More News

As promised, I have the four month report from the doctor, and it's a little mixed. First the good news:

• Max is 18 pounds (93rd percentile) and 26-3/4 inches (94th percentile) no great surprises there.
• He's ahead with his physical development, even though he stubbornly refuses to roll over. Doctor said he might be one of those kids who never does or he might all of sudden do it tomorrow. He likes to keep us guessing.
• We have the green light to start him on fruits and vegetables! He's very excited.

Now for the not so good. Max's digestive problems have gotten worse than ever, and he's getting tests to determine why he's having bloody diapers. Even though we've tried going dairy free before, the doctor once again has me on a dairy and now soy free diet to see if that may be the cause. It sucks more than I could ever convey. Do you know how many products use soy as a filler? Check sometime. In the meantime, some poor, unfortunate soul is testing his soiled diapers for a clue as to what's going on. Luckily, he doesn't seem bothered by his troubles, but his parents are concerned. Hopefully we'll know more soon and, as always, we'll keep you posted.

4 Month Update

Happy Four Month Birthday Mr. Max! Thought you might all want an update, even though his doctor's appointment isn't until tomorrow. Those stats will be forthcoming. Anyways, I would like to say that Max is doing well, but we've had some setbacks these past few weeks. Most of you know that Max has had some digestive problems since he was born, but they have flared up even worse these past few weeks. Unfortunately, he's refluxing again really frequently. I am hoping that changing his medicine dosage tomorrow will help the problem. He is also teething, and he's entered a weird sleep regression. He went from sleeping through the night at his sixth week to waking up anywhere from four to ten times a night. He's tired, we're tired, and that's not helping his other problems. Just like everything else we've gone through with Max, we're trying to stay patient and keep repeating to ourselves that "this too shall pass". We knew that having a baby with colic and GERD would not be an easy road, but he's worth every second of it.

Probably the hardest part of dealing with all the new issues is that we're trying to do it in an apartment. Every noise from our neighbors or the parking lot wakes him up, and I feel bad letting him cry himself to sleep because of all the noise he makes. I still believe in our decision to get our financial house in order before buying a physical house, but some days (or nights) it really tests my patience. Darreck and I keep daydreaming about the days when we'll look back on these days fondly. "Remember when we were young and poor and Max wouldn't sleep? Ah, those were the days...". Give me about forty years, okay.

On the happier side, Max has finally gotten happy when he's awake! He laughs over everything, especially his dad. We've discovered that he already has a strong affinity for music, and he's reached the point where I can set him down and he'll listen to me practice for half an hour. This is especially helpful with my first symphony concert only a week and a half away. He has also learned to sit up on his own, and he can stand holding onto furniture. What's funny is that, for all his physical prowess, he still has no interest in rolling over. I'm so proud of all his little accomplishments, even if I'm a little sad he's getting big so fast. Such is life.

Happy Birthday to Me!

It was a great day to be me. I have to admit, I wasn't really looking forward to my birthday this year because it seemed like a non-event. Twenty-two isn't exactly a banner year, and we didn't have anything major planned. However, my family really came through and made today great. I hung out with my dad this morning and then my dad, my mom, Max, and I went out to a sushi and Thai place for lunch. I was so excited to find a sushi place all the way out here in Great Falls, and it wasn't half bad. I had pad Thai and a spider roll- my favorite! Later that afternoon, I had my first lesson with a new violin student from our ward, and then we had a picnic out at Giant Springs. The day was topped off by cake at my parents house and then a quick run to the mall where mom bought me a skirt and two new sweaters. I am a lucky girl indeed.

Birthday aside, probably the most rewarding part of my day was starting to teach violin again. Our first symphony rehearsal was on Monday, and it went well. Now I'm excited to slowly build up a studio and get back to doing what I love best, working with kids. The hardest part is always finding students, but I'm just trying to get my name back out there and wait patiently. Hopefully things start happening in the next month.

One last update. For those who haven't heard, Max is deep in the throws of his four month sleep regression. He's waking up between three and seven times a night after having slept through the night for over a month. "This, too, shall pass" has become my mantra.

Play Ball

We had the chance to go to another baseball game tonight- the last of the regular season. Luckily for us, Brooke and Kevin from our ward had free tickets and we found out about it at just the right time. I wanted so badly to take some pictures, we forgot the camera last time, but when we got to the field I realized that I had forgotten to put the memory card back in the camera. Dang, I thought pregnancy brain was supposed to end with the pregnancy. Apparently not...

