15 month appointment

It went okay. I can't believe he's 15 months. Problem was, it was right in the middle of naptime, so he was not happy. They couldn't even get a weight on him without me holding him, so they had to weigh us together, then subtract my weight. He screamed for 25 minutes straight while we waited for the doctor and they hadn't even touched him yet. This boy is definitely dramatic. I'm sure everyone who walked by the room thought he was getting poked with needles or something. I ended up having to just let him lie on the floor and scream because he wouldn't let me hold him. That, in itself was exhausting. He has some will-power, definitely his mother's son. He was fine once the doctor came in and played with him.

He weighs 20lbs 4oz, 30.4" long. Still just barely on the curve, but she's happy with the growth he's made, so not worrying about it. His development seems to be a bit behind as far as verbal, and his uninterest in walking, though he does seem to understand words and is capable of walking, so she's not really worried about it yet. He's doing great as far as motor skills.
They had to draw blood to test his iron again. Ugh. That was horrible. I knew it would be. He has rolling veins and always has to get stuck at least twice. After 2 vein sticks they usually have to go for the finger. They poked around in his little arm for so long. I had to hold him and he just screamed and kept shaking his head NO. That's one form of communication he's knows at least. They then tried his hand and actually got a vein. His arm is so badly bruised today. I feel so bad for him. He got two shots as well. He was pretty miserable the rest of the night.

Some things I was surprised she asked that he either is not able to do or doesn't do very well:

Understand and follow simple commands, like "pick up your cup" or "give me that toy"

Learning to eat with utensils - He is doing better at this one, but only recently

Know where his eyes, nose, and mouth are - okay, I didn't even realize we were supposed to be teaching this yet. Although we have worked on nose a bit, and he knows that one well

Stack objects - He knows how to knock over stacked objects, does that count?

Does he mimmick sounds you make or animals make? He does not do this at all

I don't know, just the whole appointment made me feel like my kid is dumb. She said she wasn't worried about him, but I couldn't help it when the answer to nearly every question was "No" or "Not really." Just have to keep reminding myself that every child is different and learns at a different pace. I'm just happy he's a healthy boy, he's just patient and taking his time with some things.

First steps to end 2008!

Well, my big boy is truly growing up. He decided he just couldn't let 2008 end without taking those long awaited first steps. Just hours before 2009 started, my 15 month old little boy finally took his very first steps, surrounded by friends and family. It was a perfect moment. Unfortunately, the first time he did it, in my excitement, I grabbed him as he fell into my arms and screamed, which scared the poor little guy into tears. He got over it quickly though and was ready to try again. So far, he's taken only about 6 or 7 steps at a time, but I have a feeling that very soon I'll be chasing after him as he's running from me to get into everything he can reach now at his new level. Next thing I know, he'll be driving.

National Breastfeeding Week

Sorry, no pics of Isaac this blog, although I do wish I had a breastfeeding pic to put up in honor of National Breastfeeding Week which is just winding down. I am so upset with my home state right now, which makes me sad, because you all know I am a true Kentuckian at heart. I just read an article this morning about a woman in Berea, Ky (10 miles from where Steve and I lived in Richmond during college) who was kicked out of a McDonalds for breastfeeding her 4 month old son. This is only about 30 miles from the Lexington Applebees that asked a woman to stop breastfeeding her son a couple of years ago. There is a Kentucky law that protects breastfeeding women against this kind of harassment. How can someone ask a mother to stop feeding her child, or to go to a disgusting public restroom (would you eat your lunch in one?), or her hot car to feed her child???? This baffles me. I can understand people being uncomfortable if a woman is purposefully not being discreet, however most nursing women are quite modest, and very careful to not expose themselves. People get so hung up on breasts being sexual objects rather than a source of nourishment for a child. Kentucky ranks 50th out of the 50 states in breastfeeding initiation. How sad is that? This state is not providing mothers with the education and resources they need to provide their child with the best nourishment there is. Instead, welfare is handing out free formula. Hello, breastfeeding is free too, and scientifically proven over and over again to be healthier! When I think about it, I don't remember ever seeing a woman nursing in public during the majority of my life spent in Kentucky. I don't even think I can think of a single family member or friend who has breastfed. Yet, it always seemed so natural to me, and never occurred to me to do anything else. I am certainly not saying that there is anything wrong at all with feeding your child formula, Isaac had formula his first few days of life, I'm just disappointed that women feel they don't have an option because they are not properly educated and are made to feel scandalous by choosing to breastfeed, like it's something they have to hide. Formula certainly has it's place for women who are not physically able to breastfeed (inadequate supply, incompatible medications, etc) or who work long hours without adequate opportunities to express milk for their child. I hope that I have set a positive example to some woman out there who is contemplating breastfeeding her child by not being ashamed of providing my child with what I feel is best for him, no matter where I am. I wonder if I'll get kicked out of some Kentucky restaurant when I'm home for a visit and my almost 2 year old wants to nurse, haha. I dare someone to try. They will receive quite an education from me.


