Big boy bed, take 2....and car seat news

With all of our sleep problems, I let my boys stay in cribs as long as possible.  Liam slept in a crib until right before he turned 3, and then spent a month plus sleeping in a pack-n-play as we moved from Alabama to Alaska.  He moved into a big boy bed at 37 months and the transition was so smooth.  He even stayed in his bed every morning until I got him for about 8 months.  We don't have that issue any longer. ;-)

We had movers this week as it takes so long for stuff to move between Alaska and Alabama.  Then we got loaner furniture from base (something that is available at OCONUS bases).  I suggested we leave Ben's crib here in Alaska as it now has duct tape on one leg and needs to be thrown out.  We got Ben a single bed and put Liam's old rails up. 

When asked which bed, he wanted to sleep in, he pointed to the bed and said "that one."  At 38 months, he had no problems with this transition:

I think Ben looks so much like Liam here.  Ben is 38 months now, and here was Liam in his bed at 37 months:

Liam saw Ben's photo and even thought it was him......LOL!

In other news, I turned Ben forward facing at 37 months as he is now 34 pounds, and I didn't want to be stuck with the wrong carseat during the move if he went over to 35 pounds.  I am proud that Liam was rear-facing for 34 months and Ben was rear-facing for 37, nearly 38 months.  Liam meets the minimum criteria for a booster seat, but he will be 5 point harnessed for awhile yet.  I don't expect removing his 5 point harness (both seats we have convert from 5 point narnesses to high back booster) until he is 6 years old.

I am hoping we can trash the crib this weekend.  I have ZERO angst about leaving the baby stage behind.  I am loving the boys being able to talk and follow directions.  The baby stage with both boys was full of so many challenges and so little sleep that I don't miss those days at all.

Did I just say I am happy in THIS moment?  I did, and it feels good to be here.



Updates about various appointments

We had 3 appointments on Monday; that is our slow day. :-/

First, Liam had his Monday morning ABA.  I talked a bit with his therapist as I am feeling overwhelmed by his anxiety/OCD type behavior involving hoarding.  He had gathered up all Ben's birthday gift bags, all the Easter baskets in the house, every empty plastic egg, all the toys the Easter bunny brought (including Ben's toys), an empty candy box, some of Ben's birthday presents and had ALL of this stuff into his closet.  With his table full of Lego creations and his dresser cluttered with school art projects, it is impossible to walk through his room without bumping into some weird thing he has decided to hoard.  Dave thought of a brillant idea for the plastic eggs; we mailed those back to the Easter Bunny.  Now we have to work on getting the rest of the stuff out of his room.

Second, Dave came home to stay with Liam who had to skip preschool to go to the dentist with Dave.  In order to get medical clearance to move (which we need dur to being in the exceptional family member program), Liam needs dental clearance.  The Air Force is weird.  So Dave took Liam to the dentist while I took Ben to his 3 year well baby visit.

Ben is HUGE!  Well, for him anyway....no wonder my back has been hurting.  As usual his head measured 95th percentile (52 cenimeters).  He is 37 inches tall, which is 65th percentile and the first time he has been above average!  He is 32 pounds, which is 60th percentile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  To put it in perspective, both his height and his weight were below 20th percentile at his two year well baby.  He has grown nearly 4 inches and gained 7 pounds in one year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, the not good stuff......He flipped out about the med tech taking his vital signs.  The med tech got frustrated with Ben and kept saying how he'd never seen a kid be so difficult about his temperature being taken on his forehead.  I wanted to yell at him that restraining my 3 year old is no picnic for me.  Then we saw his pediatrician.  You'll rarely hear me say this about military doctors, but I REALLY LIKE this guy.  He is good and he is awesome about talking to the children and asking their permission before touching them.  It did not much matter; Ben was okay with most of the exam, but flipped out about the doctor looking in his ears and checking in his diaper region.  The pediatrician said he sees a lot of red flags for autism in Ben and on his developmental screening paperwork.  Of course, this is not news to me, but Ben is so inconcsistent that I don't often hear it.  He recommends we get a 2nd opinion from a different developmental pediatrician. 

