6 Months Old & Eeeewwww, banana!

Avery turned six months on Aug 15th! He weighed 17lbs 12oz (50th percentile) and was 27" long (85th percentile) at his well check up. He started to army crawl and loves to spend lots of time rolling and scooting on his belly on the floor. He is getting close to sitting up on his own. His spitting up has improved; some days are still pretty gross but overall he spits up less than before. He is still a pretty happy little guy! He has discovered his shrieking noise which isn't our favorite phase, hopefully he moves on to something else soon. ;-)

We did professional family photos at Target that week, so I didn't do my usual little photo shoot with him. But we did take photos of him trying what apparently was the most disgusting thing on the planet, also known as banana. ;-) Since then he had a tiny taste of blueberry and a bit of sweet potato, and he didn't seem impressed with those either.

Rainbow Noodles

I adore Pinterest because I find things that I never even knew to look for - mostly awesome recipes and fun kid projects. I knew Ari would like this sensory activity and it was pretty easy to do too. Cook some spaghetti noodles, fill several different bowls or ziplock bags with a little water and several drops of various food coloring, and divide the spaghetti into the different colors. Let it soak for a couple minutes, then drain and mix all together in a big bowl or tub. Dig in! Ari ate some, used a fork and spoon to play with it, buried legos to then "dig for treasure," and just mushed it around in his hands. He had a lot of fun and has already asked to do this project again. :)

Thanks for nothing.

I have at least 3-4 kid-related blog entries to catch up on, hopefully I will have time for those soon. For right now, an update about my ongoing effort to get some treatment for PPD, which unfortunately hasn't been going very smoothly.

So I went to Mother's Oasis yesterday. It is a non-profit group that offers free post partum services. It's run by a UK trained midwife and I met with her. I am not sure if she has other credentials but she offered individual counseling with her.... if she is actually licensed in counseling, she is terrible at her job.

On a positive note, it was kind of nice to talk to someone about everything. However, overall, she was not the right person to talk to.

She chastised and shamed me for attempting an HBAC with Avery - several times. It's so dangerous, she never would have done that, what was wrong with my provider, I am lucky to even be alive, etc etc.

She told me that even though I can take meds while nursing, I should just wean him right now, because my hormones are messed up and that will fix it. This is such shitty advice on so many levels. Many women experience an INCREASE in depression when their baby weans, due to the hormone change. It's quite common. Also, we had talked about my current stressors, finances being one of them - how would buying formula help with that? I just.... yeah.

When I talked about how I have been yelling too much and I don't feel in control of my emotions and extreme reactions, she told me I absolutely need to stop yelling at my 3 year old, right now, I am damaging him. Um, yeah, I *want* to stop, that's why I am getting help.... but I just said that I feel out of control, I need help!

So she basically gave me bad advice and made me feel even worse, really. Of course she recommended getting blood work done (she agrees my thyroid is probably off) and seeing a psychiatrist, both of which I am trying to do anyway.The only psychiatrist she claims is any good with PPD stuff is not covered by our insurance though. (I now have an appointment with a nurse prac for Monday, though, to at least do blood work.) She also did the Edinburgh Post Natal scale thing to measure the PPD, so I guess having that number will be helpful when I do see other providers. I scored a 19 out of 30; anything over 10 is considered a concern.

I am considering going back next week for the support group, which someone else runs. They also have a free zumba class on Tuesday nights. It's a 40 minute drive though so I don't honestly know how many of their services I will end up utilizing.

Post Partum Depression/Anxiety Sucks

People don't tend to talk about this stuff. But it's a sickness like any other. If I'm chronically ill for a period of time, I'm going to want friends and family to know what's going on. Technically, any episodes of diagnosable anxiety or depression within the first year of baby's life is labeled "post partum" but I have had issues with this in the past before becoming a mother as well - which just makes it more likely to happen to me now. So for the past few weeks, this has been what's going on with me. I did talk to my midwife/naturopath and am getting some treatment, but I can't tell a difference yet. Hopefully I will start feeling better in the next couple of weeks; if not, we will try the next step as far as treatment.

