Slow recovery

Aaron has been slowly recovering from his stomach flu. We'd been gradually returning to his normal diet, but still feeding him rice cereal in place of mixed grains, and no meat yet. But he's more tired than usual and yesterday didn't finish his lunch and only took one bite of dinner (and one bit of applesauce) before refusing to eat any more. I'm not sure if he has no appetite or if he is just too tired. He napped 3 times yesterday (vs 2 normally) and between the last nap and bed seemed exhausted. Aaron usually eats anything - he'll even take 3 bites of something that he hates like avocado, before making a big fuss. So for him not to finish a meal or show interest in eating is so foreign to me. At least he is still nursing even when he won't eat anything else. Poor little guy.

But even for being sick, he is generally in good spirits and all in all, it hasn't been too hard on us. I just hate seeing him not feeling well.

Stomach bug

Yesterday afternoon, Thom and I were both feeling a little better and thought we were through the worst of our respective illnesses. After a dinner of rice, we were watching TV when we heard Aaron coughing. It sounded a little different than previously (he had a little cough from what I assumed is the same cold I have). We rushed into his room and as I sat him up, he emptied the contents of his stomach. Or so it seemed until he later threw up 3 more times within about an hour.

I'd never seen him throw up like that, so it was scary. After he was done, he looked around and was chatty and ready to play. We cleaned him (and the crib) up and I tried to nurse him to replace the fluids he lost, but he wasn't interested. 10 minutes later, I realized why. After he threw up the second time, I called my sister Theresa who has 3 kids. She reassured me that throwing up twice was normal and although it was scary, he was fine, just to watch for signs of dehydration. She said it would run its course in 24 hours or so. She suggested that if he threw up twice more within an hour, we should call his doctor. He threw up again when I was on the phone with my sister and again once more after that, although his stomach was pretty empty by then.

I left a message for a nurse to call me back, which she did within 15 minutes. She gave us some guidelines for what to do - nurse him, no solids until 8 hours after he stopped vomiting, then only rice cereal and strained bananas until 24 hour later. Due to his age and size, she wasn't too concerned about dehydration yet, and stressed that we should try to get him to sleep. That was around 9:15. I think we did get him to sleep, I don't remember now, but I do know he threw up one more time after 10pm and that at that point, I nursed him before putting him back down. Not a good idea, apparently, because after sleeping briefly, he woke up and emptied his stomach again, just before 11pm.

Finally, we got him to sleep (I lost track of how many pajamas we went through, but we did do a load of laundry in the middle of the night since he had soiled his top sheet and his sleep sack.) I tried to sleep in his room since even with the monitor in our room I was worried about getting to him quickly if he threw up again. But I couldn't sleep. Every time he sighed in his sleep or moved, I was on edge, worried he was going to be sick. I was making myself sick with worry, so I finally got on the computer to play games, waiting until midnight since I figured if he was going to be sick again, it would probably be within an hour.

At midnight, I went to go sleep in our room. I couldn't get any sleep in his room and I've been tired from fighting this cold, so I needed sleep. But even in our room, I was so worried, I don't think I slept more than a few fitful minutes here and there until shortly after 2am when Aaron woke up again. Since he had gone more than 3 hours without being sick, I tried nursing him. I knew I was supposed to limit how much he ate, so I did stop him before he wanted, but not as soon as I thought I should have since he seemed so hungry. Since he was still hungry, he wasn't going to be easy to put back to sleep, plus I wanted to keep him up for awhile to make sure he was going to keep the milk down, so I held him for awhile. We hung out in the bathroom, which has tile floors, so seemed like a safe place for a sick baby, just in case.

At one point, he started coughing and Thom came to check on us. At that point I asked Thom to take Aaron and get him back to bed since I had gotten no real sleep and Thom had gotten a little. (He's still not back to normal, but he's definitely much better than the previous night.) I finally got to sleep after 3am, once Thom was back from getting Aaron to sleep. And I slept until about 5:30am when Aaron woke up again. Fortunately, at that point, the stomach bug had moved further downstream and he hasn't throw up since 11pm last night.