Regardless, we had a blast, mostly because we pigged out on ice cream. Grandma and Kayla went with us. Kayla is hilarious! She's our little sports fanatic, and she can tell you everything about any time in the nation, any sport. She's so into football right now. I swear some days that we aren't related. This idea was reinforced tonight when she kept trying to hug me. Yuck, mushy gushy stuff. She's so sentimental and sweet, while I'm the cynical, snarky one of the family.

To end the great night, we walked out of the stadium right as a foul ball was hit behind the building and into the parking lot. Darreck, with his amazing vision, managed to see it and go and get it. So, we even have a memento from our little outing. Unfortunately, when we went to pick Max up from my mom, he wasn't a happy camper. I swear, we aren't going to get any date nights because no one is going to be willing to watch him.

As an ending side note, I was checking other blogs tonight and noticed that a bunch of our friends in Moscow had their babies these past few weeks. Congratulations all, and I wish I was there to celebrate with you. It's such an amazing thing having a brand new baby at home.

Preparing for the Long Winter Ahead

All my life I have watched my mom and grandma do stuff, help even, and had no idea what in the world they were really doing. This became crystal clear to me when they started discussing their plans for fall canning this past week. I don't know how many times I have watched and admired the process, but all the women in my family are very take charge type of people and, if you don't know what you're doing, you better stay out of the way. This year I decided that I wanted to learn, which meant getting Grandma to slow down long enough to really teach me. I'm normally not assertive enough to ask many questions, but I really inserted myself and learned a ton. The best part was getting Gram to reminisce about all the canning her mom did to feed their family of eight when she was younger. Grandma Holt was an amazing woman, and I want to learn the basic skills that made her so successful in raising her family under difficult circumstances. The woman could cook, sew, and can with the best of them, skills she passed onto her daughters. Now it's my turn.

In this industrious, self-reliant spirit I used the extra produce we had around and made the first batch of Max's baby food. Even though he won't start on fruits and vegetables for more than a month, I want to take full advantage of the fresh produce that's available now. Too many women my age devalue basic homemaking skills, but I think that all the women in my family are admirable for their self-reliance and common sense. I'm hoping it will slowly but surely rub off on me.

Firsts!

We have had a lot of firsts this week for Max! As you can see in the picture above, he tried out his first rice cereal last night. It took us awhile to get the texture just right for him, but once we did he actually did really well. I know we weren't supposed to start yet, but ever since his last growth spurt he hasn't been sleeping because he's been so hungry. He went from sleeping through the night to up five or six times. Ugh! Luckily, the cereal helped last night and we finally got some sleep.

Max also had his first semi-successful tummy time this past week. Before he would just scream the instant you set him down, but he figured out how to pull his little arms under him and he was quite proud of his new trick. He's insanely close to rolling over! However, he's just not interested yet. Some days I really question why I am so anxious for him to get mobile. Rationally, I know that his crawling and rolling will only make my life harder.

On the not-so-pleasant side, Max is also getting his first tooth. Right now it's just a bump under the skin, but it's trying really hard to rear its ugly head. We went from jaundice to colic to reflux to teething without any rest in between. Poor little man. I'm sure he often wonders if he can go back to where he came from. It had to have been more pleasant.

A Good Start to My Favorite Month

Happy September! Things are going really well in our household right now. I had my audition for the Great Falls Symphony today, and Maestro Johnson let me back in. I'm looking forward to starting rehearsals on the 14th of this month and getting back into the groove of playing with a symphony. As usual, I was crazy nervous for my audition, but everything went relatively well. No complaints and at least I want ever have to audition again!

In other news, we are probably going to be moving again, and once again it's entirely my fault. At the end of the month we're hoping to move into a different apartment within our complex that has a balcony and more natural light. I figure that if I have to be home with Max all the time then I might as well not live in a cave. The only drawback is that I'm making Darreck resent our piano more and more. This will be our fifth apartment in four years. I have become a pro at moving, but I'm not sure that's something to brag about.

Darreck is also enjoying working in the school now that the school year is in full swing. Things on the job front are looking up, but more details will soon come.

Like I said, Happy September! Things are finally beginning to settle down and, for those who didn't get the title, September is my favorite month because my birthday is in two weeks. The countdown begins!