We have a definite bottle strike going on. He absolutely will not take it. I've read all the advice out there on the internet and in my books, and nothing is working. I guess it is normal for babies to start refusing it at this age, even if they took it before. I don't know whether he will change his mind or not. I'm about to try it one more time (either J or I have been trying about once a day, every day) but at this point I'm not even really bothering to pump any extra because I just know it will be wasted. I guess we were lucky that he took the bottle when my MIL was here and we went out for our anniversary. Who knows when that will happen again? I'm also lucky that I'm not going back to work any time soon, although I assume that if I left him with a caretaker he would get the bottle problem sorted out or risk starving himself.
He has been taking a nice afternoon nap in his crib (in the nursery, not in the bedroom bassinet where he sleeps at night), and is doing great with it. Yesterday he slept for an hour and a half in there, and today for two! Why I feel this is such an accomplishment, I'm not sure. But we are getting onto more of a schedule, so that is good.
What a boring post. I have some more "deep" thoughts to post, but can't right now, so I'll save that for the next time.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
Happy Father's Day!
Things are going well here and the little guy is becoming more and more fun every day. We had a really nice Father's Day, especially since J is starting to get more smiles and coos from Mr. Bean. J has been playing the guitar and singing to him, and we got two great videos of Mr. Bean kicking and "singing" along. One was to just a clip of some kind of random "rock riffing", and the other was an entire performance of a song that J wrote for the baby when I was still pregnant - it is "his" song and J played it for him several times in utero. That was really sweet.
Mr. Bean got his dad a photo mug and mouse pad from Shu.tterfly for Father's Day. J loves the mug, while the mouse pad may go the way of many future Father's Day gifts - he says he probably just won't use it because it doesn't go with the "theme" of his desk at work! Whatever!
J's dad was here for a visit over the weekend, but left on Sunday morning so we had the whole day to ourselves. He stayed at a hotel fortunately, but still spent a lot of time over here from Thursday evening through Saturday evening. He was completely gaga over his first grandchild, which was sweet but also kind of overwhelming. He is a very strong personality and I can really only take him in small doses. But I'm not about to begrudge him any time he wants to spend loving on his grandson.
On Sunday we had a quiet day and went out for a walk through a street fair near our apartment, until the walk was cut short by baby needing to eat. It was nice to just hang out with the three of us though.
On the eczema front - I think it is pretty much completely gone. I wanted to try to confirm that cow's milk is to blame, so rather than eating something that would take a while to work its way out of my system again, I gave him a bottle of breastmilk that I pumped before cutting out the dairy. Indeed, that seemed to cause a tiny little flare-up, so I feel pretty confident that we have identified the cause. So right now I am enjoying a yummy iced coffee with vanilla flavored Silk Almond milk. I've been really missing cheese, so I'm going to search out some nice goat and/or sheep cheese. For example, I might not be able to eat parmesan on my pasta, but I can have pecorino! I will draw the line at drinking goat's milk or eating goat yogurt though...
We are still having fussy late-evenings with the little guy, and now he has stopped wanting to take a bottle before going to bed. The past two nights I've had to nurse him rather than J giving him a bottle - he just gets hysterical about the bottle. I was able to give him the bottle later the other night, for a middle of the night feed, and he took it with no problem, so I'm not sure what is going on. I guess he's just over-tired and fussy, and only the breast will do. I also realized that he's just not napping much during the day, so we need to work on that. He is sleeping well at night, and right now is still sleeping at 10:30 am, after eating at 7:30. So I guess he is getting most of his sleep needs met overnight and in the morning, but we do need to establish a more formal nap in the afternoon or early evening, ideally in his crib rather than his swing. He still sleeps in the co-sleeper in our room at night, but I want to start putting him down for a nap during the afternoon in the crib in his nursery, so he can start getting used to sleeping in there. I'm not sure when we'll transition him to the nursery for night time.
Ok, I think he is starting to wake up finally and he's going to be hungry. It's so funny how quickly he can melt down when he needs to eat!
Mr. Bean got his dad a photo mug and mouse pad from Shu.tterfly for Father's Day. J loves the mug, while the mouse pad may go the way of many future Father's Day gifts - he says he probably just won't use it because it doesn't go with the "theme" of his desk at work! Whatever!
