videos

Today Jason decided to definitely bat at an object. I thought he did before, but was certain today.
And tonight Tyler finally allowed me to take video of him singing "Jingle Bell Rock". They are performing a winter concert (or "contest", as Tyler as been calling it) at school next week, so Monday they began to learn their song. Tyler caught on really quick. He messed up a bit in this version, but it's too cute not to share.

Get ready to be jealous!

To all you northerners, I went to the beach today! Honestly I'm the one who is usually jealous of your ability to wear jeans, but we've been having a cold autumn so I've been in jeans plenty this year. Not that I'm complaining. But today was gorgeous in the high 70s so we decided to take advantage of it.

It was Jason's first time seeing the ocean. Okay, it's the bay, but it counts. He wasn't sure he liked the wind. He spent most of the time in the Bjorn.

I was too cheap to buy Christmas cards from the photo studio, and I actually kinda like the more casual types of photos for cards, so I figured I'd try to take some. Not great, but I guess they could be worse. We'll have to see if I end up getting anything better.

Tyler spent the whole time looking for "treasures" (he's deviated from his "daventures" term). He met a nice "girl" (meaning 60+ year old woman) who taught him all about the different kinds of shells. I now know that an olive is not just a term for a food.

Photos, photos, and more photos!

For your viewing pleasure, I've narrowed down my 69 proofs to just 10. Believe me, it was tough.

a day at the mall

This afternoon I packed up the boys and head to the mall. Jason blessed me by sleeping part-way there and then fell back to sleep once he was in the stroller (this doesn't usually happen, in fact I often wonder why I own a stroller). I got a chance to jump into The Children's Place and Motherhood Maternity before Tyler hit the play area. He got a quick chance to maneuver his way around the mass amounts of small toddlers, meanwhile announcing that the the little kids "don't know how to share". It's funny to think that I used to secretly curse those bigger kids on the play equipment and now my Tyler is nearing that status. From there it was off to the "family restroom" (I think that's what it's called) so Tyler could watch an inappropriate cartoon while I nursed Jason. Met another fellow nurser of a 3-month-old precious girl. That was a first, to chat with another mom while feeding our babies. Then we did it, we tackled Christmas pictures. First off, Tyler LOVES Alyssa (our photographer) and apparently so does Jason. We even got a smile or two captured. They turned out pretty cute, which does mean that I'd inevitably spend way too much money. While they processed the pictures we went BACK to nurse Jason (they took photos for an HOUR!) and then off to sit on Santa's lap. I should correct that...we went to stand near Santa. Tyler will not sit ON Santa, but he did allow Jason to do so. How sweet, huh? Oh well, we got a quick photo opportunity (meaning I got to shell out $17 for a 3x5 and 2 wallets of this photo..the smallest package they had) and Tyler scored a lollipop. He told Santa he could bring "whatever you want". He later told me he'd write Santa a letter. Apparently he was just pretending to be that easy for the big guy. Pixos and a kitchen scale, "and maybe a stuffed Piglet" still top the list of requests. Then we went back to the photo studio to pick out our pictures. That's tough. Took way too long, apparently for Tyler as well. He started to be a royal pain in my behind. That was the only rough part of the trip. Well, that's not exactly accurate. The toughest part of the trip was standing in line at Chick-Fil-A for dinner and NOT ordering a milkshake. This non-dairy thing stinks. Talk about torture!

For your viewing pleasure, over-priced Santa pictures!

And later down the road, thanks to photo editing, Jason might actually believe I cared enough to bring him by himself to sit on Santa's lap for the first time. Truth be told, I would do so if it wouldn't cost me another darn $17!

Some photos

So apparently I've been neglectful with photos the past couple days. To prove that Jason isn't in horrible pain, here is proof:

And here is Tyler discovering a new fruit, a pomegranate. He thought it was quite nifty.

quick update

Just wanted to thank you all for your kind words and advice. Jason is doing a great deal better and I do hope that my dietary changes will be answer to this issue. I haven't had any more success with the bottle, although I admittedly haven't been trying too hard. I have been continuing with my altered diet, drinking TONS of water, and pumping.

He did pretty darn good yesterday, taking two decent naps while NOT strapped to my chest via Baby Bjorn. He napped once in the swing, and then later in my bed after nursing, waking briefly to eat again and then I was able to transfer him back to the swing for a bit longer of a nap. He did repay me for it though last night, havign a great deal of difficulty falling asleep. He was pretty cranky, but I don't THINK he was in pain, just over-tired and not sure how to fall asleep. He had a little more difficult of a night and did spit up a bit, but never the curdled nasty stuff he had been spitting up. I'm hoping it's just cause he was getting too much milk due to my supply increasing from pumping? I'm not sure, I guess I'm just spouting out theories. I'm great at making up theories.

