6 months

 It seems that the more the months past, the worse I get at posting these updates on time.  Oh well.  The pictures were taken on the 2nd, because on his 6 month birthday (the first) we were traveling home from visiting family in Colorado for a week.  That was such a wonderful time of visiting and relaxing!  I'll post some pictures from that soon as well as a hodgepodge post about what I've been up to before and since.  But for now, it's the half-year mark for our little man :)

This month has seen a lot of changes both for him and for me.  If you've been reading along for very long, you know he's had some health problems.  One of the worst problems has been with his skin.  He's had a terrible rash since he was a couple months old, and his skin was ridiculously dry.  (We do live in a very dry climate, but it was worse than I've ever seen.)  We thought at first that the rash was eczema, but it just wouldn't go away and wasn't getting better, even with hydrocortozone cream. We had some tests done back on December 13, to try to figure out what the problem is.  It turns out he is allergic to eggs, dairy and nuts.  Since I'm nursing, that meant I had to make a major adjustment to my own diet.  We have also switched to Eucerin lotion which has made a huge difference in his dry skin.  I was amazed after I had only used it twice most of his dry skin issues were resolved.  It's pricey, but well worth it.  The other lotions we had tried (Curel, St. Ives, and Vasoline) weren't making an impact at all.

 Another issue we've had is that he just isn't gaining weight.  We're pretty sure it's a combination of problems - from the allergies, to the acid reflux, to a poor milk supply at times, and several little bouts with not feeling well.  I run a licensed home daycare, so lots of germs come to our house, despite trying to keep everything sanitized. And it's also difficult to make myself stop and nurse on a rigid schedule, so my milk supply has suffered.  This baby is very content and never really cries much.  He would be perfectly happy waiting 5-7 hours to eat if I would let him.  I'm trying to nurse him more like every 3 hours (except at night).  So that has been a challenge.

 We've seen a lot of changes this month - he's getting stronger and able to sit up (supported of course) a lot better than he was.  He started eating solid foods (and is spoiled already and will only eat the homemade stuff - no jars for him!)  Once we found out about the allergies, and I cut out all the eggs, dairy and nuts from my diet, his complexion has started to clear up, but more notably, his whole personality changed.  He went from being complacent and lethargic to happy and more social.  He tries to play with his toys now, which he never used to do, and visits and "talks" much more now.  He's a whole new kid ;)

 He's still not real mobile.  He has been able to roll over from his belly to his back since before we came home from the hospital - when he was two days old.  He can also roll from his back to his belly, but since he doesn't like to be on his belly, he rarely does that.  He can support his weight on his legs, but doesn't like to stand, so he won't do that for very long either.  He also hasn't tried scooting yet either.  He's just very content to lay on his back all the time.

I'm trying to get him to spend more time each day on his belly on the floor, and also in the bouncer seat we got him for Christmas.  I'm not sure what that thing is called, but he sits upright in it and can put his feet on the floor and practice standing up.  He doesn't like to be in it for very long though, so we're still working on that one.  Either way, I feel like he's really changing fast.  He doesn't seem so little to me now.  They do grow up fast!