5 months old!

You are 5 months old, my big boy!!!

You, right now:
- Are rocking Huggies size 2 diapers.
- Have just begun wearing size 3-6 month clothes.
- Weigh about 14lbs. and are about 24 inches tall.
- Still only drink four bottles while mommy is away at work.  Each bottle is 3.5 ounces.  Sometimes you don't finish.  Once, you finished everything and wanted more.  Mommy tries super hard to figure you out, but you're you, so it's not so easy.
- Would rather stand than sit, and would rather die than lie down.

You still adore:
- tickles!  I have never heard a child laugh so hard!
- having your shirt taken off (this worries mommy)
- your bumbo and jumperoo
- Wubbanubs (especially Mr. Monkey) and your Skwish
- your Auntie Megan, who comes to hang out with you every week.  She talks to you in silly voices and you laugh like CRAZY


You have learned to love:
- your crinkle star
- Classical music in the car

You aren't so thrilled about:
- naps your crib
- your baby boy carseat

You are beginning to notice:
- The cats
- Mommy and/or Daddy leaving
- Your toes!
- Other kids at school

Life, this month.
- You rolled over from your back to your belly.  You just won't stop doing it, and you have aged mommy many many years by sleeping on your face.
- You still have weekly playdates with your buddies Phinn, Teddy, Chase, Ryan, and Timmy.  You are starting to play together on the floor and it is SO cute!
- You tried your first foods - a piece of bread and a piece of cucumber.  Mommy thinks you're too little, but you have ideas of your own.


Mommy would love to say more, but you've decided you're through napping and you'd prefer to play.

4 months, Part Deux

We finally had Aidan's 4m doctor visit today.  Just when I thought I'd met everyone in the practice, a complete stranger walks in.  We continue to have no preference whatsoever for one doctor over another.  I liked Dr. Brogan and Dr. Finch just fine.  My husband likes Dr. Mahmud a lot.  Aidan seems to have a crush on Dr. Vitelli.  And today we had the CRNP, Gail, and she seems good too.  It's nice not to have to stress over who we'll be getting.

I digress.

The really important stuff, of course, would be the stats. 
13lb 7oz - 25th Percentile
23.5" tall - 10th-15th Percentile
16" head - 10th-25th Percentile

So we don't have a huge kid.  We knew this.  His weight is holding nice and steady on the 25% line, and that's what we keep an anxious eye on while I stubbornly refuse to give him formula or solids.  But I mean, come on.  He's hardly wasting away..

Onward...

Aidan's eczema is getting worse.  We found a great cream that  has cleared up his face a lot, and we're going to have to start using it all over his little body.  I didn't realize how bad it was until one of his leg folds cracked open during the exam and he started bleeding.  He cried, my heart broke, fun was had by nobody.

Their belief is that it's likely due to a food, and it's likely soy.  I have been keeping it out of my diet for the most part, but I should probably do a bit better to avoid the small amounts that are in most things.  We could have him allergy tested, but since cutting back on soy reduces the reaction, we're fairly sure that's what we're looking at, so there's really no reason to do the testing at the moment.

On the positive side, he is right on target developmentally and he consistently amazes people with how expressive he is.  The doctor said she rarely saw such an animated face on a kid his age.

FOUR MONTHS OLD!

You are 4 months old, my wonderful son!!!

You, right now:
- Are almost done wearing Pampers size 1 diapers, and have started wearing some (rather baggy) Huggies size 2!
- Are still wearing size 0-3 month clothes.  Those pants might just fit you forever, but the onesies will be too short soon.
- Weigh some amount to be filled in at a later date.  Seriously, mommy has no clue.  I'm sorry, sweetheart.
- Drink four bottles while mommy is away at work.  Each bottle is 3.5 ounces.  Sometimes, you are a stinker and you only finish three of them.  This makes mommy worry, but you're **always** all smiles and giggles when I pick you up.  So you must be doing just fine!

You still love:
- tickles!  On your thighs, your tummy, your back, your underarms, your neck, and your cheeks.
- having your clothes and diaper changed
- your bumbo
- Your jumperoo
- a rousing game of "WHERE'S AIDAN!?"
- Wubbanubs!


You have learned to love:
- your SKWISH toy.
- your Sleep Sheep
- your Gentle Giraffe
- seeing Mommy and/or Daddy approach you!

You aren't so thrilled about:
- your crib (torture chamber that it is)
- your carseat
- naps

You are totally ambivalent about:
- The Cats
- Mommy and/or Daddy leaving

Life, this month:
- You went on a road trip to Connecticut to see Cousins Emery and Joan.  They are mommy's second cousins, and they love you to pieces.  You got to spend some quality time with your great grandma.  That's mommy's grandma, and she is a very, very special person in mommy's life.  You also got to meet mommy's Aunt Lisa and Uncle Joe, and mommy's cousin Michelle.  You had a great time!
- You got to meet your great grandma pat for the very first time, along with the rest of the Lux family.  They were so wonderful to mommy when she was growing up and mommy is so, so glad that you have them in your life.
- You rolled over, you big wonderful boy!  Once for mommy, and then again for daddy!  We are so proud!
- You have started sucking your thumb, and it is SO cute!  You usually stick your left thumb into your mouth, poke yourself in the eyes with your left fingers, and use your whole right hand to hold the left one in place.
- You still have weekly playdates with your buddies Phinn, Teddy, Chase, Ryan, and Timmy.  We're actively recruiting for females
- Mommy and Daddy picked out a brand new car for you to ride around in, and a brand new big boy carseat too!

