1st Birthday Party

This morning Watching Baby passed the 10,000 view mark.  Thank you so much for visiting, and coming back!  There are so many topics I want to cover, but it's been hard to make time to really go into depth about things we do like cloth diapering, making his baby food, and living without daycare.  My saving grace is the diary I've kept since baby was born, and while I missed a few days here and there at the beginning for several months I've written in it every day paying special attention to milestones and behaviors as they develop.

Baby turned one this week, and we had two birthday parties to celebrate.  The first with my wife's family in NJ last weekend, and we tried something new when traveling there.  It's about a 4 hour ride depending on the traffic, and it can be much worse when there's a lot of construction in Connecticut.  We packed the car after work and treated it like a regular evening, feeding him and getting him ready for bed at around 6:30 or 7pm.  Instead of putting him to bed we got right into the car and left.  He only drank about half of his bedtime bottle, so he was able to finish it in the car.  He opened his eyes occasionally during the ride, but slept for most of it; when we arrived, however, he was wide awake and wanted to show off his walking ability to his grandparents.  He stayed up about an hour then went down sometime in the 11pm hour.  My wife read that at around 1 year old a child will start to show separation anxiety, especially around bedtime.  He's definitely been putting up more of a fight going to bed for my wife, but he goes down for his naps for me with no problem.  I try not to take it personally.

The next day we had his actual birthday party; his grandparents and uncles with their significant others were there.  My wife and I had talked about making a special cake with less sugar and fewer ingredients for baby, but we didn't have time in the end to make it.  He ended up eating the same funfetti cake that we all had, although we took away most of the frosting after he had a little taste.  We've heard of people making a smash cake; a cake that is just for the child, as the name suggests, to smash and throw all around to their heart's content.  We'd rather start teaching him right away that certain behaviors aren't acceptable when eating, and smashing up your food and throwing it around is one of them.  That said, he still gets to eat with his hands and have a little fun, but only because it's a special occasion and if he had gotten out of control we probably would have taken it away.

Baby gets the flu, influenza A then influenza B

So January was a tough month for sickness in our house, as baby got the flu twice and at least one ear infection.  We thought that we would be good for a little while after he got the flu the first time, but almost immediately after he was sick again.

The flu comes in many different varieties, and each year they choose what they think will be the prevalent flu strain and develop the vaccine to fight that flu.  They spend the year incubating their vaccine and producing enough for the population.  If they choose the wrong flu, and another such as bird flu or swine flu hits instead, the vaccine will be ineffective.  The same concept applies to many colds.  Once you've had it your body still has the antibodies to fight that cold for some time after it's gone; you can't get the same cold twice in a row.

Our baby didn't get the same cold twice in a row.  He got influence B, then influenza A.  My wife took him to the doctor on a Friday for his amoxicillin rash, then on Monday she took him again and he was diagnosed with the flu.  His temperature was a little high leading up to his trip to the doctor's, but our pediatrician's office doesn't even want to see him unless his temperature reaches 101°.

It's a bit scary when your infant is diagnosed with the flu, because the reason I always cite for not getting a flu shot is that only the elderly, babies, and people with compromised immune systems really have complications when they get the flu.

We ended up taking him to the hospital when his temperature went up to 104°.  I guess I always thought that was when the temperature begins to effect the brain, and we weren't taking any chances.  We were only giving him acetaminophen (Tylenol) and didn't know that you can use ibuprofen as well.  From hearing my coworkers talk about putting babies in ice baths and other drastic measures to get their temperature down I wasn't sure what to do.  It was cold outside, but we couldn't just take him without a jacket.  I wet a towel and put it on his head, we bundled him up as usual, and were off to the hospital.

By the time we were there his temp was down to 102.5° or so, and after we were seen by the triage doctor it was time to wait.  In the ER they determine how critical your condition is and assign a priority accordingly.  The triage doc told us he can take ibuprofen at the same time as acetaminophen, so they gave him some and his fever went right down to a safe level.  A baby with a slight fever is low priority, and we ended up spending more than three hours there.  When the doctor did come to see us, she asked us why we were really there.  Those were her exact words, "why are you really here?"  We told her we thought 104° was a dangerous temperature, and she told us some higher temp is really okay; she seemed to think we panicked for nothing.  I don't even remember at what temperature she said to bring them in, because I think if his temp gets to 104° again we'll probably take him to the hospital again in spite of what she said.

