Show-and-Tell

Today was show-and-tell at preschool and Elizabeth was SO excited. She asks me everyday if it is show-and-tell and always is disappointed each time that I say "no." Elizabeth started jumping around and dancing when I finally said "yes!" today.

Elizabeth immediately knew what she wanted to bring. She ran into her room and returned with "Soft Baby" and "Other One Baby". These are Elizabeth's favorite dolls in the entire world. Soft Baby was her very first doll and she has called her "Soft Baby" since the day that she got her. We bought "Other One Baby" to replace Soft Baby, when she got a little ratty looking. However, Elizabeth had other plans. Instead of replacing her, Elizabeth decided that the new baby would join Soft Baby as her best friend.

When I asked Elizabeth what she was going to tell her friends about her dolls, she said, "I will tell them that they are Soft Baby and Other One Baby and that I love them."

As I picked Elizabeth up from school today, I asked her how it went. She informed me that all of the kids loved her babies. She even passed them around and let each of the kids hold them. She told me that "all of the kids held my babies, except for James because he doesn't like babies!"

Nine Month Wellness Check-Up

Zachary had his 9 month wellness check-up today. I have been looking forward to this appointment for quite some time because I want Dr. Broadbent's confirmation that everything is going well and that Zachary is developing normally.

Well, we received great news. Dr. Broadbent says that Zachary is doing great. He was happy with Zachary's progress with rolling, sitting up on his own, standing and crawling. Dr. Broadbent said that it is great that Zachary can pick up small objects and pass objects from one hand to the other. We have introduced solids and are working on getting Zachary to feed himself some finger foods.

Zachary weighed in at 16 pounds 12 ounces (4th percentile) and measured 28 inches long (48th percentile). His head measured 17 and 1/2 inches (26th percentile).

There were a couple of concerns that I was happy to be able to discuss with Dr. Broadbent. I am not very confident with feeding Zachary solids because he has been having some skin reactions after he eats certain foods. Dr. Broadbent recommended that I try Beech-Nut foods and to stay away from the things that cause the rashes. We are meeting with another Allergist on February 3rd so I will just play it safe until then. At this point I will be avoiding milk, eggs, bananas, sweet potatoes, all nuts and shellfish. I know, I know...Is that all!

Dr. Broadbent gave me some additional things to try to help with Zachary's itchy rashes. I will continue to lather Zachary in Aquaphor morning and night. Additionally, I will be giving Zachary his Zyrtec in the morning, instead of at night like I have been. Dr. Broadbent also suggested Aveeno soap because it has an anti-itch property. We are going to dress him only in cotton and pre-wash everything that he wears in Dreft. I hope that this helps!

I really enjoyed today's visit. It made me feel better to know that Zachary is doing well and that I seem to be doing things correctly. It's nice to get confirmation that you are doing everything that you can for your little one's.

Stow Away

Today I caught Zachary trying to stow away in Elizabeth's backpack. Elizabeth always talks about how much fun preschool is and I guess he wanted to go. You sure gotta watch this little guy...He is a little sneak!

Grandma's Birthday Celebration

Elizabeth, Zachary, and I surprised my mom with a little birthday party today. My mom's actual birthday was yesterday but because she was at work and then had dinner plans, we did not get to see her until today. Elizabeth has been looking forward to grandma's birthday and has been talking about it since Christmas. Last week, Elizabeth looked at my mom and said, "It's gonna be your birthday soon. And you're gonna get a cake...and maybe it will be a Cinderella cake!". My mom replied with "Maybe!". It was such a cute little interaction between the two of them...that I had to get my mom a Cinderella cake. Elizabeth was so excited to go to the store to pick out the cake.


Elizabeth was even more excited to present the cake to grandma. We waited until grandma was in the other room, then we got it all set up. Once everything was ready, Elizabeth called for grandma to come and we all started singing. Elizabeth absolutely loves to sing the Happy Birthday song. I think the cake is her favorite part of birthdays. The look on her face as she sings is priceless.


Although Zachary didn't sing, he was there and gave grandma lots of smiles. He had a great time sitting with Papa and watching all of the festivities. Zachary sure does love his grandma.


