Ears and fish

Henry had another ear check today. After 20 days of antibiotics....his double ear infection is gone!!!! This is very good news for our little guy and we have immediately stopped the amoxicillin. It upsets his stomach, so hopefully in a few days the effects will wear off of him.

We have to say we were somewhat surprised at the clean bill of health. He has been Grouchy McCranky pants for the past few days and not napping well, so we kind of assumed his ears were still bothering him. Nope - just cranky. I think the excitement of Christmas and visitors, etc.. may have just caught up with him. A few days of staying in and going back on his routine may do him some good.

Speaking of excitement, Henry had his first visit to the New England Aquarium yesterday. He LOVED it! The aquarium has a giant center tank with lots of fish, giant sea turtles, rays, sharks, etc. Henry at times seemed to actually want to break through the glass and commune with the fish. He wore his Aunt Gina's arms out with his jumping for glee at the sight of the fish. The penguins were not as exciting for him, but I am sure some day he will love them.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve

We hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas Eve!

Henry enjoyed the Powell family tradition of opening a new pair of PJs for Christmas Eve gifts - he had QUITE a good time with the wrapping paper (so much that I am somewhat frightened for what will happen tomorrow morning...). Some tissue paper may have been ingested, but we are assuming that we don't need to call Poison Control.

He also enjoys his new Christmas jammies - if he forgets his name all he needs to do is look around at his bum.

Alas, we will not have a White Christmas. The incredible amounts of snow we received over the past few weeks is almost gone due to a few days of 40 degree temperatures and a giant rainstorm last night. - but we won't let warm temperatures dampen our holiday spirits :)

We are all looking forward to a great Christmas Eve dinner this evening (thanks to our resident chef Michael), some traditional Danish Glogg to drink, massive amounts of cookies to eat, and a festive day tomorrow.

Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

Henry is 8 months old!

Henry is 8 months old today!

So far he has celebrated in style - sleeping until 7:30 (holy $%$##!), discovering potted plants and the joy of eating dirt, and breaking the remote control.

More Snow

I used to LOVE snow. Truly - there is nothing better than being curled up in a chair with hot chocolate and a Harry Potter book while watching the flakes come down.

This winter - not so much. Maybe because we have had 3 big snowstorms in less than 2 weeks - every time the sidewalks begin to clear, it seems that more snow comes down. I know NEXT winter when Henry is older this will be enjoyable - he will be able to actually play in the snow. This year, all the snow means we are stuck inside a lot more (strollers on unshoveled walks - not good), I have to run and shovel what I can during his naps (running to the front door about every 30 seconds to make sure he has not woken up), and a constant fear of the ice (we had an "incident" last week involving me, Henry, the Baby Bjorn, and some black ice. Lets just say that a neighbor driving by had to stop and help me, and the whole thing was not pretty).

Do you think we will be using our patio set anytime soon???

Updates

We took Henry back to the pediatrician on Monday for his ear check - he had been on the antibiotics for 10 days and they just wanted to do a double check to make sure that the ear infection was totally gone. Alas, we got bad news in that he still has a double ear infection. The pedi did say that both ears looked "better", though. Previously, his right ear was a lot worse than his left - now, his left is worse than his right but both are better than they were a few weeks ago. Instead of switching his antibiotics the pedi decided to have him continue the amoxicillin for another 10 days - we go back on the 27th to get a status check. If he still has an ear infection then, a new antibiotic would be used and there are distant rumors of perhaps seeing an ear/nose/throat specialist (mainly due to the fact that he came down with a fairly bad ear infection after his very first cold and because I had to have ear tubes when I was little - apparently there is sometimes a genetic component to recurring ear infections due to the shape of the inner ear).

The good news is that Henry has been in a pretty good mood the past few days. He is crawling all over the house (the "serious" baby proofing has begun). Diaper changes and putting clothes on him are now epic events involving much pre-planning, skill, occasional brute strength, and calculated strategy. Bath time is now done in less than 5 minutes due to his repeated attempts at standing/climbing out of the tub. The changing table has been abandoned - it is no longer safe in any way to have him on an elevated surface - and we have transformed it into a regular dresser (an added benefit to this being that we can now put his humidifier up there instead of on the ground - previously he kept crawling to the humidifier and pulling it apart, causing a lot of spills). He is very adept at crawling, getting himself into a seated position, and standing. He is currently trying to figure out how to thwart the baby gates.

We had a nice visit the past few days from Gayle, Mark, and Erika. Henry enjoyed their visit immensely - he loves having LOTS of people paying attention to him! He was a model baby while out and about on a long shopping trip, and became fast friends with a waiter at the Cheesecake Factory.

