All Smiles

I finally captured a few smiles on camera today! Yay!

2 months!

Preston is 2 months old now! We had his doctor's appointment on the 19th. He is developing well...smiling and cooing and tracking things with his eyes. He is up to 12 lbs. 2 oz., and 21 3/4 inches long! He's come a long way from his little 6 lbs 9 oz!! It's hard to believe he's already so big. I took Preston to the doctor last week to discuss a possible milk sensitivity or allergy. We put him on some hypoallergenic formula and he has improved immensely! He's not on formula 100% of the time. I have been alternating with breast feeding, and pumping when I feed him formula. He'll slowly get to all formula. I have still been maintaining my dairy free diet. Let me tell you, it's sooo hard! I am starting to get the hang of it though...with only a couple small cheats, and a couple accidental dairy consumptions! I had to have a piece of chocolate...sorry! I have found substitutes for many of my normal foods. I found a margarine that does not have milk protein...and I finally caved and got a milk substitute! I missed my cereal too much! I did not do the soy thing though....YUCK! I decided to try rice milk instead...and it really isn't bad, surprisingly. I noticed that there is almond milk too...I wonder what that's like. There is still no substitute for cheese though, and I'm really missing it! The baby still has his moments of fussiness, but it has definitely improved! He isn't pooping every half hour or hour anymore...that's cut down to 1-2 times per day! Now if only I could get him to sleep longer than 2 hours at a time during the night!!! He's much more attentive now and loves to play. We can really get him smiling sometimes. I still have not been able to catch him smiling with the camera though! He is getting so close to laughing. Sometimes he'll let out a little noise with his smile. It's so sweet. Anyway, I'm not sure how long I can keep up with this diet and life style change, but for now it seems like it's working. The doctor says after a couple of weeks on the hypoallergenic formula (that is really expensive), we can try Preston on soy formula. The reason we didn't start with soy is that some babies are allergic to both milk and soy. So we will see if he gets bad again after the soy milk is started. It's been very emotional for me to think that I may have to give up breastfeeding. I feel like it's so important for babies to have that, and I feel like I'm failing him if I can't provide it. He's such a good eater too. It's frustrating. I will do what I have to to make my baby comfortable. It upsets me to think that if I eat the wrong thing, my baby suffers. I'd rather him be happy and healthy. That said, the baby is doing beautifully! He's an amazing little man!

I love this screaming picture...this is a face that he wears very often!

Caught!

This happened a few months ago, but I just found the pictures and had to share. If I keep any "treats" in the house, they are on the top shelf of the pantry. If I don't keep a close watch, the treats disappear magically! The kids try to be very sneaky when they get into things they aren't suppose to. They don't get away with too much without me knowing. I remember trying to be sneaky like them! This is Peyton's big attempt to get the cookies on the top shelf. He wasn't too quiet about it...but when you have to climb, how can you be? It sucks being little!

The "uh oh, I'm caught" face!

I let him pose for this one, just before I made him climb back down...without a cookie :(

Mobility

My little Preston! He is such a ham. He has been a difficult but wonderful baby. Not sleeping well at night, wanting to be held constantly. Inconsolable crying for 2 hours at a time. He is getting better, I think. Thank goodness for vacuum cleaners (they really do calm a fussy baby)! I've cut milk out of my diet...and cut back on the chocolate :(, and I've tried to stay away from things that would make any human gassy. He just has an upset belly that is making him miserable! Since recently he has decided it's okay for me to put him down once in a while, I've been laying him on his back on the floor. He looks around for a long time, and when he gets fussy, I play tickle games with him. The most I ever get out of him is a grin...you can tell he wants to laugh, but holds his breath instead! Today I sat him down and walked away to let him explore the room with his eyes...and when I came back...he was on his side! My baby is getting mobile! He's only 7 weeks old today! No, he can't roll from his belly to his back yet...let's give it time. I was just surprised when I saw him like that...and he stayed that way until I rolled him back over. He must like it!