The Birthday Balloon

It's funny how over the past 31 years of my existence, somewhere along the way I forgot how exciting some little things can be.  EH - and probably offspring in general - seem to have a way of reminding you of all these little things from your own childhood that you forgot about until suddenly you're experiencing them all over again through his eyes.

Like balloons, for example.  I totally forgot about how awesome and mesmerizing balloons could be. 

Seriously - So. Much. Fun!

That is, it was, until at one point the balloon bounced back a little too quickly and bopped hm on the forehead, which apparently startled him, and he proceeded to scream in terror until I picked him up.   I'm not sure if he'll be as captivated by the balloon the next time he encounters it, but we'll see!

6 Months!!!

EH celebrated his 6 month birthday this past Saturday, and he even got to experience his very first balloon at my niece's birthday party that same night.  He was so fascinated that he got to take a balloon home.  It was so adorable.

It's hard to believe that he is already 6 months old!  He has his 6 month well visit yesterday, and his stats are as follows:
Weight - 16 pounds - 25th percentile
Height - 26.5 inches - 50th percentile
Head Circumference - something really huge - 81st percentile

Our kid has a huge head.  No wonder he doesn't want to bother with lifting it up when we force him to do tummy time.

Speaking of tummy time, we are apparently major failures when it comes to encouraging our infant to roll over and crawl.  He is behind developmentally in this area, and our doctor was about thiiiiis close to recommend that we bring in an early intervention specialist, but for now he told us to put EH on his belly at least 20 times per day for two minutes at a time.  Do you know how impossible that's going to be?? He's only awake for about 10 hours per day. Twice per hour, every waking hour?? And 9 of those hours are spent at day care, where they may put him on his stomach once a day, if that.  He hates it so much that we didn't want to make him miserable during the brief time in the evening that we could spend with him, so we never pushed the issue either.  And now he's behind.

Bad parents, we are.

We are also failures at starting our child on solid foods.  At his 4 month visit we were supposed to start giving rice cereal.  Well, we succeeded at giving that to him about 6 times in the entire two months between his doctor visits.  Again, major fail.  He hates solid food about as much as he hates tummy time, and since we - once again - didn't want to torture him by forcing him to eat rice cereal or oatmeal which makes him gag and cough, we chose instead to spend fun, quality family time instead of encouraging him to get used to solids.  Now he's over 6 months old and still hates rice cereal, oatmeal, apples, avocados, and beans, which are the five foods we tried to give him so far.  He hates them ALL. 

Oh, and he also has an ear infection. AGAIN.  Yes, another ear infection. I can barely believe it either.  We now have to make an appointment with a pediatric Ear/Nose/Throat specialist to have him evaluated for tubes.  Although I know tubes are not the end of the world for an infant, we're hoping that with our new day care situation that he'll be healthier over the next few months and hopefully we'll notice that the instances of ear infections decreases dramatically.  Let's hope. 

The good news is that on Monday of next week he starts at his in-home day care place.  He'll have much more one-on-one attention, so we can ask her to do more tummy time with him and also start having her give him some solid foods if we decide that we want to push that more.  He'll also hopefully be exposed to less germs, so we're hopeful that he'll be healthier. 

As soon as he is well we're going to push hard on the tummy time, solid foods, sleeping through the night unassisted, and pacifier weaning (which might be a nightmare).  We certainly have our work cut out for us!

Finding New Day Care

So, it is official.  February 17th will be EH's last day at his current day care, and February 20th starts his new - but sadly temporary - care set-up. 

It's been a tumultuous past couple of weeks.  After the sad realization that he is just not thriving at his current day care, DH took the lead on finding new day care providers.  He posted a listing on Craigslist and weeding through the responses.  I contacted a few other larger day care centers, but DH was convinced that a different day care center wasn't going to be that much different than his current center.  

So after many emails and meetings, we found a woman who lives not to far from EH's current day care, who is willing to watch him for the next couple of months for about the same price that we're paying right now.  Sadly, she's only going to be able to watch him until the first week of June, until her kids are out of school for the summer, so we are still on the search for an amazing, somewhat permanent care person, but we're excited to know that he'll be getting much, MUCH more attention in his new situation. 

EH is very excited!

It will just be her and EH until 11:30 when her five-year old comes home from school, and then for the rest of the day it will just be the two of them.  One of our biggest complaints about our current day care is that they aren't able to take the time to help him fall asleep at nap time, and he's simply not a just-lay-him-in-his-crib-and-let-him-fall-asleep sort of baby.  On top of that, the cribs are in the main room where all of the kids play and right under these bright florescent lights, and with EH's penchant for staring at lights it's just not a good set-up.  So in his new care setting she will be able to take some time to help him fall asleep, and he'll be in a quiet, somewhat dark room where he can rest without distractions. We did a trial day and we could not have been more pleased with how things went.  EH took 3 amazing naps, came home happy and well rested, and the woman thought he was the best baby ever.  (We made sure to let her know that he's not always this good.)

