february 2005

Edward had several adventures this month, including a trip all the way to Madison, a convention, and some antibiotics.

Food and Friends

Eddie's doing great with solids now. His menu now consists of oatmeal, rice cereal, green beans, peas, squash, sweet potatoes, and carrots. Fruits (probably bananas first) are coming very soon. We had been giving him solids only once a day, but when we saw the doctor in the middle of the month, she told us we had better step things up a bit. So now it's 2 or 3 times a day.

Eddie got his first haircut this month. I'd trimmed his sideburns once, but now his hair was getting a little unruly, so I had to do something. I wet his hair down with a comb, then laid him down on a towel. David helped distract him while I trimmed the top. The hardest part was stopping before I took off too much. But I think I did an OK job.

The whole family took a strange little trip in the middle of the month. We went up to Madison on a Tuesday morning, very early. Then I spent the day working at the Kraft office Madison with the rest of my team, who are based in that office. David and Edward stayed at the hotel, hanging out in the executive lounge and playing with the wireless internet. That night, Edward stayed with a sitter while David and I went to see Stars on Ice. The next day we drove to Capricon and stayed in another Sheraton. It was a lot of fun.

He's a total flirt. This came in handy when we went to Sears to get his picture taken, as he positively beamed at the woman taking the pictures.

Development

Edward grew a lot again this month, of coursre. At his six month checkup, he weighed 17 pounds, 7 ounces. Not quite twice his birth weight, but he's doing great. He's growing out of his 3-6 month clothes one outfit at a time. One day we'll put something on him, and the next time, it won't fit. He had a growth spurt this month (along with the sleepiness and voracious appetite that comes with it). And he's got two teeth - right in the middle of his lower jaw.

He can sit up by himself really well, now, although he often tips over when reaching for toys. He's quite adept at rolling, and will now roll over and over to reach a toy. Gone are the days when we can leave him on a blanket while we run downstairs. He moves too quickly, and shows the propensity for self destruction that all babies share: I've already pulled him away from an electrical outlet. Babyproofing very soon.

He's also really working on crawling. He'll get himself up on all fours, or in a child's pose, and hurl himself forward. However, after one time that he flung himself headfirst into his little Fisher Price fishbowl, he stopped that practice for a while. I find myself comforting him more often after he's whacked himself on something or another. Just another part of the growing process.

Vocally, he's developing, too. He's started babbling more, saying things like "bababa". He has, at times, said both "dada" and "mama", but since he addresses these titles to me, David, the dog, and his foot with equal frequency, we aren't really taking it as a big milestone.

Medically Speaking

The battle with eczema continues, although we've finally gotten some progress this month. The doctor saw the crusty ick on his head at his 6 month checkup and prescribed an antibiotic. We also called Dr. Deal, his cardiologist, because she had said she wanted to hear from us if his eczema was still a problem at 6 months. When we told her what was going on, she took him off of the Propranolol. This was great news, not only because it's helped his skin greatly, but because it makes meds a LOT easier. Now we just give him a little Digoxin twice a day. Much easier. And his energy level is much higher now. We keep checking his heart rate to look out for SVT, but everything's been going fine, and Dr. Deal was confident that he'd be fine.

The biggest challenge medically was the antibiotic. We had to give him 2 teaspoons three times a day. That seemed like a lot to us, but we triple checked with Dr. Hirani, and that was the right dose. At first it wasn't a problem. Edward gulped it down just fine. But after a few days, he got mischievous. He'd just sit and giggle at us, without swallowing, after we squirted the medicine in his mouth. This made giving him the medicine take forever. The last night we had to do it, it took literally an hour to administer 2 teaspoons. It was pretty stressful, but we made it through. And now things are clearing up really well.

Back to Eddie Home