Third, Liam saw the dentist for dental clearance.  Dave took him as the boys appointments were too close in time for me to do both.  Liam had x-rays of his teeth and cooperated for a cleaning.  Dave said he did amazing.  He was excited to see his bones with the x-ray and sat still and followed all directions during the teeth cleaning.

Finally, we got word about a summer program that Liam's school SLP had suggested.  The University of Alaska-Anchorage is offering a speech and language clinic with students studying to be SLPs.  It is an hour twice a week.  Liam was accepted to do it.  It runs from the beginning of June until mid-July so it fits perfectly in our schedule regarding the move.  I asked the program director if I could apply for Ben and she said the wait list is short.  The application needs to be filled out by a SLP so I will have her do it when I take Ben to his school based speech therapy this morning.  Cross your fingers that Ben gets a slot as I think it would be quite helpful for him.

That is it for our Monday updates......off today for one preschool, two speech therapy appointments, two OT appointments, and Ben's special ed play group.

Things I never want to forget

I never want to forget the smell of Ben's head--a mixture of lavender shampoo and a sweetness that can be best described as "baby smell."  I don't know if he has this smell because he still nurses, but I never get tired on putting my nose against his soft, fine, baby hair and sniffing that smell.  I am terrified he'll lose it and I won't remember what it was like.

I never want to forget how insistent Ben is about interacting with me.  He has certain phrases he uses to interact "that is good" "that is fun" "where is the _____" and if I don't repeat the phrase back to him (because I am in a conversation with another adult) he screams "Nooooooooo" until I repeat his words.

I never want to forget Ben's response to seeing me if say I happen to walk into another room and come back (a rare occurrence as he insists on me carrying him anywhere).  He'll start doing his happy Ben Ben dance, give me the tightest squeeze he can, and say "Mama! Mama! Mama!" over and over again.  He'll give another big hug, pull away, and point at my face "that's a mama!"

I never want to forget May 17, 2011 as the first time Liam had a kid-initiated play date.  Liam didn't initiate it, but his friend decided he wanted to play with Liam.  See, our side neighbor happens to have a little boy who happens to have Asperger's.  A few months ago, I suggested she use our BCBA for ABA therapy and about a month ago, Liam and her son, C, started having weekly therapeutic play dates to build social skills.  Something unexpected happened, and the boys adore each other and have a true friendship.  They will talk while standing on our respective back decks.  That is how yesterday happened.  I was playing outside with the boys and C hearing Liam's voice came running out to his back porch.  He is nearly 5 with no language delay, and he asked Liam "Can I come over to play?"  Liam had no framework to respond so he babbled a bit of nonsense and then concluded with "We'll play Thursday!"  Liam is very insistent on routines and he knows he plays with C on Thursday, especially since he wakes every morning asking if it is a day he plays with C.  A couple hours later, C's mom calls and says "C told me that Liam invited him over; can he comes over to play?"  So there you have it, a play date that us moms did not arrange but happened anyway.

I never want to forget watching Liam play with C last night.  He was a different Liam than who he is with me and his brother.  He seemed less like a baby and more like a little kid.  It allowed me to visualize a future with play dates of boys playing rough, running wildly, and telling fart jokes.  Every time Liam farted, he announced it to C last night and they both giggled like it was the funniest thing ever.  It has been almost 4 years of me being Liam's sole friend and constant entertainment and the idea of him having a friend makes me so happy.  I parented the way i did so he'd have the confidence to be independent of me.  I thought it would happen sooner, but last night I caught a glimpse of that time and I am excited we are on that path.

I never want to forget the looks Liam gives me as I talk to C.  He looks at me like I am the most beautiful women in the world, the smartest, and as if he is in awe of me.  Soon enough he'll be a teenager, so i wish I could hold on to that look forever.

2 year Well Baby Visit

I remember a time that seems long ago when well baby visits were a fun time to find out how much my boys had grown.  Now the visits cause me stress.

Ben's ped asked about her referral for the developmental pediatrician.  It turns out that the clinic never processed it.  I should have followed up on it, but I knew I had his well baby coming up.  In any case, she made sure it went through and I am in the process of filling out the background information.  After the developmental ped receives it, we'll get Ben scheduled to be seen.

His ped assured that we had enough Prilosec until he can see the GI again. 

