This week, Eli has been working on trying some new things and getting stronger. We put him in his jumping chair for the first time. It hangs from a doorway, which is why the first time he was in the closet! Ha. He isn't too sure about it yet but every day he seems to get more used to it. The second day I used a pad from his car seat to support his head, this helped a lot. Here are pictures from his first time in the jumper, there is also a video of this at the bottom of this post.
Eli has started "talking" more, he likes to make little "woooo" sounds when he is playing. And a few days ago he laughed then made a sound just like a dolphin! It was so cute but weird. He smiles all the time, especially at daddy when he gets home. Sometimes Jeff will be feeding him at night and Eli can't eat because he is too busy smiling at daddy!!! And every time I get close to him and say "I love you" he gets the biggest grin. I love it!!!
Eli has also been working on sitting upright on my lap while I hold his hands, he seems to like this, but he still doesn't like the bumbo chair! And we are practicing standing and putting some weight on his legs, he is getting so strong! Then we play Super Baby and fly around like Super Man, I'm not sure if he likes that or not but I think it's pretty fun! He is also getting better at playing on his own and not wanting to be held all the time. Still no rolling over yet, but when laying on his back he will raise his legs up really high and will twist them sideways and almost roll onto his side. Now when I put him on his tummy he will just stick his thumb in his mouth and go to sleep! Silly boy. When I prop him up on a pillow though, he is able to hold his head up to look at his books for a long time!
Eli is not a morning person, at least not the first 10 minutes or so after waking up. This picture below shows how he sleeps every single night. Now I know some people think crib bumpers are a huge no-no, and I know this may look like he is about to smother himself. But he can breathe just fine, and no matter where I put him at night in his crib this is always where he ends up! I don't want to duck tape him to the mattress and I don't want him pressing his face up against the crib bars so I just let him be. He sleeps in long sleeve footed pajamas with a sleep sack over it because he always kicks off his covers.
This is Eli's morning face!
Eli is not a morning person, at least not the first 10 minutes or so after waking up. This picture below shows how he sleeps every single night. Now I know some people think crib bumpers are a huge no-no, and I know this may look like he is about to smother himself. But he can breathe just fine, and no matter where I put him at night in his crib this is always where he ends up! I don't want to duck tape him to the mattress and I don't want him pressing his face up against the crib bars so I just let him be. He sleeps in long sleeve footed pajamas with a sleep sack over it because he always kicks off his covers.
This is Eli's morning face!
Mom got us a BOB jogging stroller, it is awesome!!! Great suspension and it handles really well. I can't wait for Eli to be strong enough so I can actually run with it instead of just walking. Here we are out one evening for a walk in the jogging stroller.
I made my decision about daycare last week as well and got Eli signed up. We are taking him to a Kindercare center. I have been there twice and it has a nice infant room and nice teachers, and they offer a military discount. He is also on the waiting list for the daycare on base, though, and we will probably move him there once a spot opens up because it is a super nice daycare and costs about $50 less a week! However the base daycare infant program has a 8-12 month wait -- yeh no one told me that before!! Apparently you need to get on the waiting list when you find out you are pregnant. What?!?!? Ok well now we know. So I decided it would be best for both Eli and myself to start daycare the week before I go back to work (next week). This is so Eli can get used to daycare slowly, I can get used to him being away from me, we can work on Eli's schedule at both the daycare and at home, and we can figure out how much formula and diapers he needs at daycare (by the way they are letting me use my cloth diapers and wipes!!!). The first day I plan to take him in mid morning and only leave him 3 hours, then gradually increase the time there and get him there earlier in the day until by Friday he spends a whole day there. I think that will make my first day back at work MUCH better on both of us. That is worth an extra week of daycare to me! Plus I can get a lot of stuff done around the house before heading back to work.
So the big news this week is that we finally decided to quit breastfeeding and exclusively formula feed. It seemed like no matter how strict I made my diet, nothing worked and he continued having tummy pain and blood. And I was getting pretty tired of not being able to eat anything!!! He has been on nothing but formula since the middle of the week, and I am happy to say that the bleeding has stopped! His poo is still really green and sometimes still has mucus in it like before, but I think that should change as his system heals and gets used to formula. His eczema has also pretty much gone away - apparently eczema can be associated with food allergies. The pediatrician says some babies are sensitive to something in the breast milk that isn't caused by the food the mother eats but rather is something else in the milk and that for some babies, no matter how strict the mother's diet it, nothing works. The main drawback of this is that his formula costs $35 a can, and we go through a can in 3-4 days!!! Our pediatrician thinks our health insurance will pay for it since it is due to a severe food allergy and I can't breastfeed. Hopefully we will hear soon, keep your fingers crossed for us! I do still have around 200 ounces of frozen breast milk so after 2 months or so I might try giving it to him again and if he can handle it then, I will mix it with his formula so he gets more breast milk benefits.
But as of yesterday, I am letting my milk dry up. Man does that HURT!!! I look like I had DD breast implants put in, and they feel like rocks. I couldn't even sleep in my left side last night because it hurt so bad. Hopefully it will start getting better today, I definitely can't exercise like this, a boob might explode! Ha. I'm honestly at peace with the decision now and I feel ok about it. I REALLY wanted to breastfeed for a year, but it just didn't work for us. I know I did everything I possibly could to make it work, and I was able to nurse him 2+ months at least. I know formula fed babies turn out just fine and my little man won't be any different. And bottle feeding isn't as bad as I thought it would be, just expensive! And now I can eat whatever I want and have a glass of wine (or 3), exercise and diet without worrying about drying up my milk, let Jeff help with feeding, and get things done in the time I used to spend pumping (it would take me 30-45 minutes to pump each time). Now I don't have to worry about finding time to pump at work, carting milk home, and nursing in public (which isn't really so bad just a little strange). Jeff and I feel that at this point this is the best thing to do for Eli and we are happy with our decision. I packed away all my breastfeeding supplies yesterday which was a little sad. But I know we want another baby (in a few years!) and hopefully I will be able to nurse that one, at least for a little while, so I should be able to use all my supplies again.
I made my decision about daycare last week as well and got Eli signed up. We are taking him to a Kindercare center. I have been there twice and it has a nice infant room and nice teachers, and they offer a military discount. He is also on the waiting list for the daycare on base, though, and we will probably move him there once a spot opens up because it is a super nice daycare and costs about $50 less a week! However the base daycare infant program has a 8-12 month wait -- yeh no one told me that before!! Apparently you need to get on the waiting list when you find out you are pregnant. What?!?!? Ok well now we know. So I decided it would be best for both Eli and myself to start daycare the week before I go back to work (next week). This is so Eli can get used to daycare slowly, I can get used to him being away from me, we can work on Eli's schedule at both the daycare and at home, and we can figure out how much formula and diapers he needs at daycare (by the way they are letting me use my cloth diapers and wipes!!!). The first day I plan to take him in mid morning and only leave him 3 hours, then gradually increase the time there and get him there earlier in the day until by Friday he spends a whole day there. I think that will make my first day back at work MUCH better on both of us. That is worth an extra week of daycare to me! Plus I can get a lot of stuff done around the house before heading back to work.
Here are some videos from this week, enjoy!!!
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