"Momniac"

Just 2 weeks old
3 months old

Ever since I became a mom, I sometimes feel like I'm a total maniac. What about a "Momniac," or recently, I heard "Momzilla." I just made up the first one.

Last week, I took Vincent into his children's clinic because I thought he may have been spitting up too much. Wait, let me back myself up by saying that I did call the helpline nurse first, and she suggested I take him in. The nurse who saw him didn't think that he had anything wrong with him, except some mild reflux. Not enough to put him on medication. Okay, that was a relief, even though I did feel a bit crazy for taking him in.

Yesterday, I had to take Vincent in again. And, yes, I called the helpline first. This time, there was something wrong. He has some sort of infection in his finger. The corner of one of his nails had this tiny little pale greenish circle & the tip of that finger up to the first knuckle was red & puffy. The doctor prescribed him with an antibiotic to take 3 times a day, for 5 days. I'm glad that I took him in, but I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to be calling the helpline every week for something I'm freaking out about. I thought I was past the freak out stage. Apparently not.

On to non-maniac things...Sunday night was moms' night out! Yay! David organized the night for Zoe, Jill & I to go out without the babies, while he and their husbands watched our boys. It was great! We had dinner at Brasa in Belltown, & enjoyed their 25 for $25 menu with a glass of wine each. Zoe & I both fed our boys before leaving & I had left David with a bottle of pumped breastmilk, just in case. Some of you may know that I'm not a fan of pumping, because it makes me a maniac, & Vincent isn't a fan of the bottle. But, that night, he was hungry, and I wasn't available, so he took the bottle from David. Dinner was very delicious. I have to say, Brasa has a pretty good 25 for $25 menu. David and I went there in November when they were running the promotion & really enjoyed it then as well. I had an octopus salad to start, while Zoe & Jill had falafel. For the main course, Zoe & I had black pepper paperdelle with mushrooms & Jill had a steak. We all had mini churros (they called them donuts) for dessert. Yum! My wine was a Soave, and that was okay. I'll have to remember that I wasn't too thrilled with it for next time.

Now, back to Vincent. Yesterday, we were expecting Julie to come over to spend some time with us in the morning. She is a friend, who will eventually watch Vincent for us on occassion, so that David and I may have a night out without baby in tow. Unfortunately, Julie wasn't feeling well, and it was good of her to stay home rather than get us sick. We hadn't planned on going to the Next Months class, but since it was early enough, I decided to take Vincent. Next Months is the follow up to the First Weeks class that we've been going to since he was 2 1/2 weeks old. It's a drop in class for parents. I opted to do that rather than join a PEPS group. I love it, and I think he enjoys it, too. Starting yesterday especially, I feel like he's gotten very interested in being there. He looked at the other parents & babies, and is was so distracted he could hardly eat. Twice I put him down on a blanket on the floor on his tummy with a few other babies & he really lifted his head high to watch them.

Last night, we met up with another family at All Purpose Pizza in Leschi for dinner. Their little boy is a week younger than Vincent. It was tasty.

Today, we are taking it easy. I was planning on going to the class today instead of yesterday, but we'll do something in the afternoon instead. It's sunny right now & Vincent is sleeping away in the Moby.

What A 3 Month Vincent Lools Like

"Standing"

Playing with toys

Vincent Turns 3 Months Old!

Today, Vincent is 3 months old. I have a picture taken, but it's still on my camera, but, here's one from about a week ago...close enough. Don't be fooled by it, though, we had to put that rattle in his hand.

So, what's he doing at 3 months?

Sleep has gotten better, although, last night he woke up more than usual, so who knows. And, breastfeeding has gotten better, too. He still isn't great, nor is he taking a bottle, but it's definitely an improvement from when he was kicking & screaming every other feeding. But, like with all aspects of having a baby, we just cross our fingers & hope that each good development stays. And, if not, well, we deal with it.

I'm not exactly sure when he started to discover his hands, this week, it's almost like he's figuring out that he has two of them & they can go together. Before, it seemed as though he knew of both of them, but they were very much individual. Starting Tuesday, he's been doing this thing with his mouth, sticking his tongue out slightly & sort of grunting, but not like to poop. At the same time he's doing this, he tries to bring his two hands together & lace them. He looks like he's really concentrating on the skill. Every so often, if you put an object in front of him, he may hold it slightly, but it's only happened about twice. I have a feeling it'll be a few weeks still before he can really start to notice his toys better, but it's coming.

Vincent is definitely much more aware and interested in his surroundings. We think he has figured out that he has cats, though he probably doesn't realize what they are. We've seen him looking at them & following them with his eyes as they walk by. This extra awareness makes eating & napping a little more challenging, as he's more interested in watching what's going on around him.

Dining out has become more interesting as well. He used to be able to sleep through the meal, the first couple of months. Now, he's awake, and he wants attention. Last night, we had a great meal at La Spiga, on 12th & Pike. We made an early reservation for a large table to accommodate his car seat. He was awake the whole time, and really behaved well. David, Uncle Jim & I all traded off holding him, and at the end of the meal, I set him in his car seat for moment & he fell right to sleep. So, it's still quite do-able for us to dine out, just more interactive.

I guess that's it, really. Not too much has changed. Vincent is looking more and more like a little boy baby, rather than like a sleepy newborn. He weighs about 13 1/2 pounds & between 23 - 24 inches tall. He's still squeezing into some of his 0-3 month size clothing, though not for long!

