3.71 kg = 8.2 pounds

Jac was weighed before his injection today - and he weighed 8.2 pounds! Yeah! That means he has gained about 3.6 ounces in 6 days - if you believe that the two scales are both accurately calibrated - which is a bit hard to believe. But we will take it! In the previous 6 days he had not gained any weight at all! Yeah!

He has been eating a bit more and sleeping a lot during the day! Yeah!

Fourth Synagis injection

Jac had his fourth Synagis injection today. He was in a good mood before the shot, screamed for a minute during and after it, then ate again and was fine. He slept most of the afternoon on me - woke up once to eat - and then back to sleep - even though he had a diaper. He woke up 20 minutes after Daddy came home and then had a big bottle (3 oz).

He has only spit up once so far today which is better - and that spit-up did not upset him. Yeah! We shall see how the next few days go. He has been in a good mood all day - when he was awake - which was not much. We shall just have to hope he sleeps tonight ;)

Getting to know Sophie

We received Sophie the Giraffe today which is the toy that his new OT recommended. We shall see if he takes to her like he has taken to Freddy the Firefly which is his current favorite.

Today Jac also spent some time playing with his Nuk brush and Freddy at the same time.

Playing with a Nuk

The OT gave us a Nuk brush to work on oral stimulation and desensitization with Jac. We have started by just giving him the brush to play with and stick in his mouth - or in his eye as the case may be. He is getting a little more coordinated with it already and it is really fun to watch.

OT appointment scheduled

Our first appointment with the OT at BCH is scheduled for February 6th! Yeah! That was quick! The squeaky wheel gets the grease!

Lots of spitting up

Jac has continued to have quite a bit of spitting up - especially at night and first thing in the morning. He is not getting anything through my milk that we know of that makes his reflux worse.

I am going to try eliminating most different foods from my diet (and stick with a very limited number of different foods) and see if that makes a difference. It is possible that a new food (fish sticks or energy bagels) are the problem or some other thing that I have eaten while we were out. Hopefully this will help and then I can start adding things back and try to figure out which one bothers him. I am not planning to add dairy anytime soon though as this one seems to pretty clearly bother him.

We have an appointment with a Gastroenterologist from Rocky Mountain Pediatric Gastroenterology on February 18. Hopefully they will be able to give us some more answers about Jac's reflux and ways to manage it until he grows out of it.

I am also working very hard to get Jac onto a new Reflux medication. The medication is called Zegerid and it is supposed to work much better in babies with reflux than Prevacid which is what he is taking now and has been taking all along. I am lobbying his Pediatrician to give it to him. We shall see what she says. We may need to search out a new Ped with more reflux experience if she won't give him this medication.

I would like to try a different formula to fortify my breast milk for him but I don't want to do it before his reflux is back under control. If I try it now I won't know if the formula is bothering him or something else. Hopefully things will settle down in the next few days and we can try the new formula, Alimentum. It is a lot like Nutramigen but some babies that don't tolerate Nutramigen tolerate Alimentum even though they are very similar.

I spoke with a nurse from United Health Care (our insurance company) today and she mentioned that there is another possible formula to try. It is called Elecare. We shall see! There is another one called Neocate that is another possibility.

Milestone: "Something foot shaped I can grab"

Jac grabbed his feet for the first time tonight - while he was on his changing table - where we have a lot of chats!

He did it this afternoon while I was changing him and all I had was my iPhone. By the time I grabbed it and switched to the Camera app he was done grabbing his feet (he needed my help by lifting his behind up in the air!)

This evening while Daddy was changing him he did it again and I came running with the camera to record the action. I took two videos. One while he was diaperless and one with his diaper on. Of course he only grabbed his feet when he was open! Enjoy!

Sunday fun

Jac and Daddy watching Mommy play soccer (some watching more than others!)

Jac and Mommy at IHOP playing footsie with the table

We had another big Sunday with Jac. I had soccer in the morning, then off to IHOP! Jac had a good time at IHOP and got a lot of attention as usual. The waitress wanted to steal him!

Jac sitting on Daddy's lap and smiling at Mommy

Jac was sitting on Daddy's lap this evening and giving me a big smile! Moments later he was crying! Ah well! He smiles all of the time these days! At everyone! We took him out to BBQ this evening and he smiled at the people in the restaurant. It always amazes me how much attention Jac gets when we take him out!