Baby's Amoxicillin Rash

We went in for baby's 9 month checkup last week, but he had some fluid in his ears so the doctor prescribed some amoxicillin to help it on its way.  The doctor didn't know if it was a bacterial ear infection or a viral ear infection, but she prescribed him antibiotics to be on the safe side.  He got the pink bubble gum flavored liquid that I didn't mind taking when I was a child but that my wife absolutely hated.  At first he didn't like it either, but by giving it to him at about 1ml at a time he got better and was even opening his mouth to take it after a few days.

In the afternoon of the 8th day of baby taking amoxicillin he developed an amoxicillin rash on his face and torso.  It showed itself during his afternoon nap, which usually starts close to 2 o'clock and lasts about an hour.  Of course the day it appeared I had to work that night, and during his afternoon nap his mother came home and I left for work.  When she got him up from his nap he had red spots on his face and torso.  I was already at work and felt awful; I was completely powerless to help and could only wait for news via text as my wife took him to the doctor's.  Most of what I learned about it comes secondhand from my wife, who heard it from the doctor.  The best website I found was the aboutkidshealth page, by a doctor out of Toronto.

Amoxicillin rash

They said it's a fairly common reaction, and he's probably allergic to penicillin and other -illin antibiotics.  I didn't see the spots the first night, because I was at work, but according to my wife they were worse the next morning.  She had given him another dose of the antibiotic the evening after his reaction, and it seems like a safe bet this caused its worsening.

This is not a picture of my baby, but this is about what it was like the morning after.  He was like this on his torso, face, and head.  It was scary to see, but at least we knew why it was happening.  Another reason we weren't very concerned is that his mood was fine, he was his usual happy self.

The rash is supposed to clear up as soon as baby stops taking the medicine, so we'll see what happens.  He had taken 9 days of the 10 day prescription, so hopefully his minor ear infection is gone.

Baby learning to stand

In the last three weeks or so our baby has started pulling himself up to stand!  He's now 9 1/2 months old, and has no problem pulling himself up on the coffee table, the end tables, his Little Tikes Activity Garden, or anything he can reach.  It's a very exciting time, but also very nerve wracking because learning to stand also means learning to fall.  A lot.

Before he was able to stand on his own, he really liked being held in the standing position.  When he'd wake up in the morning or from a nap I'd hold him standing in the crib before taking him out.  I also spent some time teaching him air guitar while standing; I would sit behind him and move his hands as if he was playing the guitar.  Eventually when we would try to put him down on his play mat he would stiffen his legs and not want to go down to the ground.  He would cry when we put him down because he wanted to stay standing (with one of us holding him steady).

We didn't get a bouncer for him until recently, and we ended up getting a used one and saving a bunch of money.  I guess they call it a jumper; it's a Disney Baby Einstein jumper that usually runs around $100.  Ours isn't the most recent model, and I think one side is missing it's toy, but we got it for $30 from a local mother who purchases and resells used baby toys as a home business.  He loves playing in it and bouncing, and it gives his leg muscles a good workout.

Now that he's discovered standing, that's all he wants to do.  He pulls himself up on the coffee table, on his Little Tikes Activity Garden, on the couch, and in his crib.  It's becoming the norm to find him standing up in his crib when he wakes up from his nap.  When I go in to get him up from his nap he'll be standing in the crib and start bouncing up and down when he sees me.  It's adorable.

When it comes to falling, our baby is becoming an expert.  It's actually important for your baby to fall when learning to stand and walk.  It shows that they're pushing themselves and trying to stretch their limits, and the pain of falling down and hurting his head acts as an incentive to not fall down anymore.  He's getting better at putting his hands out to catch himself, or going to his knees before sprawling out on the ground.

