Walkin', Readin' and Kissin' Fridge

So the last time we spoke Brady had begun to crawl. Well, he has certainly sped things up since then. Sometimes his little legs are too slow for him, so he just plows forward with this upper body, dragging his knees and legs behind him. Now his favorite thing to do is WALK! He'll pull himself up on his cozy coupe walker over and over, walk himself into a corner and back himself out again. He can swing that walker around a full 180 degrees and keep on going. The only real obstacle he's found is his big brother, Billy. That big, sweet lug. He just lays there on the floor while Brady tries to push the walker through him.

Brady also loves to get into trouble, though he doesn't know yet that he's being naughty. More often than not, you can find Brady crawling toward the dogs' water bowl and trying to knock it over. He also loves to feed his food to his puppies. They are very gentle. And he loves to dive head first into the dog bed. Hopefully the dogs aren't in the bed when he goes for it. Emma has started treating Brady like a puppy. Most of the time, she tries to distract him by giving him lots of kisses. This is usually effective in shifting his attention. However, if she's pumped up, she'll kiss him so hard he falls over. But Brady adores her. She is his favorite thing in the whole house. He looks for her in the morning when he wakes up.

It's becoming a little more difficult to put him to bed. He just doesn't want to quit. He goes from full-speed crawl, to full-out fuss, to fast-asleep in less than 15 minutes. I could do without the full-out fuss. Thankfully, Brady still enjoys his bedtime books. It always quiets him down. Brady has even learned to turn the pages. Here are a bunch of our favorites:

Little Quack
The Pokey Little Puppy
But Not The Hippopotamus
The Going To Bed Book
Pajama Time

Brady is branching out in a big way with regard to his cuisine. Since he started eating solid foods at school (with the proper authorization from the doctor - because he is less than a year), Brady has added to his list of explored foods - bean burritos, chicken salad, macaroni and cheese, fish sticks, and lots of fruits and vegetables. I also fed him some grits yesterday. He *really* loved them. Too bad they were mine!

Brady also spent a long weekend with his Grammy and Poppie. Mom and Dad went to a beautiful wedding in Puerto Rico. Brady played all day without a nap, ran his grandparents ragged and refused to go to bed on time. Sounds about perfect, huh? Yup! We also came home to a new toy. Brady loves it! Unfortunately, the dogs love the balls. We already need replacements. Let's just say, these balls don't roll anymore. Brady also started kissing the fridge door. It's possible that he just likes how cold and smooth it is. However, I strongly suspect that he can see his own reflection and he's giving himself kisses.

So everyone survived their time apart. Of course, we were more concerned with the mama than the baby. So when can we do it again!? ;o)

Time Flies...

...when you're a man on the move!

Brady has been preparing for mobility for a solid 2 months. He's been rocking on his hands and tummy, pulling himself up on things and learning to stand on two feet and balance. We had to lower his crib to the lowest setting because he now loves to stand up in bed! While we were visiting Greaty, Grammy and Poppy for the Fourth, he pushed up from his hands and tummy to his hands and knees. Surely crawling wasn't far behind. On July 10th, just shy of 10 months, he did it! This kid is mobile! Check it out here. He is so pleased with himself. Life has certainly gotten better for him. If you didn't think it possible, he's even happier than he used to be. He can go where he wants!

Brady's daycare also put together a small parade around the parking lot for the fourth of July. It was called the Red White and Blue Parade. Brady's teachers had to wake him from nap for the event. Nevertheless, he was a cheerful participant andh is festive headress stayed on for the better part of the parade - except for a few gusts of wind. After an excellent kiddy rendition of "This Land is Your Land" and a couple hundred photos care of Dad, Brady went back to playtime and Mom and Dad went back to work. Boo!

Brady went on another plane ride to see his grandpa/mas. Again, he was an angel. He played, smiled and laughed the better part of the first flight and he slept on the return flight. While we were out there, he attempted to watch his first fireworks show, but fell fast asleep well beforehand.

We are still adventuring with food. We've expanded our vistas to include hot dog buns, noodles, cottage cheese and small pieces of sliced cheese.