Dermatologist update

Jac and I had a busy Friday! After we went to the see the OT we went to see a dermatologist at Boulder Dermatology. Dr. Zhu was very nice and she clarified what is going on with Jac's skin.

She said that the spot on his stomach is a fungal infection, not a yeast infection. She gave us a bunch of samples of a medication called Vusion which should clear it up. The only problem is we need to use the medication for three weeks and it may be a bit tough on his skin during the treatment. She said that if his skin blisters or looks really irritated to bring him back into the office.

She also said that his diaper rash is not a yeast infection either, just a standard diaper area irritation. She said we should stop using Balmex which we have been using since he came home and to just use plain petroleum jelly. We started using it on Friday and his diaper area already looks much less irritated.

The spot on his stomach still looks the same but it will take some time to see the changes there. We have a follow up appointment in two weeks to see if the spot on his stomach is healed.

Bringing things to his mouth

Jac is getting better and better at bringing toys to his mouth. He has a lot of fun putting things in and seeing what they feel like. It is very funny to watch and a lot of times he squeaks when he does it! In these videos he is playing with his Baby Whoozit. He is expanding his toy repertoire!

Update on Occupational Therapy

Yesterday we had an evaluation with an OT (Occupational Therapist) at the Boulder Community Hospital Pediatric Rehabilitation Center. The OT that we met with worked with Jac when he was in the hospital at BCFH (Boulder Community Hospital Foothills). She is very nice and we enjoyed working with her while we were in the hospital.

She had a very different perspective on what we should be doing with Jac than the OT we have been working with for the last few months who has been mostly hands off. She said that he still has low muscle tone (very, very common in preemies) and that his suck is not very good. She wants to do a lot of different exercises in therapy and at home to work on both of these things.

It will take several weeks for us to get processed through the hospital system and with insurance so that we can start appointments with the new OT. In the meantime we have a list of things to work on at home.

Assigned 1/25/08

1. Practice rolling over from back to tummy

2. Put hands on knees and roll side to side

3. Ball exercises

On tummy move back and forth side to side and bounce gently. Hold trunk and gradually move down to holding upper thighs with thumbs on sits bones. Pull him back on the ball so he can lift head more easily.

4. Infant massage

5. Do mouth exercises
a. Gum massage: Divide the mouth/gums into 4 parts. Rub where the teeth would be 3 times back and forth firmly with your finger, a Nuk brush, or a washcloth over your finger. Take your finger out after each part to allow for a swallow.

b. Let your baby suck on your finger. This is good practice for strengthening the suck. Stroke the tongue in the middle and stroke the roof of the mouth once in a while to encourage sucking. When your baby is sucking on our finger, pull your finger out slightly allowing the baby to suck your finger back into his/her mouth.

c. Massage cheeks with circular movements, or pull through cheeks from ears to mouth.

d. Tickle the sides of the tongue to encourage the tongue to come to the sides. This will help bring in tongue lateralization skills which are important for strengthening the sides of the tongue for sucking and keeping food to the side later on. Tongue lateralization is also important for speech skills.

e. Tickle the tongue tip to encourage tongue pointing.

f. Stroke the sides of the tongue from back to tongue tip. Stroking on the back of the tongue on the sides helps to decrease tongue sensitivity. Stroking on the sides will increase tongue strength for cupping.

6. Play in water (Jac crys when he takes baths so we want to work on him getting used to water in a fun way)

7. Buy Sophie the Giraffe

Pediatrician visit report

Dr. B said that the thrush in Jac's mouth seems to be gone so we can stop giving him the Fluconazole. That is good in case it is part of the problem.

Unfortunately the Lotrimin does not seem to be helping with his diaper rash. Dr. Brudenell thinks it looks like yeast but since the Lotrimin is not helping she has referred us to a Dermatologist. I will call tomorrow and hope we can get an appointment for tomorrow.

Jac is still 7 pounds and 15 ounces which means that he has not gained any weight in the last 6 days. Not good. He has been unhappy with the return of the reflux but he has still been eating fairly well. Dr. B is determined we need to fortify with something. She gave us a sample of Alimentum which is another formula like Nutramigen which is supposed to be good for babies with protein allergies (which is what we think Jac has to cow's milk protein). After Jac's reflux settles down again we will try the Alimentum. A mom on one of my newsgroups said that Alimentum worked for her baby when Nutramigen didn't (her baby also has a cow's milk protein allergy.)