Julie came today at 11am and is leaving at 3pm (she is normally here from 12-6pm, but she needs to go to an appointment this afternoon). Aaron hasn't had much appetite, but other than being tired, he is in good spirits. He had a little rice cereal at noon and hopefully he is over the worst of his illness.

Thom is home sick today, too. He ran a few errands for us, though.

One thing I've learned from this experience is that you can't have too many waterproof mattress pads, waterproof lap-size pads (which we use on the changing table), infant pajamas, or sheets. I only have 3 fitted sheets for Aaron's bed and one waterproof top sheet that snaps on. I usually have the snap-on one over a fitted sheet which is over a waterproof mattress pad. That way, if the top sheet gets wet, just take it off and you are ready to go. But once that was soiled last night, we just doubled up on bedding - pad, sheet, pad, sheet - so that we could just take off the top set if needed since it seemed likely he was going to go through a few sheets. The supplies we had are more than enough for most days, but on nights like last night, you really don't want to run out of sheets or pajamas at 3 in the morning.

I'm crossing my fingers that I don't get this stomach bug. I'm ready for us all to be well again.

Sick and Tired

I had hoped to post some new pictures this weekend, but unfortunately we are all sick. I started coming down with a cold Friday morning when I woke up with a sore throat. Thom was supposed to get back from NY that evening, not long after Julie went home, so I knew I would have help with Aaron. But Thom's return flight was delayed nearly 3 hours out of NY and somehow although his plane was supposed to continue on to CA after a layover, they changed plans once it was so late and he finally got on another flight 6 hours later.

Home only 6 hours, Thom came down with the stomach flu. That was on top of being up for about 24 hours before he got home, so he was exhausted, jet-lagged and sick. Since I am just sick, I went out for supplies yesterday - soup, bread, baby food, thinking one of us would be well enough today to do the regular shopping. Unfortunately we are all still sick (Aaron has a bit of a cough and has been more tired than usual, so I think he probably has my cold). Poor Aaron - when he is awake, we don't have the energy to do much with him. He likes it when I sing to him, but with a sore throat, I don't feel much like even talking to him.

I can't wait until Julie comes back tomorrow. I tried calling my niece to see if she could help out today, but she said she has the flu. We've been lucky that we haven't been sick yet this season. It's just unfortunate that both Thom and I are sick at the same time.

Both my boys are sleeping now. I'm off to make some tea and rest before the little one wakes up. I've been napping when he naps, but I'm a little less tired now and want to take advantage of some down time to read my book club book.

Clapping

We first noticed Aaron clapping at our neighbors' house in January. Our neighbor Brad was sitting on the floor with Aaron and started clapping, when Aaron decided to clap, too. His right hand was open, but his left hand was a loose fist. I think he'd done this before, but I hadn't realized he was trying to clap.

In the last week or so, though, Aaron has started clapping with both hands open, fingers splayed. I find it adorable. He seems to clap at random times, as if he is practicing and not actually clapping in response to anything. He'll clap in his high chair during breakfast or playing on the floor during the rare times both his hands are empty. At both our yoga class and library story hour, there are songs we sing to the babies, some of which involve clapping. While everyone is clapping with the songs, Aaron just watches, but then later, when we've moved on to something else, he'll start clapping. Maybe he is trying to tell us, "No, go back and do that clapping song again!"

Last night, he woke up around midnight. As I was getting him settled back into bed, he was lying on his side - clapping. I guess it is never too late to practice a new skill.

So smart!

Yesterday, Aaron was sitting next to Bear and had turned to look at me. I asked him "Where's Bear?" He looked at me for a second, then turned to Bear and poked him in the stomach. It's hard to be 100% sure this wasn't a coincidence, but I think he really understood me!

This morning, I tested him out again. Bear was sitting up on a black foot stool in the dining room area. I saw Aaron glance at Bear (he was sitting on the floor near the foot stool) and then start playing with some toys in front of him. I asked him "Where's Bear". He turned, looked at Bear, and then pointed up at him, then looked back at me as if to say "He's up there, Mama."

Getting out with Aaron

This is how I found Aaron upon returning home from story time at the library yesterday. Normally the handle is behind the canopy of the car seat so he can't grab onto it, but yesterday was overcast, so I left the canopy back so he could see outside.