"School"

If I haven't said it before, Brady loves his school! This is his class...or was his class two months ago. It's quite different these days. There are 17 kids in class, which is max capacity. There are a TON of new babies, three Ryans (this picture only shows two) and I believe the girl babies now outnumber the boys. Brady is still the one and only - the infamous second Brady never showed! Our boy is now one of the big kids, spending most of his time on the carpet playing with the mobile kids and getting frustrated that he can't keep up yet. He's also old enough for art! Check it out here. Man, it seems like just yesterday he was the new guy. I bet we'll be saying that a lot.

p.s. If you look real close at this picture, you'll notice the lovely knot on Brady's forehead courtesy of his mama who decided to let him smack his head on his changing table the morning of picture day. Being responsible for your child's injury sucks...a lot.

First Father's Day

Brady sure knows how to make his dad feel special! He let him sleep until 8:00am! And even better than that, Brady kept Tim company the whole time. We continued the celebration with a pancake breakfast. Brady had a couple pieces along with some watermelon. It was off-putting to his novice palate at first and he managed to pull the Puffs off his tray and leave the new items. But he eventually gave it a try when he was ready. Emma and Billy also had their share.

After a short morning walk with Emma, we played on the carpet for a while. Brady very much enjoys dumping out his toy bin and rummaging through the pile. He also pulled himself up to stand today all by himself with the support of his cozy coupe walker.

Brady was a sports-bar-superstar. He happily wiggled and played while mom and dad had a couple yummy beers and watched the USA soccer team beat Egypt 3-0. He's also drawing the attention of older woman already. A six-year old blonde named Abby came over to our booth to visit with him two times! What a flirt.

After doing some "work" at "the office" Brady read some books with his dad and is now comfortably snoozing. Good Job, Dad! We love you!

Bellissimo!

I am resizing the digital photos we received from photographer extraordinnaire, Leesia Teh. Now they'll fit perfectly in my digital frame. But they're so fantastic, I had to provide you with a small sample. This is Brady at six months.


















































Tim's first Father's Day weekend is off to a great start. We finally went to the dining movie theater now known as AMC Fork & Screen. We saw The Hangover. It was ridiculous. Brady stayed home and had loads of fun with his babysitter. We could hear him laughing as we got into the car to leave. Today, Tim got his free Father's Day peach milkshake from Chick-Fil-A and we got a great deal on Brady's big-boy car seat. However, we received lots of looks from folks in the parking lot as we drove away with the car seat in the front seat of the Audi. Dang box wouldn't fit in the trunk! ;o)

It's a scorcher out here today. 96 but feels like 101. Tim and Brady are relaxing on the couch watching soccer. We're toying with the idea of the MidSummer Music Fest, but I give it a 20% probability.

Nine Months Old and Eczema

Brady had his nine month well baby visit today. He weighed in at 20 lbs 14 oz (57th percentile), measured 29 inches (76 percentile) and his head was 46.5 inches (82nd percentile). He was given his first HGB test which measures the hemoglobin in his blood (12.4 g/dL=normal). He was also given his first PPD test, which looks for exposure to tuberculosis. We need to watch the injection site over the next two days for signs of swelling and redness. Brady didn't mind the PPD test, and he was only irritated by the stick in his toe for the HGB test because the nurse wouldn't let go of his big toe. But his infant memory of four prior ear infections kicked in when the doc took a look in his ears. I had the pleasure of holding his head tight. Oh joy. He *really* did not care for the Hepatitis B vaccine (the last of three) either. His face turned red and he got all scrunchy for about 5 seconds before he let out any noise. But in classic Brady style, he was over it in a couple minutes. Luckily, there was only one vaccine today. I mentioned the rashy redness on Brady's back to the doctor. The good thing is that it's not ringworm (ring-what!?). It's eczema. Ewwww.

The nurse also went through a list of questions from the Denver II developmental screening test. Questions included is he:

1. clapping (yes),
   
2. crawling or creeping (creeping)
3. waving (no)
4. banging two toys together (yes)
5. pulling to stand (not yet, but trying)
6. pushing up to sit (nope)
7. drinking from a cup (no, though he's kickin butt holding his bottles)
8. saying mama/dada (he says it, but not to us)
9. babbling (yes, a lot)
10. responding to his name (yes)
11. letting us know he wants/needs something (yes).

