December 5, 2013

9 months!


It's time for Alden's 9 month post! This month has seen so many changes for our little guy, in lots of different ways. I just can't believe how quickly he's growing up- not just physically but in other ways, too. He seems more and more like a little boy every day and I see less of my baby in him as he learns and gains new independence. It is so bittersweet! I am so proud and amazed to watch him become his own person but I am sad that his tiny baby days are behind him. Those days were some of the best days  of my life :)

As you can see, 9 months brought serious standing and cruising along with it! Alden went from pulling up and being unsteady on his feet to wanting to stand all. the. time. and soon after, cruising around the room using furniture, our legs, or anything else that stood still long enough to hold on to. He now gets up and down without any trouble at all (though sometimes it still takes some concentration) and he gets in and out of crawling like it's nobody's business. I remember a few months ago, Nick and I were watching a little girl in Alden's daycare class crawl across the room, sit up, grab a toy, and then start crawling again. We looked at each other and said, "Wow, won't it be weird when Alden can do all of that by himself?!" Well, the day has definitely come! He is so mobile and so incredibly curious, it's almost impossible to keep up with him. By the time you get him turned away from something he's already into something else. Talk about exhausting! :)

Allergy-wise, we're still dairy and soy free though I have re-introduced soy lecithin and soybean oil back into my diet (we still keep it out of Alden's food to reduce the exposure). These two ingredients are rarely reactive in people with a soy allergy since there are little to no soy proteins present in the oil or lecithin (though there are people who react to both). About a week after I had started eating lecithins and oils again we noticed a couple small patches of eczema appear again but they have not spread and I think are more connected to the recently wintery weather than they are to diet. We are watching them closely and if it seems like they're getting worse at all, I'll probably cut out the lecithin and oil again to see what happens. As maybe I've already mentioned, Alden has a chronic runny nose and cough with occasional congestion in his chest/head. In mid-November, we all got a viral cold-like illness and Alden's cough got worse and his head got congested. After a week or so (thinking the bug was on its way out the door), he got a stomach bug and we noticed that when he threw up, he was bringing up a lot of mucus. This got me worried so we talked to our doctor about it (especially since Alden had had a coughing spell that ended with him choking on the mucus in his chest and me nearly having a heart attack in the kitchen). Our pediatrician thinks that since he wasn't really eating, the result of being sick, he was just bringing up the only thing that was in his stomach, which happened to be a lot of mucus from the congestion the cold caused. She listened to his lungs for a long time and she still doesn't hear any wheezing (a good thing!) but said he sounded really "junky". I pushed a little harder than usual to find something we could do for him (silly me for thinking my baby should be able to breathe…) and we  decided to go ahead with nebulizer treatments at home on an as needed basis. We've done quite a few since then and I can physically feel a difference in the way he breathes after a treatment so all-in-all, I think they are a good thing. It bothers me that there isn't really a good option for getting rid of the congestion at this point, but at least we have something that can help ease the symptoms on days when he's having a particularly hard time. I am still convinced that there are other allergies at play but allergy testing in babies this young is often inaccurate and the research shows that it really doesn't give us much useful information. Treatments for allergy-like symptoms are also limited when they are this young so, for now, it seems we are stuck with the nebulizer, humidifier, and limiting allergenic foods as our options. (whew, that was a long paragraph!)

In other news, Alden has his first playdate with friends this month, his first Thanksgiving, tried out a lot of new foods (squash with cinnamon and nutmeg=good, risotto=bad), and had a great visit from his Grandma and Far Far Wiese!


Onto some fun stuff…photos!

first time on the swing :) 



baby date at the park

playing under the shower curtain with Daddy. such a cute baby booty! 

Mama, seriously. stop taking my picture. 


makin' his Daddy proud! Go Gators!

on a walk in the jogging stroller that he hates. it's either this look or crying, the whole time...

sick baby :( 

such a good Daddy! throw up on his shirt, sick kid on his chest and he's sleeping sitting up so he doesn't disturb Alden. 

:(

exactly what our house looked like for a week or so

helping Daddy adjust his crib

boys and their tools :) 

1st nebulizer treatment at home


Yogi the nebulizer bear :) 

1st time wearing shoes!

he's a fan ;) 


1st time drinking from a straw. It took a few minutes but now you can't stop him! 




hanging out with my boy on Thanksgiving :)

Happy Thanksgiving from our busy kitchen! 


happy baby :) 

yum!

opening his first Christmas present :) 

My mom sent us an Elf on the Shelf so that the tradition could start with Alden's first Christmas. I hadn't read the book yet, so I didn't know he wasn't supposed to touch him…but since Alden has no idea what the Elf is for, I think I'm safe :) I'm sure we're going to have a lot of fun incorporating the Elf into our family traditions in years to come.

introducing him to the Elf
but eating the Elf seems like a much better idea...

he'll live on Alden's shelf for the month :) 

scooting around in his new car! 


 Hanging out at Treehouse Kid and Craft for Small Business Saturday

debonair baby :) 


We also celebrate Nick's birthday after Thanksgiving when we're with his parents since his birthday is so close (December 4th) and we're not usually with his parents on his actual birthday. This year we went to Etienne (one of our favorites in Athens) for a nice birthday dinner. It was delicious and Alden did really well even though it was after his bedtime.

celebrating with Daddy for his 30th birthday! 

Here's to a wonderful 10th month with our little man! I can't wait for all of the holiday celebration that's coming up this month- it will be so fun to see Alden experience it for the first time :)

much love, L&N

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