Mum-Mums and Puffs

Andrew has just started learning how to self feed and drink, which is very exciting for me as a mother because it means a little bit of freedom. We have started giving him Gerber Puffs a few weeks ago and he really did not understand what they were for and did not understand that he could pick them up and eat them. We gave it a week or so and have given them another try and he loves to snack!

Last Friday night we took some of the Sweet Potato flavored puffs with us to a restaurant to keep him occupied while we ate with some friends. He finished the whole bowl that I brought before we were done! We were shocked that in just a little bit of time he went from not understanding to being able to chomp away and enjoy the puffs. He does still have a little bit of trouble picking them up, which is funny to watch. He gets them in the middle of his hand and then puts his hand to his mouth, but doesn’t open his hand and can’t figure out where the puff went when it’s still in his hand!

The other new snack we have started is Mum Mum crackers. They are puffed rice and sort of the shape of a small surfboard. He just started eating them on Saturday night and had some last night also. Last night he definitely did a better job of eating most of the cracker and smashing it all over himself and his monkey!

Anyway, we are excited that Andrew has started to eat some snacks on his own. It is so much fun to watch him munch away and be so excited about it! He is still working with the sippy cup. I recently bought him a new one because the spout on the first cup I got was a little hard to work with. The new one has a nice soft silicone spout, so I think it is working better for him! We practice every day though, and maybe by the time we get back to Ohio he will have mastered the cup!

Hope you all enjoy the pictures!

Andrew's Gym!!!

Announcing: Andrew’s Gym for Babies Who Don’t Want to Spend Money!

We recently attended the Little Gym to test it out and see if we liked it. We loved it, but did not love the cost. It is a little pricey and especially because Andrew cried for about half of the session. We did love the fact that it got Andrew out of the house and experiencing new things. After a discussion with Zac, it seemed the answer was to host our own version. So, I have taken on the task of this! I sent out an invitation of sorts to our other baby and mommy friends inviting them to “Andrew’s Gym for Babies Who Don’t Want to Spend Money”

It seems as though we have a hit! Both of Andrew’s friends were interested in coming and came to the first session which was held yesterday. The sessions are held every Wednesday afternoon currently at our apartment, but once it gets nice outside, I would like to take it on the road and go to parks and maybe our friend’s houses also! The great thing about Andrew’s Gym is its portable, free and the sessions are customized to include just what we want to learn.

Here is a sample of the “lesson plan” we did yesterday! ( I'm currently tweaking the way I post PDF files, so for now here is a link)

http://documents.scribd.com/docs/1619okucnj1ca7phe7jp.pdf

We had such a great time, the babies really seemed into all of the activities and it was also fun for the mommies!!! It gets a little boring being a stay at home mom sometimes, especially in a city where you don’t know many people or what’s around. I know Andrew and I are really looking forward to next week’s activities, and I’m sure I’ll get to planning the lesson plan for that one soon! I’m really excited about being able to use my ASL and music minors too! At least all of those hard earned (and expensive) credits are going to something!!!

Hope you enjoyed the photos from the day!

Finally a Solution

We think we have solved Andrew’s fussiness, at least for now! Soy seems to be the answer!We have switched Andrew to soy formula and I am trying to cut all or at least most dairy out of my diet so that he can still have breast milk. He seems to have made an instant turn around in his personality and it’s almost a miracle.

I was at my wits end, and so was Zac dealing with Andrew. He is a great kid and we love him so much but we could not stand the constant screaming anymore. Everyday seemed to get worse and worse. I honestly needed a break from him because it was so stressful dealing day in and day out with him. He wasn’t sleeping, he wouldn’t take a bottle and cried all of the time at home.

Andrew has always been fussy, but I thought it was getting better when we got his reflux diagnosed and he was put on medication. He seemed to be doing so much better taking bottles, sleeping more and had a more pleasant disposition. This all took a turn for the worse around 5 months.

