Things we do for fun

Brennan has been taking his baths in the tub like a regular kid and he does great, he loves the sprayer.  Sara likes to take baths with him too.  She has decided he makes a good billboard for her letters.  They stick to his back and she thinks it's funny to cover him in letters.

He has been getting into everything this week.  He's climbing things non-stop.  We've had to rearrange our furniture and move things he was climbing on.  He is taking little steps with his feet while holding on to things but I still don't think he's quite ready to walk, but I think definitely he will  by 10 or 11 months.

We are trying to train him to stay in his baby play pen while Dan practices piano.  Hopefully we can get him trained to expect to stay in there when he hears the piano.  That way we know he is safe and Dan can play piano and know that he is safe when I am not there and he can't see behind him at the piano.  So far it's worked OK.

  I thought Brennan might really love the play pen because he can stand up on the sides and not get hurt when he falls.  We piled it full of toys.  Even Sara thought it looked fun.  She watched from the outside for a while and then she thought she might be missing all the fun so she wanted to be in the play pen too.

This week Moose has mostly been eating regular food not pureed.  He loves mashed up banana and cottage cheese, sometimes I mash blueberries too.  The only time I use the  baby bullet any more is to blend his peas and spinach with cottage cheese.  There's really no way to mash up peas or spinach with a fork to where he can eat it, so I will still puree that for him.  I've been putting it over hard boiled egg yolks like a sauce.  Once he can safely eat more green veggies, I guess I can get rid of the baby bullet.  Pretty much everything else he can eat mashed.

Also this week I was eating a peanut butter sandwich and I rubbed some peanut butter on his face to see how he'd do.  He didn't get a rash.  I think he will be totally fine and not have any food allergies.  

I'm really stressing over his ear.  He has still been really cranky and he's still grabbing at his ears.  I will probably take him back to the doctor next week.  I hope it'll be good news.

Moose just hasn't been acting right, he's been really clingy and quick to cry which isn't like him.  He went through a course of anti-biotics for his ear a week ago and he's had a bad cold forever. Luckily the cold has let up some but I still was wondering why he doesn't seem right.  He is cutting at least 2 teeth now, if not three or four.

I took him back to the doctor on Friday to have him checked out and to have his ear looked at again.  I requested a new doctor because I'm losing faith in the first one we were seeing.  He's made too many decision I disagree with, including the last one of starting off treating Brennan's ear with an antibiotic that doesn't work on him and then kind of being snappy when I asked for another one.  I shouldn't have but I gave in and tried the one that doesn't work because he said just because it didn't work before doesn't mean it won't work now.  Well Friday I went to a new doctor, and sure enough, ear infection, it didn't work.

So I asked this guy for the good antibiotics that worked last time.  This kind, Cedifir, is strong and expensive and causes Brennan to have red diarrhea, but we tried 4 different kinds before and we found one that worked for him, so I'd been down this road before and I wanted to take the straight path this time.  Luckily this new doctor didn't give any hesitation and prescribed it right away.  Also he thought we might as well go ahead and treat his eye with some eye drops just in case he might have an eye infection too, something I'd also asked the other doctor about and he said don't worry about it.

I'm hoping these medicines will have Brennan fixed up good as new by the time we leave for Bama.  All I  need is a baby with an ear infection on a plane.  He is starting to feel better, besides the diarrhea part.  We are giving him Tylenol and Advil to help.  He's still digging at his ear which worries me a little.

Anyway, we're not going back to that original doctor.  There are three other ones in the practice and we will see the other ones.  I've met two of them so far and they seem pretty good, not the best, but better than the first we were using.  We still are missing Dr. Nielson very much, although Provo was just too far for us to drive.  I'm much happier running them down to the clinic 5 minutes away.

Tonight we went out for Sushi and Brennan sat in a high char at the table for the first time.  He loved it.  His favorite part was banging on the table with his hand, he loves to do that anyway all the time.  He also had tons of fun looking at all the waitresses and people and swatting at a fake bamboo plant  behind his head.

He ate a ton of food that I had brought him, yogurt with maple syrup with probiotic, chicken with potatoes and carrots, and cheerios and goldfish crackers.  Then he started to poop and because he's had diarrhea, I was really worried we'd need to wrap a towel around him before we got him out of his chair but luckily his diaper held it all!  Yay.  He was such a good boy at dinner, he didn't make a sound.

Dan and I were remarking recently, he really is such a good baby.  He usually doesn't make a fuss wherever we go and he likes to do things, he'll fits right in with us.

Also, earlier today, Moosey at 2 bowls of oatmeal.  It was his first time trying that and it's his new favorite food.  I added a little brown sugar, and chopped up the raisins really small, I even added cinnamon and I mashed up a banana in it for flavoring.  I think he's going to want to eat that every day now.

Moosey will be 8 months old tomorrow!!  It's fun to look back at how Sara was at that age.  Here are some good pics of her at 8 months, so many more teeth!!   Also, here is what she was up to at almost 9 months.