He loves to grab onto the handle with both hands when he can. The day before, he grabbed onto it when I put him in the car seat and kept a grip on it all the way down to our yoga class - every time I peeked in the rearview mirror, I could see his little hands on the handle.

Monday was our first Mommy and Me Yoga class. It is a 6 week class offered at the outpatient center of a hospital about 20 minutes away and is for moms with babies 4 weeks to 1 year (and not walking). There are 8 other moms in the class and Aaron is the oldest. The next oldest is a 7 month old baby girl and most of the other babies were about 3 months and younger. I think the class would be easier with a lighter-weight baby.

Some of the poses involve being on hands and knees and the baby beneath you on the blanket. Aaron kept turning over, so I just sat him up in front of me with some of the toys supplied by the instructor. Unfortunately, he thought it was fun to pull my ponytail when I was doing downward-facing dog. For standing poses, we were supposed to hold our baby, and trying to do that with a 21 lb baby is a challenge. I had to set him down a few times or break from the poses. Unfortunately he was a little fussy and didn't want to be set down. The last poses were on our backs, with babies either on our tummies leaning against our legs, or with our knees to our chest and babies on their tummies facing us. At the end, she turned down the lights while we did the final resting pose and she came around and did minute long shoulder rubs on everyone. That felt wonderful!

She warned us that the first class would be the most difficult, but that we should come back. It was definitely challenging with Aaron and I couldn't concentrate on the poses, but I think it will get easier. I've been trying to do yoga at home with a DVD I found on sale a couple of months ago. This class gives me ideas of how to incorporate Aaron into the workout, which gives me fewer excuses for not being more active. I realy liked the instructor and I found out she teaches the same class (for free) at a library not far from here, two Wednesdays a month. Today is one of those Wednesdays, so I might try to go (I have to call the library when they open to make sure space is available).

Yesterday, Aaron took an early nap in the morning, and was awake in time for story time at the local library. He's usually asleep during story time, so we haven't been since last year. Unfortunately, they don't have the version for babies anymore, so we went to the story time geared for 18 months to 3 years. Since many moms have two kids, there are usually other babies there with their toddler age siblings, so Aaron wasn't the only one "underage". I think the one for babies was better for Aaron's age, but we'll probably go back, unless I can find another story hour nearby - which might not be too hard - there are a lot of libraries within 15-20 minutes of us.

Tomorrow we are going to meet a friend of mine and her daughter for lunch. I try to get out at least on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I don't have child care until 3pm, when my niece comes over after school. If it weren't for the yoga classes, I wouldn't normally go out on Mondays and Wednesdays, since Julie comes at noon to babysit. Now that Aaron is so alert and curious, it is harder to spend long hours at home with him. It really helps pass the time to have outside distractions. Plus, now that he is more interactive, I like for him to have opportunites to play with other children.

Bear

My Mom knit this adorable bear for Aaron. My Dad took these photos when they were first introduced. Aaron had started to cry when we got to my parents' house on Saturday (because I stepped out of view for 30 seconds - he probably thought I had abandoned him forever), but after we put him on the floor with Bear, he perked right up. (Aaron has another teddy bear called "Teddy", so we have named this guy "Bear").

First haircut

We knew Aaron would need a haircut soon, but didn't realize how bad it was until it was too late to get him in to see Auntie Lia (the hairdresser) in time. We always brushed it over to the side, but more and more often it wouldn't stay to the side and it was getting in his eyes. He'd be playing and he'd stop and rub his eyes like he was tired, but he was really just trying to get his hair out of his eyes. Since we couldn't get him to see Auntie Lia until a family gathering in a few weeks, I decided to trim his bangs myself. Lia gave me some tips and we tried it out yesterday.

Here are some before pictures, taken out on the swing. He looks like a sheepdog.

Having a towl draped around you is a lot of fun.

Here are some after shots. Not too bad for my first attempt.

We'll see how it looks after we wash it tonight.

We'll have Auntie Lia give him a trim in a couple of weeks when we see her.

10 months today!

So we had Aaron's follow up visit with his pediatrician on Thursday and since he still isn't crawling, she wants to have a PT (physical therapy) exam done. She said they can test his muscle tone in ways she can't and can give us exercises to do with him if needed. She went to great lengths to explain it was very precautionary and she wasn't really worried. She said he is probably just on the outside of the range for crawling.

