Myles Monthly: 17

As you may know, I didn't decide to start my blog until my son Myles was about 8 months old. And well... now he is 23 months old! I'm still trying to get caught up with the monthly updates and monthly favorites, so I can get, and hopefully stay, up to date. 

 December 15th- January 14th, 2014

Health

Well I guess the good health run had to stop at some point, and this month it was. Honestly I was lucky it happened when it did because we were home and could see Myles' normal pediatrician. I hadn't found a doctor in California yet and had just been planning our trips back to Illinois right around his well-check ages. We arrived on a Sunday night and the next day I noticed these blisters on Myles' feet. I really didn't think much of it and thought maybe it was from his shoes and walking around the airport so much. Then that night when I laid him down for bed, he got up within 5 minutes and started crying. He hadn't done that in over 5 months, but again I just kind of figured it was because he was in a different room and bed. Then the next morning when he got up, I tried nursing him as usual and he was scream-crying. He would latch on for a second and then pull off and scream. It was so weird because nursing always made everything better for him. Whenever he was upset, nursing would clam him down instantly, but this time it was what was making him upset. After trying for about 5 minutes, he finally calmed down and nursed normal. He did the the same thing when he woke up from his nap that day too. I thought it was probably teething. I should have put all of these things together to figure out that something was wrong with him, but he didn't have a fever and wasn't acting sick in any other way during the day. He was playing and eating fine while he was awake. He did the scream-crying when trying to nurse a couple more times, but by Wednesday he was just fine. Then Thursday morning I noticed he had some blisters on his fingers. At that point, I knew something was up and decided to ask Dr. Google. It was a very clear diagnosis. I called our ped and she got us in right away. She confirmed my suspicions and diagnosed him with Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease. It finally all made sense: the blisters on the hands and feet, the discomfort while nursing, and hard time falling asleep. I instantly felt a huge sense of mom guilt. I couldn't believe I had dismissed all of the signs and didn't take him in sooner. The only thing that saved me from all out hating myself was that there is no 'cure' or medicine for it. It just has to run its course, which by the time we took him in, it pretty much had. He still had the hand and foot blisters, but she told us they should clear up within 5 days. The blisters never bothered him to the touch so he was fine walking and using his hands. This was his first real sickness and I hated seeing him uncomfortable :( Boo to this part of motherhood! I'm guessing he got it from The Little Gym that he was going to because that is the only time he was around other kids and it is only a childhood disease.

Towards the end of the month, I noticed he got all four of his 1st year molars in. All of his teeth have come in two or more at a time, so I wasn't that surprised. I just can't believe he broke all of those big teeth at once! He was a trooper and I didn't even know it was happening! He now had 12 teeth total.

Eating
Eating the same as last month; still loving fruit, rice, and most meats. He also discovered fruit snacks... I could tell they were going to become an obsession very quickly! 
As far as breastfeeding goes, Myles started a bit of self-weaning. He would still nurse in the morning, mid-morning, and then at nap time, but he seemed to not need to nurse again after that until bedtime. So we pretty much cut out that feeding. Of course there were days that he would randomly ask to nurse during that time (got hurt, sick, extra attention), but for the most part he didn't need to nurse at all between those times anymore. I think it helped that he was usually eating a decent sized dinner now.  Also I was really trying to stick to only one nursing time between morning and nap. Some days were great and others... well.. this would happen.... 

It was definitely a work in progress, but overall I could progress.

  Sleeping 

Sleep was a little off this month because of the trip back home, time change, and then being sick. He still went to bed just fine and slept through the night, but he did have a couple of really early mornings. I hated to see him waking up crying and not being able to calm him down :( Nursing always made things better, but it didn't work this time and that was heartbreaking. Other than that, he was still getting his regular naps and his sleep returned to normal once we got back home. 

Saying

New words this month: Money, dog
'Cha Cha' for train- I think he got this from the train set that he had. The train sang a song that said 'Cha, Cha, Chi, Chi, Chug along with me'.

Outings

• We went back home for Christmas this month! I was dreading the cold and snow after becoming so accustomed to the gorgeous California weather, but I didn't want Myles' first real Christmas to be without his family. So I sucked it up and headed back to the Midwest. This was Myles' fourth flight and my second with solo toddler duty. It's pretty nerve wracking every time I have to do it alone, but honestly this one wasn't so bad. For some reason traveling from California to Illinois has been pretty easy on us, but from Illinois to California is killer. Luckily SFO is super toddler friendly and equipped with this fun little play area right by the Virgin terminals. This time Myles was super excited to see the plane and just sat and watched it before we boarded. 

