New Furniture!

We recently purchased new furniture for our family room!  We had been using a combination of hand-me-down furniture.  While they were much appreciated, we were ready for new!  Merry Christmas, Happy Anniversary, etc. to us!

7 Months Old!

 

Gavin is 7 months old!  He continues to be such a joy and it's so amazing to watch him grow and learn!

~He's doing a wonderful job at tummy time and is able to push himself up to his knees.
~He sleeps through the night most of the time.  If he wakes up overnight, he goes back to sleep quickly with a diaper change (he's normally soaked!) and a brief nursing session.  He continues to a great job of putting himself to sleep.  He normally goes to sleep between 7:30-8:00pm and wakes up at 5:30-6:00am.
~We've been giving him a taggie blanket at nap and bed time.  He'll reach for it when put to bed and frequently falls asleep with it over his face.  If possible, we try to move it.
~He loves food!  He gets excited when put him into his high chair.  He's enjoyed everything we've introduced.  The only funny faces we've received are reactions to cold temperatures and textures.  He's had a combination of store-bought and homemade food.
~Gavin loves giving "kisses".  He'll hold your face and come at you with an open mouth.  While it's more likely to be an attempt to mouth yet another object, it's cuter to consider it a kiss!
~He loves Peek-A-Boo, tickles, and belly nuzzles!  You're almost always guaranteed to receive a huge smile and giggle in return!
~We've started bathing him in the big tub rather than the baby tub.  He enjoys splashing in the water and chewing on his brother's foam bath letters and bath books.

6 Month Appointment

Gavin had his 6 month check up today.  We're a bit off of schedule for his check ups due to his 4th month birthday landing around the holidays.

Current statistics:
18 lbs  (less than recent appointments, but he was naked for this weigh-in)
27 3/4 inches
43.75 cm head circumference

The doctor was pleased with everything.  The doctor, nurse, and intern commented multiple times about how happy and compliant he is!  I chuckle every time they look in his ears because they usually say "Wow!" or "They're perfect!"  I hope that continues!

As usual, we discussed his skin.  It's looking great!  We gave him antibiotics for a week, applied his steroid ointment twice a day for nearly two weeks, and have religiously applied Vaseline.  While his skin improved with this regimen, it still wasn't 100%.  We're continuing using a thinner application of steroid ointment, Vaseline, and Eucerin lotion. What has seemed to help the most was eliminating cereal (oatmeal) from his diet.  Within 2-3 days with only fruits and veggies, his face looked wonderful!  We're not sure if it's a coincidence.  We're also not convinced that they are related since its worse on his face and we clean it well after eating.  The doctor suggested reintroducing cereal for a week, eliminating it for another week, giving it to him again for a week, and then eliminating it for yet another week.  He also mentioned again that we could see a dermatologist.  We haven't made the appointment yet.

Gavin received four vaccines, one oral and three shots.  Ouch!

Gavin's First Haircut!

Gavin got his first hair cut today!  We only trimmed the extra long wisps of hair to even his beautiful locks.  They were getting quite long!  He did a great job and entertained himself by playing with toys.

Before:

After:

Mr. Sensitive, Update

We continue to battle with Gavin's sensitive skin, especially around his mouth.  Since he's working on cutting teeth, he's almost always mouthing items.  This leaves a wet area around his mouth, causing it to be red and chapped.  We continued with our regular regimen of lotion and prescription steroid ointment, but it wasn't getting better.  We tried Neosporin, different lotions, Vaseline, humidifier, etc. with no luck.  When Gavin started to be bothered by his skin, such as rubbing it on our shoulders, and it becoming very chapped we decided to make a trip to the doctor's office.

The doctor explained that it was his eczema, aggravated by his teething and possibly starting to become infected.  She gave us an antibiotic and suggested trying around with new lotions to find the best combination.  She anticipated that the antibiotic would start to show improvement within 4 days and to call if it didn't.  Current weight: 18 lbs 5oz.

5 days later: Gavin's skin started to look better, but then started to look bad again.  We called for another appointment.  This doctor thought that his skin wasn't infected and said we didn't need to continue with the antibiotic again.  He recommended using the steroid ointment twice a day until the area healed and applying Vaseline every 30-60 minutes since he's mouthing objects so frequently.  While we're tired of using steroids without great results, he explained that we need to clear the area first and then just maintain his good skin.  He also said we could call a local dermatologist and anticipates that Gavin will grow out of his sensitive skin.  He explained that Gavin has 3 factors working against him: Dry, cold air; Teething; Introduction of solids--all of which can cause eczema flare ups.  Current weight: 18lbs 15oz.   Out of curiosity, I also cut peanuts/nuts out of my diet.

We tried the pediatrician's recommendations.  We continued to antibiotic for a few more days, just in case.  Gavin's skin responded quickly to the new regimen and was beginning to look great.  The sporadic dry areas on the other parts of his body cleared quickly and his face was improving.  Unfortunately, the red spots returned again on his face again.  Although, he doesn't care for having his ointment or Vaseline on his face and usually tries to wipe it off.  We'll likely call the dermatologist soon and have Gavin's 6 month well baby check up at the end of the week and can discuss his skin yet again.