Posts Tagged ‘crying’

A Sick Baby

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

We have been pretty lucky with Maddox and illnesses so far. Looking back, he was never really sick beyond a minor cold once, and a temperature that went away after a day.

That changed on Thursday when we picked up Maddox early from daycare with a temperature of 101. Nothing dangerous, but enough to have him stay at home. We expected the temperature to disappear after 24 hours like it did in the past, but instead it lasted all the way until Tuesday morning. Long enough that the doctor actually wanted to see him in the office to do some basic tests. One more day and they would have done a blood test!

Sad Baby is Sad

It was tough to see Mads be so unlike himself. I worked from home on Monday, and at one point early in the morning he pulled out his favorite book, sat in a corner, and just stared at it for almost five minutes straight. When we put him down at night, he would actually lie on his back in his crib and listen as we read to him, something he hasn’t done since he learned how to stand up! He was also extremely clingy (which admittedly was kind of nice). The worst part was his cough, because every time he would cough he would cry after, and you wish you could explain to him what was going on.

Yesterday, all his symptoms seemed nearly gone, but he was pretty much inconsolable all morning and wouldn’t stop crying, so Leanne stayed at home to watch him. And he napped for nearly six hours! So we’re thinking that all this sickness led to a lack of sleep, which led to a rather grumpy mood.

This morning though, he seemed nearly his same self, except for a new penchant for throwing anything he could get his hands on. But even mischievous behavior like that is welcome after the past six days! He even was feeling up to dancing last night, which at this point for him means moving his legs around really quickly and occasionally waving his hands.

Two Month Check Up

Monday, July 20th, 2009

Today Mads had his 2 month check up with the pediatrician. He’s healthy (yay!) and generally pretty happy. Unfortunately, our poor little guy missed his morning nap, had to have a bottle of semi-cold milk, and received 2 shots and an oral vaccine (blech). Needless to say, it has not been an overly smiley day. =(

Here are some of the things we learned at the doctor’s office:

Mads is the size of a four month old. He is 13.13 lbs and is 23.5 inches tall. Apparently, this is completely okay and we should feed him whenever he’s hungry instead of worrying about him eating too much.

Personally, I wouldn’t want to try to get in the way of his food consumption. When he’s eating, his eyes sometimes flicker back and forth like he’s checking out potential competition for his food and is ready to take them out.

triumph buggy

His size means that he can ride in his 3 month baby carriage, so long as we are careful that his head is supported. It seems so light-weight that I kind of worry about him riding in it at his age, but I’ll just make sure I go with him until I feel more secure, so I can keep an eye on him.

More good news: he’s been kind of nuts lately (see previous post). The doctor said that the fussiness is at its peak around 2 months, but should ease off in the next couple of months. We have a lot of patience (because he’s so darn cute) but it’s nice to know that he’ll chill out a bit eventually.

Another cool fact: we can start feeding him some solids at 4 months. I’m really looking forward to this – Jon and I love good food, and it’ll be really neat to introduce Mads to different flavors and textures. I’ve got a pamphlet to read about which foods are best and how to introduce them which will be neat to learn.

It goes by so fast!

I noticed the nurse put him in size 2 diapers after she weighed him. We’ve been using size 1-2, and I’ve had an increasingly difficult time changing him at night. When you’re trying to squeeze a baby into diapers that just barely fit him, it becomes like a puzzle and at 4am, no sane person really appreciates puzzles.

For me, this is a milestone. Even more than the different sounds he’s making, or the clothes he’s outgrowing, because he does both of those things so continually. But changing his diaper size means he’s really getting bigger, and while I am so proud of him, it’s kind of a pang because I now realize what other parents mean when they say, “It goes by so fast!”

We had another milestone today – Maddox was wrapped in his swaddler and he thrust his arms out to the sides and it burst open. He was surprised but delighted and so he laughed. He’s been doing little half-laughs and lots of smiles, but I swear, this was a genuine laugh. I love our happy baby.

