He Walks!

We were finally able to get a video of Gavin walking!  He's doing a great job and getting more confident each day!

Mr. Patriotic

While talking about preschool today, Brennan mentioned that they say "the pledge"  He recited it several times!  (Sorry about the direction of the video!)

Allergies All Around!

We were anxious to hear back from Gavin's allergist.  We emailed the doctor, 3 weeks after the draw, to inquire.  We learned that he is allergic to peanuts, egg whites and garlic.  He had not yet received the remaining results.  We emailed again yesterday, 4 weeks after the blood draw, to ask again.  We learned that his IgE was normal (11).  He also reported that he is Vitamin D Deficient.  His result were 21.5, with normal being between 30-100.  He recommended starting Vitamin D3 2000 IU daily as a supplement.  He also said we need to eliminate peanuts, egg whites and garlic 100%.   We're supposed to report back if this treatment plan doesn't result in improvement in a month.

Just days after being diagnosed with a double ear infection and Upper Respiratory Infection, Brennan had an allergic reaction over the weekend!  He's never had peanut butter, telling us that he "doesn't like it." He had a few raisins and craisins out of a bag of trail mix.  Within a few minutes, he looked like this:

. 

We took him to Urgent Care, but it closed 5 minutes before we got there.  Since the reaction seemed to be contained to his eye, we decided not to take him to the ER.  We gave him allergy medicine, which helped with the itching and redness.  By the next day, his eye returned to normal.

We were able to get him into a local allergist today and a prick test was completed.  He desperately wanted to itch his back, trying to roll onto his back on this exam table and rub his back on Mommy while sitting on her lap.  He tested positive for a peanut allergy and was given a prescription for Epipens.  We're supposed to  avoid all peanuts, including foods fried in peanut oil and foods manufactured in plants with peanuts.  He is able to have tree nuts. We'll go back in a year to refill his Epipen prescription.

13 Months

Our sweet Gavin is 13 months old!

~Gavin enjoys eating table food!  Some of his favorites include spaghetti, pizza, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, peas, carrots, pears, oranges, crackers, and desserts!  He also enjoys drinking milk!
~After not hearing back from the allergist, we contacted him.  He had not received all of the blood work results yet, even though we completed the blood work nearly 3 weeks earlier.  Results he had received showed reactivity to egg whites, peanuts and garlic.  He suggested eliminating these foods 100%.  We're anxious to hear back from him with more results and details. His skin has been looking much, much better, but he still has occasional flair ups.
~He's made huge gains in walking!  He is able to stand independently and has taken several consecutive, independent steps!  We've seen him take up to 6 steps on his own!  He can go quite far if holding our hand(s).  He prefers crawling, but is becoming much more confident in walking!
~In addition to signing "more", he's also signing "all done" by waving his hands in the air above his head!
~While he has fun at the babysitter's house, he's always excited to see Mommy and Daddy when we return from work.  He waves his arms in excitement when Daddy arrives to pick him up.  When Mommy comes home, he immediately crawls to her, pulls himself up on her legs to be picked up and snuggles for a few minutes.
~He's a very good sleeper!  He puts himself to sleep easily, usually quickly playing in his bed for a few minutes before heading to dreamland.  He woke up a few times overnight closer to his 1 year birthday.  After learning about his minimal weight gain, softy-Mommy went into his room for a quick nursing session.  Since then, he's slept through the night without issue!  He's starting to occasionally skip his morning nap.
~He makes several funny noises, including clicking his tongue, "th", "shh", quick breaths through puckered lips, and elephant noises!
~He enjoys looking at books for short periods of time.  He likes pointing to pictures in books and consistently identifies babies and dogs.  When he sees a book he wants/looks at a book, he'll repeatedly say a throated "k" sound.
~Gavin loves to take baths!  As soon as he hears the water running, he'll drop what he's doing, quickly crawl to the bathroom, and bang on the door/attempt to reach the doorknob of the closed door.  He's also been known to try to crawl into the tub while we're undressing him!  He enjoys playing and splashing in the water!
~We're seeing some glimpses of drama in our regularly very calm and happy baby.  When frustrated and tired, he'll briefly lay his head on the ground and whine.  Is this the beginning of temper tantrums?!
~Gavin enjoys picking up toys!  He'll pick them up, put the in their container, move the toys around with his hand, take them out, repeat.  He also regularly empties the tupperwear drawer.
~He likes to show us things that he's holding, as if he's saying, "Look at what I have!"
~He enjoys throwing balls! 
~Gavin continues to be a climber!  In addition to climbing on the trampoline and Brennan's bed, he also climbs on toy containers and our mini-slide ladder.  He's also climbed on a stool, then climbed onto the couch.

Allergist and 1 Year Appointment

Daddy and Gavin traveled to Akron for Gavin’s appointment with the Pediatric Allergist.  He explained that Gavin’s persistent eczema may very likely be due to an allergy.  He ordered blood work to test for food allergies, environmental allergies, and vitamin D deficiency.  The doctor also recommended using CeraVe lotion rather than Eucerin, which has lanolin, another common trigger.  Daddy took Gavin to get his blood drawn a few days later.  They had a difficult time getting a good vein, but were able to get 2 vials of blood.  We’re hoping to hear the results soon.

Daddy also took Gavin for his one year well baby appointment.  Current stats:

Height: 29.5 inches (50th percentile)

Weight: 20lbs 7oz (25th percentile)

Head Circumference: 46cm

He’s healthy and happy!  The doctor said his small weight gain may be due to a food allergy and wasn’t concerned about his growth.  He’s also pretty active and is learning to eat more table foods, so he may be eating less.  Per usual, the doctor commented that his ears “look perfect!”  He received two vaccinations.  We wanted to take it easy on the little fella since he had his blood drawn the day before this appointment, so he didn’t get all of the possible vaccinations he could at this appointment.

Preschool!

Brennan loves preschool!  He’s started attending Wee Care Preschool in Fremont on August 27^th and will go on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.  It’s an excellent program and was highly recommended by many of Mommy’s co-workers that have sent/currently send their children there, too.  It’s a full day program, unlike many of the programs in Sandusky, so we don’t have to worry about getting him to/from school mid-day. 

We talked about preschool over the summer, including reading several books.  Brennan was very excited about going and frequently asked what day it was, presumably asking if it was time to go to school.  He enjoyed playing at orientation the night before school started.  Brennan was very excited on his first day of school and transitioned very well (better than Mommy!).   He must have had a great time because he talked about school until he fell asleep on the drive home!  He’s had a lot of fun each day and the teachers say he’s doing a great job during the day!

When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, Brennan enthusiastically responded, "A giant!"