Jogging

Right before the trip to the beach we got a jogging stroller from Julian's mom. The BOB Revolution SE to be exact. We used it a few times to run at the beach because it was flat and well paved, but haven't run much in our neighborhood because of the uneven pavement and curves. We do use it for walks all over because it has great maneuverability and Josh can sit and look out at everything in it.

Yesterday we decided to go for a family run down on the Capitol Crescent Trail. Josh woke us up extra early so we were able to get a good start on the day. Unfortunately taking care of Josh (and an in-car diaper change), left Julian and I feeling very tired and dubious about actually running by the time we got to the start in Bethesda. We managed to muster the energy to start and ended up having a great 5 mile run! The weather was much cooler than it has been, and the slight downhill outbound run made us foolishly feel good enough to keep going :-) The trail did not slope on the edges, so pushing the stroller was much easier than some of the other runs I've done. Both Julian and I enjoyed having a place to put the extra layers we were wearing at the start of the run and Josh seemed to enjoy the run as well. After about a mile he was babbling which we decided meant he wanted to go faster, and then he promptly fell asleep :-) The trail was starting to get more crowded as we left, so we were glad we got an early start!

Overall it was a great start to our Sunday, and we are looking forward to more runs there this fall! :-)

Tired out from all that running!

Peek-a-boo! Looking out the back of the BOB

8 months!

Where does the time go??? We can't believe that Josh is 8 months already. There is no checkup this month, not until 9 months, so we don't have any official stats for Josh. Unofficially, Josh is getting very close to 20 lbs, and is outgrowing his clothing height wise...so he is certainly still growing! This past month Josh has started babbling and has just learned how to open drawers and cabinets. He can shuffle his feet a bit when he climbs onto something but he hasn't ventured further towards walking. It has been really noticeable how much better his problem solving skills are. He will now go around an obstacle to get to something he wants, or be able to follow where we put something out of his reach and go get it. He loves our bathroom or the refrigerator and makes a b-line for either as soon as the door is open. He is still not particularly interested in solid food, although he has started crying when we won't share something we are eating which I think is a good sign. We have been sending pureed food to daycare for "lunch" and feeding him finger food at dinner. He does a really good job of picking up the food and getting it into his mouth. He is not doing as good a job of swallowing, but we hope that will come in time. We hope that the combination of pureed food and finger food will help him get more excited about eating :-)

Unfortunately this past month also included his first illnesses which were difficult for us all. The hives from his allergic reaction to antibiotics are still on and off, but we hope that they will clear up soon. His eczema continues to be an issue and I have done everything I can to cut out any possible offending food (dairy, soy, eggs) but it is difficult when even my multivitamins have soy in them! For Rosh Hashanah I "cheated" and ate dairy and eggs (how could I resist matzoh ball soup???), and his eczema did not seem to get any worse. I've gone back to soy/dairy/egg/peanut free diet since, but I'm hoping to reintroduce dairy again as soon as the hives clear up :-)

Josh going to daycare was difficult on us all but we are adjusting to it. He really likes some of the toys they have there, and always seems happy to play with them when he arrives. When we pick Josh up he crawls over to us as soon as he sees us and puts up his arms to be picked up.

Josh continues to amaze us every day.  His personality is really coming out and it is amazing to see him be a real person. Here are some cute videos of what he is up to. We are looking forward to what the next few months have in store :-)

Hives

This morning we were greeted with an unpleasant surprise, Josh got hives all over his face and one arm.  I immediately went to CVS to get Benadryl just in case we needed it.  While I was gone Margaret called the pediatrician after hours number.  Because he was just finishing an antibiotic they said to bring him in and get checked.  Josh was acting normal and the hives went away after about an hour without using any Benadryl.