St. Patrick's Day

Why won't she just let me sleep?

Well, we really didn't do anything Irish today. Vincent wore his polar fleece suit out to breakfast, which is a shade of green, but that's about as into the holiday as we got this year. David and I thought about walking him in the St. Paddy's Day Dash last week, but it's just too early & too cold for us. Not to mention, our stroller isn't the best for something like that.

What we did do today was give Vincent another scalp treatment! Well, it started last night, with the oil, and this morning was the bath & wash. You can't tell in his picture, but the area that is crustless is now a little shiney! We have a half bald baby. He's too cute! We'll see how things go, but we may be able to cease our scalp treatments very soon. Then, what will I call this blog?

Out of Sync

I felt a bit out of sync with Vincent today. Overall, we had a nice day. Vincent woke up at 6am, and went back to sleep in a half hour & slept until 10am. We met Kari & Sasha downtown for a little shopping, and that went pretty well, too. Our afternoon at home wasn't bad, either. So, why do I think we're out of sync? I guess I felt like he wasn't connecting with me today. I would try to get his attention, and it seemed like he was somewhere else. I don't know where. We played a little this afternoon, and he didn't seem very interested. I don't think he is ill or anything like that. We just weren't in sync. I guess this is bond to happen once in a while, especially when we spend so much time together. At least, I can be happy we didn't have an all out bad day!

It's Friday, and it means we get to have David all weekend.

Just Because I Want To Brag

Vincent & I are trying to get out at least once a day during the week. Once a week, we go to First Weeks class in Montlake. Vincent has one more week there, since it goes from age 0-12 weeks. It's a class for new parents & their babies. I can't believe he's going to be 12 weeks tomorrow!
We also go to Mommy & Baby yoga once a week. Today was our day, he did great. We had lunch at Vios with other moms & babies after class. Well, I had lunch, he slept.

Thank you, Angela!

Ooops!!! All this time, I spelled "cradle" without an "r"! Doh! Thanks to my dear friend, we're corrected now.

Jumperoo

Vincent's new toy. Still a little small for it (see the blanket behind his back), but his head is steady enough for him to enjoy the bounce.

Head Case

Our most recent scalp treatment was Friday night to Saturday morning. It seemed to be pretty effective, though crust still exists. We're happy with the results, nonetheless.

My obsession with Vincent's head doesn't end with the cradle cap, though. I worry about the shape of his head. At his 2 month pediatrician visit, his doc mentioned that it looks as though he may need more tummy time, and that he's got a little of a flat head! I was mortified! Tummy time is so rough. Vincent hates it with a passion. But, two things I have learned this week may help him get through it, even if it's just for 5 minutes at a time.

The first is infant massage. I took him to a class yesterday, and the woman teaching the class showed me how to massage his back. He seemed to tolerate being on his stomach while having his back rubbed. It doesn't last long, and he wiggles a lot, but it's an improvement to the screaming. The second thing I learned was from Jill today. She said taught me to sing & play with his back side while on his tummy. So far, we've only done "Itsy Bitsy Spider." Today he did the most head lifting in his whole life!

Maybe if I lose more hair, my head'll clear up.
My head, March 9, 2007. I suspect the nice lady who feeds me (she calls herself "Mommy") will rub my food on my head again today. At least she warms it & says sweet things to me when she's doing it. I saw my buddy, Evan's head yesterday. His scalp is perfect, and he's got a full set of new hair. I've gotta figure out how to get me some new hair. Mommy must like what I've got now, since she's always stroking the back of my head. It's nice.

Cradle Cap

What is it, and how did my baby get it?! I can tell you what it isn't...pretty. I have yet to be given an explanation of how babies get this condition, but it's basically really bad dry scalp. In Vincent's case, it's mostly on the top of his head, and it's sort of this pale, yellowish crust that sometimes makes him look like he has very bad dandruff. He doesn't seem to notice it's even there, nor is he bothered by it. I, on the other hand, look at it everyday, and obsess over it. I try to tell myself that I'm getting used to it, but that's just a lie.

At 2 and half months old, it has gone from a little flakey, to crusty, to very crusty all over, to where it is now, not so very crusty all over, but still crusty. We've tried a few methods of treating it, but I'm convinced that it will eventually clear up on its own, and all these treatments are just a temporary fix. Nonetheless, we continue to try every few days or so, and I have a little hope for about a day, then am sadly disappointed again when the crust returns.

What have we done so far? We started the first treatment with plain olive oil for 15 minutes, then washing with a small amount of Mustela baby shampoo. That seemed to work okay. The next time, I tried Johnson's & Johnson's baby oil for 10 minutes, followed by the same shampoo. That did nothing, if not worsened it. Then, we went to Rainbow Natural Remedies on 15th Ave & got some advice. We left there with a vial of lavendar oil (to add to olive oil), a bar of baby calendula soap, and a mixture of herbs to make a tea rinse. Add a few drops of lavender oil to olive oil, apply to the scalp & allow to sit overnight. Wash with calendula soap & rinse with the "scalp tea." That seemed to be the best of the oil treatments we've tried. We've given him about 3 of these so far.

A few days ago, I decided to try an even more natural remedy. I used breast milk. I think it may have actually helped a little. But, alas, cradle cap still persists. Although, today, my friend, Jill, did say that his head looks better! I may have to try the breast milk again. I have hope.