We have to work on baby proofing, moisturizing Brady's skin, transitioning him to stage 3 foods and continuing to introduce table foods. The doc also thinks Brady is about to get a couple more teeth. It'll be two on the top - and not the middle ones. That should look funny. We will *certainly* provide pictures of that!

Ring-What!?

The kiddo has had some red marks on his back for the past week or so. I first suspected something other than dry skin yesterday. Dad did bath tonight and confirms that...it...is...RINGWORM! Ahhh! It sounds so bad. But then I looked it up and it's just another word for athlete's foot. The problem is, it's very contagious. So now I'm taking mental inventory of each and every time I washed my hands. Check. Check. Check. Phew. So, other than this week's new fungus, I can report that in the last month Brady has begun reliably sitting up, loudly babbling, picking up puffs with his thumb and index finger and placing it successfully in his mouth (at least 40% of the time), scooting backwards on his tummy and rotating 360 degrees on said tummy. In anticipation of crawling, we have stopped leaving him on the bed/couch/changing table for even a second. He nearly has his Vulcan neck pinch down as well. Watch out!

We went to the beach this month for an entire week with the Wright Family. Brady really enjoyed his cousin Georgia. He could hang out with her all day long, hanging on every last word. Brady's first visit to the ocean was rocky at first. The surf was a bit startling. But his second visit went much better. He really enjoyed the pool. We also decided to let Brady sleep on his tummy at night. Wow. What a difference. SOO many fewer peeps from him at night. And, call me crazy, but I really think it helps with any congestion. It's also pretty cute to see that he's awake in the morning because we can see his little face peering out above the crib bumper.

The adventures with food introductions continues. This kid loves meat! He's got his little bird mouth open again as soon as he swallows a spoonful. He's still not down with the bananas and didn't particularly care for the strawberry/pear/granola. Emma is also enjoying Brady's food discovery. She can now be found next to the highchair at mealtimes waiting for BW to reach down w/ food in or on his hand. Brady thinks this is hysterical, by the way. He'll reach down there and giggle even when his hand is clean. I can tell Em wants to jump up and clean Brady's face. But she's exhibiting excellent self-control.

Mother's Day

The celebration of my first Mother's Day began with "Muffins for Mom" on Friday morning in Brady's classroom. He presented me with my first Mother's Day card. Darling. We sat with our muffins and juice and chatted with his teachers for a while. I felt very special.

The celebration continued on Sunday with a visit to my favorite spot, The Flying Biscuit. Brady received much attention for being a sweet, happy boy. It was a beautiful day out so we grabbed our puppies and went for a long walk. I felt like a good mama until I realized how out of shape I've let my pups get. They were pooped! We watched some classic cable movies until we concluded that we were wasting the beautiful day. We arrived at the patio of La Fonda just as the clouds rolled in. It didn't keep us from enjoying a margarita or two.

Tim and I were successful in our planning to have NO grocery shopping or laundry going on during Mother's Day. It was a perfect day!

Jump

See here. 'Nuf said.

I Smell Trouble!

Brady wants to contribute to his own blog:

sdgrtt8yuyu4r65rtfgcvb

Ok, now he's back to baby toys.

So, clearly, we did not know it was picture retake day. Had I known I would have dressed him in something "mommy cute." But check out this *classic* class photo! It's brilliant! Good job, Dad! The wardrobe selection couldn't have been better.

Brady's teachers reported that he was one of the very few babies who didn't need a circus side show display in order to smile for the camera. If I didn't have a full time job I'd be VERY tempted to pimp this kid out for commercials and print-ad modeling.

