Week Forty Three Glance...

Week Forty Three Glance (Monday, January 14th - Sunday, January 20th, 2008)

• Although, Alexander was starting to feel better, it still was a very lowkey week. For some reason, we didn't take nearly as many pictures as we normally do and we didn't do a whole lot besides school, naps, baths, crawling, standing & playing.
• Feeling better but the cough & runny nose was present in the beginning of the week, disappeared by the end
• Slept well this week (in his crib for the whole night)
• Drinking whole milk now
• Eating three meals a day: Breakfast is Oatmeal w/applesauce, lunch is veggies w/water in a sippy cup and a cookie, PM snack is fruit w/water in his sippy cup and sometimes gerber puffs or more recently saltines
• Had his first official full Snow Day - stayed home from school with both Mommy & Daddy (even though Mommy had every intention of going in)
• Last neb treatment on Monday
• Doing very well at pulling himself up to a stand and even starting to want to move from one thing to another.
• Was standing against his toy bin in his room and turned around and took one step towards me with his hands out
• He has a very good week at school - he did a fantastic job playing and even went down the mini-slide in his room (when I say slide I mean very small mini-slide) and loved it.
• He still didn't drink his bottles well - he wouldn't finish about 75% of them.
• Loves bathtime - especially when he can splash water all over the place
• His new smile/grin is the best!
• Mommy forgot to leave the carseat at school on Tuesday so Daddy didn't have one when he went to pick him up - Mommy had to bring the carseat to Daddy @ school
• Napped with Miss Jaritza on Thursday, didn't want her to put him down
• He didn't drink well on Friday at all. He had half of what he should have. (Dr M said that if he has less than half for more than 3 days then it would concern him - we haven't gotten to that at all)
• Had a vey lowkey but nice weekend at home.
• When crawling, he has an uncanny way of sitting RIGHT NEXT to a door, corner of a table, his dresser, etc. He won't sit where there is room, but almost as if he's trying to get on top of whatever he's sitting next to. Thankfully, we haven't had any major bumping of the head.
• Saturday & Sunday, just napped, played, and all the other normal stuff
• Sunday, we watched the Patriots game & they won!! They're going to the Super Bowl. He outgrew his Patriots shirt so now he needs a jersey to help celebrate the Super Bowl trip.
• Loved the bath Sunday night and then crawled around his room before bed.
• Loves to read his books - his favorite is the Sesame Street Look & Find from Bridget
• Sunday night, after his bath he got his first real trim. The front of his hair was getting into his eyes and the sides over his ears were growing over his ears. So I trimmed his hair and he didn't seem to mind, but he was distracted.

Say Cheese...

Over the past week or so, Alexander has developed a new smile. It is the cutest yet funniest smile. It's almost as if he has the 'say cheese' thing down pat. The best thing is that he's starting to do this now all the time. Once he answers a question with a yes, then he'll grin at you. And if you smile or laugh he'll keep grinning. I love it.

Snow Day... Again.

Alexander has his first full official snow day. Although the snow day was called in before the snow even started, Alexander is staying home with Daddy today.

Mommy has to go into work, but I won't be staying the whole day - plus the roads are supposed to get worse and we're expected to get 8-15" when it's all said & done.

Good Grief...

Week Forty Two Pictures ...

Week Forty Two Pictures (Monday, January 7th - Sunday, January 13th)...

Can you tell the poor guy is miserable????

Week Forty Two Pictures...

Week Forty Two Pictures (Monday, January 7th - Sunday, January 13th)...

We didn't take a ton of pictures this week, because he really was under the weather for the entire week.