She also worked with me to make Ben comfortable so she could examine him.  It meant, I laid him in my lap, but he still freaked out and had to be restrained for her to look in his ears.  Tubes are still in place.  She is worried about his continued excema.  He seems to be in a non-stop flare up, right now his legs and arms are raw.

He is growing and isn't so tiny anymore, but still not proportional.  His 2 year stats:
Height: 33.5 inches tall (19th percentile)
Weight: 25 pounds, 3 ounces (17th percentile)
Head circumfrence: 51 centimeteres (95th percentile)

That makes him almost 3 inches shorter and 7 pounds lighter than Liam at the same age, but with a bigger head.....poor Ben.

You need a big head to support these cheeks.

Ben has been doing better.  He has been struggling with sleep--taking a long time to fall asleep, waking once a night, and up for the day around 5am....and not napping.  But other than that, he is eating better.  He had a bad reflux day on Monday, buut seems to have more good days than burpy, in pain days.  He has less random crying as I mentioned.  He is really into coloring on his new easel and really physically active these days.  Liek Liam, it seems like Ben will be easier and happier at 2 compared to age 1.



2 years old

Benjamin Andrew is 2 years old and quickly becoming less of a baby. 

These days his eyes are hazel, but they aren't green-gold hazel like mine.  Ben's hazel is a deep dark navy blue with shades of grey, and a couple of brown spots (particularly in the upper right corner of his right eye):

Ben never had much baby fat and lost his round belly months ago.  At 33 and 1/2 inches and 25 pounds, he is fairly muscular (note the outline of a 6 pack here):



Being so thin means he still fits in clothes as small as 12-18 months.  He is tall enough to fit in some 2T clothing.  Even though he is tiny, he is strong and can climb better than Liam can.  He still likes to be carried around a couple hours a day, so I am glad he is as small as he is.  My arms get tired enough; I cannot imagine how hard it would be if he were as big as Liam at this age.

He still rides rear-facing even though he is above 20 pounds and 2 years old.  It is safest to ride rear-facing until the limits of the seat.  Liam was just turned around at 34 months when he finally reached 35 pounds.  Ben is only 24 months and still has 10 pounds until he hits the limits of his seat.  I don't plan on turning him forward facing anytime soon.  He is quite comfortable facing the rear.  He sees me through a soft mirror attached to the seat back.  He can see the DVD player Liam watches by turning his head to the side.  He rests his legs up the back of the seat or crosses them as Liam did when he sat in the same seat.  Here is alseep after a car trip to Costco this week:

As far as eating, Ben still doesn't swallow much food.  My neighbor watched him today and said he ate half of a quarter piece of peanut butter and jelly sandwich (so 1/8 of a sandwich), 8 goldfish (I laughed, but she was so worried about how little he was eating that she counted them), and 1 yogurt covered raisin.  I told her that might be the last time he swallows food all day.  He already spit up once today (about a tablespoon of his breakfast). 

Ben does still nurse; it has been twice a day for maybe 5 months now, but just within the last week or so, it has started skipping sessions and only nursing once a day.  I don't think he'll be nursing for much longer.
+
Ben can count to 10, but usually counts "3, 6, 8, 9, 10, all done, YAY!"  He knows all 26 letters in upper case form and knows close to all of them in lower case form.  It is amazing to watch as he points out letters in words.  It has helped eliminate some of his meltdowns during errands as he gets so hyper-focused on letters that he blocks out everything else.

Ben loves Murray and hunts him down for pets and cuddles:

Ben loves playing with Liam, but hates when Liam talks loudly, sings, gets in Ben's zone of personal space, or touches him too much.  Ben loves Wonder Pets, Super Why, and The Cat in the Hat.  He loves dancing to Laurie Berkner and likes to jump.

Ben was talking alot at a year old, but hasn't made much progress lately.  He says "tay" for yes, which I assume means "Okay" but he gets really excited when you ask him a question he says "tay" to and gets a huge smile.  He says "Bye Mama" (or Dada or Mimi for Liam) but that and "all done" are the only regular multi-word phrases unless you count scripts as he has several of those "more milk on the other side" to switch breasts during nursing "giraffe, pets, _____" (pig, baby, etc) to request a Wonder Pets episode.  He likes to hide things and ask "where's the _____" and then pick up and say "there's the _______!"  His giraffe is still his lovey--and has been since he was about 4 months old.  Thankfully we have 5 or 6 of them and I rotate them regularly.

