Tooth Update

Tooth #3 (upper left) broke through the day after Christmas. Tooth #4 (upper right) looks like it will break through at any moment. In the meantime, Carter has begun chomping with the rear of his mouth, and grabbing his gum back there also. Yesterday he stood still long enough for me to run a finger all along his top and bottom gums. There is a definite bump where his lower right molar will be. This one is way ahead of schedule--normally he'd have 8-10 teeth before molars pop up. But we shall see. The bump is white and does not have a counterpart on the left side, so it's not just his gum shape.

A new trick I've learned when feeding solids to Carter (which we do twice a day now): I keep a wet wash cloth on hand. When we're finished, I hand it to him. He chews on it and sucks the water from it. It helps clean off his gums (which I recently learned we should be doing), keeps him entertained while I rinse his dishes and it gives me easy access to wipe his hands and face (some of which he actually wipes on his own, inadvertently). He has a pretty good grasp of what to do with his sippy cup, though the amount of water he actually drinks from it, is marginal. He seems to prefer an open-top cup, and actually does surprisingly well with one.

We also tried a new vegetable yesterday: butternut squash. It's not one that Jack and I eat, but my baby food cook books mention it in several recipes. So I picked up an organic (trying to give him all organic foods for now--a luxury we don't afford ourselves) butternut squash for $1.49, steamed it and made 20 servings from that one squash! I probably could have made another four, but I ran out of freezer containers. I thought the sweet potatoes were a good deal at approximately $1 for 15 servings, but this one takes the cake. Carrots were $2.49 for 17 large servings; peas were $2.19 for 15-20 servings (bought them frozen and only used half the bag in the first batch); zucchini and yellow squash were $2 for 6 servings . . . even at the high end, it's been much less expensive than pre-made baby food. And it really isn't that hard; I encourage anyone who's curious, to try it. I think you'll like it. I'd prefer fresh to canned vegetables any day, and preparing his food this way helps preserve some of the flavor and nutrients.

Christmas Day at Home

Photos from Carter's Christmas day at home . . .

We woke Carter at his normal "weekend" time (7:00) but let him hang out in his festive pajamas for the morning.

He enjoyed banging on the boxes and pulled some of the paper (after I started the tear).

He liked his Tonka truck.

But tired quickly.

After a long day of playing, visiting and opening presents, he was famished--and licked his bowl of cereal clean.

Christmas Day with Grandma and Grandpa Smith

Grandma and Grandpa Smith with all the kids (and significant others) and grandbaby.

Opening more presents.

Dillard Boys

Four generations of Dillard men: Daddy Jack, Papa Jack, Jack and Carter. I think I know what Carter's going to look like at 28, 58 and 88.

Before everyone gasps in horror that we broke a family tradition by not using the name Jack . . . Jack Jr. and Jack III are both the second son--not the first. So we actually are keeping to tradition by not giving our firstborn the family name. We'll see if we can time a second boy with the established 30-year age difference, though--that one is a little out of our hands.

Preparing for Santa

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house . . .

Not a creature was stirring; not even a mouse (or Marley).

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that Saint Nicholas soon would be there.

Christmas Eve at Nana and Papa Jack's House

Family portrait

Opening presents

Merry Christmas to All!

Can you believe another year has come and gone already? The last time I wrote to you, I was a young pup. Now, I’m almost two and let me tell you, 2008 has been a year of change. And I’m not talking about the election.

The year started off with Jack and Christina taking a couple of trips before the little one came. The little one, otherwise know as Carter, is definitely the biggest change around here this year. Christina’s belly just kept getting bigger after New Years. Then in June, she went away for a couple days. When she came back, the belly was gone and—BAM—there was a miniature version of Jack with her! At first, I tried to get Carter to play with me, but he’d just lie around, make funny noises, and spend a lot of time in people’s arms. I tried to get him to rub my belly, but he just wouldn’t play along. He’s starting to come around, though. He tries to pet me, even if it does usually end up that he just grabs a fist full of hair. But he’ll get there. In the meantime, I’ll just keep licking the food off his hands and cheeks whenever I get the chance.

After Carter arrived, Christina stayed home for almost three months and started back to work in September. Apparently Jack and Christina are gluttons for punishment. As if Carter and I weren’t time-consuming enough, Jack decided to go back to school. Now I’m not 100% sure what MBA stands for, but anything that gets me a snack with Jack at 11 o’clock at night, has to be a good thing. Of course, probably the greatest change this year is that I was released from confines of my room during the day and night. I’m free to roam the house as I see fit. Now I sleep in the foyer and keep watch over the whole house. To say the least, it was about time.

