Four and a Half Months
There is so much going on that it's hard to know where to start, what to include, and what I've already written. No time to reread previous posts! Guess I'll just blast ahead.
I tried a lot of different topical remedies to assuage Limelet's forehead eczema, and I even tried cutting out wheat products for a couple weeks. So far the only thing that has worked is--get this--Noxzema. I was reluctant to try it at first, because I thought it might be a bit strong, but I use it to soothe sunburns so it can't be that stingy. I vaguely remembered some apocryphal story about how the name came about, which was that a friend of the inventor said it "knocked out his eczema," hence Noxzema. And it did work, practically overnight. He does still itch and scratch somewhat, but it's way, way better. It's reduced the inflammation and the bumps are gone. It doesn't seem to make things worse right after I put it on, as some other things I tried did. I just have to keep his sharp little nails cut really close, since he still habitually scratches when he's sleepy/sleeping.
Pumping is a lot easier than it initially was, now that I don't need to do it (of course.) My body got used to the pump and I can now get a letdown from using the pump, although it's definitely not as efficient as Limelet himself.
These past couple of days, he's gotten suddenly better at staying asleep when I put him down in bed for his nap after nursing him into a coma (as they say). This is huge! He'll also tolerate sitting in his little swing in the bathroom, playing with his toys, while I take a shower (with open curtain so we can see each other and I can get water all over the bathroom. He even lies on his little play mat/gym and plays with his toys for a short period, and sometimes sits on the couch "reading" his little cloth book. I broke down and got him a BebePod seat, too. He sits in it and plays with the toys hanging from the struts of his gym, but he gets a little frustrated. His "core" isn't very developed yet, so grabbing things is harder as he's also working to sit up. It's coming along, though.
The teething thing seems to come and go, but he's definitely become very interested in our food. It's like carrying a little dog around: he watches each mouthful or stares at the glass I'm holding. He gets really upset that he can't have them.
He's not supposed to have any other food than his milk until six months, in order to help avoid food allergies. Apparently the latest research shows that the old "four to six months" recommendations don't take into account the development of their little guts, which simply can't digest things until six months.
I have to confess, the other day I allowed him to suck on a peeled apple. He was so frantic to get it while I was eating. He was totally in heaven when he tasted it. He sucked on that thing for, like, twenty minutes. It was the drooliest apple ever. I've been watching him for signs of allergic reaction, but so far he seems fine. Nevertheless, I'll try to hold off further experimentation until six months.
At his recent well-baby visit, his height was in the 90th percentile (26") and his weight in the 60th (15lbs 1 oz). So he's a long, lean kid already. That pretty much runs in my family. He still has a head circumference in the 25th percentile, though. At least it's keeping pace with the other measurements. My poor microcephalic baby! Well, models have small heads relative to their bodies, so it's not all bad. (Try photoshopping a pic of yourself to have a very slightly smaller head--instant model! I've done it.)
Limelet also seems to be developing separation anxiety already--specificially about me. He's not waiting until the six-month mark for this one. He still likes playing with his Daddy, but sometimes freaks out if I go away, like to the bathroom, and leave them together. (Of course leaving him alone is usually worse.) However, he's still allowing the pre-bed bathtime ritual in which TheLimey takes him upstairs to get undressed for his bathie, (then brings him downstairs wrapped up in a blanket like a baby burrito). He's just starting to prefer me, especially when he's feeling fussy or uncomfortable.
Therefore I predict we need to start planning how we're going to deal with the potential trauma switching primary caregivers when I go back to work full-time this summer and TheLimey stays home with him. I'm glad I don't have any hangups about nursing, because this will be a nice way to keep him feeling connected when I come home, and at night.
What's the big problem with it? Why are people in such a hurry to stop it? Once he starts eating solid food regularly, it's not even like I'll have to worry about someone being dependent for his life on my breasts, as he is now. It'll be even more convenient than now. A beverage and vitamin supplement that I don't have to buy or mix or heat up or wash up after (unless I want to pump to leave some at home. Which maybe I will.)
I guess if I wasn't one of those people who can sleep through nursing, maybe I'd have more of a problem with it, but I think it's great that he can get a lot of his eating done while we're both sleeping.
He's starting to stretch some of his "6-month" clothing items now. Convenient for me the second-hand store is only blocks away!
We're trying to figure out how to enable me to actually work on my dissertation now that interviews are finally over. I know I know--I'm sitting here writing this post right now while he naps. But it's only been the past couple days he's started this staying-asleep thing, so I don't know whether it's a fluke or I can start counting on it.
Besides, his naps really aren't that long (in dissertation work terms), and they're certainly not predictable. It's a heck of a lot harder to try to work on my dissertation in little fits and spurts, than something light and "fun" like this. I end up spending all my diss work time picking up and putting down rather than actually working, as I have to re-learn it each dang time. We might end up hiring someone to come over and watch him for an afternoon each week, in addition to having TheLimey take over on weekend afternoons. We'll see.
This is why people have extended families! Well, this and being sick or getting old. This nuclear family crap is really useless for certain parts of life.
