Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Summer Internship - Wahoo!
I'm happy to announce that after sending many applications and attending several interviews, Derrick has accepted an internship at Dish Network headquarters in Denver, CO! We're so excited about this great opportunity for Derrick and are looking forward to spending a lot of time with my very generous parents.
One Trip After Another...to the Doctor
Because of one thing after another we have been finding ourselves at the doctors' office more than once a week. I've gotten pretty far behind in pretty much everything. Hopefully after next week we'll get a break.
1st visit - Zach was sick about 3 weeks ago and was acting like he might have an ear infection. As a worrying first time parent and an ASLP major who learned all the detrimental effects of an untreated ear infection, I took Zach in. Diagnosis: Just a cold.
2nd visit - Later in the week (Friday 13th) I went to urgent care due to the unpleasant symptoms of mastitis so I could start on the antibiotics before the weekend.
3rd visit - The next Monday (16th) I went in for the follow up appointment for the mastitis.
4th visit - Three days later (Thursday - 19th) I went to urgent care again. Just as the mastitis cleared up I was hit with a pretty nasty flu-like bug. I couldn't keep anything in me at either end. I threw up more times Wednesday night than I did my entire pregnancy (5). I was so dehydrated and sick by the next morning that I figured I needed some help. After being put on an IV for awhile I left still feeling absolutely miserable. Derrick stayed home from work and class when he could and Melissa came over to help some as well. I was out of commission for about 5 days and had so much trouble eating that I lost more weight. This is a problem since I've been having trouble with losing too much weight on since I had Zach. I no longer had enough in me to breastfeed Zach so I had to wean him a couple months earlier than I planned. Thankfully I'm doing so much better now and Zach didn't have any difficulty switching.
5th visit - The next Monday morning (23rd) (while I was still sick) I had to take Zach into the doctor because he had a really bad allergic reaction after eating some goldfish for the first time the night before. He had a rough night and in the morning was covered in hives. The poor little guy was bright red all over his body and his face and ears were swollen. He was put on a steroid, Benedryl, and we had to buy an epi pen jr.
Yet to come:
6th visit - Zach's 9 month well baby appointment is tomorrow morning. Thankfully the term well baby can be applied here.
7th visit - Next Monday I take Zach to visit an allergist to figure out what exactly caused such a violent allergic reaction.
In addition: Derrick and I finally got around to going to the dentist during the last 2 weeks as well. I hadn't been in over 2 years and Derrick hadn't been in over 3 years. I had one cavity so I was back there this morning for the filling. Derrick has 7 yet to be taken care of. Too bad student health insurance doesn't cover dental care.
1st visit - Zach was sick about 3 weeks ago and was acting like he might have an ear infection. As a worrying first time parent and an ASLP major who learned all the detrimental effects of an untreated ear infection, I took Zach in. Diagnosis: Just a cold.
2nd visit - Later in the week (Friday 13th) I went to urgent care due to the unpleasant symptoms of mastitis so I could start on the antibiotics before the weekend.
3rd visit - The next Monday (16th) I went in for the follow up appointment for the mastitis.
4th visit - Three days later (Thursday - 19th) I went to urgent care again. Just as the mastitis cleared up I was hit with a pretty nasty flu-like bug. I couldn't keep anything in me at either end. I threw up more times Wednesday night than I did my entire pregnancy (5). I was so dehydrated and sick by the next morning that I figured I needed some help. After being put on an IV for awhile I left still feeling absolutely miserable. Derrick stayed home from work and class when he could and Melissa came over to help some as well. I was out of commission for about 5 days and had so much trouble eating that I lost more weight. This is a problem since I've been having trouble with losing too much weight on since I had Zach. I no longer had enough in me to breastfeed Zach so I had to wean him a couple months earlier than I planned. Thankfully I'm doing so much better now and Zach didn't have any difficulty switching.
5th visit - The next Monday morning (23rd) (while I was still sick) I had to take Zach into the doctor because he had a really bad allergic reaction after eating some goldfish for the first time the night before. He had a rough night and in the morning was covered in hives. The poor little guy was bright red all over his body and his face and ears were swollen. He was put on a steroid, Benedryl, and we had to buy an epi pen jr.
Yet to come:
6th visit - Zach's 9 month well baby appointment is tomorrow morning. Thankfully the term well baby can be applied here.
