Forty-Three Weeks!

Today Nick is forty-three weeks! And the poor boy - he's definitely had better weeks. It feels so terrible to have a sick baby :( I would rather be sick every day of my life than have Nick be sick ever.

Last weekend was rough for Nick. He continued throwing up overnight Friday and into Saturday. He probably threw up every other time he ate. We cut him off of solids and just nursed, because breastmilk is so much easier for babies to handle. Throughout, he was his active and happy self though! We *thought* he was feeling better, so we decided to go for a late lunch to Panera. We brought some solids for him and enjoyed a nice lunch ourselves, but after we were done eating and we started giving him some sweet potatoes, he threw up :( We cleaned up after him and went home. Later on, Grandpa came over and we were all hanging out in the basement and the playroom. Nick was still throwing up, and even threw up water. I called our next door neighbor, who is a pediatrician, and asked her advice. She said we should give him Pedialyte (which I didn't - I don't believe in Pedialyte, I believe in nursing!) and monitor him closely, especially for dehydration. When he threw up the water though, that was the last time he threw up. That night he slept and nursed normally. Sunday he seemed to be much better - no throwing up. We decided to go to the Plymouth Ice Fest, but unfortunately, it was pretty warm for January in Michigan and most of the ice sculptures were melting, and some had already collapsed. We just walked around and enjoyed the fresh air. After Nick's second nap, we journeyed out to the model home here in our neighborhood to check it out and see if there were any good ideas we could incorporate into our house. It had a neat loft area with stripes on the walls and a chalkboard wall, so we are thinking about trying to incorporate stripes into the playroom.

Although Nick seemed to be feeling better and wasn't throwing up, I decided to stay home with him on Monday. If he was sick and his illness was just incubating, I would have felt terrible taking him to daycare and getting other kids sick. We had an ok day - he had trouble napping though. He wouldn't go down for either of his usual naps. For his first nap, he ended up sleeping in the car - I had placed an online order at a local health food store, Zerbo's, and needed to go pick it up. The order included garlic oil for Nick's ears and probiotics for his tummy. Since he fell asleep, I ended up driving around for a while so he could get a good nap in. Then we came home and played for a while, but again, he wouldn't go down to sleep when it was time for his second nap. He finally fell asleep at 4 pm - when he'd usually be waking up - and he slept until 8 pm, when he promptly woke up and stayed awake until 11! Getting him off his schedule (which is self-imposed but which he's been pretty consistent with) always makes me nervous. But Tuesday he was back to his normal schedule. He had a good day back to daycare, and ate solids again. He had some issues but nothing that concerned his daycare teachers. I've been calling and checking on him daily. I did decide to cut back on his solids a little, because I want him to drink his milk - he clearly needs the immunities he gets from my milk! I have also been putting probiotics in his milk. Wednesday was even better, and today they said he was back to his normal self and had all his energy back!

This weekend should be fun. Tomorrow is a "free day" - we can do whatever we want! We might go to downtown Northville and check out the organic co-op and stop by Baby Bliss. Sunday we are meeting Grandma Audrey and Papa Norm at Somerset to exchange Christmas gifts and spend some time together. We haven't seen them since the summer so we are looking forward to that. The most exciting thing coming up is that Aunt Krystyn is coming for a visit! Our friend is having a baby shower next weekend, so Aunt Krystyn is flying in to town. We are going to the shower on Saturday, and on Sunday we have decided to take Nick to brunch in our jams - just like in the old days :)

Nick still has the ear infection. I stopped at Whole Foods on Wednesday and bought him some Hyland's ear drops - they are supposed to help with earaches, but we struggled to get the garlic oil drops in his ears so we haven't tried to put these drops in yet. He has been digging his thumb into his right ear a lot, especially when he's nursing, so I know the ear infection is still bothering him :( I also bought him some Vitamin D drops to hopefully help with his immune system. He is drinking a little more milk now that I cut back to two solids at daycare, instead of the three or four I was taking. And he will be moving into Infant B on Monday - which I am hoping will help with his naps at daycare! He'll be in a room with babies much closer to his age and they all seem to get on a similar schedule, and sleep for two hours in the afternoon :)

Forty-Two Weeks!

Today Nick is forty-two weeks old! I can't believe it - only 10 more weeks till his first birthday! He is standing up more and more, although he still holds onto something. He is very steady and has great balance. We've already seen him catch himself from falling, from sitting or standing, more than once. He is not waving or clapping yet, but he will reach both of his arms out to me when he wants me to pick him up - and I melt each time. :)

Last weekend, Nick and Jeff had some alone time while I went to a Wayne State event Saturday morning. The rest of the day we just hung out at home in the playroom. I tried to make Nick some homemade coconut milk yogurt, but it didn't work out. Sunday was Uncle Zack's 30th birthday, so we said happy birthday to him on Facebook from Nick's profile :) I gave Nick some goat milk yogurt in the morning - the first time I saw him use a spoon. It's pretty cute! So I took some pictures, of course :) He sure does love that yogurt.

