Bronchiolitis :(

Took Eli to the doc today because his cough was still not good and was in fact getting worse. Really raspy and somewhat wheezy. Amazingly, he acts normal, except for when he coughs. He was diagnosed with Bronchiolitis probably caused by RSV . So, that means he will have breathing treatments for the next couple of days and he'll return to the doc on Friday to make sure all is okay. If he gets worse or it doesn't get better, they'll do an xray, but hopefully that won't be necessary. So, our little guy has his first official illness....makes mommy sad!!

Our little baby boy is 6 months!!! (sniff, sniff)

Here we are- Eli is 1/2 a year old today! It's funny because to me, time has flown, but it also seems like Eli has always been in our lives, so it seems long, too. This morning I took Eli's 6 month pics at home before going to his doc appointment:

Monkey is my friend

We're just good buddies!

Monkey, what are you doing to me??

Oh well, I guess monkey just loves me!!

At Eli's 6 month appointment, he had his shots and as the last 2 times, it made him very sleepy. So, he's been sleeping A LOT today with one period of sad crying (when he is sad or in pain, which isn't often, his cry is just so sad!!!) in which I gave him tylenol. Here's how he looks as I am typing this:

Poor baby!!

Here are his stats:

Weight: 21 lbs. 10 oz (95th percentile)
Height: 28 in (90th percentile)
Head: 18 in (95th percentile)

The doc said he is one of the healthiest babies she's seen in awhile...woohoo! He was very joyous at the visit, flirting with the nurse and doc, until the shots of course! I always feel so bad because he is happy one minute and then just gets a look of shock, turns red in the face, and starts to wail! I immediately hold him and nurse, which makes him calm down pretty quick. We will start him on cereal tomorrow evening and see how things go. If cereal doesn't go well, I'll try oatmeal and then banana. I'll work in sweet potato and avocado, too, within the next weeks. I'll post some video of his first taste of food. I'm NOT looking forward to the change in his poop, though....yuck!! We will also start giving him oral liquid vitamins, which the doc said he probably won't like very well. She also said to start a couple times a week giving him breast milk in a cup to get him accustomed to drinking and not just sucking. This will be good for Eli because he really doesn't like the bottle too much and if he likes the cup, he can use that instead of a bottle at daycare in the future. She also said that AAP recommends babies start going to the eye doc at 6 months. I was unaware of this so we'll make an appointment soon!!

Last Thursday we were supposed to get his new car seat installed but the weather interfered, so we rescheduled for Wednesday. Thankfully, he's not 22 lbs. yet. Here's how he looked during a trial run in the house...he seems to like it!

Grandma Bidney has been here for a week and plans to stay a few more days. Here's some pics of Eli enjoying Grandma's company:


Great Aunt Charlene has also visited this week:

Great Aunt Susie, Great Uncle Dean, Cousin Emily & Mallory also visited and gave Eli this gift of a rocking horse to use when he is older. It's too cute because it sings and talks, too!

Lastly, daddy making me laugh:


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P.S. Little Eli slept for 1 1/2 hrs after his shots & another 2 hrs later. He also did another sad cry spell....hope he feels better!

6 month pictures

Here's the link to Eli's pictures he had taken on Saturday. It was too funny because he was so focused on the studio and things going on around him that he didn't smile as much as we hoped. Oh well....they're still cute!!

Sitting up, rolling over, practicing with a spoon & wiggle worm

This week Eli has done a great job of sitting up! This is great because he had his 6 month pictures yesterday and was able to sit up for some really great pictures (they should be up on the photographer's website Tuesday so I'll post a link then). Now, he does eventually topple over, but he can sit up for a couple of minutes pretty good. He usually must be focused on a toy in front of him. This is also great because this week we are installing the new car seat. He is now 21 lbs. 2 oz. (as of Friday), less than 14 oz. from outgrowing the infant car seat! I'll take some pictures of him in it as I'm sure it will be too cute. Mommy will have to bundle him up now and he'll spend his time being carried, in a cart, or in his stroller. He's growing up (sniff, sniff)!! Here are pics of him sitting up:





I have given Eli his spoon to play with that he will use to eat food when we start in a couple of weeks. It's funny because he likes to just bang it around on the tray but when I put it in his mouth, he makes a face like this:


Here he is putting the spoon in his mouth by himself:


Aunt Holly & Uncle Chris were in town on Monday returning from a ski trip. Eli loves his aunts and uncles....too bad he doesn't seem them often enough!!


