long time no blog

Lots to catch up on since I last posted. Let's see if I can write a whole post in my one day off!

1. Truman had his 4 month doctor's appointment on Monday evening and Nate got to come with us this time, too. The Pediatrician and his nurses could not get over how much Truman has changed in the past two months and as Nate held Truman on his lap, the all commented on Nate's 'Mini-Me'. Still no signs of mommy in this boy apparently!

So he had his 4 month shots and although the doctor said the two month round is usually the hardest, I completely disagree. This time around was much harder. Truman screamed bloody murder when they stuck him and was totally ticked off that night afterward, too. We gave him Tylenol and that seemed to help a bit because the night was fairly uneventful. But during the day on Tuesday, Tony said Truman was all out of sorts and was pretty hot and needed extra cuddling to stay calm (and was basically half naked all day in just a diaper to stay cool--I love that visual, don't you?). My poor happy baby wasn't happy that day! Tony was great with Truman though and I'm so glad it was a 'grandpa day' instead of a daycare day when T needed extra loving. I took his temperature when I got home and it was 99.7, so just a low-grade fever like they say will happen, and he ate just fine all day and slept and had dirty/wet diapers. But I just HATED to see my baby in pain. He was a total crankster that night, even 24 hours after the shots, so we did another round of Tylenol and it seemed to help Truman a bit and even allowed a few smiles out of him. Of course, that second night after the shots lead to MANY wake up times, the first one only 3 hours after he went down to sleep. Luckily today is my day off so we could sleep in a bit since the night was so broken up and so far I think he's a lot more comfortable today and the fever is completely gone. I must say that I hate shots, I hate that they make my babe upset, and I know it's all apart of motherhood but watching your child be in pain is the worst. I totally get it now when my mom says she'd do anything to protect her kids from pain. I know vaccinations are a necessary evil and I'd much rather have him be cranky for a day than get a serious disease but I'm so not looking forward to the 6 month go round. I'm thinking the Tylenol will be administered BEFORE the shots next time.

See the two little puncture wounds on my baby's fatty thigh? Makes me sad. :(

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2. But the fun news from the doctor's appointment is always his stats. :)

His head is still in the 75th percentile for his age. Big brains, that one.

His weight is up to 17 pounds, 3 ounces which is 83rd percentile for his age. Big baby boy!

And his height? Ah, there's a story with this one. Earlier in the day on Monday we had Truman measured by a detail-oriented researcher (more on that in a bit) and she swears her measuring table is much more accurate than the doctor's office version. I totally believe her since she is a scientific researcher, and she measured him at 26 and 7/8ths inches (see, I told you she was specific!). That would put Truman in the 93rd percentile for his age.

HOWEVER, at the doctor's office, where we have a different nurse every time who measures Truman in their own ways, they claimed he was only 24.75 inches. Say what? Um, they said he was 24.5 inches at two months and I'm pretty sure he didn't only grow 0.25 inches in two months. I mean, he was wearing 3 month Carter's footed pajamas at 2 months and now he's in their 9 month size because the legs were too short. Nevermind the fact that Nate and I are both giants and out of any of their measurements, I'd expect his length to be the largest. So whatever. Their 24.75 inch measurement dropped him into the 35th percentile and even the doctor said they don't believe the nurse's stat on that one. So basically, I'm going to say he's almost 27 inches because that is what the accurate researcher says and I'll just ignore the questionable doctor's version. Don't they know that a Type A first time mom is all about numbers and records them all into the baby book? 27 inches it is...

