Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Eight Months Old Today!

100_0658Who can worry when they wake up to
this cheerful face every day?

It always amazes me how quickly time flies with babies.  Even after seven children it catches me by surprise.  Mason has been in our arms for eight months.  The many things I worried about and cried over in the beginning have become routine.  What I once thought would be hard forever is now only hard occasionally.  Mason is our strong, smart little man and I cannot imagine life without him. 

I have a few updates since last week, so let me tell you what has been going on with Mason.  If you remember, he seems to be allergic to cow’s milk to some degree (evidenced by eczema over his whole body).  We switched to Alimentum, an expensive formula for food allergies.  It has helped his eczema a good bit but sent him into runny poops that have broken down the skin on his bottom again (bleeding, raw skin).  We also learned Alimentum has some dairy proteins that have been broken down a lot and most children won’t have trouble with.  Mason seems to be in the minority.  His eczema got better but it’s still bad in a few trouble areas no matter what we do for it.

We were told soy formula would constipate him, a problem because of weak muscles from the SB. We decided that constipation is easier to remedy than broken down skin on his bottom, so we tried soy formula this week.  Within 24 hours Mason had a rash from head to toe.  Apparently he’s allergic to soy too.  He’s back on Alimentum for now.  Mason has zero interest in eating solids of any kind.  Eating solids would firm up his poop so his bottom could heal, which is why we wish he wanted to eat.  We’re adding baby oatmeal to 1-2 bottles per day trying to find a temporary measure to firm poop until he’s ready for solids.  It seems to be working. 

100_0627In the physical therapy department we have seen small progress this week in the sitting department.  Mason still cannot sit on his own.  He is getting the idea though.  100_0628As we’ve diligently done his exercises throughout the day he now recognizes that sitting upright instead of leaning forward on his hands is an option.  Of course it means he wants in this position all the time, even when mommy is supposed to be doing other things. 100_0642                               (see that nice straight back???)

With our hands supporting his hips he now wants to sit upright and play with toys in his hands.  He doesn’t feel like he has to keep those hands on the floor.  This is such a big step for Mason.  He has a long way to go before his muscles will be strong enough to stay upright without help, but he is heading in the right direction.  100_0650He wobbles and sways and falls forward like this a lot.  He is starting to ‘recover’ about 1/3 of the time when the swaying starts, finding his balance and straightening:  100_0649This is one thing that has been an adjustment with Mason compared to our other children.  I never had to pay attention to developmental milestones or help a child reach a new milestone with specific daily physical therapy.  They managed on their own.  With Mason I have to be aware of what he can do, what big skill he’ll be learning next, and the mini-skills inbetween that he needs to master to do those bigger skills.  It is amazing to learn the many things that go into one single skill like sitting up!

10 comments:

  1. He has the brightest most contagious smile. Thanks for sharing!!!

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  2. Wow! He's getting so big and has come so far. He's lucky to have a family that's helping him work so hard to meet those milestones.

    I had a thought about the formula situation. My youngest ended up needing an elemental formula -- one that had absolutely no milk at all. It's ridiculously expensive (even compared to Alimentum), but our insurance would pay for it. It's not exactly a prescription formula, but it's not over the counter either. Lauren used Elecare but Neocate is another popular brand that some allergic kids thrive on.

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    1. I would also recommend asking about Elecare or Neocate. My youngest drinks Neocate due to a rare GI disorder, as he is unable to tolerate Soy or Dairy.

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  3. I just don't think he could smile any bigger! :) What a happy boy!

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  4. What an amazing, sweet little boy! He makes my heart happy.

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  5. He is SO cute Tristan! What a blessing :-).

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  6. Happy 8 Month Birthday!!! He is beautiful, and so are you!

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  7. OOO So cute!! We had to use fresh goats milk. Its the only thing my boys could drink. Check Local harvest.com for it in your area. Its cheaper then anything we tried. Blessings, Amber

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  8. Happy 8 Month's Mason!!! You are awesome!

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  9. I read that babies are often allerigic to the protein in the milk and that it goes away with the time.
    Over here they say now that avoiding things in order not to get allergies may not be the best way.
    We prefered broken down skin over constipation.
    Why? It's unlikely that our LO has much feeling on her butt due to the SB.
    But if her belly aches, she feels it.
    Too bad Mason doesn't like eating with the spoon. Vegetables could solve so much.

    Greetings from Germany
    Steffi
    (with Amaya; SB, HC, ACMII...)

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