Weight: I wasn't going to get him weighed until his Health Visitor review next week but we ended up in A&E again at the weekend so they weighed him and he was around 8.2 kg (he wouldn't sit still enough for an entirely accurate reading) but that puts him at almost 18 lb exactly! If that is accurate that means he's put on 1 lb 6 oz in just over 4 weeks which is AMAZING and the most he's ever put on in a month, despite the fact that weight gain usually slows down at this age. He's definitely getting chunkier and growing taller too.
Health: The poor little man has really been through the ringer this week. He woke up with a temperature pf 38.5 on Saturday and was really clingy, sleepy and cuddly (which is NOT like him at all). He kept letting out little high pitched noises which sounded like he was in pain so we gave him some Calpol. The Calpol took an hour to bring his temperature down to 37.5 but within 2 hours it was back up to 38.6 and he was really lethargic and breathing really fast. I rang 111 for some advice and they arranged an appointment at the Urgent Care Centre just before 5pm. When we saw the nurse his temperature was 39 and by the time we saw the doctor 10 minutes later it had gone up to 39.9! They gave him some Calpol and left it half an hour to work but it only brought his temperature down to 38.6 which was concerning to them. The doctor thought he might have some crackles on his chest so he offered us either a 2 week course of antibiotics or asked us to go to A&E. I was pretty sure it wasn't a chest issue as he had no symptoms of a chest infection so we opted to go to A&E and they confirmed that his chest was fine but were concerned about his temperature. They gave him some ibuprofen along with the Calpol and eventually it came down and he perked up so we were allowed home. They expected him to get ill over the next 48 hours but he doesn't seem to have had an infection or virus. However, on the Sunday and Monday nights he woke up screaming with what seemed like teething issues and settled with teething gel and Calpol. Yesterday he started spitting up in a reflux-y manner again (7 times after dinner/milk). We think it's all down to teething, although I'd be surprised if it had caused a temperature that high. He seems to have a top molar coming through... poor kid really isn't getting a break from these teeth but at least we're getting them all out of the way early I guess. This afternoon he's seemed to be teething again and lay on me cuddling for around half an hour which is unheard of, normally I'm lucky if I get 2 seconds of cuddles!
Feeding: Food has been much the same, rather hit and miss. He's wanted a bit more milk so I'm just following his lead. He still eats well at breakfast and then usually eats well at dinner. By 9 months they are meant to have snacks too but honestly I don't think he'd eat anything at mealtimes if I introduced snacks - lunch is usually the time he doesn't eat much at all and I'm guessing it's because he's not hungry, as it doesn't seem to matter what food he has. I'm not at all concerned as he's putting plenty of weight on so I'm just going to continue to offer a healthy variety of foods, breastfeed on demand and let him guide me.
Sleep: I've done a LOT of reading about sleep this week. We've decided to parent him to sleep rather than putting him down to sleep and are happy to continue to feed/rock him to sleep as long as necessary. Unfortunately ALS works evenings so is rarely around to help which means feeding is the primary association and makes it hard for ALS to help out even when he is here. We've moved the bedroom around AGAIN so the cot is against the wall, on the lowest setting with one side removed and our mattress is on the floor pushed up against it making one big bed. ALS is now back in the bedroom and the weather has finally cooled down. We had a couple of rough nights where it was hot again and ALS thought it might have been his presence but last night was a little better. Today we've started following a new nap routine whereby he goes for a nap 2 hours after waking, then again 3 hours after waking from the first nap then bedtime 4 hours after waking from the second nap. He was up at 6, napped from 8:15-10, napped from 1:15-2ish and then has gone down to bed happily at 6. He doesn't normally go to bed until 7 but he's often tired earlier (last time we tried an earlier bedtime he was up at 3 am so we usually try to stretch him out until 7) so hopefully he won't be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow! I'm hoping this works as I'd been trying to find a pattern in the times he slept rather than the length of waking, which hadn't worked as he gets up at a different time every morning and therefore naps at different times etc.
Routine: If the above plan works, which I'd like to be hopeful about but I know OJ has his own agenda normally, he will get up around 6, breakfast at 7, nap at 8, lunch at 11:30-12, nap at 1-2, dinner at 4:30 and bed at 6. I'd rather him go to sleep at 7 and wake up at 7 if he's going to do 12 hours so I'll be taking advantage of the clocks going back in October to hopefully change his pattern naturally. However, I'm not expecting him to sleep 12 hours at night, even with wakings, and I am fully expecting today to have been a one off with how easily he went down for his naps and bed. I'm tempted to stop bathtimes before bed (every other night) and do them in the afternoon instead as he gets really frustrated getting dried and dressed when he's getting tired so it doesn't put him in a good state for bedtime.