• Family Photos: We got our first family photos done this month by Mark's cousin Alex. I can't believe we waited so long to get them done! I was dreading trying to get Myles to cooperate and just kept putting it off. But I wanted to send out a New Years card with updated pictures for all of our friends and family, so I finally decided to just get it over with. To my surprise, Myles did so well and we all had a great time! Below are a few of my favorites. Check out the rest here and also Myles' first holiday photos.

  Milestones/Skills

• First haircut: I caved in and did it. Before we left for Illinois, I was becoming increasingly annoyed with trying to manage his hair. Plus, I finally realized how bad his mullet really was. I had been so worried that if I had his hair cut, the curls would be gone forever, that I convinced myself that his hair did not resemble that of a 30 year old redneck man. I made the appointment with my long time (12+ years) hairdresser and hoped for the best. I told her to cut the back short but just trim up the front. She had him sit on my lap and he did great. He looked a little like he was wondering what was going on, but he didn't cry, whine, or squirm at all. It was short (10 mins.), but I was so surprised that he sat so still and let her cut away. 

• Splits: One day I noticed him doing the splits in the kitchen (sliding his feet on the hardwood floor). I told him he was doing the splits and it stuck with him. After that, anytime I asked him to do the splits, he would. And he was really good at it, almost going all the way down to the floor!

• First time 'sledding': We did end up getting a decent amount of snow when we were back in Illinois, but I just never felt comfortable taking Myles out to play in it. I didn't have boots or snow pants for him and I was just worried that he would get too wet and then sick. Our stay was winding down and I still had no intentions on taking him out. We went to go see my dad for the last time before we left the next day and as we were saying goodbye, my dad plopped Myles onto a sled he had outside and pulled him around the yard. He was definitely loving it, so I guess next year I will have to take him real sledding!

• First time meeting Santa: I so wanted Myles to meet Santa, but I really didn't want to take him to the mall and stand in a 3 hour line, just to have him refuse to sit on his lap or even take a picture. I kind of just dismissed the idea, until I saw an advertisement for 'Breakfast with Santa' at the new conservatory in our city. I jumped all over that! It was too perfect: breakfast, Santa, conservatory, and no waiting! This was the sequence of events surrounding the 'meeting':

He was not having it at first; typical #santafail. But Santa stuck around and Myles began to grow a little more comfortable with him, he even gave him a high-five! Then inside the conservatory, we had success!

After the Santa meeting, we explored the conservatory with all its plants, ponds, fish, bridges, and kissing frogs!

• First real Christmas: I talked last month about how I considered this Myles' first Christmas because last year we didn't really celebrate. He was only 4 months old, we had just moved, and I was still miserable: trying to survive on no sleep and battling major PPD. So this year I was determined to make it a good one. I tried to plan as many festive things as possible and overall I was really happy with this year's Christmas. Here are a few shots from Christmas morning as well:

• Pointing to body parts: he started with nose, then belly button, then toes, and then all of the rest just came at once.

Funnies

• Myles got a 4-wheeler with Christmas money.. and I am pretty sure he stayed occupied with the box longer than the awesome toy that cam in it! 

So cliche, yet so true!

• Myles has a love-hate relationship with the vacuum and carpet shampooer. Sometimes he would get scared of it, other times he would want to help push it, and still others he wouldn't even notice it was on. This particular day, he got really scared when Mark turned it on and ran away crying. So Mark brought him back over, had him touch it to show him it wasn't scary, and then gave him a ride! 

Favorites

• When daddy gets off work: He started to understand that during the day time daddy was gone and busy, but would always come back at night. He really loved it when his daddy came home and had playtime while mommy cooked dinner. 

• Books: still really into his Barney Farm songs book. He loves it when we sing the songs to him (even though I don't know how to sing them to the music; two of the four songs I've never heard before). He also had a favorite bedtime book: Goodnight Moon. He seriously loved that book so much he would get mad if you tried reading anything else at bedtime. He would cry and say "moont" until you started reading it.
  

• Skateboard: I found this tech-deck skateboard in our junk drawer and thought Myles might like it. He was hooked ever since my family come to visit and he got to play on my brother's new skateboard. So this was a total hit. Mark showed him how to skate with it using his fingers and he caught on very quickly! He would copy what Mark did and even make up some of his own moves :) This thing went everywhere with us!

•   Burt Reyonlds impression: One day during our vacation, my step-dad found Myles just like this when he walked into the living room!

What are new skills your kid(s) are learning?

 

Come back to check out my favorites from months seventeen & eighteen!