I can only hope 2009 is a little less eventful than 2008, but I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Love,

All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth

Two weeks ago, Carter and I visited his pediatrician for his six-month check-up. She told us that tooth #3 (an upper tooth) was getting ready to emerge; she could feel his inflamed gum. He'd been drooling and chomping again (after a brief hiatus following the emergence of his first two teeth). But a couple days after the doctor's confirmation that #3 was coming, Carter started running a low-grade fever (on a regular basis), clawing at his gum and screaming from pain (sometimes blood-curtling screams). Still no sign of this third tooth, but the fever and pain are in pull force. We've stepped up to the Infant Motrin (from Tylenol) now that he's six months old--it stays in his system longer--but he takes it every day and has a fever that reaches just shy of 101°. Today I caught a glimpse of both top front teeth. They haven't broken through the gum yet, but they're so close that the gum is transparent below them, allowing a pretty good view. Hopefully both top teeth will break through the gum soon and relieve all of us!

P.S. Photo credits go out to Carter's Aunt Katya for capturing smiling moments!

A Sitting Baby

In the course of a couple days, Carter has gone from not really being able to sit without support, to doing very well with it. Here's some fun we had with his toolbelt today. He took a couple spills to the side, which is why we put the Snoogle down as a perimeter: it was far away enough that it wasn't supporting him, but it was close enough that his head landed on it when he fell over.

Peas

Carter tried a new food on Saturday: peas. I made them a little thicker than I made the zucchini and sweet potatoes, as his doctor said he's probably ready for "stage 2" (thicker) foods now. I was a little unsure how he would take to them, but he did very well! He was a mess when we finished, but it was fun and he actually ate most of them (despite appearances).

"This is a pretty color . . ."

"Could you put down the camera and feed me?"

"Seriously. A boy's gotta eat. Do I need to do it myself?"

"Fine, but it's not gonna be pretty."

A Sick Update

Over the weekend, a couple people asked me for an update on Carter's bronchiolitis and ear infections. I am happy to report that round 2 of the antibiotics seemed to work, so the ears are cleared up. And after a week on the nebulizer, he seemed to be very much improved, so we stopped using it last Wednesday. He still coughs on occasion, but the coughing fits are gone, and so is the terrible wakeup cough. His pediatrician thought he responded relatively well to the treatment, and said that the worst cases can take up to three months to be 100% gone. We're at about five weeks now, and I'm almost confident closing the book on this one.
In other news, tooth #3 has decided it won't make the graceful entrance that the first two blessed us with. Carter showed very few signs of real pain with the first two--just the standard drooling and chomping. However, yesterday we had a couple run-ins with blood-curtling screams while he was grasping at his upper gum. The teething tablets only settled him a little, so we finally ended up giving him Tylenol (twice). This morning, he seemed on the verge of more screaming so I gave him the teething tablets and they seemed to do the trick. It's definitely the tooth, though. These are painful screams (not hungry, tired or bored ones), and he's clawing at his gum where the doctor said it was inflamed. Jack thinks maybe, when Carter closes his mouth, his bottom teeth are putting pressure on his upper gum where the tooth (teeth?) is trying to come through, making it more painful this time. Hopefully we'll cut two at a time again, and get this phase over with a little more quickly.

I Love My Dyson

Jack and I have had a Dirt Devil vacuum since just before we got married. I guess it was mine since it was in my possession before we moved in together, but we were only two months from marrying and we bought it together. It did fine--much better than the vacuum I'd been using in college! In fact, I really liked it. Well, for the last six months or so, it just has been struggling. It went strong for four years, but it definitely was on its way out. So we splurged on Black Friday and picked up a low-end Dyson. We'd always sworn we'd never pay that kind of money for a vacuum cleaner, but it was a good price and we needed it. So it was my birthday present.

I broke it out last weekend, and it took some adjusting (and a lesson from Jack, since he was the one who read the user's manual), but it was great. I was almost disgusted by all the dust and hair in the canister after just one use. It made me wonder how much dirt was hiding in our carpets. Luckily, the house is new, so the carpets are not even two years old (and we don't wear shoes inside--imagine if we had).

It has a hose long enough to reach all the way up the stairs, so we actually will clean them more often. The canister has a trigger release for the cover, so I don't have to touch the cover or any of the dirt inside. It also is very pink. The picture at top is the model we have. It is the breast cancer awareness model, and it is pink. As vacuuming is an equal-opportunity chore at our house, Jack requested that I not make him use it in public. I think we can arrange for that.

Six Months!

I can't believe it's been six months since Carter was born. Actually, it hasn't. Somehow there's been a lapse in the space/time continuum, and we have jumped ahead from where we should be. Any moment now, I will wake up and find a little (okay, so he was never really that little), immobile six-week-old baby in Carter's crib.