Not a dull moment here

Brennan really gets around and he's stressing out Mommy! Today we had to move all the shoes up to the top cubicle in our kitchen, he's able to reach higher and higher every day.  I had to move my cactus plant stand out of the room onto the landing.  The landing is getting crowded with the stuff we've had to move.

 Today he sat under the piano bench and pulled down the batting underneath (in the time it took me to make tea).  He reached behind the fish tank and tried to pull the chords and grab the fish net out.  He knocked over the lamp on the changing table (because changing him at all is like wrestling a bull), the shade melted some onto the light bulb.  He is into so much more trouble than Sara ever was.

In some ways he's an easier baby, he sleeps better, travels better, he's less sick overall, eats better, and seems much easier going.  But he does like to be very active and into everything. 

 Also today, and this is my worst fear come true, he got a grape tomato on the floor that Sara had dropped.  I usually sweep the floor several times a day but this tomato rolled up under a leg of the table and was hidden I suppose.  I looked down and he was eating something and I saw seeds all over his shirt, then it occurred to me what it was.  I was able to sweep it out of his mouth sideways with my finger, like a hook and pull it out.  You're not supposed to reach in unless you can see the object and sweep it sideways out of their mouths. 

Luckily, he wasn't choking, he was really enjoying it.  Seeds and jelly were all over him.  He got really angry at me that I had taken it away.  So I got a small spoon and scooped out the inside and fed him small pieces of it. 

I'm going to have to watch him so much closer.  He can get places really fast and everything goes in his mouth.  I think he's just going to have to get used to sitting in his exersaucer more when I can't watch him closer.

I finally went though Sara's entire room and took out every toy he could choke on, except for her trains, which have wheels that he could possibly suck off and choke on but I can't take away her trains.  I have just instructed her to keep them up off the ground as much as possible.  I feel better now that if he sneaks into there he's not going to get something immediately that he would choke on.  It's just not worth it.

 I'm hoping that by the time he's 2, putting things in his mouth will be better, but sometimes it's 3 or 4.  I have no idea what people do with 5 kids.  I guess their babies just eat things and choke on things or get lucky that they don't.  I just read an article about a 2 year old that ate a battery and it horrified me and made me want to pick up everything in the house he could possibly harm himself on. Next I think I'll have to worry about cabinets, he hasn't figured out how to open drawers and cabinets yet, and electrical chords that need to be hidden now that he has teeth coming.

Moosey had some new foods today too.  The tomato, half a small hamburger patty, and I tried avocado again.  I'm still worried he might be allergic to it, he itched his face a lot afterwards.  He's been drinking special shakes I make him every night and everyone else in the family does now too because they are really good.  I peel 3 tangerines, 3 chunks of pineapple, 2tbsp of plain yogurt, 1tbsp of maple syrup, and a hit of vanilla.  It tastes like a cream sickle (which I've never had but Dan thinks this it tastes like one).  I also put a probiotic capsule in it for an extra health boost for us all.   The way moosey is eating, I think he'll be having food right off our plate very soon.  Oh, I also fed him salmon and cheese rice this week too.

Here's a vid I took of him eating the hamburger, you can tell he really likes something if he smacks his tongue and lips.  Also, he has 2 little teeth coming in (which could explain why he's felt bad too).  Sara wants to look at his little teeth every day, they seem to be coming in fast.  

He will be walking soon too.  His legs are getting so much longer and he stands up on them all the time.  Today he played with all of Sara's toys while standing up and he prefers to crawl with his back legs straight or off the ground, not with his knees bent on the floor.  He has discovered that one of his toys makes a good "roomba", he scoots and rides it around the room with the music playing.

  I think he really is way ahead of other babies his age physically.  There are two moms that were bringing their kids to Sara's swim lessons.  One had a girl born three days before Brennan and one a boy born 1 day after.  Neither of them are even crawling yet, I asked them just today!!  He's almost walking, ahhh!!

I'm still not sure if his ear infection is better and maybe worse, I'm not sure I trust his new pediatrician.  I had one good recommendation for him but since then I've run into people that say they don't like him.  I'm thinking of taking Brennan back in about a week if he doesn't seem much better.  Just to make sure he's OK and I will see the other pediatrician there.  I want to make sure he does not have an infection before when we go on vacation and that if he does, that I have time to treat it before we leave.  I also hope to find a pediatrician we like, it feels like were in no-man's-land right now with our doctors.  Sara needs a good one too.    

His new things

In about 10 days Brennan will be 8 months old.  He's changing so fast every day.  It seem like he gets bigger and more mobile every day.  This week at the doctor he weighed in at 19lb's.  Sara didn't hit twenty pounds until she was almost 2, I think. 

He is so difficult to change now.  When he's on his changing pad he rolls and rolls.  It's especially troubling when he has a dirty diaper.  He's flopping around like a fish and won't lay on his back.  I've had to learn to dress him upside down.  Also, he can get out of his changing pad strap now so there's no holding him back.

Brennan is pulling himself up on his crib and on toys and chairs every day now.  I have to watch him because he's not too steady and could really whack his head if he fell back. 

He's had the worst cold for 2 weeks now.  I can't wait until it's over.  He's had so much coughing and nose running.  It's been hard for him to sleep and he's so tired.  Even so, he's tried to be in a good mood for us.  We just keep taking our steam baths, using humidifiers, and he's taking antibiotics and probiotics. 