We have an alphabet play mat, similar to this 56 Piece Build And Play Alphabets Play Mat 7X4 Feet (Google Affiliate Ad), although ours also has the numbers 1-9 instead of a star and moon.  It provides a little padding for when he falls, but he'll still cry if he falls on it hard enough.  I'm not sure how much they're charging for them in the ad, but we got ours for around $25 at BJ's wholesale club, and it is well worth it.

Munchkin Mozart Magic Cube

Over Thanksgiving we were given a new toy that I am so impressed with, the Mozart Magic Cube.  I'm so impressed with it that when we were given another for Christmas we decided to keep it because it's so cool.

The idea behind it is brilliant.  5 sides of the cube have a button with a picture of an instrument, and the sixth is the full orchestra.  When you press the button for an instrument, it plays the part of the song for that instrument.  If it's already playing that instrument and you press the button again, it takes that instrument away.  It has six or eight different songs, and you press the orchestra button to cycle through them.

Here's a video I found on YouTube that gives a good demonstration of its operation:

Baby's first head cold

At the end of our Thanksgiving trip baby began to show symptoms of a head cold.  It's inevitable; eventually was going to get sick.  We visited my wife's family for Thanksgiving and not only was he exposed to lots of people, but lots of people from different areas.  We traveled to New Jersey, people came from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, and any time you travel you're exposed to different germs.  A few relatives were in various stages of being sick, so it really was inevitable.

The morning before we left the in-laws he woke up earlier than usual, but during the whole trip his schedule was a little off anyway so we didn't think much of it.  Throughout the day it seemed like he was sniffling a little, but he was enjoying all the attention he got from his grandparents, aunts, and uncles so much that he was in fine humor.  Naps were a bit short, but again, he was in a strange environment so we didn't think much of it.  

The day we drove home probably messed with his schedule and wore him out even more.  Driving for four hours (perhaps more) through New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island isn't fun for anyone.  Driving four hours with a baby makes things even more complicated.  We used to stop along the way to give him a bottle and a chance to stretch, but this trip we decided to just push through and be  done with it.  On the way down we left about an hour before his bedtime so he would be awake for a while at least.  I know I get stiff when I'm sitting in the same position for too long so I'm sure the same is true for a baby.

We took his temperature that night, and there was some debate as to where to do it.  He's 8 months old now and can move himself around pretty well, flipping himself over when he's on the changing table, kicking, and pulling away when we're trying to get him dressed.  We've never had any success taking his temperature under his arm, and the pediatrician always does it rectally, so that's how we've done it.  I don't think it would have been possible to do it if my wife and I hadn't done it together.

His temperature was 99.1°, which falls well below the 101° threshold when we would give him tylenol.  A nurse from the pediatrician's office told me several symptoms to watch for in which case we would then need to bring him in.  If he develops any of these symptoms we should call again: a fever, a cough, a wheeze, loss of appetite, or if he is continuously crying and inconsolable.  She advised we use a cold mist humidifier, keep him upright as much as possible, and use the bulb syringe in his nose to remove mucus.

It's been four days now and his mood is greatly improved, although his nose is still running all the time. He had interrupted sleep the first night we were home, and more short than full length naps.  He's required almost all my attention, which was something else the nurse told me.  She said babies need lots of attention when they're sick "just like adults do," or something to that effect.  That made me laugh because it's pretty true.  

Natural cleaning products

This is a video that was posted by Seventh Generation, a company that makes all natural cleaning products.  We started purchasing their products recently because of the baby; we didn't want to expose him to the chemicals used in most commercial cleaners.  Babies learn about objects by putting them in their mouths, and when I see the TV commercials for Lysol it makes me cringe.  

This was a video that first came to my attention from a Seventh Generation ad on facebook.  There is a registration website (http://www.seventhgeneration.com/coupons) where you can sign up to receive coupons and other promotional material.  They carry a lot of products now, and I can't speak to the cost of all of them, but they seem to be competitively priced.  

Petrochemicals and the adverse affect on our Hormones