Week Forty Two Glance

Week Forty Two Glance (Monday, January 7th - Sunday, January 13th)

• Not a lot this week due to his cold
• Started to feel really crappy on Sunday and then had a full fledge cold by Monday
• Went to the Dr. on Tuesday
• Dr. M thought he may have RSV, but thankfully it came back negative
• Has to do nebulizer treatments to help with the wheezing & breathing
• The one good thing about being sick is that his cheeks have not been red or chapped all week
• Temperature has fluctuated from 98.4 to 100.8, Motrin has helped
• Medicine: Motrin, Neb Treatment, Vicks Rub & used humidifer in his room every night
• Stayed home Monday, Tuesday & Friday, went to school on Wednesday & Thursday
• Alyson came over on Friday to watch him
• Didn't do a great job with eating this week, not very into solids or finishing his bottles
• Napped well at home when he felt really crappy, barely napped when at school
• He's been crawling all over the place, when he's feeling up for it- working on baby-proofing the house
• Waves hi & bye
• Nods yes & no
• Rolls his tongue all sorts of ways
• No teeth yet
• Went out shopping & errands with Mommy on Saturday (Outlets & Target)
• Got some buckets to help organize his toys in the office & his room
• Playoff Football this weekend: Patriots & Giants both won and advance to next week... Daddy got HD
• For some strange & welcomed reason, Alexander slept til 6:45am both Saturday & Sunday. It was such a nice feeling to be able to sleep past 5:30am on the weekend.
• Alyson & Grammie came over on Sunday
• Went to Target & Babies R Us (for Gates)
• Alexander still not feeling all that great but definitely getting better - he was in the best mood on Sunday from the whole week
• Alyson & Grammie gave Alexander a bath and played with all his new tub toys
• Gave Alexander his 2nd to last neb treatment tonight
• We prepared (Daddy worried) for the next big snow storm which is planned for Sunday night into Monday

Finally (posts updated)

All Christmas posts (Christmas in NJ, Christmas Day, & Spaulding Family Christmas) entries have been completed and with pictures!

Thank goodness - now I'm completely up to date with his blog!

Cold Update...

Wanted to post an update on Alexander's (really bad) cold...I'm happy to report that he's much better. He is still not 100% but he's better than he was earlier in the week. Monday & Tuesday he stayed home from school and on Tuesday afternoon we took him to see Dr. M. He went to school Wednesday & Thursday however he was not a happy camper. He still felt really crappy, coughing, wouldn't eat nor nap. Afternoons really seem to be the worst for him. He gets MISERABLE. He won't nap, eat, and he cries pretty hard. You can be holding him and trying to comfort him, but he still will cry & scream. His slight fever came back Thursday afternoon.

We've been doing the neb treatments twice a day and depending on how he feels will decide how much he fights it. But I do feel that it's been helping the wheezing. After talking with some of the teachers in Alexander's class, I found out that one of the little girls has been out all week, the other little boy has the same cold Alexander & left early on Thursday with a fever. So it's definitely going around in full force. Because his fever came back and he wasn't feeling great, he stayed home again on Friday. This time, Auntie Alyson came over to spend the day with him. He still wasn't eating all that well but he was sleeping. That's when you know he's under the weather, because he turns into a champion sleeper. He slept for 90 minutes in the morning and then for 3 hours in the afternoon. Then he had an afternoon freakout moment but ended up freaking out enough to make himself fall back to sleep. He slept much better last night and didn't have a fever.

Since he was in much better spirits, he & I went out for a Mommy & Alexander day. We went to the Outlets & Target and he was in a great mood the entire time. He was even waving to women in Coach who kept calling him cute - he's a little flirt. I'm hoping he's on the mend and not in a small relapse which will then get worse. I'm hoping the cold is on it's way out. Fingers crossed.

Here are a few pictures of us giving him his neb treatment. We tried to do it while he was in his jumperoo - sometimes not all that easy. Especially when jumping.

LVS

Doctor Visit...

As I mentioned in the Week Forty One recap, Alexander started feeling under the weather on Sunday. He seemed to get progressively worse throughout the night - coughing, runny nose, phelgm, congestion, wheezing - typical crappy cold symptoms. But on top of those he had a fever, constant fussiness, sleeping often but not quality sleep, & not really wanting/able to eat. He certainly wasn't himself. One minute he'd be okay, the next minute he would sit on your lap crying quite hard with tears streaming down his face, then he would want to cuddle up on your shoulder.

