Another New Experience

So.. Thomas is teething and apparently these teeth are never going to actually come in.  He has not been at his best this weekend, and his sleep is suffering.  The problem is mostly naps- he's just not sleeping as long or as well as he had been.  Also, his third nap is short and he's probably going to be dropping it soon. We decided that the best way to help him is to make sure he's in bed early.  So far, that was working.  Until tonight, that is.  We put him to bed at 7:30 (which we've done the past couple of nights) - he was crying on and off since he woke from his last nap, but he ate okay and he seemed calm when we put him to bed.  He didn't make any kind of noise for about 5 minutes and then the crying began. It's been a while since he cried like that.  We gave it some time and ended up going into his room to check on him.  We don't ever do that at bedtime, but he was doing things he doesn't normally do at that time.  When we went into his room, he was trying so hard to go to sleep, but was shrieking in what we guessed was pain.  We checked his diaper, felt for a fever and then Tom felt his gums.  Thomas just chomped down on his finger and was going nuts.  We decided that the best bet was to put some Orajel on his gums and give him some Tylenol. We then left again.  After a few more minutes of screaming, we went back and picked him up.  We shushed and calmed him for about a minute and then put him back down and left again.  This time he went to sleep after we left.  Whew- we haven't had a bedtime like that since he learned to put himself to sleep.  We really really really hope these teeth come in soon. 

Six Month Checkup

18 lbs. 10 oz. (70th percentile)
28.5 inches long (96th percentile)

He did great with his vaccines today - cried, but got over it pretty fast! No shots at the 9 month visit, thank goodness.

Rollin' and Sleepin'

We got him on video so you could see his newest trick! He's squirming all over and you never know where he's going to end up :-) Last night when we checked on him after he fell asleep - we found him on his side. He used to love to sleep that way when he was a newborn, but then we had to prop him up with a blanket under his back.

Growing up... sigh......

Six Months Old!

It's hard to believe he's been here six months. Who knew you could love someone so completely and unconditionally in such a short time...

Rolling Over!

Thomas rolled over from back to stomach today!  He's been trying so hard for a while now, and could get to his side, but then needed us to hold our arm against his back so he could use it for support.  Today after Tom got home from work we were playing and Thomas did it all by himself! Of course we yelled and clapped and cheered and the little boy looked at us like we had gone crazy.  We rolled him right over and made him do it again - hahaha. We think he'd be happier if he could just get up and walk right over to what he wants. In other news, this alleged teething continues.  All the classic symptoms- drooling, chewing on everything, whiny, less appetite, diaper rash, etc. etc. Baby Orajel is still really really gross to him, but since it helps some, he's going to have to deal with it. He's not eating the cereal very well, but the pediatrician said 2 weeks before we reintroduce any other foods, so we'll keep trying.  We're mixing it with water instead of formula, and he ate more today.  Who knows?  I wouldn't eat that nasty stuff either!

Teeth Won't Actually Appear, Will They?

It's a myth that our child is actually going to get teeth one day.  Instead, he's going to drool, chew on everything in sight, squeal and whine!  I got some Baby Orajel today and he cried because he hated the taste.  Oh well, if it works, he can cry for a minute! Also, since I take care of another baby the same age, she decided that she is going to do the same thing on the same days.  As you may or may not know, she's an amazing sleeper. She gets here, goes to sleep in 10 or 20 minutes and takes these 2 or 2 1/2 hour naps, only getting up to eat and play (for a total of about 2 hours awake).  So, since Thomas is not feeling his best, she decided that today she would show me what she's made of.  She needed to be rocked back to sleep in the middle of her nap, she needed me to go in and put in her pacifier about 10 times per nap and she and Thomas covered the house in drool.  This is after her mom let me know she woke up every two hours last night!  Thomas has decided to sleep less during the day, and his third nap is really short these days - not really giving him enough to get to bedtime happily, so he's a bit cranky at times.  Putting him to bed earlier certainly works for the good mood thing, but since he averages 10 1/2-11 hours of sleep at night, we have to be careful he's not going down such that he's up at 6 am.  It's more than 2 sleep deprived parents can take.  Of course, every morning we go in and see that sweet smiling face and all is forgiven.  Well, almost! See, these are the things they forgot to tell us!

Eczema, Eating and Sleeping

It's been a great Spring Break here in the Terry/Pittard household and we are sad to see it come to an end.  Last night Tom and I actually had a couple of friends over and talked about things other than baby poop, sleep and how crazy cute our kid is!  It was a lot of fun to be around some other adults and really nice to catch up with old friends.  Thomas was an angel and slept from 8:20 pm to 7:20 am.  He got big kisses and hugs all morning for that gift - well, he does anyway, but we were better rested! We recently visited the pediatrician for the "rash" on his face.  She diagnosed eczema and we're trying to get it better.  She (and we) aren't sure about food sensitivity, but Thomas's little face is really broken out and red and he was refusing to eat most every kind of food we tried to feed him.  We decided to start over and see if we can figure out if he has any allergies.  So now we are back to bottles and really soupy rice cereal.  We'll go slowly and see if we can help him feel better.  We laugh that he certainly hasn't missed any meals up to this point and will be just fine!

Homemade Baby Food is Gross!

So, Thomas prefers Gerber to homemade. I'm trying not to be offended, but come on. I slave away making homemade baby food, just to have him make a face like I've given him something I dug up in the back yard :-) I'm reduced to using 1/2 homemade 1/2 Gerber and weaning him to the real stuff little by little. Our friend Kelly explained this is the beginning- McDonald's is better than anything, mac and cheese in a box beats the kind you make in the oven, etc. etc. We'll keep trying - maybe the kid will actually like vegetables- yeah, right!

Other than the insults to my cooking, he's great - getting bigger by the minute and he used a sippy cup for the first time yesterday! He can't hold it, but learned to drink out of it a little. It was really funny and I can't wait for him to try again. He held his bottle for a few seconds today by himself. I'm not sure he really meant to, but there it was. Big fun for Spring Break!

Spring Break

Tom is on Spring Break this week.  He is so happy to be able to wake up and spend time with Thomas rather than rushing out of the house to work.  My parents are here and have been loving playing with Thomas and laughing at him. He is generally a happy little boy and loves playing with his parents most of all! He's growing like crazy...we constantly have to put away clothes that he's outgrown :-)  

Big Boy in the Stroller

We've reached a new milestone!  Thomas is sitting up belted in his stroller with his feet out... rather than laying down with the foot part closed up to keep him in.  We took a great walk today to the library then to the park - because unlike in my last post it's 80 degrees today. Before that we had a playdate with two former colleagues and their children.  One is almost a year and one is 9 months.  It was fun to see both kids that I've known since they were born and to hang out with some other moms.  They gave me some pointers about food and some ideas about how to prepare and freeze it myself to save some money. Also, Thomas is trying so hard to roll from his back to his stomach.  He can get about half of his body over, but can't quite make it work.  It's so funny to watch... should be anytime now! He also is "swimming" all over the place when he's on his tummy.  I put toys at the edges of the blanket and put him in the middle.  There's no telling where he'll end up.  All in all, he continues to amaze us each and every day.