J's dad was here for a visit over the weekend, but left on Sunday morning so we had the whole day to ourselves. He stayed at a hotel fortunately, but still spent a lot of time over here from Thursday evening through Saturday evening. He was completely gaga over his first grandchild, which was sweet but also kind of overwhelming. He is a very strong personality and I can really only take him in small doses. But I'm not about to begrudge him any time he wants to spend loving on his grandson.
On Sunday we had a quiet day and went out for a walk through a street fair near our apartment, until the walk was cut short by baby needing to eat. It was nice to just hang out with the three of us though.
On the eczema front - I think it is pretty much completely gone. I wanted to try to confirm that cow's milk is to blame, so rather than eating something that would take a while to work its way out of my system again, I gave him a bottle of breastmilk that I pumped before cutting out the dairy. Indeed, that seemed to cause a tiny little flare-up, so I feel pretty confident that we have identified the cause. So right now I am enjoying a yummy iced coffee with vanilla flavored Silk Almond milk. I've been really missing cheese, so I'm going to search out some nice goat and/or sheep cheese. For example, I might not be able to eat parmesan on my pasta, but I can have pecorino! I will draw the line at drinking goat's milk or eating goat yogurt though...
We are still having fussy late-evenings with the little guy, and now he has stopped wanting to take a bottle before going to bed. The past two nights I've had to nurse him rather than J giving him a bottle - he just gets hysterical about the bottle. I was able to give him the bottle later the other night, for a middle of the night feed, and he took it with no problem, so I'm not sure what is going on. I guess he's just over-tired and fussy, and only the breast will do. I also realized that he's just not napping much during the day, so we need to work on that. He is sleeping well at night, and right now is still sleeping at 10:30 am, after eating at 7:30. So I guess he is getting most of his sleep needs met overnight and in the morning, but we do need to establish a more formal nap in the afternoon or early evening, ideally in his crib rather than his swing. He still sleeps in the co-sleeper in our room at night, but I want to start putting him down for a nap during the afternoon in the crib in his nursery, so he can start getting used to sleeping in there. I'm not sure when we'll transition him to the nursery for night time.
Ok, I think he is starting to wake up finally and he's going to be hungry. It's so funny how quickly he can melt down when he needs to eat!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Anniversary Date
We had a wonderful time out on our own this past Friday night. My MIL was here for the week, and we planned that particular time so we could hopefully get out for the night. It all went really well - he did great for her and even slept for a 6 hour stretch from midnight to six - wow! That may be because he was in his cradle swing, which I recommended to her so that he wouldn't give her too much trouble. Of course we can't do that regularly, but maybe he will actually start sleeping that long anyway.
So J and I had a lovely dinner out at my favorite little restaurant down in the West Village. After dinner we strolled around the neighborhood, looking at the gorgeous town houses and playing the "what if we lived in that one" game. Then we took a cab back to our hotel at Bryant Park, and sat in the park people watching and talking. It was fun, because it was almost like being tourists in NYC. Then we headed back to the hotel, for bed...and let's just say that we had some adult fun for the first time in a LONG, LONG time (after getting the all-clear from my doctor earlier in the week). Hopefully we won't go that long again!
I still didn't get to sleep all the way through the night of course because I had to get up around 3:30 to pump, which also woke J up. Oh well. We came close. And the next morning we ordered room service, which was a total silly splurge. I can't believe we paid $100 for two orders of pancakes, a coffee, a tea and one orange juice. Wow. But it was nice to just lounge around the room before finally heading back home to our sweet boy around noon. We were away from him for just about 18 hours, and that was just about enough. At dinner we even took out the photos that J has in his wallet and admired them. But we did have some grown up conversations too, and really enjoyed just being with each other. Oh yeah, and the first thing I did when we checked in was to have a lovely bubble bath in the giant soaking tub. My first bath in an even longer time than the above activity ;-)
As for the eczema, it seems to be just a little bit better, but I'm hoping it will continue to improve. It does seem to be better in the mornings when he has gone a long time without eating. I read online that it can take 2 to 3 weeks to get all the cow's milk protein out of my system and his, so it might take that long to see results. I am being mostly good about avoiding dairy, but MIL left behind a bag of Dove milk chocolates which I need to banish from the house. And also a bag of pretzels that have whey in them - I guess I shouldn't be eating those either. But I have replaced my morning milk with almond milk, bought some non-dairy frozen dessert (it has soy milk in it though and I'm worried that soy might also be a problem), and some vegan cheddar cheese alternative. I do wish I just knew what the problem ingredient was. And in response to R, who suggested getting Mr. Bean allergy tested, our pediatrician said she didn't recommend that at first because there are so many false positives at this age, plus he'll have to get pricked a bunch. But if it doesn't clear up soon, of course I'll consider it. I just want him to get better!