Finally, we want to send along a huge CONGRATULATIONS to our good friends Karen and Zach on the arrival of their beautiful daughter Anna Sophia yesterday. Anna will be giving Cyanne Blabey a run for her money in the competition to be Henry's future spouse :)

Snow Day

We had our first major snowstorm of the season today! At most recent count, 8+ inches have fallen so far and it isn't due to stop for a few more hours.

I figured that I should take Henry outside to introduce him to snow. He was somewhat confused by it, I think...

Lessons

We have learned a few lessons this past week:

1 - After a major ice storm, it is really not wise to put your baby in a Baby Bjorn and go outside, thus stepping on a black ice coated driveway and slipping all the way into the street. But, we are thankful for nice neighbors who, upon seeing the spectacular ice skating action and balance shown by yours truly, stop their car to help you navigate your way safely inside (no babies or moms were hurt in this attempt).

2 - Even though your baby may SEEM to be doing well and recovering from colds and ear infections, it is still NOT WISE to hold the baby above your head while playing with him, no matter how much he may like this. It is also not wise - when the inevitable massive baby spit up comes from holding the baby above your head - to turn your head to try and avoid the spit up. Because then it all goes in your ear. This is most unpleasant.

3 - Finally, Henry hates avocado. It kind of makes me sad, because I could eat them all day and all night. He was so traumatized by the avocado that he has really not eaten any solids since the attempt. He just looks warily at them, afraid that I may have hidden avocado in there somewhere.

O' Tannenbaum

Henry joined us yesterday as we braved the cold to buy his first Christmas tree! There has been much debate over the tree including if we should even get one at all this year. Henry's crawling and pulling-up abilities combined with a large tree covered in lights and ornaments could produce chaos that is truly awe-inspiring. The compromise was to get a "mini tree" for the dining room table that we could enjoy on the ground floor, and a regular tree to be put upstairs in our "sitting room" (which overlooks the living room).

Henry was not too excited by the tree selection process, but we thought he would be VERY excited by the tree in its fully decorated glory. The tree was put up and decorated after he went to bed last night, and upon waking this morning we took him up to see the joy of his first tree.

He couldn't have cared less - we should have known! He was more interested in crawling over to the stairway railings and pulling himself up. I guess we could have put the tree on the main floor after all!

In other news, the antibiotics seem to be helping his ear infection. He slept through the night on Friday and last night (yesterday morning he even slept until 7 AM!! Insert sounds of an angel choir here), and overall has been in a better mood. His napping is still off, but we are hoping that it works itself out over the next few days. He will be on the antibiotics 3 times a day through next Monday, at which point we take him back to the pedi to be double checked. We have our final "itsy bitsy baby yoga" class on Tuesday - after this he graduates to the "big kid" yoga baby class (the one he is currently in is for non-mobile babies, which has made for a few interesting classes lately) but other than that will be taking it easy yet again this week and hiding out from the cold weather.

Sigh...

December has not been kind to our poor Henry thus far.

While he seemed to be getting better earlier this week, the past few days have seen a downward spiral for him - a lot of heavy coughing, lots of congestion, difficulty sleeping, very little napping, and a lot of sudden, hard crying. I thought he was going through some separation anxiety ( a very normal stage around his age) and that his new found abilities to stand up in his crib were interfering with naps (since he likes to stand more than lay down now, and it is hard to sleep while standing up!). This morning, after waking at about 5:30 (ugh), then taking only a 25 minute nap (double ugh), and then having inconsolable crying for about 30 minutes (triple ugh) I brought him into the pediatrician. The verdict?

Double ear infection :(

So, this explains quite a bit. His cough, which I was most concerned about, apparently is fine - it sounds worse than it is and is just caused by post-nasal drip. His right ear is more infected than his left, but the pedi said neither was a "really" bad infection. He is on a dose of antibiotics for the next 10 days - if he isn't showing improvement in the next day or two we need to bring him back in, but otherwise we go back on Monday the 17th to make sure it has cleared up.

We recently got home, I gave him his first dose of (grape flavored) antibiotics, some Tylenol, and a HUGE bottle. We are now trying to have him take a nap. Thus far he isn't sleeping (and he needs sleep - 25 minutes in the past 7 hours is certainly not enough sleep for him), so wish us luck that he dozes off soon.

Santa Claus is coming to town...

