Thank you for visiting my blog! If you are visiting because you have experienced a pregnancy or infant loss, let me say that I am so very sorry. I started this blog shortly after our Baby Grady was stillborn on November 12, 2008. Please visit the sidebar below called "Labels" to find the topic in which you are interested, or just read as your heart desires.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

8 Months Old


Matthew turned 8 months old yesterday, but his big sister got first dibs on the blog spotlight. The monthly picture proved to be quite a challenge this time. His toes or the sign were way more interesting than looking at me for a silly old picture!


That side wasn't working well, so I tried putting the sign on the other side.


Not much better. I love it, though, because this really portrays him at this age, which is exactly what I want!

Some facts about this sweet boy...

He is in 6-9 month or 6-12 month clothes and is wearing size 3 diapers (and so far I've really loved the Sam's brand!) He is only eating one full meal of solids each day, which is dinner. He just doesn't seem very interested during the day, and it's still a challenge with his sleep schedule. I could add it in, I guess, but then I feel like he would be eating waay too often. I want him to get enough, but I don't want to start bad habits of overeating. He is usually up from 4 or 4:30 - 7:00, which is the longest span of time that he is awake during the day. Dinner just makes sense and is the easiest meal to give him.

I took Emma Grace for her check up and put him on the scale. He weighed 20 lbs, 2 oz. He has gained almost two pounds in about a month. His cheeks are still huge and delicious, as are the rolls on his thighs. :)

He continues to be a great sleeper. He sleeps 11-12 hours at night and about four hours during the day, split between three naps. His daytime sleep schedule is becoming more and more regular which is nice to be able to plan outings around. Not that we do a whole lot, but when we do, it's nice.


His skin has become a challenge for me, though. He has always had sensitive skin, but he has some pretty bad eczema on his face. I'm trying to get it calmed down some, but I can't seem to find a certain "trigger". He doesn't get a bath every day, but I did bathe him today. I put some Aveeno Baby Eczema Care lotion on his body after his bath. BIG MISTAKE! When I went to change his clothes later in the day, he had a terrible rash all over his body. Uggh. It just looked like it felt miserable. But he wasn't a bit fussy. He got a second bath before bed, so hopefully it will look better in the morning. I'm looking into some natural baby products by Shaklee. I'm hoping they work. I've heard great things about them.

He is still getting the hang of rolling from his back to his tummy, and he continues to learn to sit up. His therapist did comment this week that his trunk muscles seem to be getting stronger. His biggest challenge right now is getting his right hand open AND putting weight on it. If you notice in the picture below, he is putting weight on his right arm, but his hand is in a fist. We want his hand open. I stretch it several times a day, and he will open it when he is trying to grasp something. But he does not like to have it open on a flat surface. I'm confident he will get there....in time. He is moving in the right direction, slowly but surely.


He is still very socially happy, and doesn't seem to have stranger/separation anxiety yet. I'm hoping he won't! He still loves to "talk" back and forth with us and at times "cough" with us. I have to share this story because it is SO cute. And typical of the male species, I think...

Wednesday, I was pumping, and he was in the exercauser next to me. I was talking to him while he was playing. All at once, he pooted and quickly turned to look at me. I acknowledged him, and he grinned a huge grin and turned his head away. He pooted again. He turned again to look at me to see if I'd heard. I acknowledged him, and he grinned and looked away. This continued several more times. I was cracking up, like seriously doing a belly laugh with tears in my eyes, because he was SO proud of his "talent". I would have loved to capture it on video.

His cardiology appointment got changed to next Friday. I was disappointed, but one more week isn't that long to wait. Maybe that hole in his heart just needs those extra seven days to close completely! His hernia surgery is scheduled for April 5th, and I'm ready to put it behind us.

He is cutting about four top teeth right now. His gums are completely swollen across the top, but he's such a trooper. Never fusses. Amazing! One broke the skin today. Funny thing is that it is not one of the middle two. It is the one just to the right of the right middle top tooth. Does that make sense? I hope so. He's gonna look so funny if his middle teeth don't come through soon!

He is doing great, and we just love him to pieces! His smile brightens my day, and his cheeks are simply scrumptious! Thank you so much for praying for our boy with us!


And, in case you were wondering, he finally did a face-plant into the sign!


Thank you, God, for this sweet little love!


Love,
Tonya

5 comments:

  1. My son has ecxema. We have found that using Aquaphor ointment works the best. Of course we use the Walmart/Equate brand because it is half the price. We used to use it twice a day when he was an infant, but as he gets older(now almost 15 months) we only use it right before bed time and after baths. We put it on his entire body. Yes he looks a little greasy but no dry skin! Our peditrician suggested using hydrocortisone on ecxema patches. If he has any on his face, we would put it on right before bed. That way he wouldn't get into his mouth our on his hands. Also, we use the Aveeno ecxema baby wash. I hope this helps your little man with his ecxema. By the way, I love reading your blog. You are such as inspiration to me.

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  2. Matthew is so handsome...and I love his sweet cheeks too. What a doll. I am glad he is so good natured. I always hear about holes in the heart closing on their own...I hope his will do that too.

    He looks great...so healthy and happy.
    We continue to pray for him...and for his pretty momma too.

    Happy Saturday!

    Linda @ Truthful Tidbits

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  3. Oh, Matthew! He's so so cute. I love his squishy cheeks! I can't wait to see him and you again soon!! I love hearing about what he's up to- he's a doll.
    Love you too!
    ebe

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  4. Both my boys have bad eczema, we discovered in my younger son it was an egg allergy. (Found this out at 14 months old.)

    Per the allergist's recommendation, we use Vanicream. It works GREAT. And on the really bad spots we use desonide cream (prescription) for Aaron and Mometasone (prescription) for Ian.

    I hope it clears up very soon! Matthew is really a sweetheart!

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  5. Matthew's hands will eventually stop being fisted all the time. Morgan has moderate low tone in her trunk, actually wasn't suppose to walk and eventually around 10-11 months her little hands opened up and she started reaching for toys. I know it's a challenge and heartbreaking at the same time. I spent many days crying, asking God why did my baby get this. He will improve and when he starts walking no one will ever no he had a struggle unless you tell them. People are so shocked when I tell them that Morgan has low muscle tone and can't do certain things. If you ever have any questions about the low tone please don't hesitate to ask me. I've dealt with it for 8 yrs and have had OT,PT and Speech Therapy since Morgan was 4 months old, I would be more then happy to answer any questions or just to talk about it. I know how hard it is in the beginning.
    Matthew is simply precious, I love to see pictures of him and those adorable little cheeks of his.
    Debbie Waters
    mjdswaters@msn.com

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