Liam was easier during age 2, than he was at age 1 or now at age 3.  I am crossing my fingers that Ben is as well.

Turned down AGAIN for allergy testing...

But came away with an unexpected referral...

I honestly don't remember how often I asked for allergy testing for Ben; I probably should have kept track.  I took Ben in today for a visit with his PCM to discuss the negative endoscopy results and decide how to proceed with weaning him off Prilosec since his GI is in Seattle.  In the end, there were a few other items I wanted to discuss.

My big guy weighed in at 25 pounds and measured 33 and 1/2 inches.  That makes him in the 16th percentile for weight and the 30th percentile for length, which is awesome considering he was only 18 pounds and 29 inches at one year.

(notice skinny boy's ribs?).

I told his doctor that the GI wants him to wean off Prilosec but when we tried it this summer, it was disastrous and that I am not comfortable doing it with his specialist so far away without some sort of plan in place.  She said there is a local GI and offered a referral there.  GREAT....that would have saved the Air Force alot of money if we had gone there initially.  She isn't comfortable discussing how to wean him off Prilosec and suggested we discuss that and any on-going reflux symptoms with the new GI.

I asked for allergy testing.....again.  My reasoning is that if 90% of babies outgrow reflux at 1 year old and Ben STILL has it at 2 years old, wouldn't a simple allergy test make sense to figure out why (as he has already been testing for everything ranging from cystic fibrosis to eosinophilic disorders).   She denied my request saying that if his endoscopy was clear and eosinophilic disorder is not play, there is no reason to test for allergies. SIGH.....

We talked about Ben's involvement in Early Intervention.  His PCM called his name, and there was not only no response, but he didn't even flinch.  I called his name to show he does the same ignoring for me.  I described his sensory issues.  I said that he is very social, but isn't interested in peers.  She recommended a referral to a developmental pediatrician (this is the type of specialist that diagnoses autism spectrum disorders).  I have a roller coaster of emotions about this, but the short answer is that I *know* it is the right thing for him to see a specialist.  My gut tells me that Ben is different than Liam, but my gut also tells me something is going on.  The waiting list is 6 to 12 months, so hopefully by the time we are seen, Ben will be answering to his name and will be making friends.

So, the way forward....Out of pocket testing for gluten and dairy intolerance, waiting list for developmental pediatrician, staying on the Prilosec until we can consult with the new GI, and having a local GI doctor.....and going back in 4-6 weeks for his 2 year well baby visit.

Third times a charm?

Ben and I travelled 1400 miles each way last week for him to see a pediatric GI specialist at Seattle Children's Hospital.  This makes his 3rd different GI since last August, but who's counting?  The flight down was interesting as I had caught the stomach bug going around our house and spent the trip puking my guts out in the middle of the Anchorage terminal, on the plane in a barf bag, and then again in the terminal in Seattle.  If travelling alone with a toddler, I don't recommend doing it with a stomach bug.  Seattle was beautiful--very warm and the hotel was in a great area.  This is fortunate, as we'll be going back.

I wasn't expecting much from the appointment.  I know my friends keep telling me what a great advocate I am for the boys, but I often feel defeated, as if I keep fighting and keeping failing to get them what they need.  All I wanted out of the appointment was a prescription for more Prilosec and a promise to scope Ben to look into the causes of his reflux.  I have been concerned for months about the possibility of Ben having eosinophilic esophagitis and have asked both of his previous ped GIs about whether we should be looking at food allergies, though I never mentioned the disorder I feared he had.

Ben's new GI specialist is Dr. Burpee which cracks me up.  I shared with him Ben's history, and he noted that he was not at all concerned about his size: 32 inches (30th percentile) and 23 pounds (15th percentile).  Dr. Burpee asked me alot of questions, and focuses his concerns on 3 main areas: Ben's difficulty in swallowing food, his excema, and the fact that Ben STILL spits up while on Prilosec.  He said this constellation of symptoms, especially the fact that the solids Ben struggles with the most to swallow are chicken and pasta are symptomatic of eosinophilic esophagitis.  This website (http://www.apfed.org/ee.htm) has more information about the disorder, but it is a serious autoimmune condition that involves multiple food allergies and mimics reflux.