On Valentine's Day, we didn't really have anywhere to go, but we wore red anyway:


Eli has started to roll over farther than his side, but he can't quite make it ALL the way over due to his arm getting in the way. He'll learn to propel himself over soon, I'm sure:


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Regardless, I'm so happy he at least handles tummy time for longer than a few seconds and has a smile on his face while doing it:


Here's a little preview of Eli's 6 month pictures. I bought the outfit at Old Navy...love him in overalls!!

Eli just started doing this funny thing where he wiggles. He wiggles in his high chair & jumperoo. In this video, it took a little while before he did it, but you can see what I mean. Sorry for the sideways video, I wasn't thinking about it not turning. Oh well!!

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Last but not least, Eli talking and talking.... and talking for a full 2 1/2 minutes!! He does this MANY times a day. This was right before bath time....

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Sleep update: Some nights better than others....I am reading 'The No Cry Sleep Solution' for ideas....we'll see!

Grandma Bidney is here this week and we have several activities planned for the week. Should be a lot of fun!!

Some sitting & bath time fun

Well, this week was pretty similar to last week. Eric had Monday off due to working the weekend shift and we had appointments for both of our cars. We attended BF group on Monday and Friday and as usual, enjoyed our time with our mommy friends and babies. Friday after group another mom and I went walking at Independence Center-well, we actually ended up eating lunch in the food court, talking, and then shopping. We hope that next week we will actually walk!!

No updates on Eli's sleep as it is still crazy. I never know what each night holds. I keep expecting that one morning he'll wake up with a tooth and it will explain all the night waking, but nothing yet!! He definitely is working on it, though, as he constantly has his hands in his mouth.

Eli has done better with sitting up this week. Here are videos/pics to prove it. I know, I'm a bad mom and didn't put a pillow behind him, but he's okay. He only cried a little after the first time falling backwards. He has to have something to play with to keep him focused and it seems that once he stops playing and/or turns his head, he falls over. Too funny...




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I have been bathing with Eli almost every night this week. It makes it easier to wash him and he likes to splash and kick his legs. He really likes the water and doesn't mind when water gets on his face. Grandpa Bidney will like this as he will be ready to sail any day now ;) Here's a fun picture of bath time. Daddy decided to give him a funny suds do. Oh, and this was only pic we had that didn't show his boy parts....have to remember that!!

Next Saturday Eli has his 6 month pictures (a week and a half early, but that's okay). I bought him a cute overalls outfit at Old Navy for him to wear. Eli is wearing 12-18 month clothes in most brands. I try to buy a little big so he can actually wear the clothes for longer than a couple of weeks. He is almost 21 lbs. now and we are trying to hold out for him to move to his convertible car seat. I think we'll have to move him sooner than we hoped and he'll have to start wearing a coat and hat. Bummer.....

My mom complained that I never post pics with Eli & I. Here are a couple for you, mom. Notice my haircut. Long story but it's not my favorite. It's easy to care for but it's too short for me. Oh well, it'll grow!



Eli is doing better with tummy time and doesn't seem to mind spending about 5 minutes there. He pushes himself up sometimes and other times just choses to relax, like in this picture:



Fun video of Eli smiling at his toys. He seems to really like the noises and voices his toys make. He loves to grab for them and chew them, too.

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Grandma Bidney will be here in a week and will spend some time with us. This should be fun and it is always nice to have another adult here with me during the day. Woohoo!! She will spend the evening with Eli on the 16th so mommy & daddy can go out to dinner for a belated Valentine's Day....yum!

Enjoy your week!!

Baby de Felipe

My friend Mi Jean had her baby boy today. Here are the stats and one of the pics they sent via email. Can't wait to meet him!!