Sunday night he didn't sleep well and was constantly coughing, moving around, trying to breathe, and whimpering in his sleep. Monday night was about the same but not as constant. So, he stayed home from school on Monday & Tuesday. I stayed with him Monday morning and then Dan came home to take the afternoon shift as I had a mandatory meeting I had to attend at work. Dan then stayed home with him all day on Tuesday.

I figured I'd see how he was on Monday and maybe it was just a quick passing cold, but if he was still the same or worse, I'd call the doctor. Since there wasn't a lot of change I thought it would be a good idea to bring him in. Thankfully we did. Lee (Dr. M’s wife) was very happy we did and she even said “you are very in tuned with your little one”

Dr M said he doesn’t just have a minor cold but because of his symptoms he is under the notion that he has RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus). His wheezing was pretty bad so thankfully Dr. M was able to hear it which helped determine that it wasn’t just a cold. He swabbed his nose to send to the lab to confirm RSV – we should hear back tonight or tomorrow by the latest. (Results came back from the lab and RSV is negative so the poor guy just has a really bad cold.)You could tell he wasn’t himself because one minute he would be fine and babble and then the next minute he would scream and cry pretty hard for no reason. He was miserable when Dr. M was just listening to his lungs. He didn’t have a temperature as we were there but he was warm. Dr said with this it’s quite common for the temp to go up & down several times. He also said that this is probably going to get worse before better because he’s only in Day 3 of a usual 8 Day long process.

We had a nebulizer treatment there in the office – and thankfully didn’t have to use a mask because I don't think Alexander would have taken to that but instead put the medicine/vapors in front of his face. He gave us one for home to use when he gets wheezy and unable to eat or settle down. He told us to use it about every 4 hours if he's really bad or when needed, especially right before bed. Dan seems pretty freaked out by the whole thing but my thinking is if we do this when needed then it will help reduce the risk of severe breathing problems where he’ll have to go to the ER.

What was cute was when we started to pack up to leave, Alexander would wave to Dr M. He did this a few times and Dr M seemed to get a kick out of this - although he sees this all the time, I'm sure.

Dan brought him home and the little guy wouldn't sleep so he hung out with Daddy for the rest of the afternoon. Once I got home, I gave him a bath which I was hoping would relax him a little before we did his next treatment. After his bath, he had some Motrin, his treatment (which he wasn't all that excited or happy for), Saline for his nose & Vicks on his chest. We certainly tried to front-load all of the preventive options so he won't be miserable for too long.

He's sleeping now but he keeps coughing, wheezing, and trying to breathe thru the snot. Hopefully the humidifer will kick in like it started to last night.

Week Forty One Pictures...

Week Forty One Pictures...Monday, December 31st, 2007 - Sunday, January 6th, 2008

Week Forty One Pictures...

Week Forty One Pictures...Monday, December 31st, 2007 - Sunday, January 6th, 2008

Week Forty One Glance...

Week Forty One Glance...Monday, December 31st, 2007 - Sunday, January 6th, 2008

Happy New Year!