Our course of action is two fold: tripling Ben's Prilosec dosage to 5 mL twice a day (10mL compounded at 2mG per mL) and having an endoscopy to biopsy lesions in January.  For the scope, Ben will go under general anesthesia.  I am praying he doesn't have eosinophilic esophagitis, but am glad he is being scoped so I never have to wonder if there is something more serious going on.

Ben is 18 months old!

This post is a little bit late in coming, but the boys are really running me ragged these days.  As things like night-time parenting get easieer, other things like being a referee to wrestling matches becomes more difficult.  This post illustrates Liam turning 18 months.  My boys look similar at 18 months, but vary greatly in size and development.

Ben at 18 months:

Ben is 31 inches, maybe 31.5 inches and about 22 pounds, much shorter and lighter than his big brother at this age.  Liam was beinning to count and have letter reconition, and while Ben can count to 3, he has no interest in numbers like Liam and while he can sing portions of his ABC's, he is not able to do letter recognition.  What he can do that Liam couldn't is: answer yes/no questions, follow 2 steep directions, say the name of people he frequently sees (Mama, Dada, Mema (Liam), Memo (Elmo), Pets (Wonder Pets), Murmey (Murray), Mammy (Sammy), Beckee (Beckee--Liam's ABA therapist), banana (Anna), Ben can also request items he wants, sing songs, and knows the titles of his favorite books (Go Dogs Go and Hop on Pop).

Liam at 18 months:

Dave always says I'd make the perfect wife for Henry VIII, just popping out little replicas of their dad, and my boys show that is clearly the case physically.

Three years of beating the odds

William (Liam) Francis Xavier Routhier was born at 10:38pm on August 20, 2007 by emergency c-section. He required resuscitation and had APGARs of 1, 7,and 8.

After a rough start, Liam development took off, except for poor sleep and a strong preference for Mommy.  He met all his milestones on time and was even ahead. He had zero red flags for autism at 12 months and 15 months.  At 18 months, he was behind a bit on adaptive skills and his language was average (instead of being ahead)....and had 1 red fla, not answering to his name, but everyone chalked that upto "being a boy" and not wanting to respond.  At 24 months, he was behind on language, adaptive skills, and motor skills, but ahead conitively.  He had several red flas: toe walking, not answering to his name, lack of eye contact, and strange obsessions.  I put this out there because people seem to assume that they know at 4 months or 12 months that their child isn't on the autism spectrum.  That wasn't the case with Liam, and the red flags he had were so subtle that his own pediatrician didn't believe he needed a referral for evaluation.  Just because a child is *behind* on language does not in itself mean anything, and an 18 month old meeting all their milestones could still end up on the spectrum. In retrospect, our only warning signs early on were sensory issues (sleep and preference for Mommy).

Now a look at the last 3 years to illustrate.......

3 months later he was a chubby, bouncing baby boy.....who would only nap if he was held, nursed for 60-90 minutes every 90-120 minutes (meaning I sometimes got a 30-60 minute break between session and sometimes nursed non-stop for 3-4 hours, and cried if anyone but Mommy or Daddy held him

At 6 months, Liam was around 17 pounds, could sit up (and had been sitting for a month), could roll both ways, and was already babbling.  He was now napping without being held, but still needed to be swaddled. He still didn't like anyone but Mommy and Daddy.

At 9 months, Liam's sweet, silly personality was showing itself.  He was still refusing to eat solids at all, despite having 8 teeth. He had finally stopped sleeping without a swaddle, and was napping for longer than 30 minutes for the first time ever, but at night,  he woke every 30-90 minutes all night long and continued that pattern until 12 months.  We used to laugh about how he desperately wanted to figure out the world. He had an intense focus on his toys and would play for hours, as long as he was touching me in some way.  He was already pointing and was commando crawling.

At 1 year, Liam was 31 inches long and 21 pounds.  He was finally tolerating being around other people, but we just thought he was shy and sensitive. In his twelve month, he broke 8 more teeth for a total of 16!  He barely ate any solids,but had one on nursing strike (and I was now pregnant with Ben).  He survived on about 40 ounces of formula daily and a handful of cheerios.  He was finally sleeping through the night and suddenly seemed much easier.  He hated his 1st birthday party and freaked out when we made him touch cake. 