3 months old!

You are 3 months old, my handsome boy!!!

You, right now:
- Are wearing Pampers size 1 diapers, but once we finish off this last box, you'll be officially graduating to Huggies size 2!
- Are wearing size 0-3 month clothes, and you have plenty of room to grow in them.
- Weigh 12 pounds, 5 ounces.
- Drink 3 ounce bottles every 2-3 hours, but you've been known to (very occasionally) go 6-7 hours at night without a snack.

You love:
- tickles on your thighs
- your pal Scout
- having your diaper changed
- Dr. Vitelli (isn't she the greatest??)
- Giggling in your bumbo
- Your jumperoo

You aren't so thrilled about:
- your crib
- tummy time
- your vibrating bouncy seat
- sleeping at night

You are totally ambivalent about:
- Your toys
- The Cats

Life, this month:
- Mommy went back to work, so you started school!  You love it there and are always all smiles when mommy comes to see you.  You are there on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Mommy loves to come visit you at lunchtime.  You're almost always asleep when Mommy gets there, but you always at least pop one eye open to see her.
- When you're not at school, you are home, playing with Daddy.  You and Daddy have such a wonderful time together, and sometimes Daddy even calls mommy on the webcam so she can see you!
- We think you are allergic to soy, and mommy is trying very hard to cut it out of her diet. 
- You have weekly playdates with your buddies Phinn, Teddy, Chase, Ryan, and Timmy.  You are hoping to eventually meet some girls.


And this month's photo shoot outtake...  You look a bit drunk, or perhaps a bit hung over.  Sophie the Giraffe doesn't know what to make of you...

2 Months!

Okay, so, in fairness - he's almost 2 1/2 months now.  Because mommy got too busy to update her blog.  Shocking, right?

My little hippo weighed in at 11 lbs 1 oz and 22 inches tall!  Truckin' along in the 25th percentile still, which is really nice given that he was below the 5th percentile at his first visit.  We're pretty proud of him :)

Pictures to follow, as soon as I get them off my camera.  Month 2 brought us smiles, giggles, more sleep, and lots of cooing.

One Month Doctor visit

Aidan had his 1 Month doctor visit today (he's 5w, but who's counting?)  We saw a totally new and different pediatrician, and I worried that no pediatrician could be as good as OUR pediatrician, so naturally this one was probably going to kill my child.  Only she didn't, and she was very good, and we like her.  Crisis averted. 

The Good:

My baby is monstrous.  8lb10oz, up three entire pounds from his discharge weight.  The nurse was all "oh, wow.  So uh, are you sure you're not supplementing?"  Yes, I'm sure.  The formula fairy is not feeding my child at night (though it would be lovely if she were, because I'd probably be getting more sleep).  This puts him in the 25th percentile for height (20.5"), weight (8.10), and head circumference (14.5").  Hooray for symmetrical growth?

His "diaper area" problem is all better.  Won't require surgery.  I don't think I posted about it, because what baby needs his testicular problems broadcast to the blogiverse, but suffice it to say that all is well now.

The Bad:

His circumcision doesn't look quite right, imo, and I asked the doctor about it.  It is apparently attempting to reattach itself.  Penile adhesions.  Foul.  I already curse the fact that I am forced to keep one of those parts clean (isn't this DADDY'S job?), and now I have to "gently retract" it after every bath.  Which is evidently every night.  So, um, time to start bathing my child more often.  Noted.

We also think the poor little guy is suffering from silent reflux.  We are starting him on Zantac and seeing how things are two weeks from now.  I'm not super convinced that he needs the meds, but we'll see.  Maybe he'll turn into a happier Aidan.


The Ugly:
Okay, it's not fair to call this ugly.  It's just the cosmetic stuff. 

His rashes all look perfectly fine and just like normal baby acne.  They should clear up in the next couple of weeks.  Score one for mommy, who thought he looked fine.  In your face daddy, for thinking Aidan was allergic to everything in the world including Mommy.

His pink eyelid, which we were told was from the "trauma of birth" but hasn't gone away, is apparently a storkbite.  Lucky kid - it's on his eyelid and can only be seen while he's sleeping.  And it should be much lighter by 1 yr and probably gone by age 5.  Storks bite some kids.  My kid?  The stork attempted to peck his eyeball out. 


Other stuff and things:

We need to start giving him Vitamin D drops.  They didn't bother telling us this at his first checkup because, as the nurse "unofficially" put it, so few of their breastfeeding moms at the first checkup are still breastfeeding by the 1 month visit, it just makes more sense to discuss it at the 1 month with whoever's still doing it.  O-kay.  Yes, we're still breastfeeding, and no, we're not supplementing, because my nipples apparently excrete lard and what more could a growing baby ask for?

Also, no parent ever gives their child enough tummy time, and we are apparently no exception.  I'd heard that it was acceptable to let him lie on his tummy on my chest, and as long as he was pulling his head up and stuff, it counted.  Turns out?  LIES, and I am the WORST MOTHER EVER!!! for not faceplanting him on the floor.  I fail to see the difference, but what do I know?  So I guess we'll work on that.

Hep B vaccine number 2  has been administered.  His face turned so many shades of purple, and I found out that he has a new "omg this FREAKING HURTS" cry.  And when he cried, I wanted to cry.  He looked up at me with his "mommy, why did you let this HAPPEN?" eyes, and I instantly began to dread next month's visit.



None of these things were the best part of the doctor visit though.  The very best part was that Aidan got to rock his AWESOME BOOTS!