In the end of January things began to get worse for us. For weeks, none of us got any sleep at all, as Andrew was up all night, every hour. He also was not drinking much of his bottles anymore; he would cry and push them away. He would still be crying after he had been changed, fed and even after napping. It didn’t matter what anyone did, he was upset. We knew that something had to be wrong, but we didn’t know what.

When Andrew’s 6 month appointment came around we asked about his medicine to make sure it was still working for him. The doctor adjusted his dosage for his weight and said that it should work better for him and needed to be adjusted as he got bigger. We didn’t think that the new dosage was doing anything for him, so we knew we still needed to do something else.

So, I decided to describe all of Andrew’s current problems in a post on an August 2008 Baby board on BabyCenter. I love BabyCenter because there are so many other mothers out there who are willing to give suggestions to any question that you could ever have. I immediately got responses from mothers who had similar problems with their children. I also asked friends of mine who had babies and found out a few of them had similar issues. Everyone was suggesting that Andrew may have a milk intolerance or sensitivity. Apparently these issues can peak around 5-6 months, which puts us in the right time frame. The main suggestion is to eliminate all dairy from my diet if I’m going to continue to pump and to switch him to soy formula.

We gave the soy formula a try 2 nights ago and he has made a huge turn around. I have read a lot of stories that babies who have dairy issues change almost instantly once they are given soy, but I did not believe it till I saw it! Zac and I are both amazed. We are going to continue giving soy and talk to the doctor about it, and see when we should start to introduce milk again. I have read that it is suggested to try again after a year. So, that is our plan for now! We have not had him tested yet for an allergy, but we are thinking that it’s not an allergy, just intolerance at this point.

On another note, here are some V-day pics for all to enjoy!

"In my special Mickey V-Day outfit!"

"What, I thought these were for me?"

"Look, I'm standing with no help!!!"

Happy ½ Birthday!

Today is Andrew’s half birthday! We did a lot to celebrate today including: taking some pictures, opening presents and going to the doctor. The first two activities were probably a little more exciting than the last, but that is how it goes!


As for new developments as a 6 month old – there are not any. Our miracle of rolling around the room has not happened yet and at the rate we are going, probably won’t. He is however sitting more and more each day and bearing more weight on his legs. I guess that we might just have to reach for standing as our next big accomplishment! He now just lays and cries when on his belly not even trying to hold his head up much – I think he is just plain lazy.


His new stats are…

18.5 lbs
27 ½ inches


So that puts him in the 75th percentile in both categories – I guess he’s a big kid, even though he still fits in most of his 3-6 month clothes…interesting! He even wore one 0-3 size onesie last week. Baby clothes are just like women’s clothing, everything fits differently!


At least his is still enjoying trying new foods. It’s amazing how many different ways you can mix together basic fruits and veggies (in ways you might not think are tasty) and he still gobbles them up. I guess he’s a typical male! One food we just started is lentil and we will soon be mixing in rice and pasta with his fruit and veggie favorites! I am also amazed at how easy it is to puree up any type of food, really anything can be popped into a blender!

He is beginning to have some favorite toys that make him smile as soon as he gets a hold of them. He loves to chew on and cuddle his Monkey and Tramp (even though we just call him puppy!). Anything that lights up and plays noises is at the top of his list too! His Tiger Ball Toss and Tool Bench are among the favs! Somehow his crab that speaks in English and Spanish can help him take naps in his swing - who knew!

I guess are biggest setback is sleeping. He has never been one to sleep through the night and when it does happen (once or twice a month) we are still shocked. Most nights we are up several times trying to get him calmed down and back to bed. We recently have given up the battle and let him sleep in the bed with us because we need a few solid hours of sleep. There we go setting a bad habit, but hopefully things will start to get better soon. We are going start implementing some different techniques in hope to someday soon get a nights rest!

All in all, the past 6 months have really flown by and it’s hard to believe that we have a 6 month old! It’s been an interesting and enjoyable journey so far and I’m sure it will only get better!

