Everyone said....

Those first few weeks while I was still home with Alex everyone said "nap when he naps" but for some reason I couldn't. Sometimes it was because of chores that needed to be done. Sometimes it was because I just couldn't put him down. Which lead to everyone saying "If you hold him all the time you will spoil him". But no I spoiled me. I loved watching him sleep. I loved feeling his warmth and weight on my shoulder or lap. And I knew that there would come a day when I couldn't just sit there and hold my sleeping baby. Well those days are here. At 17 months he struggling for independence.
Last night we went to my mom's house for a swim. A few weeks ago he hated water but now he loves it. And since this is my pool and he and I are the only ones to swim in it he got to swim naked. During dinner he fed himself and somehow managed to get spaghetti in his diaper.
Mom had bought him a little Thomas train and when she tried to open it he held out his had and said something that sounded a little like give. He wanted her to give it to him to open. And he wants to explore everything.
When it was time to go home I tried to put him in the car seat and he grabbed the top and side of the truck and held on to keep from going inside. He wasn't ready to leave. Then this morning when I took him to his room to get dressed he saw Byron in our bedroom and he wanted to go to Byron so he grabbed the door frame to try to keep from being taken into his room.
For now I am enjoying the baby babble because this too is something that will change and soon.

Phases

I helped raise my godbabies so I know about children and phases. But having my own little Alex has taught me all about the less defined phases. The trash can phase which cost us several sippy cups and I am not sure I want to know what else. And not the sink phase. This is an interesting phase to observe. He puts his bowls and spoons in the sink. But his sippy cups are now hidden all over the house. Maybe he is practicing for the Easter egg hunt next year. But the really odd part is the other things I find in the sink. The cat's treats, mail, and last night a bag of chips. I am kind of scared to know what Phase we might be moving into next.

In other news we see the ENT on July 2nd. I have already had my first nightmare about the visit. This weekend he was a little congested and snotty and pulling at his ears again. Since he is already on medication there really isn't anything else I can do other than Benadryl. He should not get an infection while on antibiotics so it could just be pressure from the fluid. Before leaving the hospital with a newborn I think all moms should be given the equipment and taught to check for ear infections!

warm suds on a hot day.

I use a cup to rinse Alex's hair in the bath. The other night He tried to drink bathwater from the cup. So I took the cup out and started using the toy boat and he tried to drink from the water from it as I poured it on him. Tonight he decided to forgo the middle man and stick his face in the water to drink. Why is it that he won't drink water from his sippy cup but he wants to drink his bath water?

bites and itches

Over the weekend Alex learned by accident how to open the storm door and fall out onto the porch. After a few tears he decided to take advantage of his freedom and drag his foot car out for a drive. But it was prime mosquito time and they love him. To make matters worse I think one hitched a ride back into the house with us and spent the night in his room having dinner. Poor little guy is covered with bites but they did not seem to bother him until yesterday evening. Or maybe he just figured out that scratching made him feel better. We are giving him Benadryl for the itch and treating them at night with a cream. Hopefully they will heal quickly.

Going out the door this morning he stumbled a little and bumped his head on the door frame. He didn't hit hard but he put his hand to his head and said "Oww" several times as he went down the stairs. It was very cute.

We are still waiting to hear back from the doctor on our referral to the ENT.

Never ending ear infections

Alex is growing and changing so much and so fast. He seems to grown up at just 17 months old. And there is one rite of passage I hoped we could avoid...tubes. In the last 17 months he had about 8 ear infections. Some of those took more than one round of meds to clear. His most recent ear infection started on May 14th with a fever of more than 103. He also had Roseola and Tonsillitis at the same time. This was one of the worst illness we have gone through. He finished his meds on May 24th ans spiked another fever on May 28th. Ear were still infected so we changed to a new antibiotic and he promptly broke out in a rash. Luckily it did not seem to be related to the medication and a dose of Benadryl cleared it up. But a recheck of his ears on June 7th showed the ears were still infected so we changed to a Zpak. And another recheck yesterday showed the infection was gone but his left ear still had lots of fluid...Which I expected since his balance has been terrible.

So we have been referred to an ENT. The same one who did my last set of tubes. With my history of chronic ear infections I am sure we are headed down the same path. I hated having tubes and I hate the idea of Alex having surgery. But I don't want to keep giving him antibiotics and I don't want the infections and fluid to interfere with his speech development. Hopefully we will know more in a couple of weeks.