8 Months Old!

Our amazing Gavin is 8 months old!

~Growing Gavin: Gavin loves to eat!  We've yet to find a food that he doesn't like as we continue to introduce new fruits and vegetables.  After experimenting with eliminating and reintroducing cereal for a few weeks, we didn't notice a significant difference in his skin, so we're continuing to give him oatmeal and rice cereal.  He's becoming very proficient at feeding himself puffs.
~Grinning Gavin: Gavin has 4 teeth!  Three lower teeth and 1 upper tooth.  Based on his gnawing on toys, we suspect another tooth is en route.
~Gabby Gavin: He's becoming quite a talker!  His newest favorite sounds include "baaaabaaa" and "A-bwah, A-bwah!"
~Grabby Gavin: If it's within reach, he wants it!
~Giggling Gavin: He has such a sweet giggle, and his smile lights up his entire face!
~Gavin is creeping his way towards mobility!  He moves himself around in a circle when sitting on or his stomach.  He's also able to go from sitting to on his stomach, although sometimes unintentionally.  While on his stomach, he pushes himself to his knees, but isn't bending his legs yet to get into crawling position.
~He's still waking up once overnight, although not consistently.  He goes back to sleep easily after a diaper change and nursing.  He may be able to put himself to sleep independently, but these steps seem to get everyone back to sleep quickly/keep others asleep!  He naps twice a day, 9am and 1pm.
~He loves to splash in the bathtub!  We bathe both boys at the same time and they frequently have splash parties!

Dermatologist Follow Up

Gavin had his follow up appointment with the dermatologist yesterday.  We've been able to maintain his eczema on his face by applying his steriod cream twice a day and the new prescribed cream once a day/every other day.  The new cream is rather pricey, so we've been trying to make the samples last as long as possible!

While his face is looking better, we're worried about continuously applying steriod ointment.  Out of curiosity, we'd didn't apply it one morning and his eczema returned by the afternoon.

The doctor explained that his skin has become addicted to the steriod.  The rash returns quickly after not applying the ointment because his skin is "craving" it.  That's right, our baby is addicted to steriods!  She predicts that his skin will improve on it's own as the weather warms up.  She recommended weaning him off of the steriod ointment, only applying it once a day (or occasionally twice a day while we're weaning him), and then not at all.  She warned us that his eczema may flare up while his skin is adjusting.  She recommended applying the non-steriod cream more often while his skin adjusts.   We only applied the new cream this morning and his skin looked great tonight. We hope this continues!

The doctor also commented about how great Gavin's scalp looks! We've only given him two treatments since our last appointment, instead of the recommended 2-3 times a week.  It was recommended that we use it overnight.  The directions also wanted us to use a shower cap during the treatment.  Instead, we've been doing the treatments for a few hours in the afternoon.  Putting a plastic shower cap over our infant's head overnight goes against our parenting instincts!

We call him Gavin.

Brennan seems to be more accepting of his baby brother.  He didn't pay him a lot of attention in the past.  Now, he'll bring him toys, want to know where he is, let us know when he's awake, give unprompted hugs, etc.  Gavin enjoys watching Brennan play.  It's neat to watch them interact and I look forward to seeing their friendship grow!

The babysitter recently told me a humorous story.  A school-aged girl was at the sitter's house over spring break. Pointing to Gavin, she asked Brennan if he was his baby brother.  Brennan, in a very matter of fact tone of voice replied, "Yes.  We call him Gavin."  Brennan, hearing the babysitter tell this story chimed in, "I call him Gabin, but his name is Gavin."  Apparently our correcting of his pronunciation is working.

Bouncy Baby!

Gavin loves to bounce! He enjoys making himself bounce in his exersaucer, on someone's lap, while sitting on the floor, while being carried, etc.

He's not crawling yet, but he's working on becoming mobile.  While on his stomach, he can turn himself 360 degrees! He's rolled from back to belly a few times, sometimes needing a teeny push.

Dermatologist Appointment

Gavin had an appointment with a dermatologist last week.  She explained that his red skin is "definitely eczema."  She anticipates that it will improve with warmer weather and gave us two prescriptions-one for his scalp and another for his skin.  We've used the scalp medicine once.  He looked rather cute in his shower cap during the treatment!  So far, the cream doesn't seem to be working as well as we'd like as his flare ups continue to come and go.  We have a follow up appointment in a few weeks in case it doesn't clear up with the new medicines.