(and although we are not in the middle of football season, I have a feeling T will outgrow his Packers outfit long before then. So today I had to bust it out just to get one wearing in before it's retired.)
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I present to you the newest Green Bay Packer, Truman Anthony! He's a linebacker for sure.
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3. Then there is the great solids debate. At 4 months, a lot of doctors, including ours, recommend starting the baby on rice cereal. I've researched the hell out of it (of course!) and I really feel like Truman isn't ready for solids and he's still totally satisfied with his breastmilk-only diet. I mean, partially it's because I'm being lazy and don't feel like dealing with one more thing by mixing rice cereal and cleaning it up afterwards but also there are some good research studies out there showing that breastfed babies should wait until 6 months to start solids. Breastmilk has everything he needs right now, and even though the doc claimed that by 4 months breastmilk is lacking iron, I found a lot of articles that say otherwise. I could go on about this but basically, I'm going to wait until T is 5 months (just 3 more weeks) and then reassess his readiness for cereal. I'm such a rebel, I know.

But Truman IS starting to get more interested in our big-people food and hates to be on the ground during our mealtime now. So we decided to bust out the booster seat to see if he likes sitting at the table like a big boy. Sure enough...he was enthralled and so stinking cute! Doesn't he look like a mature old man here? The polo shirt makes him seem older too, I think.

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So for now he'll sit at his seat and watch us eat food while he chews on his hands some more. We'll see if that changes in a few more weeks.

4. The researcher mentioned above is one of Nate's PT school professors. She is conducting an official study to be published focusing on infant stepping patterns. For us PT nerd parents, it's pretty freaking interesting, actually. Truman is one of her subjects and we'll go in at 4, 6, 8, and 10 months then one year and once more when he is walking independently. She puts a bunch of reflective markers on his chunky thighs and then holds him over the top of a teeny treadmill where they video tape and analyze his stepping reflex. Even though Truman is far from walking he does have the instincts to take steps and it's super cute to watch his little feet stomp along the treadmill.

The researcher warned us that at the 4 month mark the babies usually get pretty mad because they don't want to exercise and don't like the feeling of the ground moving underneath them. We sort of laughed when she said that and assumed T would be all about it since his parents are sort of psychos about running and he was in such a great mood when we got there. Well, as soon as the treadmill started to move he began to tweak out . Apparently he does NOT appreciate a good exercise session just yet! He'd stop crying when she took him off the treadmill and was totally fine afterward but I think he just didn't feel like working out that day. He promptly passed out asleep on the way home from his 3 full minutes of walking and then we pumped protein shakes into him for recovery (I kid, I kid....not yet at least) :) I brought my camera and the video camera but didn't have the heart to record his freak out session. Maybe next time because it's really too cute and either way, they do give us a DVD at the very end of the sessions to see how much he's changed with his stepping. Baby boy had such a busy day on Monday with this appointment and the doctors, but we were so proud of him at both!

(sticking with the sports theme in his attired, here's 'Mommy's All Star'. Love)
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Note the 'shoes'.
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If he isn't playing the air guitar here then I must be crazy. Jamming out!
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5. And then a little bit about Truman's mommy: I officially signed up for a half marathon this fall! Nate will do it with me and Truman will watch from the sidelines with grandma and grandpa. I am totally freaking out over finding the time to train but I'm really excited too. Maybe just a bit crazy for doing this but whatever. I start training next month so we shall see! I hope my milk supply doesn't drop and I don't have to resort to running before work or we're looking at a 4 am wake time. Not cool. But I'm committed and pumped about it.

Nate and I ran 6 miles on Sunday to test the distance waters and I felt surprisingly awesome. I've only done 4.5 miles as my max since Truman so this was a jump and I'm proud that my body was able to run for an hour. Nate pushed Truman in the BOB which slowed him down to my pace, since T is such a hefty package to push. :) But here's to some longer distances in my future as a mommy runner. Whoo hoo!

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I think that's it for now. And this post only took me 6 hours to write. Not bad!

13 comments:

  1. oh my gosh what a cutie!! Truman is heart-meltingly adorable!

