLY since he ate a whole thing of pears for me in the morning and a whole thing of peas for lunch.  His pediatrician (who now joins the group of ex-pediatricians) suggested we see how he's doing at his 9 month appointment and if no improvement in weight etc. then he needs to see a GI Specialist.  This was the plan she conveyed to me at the appointment. Well the next day (after losing what little sleep I still get these days) I had all these theories running through my head of what was causing my little guy to refuse food.  Doug brought up a possible correlation to the formula we supplement with for 1 bottle a day (we started this 2 months ago).  He thought this could be flaring up the EE since it is milk based and if EE he likely can't handle milk protein. Anyway, this was a good point so I called his pediatrician that morning to see what she thought about switching the supplemental formula for the next month to see if he improves.  Her response was (as blunt as it comes) "No, that won't work.  Switching formula will make no difference.  If it's EE he will need to be tube fed." Just like that.. she told me over the phone, while I was a work, that if my baby has EE (which at that point i was 99.9% certain that he did) that he would need to be tube fed.  Needless to say there were tears shed after the call.  Thankfully, having a nephew with the condiion (who was never tube fed) I knew that wasn't the only option. Anyway, that is why we won't be returning to that doc and for his 9 month he will be seeing Dr. Venezuela, who we LOVE!  (Lucas saw fer for his ear infections when I had to get him in same day).  I REALLY think she is a keeper! Lucky number 8.  That's right, Lucas is 8 months and has seen 8 differnt pediatricians..  To say I have a problem with doctors is an understatement.  I am absolutely, positively the most high maintenance patient in the world.  And now that my son is involved, forget about it.

Moral of this post is that I'm on a mission.  A mission to plump up my baby.  He was 17 lbs 9.5 ounces at the last appointment (8 months). So lets see what sort of progress we can make during this next month.  Regardless, I've made an appointment with a GI Specialist which is scheduled for Nov. 3rd. Here's to hoping and praying that little Lou does not have EE and that we can get him back on track with eating solids and gaining weight!!

Look at those pearly whites!!  (stinks it's so blurry)

SO SPECIAL

I know we are 110% biased but I swear, Lucas is the most special little boy on the planet. :) He just fascinates us with how much he seems to study and understand the world.  We don't know any different but people are always commenting on the way he is. The best was at 3 months when an ER nurse who was checking his vitals went on and on about how tuned in he was for such a young baby and how it was so rare to see ones whose wheels were turning like that at that age. I actually think she said "you got a good one." LOL. I remember this incident because she proceeded to tell us how of her 7 or so kids she could tell right away which ones didn't have much going on upstairs.. LOL and how her favorite one was the smart one. It was funny I swear. :)  Anyway, people make comments like that about Lucas all the time. Regardless of what others perceive, there is just something soooo incredibly special about him.  Now I'm sure this is just how every mother/father feels about their baby but nevertheless I'm convinced he is the most special little boy on the planet. :) No one can melt our hearts quite like him.  He is just so incredibly sweet and funny and loveable. I mean the kid just got over a month of the worst sleep schedule known to man (I'm talking waking up every 1-2 hours) due to his teething.. and now he's alseep and I MISS HIM SO MUCH I want to go wake him up! LOL.  Anyway, that's all.. just wanted to share the specialness of my little love bug.

BTW he is CRAWLING! Look out world. He also sits up from laying down and pulls himself up to his knees.  We lowered his crib tonight (so he can't jump out!) and it made me soooooooooooo sad.  He is just growing up way too fast. :(

8 MONTHS

FIRST DIAMONDBACKS GAME

We took Lou Bear to his first Diamondback game on Saturday. Despite his sensitivity to loud noise we thought he would have a great time and enjoy all the people watching.. well he enjoyed (actually loved) all the people watching.. on the way to the field.  Once we got to our seats and the crowd started roaring (which was every couple minutes).. Lou would crawl up me like a cat up a tree... he didn't cry but you could tell he was terrified from the noise. :( my poor baby.  So we left our seats and hung out on the concourse for a bit.. after we shoveled down some coldstone we decided to snap a few pics and take our little man home. :) Even though we were there for a whole 30 minutes we still had a great time. :)  and Lucas did too.. aside from the minutes actually spent in our seats!

