C crawling!

And tooting a little because crawling is really hard work :-)

C is "sharing"

and it's so cute!  He'll take his binky out of his mouth and try and give it to me (usually resulting in the binky being dragged around my eye, in my hair, down over my mouth, etc.  He doesn't have great aim), or share his toys, whatever.  It's really quite adorable.  Drooly and messy, but so very cute :-)

8 Months

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted!!  We've had a lot of stuff going on, and all sorts of new things happening.  I can't believe my baby is 2/3 of a year old.

C now has THREE teeth, and is working on a fourth.  He has 2 on the bottom and one on the top left.  When his top one first broke through he figured out it made noise when he ground it together with his bottom teeth.  It drives me CRAZY!!!  I shudder just thinking about that sound, and it's like nails on a chalkboard to me.

He is already weighs over 19 lbs, and is 27 3/4 inches tall.  I can't believe how big he's getting!!  While he's still rear facing, we have him in a convertible car seat already because he's just too big to carry around in the infant seat.  Speaking of cars, we are back to being a 2 car family!  We got a minivan, which is awesome!!!  I know a lot of people, especially those that are my age, see minivans as just the stereotypical soccer mom mobile, but I don't care, they're the greatest invention known to parents.  It's roomy, really easy to get kids into and out of, and comfortably seats seven people.  Not to mention it fits C's ginormous car seat with room for more, when more kids come along.  I absolutely love it!

C is an awesome baby.  He is so friendly, popular everywhere he goes, and just loves people, especially other kids.  He's so much fun, and keeps us smiling.  He's not crawling on all fours quite yet, but he's army crawling like a champ and is starting to pull himself up to stand.  He can stand totally on his own for a few seconds at a time, but he's still really wobbly.  He loves climbing over things, especially me!  He's so active, but luckily for me, he can entertain himself from time to time so I sometimes have time to cook dinner all on my own, but then I have to share it with him, lol.

On the allergy front, we're still very restricted.  At around 6 months old C started reacting to corn, so I cut it out of my diet along with the top 8 allergens that I was already avoiding.  I tried to challenge it a week or so ago, but it didn't work.  As of right now we (that is, C and myself, since I'm still breastfeeding) are avoiding dairy, soy, egg, wheat, peanut, tree nut, fish, shellfish, and corn.  It's hard, but totally worth having the awesome, easy, happy baby and not a grumper pants who has a constant tummyache.  I've seen such a huge improvement in C's overall health, weight gain, mood, amount of spitting up, and sleep that I know without a doubt I'm doing the right thing for him and for me.

We aren't going to do any more challenges until C is a year old so his digestive tract has time to mature and *hopefully* will recognize food as food and not something dangerous.  We saw the pediatric GI this week, and he ordered a blood test (we couldn't do it before this because he would've been too young for it to be accurate) to determine allergies.  I think the test is looking for antibodies against certain foods in his blood, and it will tell us what his body is trying to fight.  I'm not sure how accurate it will be at this age, but I'm hoping for some concrete answers so we have more to go on than the trial and error we're relying on now.  We should have results in one or two weeks.

On a happier note, we're going to Disneyland next week!  It'll be a great trip to break in the new van :-P
I'm excited, but it's going to be a challenge to find food.  I'm going to bring a cooler of things I can have so hopefully I won't be starving while we're there.  I'm going to be doing a lot of allergy-free baking over the next few days so I have something quick to eat while we're on our trip.  I know that C is still pretty young to be going to Disneyland, but I think we'll have a good time, and I can't wait to get a picture of him with Mickey!!!

Overall, I'm having the time of my life.  Being a mom is the most amazing job in the world and I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I feel so lucky to have such an awesome baby who brings so much joy to my life.  Even though I feel 10 years older than I am, it's in a good way :-D

Cookbook recommendation

I asked for and received the Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook by Cybele Pascal for Christmas.  Last night I tested the yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting and it's delicious!!  I'm so excited, I can't wait to try some of the other recipes in there.  There are tons of cakes/cupcakes, cookies, muffins, scones, pies, and more.  Everything looks amazing.  I highly recommend getting this book!!

Lentil Soup

This is something you can just throw together, and it's super easy :-)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb dry lentils
• 4 cups stock* (32 oz)
• 4 cups water
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 onion, minced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb cooked meat (I used a couple chicken breasts; you can add stew meat, sausage, turkey, ground meat, or you can skip it and add more veggies)
• 2 cups chopped carrots (I just chopped up some baby carrots)
• salt, pepper to taste (plus any other spices you like; I also added some rosemary)

*I used chicken stock, but you can use vegetable, beef, or whatever you have, depending on what you're adding in

Directions:

• In a large pot, heat olive oil and cook onion and garlic until tender and translucent
• Add stock, water, spices, and rinsed lentils; bring to a boil.  Cover and turn down heat; simmer for 15 mins
• Add chicken, carrots, and any other veggies you like.  Cook until carrots are tender and lentils are plump; approximately 10 more minutes

You're done!!

My poor sick baby :-(

C is sick.  He is congested, has a cough, and is wheezing.  I called the pediatrician just to be safe, even though I didn't think they'd say anything besides push fluids, use steam (I had already sat in the bathroom with the hot shower running), humidifier, etc.  When they heard he was wheezing they said I needed to take him to the doctor or urgent care (gotta say, freaked me out).

I got an appointment for that day.  Of course, he had taken a nap and wasn't acting sick at all.  He was smiling and cooing at a little girl in the waiting room, smiling at the nurse, flirting with the receptionist, he had his charm on full blast.  I felt so silly, and knew I'd look like the crazy paranoid first time mom who brings her kid to the doctor for every little thing.  I was like, "they told me to bring him because he's wheezing... umm... yeah he's acting fine now."

The doctor heard the wheezing, and was concerned (they don't mess around when it comes to babies and breathing), so he prescribed Albuterol and gave me a nebulizer to administer the medicine.  C freaks out for a second when I first turn the machine on (that thing is LOUD), but then he relaxes on my lap and lets me point this vapor into his face.

I told the doctor that I was a little freaked out about the wheezing because my husband has asthma and I'm worried that C will develop it too.  He said that because of C's age it's too early to call it asthma, right now it's Bronchititis (or bronchiolitis or something bronch- related), but we're going to treat it like asthma (enter Albuterol).  I'm REALLY hoping that this is a one-time thing and once he heals up we'll be done with breathing issues, but I'm preparing to deal with childhood asthma.

The cherry on top is I think I'm starting to get what C has (the cold, not the asthma).

I will not get sick, I will not get sick, I will not get sick...

6 Months

We went to see the pediatrician today for C's 6 month appointment.  He is a big boy at 17lbs, 14oz and 26 inches long!!  He had to have 2 shots, but he took them like a champ.  He's on track for development and doing really well.

Tomorrow for Thanksgiving we're going to visit my dad's side of the family.  My grandparents have met C, but nobody else from my dad's family has.  I'm really excited for them to meet him, especially because C looks just like my dad.

Happy Turkey Day everyone!!!