Anyway, woke up as happy as a clam today and is now asleep in the swing. He has a talent for only napping when I have errands to do. He did this yesterday and then again today I fed him, put him in the swing while I went to gather my stuff to head to the grocery store, and came back to find him napping. He NEVER falls asleep like that when I'm attempting to get him to nap. LOL. But I can't complain. At least he's napping again!

Sorry, guess that wasn't such a "quick update" after all. Oops.

Jason's 2-month appointment

Jason had been automatically covered through Al's insurance for 60 days. I managed to procrastinate and by about 55 days old I finally figured I should go ahead and fill out the paperwork to get him officially enrolled in Tricare Prime (military insurance). When Al submitted the paperwork we were informed that all "new" patients were to go to the "clinic" in our area and he would have to stop going to the pediatrician he had been seeing (Tyler's doctor). I was less than pleased. He did what he could and got nowhere with changing the situation. I called and also had no success. So unless I wanted to switch Tyler's doctor to the "clinic" (he was "grandfathered in" and allowed to use a civilian doctor still) my boys will be going to different doctors now. Wonderful.

Yesterday Jason had his belated 2-month well-baby at his new doctors. Good news first. He's on track developmentally. He weighs 11.8 pounds, is 22 inches long, and his head has a diameter of 15 inches. His lungs are still clear although he still has those nagging cough/cold symptoms.

Now for the bad news. He happened to have a horrible night the prior evening and then that morning as well and managed to spit up blood-tinged mucus again on the way there. When the doc saw this and how angry and obviously in pain he was, she told me he needs to be on formula...at least for now. She wants him on nutramagin or allimentum ASAP for at least 3-4 days, ideally a week, and then I can consider breastfeeding again basically if I eliminate everything from my diet. I don't know if I love her or hate her. She's the first person who has admitted that I what I eat could have an impact on him. Unfortunately I still don't know what's bothering him. He had been doing SOOOOO much better and then I had pizza Sunday night, so it could have been the dairy, the tomatoes, the spice, or really anything. Or it could have been the soda or the chocolate in the cookies. These are all things I had been having in small amounts prior to yesterday though and he was doing seemingly better. Makes no sense to me. So to know I'd basically have to eliminate everything from my diet, which I'm willing to do if necessary.

I agree that I need to do something. I had never seen such a strong correlation between what I ate and his reaction as I did that night and yesterday. But I really was hesitant to give him formula and I also haven't had much success with a bottle. But I also hate to think that I'm causing him pain and she said it would take a while to get the irritants out of my body even if I cut out everything now.

I did some research yesterday, shed some tears, asked some opinions of family and friends, and even contacted a LLL leader. I was still really torn and then got the mail and there was a formula coupon. I decided that was my sign and went out to Walmart to buy Allimentum (geez that stuff is expensive). I did TRY desperately to get him to drink it yesterday. He obviously doesn't like the taste. He did manage to drink 2 ounces max, but that was it. So I had to resort to breastfeeding but will continue to try to offer the bottle this week, with full intention of going back to full time breastfeeding if possible. However, I'm making strides in that area as well. I drank a TON of water and am pumping and saving my milk (to potentially donate) to try to rid my body of any excess toxins. I cut out ALL dairy sources (even those seemingly innocent foods that contain trace amounts of dairy like crackers, waffles, etc.), tomatoes, chocolate, caffeine, and soy. I'm basically allowed to eat nothing that is fun, but it's worth it for now. I am keeping a food journal and will eventually try to add some foods back in my diet one by one to see what is bothering him.

He seems to be better already. Not perfect, but better. He's even asleep in the swing right now, without having shed any tears. Looking back I'm realizing he was getting more and more uncomfortable recently, but i hadn't put the signs together. I was having to hold him CONSTANTLY and he only slept in the front pack or in bed with me, but it seemed manageable and he was smiling more and stuff so I thought he was doing okay. I'm hoping that I'll find that he's just bothered by large doses of certain foods, or else I fear that I'll be really confused by his symptoms being that he had seemed to do fine with small doses of things. I just hope I can figure out what is bothering him. The mommy guilt is overwhelming, but I think I'm doing the most I can for him right now. Wish us luck!

Oh, and the doctor wants to see us for a follow-up on Friday. I do feel confident that she was educated on the subject and is doing what she feels is right for him without simply trying to get me to quit breastfeeding or forcing breastfeeding (neither approach is something I would be comfortable with him). She even gave me the direct line to her office (something they normally don't do) and said to call if I have ANY issues. She spent probably 40 minutes with us, holding Jason a good portion of the time. She will be sending us to a pediatric gastroenterologist if we do not see improvement. So for now I'm thinking maybe this insurance mix-up was a blessing in disguise.