7 Months

HELLO 7 months.... :) :( 

I think the transition from 6-7 months has been the most eventful for little Lucas.. he is quite the character and is expressing himself in soooo many new ways now. It is truly amazing watching him grow.  For starters he is MOBILE.. like the wind he is! LOL. He's not crawling yet but if you set him down for one second and turn around he will be across the room thanks to his rolling and scooting skills.  Prime example of when I put him down on his activity mat for one second.

He also has a TOOTH!!  I discovered it last week when my finger was randomly in his mouth (IDK). It is shaaaaaaaarp too.  It's his bottom front.. it definitely caught me by surprise. :)  Nursing just got a bit more interesting.... I just say a quick prayer before each feeding kindly asking that it ends with both my gals still in tact.. we shall see..  

This is the face he made when I asked him to show me his tooth

Solids have been quite the battle latley.. it seems the older he gets the LESS he wants to eat solids.. He is soo incredibly picky when it comes to foods too - so far the only SURE thing is carrots.. all the others it just depends on his mood.. and absolutely don't go near him with peas unless you want to see a tantrum.. funnny huh.. I thought peas and carrots were supposed to go well together.  My latest trick is feeding him with an adult silverware spoon.. for whatever reason this ups my chances of getting him to eat by like 95%.. hahhaa... and the majority of the time he just steals the spoon (we each start off with a spoon but by the end he has both) and just fake feeds himself.  You would think the little guy was ready for the next step but when I've tried thicker or chunkier foods he gags like crazy so we are putting a hold on that.. I gave him a puff the other day and I almost hyperventilated I was so scared he was going to choke!.. he did just fine... but I don't know if I could go through that again.. LOL

Here's my little weirdo with the magic spoon.  Oh and another thing - you see that bib he is wearing.. he would MUCH rather eat that than anything I serve up.  The first half of the feeding session consists of him balling up the entire bib in his mouth while I try to entice him with food...I've thought about just slathering the bib with his entree and feeding him that way... it would be a heck of a lot easier!

He also prefers a big boy cup over his sippy cup now (I just give it to him empty but he still thinks it's the best thing EVER)

Sleep has also been quite the struggle these days! One thing I've learned as a parent is that your child's routine/schedule is ever changing so never get too comfortable with it. Lucas has his phases where he will sleep great at night (10 hours solid) and will even be a good little napper taking two a day but as soon as I'm feeling refreshed and thankful for all the wonderful sleep he spirals into a no sleep zone.  Which has been our lives for the past 3 weeks or so.  Some nights he was waking up every 2 hours (in hindsight this may have been the tooth) and for the most part he would consistently wake at least twice a night.. well Lucas has never been that baby that you can just put in the crib while he is still awake that happily nods off into dreamville..or who can put himself back to sleep if he wakes in the middle of the night.. nope that is not Lucas.. he has to be nursed to sleep.. Now I realize this is 100%my doing since I give him exactly what he wants when he wants it (c'mon look at his face!) but I'm not sure at what point it really took hold of him.. regardless, here we are at 7 months and he is addicted to the boob.. I know this is going to be a hard habit to break and that it means many more sleepless nights for me but this just reminds me of another thing I've learned as a parent - enjoy every little second (even the sleepless nights of nursing your baby back to sleep) as they grow WAY too fast and you will soon miss those moments... don't get my wrong though, I threaten that I'm going to try the cry it out method all the time (where you go in and soothe them every 5 minutes without picking them up) but I absolutely fail miserably (I can NOT see my baby cry without picking him up and making it all better).. so I'm just going to focus on the "enjoy it now as it will soon pass" mentality and hope I can turn him into a great sleeper once he's weaned. :)   So that takes me to these next photos.. don't let them fool you into thinking this was before he happily fell asleep. This is just a little Peek-a-boo game we play now that I put the bumper on his crip.. He finds it hilarious.. I sit on the floor beside his crib and he gets up on his hands and knees to find me. :)

Here he is playing in his bath :)

And finally his 7 month pics!

BATHTIME

Baths have become increasingly more fun as Lucas has gotten older.  The kid goes nuts trying to splash ALL the water out of his little kiddy tub which sits in the big bath tub.  He has a bunch of bath toys which he tries to scoop up ALL at once and then tries to put them ALL in his mouth. But my favorite part of the whole thing is wrapping him up in his little hoodie towel at the end.