7th visit - Next Monday I take Zach to visit an allergist to figure out what exactly caused such a violent allergic reaction.
In addition: Derrick and I finally got around to going to the dentist during the last 2 weeks as well. I hadn't been in over 2 years and Derrick hadn't been in over 3 years. I had one cavity so I was back there this morning for the filling. Derrick has 7 yet to be taken care of. Too bad student health insurance doesn't cover dental care.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Zach Makes Me Picture Happy
It seems like within this last month Zach has grown up so much. For one thing, Zach has started pulling himself up using whatever he finds. This ends up being a problem when that something is too light to hold him up and he just pulls it on top of himself or when that something has wheels. Also, Zach has now discovered the fun times that come with pots and pans:
Now that Zach can pull himself up I always find him in a standing position when I get him up from naps and when he's fighting us in our attempts to put him to bed. Here's a picture after a nap (sorry it's so blurry):
The reason for more blurry pictures is Zach's reaction to the flash. He can be doing something really cute and then when the flash goes off his facial expression turns into something like the drugged-out look below. My best chances for a good picture are to turn off the flash and hope that Zach stops moving for a second which doesn't happen too often :).
After a bath the other night, Zach's hair randomly dried in this curl:
A new favorite toy. Zach figured out how to open up our dominoes. We often hear a crashing sound as they're pulled off the shelf and dumped all over the floor. Zach has also been known to carry them into other rooms.
We hung out with our friends Lukas and Casey the other night, and Zach had his first shot at playing Guitar Hero. He loved playing with the drumsticks. Now he just needs to be able to reach the drums...
Along with getting introduced to Guitar Hero Zach got to have fun with DDR. He loved it when I held him and moved his feet up, down, and side to side in time with the arrows.
Zach loves Cheerios and the Gerber Graduates puffs. At first he'd choke them down when we gave them to him. Then we found that he'd chew them when he was the one to put them in his mouth. It's been fun watching Zach learn how to handle the small cereal pieces. He will pick up a piece with one hand and then switch it to the other so it is easier to shove in his mouth.
On a final note for this post, we've been working on helping Zach sleep through the night. This has not been a fun process. Until early February he was waking up every 4 hours to eat. We decided that before getting Zach to sleep through the night we needed to help him learn to go through the night without eating. I started feeding Zach more often during the day so he wouldn't be so hungry at night.
Habits are hard to break and I've lost a lot of sleep from being kept up for sometimes an hour at a time. We've now got him to the point where he can last 8-10 hours during the night without food. Now we need to help him learn to sleep through this whole time period or calm himself down when he does wake up.
Here's a picture Derrick took one evening while he was working on homework. Losing hours of sleep in the middle of the night wears you out!
For the last picture on this picture-happy post, I really like this picture I took while Zach was sleeping. He uses the pacifier while falling asleep but we can tell he's really asleep once he spits it (or in this case pulls it) out of his mouth.
Now that Zach can pull himself up I always find him in a standing position when I get him up from naps and when he's fighting us in our attempts to put him to bed. Here's a picture after a nap (sorry it's so blurry):
The reason for more blurry pictures is Zach's reaction to the flash. He can be doing something really cute and then when the flash goes off his facial expression turns into something like the drugged-out look below. My best chances for a good picture are to turn off the flash and hope that Zach stops moving for a second which doesn't happen too often :).
After a bath the other night, Zach's hair randomly dried in this curl:
A new favorite toy. Zach figured out how to open up our dominoes. We often hear a crashing sound as they're pulled off the shelf and dumped all over the floor. Zach has also been known to carry them into other rooms.
We hung out with our friends Lukas and Casey the other night, and Zach had his first shot at playing Guitar Hero. He loved playing with the drumsticks. Now he just needs to be able to reach the drums...
Along with getting introduced to Guitar Hero Zach got to have fun with DDR. He loved it when I held him and moved his feet up, down, and side to side in time with the arrows.
Zach loves Cheerios and the Gerber Graduates puffs. At first he'd choke them down when we gave them to him. Then we found that he'd chew them when he was the one to put them in his mouth. It's been fun watching Zach learn how to handle the small cereal pieces. He will pick up a piece with one hand and then switch it to the other so it is easier to shove in his mouth.