Dr. B is still pushing me to give Jac rice cereal in his bottle but I don't have any plans to do it.

We now have an appointment with a Gastroenterologist for Feb. 6 - hopefully we will get some insight from that appointment.

Could Fluconazole be the problem?

Jac has been taking Fluconazole since last Friday for his thrush. Could the Fluconazole be the reason he is spitting up? I read that in adults it can cause throwing-up so who knows in a baby with reflux?

I have changed Jac's follow-up appointment for the thrush to this afternoon so hopefuly we will be able to stop the medications and see if things get better.

He has been spitting-up a ton. He spit up through his nose today - and this past Sunday. Prior to that we had had one through-the-nose spit-up in a month. He also been spitting up several times a day - not burp spit-ups. These are between meals and clearly not burp related.

Cross your fingers!

Nutramigen Lipil is no good for Jac

We have fortified Jac's bottle with Nutramigen for a few days and it is a no go. His reflux immediately got worse.

The first day we fortified two of his bottles (Sunday) he spit-up through his nose. He used to do this fairly frequently (once or twice a week) but since I stopped dairy he had only done it once until Sunday. We decided that that could have been a fluke - but he also spitup again that evening.

I have fortified his milk on two more occasions (once a day) and he spit up both days. He does spit-up occassionally but they are usually identifiably from trapped air. These are spit-ups that are happening after he is finished eating (long after) and they are quiet. The "burp" spit-ups are usually a little more obvious and much closer to his feedings.

I can also see him doing "silent" reflux behaviors more - such as swallowing and coughing.

So - we are off Nutramigen. We shall see what his ped says when we go back for our thrush re-check next week.

Also, we are trying to make an appointment to see a Gastroenterologist from Children's Hospital. No love on that front yet though.

Happy "She agreed" anniversary and Happy Birthday Knutson

4 years ago today I said, "Okay honey, let's give this a try!" or something like that! And so Joseph and my journey began! 4 years! Seems short and seems long!

13 years ago Knutson was born! Happy Birthday Knut! He is doing well for 13 and he is really taking to the snow! He likes to play with Paula in the snow and generally seems happier the more snow that is on the ground! Unless he gets a snow foot like he did yesterday!

Milestone: "I can lift my head"

Jac made a big step today with his head control and strength. We were having a nice chat on his changing table, lots of smiles and talking, so I decided to try some tummy time. I know I don't do enough tummy time, it is so hard to find the times when he has not just eaten, and is not asleep, and not mad!

Anyway, I flipped him over on his tummy, with my hands under his chest, and lo and behold, he lifted his head up and held it there. He lifted it straight up and held it for a few seconds, then dropped it, then lifted it again. He did it 4 times. I caught the fourth, and final time on camera!

Daddy is traveling

Joseph is traveling to Montreal, Canada tomorrow. He will be gone for 3 days - returning Friday night! Oh man, 3 days and 2 nights, just Jac and I! Fortunately, We have just hired another college student to come help for 2 hours a day so I will have a little help! I don't know how people handle a bunch of kids all by themselves. I guess when we have more I will figure it out!

Jac is now learning to sit forward. It used to be I could lean him back against my propped up legs while I pumped if he was awake and needed to be held. Now that he has started to move a lot more and he is starting to try to roll I can't safely do that anymore. That is making pumping while he is awake a lot more challenging. A new chapter begins as I try to sort out how to pump while he is awake!

Different expressions

Click here to see a slideshow of Jacs expressions...

Brrrr! 5.9 degrees!

Lately, the weather has gotten even colder around here. As the outdoor thermometer dropped below 10 degrees, I told Taj that if it goes below zero, it'd be time for us to move back to California! :-p

Despite the cold, we decided to run a few errands tonight and took Jac to the Apple Store, REI, and Target. He handled the excursion quite well, and seemed quite pleased to see people in the stores.

By the time we got home, the temperature outside was down to 5.9 degrees. (Our car even claimed it was 4 degrees!) According to the weather forecast, it'll eventually cool down to zero tonight! Whoa.

The dogs, with their fur, seemed to take the weather in stride. