Gastroesophageal reflux (GERD)

Turns out all the fussiness throughout the day and night accompanied by arching his back and stiffining up his limbs, thrusting his head backwards, spitting up after every meal (projectile sometimes), crying and pumping his legs throughout his sleep (see night terrors entry), waking up from a dead sleep to arch his back and crying (basically not sleeping), crying after eating or during it, etc is GERD - aka acid reflux. For the past two weeks Brian and I just thought he was a fussy baby and would outgrow it as that's what many other parents have told us, however once we came across the symptoms of GERD we realized it's more than just being a baby. In fact, I learned that many parents often associate these symptoms with gas or possibly a milk allergy which we did of course and tried all sorts of things to help with either of those cases. I stopped with my dairy intake and we had no luck with Mylicon or gripe water.

So now the issue becomes getting Ben to take the medicine to help him. Turns out the liquid medicine, which smells like candy, he hates. You would think that since he liked all the other stuff we tried he loved he would love this too, but of course, the one thing that can help him is like poison once it touches his lips. I keep trying to tell him that this stuff will make him feel better, but for some reason he doesn't listen. Instead he just spits it out forcefully and cries. Hopefully we can find a way to settle this battle between baby and medicine soon so that he can start feeling better and I can start sleeping more! I'll spare you pics of him during his pain as it's hard for me to even watch let alone capture a picture of what he thinks is the horrific event that occurs all the time.

Smiling for a reason

Ben is starting to figure out his smile. We've been able to get him to respond to us by smiling sometimes, however it's few and far between. It's great to actual get a response from him and it makes everything worth while. Can't wait for him to start giggling now! Here are a couple pics.

Playdate

So yesterday we had a playdate with Nicola and Milo. Emily, Julie and I sure enjoyed it since the little ones were so good. I guess it's hard to really call these play dates since they're all so young and don't exactly 'play', but for our sake we sure enjoy them :) Here are a few pics of what the kids did for the three hours we were there.

Nicola


Milo


Ben

Ben's 1 Month Old!!

Well although I thought that time was moving slowing, I was way off! I can't believe he is already one month old! Click on the pic for some additional photos - enjoy!

Happy Daddy's Day!

Night Terrors

This past week Ben has started a new sleeping habit which Brian and I coined "Night Terrors." He will be dead asleep and then start a whimper and then let out a little bit of a cry or even short scream and then promptly go right back to sleep. He does this almost every time he takes a nap and during the day it's fine, but at night it's a different story seeing as he tends to get these "terrors" every 15 or 30 minutes repeatedly. I wasn't able to catch this night terror from the beginning, but here's a glimpse of what we've encountered this week.

Rolling Over!

Yes - You read that right. He has already mastered the art of rolling from his stomach to his back. He can only roll from his back to his side though so he's not quite all the way there, but he's close!

It's hard to believe he's almost a month old already and we've had our share of ups and downs so far. A quick recap would include - starting to figure out day vs night; peeing through several outfits due to loose diaper (ahem - dad's fault); pooping through an outfit (again - dad's fault); spitting up on EVERYTHING; noisy sleeper; rolling from back to side; rolling from stomach to back; staring outside without blinking for an hour or more regularly; thinks the best time to go potty is right after a diaper change; smiling right after he passes gas; enjoys his swing; likes the sound of water and oceans (I'm thrilled about this one - hopefully that means we get a beach vacation soon!); likes baths, but hates to get out of them; likes to be held; enjoys walks; knows the best time to get fussy is when we are eating; and is starting to snuggle with me by wrapping his arms around me when we are laying down.

More pics

Just wanted to add some more pics to share. Click on the pic below for the slideshow. Enjoy!

I'm A Little Jayhawk..

Red and blue.
Here is my beak and my yellow shoes.
When I watch my team play hear me shout
Rock Chalk Jayhawk - Go KU!At least that's what he would be singing if he could talk!

Smiley

So I wish he actually knew what he was doing, but I was lucky enough to catch a pic of him smiling in his sleep since that's the only time he does. I also have some more pics from the past week - click here to view them.