Monday was Martin Luther King Day, so Jeff had the day off. Nick got to enjoy some extra time with dad, as Jeff picked him up early from daycare after taking care of some errands. Tuesday morning I had court, so I took Nick in a little late to daycare and got to hang out for a little while. This week we found out Nick is moving up to Infant B at daycare. He also started playing with his ear again, and today his daycare teacher texted me and said she thought he might have an ear infection, so I called the doctor and made an appointment. I took him in and the doctor diagnosed a right ear infection, and prescribed "augmenten" for it. We gave it to him tonight, and about 20 minutes later, he threw up, poor boy! I think he had a bad reaction to the antibiotics. I nursed him to sleep and he's sleeping peacefully now.

This weekend we had some plans, but we might put them on hold now, depending on how Nick is feeling. Tomorrow we were thinking about going to the Plymouth Ice Fest, depending on the weather. This week, we have nothing exciting going on. Next weekend should be fun though - we're meeting Grandma Audrey and Papa Norm at Somerset to finally exchange Christmas gifts and spend some time together.

This brings up an issue - antibiotics for ear infections. This is an area where Jeff and I disagree. I don't think we should give Nick antibiotics for ear infections - most ear infections resolve themselves, and I think we should just treat the symptoms. We believe his ear infections are a result of fluid build-up because of colds, and he's going to keep getting colds because he goes to daycare, and therefore he will keep getting ear infections until he gets older and his eustachian tubes are more vertical. If we continue to treat the ear infections with antibiotics, eventually his body could build a resistance to the antibiotics - and then when he's REALLY sick and needs them, they might not work :( We do need to treat the symptoms, though - if we don't treat the infection, on average it will take two extra days for the infection to go away, and if we're choosing not to treat the infection, I feel obligated to treat the symptoms for him so he's not miserable. I am going to buy some garlic oil to put in his ears, which is supposed to help treat the infection and be soothing, and I am going to look into some other homeopathic treatments.

Nick Cruising!

Forty-One Weeks

Today Nick is forty-one weeks old! Less than three months until his first birthday - where has the time gone?? I'm so glad I've been keeping up this blog. Years and years from now we probably won't remember some of this stuff, so hopefully this blog will still be here :)

Last weekend was fun! On Saturday, we drove out to Lake Orion to drop some donated milk off to a foster baby. Then we hit Great Lakes Crossing - haven't been there since we moved! It was great. We found Nick a tie for his one year pictures in a few months and the perfect snowsuit - and it was on sale for only $12! There are so many kids' clothing stores there, it was so much fun to look around. The rest of the day we just hung out at home. On Sunday, we took a family trip to Costco. Jeff and I ate some pizza while Nick enjoyed some organic baby carrots.

Monday it was back to work and daycare. This week we started sending plain, unsweetened goat milk yogurt to daycare with Nick - and he loves it! I plan to make him coconut milk yogurt using my crockpot, and I bought the goat milk yogurt to use as the starter. Well, Trader Joe's only had a huge container of plain unsweetened, so I figured I'd have him try it just to use it up. Now I'm wondering if I should just keep buying that! He is feeding it to himself - his daycare teacher puts the yogurt on the spoon and then hands it to him. We haven't given him any at home yet - can't wait to tomorrow and see how it goes!

This week was rough on all of us. Ok, here's my theory! At daycare, they started giving him his milk in a sippy cup. Nick has Nuby no-drip sippy cups, which have a built-in valve that must be compressed to allow the liquid to flow. He is a baby, so naturally he compresses the valve by biting. Well, I think he started thinking he needed to bite when he was nursing to get the milk to come out, too, since he had to bite to get the milk out at daycare. Needless to say, this caused some nursing issues this week. I bought him some no-drip bottles to use instead at daycare, so he can still give himself his milk but without having to bite. This seemed to clear up the biting while nursing, but then he started being congested at night - and biting started again, this time out of frustration at his inability to nurse with a stuffed nose. These conditions combined to deprive all three of us of precious sleep this week. Yesterday, Nick fell asleep on the way home from daycare, and he slept and slept and slept - until 7:30 this morning! He only woke up three times to nurse. We were a little worried and checked on him so frequently - he doesn't usually sleep that much, but we figure he was trying to make up for what he lost during the week.