Today, Auntie Lisa made an orange, banana, strawberry, yogurt smoothie for Sara and I with her fancy Vitamix Blender.  I was holding Brennan when I went to drink it and he intercepted the glass and started drinking it right out of the glass, perfectly fine.  I couldn't get it away from him, he had a firm hold on it with two hands and drank half the glass.  I guess I'll be making him smoothies from now on.  Sara doesn't even drink out of a glass like that at four years old.  He didn't choke at all, just gulped it down really fast.

Brennan's new thing I call doing the "Alien".  Like that movie with Sigourney Weaver where the alien is in her face, dripping saliva.  Brennan takes a hold of my hair on either side of my head in a death grip and latches himself onto my face with his mouth over my nose and mouth, like he's going to eat me and slobbers all over me.  It's kind of gross and it's hard to get him to let go.  He can get away with it now I guess while his little tooth is still small.

I love sleeping baby pics and I went into his room to get this one, they are only small like this for so long.

Even though we feel bad

Brennan managed to smile and have fun today even though he feels really bad.  His nose is running like crazy, he has a tooth breaking through on the bottom, and he has at least 1 infected ear. We still have been spending lots of time outside enjoying the nice weather.

Brennan likes to hunt the yard for grass and leaves. 

Sadly, I think I'm going to take him back to the doctor tomorrow.  He was digging in his ears tonight and crying a lot.  I don't think his antibiotics are working.  Here we go again.

On the brighter side, Aunt Marci gave us a TON of clothes that were hand-me-downs from twin boys in her family.  Brennan has a whole new wardrobe that actually fits him, and just in time too.  His clothes were getting really small for him.  Size 12 months really doesn't fit him that well, he's wearing 18months sizes now.   Also, he weighed 18.6 at the doctor recently.

Every time I catch Moose climbing on something he always gets a look on his face like "am I in trouble?".  It's pretty funny.

  I've had to really watch him and think about what he could stand up on or pull down on himself.  Also it scares me a little that his favorite place to hang out is under the kitchen table.  That is where Sara plays and eats and is always dropping stuff he shouldn't have.  I sweep probably 10 times a day to make sure there's nothing on the floor he can get.

Brennan is sick right now.  I hope I don't have to take him to the doctor.  He has the same cold that we've all had for several weeks.  He has a rumbly cough and is rubbing his ear a lot.  I cleaned some wax out of his ear this morning and we take 2 or 3 steam baths a day.  Sara likes taking the steam baths too.  Running the humidifier in his room also helps him sleep. 

I love Brennan's personality and his bright blue inquisitive eyes.  He is a really fun and happy baby.

This week he has started eating pieces of bread, which he loves, and we gave him pieces of waffle with maple syrup that he really liked. I've been pureeing his food a lot less, I only let it spin for about five seconds so it still has some chunks and texture.  He seems to like that better.  Also this week, I squeezed him some fresh orange juice that he loved.

Mama Video and new things

I finally got a little better Mama video.  Brennan says it to me about 100 times a day, especially if I'm in another room.  He walks around calling mama, mama, until he finds me.

He reached a new milestone tonight, HE STOOD UP!  He's been climbing things like Sara's stool and he actually loves climbing up and over obstacles, my legs, the high chair legs, the bottom of his exersaucer.  Tonight he climbed Sara's rocking chair like a ladder and totally stood up for a long time while playing with a book in her chair.

I'm so glad we lowered his crib this week almost all the way down because I'm convinced now he would have climbed out in a few days!!

Moose eat Cheerios

Brennan has started eating solid foods this week, he really likes cheerios and today I tried goldfish crackers and he was raking those into his mouth with both hands.   He gets upset now if I only give him his pureed food, he wants to feed himself little bits of food too.   He makes a huge mess.  I have to uncover layer upon layer of food off of him when he gets out of his chair and usually he has a ton of food stuck all over his butt.

Moose finally caught the cold that we've all been suffering with for three weeks.  He just has a runny nose and a barking cough but it's not too bad.  I don't think he's going to get really ill like we were.  He's amazing that way.

He goes around the house saying "Mama" all day.  I can't believe I haven't gotten a better video of it.  It's really really cute.  He loves to be picked up and follows me around the house begging to be picked up.  If I'm doing something in the kitchen he crawls in there and plops himself down at my feet and keeps saying mama until I get him. It's pretty funny.  He's really clear about what he wants.  Also if he's hungry he'll crawl over to the high char and sit under it until I put him in.

Today he got one of Sara's toys and banged it on the back of a pan, he was happy with himself that he made an instrument.

Moose is such a good baby.  He never complains unless he's tired or hungry and he's good to crawl on the floor and play toys by himself, as long as he's not tired or hungry. He's always laughing and smiling at us too.

Brennan's eyes are so bright and pretty.  He's such a cute kid.  I still can't believe he doesn't have any teeth yet though.   I think he's getting closer to 18lbs now, he feels really heavy when I toss him up in the air like he likes to do.