So J and I had a lovely dinner out at my favorite little restaurant down in the West Village. After dinner we strolled around the neighborhood, looking at the gorgeous town houses and playing the "what if we lived in that one" game. Then we took a cab back to our hotel at Bryant Park, and sat in the park people watching and talking. It was fun, because it was almost like being tourists in NYC. Then we headed back to the hotel, for bed...and let's just say that we had some adult fun for the first time in a LONG, LONG time (after getting the all-clear from my doctor earlier in the week). Hopefully we won't go that long again!
I still didn't get to sleep all the way through the night of course because I had to get up around 3:30 to pump, which also woke J up. Oh well. We came close. And the next morning we ordered room service, which was a total silly splurge. I can't believe we paid $100 for two orders of pancakes, a coffee, a tea and one orange juice. Wow. But it was nice to just lounge around the room before finally heading back home to our sweet boy around noon. We were away from him for just about 18 hours, and that was just about enough. At dinner we even took out the photos that J has in his wallet and admired them. But we did have some grown up conversations too, and really enjoyed just being with each other. Oh yeah, and the first thing I did when we checked in was to have a lovely bubble bath in the giant soaking tub. My first bath in an even longer time than the above activity ;-)
As for the eczema, it seems to be just a little bit better, but I'm hoping it will continue to improve. It does seem to be better in the mornings when he has gone a long time without eating. I read online that it can take 2 to 3 weeks to get all the cow's milk protein out of my system and his, so it might take that long to see results. I am being mostly good about avoiding dairy, but MIL left behind a bag of Dove milk chocolates which I need to banish from the house. And also a bag of pretzels that have whey in them - I guess I shouldn't be eating those either. But I have replaced my morning milk with almond milk, bought some non-dairy frozen dessert (it has soy milk in it though and I'm worried that soy might also be a problem), and some vegan cheddar cheese alternative. I do wish I just knew what the problem ingredient was. And in response to R, who suggested getting Mr. Bean allergy tested, our pediatrician said she didn't recommend that at first because there are so many false positives at this age, plus he'll have to get pricked a bunch. But if it doesn't clear up soon, of course I'll consider it. I just want him to get better!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Poor little bunny
I don't have much time for a long post, but want to try to be better about regular postings...
Mr. Bean has got a nasty case of eczema all over his beautiful little face. It started about a week ago and I thought it was baby acne. Then I thought it was a heat rash. Then I thought he was allergic to the detergent in my clothes (we only use the fragrance-free stuff on his, because we have to supply it separately to the laundry place where we send our stuff). Then I took him to the doctor who said it's eczema and that I should eliminate all dairy from my diet. Woof. I'm a real milk, yogurt, ice cream, cheese person (especially because I don't eat any red meat), so that will be hard, but I do hope it helps. Because he looks really, really pathetic. It's so hard to look at that sweet little face all covered with nasty red rash and crusty spots. Ugh. Does anyone have any experience with this? And how likely is it that it is really diet related? Of course I've been Goo.gling like crazy, but would welcome any anecdotes (and antidotes!!!!).
On the up side, tomorrow is our five year wedding anniversary. What a long and strange five years it has been. We are leaving the little one at home with my mother-in-law and going out for dinner at my favorite restaurant down in the West Village, and then are staying overnight at a decently nice (but not 5 star) hotel. I'm so excited! I've been diligently storing up enough milk to allow us to do so, and now even have enough to buy us breakfast in bed. I know I will miss him like crazy, but it will be so nice to have an evening out, a romantic night with J, and to sleep the whole night! I'll give an update in a few days.
