Downtowm Aquarium

Here is a photobomb of our visit to the Denver Downtown Aquarium. Nathan loved when we walked in the tunnels! This was also his 1st time sitting in his stroller!!

He looks less than thrilled at the beginning, but soon was enthralled by the fish!

By the end he was tired.

We had so much fun and can't wait to take Nathan more places as he gets older...zoo, museum, Butterfly Pavilion, etc!!

4 months old!!

Nathan James is 4 months old!

 

Weight: 14lbs 14oz (50th percentile)

Height: 26.5 inches (90th percentile)

Head Circumference: 41.75cm (40th percentile)

 

 

Eating: Nathan in averaging 20-24oz of Elecare formula a day. I was so worried that he wasn't gaining enough weight, but the pediatrician said he is doing great so I don't need to "force" any more down him :-) He still has terrible reflux and is now taking Prevacid...which seem to be working a little better than the Zantac. We still change bibs hourly and follow him around with a burp cloth! So excited for this stage to end!

 

Sleeping: This month Nathan has hit many sleep milestones!! He now sleeps 11.5 hours every night with no feedings!! Goes down around 8pm and wakes up between 7:30 and 7:45am! I am in heaven! He also mastered napping in his crib! It took A LOT of training and patience, but he now goes down between 9/9:30am and sleeps until 11/11:30am. Afternoon naps are from 1-3:00ish. No fussing, just a couple pats on the back and his lullaby seahorse :-)

 

Playing: So fun watching Nathan become independent! He loves just about anything you put in front of him...plastic rings, O ball, crocodile on wheels, books, etc. He gets the most enjoyment out of sitting in his bumbo with an assortment of toys to pick from. Tickling his toes and playing with his legs gets the biggest belly laugh from him. He also LOVES books and can stay entertained for quite some time...James has decided his favorite book is "The Barnyard Dance"!

 

4 Month Memories:

- Nathan is a great traveler...sleeps great in the pack'n play anywhere!!

- 1st Vacation: Vail, CO

- 1st holiday: Halloween...he dressed up as a football!

- Recognizes the sound of his bottle being made and smiles.
- Peekaboo entertains him for longer than I can/want to play ;-)

- Loves the sound of wrapping paper being torn.

- 1st time being babysat...Granny B and Grandpa watched him while we had a date night!! Had a 40 minute scream session, but other than that did great!

- Removed the head support and raised the straps in his car seat...getting to be a big boy!

- Did great during his 4 month shots, but the next day came down with a fever (102*) finally went away after several rounds of Tylenol and a warm bath.

- Finding clothes that fit is nearly impossible...he currently wears 0-3months, 3months, 3-6months and 6 month clothes...thank goodness for Once Upon A Child!! Oh, and still in Size 1 Pamper Swaddlers.

- Eczema has taken over his body :-( He has really bad patches behind is elbows, knees, under his chin and on his scalp.

 

If I can reach it I put it in my mouth!

I have a hold of 2 toys and I want them BOTH in my
mouth...how am I going to accomplish this?!

 

 

These two had so much fun playing peekaboo!

 

1st Family Vacation...Vail, Colorado

September 30th was the end of the fiscal year for James' work (not to mention the beginning of the furlough) so we had some extra days as a family. We took advantage of it and went on our first family vacation!! We weren't sure how Nathan would do, but he was a great traveler!! He adjusted well to sleeping in the pack'n play and kept somewhat to his napping/eating schedule. Here are some pictures from our wonderful getaway:

Bundled up for the cold mountain weather!
There was snow on the ground when we got
there, but it never snowed on us.

The view from our balcony.

 

Beautiful Lionshead Village (during off-season everything is
shut down though)

My boys at the base of one of the ski runs.

Our hotel lobby.

This is what I found when I got out of the
shower...apparently Nathan blew out his diaper!

Reading a nighttime story..."Old MacDonald Had a Farm"



Hanging out in the old ski lift.

 We had a wonderful 1st vacation and look forward to many more trips and memories!

3 Months Old!

3 months and counting!!

