Frustrations and Joys (Mostly Joys)

So to catch you up - last week at the gastroentologist Adam was, for lack of a better word, kind of interviewed as far as his spitting up, throwing up, chronic cough has been going for the last 3 months. She suggested a second dose of nexium per day, 15-30 minutes before eating. We started that last Friday, and so far we have noticed a slight improvement, but not enough of one for me to consider it a success.

I was slightly annoyed with the gastroentologist because she seemed to immediately write me off as an overly concerned mother who can't stand a little spit up. I think the exact words were, "well, babies do spit up."

Um, no shit? Really? Is spitting up so much that you have to be changed 4 times a day normal? Is throwing up 3-4 times a week something that every parent deals with? No. Didn't think so.

She also said it was probably nothing and that they really only get concerned when babies stop developing or stop growing. Now, I realize that this is true, but she has literally only talked to me for about 5 minutes and hasn't even examined him yet. He is advanced for his age, so any "stop" developing at this point would not appear to be an issue to anyone but Shannon and me. He is big for his age, so any "lack of growth" would be ignored because he would STILL be considered larger than most babies his age. In my opinion: a baby spits up, a baby throws up, a baby coughs chronically. It's a problem. Try to fix it. End of story.

I realize that he most likely has something that he'll need to grow out of or that they won't be able to "cure" - but I'd like to know that it's not worse than that, or something serious, and I'd like to at least give it a shot. And I'd like a doctor who wants to do the same thing. Maybe she was trying to comfort me. Really she just pissed me off.

When she did examine him he thought it was hilarious because he's ticklish on every inch of his body and loves it. And since starting the Nexium, I don't know if this is a coincidence or a result of him feeling better, but he has just developmentally EXPLODED in the last week. He giggles a lot now and truly just enjoys being awake. He pets Caley, and pulls on her ears (and since she thinks she's starved for attention, she licks him on the face to tell him it's okay). He pets the cats (gently - I don't know how he knows). He is getting closer and closer to sitting up on his own.

He gets in his walker and on the tile can intentionally walk/run to you. He puts his hands in the air, runs/bounces right at you, squealing the entire time. When he gets there he grabs your pant leg and talks. I tell him I like his pants too. It is literally the most adorable thing I have ever seen and need to get video of it.

He can search for and insert his pacifier with ease now, can roll over from back to tummy, tummy to back, and then back over again in a bee-line for "red block," the notorious toy for which he has developed a love/hate relationship. Sometimes I think the block just doesn't play nice and it makes Adam very frustrated, so he throws it down (then desperately tries to grab it again). He still loves to give big wet kisses every night after daycare.

A week ago if you tried to make Adam sleep on his stomach he would tell you that you must have lost your mind. Now he prefers to sleep on his stomach and will flip over nearly immediately and sleep soundly. He has dropped his late night (well, 9:00 feeding) most nights and then almost immediately dropped his 4/5am feeding also, sleeping until about 7 or 7:30. IT IS WONDERFUL. I hope it lasts.

He has gone through all the vegetables and loved them, and on Sunday tried some apples for the first time. So far, not his favorite. He'll eat it willingly, make a face, shiver all over, and then open his mouth for more. Silly boy.

And now, for the finale, this morning he said that formula just isn't interesting enough anymore and has opted for cereal or anything else I could give him. He had (not exagerrating) a bowl and a half of rice cereal with mixed fruit in it, half a jar of apples, 1 ounce of milk and a couple of ounces of water for breakfast this morning. If he continues as he normally does, we'll add about 24 more ounces of formula throughout the day, a jar of squash at lunch, and a jar and a half of baby food for dinner. Count it: 32 ounces of formula (and with each bottle(5-6), one scoop of rice), bowl and a half of cereal, 3 jars of baby food. All of that, and he'll be 6 months old in a little less than 2 weeks.

(Shannon and I are actually very excited about the three baby food feedings a day - because of his acid reflux he actually does better on baby food and cereal than he does on formula. And yes, we are working with our doctor to make sure he is getting the appropriate nutrition in the correct ways - everything we have done has been at her suggestion).

I look the picture above and am just amazed... When did this happen? I know I was paying attention... but all of a sudden I realize I have a little guy who can sit up and feed himself.