We aren't really worried. Even before she said all that. We can see that he is progressing steadily, if a bit slowly is some areas. And in fact, in the last couple of days, we've seen him start to propel himself forward a bit on his tummy, pushing with his toes and sometimes rolling to his side and then reaching forward as he turns back to his tummy. It's enough to get to toys just out of reach and I'm sure he will be crawling in no time.

While we were there, I asked his doctor whether we can give Aaron yogurt. She had said no dairy (or chocolate, strawberries, seafood, egg whites or soy) until 12 months. But I know some moms who give their kids yogurt before cows milk (which everyone seems to wait until 12 months for). She said she gave her kids yogurt starting at 9 months. Then she told us about a study she read about recently on kids in Israel where they get peanuts (presumably not in whole format) starting as newborns and Israel has one of the lowest rates of peanut allergies. So she doesn't really know what causes food allergies - maybe postponing introducing foods doesn't really help.

So for lunch on Thursday, instead of fruit, I gave Aaron his first taste of yogurt. It was apricot mango Greek style yogurt from Trader Joes which we had in the fridge. I only gave him a small amount, and the first bite produced a face that made me think it wasn't going to go over well. But he ate the rest of what I offered him with no complaints. That's my boy for you. He eats almost anything, no matter what kind of face he gives you on the first bite.

At the store today, I bought some of the Yo Baby yogurt since it is organic and had a shorter ingredient list than the Greek style yogurt that we eat. I suspect it will also be a little less bitter.

Sleepy

Aaron upon arriving home from dinner at our friends' house.

Bathtime again

Thom got out the camera during bath time last weekend. In the last picture you can see his little Hasidic side-lock.

Gifts from Ohio

Not long ago, we got a giant computer box full of goodies from Aaron's Aunt Sherry and his Grandma Lillie in Ohio. They sent clothes, toys and supplies for Aaron, plus chocolates for Thom and some bath goodies for me (although Aaron hoped the net sponge was for him!). It seemed like we would never empty the box! But once we did, we thought should get a picture of Aaron with the box and all of its contents before putting stuff away.

Thank you Aunt Sherry and Grandma!

Blue Steel

For anyone that has seen Ben Stiller in Zoolander, we call this his "Blue Steel" face.




For reference:

Guitar Hero

Even more than he likes listening to his father play the guitar, Aaron likes to play it himself. Initiallly, he was transfixed by the sounds coming from this oddly shaped object, but before long he rolled himself over and reached up to pluck a string.

That turned out the be just about the most amazing thing ever. Before long he was strumming away and getting annoyed when Dad tried to get in the way, or perhaps more importantly, tried to pry his death-grip from the very thin high-E string. Emergency Room Attendant: "...Ummm, and how did your 9 month old slice off his fingertip, exactly?" No, we really don't want to go through that.




Fortunately, he is slowly figuring out that a gentler touch on the strings actually makes a better sound. Of course, there is an electric guitar in the house as well, so one day we might regret this. Oh well, at least it's not drums...

Oh, and if you are wondering about the Luvs diaper box in the background, you'd be surprised what an excellent toy a diaper box can be. You can put a toy in the box, then look in the box, see your toy, then take your toy out of the box. Then put your toy back in the box. You can slide the box around on the floor. you can stick your finger in the handle holds on the ends of the box. You can point at the baby on the side of the box. You can stand the box on end and play peek-a-boo with mommy. You can watch a rolly dinosaur roll to you across the top of the (inverted) box, then pick it up and throw it back on top of the box for someone to roll it to you again. Then you can put toys that don't roll on top of the box and see if they will roll to you (they don't) and then finally you can put the rolly dinosoaur back on the box and wait for it to roll back to you.

New blog

I know I'm overdue to post some new pictures of Aaron. I have some on the camera and just need to get them off, but didn't find time last weekend. Hopefully this weekend.

In the meantime, I started a new blog to chronicle my adventures with my other baby - my company. If you are interested, you can get there through my profile. Or follow the link below:

http://www.stay-at-home-startup.blogspot.com/