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| I'm staring to get the hang of this crawling thing. |
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| "Mom, Dad, these blankets you've been sticking me on just aren't going to cut it anymore." |
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| This is my new kissy face. Dad is not a fan. |
July 12, 2011
Moving Day
No, we aren't moving. (We wish.) But Ayden is. A few days ago, Ayden took his first couple crawling "steps" (is there an actual term for that when it comes to crawling?). He doesn't go very far before he plops back down. Nonetheless, he is officially on the move.
Watching him learning to crawl is really amazing. Over the last week and a half, each day he has seemed to figure out the next little step. Now, we have reached the point where his play blankets are essentially obsolete. We knew that time was coming. We are prepared to make the necessary cleanliness changes (keeping the floors vacuumed and mopped, not walking around in our shoes, etc.).
One thing we didn't plan on: we need to either get away from the chocolate flavored - which is to say, chocolate colored - formula or we will be replacing our living room carpet (at least) at some point. No play blanket means it'll be a lot harder to keep his various throw up/vomit incidents off the carpet. And chocolate colored throw up doesn't really mix all that well with light carpet. One can only hope that he'll get this eating thing worked out - and thus be able to move beyond a solely liquid diet - before our carpet is completely ruined.
July 11, 2011
Temper that Temper
Allison has mentioned Ayden's tendency to get frustrated when things aren't going his way. For a while, this trait manifested itself when Ayden was trying to (unsuccessfully) accomplish something. In the past, that usually occurred when he was attempting to manipulate one of his toys in a particular way. Of late, it's been clear to us he is frustrated by not being able to move (though he's getting there - see here) and by not being able to communicate (there have been times when he really seems to be trying to tell us something). This is understandable, of course.
However, Ayden's frustration at times has turned into tantrums. Not only are those not understandable, they are not acceptable. Unfortunately (for all of us), Ayden's more extreme temper tantrums have started to end with him vomiting. For example, a few days ago Allison needed to put his shirt on. He was doing his own thing in the floor and did not appreciate the interruption. He threw a fit and then threw up.
We had the same problem over the July 4th weekend before we left for the pool one morning. He was not pleased with the sunscreen application process, got mad, and threw up. That time, he threw up his feeding tube - i.e., the tip of the tube, which is supposed to be in his stomach, comes out his mouth - in addition to his formula.
I wish I could say this throwing up the tube business was an isolated incident, but it's not. It's probably happened close to five times in the last two weeks. To be fair to Ayden, not all have been a result of his temper. Most have been directly attributable to him gagging himself with his finger because he's teething again. Others are due to his newfound mobility. Yesterday, he was up, down, around, over, etc. in such quick succession, he shook himself up a little too much (remember, all he gets in his liquid, which just sloshes around in his stomach as he moves), and up came the tube.
The teething seems to have subsided, so the frequency of these incidents has thankfully decreased over the last few days. That doesn't change the fact that he has received several "talkings to" regarding his temper and how to appropriately react to something he does not like or want. In other words, we have been telling him he needs to temper his temper.
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| I've had two (maybe three) more teeth come in. I'm now up to at least 10. |
However, Ayden's frustration at times has turned into tantrums. Not only are those not understandable, they are not acceptable. Unfortunately (for all of us), Ayden's more extreme temper tantrums have started to end with him vomiting. For example, a few days ago Allison needed to put his shirt on. He was doing his own thing in the floor and did not appreciate the interruption. He threw a fit and then threw up.
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| All these tubeless pictures, like the ones from the pool, are because I keep throwing up my tube. |
We had the same problem over the July 4th weekend before we left for the pool one morning. He was not pleased with the sunscreen application process, got mad, and threw up. That time, he threw up his feeding tube - i.e., the tip of the tube, which is supposed to be in his stomach, comes out his mouth - in addition to his formula.
I wish I could say this throwing up the tube business was an isolated incident, but it's not. It's probably happened close to five times in the last two weeks. To be fair to Ayden, not all have been a result of his temper. Most have been directly attributable to him gagging himself with his finger because he's teething again. Others are due to his newfound mobility. Yesterday, he was up, down, around, over, etc. in such quick succession, he shook himself up a little too much (remember, all he gets in his liquid, which just sloshes around in his stomach as he moves), and up came the tube.
The teething seems to have subsided, so the frequency of these incidents has thankfully decreased over the last few days. That doesn't change the fact that he has received several "talkings to" regarding his temper and how to appropriately react to something he does not like or want. In other words, we have been telling him he needs to temper his temper.