http://www.kentucky.com/181/story/482335.html

9 Months!

Just 3 months away from his first birthday *tear*, where does the time go???? I know I haven't blogged in ages, but honestly, not a lot of excitement going on around here. Although, just in the last couple of weeks, Isaac has reached some blog worthy milestones.

Nope, no crawling yet, thank the Lord, I am so not ready for a mobile baby. It won't be long though. He can go from sitting to his tummy, up on his knees, but he usually rolls onto his back and cries before he realizes he could go forward. He is attempting to pull himself to his feet with furniture, but isn't quite brave enough to follow through yet. You'll know when he does because all of his pictures will show his black eyes, bumps, and bruises he's sure to get. Probably my favorite new behavior is his newfound adoration for his Mama. Although not entirely a new revelation, he's found new ways for expressing himself. When we've been apart for any length of time, he greets me with the biggest smiles, squeels of glee, and outreached arms, reserved only for Mama. It absolutely melts my heart. Then, when he's in my arms he continues smiling at all around him, as if to say, "See, this is my Mama, and all is right in the world now." He's also learned to hug, which sometimes ends in tears if he is overly zealous and bangs his head on my collar bone in the process. One of the downsides to this adoration however, is when Mama has to leave him, either with Daddy or with daycare, both of which are equally bad in his eyes (sorry Dada). At daycare, when it's time for me to leave, and he knows very well how the routine works, he will keep a hand on my leg or try to crawl into my lap to keep me from moving. And as I go to stand up, the tears start flowing and the arms reaching. It is so hard to walk away from him while he screaming for me to pick him up, it breaks my heart everytime. But I know it is only shortlived. As soon as he sets his eyes on a toy or teether, Mama is momentarily forgotten (that is until he gets hungry and they try to shove this silly bottle into his mouth, what is that about?).

Now, for the biggy - Isaac has said his first word - 2 days ago. Can you guess? Yes, it was "Mama". I've been working with him relentlessly for weeks, and he finally said it. I was handing him over to Daddy, and of course he didn't want to go and started whining. Then, suddenly, as clear as day, he screams, "Mama!" We both heard it, there was no denying it. Now, you may think this was a fluke, that in his panic he was just babbling, and the sound that came out sounded like Mama. I disagree for two reasons. 1) The past couple of days prior to this, he had been showing signs of understanding the meaning behind the word. If Daddy was holding him and said "Mama" to him, he would look around the room until he found me. If I were holding him and said "Mama," he would smile at me and hug me. 2) He has since repeated the word 4 times, each time when he wanted me to pick him up or rescue him from Daddy. Yay! When I first heard it, my thought was - This has got to be the greatest thing that has ever happened in the history of the world. I still believe it is.

Finally, I thought I'd leave you with a couple of pictures commemorating Isaac's 9th month, and how those pictures came to be taken. Isaac decided to play hooky yesterday. He woke me up at 1am with a raging fever. Now, he's is required to be fever-free for 24 hours before he can go to daycare, so this meant, no daycare for the day, and hence, no work for Mommy. I gave him some Tylenol and we went back to sleep. By 7am when I woke up, his fever was gone and he was perfectly fine. All day long, he seemed just fine, no fever, no fussiness, just his usual happy smiling self. So we got to have a day off, with a happy baby, instead of a sickly fussy one. We went by Babies R Us to pick up a few things, and while there, the photographer for their little photo studio was walking by and noticed Isaac's gorgeous blue eyes. She started talking to him, and he just loved her and was smiling, cooing, giggling, and trying to climb out of his stroller to get to her. This is pretty unusual for him. Lately he has been very weary of strangers. She couldn't get over his cuteness, and who could? So, she offered to take a couple of pictures of him and give us a free 5x7. How could I pass that up? Although, in the back of my mind I knew this would sucker me in to buying more prints from them, since I could never pass up cute Isaac pictures for anything. I tell you, this lady has got to be one of the best baby photographers there is. He just LOVED her. He couldn't stop smiling at her. It took us a whole 5 minutes to get these perfect smiling shots, whereas at home we can rarely capture those smiles. He wasn't wearing my favorite outfit, so we decided to strip him down to his cute diaper (I was glad he had a cute diaper on at least). I got my free 5x7 and of course bought a 5x7 of the other one and, yes, I did make sure to get some wallets of each for all you grandparents. Sorry these are fuzzy, they are scanned images.

