Misc pictures

Riding in style at Toys R Us:


Getting ready for my first day at daycare:
 

Snacking before bedtime:


After a long night of crying it out:


Nap time:

Open house at CLC

Jake will be starting his Mother's Day Out (MDO) daycare program at Prestonwood Baptist Church on Thursday. He didn't cry when we put him down on the play mat. He just sat there for the first 20 minutes, looking around and taking it all in. After that, he actually started playing w/ some of the toys and seemed ok being there w/ all the other kids. One of the girls kept pulling his pacifier out of his mouth, and he'd just stare at her. Her mom would give it back, of course, but I'm hoping that he'll learn to defend himself pretty soon.

Here are a few pictures from today's open house.



From what I saw today and after meeting his teachers, I'm really happy with this decision. I think he'll love it! There are 4 teachers to 10 kids, so that's a great ratio and he'll get plenty of attention.

It's pretty structured. Here's the schedule for the rest of August and September:
9-9:20a: Greet children and parents
9:20-9:30a: Colors and nursery rhymes
9:30-9:45a: Playground
9:45-10a: Buggy time
10-10:10a: Diaper changes
10:10-11:15a: Nap time
11:15-12:15p: Lunch time
12:20-12:45p: Resource exploration (art)
12:45-12:55p: Buggy time
12:55-1:10p: Chapel
1:10-1:25p: Romp
1:25-1:45p: Story time
1:45-2p: Diaper changes, ready children for pickup

Milk allergy?

We (well, okay... I) decided that it was time to start supplementing Jake's milk w/ formula since he is now 6mo and drinking more than I can sometimes produce. So while I was at work, Hai gave him his first full bottle of Similac Advance thursday morning around 9a, and Jake seemed to take it just fine. However, when I got home, I noticed that the area around his eyes and mouth were a little red. As the afternoon progressed, the inside of his elbows and back of his knees developed what looked like a heat rash, so I decided to take him to the doctor's office before it closed, just to be on the safe side.

As I got him undressed in the patient room, I saw that his whole torso was splotchy red all over! The doctor (this was not his normal doctor) said it looked like hives, but it wasn't raised or bothering him, so I don't think so. I don't know what it was, except that it wasn't normal. She said it might be the beginnings of a viral infection and that it was purely coincidental that it coincided with the introduction of formula.... but I don't know about that. She also said that he may have strep throat and swabbed it for culture, but I don't think that's it either. As you may have guessed, I'm not totally confident in this doctor's evaluation, but she's what I get when his regular doc isn't in. Anyways, after all that, he was given some benadryl, a sample of some formula that doesn't contain milk or soy, and a requisition to get tested for food allergies.

So Hai took him the next morning for his blood draw, but they were unable to hit the vein. Imagine two big black guys holding you down and digging a needle into your arm. Needless to say, Jake was not happy. Mommy wasn't either when she was told that they were attempting a venipuncture to fill a 10mL tube w/ blood.

So I called another location when I got home from work and asked if they knew how to draw blood from a baby so he wouldn't have to go through another unnecessary stick. All I got was "We draw babies every day". That's better than the "We don't do babies often" Hai got from the first place, so we thought we'd give it another go. I don't know why the doctor's office didn't just draw it... will have to ask next time.

Anyways, here's a pic of him after the first (failed) attempt at LabCorp (see the gauze?):

















And this is the second (successful) attempt at a different LabCorp:

I would've taken a picture of the tourniquet tied around his tiny little arm and the butterfly filling the tube w/ blood, but I was busy holding down his shoulder so he wouldn't move while the needle was in his arm. I still can't believe they do actual venipunctures on babies... and take that much blood.

So anyways, this is something I hope we will never have to go through again!

Jake: New video - 6 months

He has a silly laugh.



We borrowed a jumper from the Shiffletts to see if he likes it before we go out and buy one. It's safe to say that he likes it.



Here he is trying watermelon. He is always curious when we are eating and he has his mouth open ready to eat whatever we put to his mouth.

Jake: 6 months

Weight: 15lbs, 7.5oz (25%)
Height: 25.5in (25%)
Head: 16.5 (10%)

Jake went to his 6mo check-up yesterday and everything's good. He's still on breastmilk and eating solids at least once a day. I've been meaning to make some purees for him but haven't gotten around to it. We're giving him Gerber Organics for now, and he seems to enjoy them.

Hai bought him a nice jogging stroller, so when it gets alittle cooler out there, he'll be offroading in style. For now, our dining room is his designated play area. He's learning to sit on his own, and he's tolerating tummy time better even though he prefers to stand.

Ông bà nội (Hai's parents) stayed for a few days after their Missouri trip and babysat for us while we finished cleaning the townhouse, met with our builder and took care of other errands. That was such a treat!

Up next: Mother's Day Out (MDO) starts Aug. 27th

Settling into our apartment...

Moving sucks...period. There's one more move 5 months away so that will be fun :(

Here's some pictures of him eating and making a mess. He's doing really well with banana and cereal. The second picture is of his first self- inflicted black eye. He was probably swinging his arms around and hit himself in the left eye. He now has carpet through the apartment so he should be able to roam freely in a couple of months. He's starting to sit upright by himself for a few seconds - slowly but surely he's getting there. And while I was working on the computer and on the phone during a meeting, Judy thought it was a good idea for a photo shoot. He liked it up there.