 

 

Weight: 13lbs 0.04oz (24th percentile)

Length: didn't get measured

 

Eating: Oh boy, feeding Nathan is still challenging. We are exclusively feeding him Elecare which is an amino acid based formula and I am happy to say that his bloody stools have completely gone away!! However the formula gives Nathan really bad reflux so we tired Zantac...didn't work. He is now on Previcid, but I don't see a difference. Switched to Dr. Browns bottles...the only change is he eats much slower! The poor kid lives in a bib and always has a burp cloth next to him! Laundry is part of my daily routine :-)

 

Sleeping: Nathan has slept through the night quite a bit this past month!! His bedtime routine is set...James gives him a bottle at 8pm and he goes down in his crib afterwards with no fuss! Depending on the night he either wakes up around 3am to eat and again at 6am OR he sleeps until 5am!! Every morning he wakes up at 8am pretty much on the dot. Naps are a whole other story...ugh! We at least have a nap schedule...10am and 2/3pm. But he still refuses to sleep in his crib. Quite often I find myself snuggling him for several hours while he sleeps...great for me, but bad for the future!

 

Playing: Oh how I love to play with Nathan!! We do so much during the day that it wares me out ;-) He still loves his playmat and can grab onto all the animals now, so much so that he refuses to let go of them! He tells then stories and sucks on them. He has gained so much strength this month...sitting in the bumbo is great for story time or practicing holding objects, plus he still loves to talk to himself in the mirror. Just recently we set up his exersaucer and he LOVES it! He was always pulling himself up to standing position when we would hold him so we thought he was ready for the "big kid" toy. We haven't put the batteries in it yet, but he is still in awe of the bright objects. It gives me 15-20  minute chunks to accomplish things around the house, plus James and I can usually eat dinner in peace!

 

 

Watching Daddy put together his exersaucer.

 

3 month memories:

- has the biggest open-mouth laugh

- drools like there is no tomorrow...might be teething!

- loves bath time...we now place the baby tub in the bathtub since he has learned to splash!

- his hair is falling out :-(

- prefers his hand over a pacifier

- his favorite books are "Fluffy Chick and Friends" and "The Wheels on the Bus"

- we now use cloth diapers when at home...his poop is so runny that we tend to blow out the sides and don't want to deal with that in public. HOWEVER, he is now blowing out his disposables also...very funny watching James change his diaper in the backseat of the car when there is poop everywhere :-D

 

**Sorry for the lack of pictures this month...I have noticed in previous posts that the pictures that I take on my phone aren't showing up, so I am going to try and get better at taking pictures with my camera!!

 

 



** Snow Cute **

We got our 1st snow fall of the season today and it was a good one...several inches! Most melted off the streets and driveways by mid afternoon, but the grass and decks are snow white! As I write, small flakes are still falling. We took Nathan outside for a few minutes to enjoy the snow and get cute pictures in his snowsuit! Can't wait for more winter wonderland scenes.



 

 

It was so cold, big difference from yesterday's 60*.

 

Feeding Nathan

I knew that feeding a Lyle boy would be a challenge, but I didn't expect that challenge to occur right after birth...I was expecting it when Nathan was older and eating me out of house and home ;-)

Nathan was born via C-section and so he was given a bottle right away while I was in recovery (no big deal). My milk took a bit to come in so we supplemented with formula while at the hospital. He dropped over 10% of his birth weight in the first few days, but gradually began to pack it back on. By time we were released from the hospital Nathan was in the 50th percentile for weight and was being exclusively breastfed!! I was so excited!