So we're excited, and hoping for the best.  But it's also a little sad, because we spent a lot of time and research trying to find the perfect yet affordable day care set up for EH.  We made sure to only consider centers that were accredited by the NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) because we wanted a center that had a real focus on early childhood education since we thought EH would be there for the first few years of his life. 

Now we realize that NAEYC accreditation - while important - is not as critical for infants.  Although I still think that the care workers in EH's day care room did the best that they could, the fact is that 4 infants to each adult is still way too many to allow for much quality education time to occur.  The employees are spending most of their time giving bottles and changing diapers.  There just isn't a whole lot of time for one-on-one interaction, and that is something that we were really hoping for. 

On top of that, EH has been incredibly sick ever sick he stepped foot (or rather, car seat) into day care.  He's had five ear infections in three months, the flu, and now a cold (although fortunately not an ear infection yet.)  Everyone keeps telling us that it will be great when he's older because his immune system will be so strong, and I believe that to some degree, but right now having a chronically sick infant is not only exhausting but it's sad. No one likes to be sick. 

Our hope is that we will be able to find in-home day care for EH until he turns 2, at which time we will re-enroll him in a center-style day care so that he can develop his social skills and start learning things like sharing and all of that fun stuff that they do in the toddler and preschool rooms at day rooms.  In the meantime, we will continue to socialize him with other kids whenever we have the opportunity, and we'll just keep our fingers crossed that we'll be able to get him a spot in a good, accredited center whenever he is ready to go back. 

Of course, who knows how all of this will change if we decide to have a second child.  But that is a conversation for another day!

Why I Will Be Rooting for the Patriots Today

When you live in Pittsburgh, if you aren't a Steeler's fan, then you've immediately lost at least a few friends. People here like to say that they "bleed black and gold," and I believe that to be largely true for a significant portion of the population.  While we aren't the biggest footballs fans in the world, the Steeler's are definitely the team that we root for, and we studiously dress in our black and gold jerseys each and every Sunday during football season.

Picture from the one and only Steeler's game I've ever attended in person

But alas, the Steeler's did not make it to the Super Bowl this year.  In fact, they barely made it to the playoffs, and then they blew that in huge ways during the first 10 seconds of the overtime when they played the Denver Broncos.  After that game I was ready to root for the Broncos since I was impressed by Tim Tebow and his teammates during that game which I feel they definitely deserved to win despite the close score.  But then of course they were knocked out of the playoffs by the Patriots (or was in Baltimore? That's how much I follow teams other than the Steelers...) and ultimately we were left with the Patriots representing the AFC.  Again.

Steeler's fans hate the Patriots.  In fact, I don't many people who admit to being Patriots fans. I don't know enough about the history of the team to understand why, but the Patriots seem to be one of the most hated teams in the NFL. 

This year though, I will be rooting for them in the Super Bowl.

It's not something that I feel totally comfortable admitting openly.  But this year there is a personal connection to the Super Bowl - other than the Steelers - that has me interested in the game.

The son of one of my coworkers was picked up by the Patriots just a few weeks ago, and he has been playing with them ever since, in all of their playoff games.  This man probably disliked the Patriots more than most people prior to this development, but he has been proudly wearing his Patriots hat around the office for the past few weeks, taking all of the verbal jabs in stride.  You would too if your kid was going to the Super Bowl.  He's told us amazing stories of hanging out with the team, and the coach, stories from spending time in the locker room, and getting early access to the "family room" before games.  It all sounds amazing and I (we) are so excited for him.

So tonight we will be watching the Super Bowl and rooting for the Patriots (or at least until bedtime, which is usually no later than 9 p.m.)  We will be looking for number 36 and trying to spot my coworker in the stands, down near the field in the family section.  This is probably one of the most exciting and proudest moments of his time as a father, and so even though it means rooting for the Steeler's arch-nemesis and cheering for the Patriots, I'm going to do it.  And hope that they come home with a Super Bowl ring, and some great stories from my coworker. 

Go Patriots!

(I can't believe I just wrote that.) 

Random Updates

Because there's not enough time to write it all out thoughtfully, here's what's going on right now!

1. It's my birthday.  I'm 31.  30 didn't phase me at all, but 31 has me feeling just the sliiiightest bit "old."  I'm sure I'll get over it though.

2. Day care is still frustrating.  EH still cries a lot.  He's still not sleeping. 

3. We have a meeting set up tomorrow with a potential at-home caregiver.  We know little about her, but we have high hopes that something might work out.  There are a lot of things to think about when considering switching from a center to an at home situation.  No other leads though, other than this one.

4. Care.com sucks.  It's a website for finding caregivers.  I find it to be sneaky and manipulative.  I hope to write a whole post about how I hate care.com.  I'm sorry in advance if you've used the site and love it.

That's all. More soon, but for now I am going to Mad Mex for my birthday burrito (and probably a birthday drink! I deserve it.)

Day Care Concerns

EH has been having a hard time at day care lately.  He's not napping.  At all.