We brilliantly outsourced antibiotic administration to daycare this week. Why didn't we think of that before? Unfortunately, the Zithromax did not work for Brady. By Wednesday, Emma was sniffing his ears (talk about smelling trouble!) and he was really crying any time we laid him down. So we took him back into the doctor. After she scraped two big goops of wax out of his ears, she could see his right ear was still very much infected. So she prescribed Omnicef (generic is Cefdinir). Advantage of Omnicef is that it's only once per day. Drawback is that it turns poop red. Without advance warning you might think your baby's bottom is bleeding. Let's hope this round works. The doc said if the ear infections continue into the late spring/early summer we'll be having the "tubes talk." Yuck.

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! No, it's Drug Moth!

When your baby has been congested, boogery and goopy-eyed all week, go ahead and expect an ear infection...or two! Brady woke up pretty happy yesterday but as soon as we layed him down on his changing table he started screaming and it took us a while (and some Tylenol) to settle him back down. For those of you who know Brady the screaming thing is just not his usual deal. So we knew something was wrong.

First stop: CVS Minute Clinic where we stood in line for 5 minutes behind some very unhealthy-looking and technically-challenged folks. I'm sure the computerized sign-in station is fabulous for the clinic staff but MAN it ain't saving any time for those of us in line. Turns out the Minute Clinic is not for humans <18 months. So we were off to urgent care.

Urgent care is a popular place on a Saturday morning. We met an 8-yr old who'd sustained a bucket-inflicted injury, bucket-girl's little brother faking ill to regain some lost attention, and an injured senior returning for a tetanus shot. Luckily we were first in line because urgent care was severely understaffed at the open. After a 19.5-lb read out on the scale, normal vitals and a double ear-infection diagnosis, we grabbed our Zithromax prescription and headed back to CVS.

Now, administering antibiotic to Brady is just about our LEAST favorite thing to do. I'd rather take a rectal temp. The key to getting it down with the least amount of fussing, gagging and spitting is to employ the services of the Drug Moth. On any normal day, he's just a sweet little light-up butterfly. But when there's a child in need of prescription medicine he transforms into an insect that can get the job done.

Spring Fling!

Today was Spring Fling at Brady's school. This is the school's largest fundraiser. It was lovely to spend time with his teachers who we only get to see for a couple minutes each day as we drop him off and pick him up. It was also wonderful to see all the kids having fun playing games and jumping on the moonwalk. What fun it will be when Brady is old enough to partake. He certainly enjoyed seeing his teachers - especially Ms. Jen! He seems to think she is just so much fun. Man, did he grin at her! He grabbed her face and chewed on her shirt. How refreshing a scene to the guilt-ridden working mama. Unfortunately, mom was outbid on all her auction items. The two AirTran tickets went for about $500 (a deal!) and both the rainy day basket and the week of daycare went for only 1 bid more than mine! Nuts.

We got pictures of Brady with *almost* all of his teachers. First his newest teacher, Ms. Lindsey. Then Ms. Donna, who is the BEST at getting Brady to sleep in his crib. There there's Brady grinnin' at his Ms. Jen. And finally Ms. Laura who has the coolest, most unique amber-colored eyes I've ever seen! We're missing Ms. Janice here who was probably fleeing the scene in order to celebrate her birthday.

Updates

Brady hosted his first dinner party. He was such a kind host. After being shoved a couple times he could see that his guest, Ian, needed desperately to topple something over. So he shared his penguin toy with his buddy. It was just what Ian needed! The party was a success!

Then it was off visit Grammy, Poppy and Greaty for Easter. Mom and Brady had to go it alone on the airplane so they made the trip more comfortable by upgrading to business class! Brady had his own seat. He was a perfectly content traveler...but aren't all business class passengers?

Grammy, Poppy and Greaty were over-the-moon to see the boy. Greaty fed him nearly all his bottles while singing "patty-cake." Grammy helped him put his plastic eggs in the bucket and helped him spin his new Sassy tray toy. Grammy also introduced him to prunes which he surprisingly loved!

Although we missed Daddy, we made it through by eating lots of chocolate easter candy, Lou Malnati's pizza and drinking lots of homemade americanos.

Brady is regularly eating stage one foods now. He pairs rice cereal with veggies, including peas, sweet potatoes and carrots. Oatmeal cereal goes nicely with prunes, pears, apples and bananas. He does *not* care for bananas. I have a different brand for him to try, but I'm not optimistic. This is a picture of Brady in his new high chair wearing his Where's Waldo onesie, so-named by his teachers.

