Before and After

Before . . .

During . . .

After . . .  First haircut! He wasn't fond of getting his hair sprayed with water, or having hair clippings fall on his face, and ended up having to be held by Mommy to get finished up, but overall, Davis did well getting his first haircut!

From Loving the Life We Live

Twelve Month Stats

Davis had his 12 month well child check-up today.  He was very excited to be at the doctor's office.  He likes to look at the people in the waiting room, and while we were waiting in the exam room he just wanted to bounce on the exam table and try to peel the Superman decal off the wall.  Lots of smiles!  Luckily for him, the doctor recommended waiting to give his 12 month shots until next week, since he had a fever the first part of this week.

Without further ado, the 12 month stats:

Weight: 20 lbs. 14 oz. - 41st %ile
Length: 29.75 - 43rd %ile
Head circumference: 18.75 - 88th %ile

Yes, I realize that this is a little less than he weighed at 9 months and less than a pound more than he weighed at 6 months.  I have been anxious about his lack of weight gain, but his doctor isn't concerned at this point.  Breastfed babies tend to start off big and then taper off, finding their "true" growth curve later on.  So she thinks he is probably just finding his curve, plus being sick and not having much appetite hasn't helped.  Pinching the fat on his little arms and legs and patting his potbelly, she observed that he certainly doesn't seem malnourished!  :)  As far as his length, well, I am sure his measurement at his 9 month appointment was wrong in the first place.  And his head?  Hopefully there are some big brains in there.  She commented that he's very social (and cute).

With this illness he's had this week, he does have an ear infection coming on, so we're going to start antibiotic drops and go back next Friday for an ear check and to get his vaccinations.  Fun fun fun.  I'm glad to put them off for a week, though.

And in case you need evidence that Davis is feeling much better, I have entitled this picture "The Aftermath" . . .

From Loving the Life We Live

Birthday Recap

Since I'm home with a feverish, coughing, snot-nosed one-year-old today, I might as well take advantage of naptime to write a birthday recap.  Don't worry - I think Davis will survive.  He's probably enjoying some of the perks that come along with being a sick baby, like extra Mommy cuddles (he has been saying "ma-ma-ma-ma" today) and being allowed to watch Sesame Street while sitting on the carpet with a bowl full of Cheerios (he seemed like such a big boy, doing that).  Although I must say, I'm extremely annoyed with whatever dummies couldn't figure out how to give their babies the correct dosage of the concentrated infant Tylenol drops, thereby causing the government to mandate a switch to non-concentrated infant liquid, which means you somehow have to get your baby to swallow three times as much medicine.  Argh!  Thanks a lot, people!  My shirt now smells like grapes from having Tylenol spit out all over me. Luckily, while he has had a cold, Davis was feeling pretty happy on his birthday!  Greg's parents were staying with us for the weekend, and Davis always enjoys getting extra attention.  We went to get his 12 month portraits done, which is always fun, although the little stinker wanted to crawl around instead of staying in a nice pose and it was hard to get him to smile while semi-looking at the camera - but there were no tears and we got some cute pics, so I count that as a success!  Then we had lunch at McDonald's and Grandma shared her french fries with him.  :)  Of course he enjoyed that!  By the time he woke up from his afternoon nap, my parents were here, Greg was home, and my sister soon arrived.  Let the birthday fun begin! Aunt Shalimar made Davis an awesome teepee to play in.  It can be used inside or outside and folds up.  Davis looooved it.  He crawled in there right away to have a look around. He thought it was fun to close the flaps and "hide," then open them up really fast - peek-a-boo! Davis' Uncle Jeff and Aunt Janelle came after work and we really got into the birthday presents.  His gift-opening skills could use some fine-tuning, but he started to get the hang of it after awhile! We had cake later on, out in our screened porch.  Davis wasn't sure what to do at first.  He finally reached out to grab one of the frosting balloons off of the cake and was bewildered.  He rubbed the frosting on the side of his high chair and didn't know what to do with his sticky hands.  I popped one of his hands into his mouth, he hesitated, then he stuck his hand back in and sucked on it, and figured out that it was good!  We cut him a piece of cake to dig into, and he picked up a huge chunk and took a big bite!  After that, there was no stopping him!  Mmm . . . chocolate cake = delicious! Davis was not as happy about getting the cake cleaned off his face and hands, but all in all he had a super day!  We are so glad that he was able to share the day with so many of our family members.  It's going to be a lot of fun (and a lot of work) having a one-year-old in the house!

From Loving the Life We Live

Happy 1st Birthday, Davis!

Davis had a great first birthday today!  I can't believe our baby boy is ONE!  What a year it has been!