• Overall a very good week with lots of new things!
• Celebrated his first New Years Eve - even woke up in time for the ball to drop
• Played out in the snow with both Mommy on Monday and Daddy on Tuesday - liked the snow & his sled, not too fond of his snowsuit
• Slept much better this week than the previous week, even spent 4 entire nights in a row in his crib
• CRAWLING - Alexander is on the move. He started crawling around his room on Jan 2nd.
• He's been crawling all over the house since then...getting better as each day goes by
• Short week at school but he did very well as he started full-time in Miss Dannielle's class
• Did a great job of playing with the other kids (some new ones, others that were in his room with Miss Linda)
• Transitioning nicely into the new room, eating well and napping is pretty good (didn't nap all that great, but it's expected until he gets use to the new room)
• Had 3 meals each day along with a cookie for a snack (ontop of his bottles) and ate well
• Had his 9 Month Dr appt on Saturday and did very well
• Walked around the Mall with Mommy & Daddy - loved to look at everything
• Tried some cheese & water as a snack while at the mall
• Went to visit Uncle Steve & Aunt Carolyn after his appt & the mall - it was nice to see Cousin Chris & Will (got a cute Charlie Brown Christmas book)
• Tried Milk for the first time with no problems! Got the OK from Dr. M to start giving him whole milk as opposed to formula
• Grampie, Grammie & Alyson came over on Sunday to visit and see all of Alexander's new toys
• Alexander showed them how he crawls
• Alexander not feeling all that great (runny nose, fussy - may be coming down with a cold)
• Went out to Longhorns' for lunch and sat in a high chair for the first time (in public). He liked sitting at the table, but because he wasn't feeling all that well, he didn't want to sit in it long.
• Tried bread, BBQ sauce and some of Mommy's desert and would gulp down anything I put in his mouth - except his own baby food. Wasn't that interested in his own food.
• Grammie & Alyson gave him a bath where they all played with his new toys
• Got very fussy & upset because he's not feeling well at all
  Went to bed very quickly Sunday night - asleep 45 minutes before he's usually asleep and without a fuss!

Good Stuff:

• Full fledge crawling now - time to really baby-proof the house
• Doing very well with eating and showing an interest in more food & big boy food
• Had milk and seems to have no adverse reaction
• Pulling himself up in his crib and can get back down
• Waves hi & bye and is starting to do it at the right times
• Gives hi-fives & giggles when you do them to him
• Nods yes & no and will also nods yes or no at the appropriate questions
• Says da-da and starting to say ba-ba

9 Month Doctor Visit...

Alexander had his 9-Month Doctor appointment today. There were no shots at this appointment so it was going to be quicker & easier. It was also quicker because there were only 3 babies instead of 4. One of the babies had a family engagement that could not be rescheduled, but thankfully they didn't drop out of the group. We'll see them again at their year appointment. The other two moms were happy to hear, as I was, that they didn't drop out because we liked them all.

We covered the vitals, eating, sleeping, development & any concerns. Each baby seemed to really be doing quite well. They were all sleeping pretty regularly, eating well and all were developing nicely. It was cute to see them interact, yell, and scream with each other, and they would jabber on when another would make noise.

Dr. M & his wife were quite happy at their progress and how they're developing. They were observing how their motor skills, interaction & stranger anxiety all played out. Alexander & the little girl did very well and the other baby was only slightly concerned but as long as he was able to see his Mom, he seemed ok.

Alexander loves Dr. M. I don't know if it's his deep voice or his mustache, but he just looks & stares intently when Dr. M talks. Especially if Dr. M is examining Alexander, he just looks up at him. It's quite cute. Alexander did well but of course the kid wouldn't wheeze so Dr. M could hear. We brought that up as our concern that he still wheezes daily. Dr. M's philosophy is that if it's not altering his life or making him unhappy or unable to function they why mess with it. Since there's no fluids in his lungs, he would much rather see how it plays out then put the kid on medication or treatments. Although I completely understand his logic, I just wish I knew why he was wheezey and why it's worse sometimes but not others.

Overall, it was a quick visit with a clean bill of health. Here are the vital stats from his Dr. Appt:
Weight: 18 lbs 14 oz; Length: 28"; Head: 43.2 cm

(Although our Doctor doesn't believe in telling us percentiles, I looked up his info just to get an idea... Length = between percentile 25 and 50 & Weight = between percentile 10 and 25)

Afternoon Fun...

On The Move...

Alexander did some crawling again this evening, all over his room! And this time, I was smart enough to bring my camera upstairs to capture it!

He started in the middle of the room again - made a beeline for his books. Then he turned around and headed towards me standing near his closet (opposite side of the room), then he turned around and headed towards Dan who was sitting in the middle of the room. He did exceptionally well!! I felt so proud to be his mom.