    Also, I seriously love that you have enrolled him in a research study! I work as a researcher at a rehab hospital and have done my share of motion analysis studies.... it would be so awesome to do a study with babies as subjects! Hmmmm maybe one day... :) Anyway, just wanted to say that I love that Truman is already involved in science!! Way to get him started early :)

    finally, great job knocking out 6 miles! I'm sure you'll be fine for the half in the fall. I've got one coming up in 3 weeks and the heat has been killing me. A fall race sounds much more appealing right now!

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  2. Would definitely second the idea of dosing before the six month vaccines ~ sorry he had a rough time with vaccines, glad he was able to get the extra hugs he need.

    We did start cereal at 5 months, not so much for nutrition but to let E. start exploring textures~all other foods we waited till after six months.

    Congrats on 6 miles!!

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  3. Ok, Julia, fine I'll come out of lurkdom. :) I've been following along since you were preggo, and our babes were born exactly four weeks apart. My little man was born on Fabruary 8. Anyway, I had to respond regarding solid food. My boy is big, 10lbs. 13oz. at birth, and by his four month appointment he was 20lbs. 11oz. And he's exclusively breastfed. I've been getting pressure from people (eh hem relatives eh hem) to start him on solids. "look, he wants to eat, you need to feed him." Umm he gets what he needs, from my boob thankyouverymuch!

    The reason I am saying this is that his ped recommended that I wait until after he's 6 months to even consider solids. His reasoning is that he's obviously healthy, satisfied and growing on his current diet. I am so excited to introduce food to him, but I am also happy to continue exclusively breastfeeding, and bring other foods around 6 months... or later. So all that to say, no worries on waiting!

    Truman is adorable, and you should be proud of your work as his mommy. I've read every one of your (well researched) decisions and you're doing an awesome job, especially at just knowing your baby, 'cause no one will ever know him better than you and Nate.

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  4. I LOVE the feet on baby clothes. And little Truman is adorable!

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  5. He is just SO cute! I love all the pics!

    I'm surprised your doc doesn't have you give him the dose of Tylenol an hour before the appt and then every 4 hours, up to 24 hours past the appt, but to keep the fevery cranky baby vaccines in check; Little Boy was the worst at 4 months too -- he was ok and then one underdose of Tylenol and he was a hot SCREAMING mess. and then, so was I! haha :)

    I definitely will recommend the drugs! :)

    Also, start solids when you are ready, I have also heard the 6 months start with BFing too.

    Good luck with the half! You are a superstar! :)

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  6. Does he have green eyes???? They're just darling! And I love, love, love those dimples! I was hoping Spence would pick up some as I have them, but that didn't happen unfortunately!

    Spence just turned 8 weeks and I am amazed by all the things he's going to learn in the next two months (based on Truman). I can't even imagine him sitting up in his booster by himself or being interested in food or even smiling on cue for the camera! I know we'll get there, and I'm loving the moments we have now- it's just amazing how fast they grow.

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  7. Girl, I've missed your posts! :) Truman is a cutie as always, and that's super cool about the study--I bet he'll love to watch that DVD when he's older.

    Kudos to you about the half! You are going to be amazing. I mean, SERIOUSLY, you've already run basically half of a half... And you haven't even started training!

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  8. Please, I beg you. Send the running gods to my feet because they just can't seem to RUN more then a mile! LOL

    T-man is such a chunker, and he is certainly gonna be a tall boy!

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  9. I just adore your blog! I think you are so awesome!! Truman is such a cutie-pie and I love that you go with your gut. I plan on doing that once my little one arrives. Mother knows best!

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  10. Nick has that same Mommy's all star onesie from Macy's. I love the feet on it! T is so adorable.

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  11. Truman is adorable in his Packers and baseball outfits!

    I just wanted to point out your pun in the paragraph about your half marathon (kudos btw). Read the last two sentences... Hahaha.

    Good luck with everything! You're doing great!

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  12. OMG, the air guitar photo is hilarious!!! And Truman does look a lot like his daddy.

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  13. Love the onesies. Being a Green Bay Packers fan. For Green Bay packers fans get your packer tickets in advance at http://www.packertickets.org

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