From Loving the Life We Live

Davis' Delicious Dinner

Tonight's Menu Wheat bread (this kid loves his grains) Organic toasted oats (aka pseudo-Cheerios, an obvious favorite) Corn (num num num) Lima beans (popping them like candy) (fish that was completely ignored) Whole milk! Our hungry hungry hippo was eating like a champion tonight.  The menu he ended up with was, let's say, eclectic . . . but he seemed to enjoy it!  As he was washing it down with some water, I suggested that we put a little whole milk in a cup and just see what he thought about it.  This was his first time having whole milk, and we gave it straight from the fridge (not warmed up at all).  I was curious to see what his reaction would be. He seemed a little surprised at the first taste, but he loved it!  He was spilling it all over himself trying to guzzle it down, so Greg took the cup away to fill it more (so he wouldn't have to tip it as much), and Davis protested frantically until he got it back! I was surprised and happy to see that he took to it so well, without worrying about warming it up or mixing it with breastmilk at first to get him used to it.  Now I'm hoping that it doesn't give him some kind of horrible rash or anything and then he continues to like it!

From Loving the Life We Live

Just a Little Update

Updates!
Sleeping

If you've been wondering whether the awesome night sleep I referred to in a previous post has continued . . . yes!  Many nights Davis now does not need his Mommy at all until it's time to get up for the day, which is so very nice.  His naps have become fairly regular, both morning and afternoon, and I can usually count an an hour to an hour and a half for each nap.  He almost always falls asleep on his own now for both naps and nightime.  Holding a sleeping baby in my arms has become very rare, so when it does happen I take a little time to really drink in the moment, to look down at his precious sleeping face cuddled close to me and just enjoy him.  *Sigh*  I think about how someday he'll be grown and I won't be able to pick him up and hold him anymore, and that makes me feel sad.  Now that the first birthday is on the horizon, I have realized that these "baby days" are numbered.

Eating

Davis' interest in table foods has increased amazingly in the past few weeks.  He still won't try a lot of foods, but we have been amazed and delighted to see him try and enjoy things like hash brown potatoes, meatloaf, and adult oatmeal.  If we let him have a few bites of Nutrigrain bar, he really gobbles that up!  The downside to eating more foods is, of course, some really nasty diapers.  That's the price you pay, I guess!  I'm hoping that he's going to be putting on some weight because I think he's dropped way down on the growth charts and I worry about that (although I realize there's probably no need to worry; I just can't help it).

 (Okay, I'll admit that's a Nilla Wafer.)

(But then he had carrots, so it's all good!)



Health

Davis came down with a cold on Valentine's Day (can't wait for sickness season to be over) and on February 25 he woke up with his eyes swollen, red, and squinty, especially his right eye.  By later in the day, they were oozing yellow pus-like stuff from the inside corners.  Awesome.  The poor kid looked absolutely awful.  After talking to the on-call pediatrician (it was Saturday), we took him to immediate care and he was diagnosed with blepharitis (basically infected eyelids) and a possible sinus infection.  In case you were wondering, it is not fun to have to put eyedrops into a baby's eyes.  They started to clear up immediately, but he basically thought we were trying to kill him with those eyedrops, poor thing.  I hope we don't have to go through that again anytime soon!

Development

Davis can now cruise (walk holding on to furniture).  He can climb the stairs (with a watchful parent following him, of course).  He can wave, but doesn't do it under the appropriate circumstances.  He still seems to have no interest in learning to clap his hands, despite Mommy's enthusiastic attempts.  A couple of times recently, he has let go of all supports and stood by himself for several long moments before going down.  That is really exciting, and I'm looking forward to him doing that more often!  I have a feeling he's going to be a late walker.  He will occasionally take a few steps while I hold his hands, but I don't think he's particularly motivated.  He's an expert crawler and that seems to be working well for him.

Activities

He loves to "dance" to music.  He has learned to play the "drop something and make someone pick it up over and over and laugh really hard the whole time" game.  He enjoys rolling over when I'm trying to change his diaper and standing up in the bathtub.  Yikes!  I found a baby doll in the closet and gave it to him . . . he thought it was intriguing, mainly because it has eyes that open and close and he kept poking at its eyes . . . I said he was practicing being a good daddy by giving his baby eyedrops . . . and then he threw the baby.  :)

Friday is THE BIG DAY!  I know, I can't believe it either!

From Loving the Life We Live

Posing in the Park

This little cutie enjoyed playing in the park on a beautiful almost-70-degree March day today!

I have a lot to blog about, but I just haven't seemed to be able to sit down and put a post together.  Hopefully I'll put my nose to the grindstone by the end of this weekend and get it done.  Davis is growing and changing by leaps and bounds!  I just couldn't resist doing a quick post tonight, though, to share this new picture of our little darling!

From Loving the Life We Live