As Promised...

Here are some of the latest pics of the Andrew Man...hope you enjoy :)

Andrew discussing the world's issues with Snickers...or maybe just saying hello!

Fun with a sippy cup? Or maybe not so much fun by the look of that face!

Before going to The Little Gym with Parker! They were having a very interesting convo

"This is the best asparagus ever, thanks mom!"

Sharing some drool, one of his best talents!

The best thing about Andrew today is...it's midnight and he is asleep and went to bed two hours ago! Yeah for regaining a normal bedtime again!!! Today's menu was Squash (he loves it now) and Pears for lunch and Carrots and Grapple (a mom specialty) for Dinner! Tomorrow who knows - probably something green !!!

We Must Be Millionaires...

Well, we really aren't millionaires, but we've been dropping the moola like we are these past few weeks. It seems that in the last 2 weeks we have had problems with every technological device we own or have had to complain to management at every establishment we've entered. Apparently, we've have some bad karma circling us...or something!

So, we started out buying a deep freezer because our teeny refrigerator freezer could not accommodate our food and all of Andrew's milk and food. So, we got a Sam's Club membership, bought a freezer and now have it stocked! As the week continued we hit up a JCP sale and got some cute summer clothes for Andrew since he is growing out of his 6 month apparel. As the week progressed we had other problems....and more money was spent

Which brings me to the most exciting of purchases...new laptops for Zac and I. Yes, I did laptops, plural, we each have a new one now! My computer decided to poop out (for lack of a better term) on Wednesday evening, I spent around 4 hours at Best Buy trying to get it repaired and then deciding that it was not worth it, and eventually buying a new one. So, this is the first post I have typed on the new laptop!!!!

It's been a little insane around here for the past 2 weeks, and hopefully things will get a little better for us next week. Some things are turning around, like the weather - it's supposed to 68 or something crazy like that today - how's that for Feb. 6th!!!!

Since this post had nothing to do with Andrew, I'll put up some photos later. We now also have a super sweet 1TB external hardrive to organize all of our photos, videos, etc of AJ, so...YEAH We can also finally make cd's for all of you out there wanting copies of pics!!!

Finally a Milestone, Thank Goodness!

I was beginning to think that my son was somehow developmentally challenged because he doesn't roll yet. He has done the occasional roll from his stomach to his back, but nothing to write home about. When reading developmental charts, you see that rolling should begin around 4 months and we are well past that marker. So, I begin thinking, what is wrong with my son. There is the obvious fact that I know I have not given him enough "tummy time" but the kid hates it and screams as if you were punishing him. I continue to wonder, what else could I have done that would be causing this delay and then a miracle happens...


He can sit by himself, not just for a second, but at least 5 minutes. He was able to balance, then he started to fall over, caught himself and continued to sit there. I know it's not rolling, but who cares about rolling, he can sit! He's not even 6 months old yet and a self sitter! We were shocked, I ran and got the camera while Zac sat there across from him waiting for him to topple over, and it never happened!



So, other than that exciting new development in Andrew's life, there are more firsts that await him this week! We are attending The Little Gym tomorrow to try out a 4-12 month class, we will start some 2nd foods and begin wearing some 6-9 clothes, soon to be in size 3 diapers....This is a big week....and his 1/2 birthday is coming next week! Maybe he'll even get a tooth! Oh, he can hold a bottle...sometimes...if it's the small one, but still it's progress, sippy cups are in our future!


In other news, Babies 'R Us and I are currently not getting along. I could rant for a while about how much I dislike the store in Arkansas and how much better the stores are in Ohio, but there isn't much point. So, I guess I'll save it for my strongly worded letter that I'll be sending their way...today was the last straw for them!



(just a memo to all those who might purchase items for Andrew - please no more long sleeves or 3-6 / 6 month sizes, it's getting warm and he's getting bigger! Size 6-9 or 9, or even 12 month would be great for the summer!)