4 mo checkup

Reece had his 4 mo checkup on Wednesday. Doing great! 17lbs 2oz, 25 in long. A big boy already! He's meeting or exceeding all his milestone and we got the go ahead to start cereal and did so on Saturday. Ok, so I'm not counting Saturday b/c I actually followed the directions on the box and it came out way too thin for any use. We tried it, but I couldn't even keep it on the spoon. So Sunday was our first official day of trying. Overall I think he liked it. It was hard to tell how much he actually ate and how much ended up on his face, up his nose, on his hands, or all over the bib. He keeps wanting to hold the spoon, so it was a bit of a struggle but we're working on it. His new favorite thing is sticking out his tongue and making noises...which definitely proved counterproductive to spoon feeding. Tried it again tonight, still working on it. I didn't give him any bottle first this time, just started in with the spoon...mistake. He got frustrated really quick that he wasn't getting enough, so I ended up dumping the cereal in a bottle with some extra water and let him eat some of it that way. We'll continue to try with the spoon, but at least he got some good tastes of it. If anyone has any good spoon feeding tips...I'm definitely open! Right now we're just working on the rice cereal. Will move onto barley and oatmeal in the coming weeks. Then, it's fruits and veggies! I've been starting my stockpile of pureed veggies in the freezer. Need to get some more orange veggies done over the next month so I'm ready.

Exzema is doing much better. Only had to use the steroid cream for a couple days and have been able to manage it fairly well with Cetaphil creme. I'm really hoping he grows out of it. I know it doesn't bother him all that much right now, but being someone who developed it as an adult, it's fairly annoying.

Overall though, things are going very well. He loves being outside and loves watching the kids play at daycare. We tried to have his 4 mo pictures at the pool, but, of course, both times have been too chilly or raining, so we're going to try again this Saturday. Hopefully we'll be able to get them in.

Mystery solved!!

So, had a dermatologist appt on Friday. He said that it was exzema, to only use Cetaphil cleanser and lotion, and gave us a steroid creme to use as well. I was instructed not to use the steroid for more than 3-5 days at a time and to call their office back if the spots hadn't cleared up within a week. I admit, I had my doubts. However, I am proud to report that after using the creme for only 3 days, the spots are GONE!!! Wahoo!! His chest/belly are so smooth and soft now! I am kicking myself for listening to the nurse who told me to start using the antifungal creme before they saw him. But, the important part is, it's CLEAR!!

In other news...we took Reece to his first parade on Saturday. It was fun. He slept through the noisiest part and woke up in time to see the band and such. Overall I think he enjoyed it. It was freakin HOT though! After the parade, I took Reece to see the animals at the fair...until some brat let one of the roosters out of its cage....then we quickly made our way to the exit.

Reece got to meet his great aunt linda and uncle david on Sunday. They are in town from Florida. He also met his 2nd cousin Aaron. Afternoon went well. Reece got passed around quite a bit but did manage to get a nap in. Kloie was also there and wants to play with Reece so bad. She laid on his playmat with him and patted his tummy. We had to keep urging her not to try and body slam on top of him, I think we succeeded.

Our little guy is definitely a smart one though. On Friday both Aaron and I were sitting in the floor with him rolling his stuffed soccer ball back and forth. Aaron would roll it to Reece and I'd pick it up and "help" Reece roll it back. Then Aaron started having Reece kick the ball. He did that a couple of times, helping Reece kick the ball. Then Aaron rolled the ball to Reece again and Reece automatically started moving his feet like he was trying to kick it! Daddy was so proud! Aaron tried to teach him to head the ball next...that didn't go over so well. Maybe next time.

The mystery rash

So we've seen 3 different pediatricians in the practice and I'm still not completely satisfied with the answer. Before, it was dry skin. He didn't have any red spots, so I conceded that he just had dry skin. Well, then big red blotches came up on his chest and stomach, we were told it was exzema and to use hydrocortizone creme and cetaphil...ok. Did that for a couple weeks then it looked like it was spreading and actually spotty. A girl at daycare had ringworm so we called his dr's office. They told us to start on an antifungal...done. Been on the antifungal for a week and it's just drying him out more and it's still spreading...and now I have some kind of weird rash. Took him in today to hopefully get an answer....I guess that was asking too much. I'm going to preface this with I hated the dr. we saw today. He wouldn't listen to what we had already been doing and told me that it was dry skin and to use Nivea on him. And if it's really bad then hydrocortizone creme. I told him that we had already used the hydrocort. on him and cetaphil and aquaphor and it's not helping. I also said that it was spreading and showed him the new spots. Told him I had this weird rash as well and said I didn't think dry skin would cause it. He told me that he didn't know about my rash, even though he didn't even look at it, and that if it's not better in 2-3 weeks then to call back. I've had it and am taking us both to the dermatologist on Friday. If they tell me it's just dry skin, then ok, but they better be able to explain why it looks like it's spreading rather quickly and what's wrong with me.

Otherwise, he's doing great. Going to start cereal soon and he's already almost 17lbs!!