Ok, well that's not totally true, but for the past week he's been sleeping an average of 1 hour per day in naps.  That is clearly not enough.  When he gets home he is absolutely miserable from exhaustion.  That is, if he actually makes it home awake.  Most of the time he passes out as soon as he hits the car. On those days, I'm pretty sure that he thinks he should be asleep for the night when he falls asleep at 4:30 p.m.  If he let him stay asleep then he wakes up at 2:30 a.m. ready to start the day (which is understandable from his perspective - he's been asleep for 10 hours after all.)  If we wake him up, he's miserable and cranky.  He wants nothing but a bottle and to go back to bed.

This, coupled with the fact that he's been non-stop sick for weeks and day care's penchant for losing articles of clothing, blankets, and bottles that we send has left with a bad taste in our mouth.  

And lately, when DH has been arriving at day care to pick him, EH is usually laying by himself, in a swing or on the floor, crying his heart out with huge tears streaming down his face.  It's heartbreaking for DH and devastating for me to hear and perhaps the most difficult part of this whole mess. 


We also don't want to be "those parents" who complain about and hate on day care, because I'm not sure that anywhere else will necessarily be any better, but until we try something else, we can't know for sure.

This morning I talked to one of the women in the infant room, asking her if everything has been ok with EH because we noticed that he hasn't been napping very well.  She said that they noticed that too but since a lot of kids don't sleep well there, they just figured it was normal.  I explained how miserable he is when he gets home in the afternoon and stressed that he really does need to get better naps.

She also said that he was really "curious" and that he seems to have a hard time falling asleep with all of the noises and lights.  This I can believe.  The cribs at day care are all in the same room as the play area where all of the awake children are playing, and right next to the kitchen area where all of the kids in highchairs are eating.  It is a crazy, chaotic and noisy place.  Which I would be fine with if I felt that EH was getting some decent one-on-one time, but I'm not convinced that he is.  They are going to keep a closer eye on his sleep schedule, and particularly focus on getting him to fall back asleep if he wakes up after only 20 or 30 minutes of napping.

What are other day care set-ups like?  Is this normal at a "center" day care?  Are our expectations simply too high?

We have casually started looking into other options.  DH has listed a "childcare wanted" ad on Craigslist, but the responses so far haven't been too promising.  Best case scenario would be that my parents decide to move to Pittsburgh to watch EH in their retirement - we've even offered to buy them a house. (By the way, that offer still stands, Mom and Dad!)  But it's highly unlikely that will happen.  We could also look into other center-style day cares, but are things really going to be any different at a different center?


This we know for certain - when EH is well rested who is an amazingly happy, charming, loveable baby.  We want to keep it that way.

Does anyone have any suggestions for what we can do??? Pittsburgh people - do you know of any good childcare providers in the Franklin Park/Wexford/North Hills area that you can recommend (individual person or center)???

When They're Sick

We have a lot of experience with sick infants by now, so I thought I'd pass along some of the tips that the doctor's have recommended to us during our many, many visits to the pediatrician's office.  Since cold and cough medications are not an option for infants, we were desperate to try anything that might give him some relief.

Here are a few things that helped:

1. Run a cool mist humidifier - This helps to keep their throats and nasal passages moist. 
   

   

   Walgreens Humidifier

   We got this one from Walgreens after the vaporizer that we registered for didn't seem to add enough moisture to the air.  This one uses nearly a gallon of water a night, and believe it or not, we can barely notice the added moisture in the room - that's how dry our air is.
   
   
2. Saline nasal spray and a nasal aspirator - Although saline is non-medicated, I've found that squirting it up their nose, sucking out with the nasal aspirator (or the "booger snotter" as I like to call it), and repeating that over and over for at least 3 or 4 times helps to clear nasal congestion.
   
   

   

   From Kohl's

   Also, go with the battery operated booger snotter - the manual bulb-like ones are more trouble than their worth.
   
   
3. Acetaminophen - Every 4 hours, particularly if they are running a fever.  It also helps with alleviating the pain from ear infections, sore throats, and can help with coughing as well. 
   
   
4. Smaller feedings supplemented with Pedialyte - Instead of 4 ounce bottles we were giving EH 2 ounce bottles of formula with 1 ounce of Pedialyte, every 1.5 to 2 hours.  The smaller amounts are easier to digest and the Pedialyte helps with dehydration.
   
   And most importantly...
   
   
5. Give lots of love and be flexible - Don't try to enforce your just recently establish sleeping and eating schedule when your little one is sick.  When he's spending most of the night coughing himself awake, obviously his sleep schedule is going to be messed up.  And even though I don't normally let EH fall asleep in my arms at bedtime, the entire week he was sick I would hold him, rock him, sing to him, and sway with him until he was asleep. 
   
   After all, he's too young to understand why he suddenly feels so crappy, and if being in my arms helps him relax for even just a few minutes, I'm going to give him that as much as he needs it.  That's what moms are for, right?