At 18 months, I was overwhelmed. Bit by bit I watched my happy baby be replaced by a toddler that screamed constantly for seemingly no reason. He hated going to the store, he took 45 minutes to warm up at playdates, he freaked out getting dressed, and he became frightened by laughter.  I watched his language go in spurts...he had 4 words at 13 months, and maybe 7-10 at 18 months, but he'd go months without using any words at all  and somewhere around 14 months stopped saying "mama."  Somewhere just after 18months (maybe around 19 or 20) he began walking on his toes.  He was 27 pounds and 33.5 inches:

At 2 years, I was terrified about Liam's development. Physically, he was fine: 32 pounds and 36 inches.  But, we was not yet using two word phrases,not saying "mama" yet and not using language to communicate. He could recognize all 26 letters and count to 13, name zoo animals, and give the sounds common animals make.  But he couldn't tell me why he was screaming in front of the fridge or what he wanted out of it. He had gotten to the point where he wouldn't leave the house. I was feeling defeated and hopeless, and wondering why other people had normal babies.  Early Intervention had agreed he qualified for speech therapy and occupational therapy.  When I mentioned whether he should be evaluated for autism, I expected them to say "No, not Liam!  Not that sweet, sensitive little boy."  But they didn't,and my journey of the real hard work started.  Did I mention that when Liam was 19 months, his baby brother Ben was born and had severe reflux?  I don't miss those days.....

Today at 3 years old, Liam is a different child from a year ago.  He is still 32 pounds, maybe 30 pounds after a good poop, but is now 39 inches tall.  He speaks in sentences for the most part (tonight he told me "I tired, I go night-night.  I yawn" then insert a big fake yawn).  He doesn't understand pronouns, especially he/she.  He still has alot of echolalia and doesn't understand much of what is said.  The meltdowns are gone, though they have been replaced by extreme sensory seeking behavior.  On a good day, he passed for neurotypical; on a bad day, people often just think he is a spoiled brat.  On a really bad day, I remember why he got the diagnosis of PDD-NOS at 26 months.

Liam has come a long way.

Happy 3rd Birthday to my sweet, surprising, sensitive little boy who made me a Mommy.

A comparison from a year ago

to show just how far both boys have come and how much they have grown. 

Ben at not yet 4 months on July 31, 2009....He was about 13 pounds, and spent about 6 hours a day crying.  He rarely smiled and his laughs were even more rare.  He seldom tolerated being put down.  Here he is modeling a 0-3 month Alabama onsie:

Ben at not yet 16 months on August 1, 2010....he is about 21.5 pounds, having gained about 8.5 pounds in 12 months.  This is impressive considering for quite awhile he gained only 1/2 pound a month.  He has gained alot in the last 5 months or so.  He still spits up quite a bit--twice  in the last 3 days.  However, he also is very personable and talkative, and loves to smile and giggle.  Here he is modeling an Alabama onsie in 12-18 months.

Liam is 23 months here (July 31, 2009) and is playing with Thomas trains--the only ones he has are the ones shown. Notice how he doesn't have the motor skills to push the trains on the track.  He can say choo-choo, but jargons all other expressions.  He needs to make physical contact with me twice during the 30 second clip.  Notice also his chubby dimpled arms and how much he still looks like a baby:



Liam is 35 months here (August 2, 2010) and is playing with Thomas trains--see how he has two seperate train lines running at the same time?  Notice how he can now answer quuestions and is finally comfortable playing independently with only verbal affirmation?  I love when he says "island of sodor" and I love even more when I hear it spontaneously.  His eye contact is amazing as we talk.

Someone has to be at the bottom of the weight charts, right?

And really does this kid look undernourished to you?

He certainly looks healthy (and like a healthy dose of trouble) to me.