About 3 weeks after Nathan was born we started to notice blood in his stools. We took him to the pediatrician and the diagnosis was that he was allergic to cow's protein. I then went on a VERY strict diet...no dairy, whey, soy, etc. I was reading labels left and right and found that everything in my normal diet contained some form of cow's protein, so I pretty much went on a veggie and meat diet. After 2 weeks of breastfeeding Nathan while not eating cow's protein the bloody stools were still there...and getting worse! In fact one day I changed 6 bloody diapers in a span of 4 hours...I was a nervous mommy so off to the ER we went when James got home. At the ER they did many tests and x-rays on the little guy...he was such a trooper! The ped doctor on duty decided to put Nathan on Nutramigen (a formula that is for babies with a severe allergy to cow's protein, soy, etc.) I stopped breastfeeding and we tried the new formula out. Again after 2 weeks we hadn't seen much of a change so the pediatrician in Cheyenne sent us to Children's Hospital in Denver to see a gastroenterologist. Lucky for us, Nathan had a blow-out diaper during the appointment that contained blood so they were able to see what was happening. The GI doctor does not think any of this is hurting Nathan since he is a happy baby, doesn't cry when his stomach is pushed on and has wet/poppy diapers often. Since Nutramigen didn't seem to work there maybe a more severe allergy than originally suspected. The problem is there is no way to test for that. However there is a formula that is given to babies/kids when  the allergy is unknown. So now Nathan is on Elecare...it smells terrible, makes him spit up constantly thus he is always hungry and cannot be found at any grocery store or pharmacy!

Since starting the process of seeing doctors Nathan's weight has gone from a healthy 50th percentile on the bell curve down to the 35th percentile. Since he is still young we don't know what "curve" he is going to stay on, so this is a bit of a concern and his weight has to be monitored. After 2 weeks of being on Elecare we will go in for a weight check, at 3 weeks we will check in with the GI pediatrician and at 4 weeks we will make a decision as to whether or not more testing needs to be done. I am happy to report that Nathan has only had 5 bloody stools in the past 6 days!!! Please pray that we have found the answer and that Nathan will grow out of this allergy (most babies do by the age of one).

I will spare you the bloody diaper pics (yes, I took pictures to show the doctors!) and share with you our little trooper during his ER and doctors visits:



       

   

ER visit



2 months old!!

Time is flying by...Nathan is 2 months old already!

 

Weight: 11 lbs 4 oz (35%)

Height: 24.25 inches (90%)

Head Circumference: 39cm (25%)

 

Eating: Nathan is still a great eater, but unfortunately we have had to do some experimenting with breastfeeding and formula due to Nathan having bloody stools. He is being seen by a GI doctor at Children's Hospital in Denver and we are working on a solution (I will blog about that later).

 

Sleeping: With the change in Nathan's feeding schedule came a change in his sleeping schedule :-( He does pretty good at night...James feeds him a bottle at 8:00pm and lays him down in his crib, then Nathan wakes up some time between 1:30-3:00am to eat and goes back down until 6:00ish to eat and then sleeps in until 8:00ish. Naptime however is totally on Nathan's schedule...when he is sleepy he naps. I have tried everything in my power to set a naptime routine, but he refuses to sleep in his crib. Crying it out hasn't worked (even after 3 hours!), placing him in his swing sometimes work, but mostly he likes to be snuggled up in someone's arms during his naps. He usually takes a 1-1.5 hr nap in the morning and a 2-3hr nap in the afternoon.

 

Playing: Nathan has come leaps and bounds this month in playing...so fun to watch what he learns each day!! He still loves his play mat and has recently learned how to purposefully grab his lion and pull it towards his mouth! The dragon fly still gives his legs a great workout. Tummy time is not so bad anymore especially if he is using his boppy. He has gotten really strong in his head and neck muscles so we are now having bumbo time. We place the chair in front of a mirror and watch him interact with himself :-) He loves to "stand" in one of our laps and dance around while making silly faces.

 

 

 



2 month memories:

- recognizes mommy and daddy and gives up great big smiles we he hears/sees one of us!

- tries to copy facial expressions you make with him...especially sticking out your tongue (thanks James!)

- such a trooper during doctors appointments...especially 2 month shots!

- stops smiling, talking, giggling, etc when the camera comes out...bummer :-(

- has discovered that his hand makes a pretty good toy...sucks on it constantly and prefers it over a paci.

- he has learned to roll onto his side and then over to his back again...it makes him giggle.

Really mommy...I am 2 months old already?!
This out of the womb thing is pretty fun!