Henry had his first meet and great with "the Big Guy". He loved him! Henry is such a ham - any time there is a camera nearby he loves to flash a big grin. He was quite the departure from the hoards of screaming, terrified babies we watched sit on Santa's lap while we waited. Santa actually thanked me after Henry was done, saying that he "needed that" (Henry came on the heels of twins that were a wee bit frightened of Santa...)

Henry was feeling a lot better today, we were happy to see (let's hope it lasts!) I decided it was time for us to brave the icy sidewalks and 20 degree temperatures and finally leave the house. We had quite the day - baby yoga class, a playgroup meet-up, and Santa! He had a little trouble falling asleep for bed, but that is because he has been pulling himself up to stand in his crib - but then gets stuck and doesn't know how to get down. Crying then ensues, and one of us needs to go in to show him how to let go of the crib rail and sit back down.

On an interesting/slightly amusing note - having grown up in Southern California I have NO idea how to dress a baby for freezing temperatures. Today being the first REALLY cold day we have gone out, I may have gone overboard: long-sleeved onesie, very thick hooded sweater, 3 layer, fleece lined hooded ski parka, hat, and then in the stroller zipped into his fleece bunting/sleeping bag, all topped with the rain cover (to act as a wind shield). Henry was not amused by this - in fact, crying did ensue when the jacket was placed on him - perhaps because he was unable to put his arms down at all due to all the layers and promptly toppled over due to this fact. The picture above shows him in all his bundled glory, and not looking very pleased about it.

Update on the cold...

Our poor little guy is not feeling well :( It is kind of heartbreaking to see him - VERY stuffed up, very clingy, sneezy, coughing...it is so, so sad!!!!

He did pretty well yesterday. We hit him with a full arsenal - 3 baths over the course of the day with "soothing vapor" bath wash, nasal aspirator to clear his nose, saline spray, Vick's baby vapo rub on his chest, a Vick's soothing vapor plug-in in his room, and the cool mist humidifier running next to his crib (our home as turned from looking like a daycare to looking - and smelling! - like a hospital). Henry has learned to recognize the nasal aspirator and the saline spray and starts to cry upon seeing them....so we use them sparingly (I guess no one likes things shoved up their nose....). The day was spent in his jammies on some one's lap, or being carried around in the sling. I broke our no TV rule and he watched part of "The Princess Bride" with us - Henry's first movie (and a great one, at that)!

The good news is that he slept better last night - he only woke up two times, both before 10 PM, and then slept until 7 AM - woo hoo! It was actually kind of funny - the second time he woke up at around 9:45 PM....he started crying so I turned on the video monitor to see him and see what he would do (we always give him a minute or so before going in since he often falls back asleep on his own). He was crying fairly hard, got up on hand's and knees, then got up into a seated position (a new trick for him). Then he did a kind of commando roll, got into sitting again...and as I was watching him just FELL OVER completely asleep. One second he was sitting and crying, the next he was on his side fast asleep - and after less than a minute of being awake. It was almost like he had been shot. It was actually pretty funny. I love the video monitor.

He is showing a lot of new physical leaps - he is pulling himself to standing quite a bit - in his crib, on the couch, using our legs, etc. He can now fairly easily get himself into a sitting position from his belly/hands and knees, and he is crawling a bit more. He has not yet figured out that he can crawl towards toys or different areas of the house. The only things he will crawl towards are Mike and myself. So, we have not yet had to actually latch any of the baby gates, but I am sure it is just a matter of time.

He is taking a nap now - after a struggle with his morning bottle (since he is so congested he can't breathe while taking the bottle) and another "soothing vapors" bath. It is only about 20 something degrees here in Boston, and we are supposed to get a snow/sleet storm this evening, so it looks like we will be staying inside a few days longer.

Everyone wish us luck that Henry naps well and feels better soon!

Good News and Bad News

Good News: Henry's 2nd tooth has popped through! As of yesterday morning, you could tell that the pain was gone and he was a much happier camper. the second tooth overall seemed to be easier for him than the first tooth, so hopefully teething will continue on a positive trend.

Bad News: The slightly runny nose we first noticed yesterday seems to have turned into his first cold.

The kid can't get a break, it seems :(

His poor little nose is like a faucet (and he does NOT like you to wipe it, let me tell you!), he is coughing and sneezing, and while (so far) he is in a decent mood, he is not sleeping well. He woke up about 5 or 6 times last night, and only took a 20 minute nap this morning. My discussions on the importance of sleep to help in the getting better process have fallen on deaf ears.

So, our plans for an outing to get our Christmas tree have been scrapped. Plans for the weekend now include staying in our jammies all day, giving some extra baths, using the humidifier, and attempting to get him to take longer naps. I may even let him watch TV! Wish us luck!