Another thing we discovered this week is that maybe Nick's self-imposed bedtime doesn't have to be 6:00-6:30, maybe he just goes to sleep then because he's bored! So this week we made it a point to take him down to his playroom after he nurses when I get home from work. We've had some fun times! He is so mobile now. He loves to play with his toys. He is started to cruise behind his walker/push-toys. And he is just so joyful - loves to laugh and loves when his dad is being silly. So fun!

Today I had court in the morning, so I took Nick to daycare a little late, which was good because it allowed him to sleep in. When I came home, we all went down into the playroom and played for a little while, then Nick was asleep by about 7.

Tomorrow Jeff and Nick will be on their own for a few hours while I go to an event for the LAA. Sunday Nick has a playdate scheduled with his friend Emily - hopefully this time they'll both be awake at the same time :) Monday Jeff has the day off for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, so Nick will probably only go to daycare for a few hours, if at all. The rest of the week is normal!

This week we struggled with the idea of weaning Nick. I don't plan to begin totally weaning him, if he doesn't self-wean, until he's at least 18 months. But night-weaning is a different story. I long for the nights forty-one weeks ago when I slept straight through until morning. Due to the biting/congestion issues, he was unable to night nurse two whole nights - that's halfway to night-weaning, really, so we struggled with the idea of just following through. However, I am fully committed to nursing/pumping until Nick is a year old, and I'm afraid of what night-weaning would do to my supply. Therefore, I will not even think of night-weaning him until he's close to 11 months old. I don't think he's hungry at night - sometimes he nurses for a minute or less - but I still think it helps my supply so I would like to allow him to keep it up.

Forty Weeks!

Today Nick is forty weeks old! So any women who became pregnant on Nick's birthday are due today :)

Nick had a great week. He is growing and changing so much. Baby development in the first year is truly amazing.

Last Saturday we attempted to take advantage of some post-Christmas sales. We went to Home Depot and to Ikea. At Ikea we scoped out some things to buy for the playroom as Nick gets older - tents, toys, tables and chairs, a cool chalkboard/dry erase easel with a giant paper roll holder. We ate at the Ikea restaurant - Nick enjoyed some steamed veggies. We also bought him some of these neat smock-type bibs they have - the bibs have full sleeves and a front, but they're open in the back and velcro closed at the top.

Sunday we just hung out at home. Jeff's mom came over to bring us presents from Grandma Lundberg - since we weren't able to go up to Ludington for Lundberg Christmas - and she was able to see Nick crawl.

Monday was back to work and daycare for the first full week - and Nick's 9 months appointment. He is 27.5 inches, 20 lbs 2 oz - still at the 50th percentile, which shocked his pediatrician. :) He appears to be developing well (which we didn't need him to tell us, LOL) but he thought his ears still seemed infected so he gave us a prescription for antibiotics. Jeff decided we should give them to Nick. I disagree - since Nick isn't showing signs of pain, I think we should let his ears clear up on their own. But I let Jeff give him the medicine. I just hope it doesn't happen too often - I don't want him to become immune to the antibiotics.

This week Nick's caregivers decided to stop giving him his milk in a bottle, and start giving it to him exclusively in a sippy cup - which is fine with me! :) He had butternut squash, mango, and chicken this week, and also tried rice pasta. I had trouble with the rice pasta - even if it's soft when it's cooked, it gets hard again after it's cooled. I will need to work around this, as I don't plan on giving him wheat pasta for a while. Wednesday when I dropped him off, I set him down on his tummy on the playmat as usual, turned away to put something down, and when I turned back - he was standing up at the walker! He is getting really good at pulling up and stabilizing himself. He also cruises a little. When I dropped him off yesterday, his caregiver told me he took four steps behind the walker. Last night it took me 2 hours to get home. I expected to get home with Nick in bed and Jeff fried. Instead, they were in the playroom playing! He was perfectly happy and active :) He finally wanted to go to bed around 7:30, so it was nice for me to have some playtime with him too - a rare thing on a week night!

Today I received the replacement tabs for Nick's cloth diapers in the mail - yay, a project! Cottonbabies.com is such a great company - they'll send you replacement tabs for free, you just have to do the work of putting them on. So basically, with free replacement tabs for life, these diapers can last and last until the PUL wears out!

This weekend we don't have any plans. We actually don't have any concrete plans until February 13. :) We are probably going to take some milk out to Lake Orion for a foster baby I donate milk to, and stop at Great Lakes Crossing. We need to get Nick a good snowsuit, or a 12 months coat, or both :) Sunday we are making a family trip to Costco. Nothing exciting this week, either. That's good - we need the calm after the last exciting few weeks!