Here is an overview of where he is, at six months old:


Size: 27" (60th percentile) and 17 lb, 14 oz (48th percentile--lost a pound during our sick month)


He has two teeth (bottom center) and one more is burgeoning


He still has had no formula, but now he eats rice cereal, pureed vegetables, yogurt and occasionally sips some water in addition to his mommy's milk


We are working on using a sippy cup for the water (and juice, in the future)


He laughs out loud when we tickle him and if we say something he finds funny--also at Marley


He babbles and will carry on "conversations" with us, his stuffed animals, the baby in the mirror or his feet for 10 minutes or more


He rolls from back to belly and refuses to sleep on his back; he is starting to roll from belly to back on purpose


He "swims" on his tummy, trying to move his body forward, but doesn't crawl yet--though he is able to scoot by propelling himself with his legs


His eyes are definitely turning brown--the one feature that undeniably came from his mommy


He likes to jump in his jumperoo, and has very good hand-eye coordination, which he uses to put anything in his mouth and to make his tractors crash into one another (or onto the floor)

You Know Dasher and Dancer . . .

. . . But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?

Nope, I'm not talking about Rudolph. We broke out Carter's reindeer towel this week. We picked it up last year at the after-Christmas clearance and thought we'd be using it when he's two or three . . . well, he has officially outgrown most of his baby towels, so we've had to step up to the toddler ones (the baby towels are fine, but they're too small to wrap him up in them). In the spirit of the season (and the songs Jack has been singing at bedtime), I wrapped him up in the reindeer towel and couldn't resist some camera time.

Breathing Treatments

I have been wrestling with whether or not I wanted to write about our latest health venture with Carter. However, it seems the more I talk about it, the more I learn that the majority of parents these days are going through (or recently have been through) the same thing. In trying to treat Carter's lingering cough (which peaked about a week ago), his pediatrician put him on breathing treatments. We have a (loaned from the doctor) nebulizer for him, and he uses a face mask to breathe albuterol vapors. It opens his airway so that his cough will be more productive and not as hard on him. The first three days, we did it every four hours. The next two days, we did it every six hours. Now it is prescribed as "every 4-6 hours as needed for cough." So we've been doing wake-up time and bed time. Last night he woke with a 1 a.m. coughing fit, so he also got a middle-of-the-night treatment.

He seems to really be at ease with the treatments. He often holds the mask in place, like he wants it there. It was very scary for me (and I think for Jack, too), but it really isn't as bad as it looks. Most parents of little ones who we've talked to, have had to use these treatments. I guess since we can't give any sort of cough medicine to children these days, the only treatment we can give is these vapors. It seems to be working, and I hope we can get it all cleared up soon!

A Santa for the Tree

We finally finished constructing our Christmas tree this weekend. It's 12' tall and Jack erected the first half Thanksgiving weekend before he got sick. Now, we finally have a full tree (and it is straight, with help from Brad). Our Santa tree-topper goes on first, as it is quite a feat. Jack introduced the big guy to Carter before sitting him atop the tree. Carter was in the kitchen with me, jumping in his jumperoo. He stopped and craned his neck to see what was emerging from the big Christmas bag. Out popped a 42" tall silver and gold Santa Claus. Jack brought him over so Carter could inspect him . . .



And then try to grab his beard.

Thanksgiving #2

Some pictures from Thanksgiving at Grandpa and Grandma Smith's house.

Posing (at our house) before a Thanksgiving blowout prompted a wardrobe change.

Recovering with Daddy on Sunday, and slowly removing that blasted sock.

Discovering his reaching efforts--and trying so hard to move his body.

Thanksgiving #1

Some pictures from Thankgiving at Nana and Papa Jack's house . . .

Opening his first Christmas present
(I started a rip in the paper and he pulled it off . . .)

. . . And proceeded to try eating it.

Kisses (and hair pulling) for Nana!

Antibiotics, Round 2

Since Carter's first round of antibiotics (Amoxicillin) went so un-smoothly, we decided it was worth an attempt at a new strategy for this second round. As I wrote last week, the Amoxicillin worked on the infection in one ear but not the other. So now we have the "white stuff." Jack picked up a handy little medicine-dispensing bottle, and so far it is working pretty well. Probably 99% of the dose actually makes it down Carter's throat now. My guess for the Amoxicillin (dispensed by a medicine dropper, like an eye dropper, into his mouth) is probably 75%. So a great improvement! He is catching on to our tactic, but it still is easier than the previous struggle. This handy little device contains a syringe and a special bottle with a hole in the middle that holds the syringe. Milk goes in the bottle; medicine goes in the syringe. While baby is sucking from the bottle, just push on the syringe to inject the medicine into the milk. Keep a slow, steady pace and remember to squirt only while baby is actively sucking (otherwise, it will be squirted into his mouth and he will taste it). Works much better than the old method . . . even if we do sometimes struggle a little.