To wind up:

After the doctor’s appointment, we went to visit Dad at work, and then Mads and I snuggled for an hour or two. It’s really cool – when Mads sits on my lap, the top of his head reaches so much higher than it used to.

Right now he’s watching his Bear Parade, yawning and making sad grumpy sounds which I translate to mean, “Whoa, look at that bear parade. Go, bears, go! Oh my god, my bear parade has stopped. Bears? Bears why aren’t you moving? Bears? BEARS ARE YOU OKAY? MOM, MY BEARS AREN’T MOVING! OH MY GOD SOMEONE HELP THEM! (Mom winds the bears) Whew, there they go. Yaaaaaaay! (Insert happy smiles) All is well…zzzzzzzz.”

Image credit: Triumph buggy

Pretty Much Our Entire Sunday

Sunday, July 19th, 2009

KingMads

Music has charms to soothe the savage beast

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

Overall, Maddox is a good baby. He’s a charmer in the morning, a wild man in the evening, and your standard crying newborn at night. However he does have his, shall we say, moments, when nothing you do will seem to calm him down. One option I found was to put him in his “organic baby safari” outfit and sprint around the apartment, pretending to hunt animals on the African plains (yes, I know he’s far too young to really understand what we’re doing, but at least it keeps me entertained!).

Unfortunately, after being gone from the house for 10 hours, I don’t always have the energy to dash around the house. It wasn’t until yesterday that both Leanne and I realized an excellent alternative: Music and singing.

We have done in the past of course, but it wasn’t until yesterday that I realized how suddenly and powerfully it affects Mads. He can be in any state of crying – be it small whimpers or screaming bloody murder, and usually after just a few notes from a song he’ll stop crying. The song itself doesn’t seem to matter in the slightest either. I’ve sung everything from Weezer to Ben Folds to Grateful Dead and he’s happy with everything.

I know it might not mean much this early in his life, and if anything I’m happy to know of a way to make him instantly happy, but I hope this is early signs of a love for music.

And by the way, since I know at least one English major reads this blog: I do realize I’m using the wrong “version” of this oft-quoted phrase for the subject, but it was just too good to pass up. Not to mention the original version of the quote, involving “soothing” and “breast”, is apropos to the topic anyway!

Shocker: Babies Like to Cry

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

Maddox is going through a growth spurt. I read that this is common around two weeks of age, and again at six weeks. As a result, he needs to eat more frequently and he’s also started crying more. Additionally, he still gets upset when he’s not being held – we’re not sure if it’s the increased hunger, or if he is just feeling clingy.

So today was an adventure. I was too tired to take a nap – you know, when you feel really strung out, but can’t sleep? So Maddox had a nap on top of Mom while I read. The only time I wasn’t feeding, burping, changing or holding him this morning was when I took a quick shower & then later, when I gulped down the sandwich I’d made the night before (that turned out to be a good plan).

Around 1, I was ready to drop. (We got up when Dad did, around 7am.) With low expectations, I put Mads in his sling, hoping to give my arms a break. This was risky, because lately if something upsets him, it takes longer to calm him down. Miraculously, he decided that the sling was a awesome place to be and took a nap, enabling me to get some work done for a website that Jon and I are trying to finish up for a client.

Rebecca Wood, who has kindly been offering sound Mom advice via Facebook & Twitter since we brought Maddox home, mentioned that her younger daughter Esme likes to have her feet out of the sling. I tried that today, and Mads seemed a lot happier, and a lot less squooshed.

Being a Mom is rewarding – I wouldn’t trade this time with Mads for anything. I am so into him. To give you an example – I cheerfully explained to Jon yesterday how committing homicide to protect your child seems completely rational to me. That being said, I praise the people who invented baby slings, baby swings, and all seats that allow rocking motions.

While I’m at it, let me also thank whoever invented diapers with velcro, pre-wetted wipes, and the snap (I’m talking about the little metal fasteners on baby clothes). And finally, while laundry is not my favorite activity, whoever decided there would be a washer & dryer in our apartment just off the kitchen is a wonderful person who deserves a long and fruitful life.