I am so glad that we were able to celebrate my mom's life. She is such an amazing lady and she is a wonderful grandma. Mom, we love you and want to thank you for the example that you are. You can tell that family is what matters most. You have a heart of gold. We are so blessed to have you in our lives. Happy Birthday!

On all Fours

Zachary is SO close to crawling. He pushes onto his hands and knees and rocks. It is so fun to watch him try to figure out what to do. He tries so hard and before I know it I will be chasing him all over the house. I feel that my calm and quiet days are coming to an end!

Bananas

After eating an entire bowl of rice cereal, Zachary was opening his mouth and looking like he wanted to eat some more, so I decided to open up a jar of bananas. After a couple of mouthfuls, he lost interest so I gave up and put the leftovers away. As I headed back to the highchair to get him out, I noticed a rash forming on his face. I immediately washed his face and kept a close eye on him. After about 10 minutes, the rash on his face was gone. That was yesterday.

Today, I decided to give Zachary the bananas again. After a few mouthfuls, I noticed the same rash forming on his face again. However, this time the rash did not only affect his face. Within a few minutes, his entire body was covered with the rash. Zachary went from a happy, smiling baby to a miserable, itchy baby. He was moaning, crying, and scratching all over his body. When we noticed his lips were starting to swell, we ran for the Benadryl. After 3/4 teaspoons of Benadryl and me lathering him in Hydrocortisone, he was a happy baby again. The whole ordeal lasted about an hour.

Guess I won't be giving him bananas anymore!

Sunday Bag

Elizabeth and I packed a new church bag today. We filled it will all kinds of new toys and activities to keep busy during Sacrament Meeting. Elizabeth was so excited to be able to pick all of the things that she wanted to have...and was sweet enough to pack a few things for Zachary too!

She picked a coloring book and crayons, two puzzles, a memory flashcard game, a few books to read, a doodle pad, three princess magnet dolls, a flannel board with some flannel stories, a couple of magnet puzzles, and a few handheld infant toys.

Hopefully this will help my little munchkins make it through Sacrament Meeting a little easier!

Zachary's First Solid Food

All I can say is My Baby Loves to Eat!

We have been working with all of Zachary's doctors to decide on the perfect time to introduce solids. We wanted to make sure that all of his rashes were gone and that his skin was clear so that we could tell if he was having a reaction to something we fed him. He has been doing really good lately so we finally got to feed him his first solid food!


We went with something basic...rice cereal. As we put Zachary in his highchair, and placed the bib around his neck, he looked totally confused as to what we were doing. But, as soon as we placed the first spoonful of food in his mouth...he was hooked. My little man loves to eat!


I could not shovel the food into his mouth fast enough. As I put the spoon into the bowl, Zachary would bend down trying to reach his mouth to the spoon. He would stick out his tongue, trying to lick the food off of the spoon.


It was so fun to watch him reach this new milestone. He sat there with such concentration. He would open his mouth, gnaw on the spoon until he got the food into his mouth, then he would roll the food around in his mouth until he could figure out how to swallow it.


After he would swallow, his "little birdie mouth" would open again...ready for more. If I didn't get the food into his mouth fast enough, tears would ensue. What an impatient little guy...and what a sad little face!


If you look really close, you can see Zachary's first little tooth. He is growing up way too fast!


Once Zachary finished the first bowl of rice cereal, I made another batch. The second batch I made a little thicker, just to see if he could handle it.

He tried it...


...but didn't like it. Oh well. Guess we'll have to ease into that in the future.


All-in-all, Zachary did great. I am so glad that we are finally going to be able to expose him to new tastes and textures!

One Cool Dude!

We are ready for Summer. How about you?

Baby Push-Ups

I knew this day would come...my little Zachary is trying to crawl! It is so fun to watch him try to figure out how to move his arms and legs so that he can get around. He hasn't quite figured out the crawling thing yet; however, he is great at doing baby push-ups!


It always makes me smile when I walk into a room and see Zachary, on the floor, with his little tush up in the air!


I cannot believe he will be crawling any day now! Heaven help me...I better start baby-proofing the house!