On a final note for this post, we've been working on helping Zach sleep through the night. This has not been a fun process. Until early February he was waking up every 4 hours to eat. We decided that before getting Zach to sleep through the night we needed to help him learn to go through the night without eating. I started feeding Zach more often during the day so he wouldn't be so hungry at night.
Habits are hard to break and I've lost a lot of sleep from being kept up for sometimes an hour at a time. We've now got him to the point where he can last 8-10 hours during the night without food. Now we need to help him learn to sleep through this whole time period or calm himself down when he does wake up.
Here's a picture Derrick took one evening while he was working on homework. Losing hours of sleep in the middle of the night wears you out!
For the last picture on this picture-happy post, I really like this picture I took while Zach was sleeping. He uses the pacifier while falling asleep but we can tell he's really asleep once he spits it (or in this case pulls it) out of his mouth.
A Laundry List of Updates
So I've been meaning to blog for awhile now and since it's taken awhile to get around to it things have piled up. Here are several random updates about what's happening with Derrick and me.
- Derrick's freelance job - Derrick started a freelance job last August with a company called EscrowTech. This has been quite a project and has lasted longer than we originally thought because they really liked Derrick's work and requested to add more tasks to the contract. This job has been a blessing to us because it pays very well and they've paid Derrick a few pieces of the final check along the way. Also, it gives Derrick great work experience related to the field he's going into. This last week Derrick finished the last task and will be done after making sure everything is set up at EscrowTech. It looks like they will potentially ask him to do other things in the future.
- Jen and mastitis - I started getting mastitis on Wednesday and by Friday morning the whole left side of my body really ached. I was having trouble even lifting my arm and could no longer handle it when Zach tried to nurse on that side. I'd read about the symptoms of mastitis and was pretty sure I had it.
So Derrick watched Zach while I went to urgent care (Friday morning). For us the co-pay for urgent care is only $5 more than a scheduled appointment and I wasn't going to wait all weekend before getting antibiotics. At urgent care my self-diagnosis was proved true and I was prescribed antibiotics. According to the doctor it's supposed to be most of the way better by tomorrow morning but it's looking like there might be a minor complication. I'll find out more on Tuesday.
In the mean time I've been feeling pretty sick from this and sleeping a lot. Derrick's been great helping me with Zach this weekend and even stayed home from work on Friday. I've had to pump the one side so lately Zach's feedings have been half regular nursing and half with a bottle. I can't wait for this to be over.
- Health kick - So Derrick and I (especially me) have been on a health kick lately. I blame the nutrition research I've been doing while I've been deciding which kinds of baby foods to make Zach. We love fruit smoothies (and green smoothies), fruit parfaits, and have been stocking up on all sorts of fruits and veggies. I've also had fun searching for healthier recipes to experiment with for Derrick's and my meals.
- Derrick's freelance job - Derrick started a freelance job last August with a company called EscrowTech. This has been quite a project and has lasted longer than we originally thought because they really liked Derrick's work and requested to add more tasks to the contract. This job has been a blessing to us because it pays very well and they've paid Derrick a few pieces of the final check along the way. Also, it gives Derrick great work experience related to the field he's going into. This last week Derrick finished the last task and will be done after making sure everything is set up at EscrowTech. It looks like they will potentially ask him to do other things in the future.
- Jen and mastitis - I started getting mastitis on Wednesday and by Friday morning the whole left side of my body really ached. I was having trouble even lifting my arm and could no longer handle it when Zach tried to nurse on that side. I'd read about the symptoms of mastitis and was pretty sure I had it.
So Derrick watched Zach while I went to urgent care (Friday morning). For us the co-pay for urgent care is only $5 more than a scheduled appointment and I wasn't going to wait all weekend before getting antibiotics. At urgent care my self-diagnosis was proved true and I was prescribed antibiotics. According to the doctor it's supposed to be most of the way better by tomorrow morning but it's looking like there might be a minor complication. I'll find out more on Tuesday.
In the mean time I've been feeling pretty sick from this and sleeping a lot. Derrick's been great helping me with Zach this weekend and even stayed home from work on Friday. I've had to pump the one side so lately Zach's feedings have been half regular nursing and half with a bottle. I can't wait for this to be over.