Happy 9 Months Isaac.

Beach Baby

Isaac loves the beach, no doubt about it. On Memorial Day, while Uncle Joe was visitng, we made a very daring trip to the beach on the first summer holiday weekend. It was insane. Besides the drunken guy that got beat down by the cops for engaging in a brawl only feet from us, it was a wonderful day. Isaac loved dipping his toes in the warm water, and squeeled with glee as the waves washed around his feet. He also very much enjoyed the taste of a fistful of salty sand, mmmm. Is that not the cutest plumber's crack you've ever laid eyes on?

He was ready, but I wasn't

I have been putting off giving Isaac solids for a while now because I wanted him to have only breastmilk and delay solids as long as possible since he is growing so well on it alone. The pediatrician had also said to definitely wait 6 months, but I wanted to go longer. I had done the research, and many people feel it is best to exclusively breastfeed with nothing else as long as possible during the first year, because solid foods aren't really needed until 1 year old. I planned to watch his cues and wait until he was interested or needed the extra nutrition. He hasn't been the least bit interested in solid foods up to this point. But then tonight at dinner, he was watching us eat longingly and started making chewing motions, which he's never done before. I have been contemplating giving him a bite of something soon just to see how he'd respond, since the doc suggested at his 6 month checkup yesterday to think about starting something soon. So, this morning, I made a big batch of steel-cut oats (which are so good) in the crockpot for our breakfasts this week. I took a bit of that, put it in the blender, mixed in some breastmilk and heated it. Now, we fully expected him to thrust that spoon right out of his mouth, make an awful face, and spit the food out.

He sure surprised us! He knew just exactly what to do with that spoon. By the third bite he was opening his mouth in anticipation and trying to pull the spoon to his mouth. He loved it. I only gave him 7 or 8 bites and he would have taken more. I haven't even researched how to make my own baby food yet, which is what I want to do. I don't even know how much or how often to feed him. I thought I had much more time, but he is obviously ready. I am so proud of him, but a little sad too. My baby is growing up.

So, over the next few weeks, I will be starting him off by giving him little tastes of whatever veggie we happen to be eating that day, mashed up and unseasoned of course (the doc suggested squash, peas, and green beans). We're going to take it slow for sure, but he sure seems excited about it, even if I'm not so much.

Half a Year!!!

6 Months ago today, Isaac unexpectadely entered my world. I remember that day so well, and I've been reflecting all morning. After getting permission to toss the terbutaline pills and pump the day before and being told the 15 painless contractions I was having every hour didn't appear to be doing anything to my cervix, after 2 long months of strict bed rest, I was sure I was in the clear for at least another 3 weeks, idiot that I was. So, what did I do? I slipped up. I started walking around, went to Wal-Mart, met Steve for lunch, ended up in L&D that night, only to be sent home that morning. Within hours, we are back in the hospital and I end up going into active labor, dialating from a 2-10cm, and delivering tiny little 4lb 15oz Isaac Lee all within 3 hours with no meds whatsoever!! Not the way I expected that day to end. It was the scariest day of my life. It was 4 excruciating hours after his birth before we saw him or knew anything at all about how he was doing. But God was watching over him and protecting him all the time.

Now, just 6 months later, he is a whopping 17+ pounds - all breastmilk except for the high-cal formula he got those first few days in the hospital. Breastfeeding was such an incredible struggle in the beginning, and I faced just about every hurdle imaginable. Now we are going strong on 6 months and loving every moment of it, and I am so thankful that God gave me the strength I needed to push through the rough spots. He is able to sit on his own just about, loves to stand, smiles and giggles, and is the sweetest most precious thing in my entire life. He is in my thoughts every minute while I am at work. The last 6 months have gone by like a whirlwind, and he looks so different and has learned so much. But he is still my sweet baby boy.

1 day old