I took him to the pediatrician and she immediately focused on him recently finishing a course of
amoxicillin for his ear infection (his last dose was yesterday morning). She said it was common for reactions to occur after taking antibiotics. This likely means Josh is allergic to Penicillin since they are related (Margaret's grandfather was allergic to Penicillin).  She didn't think it was related to anything Margaret had recently eaten.  The doctor said not to worry (not an easy task for Margaret or I) and if it got bad or was causing discomfort for Josh we could give him Benadryl.  Our biggest concern was the hives making it difficult for him to breath but the doctor said that was very rare.

After the appointment I took Josh to daycare.  When I picked him up they told me he had a hive on his face after his nap but it quickly went away.  This evening his hives have come back on his face, arm and feet.  Josh doesn't seem bothered by them so we are trying it without Benadryl.  Hopefully the hives will go away for good in a day or two and we will at least know to avoid Penicillin related treatments in the future.

We took some pictures of the hives but instead of showing them, here are some non-hive related pictures of Josh:

 Don't worry Mommy and Daddy!

 

Been a tough day...

Feelin' kinda SUNDAY!

Football is back! Unfortunately the Redskins don't play until tomorrow night, but Josh wanted to get the party started today :-)

Josh is 8 months today! We'll post an update later in the week when we have some time!

More sick baby :-(

Sadly Josh's congestion led to his very first ear infection :-( We got a call on Friday that Josh had a fever and needed to be picked up from daycare. He was clearly in pain and very upset in the afternoon. Earlier in the week Julian emailed with the pediatrician to ask about his runny nose that had persisted for about a week, and they told us to watch for Josh pulling on his ears or changes in his symptoms. Well he started pulling on his ears a bit, so we called the doctor and went in for a checkup. When at the doctor Josh's fever got up to 102, and he was clearly miserable. The doctor said that his symptoms sounded like a classic ear infection, and after looking in his ears he confirmed it. By the time we got home Josh's fever was up to 103.4 and I think Julian's head almost exploded. We got him started on his antibiotics (which are the same as when we were kids...mmmm pink), and he took a long nap. We were expecting a rough night, but it seems that our sick baby sleeps much better than our well baby. He slept over 12 hours and then took a 3 hour nap the next day! Saturday morning Josh was a little slower than usual and his balance was a little off, but he had no fever. His fever has been down ever since, and by Saturday afternoon Josh was just as happy and active as ever :-) Josh will be on antibiotics for the rest of the week, but we are happy to have our happy little guy back!

This isn't from when he was sick, but seemed appropriate :-)

On the mend!

Causing trouble!

Sick baby :-(

Josh has been super congested all weekend :-(  The snot sucker (http://www.fridababy.com/shop/nosefrida/) has been pretty much the only thing that is saving poor Josh (although he does not appreciate it). He only had a fever one day, he has mostly just been very congested and not sleeping well. Poor baby! Hopefully he will be less congested soon!

Daycare

Josh started daycare this week. It has been a rough transition for all of us, but overall it is going about how we expected. We dropped him off on Monday and at first he just thought we were out to play, and was excited to explore. When the teacher picked him up a few minutes later he looked at her and then at us, and burst into tears. It was really sad to see him figure out that he was about to be left there. We had to leave while he was still crying, which was really hard :-( He has done better the rest of the week, although there is generally a bit of crying or sad looks. He is always REALLY happy to be picked up which is very cute.

We have found that he has been much more needy while he is at home and has not been sleeping as well. I was expecting this to a certain extent because he doesn't get as much attention and comfort at daycare as he does with us or with our nanny. He is also very congested and has a bad runny nose, no fever yet...but we are a bit worried that will be next. The congestion made it hard for him to sleep last night. We were expecting him to start getting sick, but it is still very sad to watch your baby be sick and not be able to do much to help them.

Hopefully the worst is over! He is starting to adjust to the teachers and we think that he likes the toys at daycare better than the ones at home. I've been trying to do some extra snuggling and cuddling with him this week so that he knows that we care about him :-)

Snuggling with mommy

Tired after a long day at Daycare!