I'm not particularly asking for help or sympathy - mostly just for understanding, if I don't seem like myself. I am not too surprised that I am feeling like this, since we have a lot of stressors right now, and in the past my anxiety has often had environmental/situational triggers.

From webmd: http://www.webmd.com/depression/postpartum-depression/understanding-postpartum-depression-symptoms

There are many possible symptoms of postpartum depression, including the following [the ones I experience are in bold]:

• Inability to sleep or sleeping a lot  
• Change in appetite  
• Extreme concern and worry about the baby or a lack of interest or feelings for the baby  
• Feeling unable to love the baby or your family  
• Anger toward the baby, your partner, or other family members  
• Anxiety or panic attacks  
• Fear of harming your baby; these thoughts may be obsessive, and you may be afraid to be left alone in the house with your baby.  
• Irritability  
• Sadness or excessive crying  
• Difficulty concentrating or remembering  
• Feelings of doubt, guilt, helplessness, hopelessness, or restlessness  
• Lethargy or extreme fatigue  
• Loss of interest in hobbies or other usual activities  
• Mood swings marked by exaggerated highs and lows  
• Feeling emotionally numb  
• Numbness or tingling in your arms or legs  
• Hyperventilating  
• Frequent calls to the pediatrician with an inability to be reassured  
• Recurrent thoughts of death, which may include thinking about or even planning suicide  
• Obsessive-compulsive thoughts and behaviors that are intrusive

5 Months

Avery turned five months a few days ago. He is such a sweet, happy guy. He brings us so much joy! At 5 months, he has lots of bumps in his mouth but no teeth yet. He drools rivers on some days (normal, I know, but weird because Ari never drooled). He can roll both ways and do great push ups. I think when he is on his belly he is even trying to scoot a little bit. He actually spends a lot of time on his tummy and seems to like it the majority of the time. He still tries to sit up but I think he stopped working as hard on it in favor of concentrating on his rolling skills.

He slept really well between 3 and 4 months old, then not so much. However since he started rolling, we have discovered he is a stomach sleeper. I was reluctant to let him sleep like that except when I was awake and could watch him, but after doing some reading, I guess it's ok once they can roll by themselves. So we stopped swaddling his arms, and the past two nights he has rolled right on his belly when we put him down and we left him like that. And last night, for the first time in about 6 weeks, he slept for 6.5 hours straight! Ahhh glorious sleep.

Avery loves his big brother, he loves to be tickled and "flown" around, he loves to nurse, and he loves to roll around on the floor and play with his toys. He likes his bouncer a lot too although he mostly just plays with the toys and doesn't bounce much yet. I can't believe in just another month, we can start giving him solid foods. This time has gone by so fast!

Five month photos. Some of his hair has fallen out and it's hard to tell, but I think the stuff growing back in is a lot lighter. I can definitely see some blonde in there. We'll see in the next few months!

3 Years Old

My baby boy is three already! He will be in kinder before we know it. Let's see, at 3 years old....

Ari likes:
- reading books
- watching Curious George and several other shows
- playing outside
- swimming
- playing make believe
- snuggling his baby brother
- snuggling mom and dad
- doing arts and crafts, especially painting
- counting and learning ABCs. He can count to about 15, and knows about half the alphabet by sight
- writing his name, and learning how to write new letters
- throwing and kicking any kind of ball
- most food - he usually asks for chicken and broccoli, or hot dogs.
- making messes
- helping to vacuum and mop
- being a "helper" in general - with laundry, or helping dad fix stuff, whatever.

Ari does not like:
- being quiet while his brother falls asleep
- being quiet.... ever.
- tomatoes or lettuce or eggs
- getting ready for bed
- being in the car
- picking up his toys


Ari picked Peter Piper Pizza for his birthday party, and Curious George as the theme. All of his cousins came to his party, as well as Nana and Papa and his aunts, plus a couple of his friends (my friend Jami's kids). He got to make his own pizza, ride the carousel a couple times, eat a cupcake, and play tons of games - what 3 year old could ask for anything more??

