45 Weeks Old!

45 weeks old!

Fortunately, Cael and I are feeling much better. But I'll tell you, last week was rough. Cael had (still has) Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, and I had Coxsackie Virus. Yes, I'm diagnosing Cael and myself, but it's not like I don't know what we were exposed to. After researching HFMD and Coxsackie Virus, and talking to another mom who's baby just got over HFMD, I learned more about it. There's the Coxsackie Virus, which causes fever and sore throat, and then there are variants of Coxsackie, such as HFMD and others. HFMD causes fever, sore throat, and sores and blisters in the mouth, feet and hands. I didn't know that the two were different, which was interesting.

Cael has a mild case of HFMD, because he has only about 20 sores. They're mostly on his legs and genitals, with some on his hands. It definitely could have been way worse for him, so I'm glad it didn't turn out to be a worse case. I only have about 4-5 sores, and they're more like zits. Cael's most recent sore popped up yesterday on his hand, and it actually looks like a blister. It's the worst one, but it doesn't seem to bother him. So yes, he still has sores that are popping up, unfortunately. So even though his fever broke on Thursday, he's still getting sores.

Wednesday. He was so sick :(

So here's the recap of our hellish week. As I wrote in a previous post, Cael's fever started on Tuesday afternoon. But it was Tuesday night into Wednesday morning that was the worst.night.ever. Even worse than the newborn stage. He was burning up all night despite Tylenol and Advil, and he was so uncomfortable. He woke up every 40 minutes (and that's no exaggeration), and spent most of the night in our bed, sleeping on me. He would wake up and cry and scream, and I would need to hold him, or put him on my chest for him to sleep. My heart broke for him, because he was so uncomfortable.

Wednesday was pretty much the same. He had 3 breakdowns where he screamed for an hour strait, and once again, nothing I did helped. He would finally fall asleep on me after an hour, but only sleep for about 45 minutes to an hour, and then wake up crying again. His mouth seemed to be bothering him, because he didn't eat much breakfast, and he didn't want to nurse in the morning at all. He kept poking his fingers into his mouth, although I couldn't see anything. At that point, he didn't have any sores yet.

Laying on Mommy

My fever started on Wednesday, and I felt like crap all day. It was a rough day, because I felt like I was hit by a bus, and I had to take care of Cael. I relied on Advil, which worked amazingly well for me, thankfully. My fever must have broke Thursday morning, because I woke up soaked in my sweat. Like, saturated. It was disgusting, and I felt disgusting. I couldn't wait to take a shower. Thursday was a little better for the both of us. I felt normal again, and Cael was back to playing on the floor with his toys and trucks. His fever broke Wednesday overnight as well.

However, Cael started getting his sores on Wednesday evening. They looked like little pimples or zits. First there was a few on his legs, and then in his genital area. By yesterday, most of them were in his groin area, with a few on his legs, and a couple on his hands. Honestly, he didn't get it bad at all. I would call it a mild case. Even though I ended up with only 2 sores on my lower lip, and one on my hand, I think I had just the Coxsackie virus. From what I read on the CDC website, it's all the Coxsackie virus, but just different variants of it depending on the symptoms that present. Usually adults don't get it, so I'm surprised I got it at all. But once again, it wasn't bad and my symptoms only lasted 2 days or so.

In other news, we picked a theme for Cael's 1st birthday party. It'll be "A Mustache Bash for Our Little Man". I love it! I found "Little Man" plates and party accessories, and ordered customized mustache invitations from Etsy. It's perfect because I always call him my Lil' Man. And he really is such a Little Man, with the faces he makes and his personality. I absolutely love how the invitation came out. I can't wait to send them out.

Cael's 1st Birthday Invitation - I LOVE LOVE LOVE them!

Cael is standing a lot more now by himself. And the funny thing is that we don't think he even realizes he's doing it. He'll be standing at his toy box holding on, and then grab a toy with both hands, letting go of the box, and stand there playing with it. I got a video of him on Thursday standing for 15 seconds by himself. Matt and I watched him in awe, and then when he finally sat down, we clapped and praised him. He gave us the biggest smile.

Along the same lines of standing alone, is taking his first steps. Yes, Cael took 1 step by himself! It happened on Friday night, and Matt got to see it. Granted, it wasn't a steady step, and he fell right into my arms immediately following the step, but it still means he's that much closer to walking. I'm not ready for that! He's already all over the place, and walking will make it so much worse! :) You can see he's starting to get braver and braver with standing by himself, and it'll look like he's going to just let go and start running, but instead, he'll let go, hesitate, and then plop to the ground on his butt. It's only a matter of time. :::sigh::: Now, however, I think he's starting to think it's a game. I'll stand him up in front of me and arms' distance away, and instead of taking a step or trying to step forward, he'll just lean forward, like a trust fall. He knows I will catch him, and he'll giggle while I'm catching him.