The playroom is so much fun. We spend almost all of our time down there now. We are looking forward to lots of playdates with Nick's friends. It's a great work in progress! :)

Thirty-Nine Weeks!

Today Nick is thirty-nine weeks old! It's the first day of his first full calendar year on this planet :) Last year at this time I was just over halfway through my pregnancy. We had already glimpsed Nick's beautiful face at our first 3D ultrasound. And now, just one year later, Nick is mobile and getting so big!

This was a big week for Nick - full of physical developments and holiday fun! And one not-so-great first - his first ear infection :( Christmas night he couldn't sleep, and he was crying so hard - I've never seen him cry like that, and it was the first time I wasn't able to comfort him right away. So we called our next door neighbor, who is in charge of the pediatric ICU at Providence Park Hospital, and she came right over to check him out. She noticed he has a cold, and by that time he was comforted, so she guessed ear infection, and sure enough - she checked both his ears and both ears were red, and one was a little swollen and she couldn't see any "landmarks." She said to give him baby Tylenol every four hours, and she would check on him the next day and if his ears hadn't improved she would prescribe an antibiotic. We gave him a dose of Tylenol at 10 pm and he was finally able to sleep. That night he woke up a few times - two times I was able to nurse him to sleep, and the other time we gave him a second dose of Tylenol. Saturday during the day he seemed fine again! Grammie and Grandpa came over with leftovers and hung out with dad and Nick while I went grocery shopping for Sunday. Saturday night, Nick slept normally again, with no Tylenol. Sunday we had some of our Bradley childbirth classmates over for a get-together. The playroom made its debut and it was a big hit! We had four babies and seven parents, and it didn't feel crowded at all. It was so fun to see the babies playing in there, and nice to catch up with the other parents and talk about babies and families and everything under the sun.

Monday it was back to work and daycare for another short week. Nick was one of only two babies at TLE for the week, so he had lots of one-on-one time with Miss Amanda. Wednesday morning we had a pleasant surprise - Nick started crawling on his hands and knees, all over the bedroom! We weren't sure if it was just a fluke or not, but when we came home from work that night we set him down on the carpet in the basement and filmed the video I posted that night. He is fast and almost always smiling when he crawls :)

Yesterday we had a New Year's Eve party - we called it Lundbergs' Rockin' New Year's Eve - with Babies! We had a late start to the day. Nick woke up at his usual time, but he was ready for a nap at about 8:45 - so I napped with him and we were both asleep until almost 11! Jeff was working from home, so we took turns getting ready. Nick's friend Emily and her mom Lisa came over to play in the playroom. Unfortunately, Nick went down for his second nap shortly after they arrived. He's definitely not yet at an age where he can stay awake because fun is happening. Lisa and Emily went home and Jeff and I finished getting ready for the party while Nick finished up his nap. Our friends started arriving around 6:30 pm - after Nick was asleep for the night . . . or so we thought! He woke up around 8:30 to nurse and stayed up until almost midnight. We had a blast - there were babies and big kids and adults, all just hanging out and talking and laughing and playing games. At midnight we had a champagne toast and then it was time for everyone to head home.

Today we were supposed to head up to Ludington for Jeff's family Christmas party. We go every year. However, once we hit the road (about 2 hours late), Jeff's dad texted us and said they were expecting 10-15 inches of snow. We were not prepared to sleep over, so we just turned around and went home. We were so disappointed to miss the party - Nick hasn't seen that side of the family since June, when we went up there for a family wedding. We hope we can make it up there soon! We just hung out at home instead. Nick played in the playroom, had some sweet potatoes and banana, and watched part of the Rose Bowl with us.

We hope to take advantage of some sales tomorrow, and buy some things at Ikea for Nick's playroom and buy some LED lights at Home Depot to decorate with next year. Sunday we don't have any plans - but it is the day Nick turns 9 months old! Monday is Nick's 9 month appointment - we are super excited to see how much he weighs and how long he is, but of course we are not excited about more shots. After that, nothing is going on this week. It will be a tough week - our first full week of work and daycare since mid-December!

We planned on teaching Nick sign language but admittedly have not been consistent. Now that he's 9 months old, he's much more likely to pick up our signs, so we are rededicating ourselves to signing with him. We're going to start with milk, sleep and more - the two things that make Nick fussy are being hungry and being tired, so we'd like to help him learn to tell us when he wants to eat or sleep. The point of baby signs is to help your baby communicate with you before they can easily use spoken language - so we're hoping to ease some of Nick's frustration with our ineptitude by teaching him how to "tell" us what he needs!