Mr. Bean has got a nasty case of eczema all over his beautiful little face. It started about a week ago and I thought it was baby acne. Then I thought it was a heat rash. Then I thought he was allergic to the detergent in my clothes (we only use the fragrance-free stuff on his, because we have to supply it separately to the laundry place where we send our stuff). Then I took him to the doctor who said it's eczema and that I should eliminate all dairy from my diet. Woof. I'm a real milk, yogurt, ice cream, cheese person (especially because I don't eat any red meat), so that will be hard, but I do hope it helps. Because he looks really, really pathetic. It's so hard to look at that sweet little face all covered with nasty red rash and crusty spots. Ugh. Does anyone have any experience with this? And how likely is it that it is really diet related? Of course I've been Goo.gling like crazy, but would welcome any anecdotes (and antidotes!!!!).
On the up side, tomorrow is our five year wedding anniversary. What a long and strange five years it has been. We are leaving the little one at home with my mother-in-law and going out for dinner at my favorite restaurant down in the West Village, and then are staying overnight at a decently nice (but not 5 star) hotel. I'm so excited! I've been diligently storing up enough milk to allow us to do so, and now even have enough to buy us breakfast in bed. I know I will miss him like crazy, but it will be so nice to have an evening out, a romantic night with J, and to sleep the whole night! I'll give an update in a few days.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Pathetic!
That's what I am when it come to keeping up this blog! I can't believe it has been a month - I really suck. Oh well. Here I am, though I don't know how much time I have before the munch-monster wakes up from his nap and wants to eat again. He is growing like crazy, thanks to his very healthy appetite. At his 4 week appointment he was up to 9 pounds (from 6 lbs, 7 ozs at his one week appointment). Now he's 6.5 weeks and I'm sure he's well over 10 pounds.
So things are going great. He is very sweet and good-natured, just bursting into crying when he's desperate to eat. He does have a fussy period in the evening, but we have been able to get through it with the purchase of a swing and white noise CD, both of which are true miracles. He likes to eat even more than usual in those evening hours, and I'm starting to think that he is storing it up so he can work on sleeping for a longer period at night. Last night he went from 10:30 to 4:20 between feedings, sleeping the whole time, so I'm hopeful that this trend will continue.
I started pumping milk at around 4 weeks, so that J can give him a bottle just before our bedtime. That has been working very well - he was a little tentative about the bottle the first time, but caught on quickly, so I'm glad we have that flexibility. Also J's mother is coming tomorrow for a week and we are going out next weekend for our five year wedding anniversary. We are planning to go out to dinner, and then spend the night out in a hotel!!! So we need her to be able to give him bottles while we are gone. I've been stockpiling milk and am almost at my goal. It should be a nice celebration, though I have to admit the thing I'm most excited about is getting a full night's sleep (as long as I'm not lying awake worrying about the little guy).
On another note, remember these bracelets?
Well, as promised, they stayed on until baby arrived safely, even though mine was kind of stinky. But they have now been removed:
And I know I said I wasn't going to post pics of the little one, but I think this one is anonymous enough...I hope:
That's to make up for not posting in so long, and I'll try to do better, but probably won't have a chance to write again until MIL leaves next weekend.
So things are going great. He is very sweet and good-natured, just bursting into crying when he's desperate to eat. He does have a fussy period in the evening, but we have been able to get through it with the purchase of a swing and white noise CD, both of which are true miracles. He likes to eat even more than usual in those evening hours, and I'm starting to think that he is storing it up so he can work on sleeping for a longer period at night. Last night he went from 10:30 to 4:20 between feedings, sleeping the whole time, so I'm hopeful that this trend will continue.
I started pumping milk at around 4 weeks, so that J can give him a bottle just before our bedtime. That has been working very well - he was a little tentative about the bottle the first time, but caught on quickly, so I'm glad we have that flexibility. Also J's mother is coming tomorrow for a week and we are going out next weekend for our five year wedding anniversary. We are planning to go out to dinner, and then spend the night out in a hotel!!! So we need her to be able to give him bottles while we are gone. I've been stockpiling milk and am almost at my goal. It should be a nice celebration, though I have to admit the thing I'm most excited about is getting a full night's sleep (as long as I'm not lying awake worrying about the little guy).
On another note, remember these bracelets?
Well, as promised, they stayed on until baby arrived safely, even though mine was kind of stinky. But they have now been removed:
And I know I said I wasn't going to post pics of the little one, but I think this one is anonymous enough...I hope:
That's to make up for not posting in so long, and I'll try to do better, but probably won't have a chance to write again until MIL leaves next weekend.
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