July 4, 2011
A Holiday and a Visitor
Over the July 4th holiday, Gran made the long drive from Maryland to visit Ayden. As always, he enjoyed having someone different to play with and keep him entertained. And, as always, Allison and I enjoyed getting a break from having to be the only ones to play with him and keep him entertained.
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| Dad gave me some Kleenex to play with after he had to wipe my nose (again). |
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| Gran brought me some new toys to play with, including this cool school bus. I've already ripped the door off several times. |
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| Knocking over the blocks Gran has stacked sure is fun. |
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| I don't know what this thing is, but I like it. |
Pool Party
Over the July 4th weekend, we visited Uncle Jesse and Aunt Sherry's pool a couple of times. Ayden got to enjoy the water, and spend some time with family.
July 1, 2011
"Gesundheit"
Despite our extensive efforts to keep our home as germ free as possible, we were recently unable to keep away a summer cold. From all of us.
Allison went down first. The pediatrician's instructions were for her to have no direct contact with Ayden. So, she stayed quarantined in our bedroom, only venturing when he was asleep. I had to take a Thursday and Friday off work so I could do my best Mr. Mom impression. For three and a half days, I was the 24 hour caregiver. I changed every diaper, did every feed, wiped every post-sneeze nose (Ayden developed cold symptoms during this time, too), cleaned up every spit up/throw up/vomit, etc. By day four, I was very glad Allison was starting to feel better. I have a whole new appreciation for single parents. I don't know how they do it all, all the time.
While Allison was confined to her cold prison, I slept on the couch in the hopes of avoiding getting sick. No such luck. Given that I was around him all the time for almost four days, Ayden probably gave it to me, not Allison. I managed to get the mildest version. I had a scratchy throat and some sneezing, but never really felt bad. Ayden and Allison had a harder time of it.
In the end, Ayden coped with his first cold quite admirably. There were times when it was obvious he did not feel good. Things seemed to be the worst after he had just woken up (I'm guessing all the gunk that had accumulated in his sinuses while he was sleeping was draining into his throat after he awoke). Overall, though, he went about his days in much the same way as he normally does, albeit with a bunch of additional sneezing (his nose never ran, possibly because he was ejecting huge globs of snot via the sneezes). For anyone with young children, I highly recommend buying a product called "Boogie Wipes" for when they get sick. I probably wiped Ayden's 40+ times. It never got raw.
While we would never want him to be sick, it was encouraging to see that his oxygen levels could stay normal (for him), despite the cold. We checked him several times during the week or so that he was under the weather in some form, each time wondering if the numbers we would see would dictate a trip to the hospital. They didn't. And that's the most important thing.
Allison went down first. The pediatrician's instructions were for her to have no direct contact with Ayden. So, she stayed quarantined in our bedroom, only venturing when he was asleep. I had to take a Thursday and Friday off work so I could do my best Mr. Mom impression. For three and a half days, I was the 24 hour caregiver. I changed every diaper, did every feed, wiped every post-sneeze nose (Ayden developed cold symptoms during this time, too), cleaned up every spit up/throw up/vomit, etc. By day four, I was very glad Allison was starting to feel better. I have a whole new appreciation for single parents. I don't know how they do it all, all the time.
While Allison was confined to her cold prison, I slept on the couch in the hopes of avoiding getting sick. No such luck. Given that I was around him all the time for almost four days, Ayden probably gave it to me, not Allison. I managed to get the mildest version. I had a scratchy throat and some sneezing, but never really felt bad. Ayden and Allison had a harder time of it.
In the end, Ayden coped with his first cold quite admirably. There were times when it was obvious he did not feel good. Things seemed to be the worst after he had just woken up (I'm guessing all the gunk that had accumulated in his sinuses while he was sleeping was draining into his throat after he awoke). Overall, though, he went about his days in much the same way as he normally does, albeit with a bunch of additional sneezing (his nose never ran, possibly because he was ejecting huge globs of snot via the sneezes). For anyone with young children, I highly recommend buying a product called "Boogie Wipes" for when they get sick. I probably wiped Ayden's 40+ times. It never got raw.
While we would never want him to be sick, it was encouraging to see that his oxygen levels could stay normal (for him), despite the cold. We checked him several times during the week or so that he was under the weather in some form, each time wondering if the numbers we would see would dictate a trip to the hospital. They didn't. And that's the most important thing.
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