Today Ben and I went to Children's Hospital in Birmingham (2 hours away) for a 2nd opinion on his reflux.  See, there is only one pediatric GI in Montgomery, and she thinks Ben is cured of his reflux and wants to take him off the Prilosec.  I think she is welcome to do that if she is willing to move in and live with me to carry him hours a day while he screams.  I was hoping that the GI specialists at the Children's Hospital would see things my way.  And they did.....especially when on cue, Ben emptied the contents of his tummy on the exam table....about a 2-3 ounce "spit up" session. Babies that are 1 week from their 10 month birthday should not be spitting up as often or as much as Ben.  We might as well make sure it doesn't burn him while he does it.  The doctor wants to keep him on Prilosec until he is 13 months old and re-evaluate.

What I did not expect is for there to be concern over his weight.  Personally, I was worried about his weight when his percentiles kept dropping, but after he evened out around the 8th percentile, I was no longer worried.  I actually thought he had chunked up lately, and my bathroom scale seemed to agree with me.  The scale today put him at 16 pounds 15 ounces, which is 3rd percentile.  The doctor was concerned about that alone, but couple with the fact, his height hovers around 50th percentile, it means his weight for height isn't even on the charts (unlike Liam who was always way tall but average weight, so weight for height was low but on the charts around 25th percentile).  The doctor did say he was surprised when he saw Ben.....that looking at the numbers, he expected to see an emaciated baby, but Ben looks healthy.  But coupled with his reflux, the doctor said he is tottering on "failure to thrive."

So, they brought in a dietician to lecture me about fat and calories and proper feeding of a 10 month old.  Then we were sent off to the lab where they took FIVE vials of blood....adult size vials.  I am surprised the poor baby has any blood left.  Then I was given two stool collection kits.  I need to gather his stool and drive it the 2 hours to Birmingham, making sure the stool is as fresh as possible and delivering during business hours.  So, now I just need to tell Ben to poop (TWICE) in between 6am and 12pm and drag my two boys in the  car for a 4 hour round trip.....after I collect Ben's poop in sample cups.  Sounds like the perfect making for a day of family fun, though the collection process will be easier due to the fact he is still in diapers.  Then in May, Ben has to have a sweat test, which doesn't sound bad, but will screen him for cystic fibrosis.

Really, all I wanted was a prescription for Prilosec to avoid hours of screaming.

my little bunny

When you have these:

You can eat like this:

True to form for Routhier boys, Ben already seems to be working on more teeth, but for now, I am eating up his bunny rabbit smile.

My baby is half a year old

Somehow six months has elapsed since Ben was born. I don't really understand. I know April and May flew by in a blur of nursing, adjustments, and help from others. June and July were long months spent at home that seemed never-ending. August was a blur of bad news, preparing for deployment, and medical appointments. September was a blink of an eye. Now it is October.

Ben seemed to be behind on development, but has suddenly started doing so much at once. He sits up unsupported really well. He babbles happily. He seeks out socialization. He is trying to figure out how to roll.

We are still battling reflux and he is very very very thin. His official stats are:

Length: 26.5 inches (50th percentile)

Weight: 14 pounds 6 ounces (4th percentile)

Head circumference: 83rd percentile

Liam is 3 feet tall!

It seems that everytime we look at Liam, he is taller. We are having a hard time keeeping him in clothes that fit. As soon as we buy a bigger size, he is outgrowing it already. After he reached something off the back of the kitchen counter this morning, I measured him and Dave double-checked my accuracy. ;-) He is 36 inches, which puts him in the 95th percentile for height for a 22 month old. I am thinking he won't grow any taller before his 2 year well-baby visit, but he still might. No wonder why he is wearing 3T clothes and some of them are already short. This morning his 4T t-shirt fits him perfectly, and he isn't even 2 years old!

Liam is 18 months!

It is hard to believe that our big boy is 18 months already. He is loving his Kindermusik Sing and Sign class and is adding a couple new signs each week. We recently started Gymboree Play and Learn which he adores--he runs around and explores all the activities. He loves books and at the moment his favorite is "Put Me in the Zoo" and he has started to try to sing and dance. He is a big boy, and is eating more table food these days. He loves fish, especially grouper and tilapia. He loves anything spicy too. Last night he chowed down on pasta with spicy red sauce, but also eats salsa. His 18 month well baby visit showed he is growing well. He is now 27 pounds and 33.5inches, which makes him 70th percentile for weight and 80th percentile for height! His head circumfrence is still in the 90th percentile. As I near the last weeks of my pregnancy, he is harder and harder to carry these days.