He loves walking with this toy

Playing is such hard work!

Helping Daddy type

9 Months Old!!

Happy 9 months, Cael! (39&1 weeks old)

I have to admit that I've been slacking horribly in updating my blog. To be quite honest, Cael is a HANDFUL! He is just everywhere, and getting into everything. I can't turn my back for more than 2 seconds before he's into something. Mostly, it's the entertainment center, in which he likes to touch Matt's XBox and tug on its' wires. The kid is obsessed with power cords, controllers and any and all wires. So because of that, I'm finally getting to write his 9 Months Old post on Thursday.

I didn't take a "39 week" picture on Sunday this week for 2 reasons. First, being he turned 9 months old on Monday, so I might as well just take one picture (especially since it's horribly difficult now to get him to stay still on his back for more than a second). And two, Matt and I were away all.day.long. We went to Atlantic City for the day SANS CAEL!!! That's right - for the first time in 9 months, I left Cael for the entire day, from 5:45 am to 11 pm.

We went with our Sunday night bowling league, and we left Cael with Matt's mom. I had major anxiety the night before, and didn't get much sleep, but in the end, I was ok. I had fun (for the most part), and didn't cry at all like I thought I would, from missing Cael. I had my pump in tow, along with a cooler, so my shoulders are not happy with me for carrying around so much weight for 10+ hours. It was very stressful figuring out where to pump during the day. I'm extremely pissed with the casino's, because they are obviously not nursing/pumping-mom friendly. At all. An employee in one casino (I can't remember which one), had no idea what I meant by "pumping" after having me repeat it three times. So SHE made me announce loudly, in front of a lot of people, "pumping, you know...breast milk?" I'm not normally embarrassed by stuff like that, but I think it was her arrogance and rudeness that bothered me the most. She told me that I would have to pump in the bathroom. Say what!? Uh, yea no.

It's getting impossible to get good
 weekly/monthly pictures of him now

We went into the next casino, and the accommodations were the same. So, reluctantly, I went into the ladies room, sat on the edge of the toilet seat in the handicapped bathroom, and pumped for 20 minutes. Gross. I was NOT happy. At that point, I didn't care one iota that I was occupying the only handicapped stall for such a long amount of time. They can deal with it, like I'm having to deal with my lack of accommodations.Do they eat their food, or prepare their food, in the bathroom? I think not, so why should I have to do that with my son's food?? Needless to say, as much as I had fun, I don't think I'll be doing such a lengthy day trip away from Cael again, until he's weaned. I would have much rather sat in the corner of the casino floor, facing the wall, and pumped in front of everyone, than pump in the bathroom. But Matt didn't exactly want me doing that, so the bathroom it was. Fortunately, I left AC $111 richer than when I went, and Matt left up as well. He won enough money to break even after buying Oakley sunglasses. I was very happy about that.

39 weeks old

Unfortunately, after all the stress of pumping while in AC, I had to throw away all the milk I pumped. About 16 ounces in all. I was really heartbroken and upset over it. I brought 2 ice packs with me, but they were already not cold enough by the time we arrived in AC. So we went into a nearby RiteAid and bought 2 instant ice packs. I popped one right away, and put it in the cooler, expecting it to last a while. Unfortunately, by the end of the day, the cooler was no longer cold, and the milk was at room temperature for longer than 5 hours by the time we got home at 11 pm. I went to use 4.5 ounces on Tuesday, and it smelled spoiled. So that means the rest of it was spoiled. How upsetting. But Cael only managed to drink 8 ounces all day (which wasn't that much, but he ate a lot of solid food while with grandma), so I'm only down by 8 ounces in my stash.

Cael had fun being with grandma all day, and she kept me updated with texts and pictures. I needed some pictures of him for Sunday (when he turned 39 weeks old), so I was happy for the pictures. He was out most of the day with her at a library function, and according to Laureen, everyone loved him. I'm glad he wasn't cranky, or crying all day, like I thought he would be. We figured out that if he doesn't see me, he's fine. The second he sees or hears me, it's over. He cries and claws to get to me. But if I'm nowhere around, he's fine.

Climbing!!

Regarding mobility, Cael is still amazing me. It seems that every passing day, he gets braver and better at moving around. Today (Thursday), he proceeded to climb up onto his walker (the bottom part with the wheels), and step sideways around it, keeping his balance. He did this right in front of us, and Matt and I couldn't believe our eyes. He is now able to climb on things. We.Are.Screwed! However, although he has already proven that he can stand unassisted for about 30 or so seconds, he hasn't had any desire to do it again. Not even for Matt, so he still hasn't seen him do it. I'll stand him up and hold his hands, but he immediately sits down. Oh well, that's fine with me! If he's happy just crawling and pulling himself until a year or older, I'll be perfectly fine with that! We thought he'd be walking by now, but I'm thinking it will be closer to a year - which, again, is fine with me.