Oh, he's waking. Bye!
I tried a lot of different topical remedies to assuage Limelet's forehead eczema, and I even tried cutting out wheat products for a couple weeks. So far the only thing that has worked is--get this--Noxzema. I was reluctant to try it at first, because I thought it might be a bit strong, but I use it to soothe sunburns so it can't be that stingy. I vaguely remembered some apocryphal story about how the name came about, which was that a friend of the inventor said it "knocked out his eczema," hence Noxzema. And it did work, practically overnight. He does still itch and scratch somewhat, but it's way, way better. It's reduced the inflammation and the bumps are gone. It doesn't seem to make things worse right after I put it on, as some other things I tried did. I just have to keep his sharp little nails cut really close, since he still habitually scratches when he's sleepy/sleeping.
Pumping is a lot easier than it initially was, now that I don't need to do it (of course.) My body got used to the pump and I can now get a letdown from using the pump, although it's definitely not as efficient as Limelet himself.
These past couple of days, he's gotten suddenly better at staying asleep when I put him down in bed for his nap after nursing him into a coma (as they say). This is huge! He'll also tolerate sitting in his little swing in the bathroom, playing with his toys, while I take a shower (with open curtain so we can see each other and I can get water all over the bathroom. He even lies on his little play mat/gym and plays with his toys for a short period, and sometimes sits on the couch "reading" his little cloth book. I broke down and got him a BebePod seat, too. He sits in it and plays with the toys hanging from the struts of his gym, but he gets a little frustrated. His "core" isn't very developed yet, so grabbing things is harder as he's also working to sit up. It's coming along, though.
The teething thing seems to come and go, but he's definitely become very interested in our food. It's like carrying a little dog around: he watches each mouthful or stares at the glass I'm holding. He gets really upset that he can't have them.
He's not supposed to have any other food than his milk until six months, in order to help avoid food allergies. Apparently the latest research shows that the old "four to six months" recommendations don't take into account the development of their little guts, which simply can't digest things until six months.
I have to confess, the other day I allowed him to suck on a peeled apple. He was so frantic to get it while I was eating. He was totally in heaven when he tasted it. He sucked on that thing for, like, twenty minutes. It was the drooliest apple ever. I've been watching him for signs of allergic reaction, but so far he seems fine. Nevertheless, I'll try to hold off further experimentation until six months.
At his recent well-baby visit, his height was in the 90th percentile (26") and his weight in the 60th (15lbs 1 oz). So he's a long, lean kid already. That pretty much runs in my family. He still has a head circumference in the 25th percentile, though. At least it's keeping pace with the other measurements. My poor microcephalic baby! Well, models have small heads relative to their bodies, so it's not all bad. (Try photoshopping a pic of yourself to have a very slightly smaller head--instant model! I've done it.)
Limelet also seems to be developing separation anxiety already--specificially about me. He's not waiting until the six-month mark for this one. He still likes playing with his Daddy, but sometimes freaks out if I go away, like to the bathroom, and leave them together. (Of course leaving him alone is usually worse.) However, he's still allowing the pre-bed bathtime ritual in which TheLimey takes him upstairs to get undressed for his bathie, (then brings him downstairs wrapped up in a blanket like a baby burrito). He's just starting to prefer me, especially when he's feeling fussy or uncomfortable.
Therefore I predict we need to start planning how we're going to deal with the potential trauma switching primary caregivers when I go back to work full-time this summer and TheLimey stays home with him. I'm glad I don't have any hangups about nursing, because this will be a nice way to keep him feeling connected when I come home, and at night.
What's the big problem with it? Why are people in such a hurry to stop it? Once he starts eating solid food regularly, it's not even like I'll have to worry about someone being dependent for his life on my breasts, as he is now. It'll be even more convenient than now. A beverage and vitamin supplement that I don't have to buy or mix or heat up or wash up after (unless I want to pump to leave some at home. Which maybe I will.)
I guess if I wasn't one of those people who can sleep through nursing, maybe I'd have more of a problem with it, but I think it's great that he can get a lot of his eating done while we're both sleeping.
He's starting to stretch some of his "6-month" clothing items now. Convenient for me the second-hand store is only blocks away!
We're trying to figure out how to enable me to actually work on my dissertation now that interviews are finally over. I know I know--I'm sitting here writing this post right now while he naps. But it's only been the past couple days he's started this staying-asleep thing, so I don't know whether it's a fluke or I can start counting on it.
Besides, his naps really aren't that long (in dissertation work terms), and they're certainly not predictable. It's a heck of a lot harder to try to work on my dissertation in little fits and spurts, than something light and "fun" like this. I end up spending all my diss work time picking up and putting down rather than actually working, as I have to re-learn it each dang time. We might end up hiring someone to come over and watch him for an afternoon each week, in addition to having TheLimey take over on weekend afternoons. We'll see.
This is why people have extended families! Well, this and being sick or getting old. This nuclear family crap is really useless for certain parts of life.
Oh, he's waking. Bye!
posted by liz at 6:01 AM
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