Gael (pronounced Guy-ale) Elysio de Felipe

Born Feb. 7, 2008
1:09 pm
8 lbs. 3 oz.
20.25 inches

Songs for Eli....

.....I noticed on a few other blogs that music played when you went to their site. I decided to try it and have spent the last hour adding songs for our little man. Of course this process has made me cry, but it's worth it. Enjoy.

This last week of January.....

.....we attended breastfeeding group on Monday & Friday which is turning into more of a playgroup for us "old" babies. We lay our blankets on the floor and let the babies play with toys, roll around, and look at each other while the moms talk about nursing, poop, sleep, and other interesting topics ;) Hopefully some of us can still do play groups after we are all done with nursing as it's fun to have moms with babies who are around the same age. It's fun to see the new babies and their moms come in, too. These last couple of weeks there have been TINY babies: 4-6 lbs!! It's amazing because Eli was never that small so they just look so fragile! I also enjoy helping other moms who had similar issues as we did and giving them advice about what worked for us. Don't know what I would have done without the support group and LLL!

Eli's sleep at night is still NOT good. I'm dealing with it okay as I am tired off and on throughout the day but not falling on my face tired, so that's good. I take at least 1 nap with him, often 2, throughout the day, which helps. The longest he's slept at one time in the last 3 weeks has been 4 hours and it is usually 2-3 hours. He used to do 5-7 hours!! So that means I get a stretch of MAYBE 2 hours in between feedings, often more like 1. He always wakes up fussing which turns to crying and I try to console him by rubbing his chest. This hasn't worked yet and I used to be able to give him his pacifier which would help a couple wakes during the night. He no longer uses his pacifier as a pacifier, it is now a chew toy, so this doesn't work. So, I then pick him up and try to rock or bounce him. This works on a rare occasion and I usually end up nursing him. Amazingly, all the times he nurses during the night he nurses for a decent amount of time. This says he either is hungry when he wakes up, or he is just eating for comfort. Who knows.

After talking with a few moms, I've decided it probably is a combination of things: teething (Eric & I both had our first teeth at 4-5 months), gas, and missing mommy. Last Saturday he woke up crying and I couldn't console him and it turned to screaming. This lasted for a good 10 minutes and it was quite scary as we couldn't figure out what was wrong. He slowly settled down, started to nurse, and then exploded in his diaper. That's what I mean by gas. I am giving him gas drops throughout the day to help and it seems to be better. At the 4 or 5am feeding, I then have to take him into the guest room with me and we sleep together until around 7am. If I try to put him in his crib after the 4 or 5am feeding, he wakes up either immediately or 30 minutes later. Somehow his little body knows it is morning and he just doesn't want to go back in his crib. Needless to say, my sleeping hasn't been all that great. Hopefully he'll outgrow soon!!

Eli continues to work on sitting on his own, rolling over, and grabbing any and everything. He is improving with tummy time, which is good. He can do it, he just choses to only do it for about 20 seconds and then he face plants and gives up. Here's some good pics of him doing tummy time. These are great because Eric & I have pics of us doing the same thing at his age in his room.




We've had to start giving Eli his bath in the bathtub now due to him splashing like crazy when the infant tub is in the kitchen sink. This is better but it hurts my back. I tried bathing with him which was good, except he needs to be able to sit up on his own to make it easier. Here's a fun pic of bath time (we have more but they all show his boy parts which, by the way, he has discovered are fun to play with....which I don't want out on the internet!!!):


Carrie and her daughter Georgia came over today to finally have the 2 meet. Georgia was born one day before Eli. It was fun seeing them and it was too funny having them pose for these pictures. Eli kept starting to cry when Georgia would reach out to touch him and he broke down at the end wanting mommy to hold him. Eli will have several girl friends to chose from when he is older :)





Here's more fun pics/videos from the week:

Watching a bad American Idol contestant

Just chillin'

I like to eat my socks....yummy

This is how I like to swing now....hold on!!

Love to pull my socks off MANY times a day


And the most precious picture for last.....

....awww....I love my daddy!

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Get that elephant!

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Love my socks....and mommy loves to put them back on many times a day

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Kitty-kat....I'm gonna chase them around sooner than they think!