Firsts

Ari and Sean, first swim of the summer. (Please note they have now gone swimming a dozen times, and I have not been in the pool at all yet! Doh.) I realized this day that he still fit in his 2T swim trunks, but I didn't have a rash guard shirt that fit him, so we bought one a couple days later.

Ari also took his first gymnastics class this summer. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of him in class, since my phone cam hasn't been working and I kept forgetting the real camera - and I thought I had a couple more weeks to bring it. On his third class, and also the day that would have been his first swim lesson... he got his first (and hopefully last) broken bone. I still am amazed that he could fall about 2.5 feet onto a thick padded mat and break his elbow. Poor kid! It really never occurred to me that he would get seriously hurt in toddler gym class. He was just finally getting used to the class too, this class was the first one he was actually having fun with and not fussing at all. And needless to say swim lessons are now postponed a few weeks.

Here it is just splinted, before the cast.

I didn't get a great pic of the cast itself since it is always in the sling, but he picked lime green. He has been a trooper about it although it's already starting to get itchy and that definitely bugs him. We go back on July 17th to get it off, assuming it is all healed up.

Father's Day

Father's Day was fun this year because Ari actually understood it a bit. Sean got his big present a couple months early, when a grill he wanted was on sale. But we got him a battery charger to open on the holiday, and Ari made him some cute projects. This was my favorite Father's Day activity that we did for Sean:

This is an "all about dad" activity:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E19gRmkTnRg/T8fUjCXi-LI/AAAAAAAAAE0/7ksA_6_2Na8/s1600/father%27s+day+printable+8x10.jpg

Ari's answers:

My daddy's name is Sean.
My dad is 3 years old.
His hair black and his eyes are green.
My dad's favorite food is crackers.
Daddy's favorite color is red.
My dad likes to wear pants and a shirt.
My dad's job is going to work.
He loves to eat "openmeal" (oatmeal).
He's smart because he knows: me!
My dad works hard at work.
Daddy always tells me "love you too!"
I'm happy when daddy: is here.
I love my daddy because: I love him!


Too cute!

I wanted to let Sean sleep in but our kids had other plans. The baby woke up at 4 and stayed awake until almost 6, which was totally random, and then of course Ari was up at 6:30. Sleep is for the weak! We did take Sean out to breakfast (Jerry Bob's) and Ari stayed with Nana, Papa, and Aunt Mandy so we could go to Guadalajara Grill for dinner since I had a gift card. I really tried to go all out and spoil Sean because he is a really fantastic dad and we are all so lucky to have him! I think he had a good day. :)

4 Months

Avery is four months old! He had his well baby check up on the 14th and he is healthy, happy little boy. He weighs 15lbz 6oz (50th percentile), is 26" long (85th percentile), and his head is 43cm (90th percentile). He has gained 6.5lbs and grown 4" since he was born! (I looked up Ari's 4 month stats again to compare - Ari weighed 14lbs 14oz and was 24.5" long.)  He had a fever the day after his shots and was pretty miserable, but by the day after that he was fine.

At 4 months, Avery grabs things and puts almost anything he grabs right into his mouth. He is teething and has several bumps on the top and bottom gums. He has rolled from his back onto his belly a couple of times. He is ok in the car now as long as his big brother is in the backseat with him! He loves to watch Ari and if he starts to fuss, he will calm right down if Ari sings to him (not so much if I sing to him though). He is trying really, really hard to sit up and I imagine he will have the hang of it by 6 months for sure. He is really a laid back, happy little guy and we are very much enjoying this stage with all of his smiles, giggles, and "talking." Since I know he is my last baby I am trying even harder to savor all of the cuddling and cuteness everyday. :) He slept through the night for a few weeks, but this past week he hasn't been sleeping as well... he did seem to have a little cold, and the teething may also be the culprit.

These pics were taken the day after his well baby check up, so he wasn't feeling great. He did give me some great smiles anyway though. :)