Getting messy eating blueberries
with grandma.

Cael loves food. There's no if's, and's or but's about it. Well, maybe except some pureed foods, but for the most part, the kid can eat. And he'll let you know if you're not feeding him fast enough. He loves feeding himself, and prefers it. He's had a wide variety of foods by now. Countless, actually. It would take me a while, I think, to name everything. His favorites are chicken, puffs, cheerios, mashed potatoes, ground beef and pasta. At this point, he can pretty  much eat whatever we're eating for dinner. I still give him pureed food (apples, pears, mango, etc) for breakfast mixed with cereal, and he takes that happily. I think it's because they're so sweet. He loves his fruit. It's his veggies that he won't eat pureed, but if he can pick it up and feed himself, he'll eat it. He's getting much better at his pincer grasp. He uses mainly his right hand to pick up foods, so he's not as good with his left hand. We'll have to start putting some food on the left side of the tray, so that he's more apt to use his left hand as well. His old pediatrician said that if they start favoring one hand over the other at this age (earlier than 2 years), it's not usually a good sign. I'm not too sure what that entirely means, but I'm not concerned about it. He can still use both hands, but I honestly think it's us just putting food mainly on the right side of the tray.

Cael is back to teething again. He's been up in the middle of the night screaming for the last 3 nights. It's exhausting, as I've become used to him sleeping from 8 to 4:30am. But the past few nights, he's woken up anywhere between 1 and 3 am. After Advil, Orajel, and my attempts at soothing, I've given in and brought him to bed to feed him. This is NOT something I want to get him used to again, since we did so well weaning him off overnight feedings. I hope it's just the teething, and not him regressing. He had a low grade fever yesterday, so I'm pretty sure it's teething. No signs of the top middle teeth, but his right lateral incisor is continuing to come down, and now his left lateral incisor is just visible under the gums. You can't feel it yet, but you can see it. He's going to be a vampire!! He'll look so funny with only fangs up top, and no middle teeth. It's a little weird, but I'm sure it's normal at the same time. Again, not something I'm going to worry about.

So I think that's all the updates for now. I'll (hopefully!) update tomorrow, as Cael has his 9 month appointment at his new doctor tomorrow. I'm convinced that he doesn't yet weigh 19 pounds, so we'll find out. I'm really curious to see what he weighs, and how tall he is. I'm almost positive that he doesn't get any shots tomorrow, so it should be a relatively short visit. Hopefully all is well (as I expect it to be!).

38 Weeks Old & Camping!!

Turned 38 weeks while camping

First and foremost - Cael can stand on his own, UNASSISTED!!! He did this while we were camping with my family, on Friday. I can't believe it! I wanted to let him feel the grass on his feet, so I went over to a nice, plushy area, and stood him up in it while holding his hands. I wanted to see what he would do if I let go, not expecting much, and he stayed there, standing! I was beside myself! My mom wasn't around, and neither was any family, so I was on my own to revel in this great milestone. There was a fellow camper a few sites down that was mowing the grass, and he saw. He said he's doing good, and that he's going to be all over the place soon. I replied with, "Oh, you have no idea!", because he is already all over the place!

Cael standing for the first time!!
5.25.12

My mom was at the country store picking up some things, and I couldn't wait for her to get home so I could show her. She was with my brother and his friend, so when she came back, she was a little cranky. I tried showing her what Cael could do, but I think at that point, he was tired from standing for such a long time, that when I tried to get him to stand, he just immediately sat down on his butt. He didn't do it, so I told my mom what he had done. I was so shocked, surprised and upset at the same time. My baby is growing up, and before I know it, he's going to be walking and talking. I wish I could keep him little forever.

Chick Magnet!

Flirty eyes

Additionally, Matt hasn't seen him stand yet. We just got to the campsite that Friday he stood, and we are staying until Tuesday. Matt and I have an agreement that if Cael does something major while I'm away with him, that I won't tell him over the phone, but instead wait to get home so he can see it for himself. I completely understand, because if Cael was in daycare, that is exactly what I would tell the daycare to do - not tell me so I can see it for myself for the first time. I can't wait for Matt to see. However, Friday is the only day that Cael has had any interest in standing. I've tried for the past 2 days, and he just doesn't want to stand. It's like he lost interest. Oh well, you know that's fine with me. If he's good just crawling around and not standing until he's over a year old, I'm fine with it!! Ha!

Friday night was rough with getting Cael to bed. It's a completely new environment that he's not used to, so it's understandable. By Saturday night it was a little better for him, and tonight he went to sleep right away. Hopefully he continues to do well tomorrow night as well, and then we go home Tuesday.

His top right lateral incisor is slow to come in. Just the tippy tip of the tooth is peaking through the gums. The tip has cut through the gums, but it has a ways to go. That's another thing that is ok with me too. He hasn't bitten me yet (fortunately!), and I hope he doesn't have plans to anytime soon (or at all).