- Health kick - So Derrick and I (especially me) have been on a health kick lately. I blame the nutrition research I've been doing while I've been deciding which kinds of baby foods to make Zach. We love fruit smoothies (and green smoothies), fruit parfaits, and have been stocking up on all sorts of fruits and veggies. I've also had fun searching for healthier recipes to experiment with for Derrick's and my meals.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
We Have an 8 Month Old!
It's crazy to think that Zach is 8 months months old now. He's only 1 month away from being out of me as long as he was in. 8 months old is such a fun age. Derrick and I love just watching and playing with Zach. Here are some of the updates and lots of pictures:
Derrick cut Zach's hair for the first time on 2/28. The hair by his ears was curling over them. (We figured the curls were part of the reason he'd been mistaken for a girl not long ago.) Zach's so wiggly that we had to get creative in order to keep him still. Once he started getting a little tired we put him in his booster seat and put it in front of the TV. We turned on Baby Signing Time which fascinates him every time. This plan worked great!
Started learning how to drink out of a sippy cup and small amounts of water from a regular cup. Obviously he's still in the learning process.
He's getting into everything - pulling things off the shelves and pans out of the cupboard - so we've had to do more baby proofing. He's starting to try to pull himself up on things so we'll soon have to find a new place for our DVD tower.
One of Zach's favorite games is to lift up the rugs and look under them. He'll pick up a corner, drop it, and repeat.
He crawls after us everywhere we go and tries to climb up us once he catches us. He loves attention and is always checking to see if we're watching him.
Zach has such a happy personality. He's laughing more all the time. Not too long ago he watched and laughed at me the entire time I was brushing my teeth.
It's fun to watch him as he explores everything in our apartment. He's so curious! The only problem is that he still hasn't learned cause and effect. He's constantly crawling headfirst into the chair legs and the futon. He gets upset but after we calm him down he heads straight for them again. We have pillows lining a lot of the gaps.
Zach's babbling sounds are increasing. The "ma" and "ba" sounds are his favorite.
We recently got a new vacuum which scared Zach. He was okay as long as he was in his walker. He did get back at the vacuum later by having a wrestling match with the hose.
Whenever we lay Zach on his back he flips over as fast as he can. This makes changing his diaper a battle every time. We have the changing pad on the floor and have to strap him down and distract him with toys. Even still, if we're not fast enough he manages to flip over and try to escape.
Derrick cut Zach's hair for the first time on 2/28. The hair by his ears was curling over them. (We figured the curls were part of the reason he'd been mistaken for a girl not long ago.) Zach's so wiggly that we had to get creative in order to keep him still. Once he started getting a little tired we put him in his booster seat and put it in front of the TV. We turned on Baby Signing Time which fascinates him every time. This plan worked great!
Started learning how to drink out of a sippy cup and small amounts of water from a regular cup. Obviously he's still in the learning process.
He's getting into everything - pulling things off the shelves and pans out of the cupboard - so we've had to do more baby proofing. He's starting to try to pull himself up on things so we'll soon have to find a new place for our DVD tower.
One of Zach's favorite games is to lift up the rugs and look under them. He'll pick up a corner, drop it, and repeat.
He crawls after us everywhere we go and tries to climb up us once he catches us. He loves attention and is always checking to see if we're watching him.
Zach has such a happy personality. He's laughing more all the time. Not too long ago he watched and laughed at me the entire time I was brushing my teeth.
It's fun to watch him as he explores everything in our apartment. He's so curious! The only problem is that he still hasn't learned cause and effect. He's constantly crawling headfirst into the chair legs and the futon. He gets upset but after we calm him down he heads straight for them again. We have pillows lining a lot of the gaps.
Zach's babbling sounds are increasing. The "ma" and "ba" sounds are his favorite.
We recently got a new vacuum which scared Zach. He was okay as long as he was in his walker. He did get back at the vacuum later by having a wrestling match with the hose.
Whenever we lay Zach on his back he flips over as fast as he can. This makes changing his diaper a battle every time. We have the changing pad on the floor and have to strap him down and distract him with toys. Even still, if we're not fast enough he manages to flip over and try to escape.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Homemade Baby Wipes
For awhile now I've been making Zach's baby wipes. They're a little cheaper in quality and a lot cheaper in price. I also like that they smell nice and Zach gets less diaper rash with them :).
My cousin Emily posted the recipe on the Jones family recipe blog. This is for you Kelsey!
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