Do's and Doozies

So my dear friend and soon-to-be-new-mommy, Molly, asked for advice on baby "stuff." So here's a quick sum-up of do's and doozies when it comes to baby gear. Granted, Brady is only 6.5 months old. And this is strictly my opinion. Every family/mommy/baby is different.

Do's: Brand Newborn
Bassinet
SwaddleMe (small size only, by the time he fit in the large we had to stop swaddling him)
Sleep sheep
Postpartum yoga class
Happiest Baby on the Block
Insert for carseat so baby's head doesn't dump over

3-6 Months
"the office"
Bumbo chair

Throughout
A GREAT camera
Infant positioner
Bibs
Burp clothes
Boppy Infant Bouncer
Gumdrop pacifiers (the pacifier they give you at Northside)
"Peas n Carrots" pacifier leash
Mirror (anything to make "tummy time" more interesting)
"Wheels" for the carseat
Twilight Turtle nightlight
bath chair
video monitor
Circo Pajamas from Target
Avent BPA-free bottles
Activity mat
Infant Tylenol drops (for fevers and ear infections)
Glider/recliner - something that's comfortable for YOU to sleep in while holding a baby all night.

Doozies:
Co-Sleeping Box
First aid & grooming kit (hospital sends you home w/ a rectal thermometer and a boogie bulb, pharmacies send you home w/ syringes to dispense antibiotics. The only thing we use regularly out of this kit is the nail clipper.)
Luvs diapers
Any contraption that claims to protect you from little boys who conveniently pee after you remove their diaper.
Moses basket
Don't buy yourself clothes - especially for a newborn. People love to give these as gifts and they
outgrow them faster than they can wear them all.

Do's: If Breastfeeding:
Hooter Hider
Medela Pump-In-Style
The Nursing Mother's Companion
My Breast Friend
Lansinoh Nursing Pads
A back-lit digital clock for the nursery

Six Months Old Already!?

Brady went to the doc today for his six month check up. He weighed in at a whopping 18 lbs 5 oz (61st percentile), measured 27 inches (66th percentile) and his head measured 45 cm (79th percentile...Tim is very proud). He didn't nap at daycare, which is not terribly uncommon. So by the time we got to vaccine time, he was pretty cranky and tired. The eye exam really wore him out. They put a band-aid over one eye and hooked electrodes to his forehead, temple and back of the head. We watched a funny video featuring mostly white and dark grey stripes that progressively danced smaller. He did ok, but it was frustrating for him. His also got his third DTaP vaccine, Hib vaccine, Pneumococcal and Rotavirus vaccines. He did pretty darn well. He cried a good bit with the three needles, but he got over it quick enough.

So what else have we been up to these past couple weeks? We've been sitting up, laughing, roaring, reaching for daddy, flying in airplanes, zooming in trains, buses and rental cars. We visited with Grammy and outgrew even more jammies! It's been crazy!

From Snow to Sunburn

It is amazing that this past week began with a massive snowstorm and ended with a sunburn and a small case of dehydration. Last Sunday was Brady's first encounter with snow. He was fascinated. We put him in his buzz chair and faced him toward the window. It snowed with force for over 5 hours. Many county schools and daycare facilities were closed the next day due to icy roads. Thankfully, ours was not one of them!

This week Brady and Dad were buddies. Mom was a lunatic with the work thing, so Dad got Brady up, fed, burped, dressed, packed and out the door (he also somehow managed to feed the dogs and clothe himself). BW continues to eat rice cereal with a spoon and he's making progress sitting up on his own. We finally put batteries in his penguin toy. Man, does he love to bat at it now! He also doesn't mind being on his tummy. He will reach for a toy with one hand, followed by the other. He's definitely headed toward army crawling.