Likes/dislikes: He doesn't like nappy changes any more as they require being still but he does enjoy grabbing his bits whilst you try and change him! He loves anything that's not meant to be a toy - plastic cups, TV remotes, baby wipes etc. His current favourite food is peas. He dislikes being still and is starting to not like strangers or anyone who isn't me, although ALS is still an acceptable substitute most of the time.
Firsts: First proper soft play experience. First time being poorly and snuggly all day.
Milestones: He's starting to really cruise around the furniture and stooping down to pick up toys. He's learned how to put his stacking rings onto the stand and also how to drop a ball into a tube and find it underneath. He's getting vocal at the moment and really sounds like he's trying to communicate, as if his babble actually has meaning, although nothing that sounds like words. He's in size 4 nappies now as well.
Things we did: On Friday I took him for a long walk around the local park in the morning, but he slept the whole time. On Saturday he was poorly so we watched the first 2 Jurassic Park movies and then spent most of the late afternoon/evening in Urgent Care and A&E. On Sunday we went to see our friends at a powerlifting competition but I spent most of it outside walking around with OJ in the pushchair trying to get him to sleep and we left around lunchtime as OJ was clearly still feeling under the weather so we just chilled out for the rest of the day. On Monday OJ and I went into town for a meeting about benefits to help with childcare. On Wednesday my mum and grandparents came to visit and then today we took OJ to a soft play centre for an hour or so.
Me: I've been to the doctors this morning regarding the weight loss (I'm now 49.7 kg) and pain in my joints. My little fingers have been getting stuck and I've been having to bend them manually and I'm also having a lot of neck pain radiating up into my head and down my arm. I think the neck pain might actually be a trapped nerve as my arm feels weak and I'm struggling to hold OJ in it. The GP has ordered some blood tests and if they come back normal she will want to investigate the weight loss further as it is quite concerning. On the job front, I went to discuss benefits to help pay for childcare and ended up managing to get set up on a free course by the Princes Trust to help with starting up my own freelancing typing business so I'm getting on with that in my own time and have a mentor who is going to help me! I'm feeling generally quite positive at the moment. I've banned the TV from being on during the day so that OJ and I spent more quality time together (other than 20 minutes in a morning while I get some breakfast) and I'm also keeping my phone out of the way so I'm paying better attention. Hopefully this will help our relationship, aid his development and maybe give me a better idea of what he wants when he's trying to communicate his needs.
41 weeks 1 day - our local park is absolutely packed during the school holidays, but not at 9 o'clock in the morning!
41 weeks 2 days - we started the day by falling asleep on mummy whilst watching Jurassic Park.
41 weeks 2 days - then he had another nap on the sofa.
41 weeks 2 days - then he fell asleep on daddy while mummy was making lunch.
41 weeks 2 days - we managed to get a beautiful smile during the hour where the Calpol was working (taken on ALS' new phone, the camera is amazing).
41 weeks 2 days - he quickly went back to feeling rough and just flopped down and fell asleep like this...
41 weeks 2 days - ...so I took him off to bed for a proper nap.
41 weeks 2 days - finally he perked up in A&E after the medicines kicked in but he only wanted to play with the plastic cups, despite there being lots of toys.
41 weeks 2 days - finally at home in bed, fast asleep with his little bum in the air and his nappy sticking out because he was too upset to let me dress him properly when we left A&E.
41 weeks 4 days - waiting for daddy to meet us in the shopping centre and mesmerised by the sensory tubes.
41 weeks 4 days - new books from the library are always popular, especially "That's Not My..." books.
41 weeks 4 days - falling asleep while trying to climb over my legs!
41 weeks 4 days - woke up screaming with his teeth and wanted mummy snuggles.
41 weeks 5 days - that was after 1/4 of a raspberry, he looked a lot worse by the time he'd finished a handful of raspberries and blackberries!
41 weeks 5 days - where has my tiny baby gone? He looks so grown up in his big boy PJs!
41 weeks 6 days - even the Hulk likes to read sometimes.
41 weeks 6 days - the Hulk also likes to eat his books.
42 weeks - climbing over my baby barricade, nothing is safe nowadays!
42 weeks - super early morning, then nap refusal led to me just plonking him in the pushchair in front of the TV until he fell asleep so I could nap too!
42 weeks - a selection of photos from soft play (again on ALS' new phone), I love the bottom right but I can't help but see how gaunt I look on the bottom left!
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