Brady's Grams and Bubs came to visit him this past weekend. Poor Bubs had caught the funk, so he was barred from holding the baby. But he laughed and 'goo-goo'd from afar. BW was quite taken with his Grams. He looked around for her, constantly smiled and reached for her face. He was also the perfect angel at the fancy restaurant for Bubs' birthday. He slept the entire time. Too bad he missed out on all the funky, cool lighting fixtures. He would have loved that. Or perhaps somehow he knew this wasn't the type of place to feature his *true* favorite fixture - the neon beer sign.

It was 70 degrees this weekend. BW and I went to watch Dad play soccer today. I was good to keep Brady out of the sun, but not so diligent with my own skin. My forehead and the left side of my body are just a bit red.

An Eager Little Eater

Brady had a fantastic week at daycare. His teachers seemed very happy to have him back at school. They also report that his spitting is starting to taper off! Unfortunately, he's still coming home with his outfits in little plastic baggies. Apparently, there's just something about little boys and their ability to render diapers ineffective.

Although he's tinkered with it here and there, he's never fully committed to feeding himself with his bottle...until this week. He not only held his bottle for its duration, he repeatedly pulled it away from and put it back into his own mouth. It's funny how such seemingly small things can be such big deals!


















Now that the kiddo is feeling better, we introduced him to his first solid food - rice cereal. He took to it immediately! He figured out the spoon on the second try.













Emma appears to have taken to the rice cereal as well. She's more than eager to clean up the resulting mess.

Sickypoo

February 16-20, 2009: We were looking forward to enjoying the national holiday by hanging out in our p.j.s longer than we ought to and watching Hoda and Kathie Lee on the fluffy hour of the Today show. But instead, we abandoned Grammy on the last day of her visit and headed to the pediatrician's office. Brady had decided that he wasn't all that hungry and his cough was getting deeper and sounded worse. He was still a happy guy, though. No fever. The doc listened to his wheezy chest and looked in his eyes, ears and throat. She had to scrape a honkin' chunk of ear wax out of his right ear, too. BW did *not* like that! Diagnosis: bronchiolitis.

We picked up Grammy and headed to Walgreens for an aerochamber and some Ventolin. The doc also recommended Pedialite to keep the boy hydrated while he refused to eat. Too bad he refused to drink it, even though it was flavorless and mixed with his milk.

Unfortunately, Brady started in with a fever that night and was irritable for days. We learned quickly that we are two parents spoiled by a child that never cries...except when he doesn't feel good! Tylenol helped dramatically. But the lingering fever brought us back to the pediatrician where we learned he'd contracted his first ear infection. Yeah! Pink-medicine (amoxicillin) time! Surprisingly, Brady wasn't as excited about the pink medicine as I was. So we had the poor kid on a regimin of butt-temperature-taking with each diaper change, Tylenol every four hours, Ventolin four times per day and amoxicillin twice per day. What a good, tolerant patient he is. And we had to prep a batch of four-paste for the firey diaper rash that started up right after his first dose of antibiotics.

And let me tell you, it is imperative that all new parents find some device for propping up their sick kid. We use this contraption. Congested heads and ear infections are mighty painful. We even moved the positioner to the changing pad each time we changed his diaper. We also got our money's worth of of our glider/recliner. If you have to sleep all night while holding your baby upright, you might as well be comfortable!

He Keeps Growin' and Growin' and Growin'

Brady went to see the doctor on January 28. He was 15 lbs 3 oz (45th percentile), 25.5 inches (60th percentile) and his head measured 43 inches (60th percentile). He was a happy little man at his appointment, kicking around on the table and staying warm beneath mom's jacket. I'd forgotten a blankie but luckily remembered Paci. As it turns out, my little trooper didn't need Paci! He took his four shots in the leg like a pro. Sure, he wasn't happy to be stuck in the leg with those sharp, sticky needles, but Brady didn't shed a single tear. He was back to smiling and kicking around 40 seconds later. Unfortunately, the week of antibiotics left the boy with a raging inferno of a diaper rash. The doc recommended "four paste" which is a mixture of equal weight old-fashioned Desitin, cortisone 1%, polysporin and lotrimin. We took it easy with the lotrimin (cause I hate lotrimin) and that butt was back to a healthy pink in 2-3 days!


The doc also advised that we can begin our first "solid" food between now and his next appointment. We bought the rice cereal and some cute new infant spoons. But Brady is not feeling well so we're going to give him a day or two to kick this cold before introducing new stuff.


These days, Brady spends a lot more time staying busy at "the office" and chattering up a storm on his changing table. He has started saying "di-da" and "da-da." "Ahh-ooo" continues to be part of his repertoire. I think he's working on his G's, too, as he appears to be shaping his gurgles a bit.


Brady has also graduated from bath time in the kitchen sink to the big-boy tub! He loves to kick and splash! And now he has room to play with toys!


Brady is doing wonderful at daycare. His teachers, Miss Jen, Miss Janice, Miss Donna and Miss Laura all love him. Miss Jen reports that Brady is 100% happy 99.9% of the time. The only time he fusses is when you don't get his bottle to him fast enough. He also continues to be a cat-napper. A good day includes two 20 minute naps. Although there have been a few days when we've taken him home in the same outfit we brought him in with, he continues to be the "bib-kid" and his teachers remain on guard for a sneak-spit-attack. Plus, since graduating to size 2 diapers, Brady creates far less clothing for Mom to soak in Oxiclean at the end of the day.

So Long Swaddle!

Brady's eye looks FABULOUS! And for the most part, Brady is feeling better - though a cough and some congestion lingers. So it's time to resume our quest to sleep without the swaddle! According to the "experts" you're supposed to wean from swaddling after 4 months. For those of you keeping count, Brady is now 19 weeks old.

Friday, the first night, was easy. Perhaps he was just tired but he slept through the entire night. But the subsequent nights were not so smooth. The poor boy doesn't know what to do with his hands as he falls asleep. For the most part, he punches himself in the face repeatedly, accidentally throws Paci across the crib and tucks-and-punches his legs against the mattress - all while his eyes are closed. It takes about three or four visits from Mom or Dad before he finally falls asleep. We have to put Paci back in and hold his hands still while his drifts off. He's doing very well, though. We have to remind ourselves that he's had his arms strapped down while he slept since birth. He doesn't really know what to do with himself without it right now.

We've also made a new discovery: Brady loves to go the "the office!" While visiting his friend Ian, Brady took in an office tour. He was entertained for nearly an hour. So we ran out and got him his own on Sunday. His first conference call was a Skype chat with his Poppy on his birthday. Happy Birthday, Poppy!

Doctors, Spaghetti & a Bullet

It's a good thing this kid is tough!


BEFORE:

Brady and Mom went back to the pediatrician yesterday. Dr. Segal was not pleased with his progress, so it was another 500mg shot of rocephin and a referral to a pediatric eye specialist. Dad took Brady to Dr. Berland's office. He spent an hour filling out paperwork while holding a very wiggly boy. The diagnosis: dacryocystitis. Due to blockage in his tear duct, bacteria collected causing the swelling and irritation. Tim held Brady while the doc pressed six or seven times on Brady's blocked duct. Sufficed to say the boy was not happy. It's a good thing Dad was on duty, too. Mom wouldn't have fared as well. Brady's eye showed marked improvement this morning.

We had Spaghetti Dinner Nite at daycare yesterday. The director's husband made the meat sauce, which was excellent! The minute we sat down with our plates, the family across from us looked at Brady's eye and asked "blocked tear duct?" Their son suffered the same when he was a baby. Man, it's good to connect with other parents.

AFTER:
It is also good to chat with Brady's teachers. Miss Laura came over to hold the boy. Apparently, several kids are home sick with the croup. And after Brady left for his doc appointment, three more kids went home with the same symptoms. Thanks to multiple absences and a whole bunch of antibiotics, we may have dodged a bullet here. *crosses fingers*

Dad took Brady back to the eye specialist today. Unfortunately, it was at the office in the boonies. But the doc was very pleased with his progress. No hospital admittance for the little guy. Yeah!!! But, to be sure, the doc ordered one more shot of rocephin - which they didn't have on hand at the office in the boonies. So Dad got to pay another visit to the pediatrician back in town. Sheesh!

One more follow up tomorrow, and a series of oral antibiotics and we should back in working-baby-order.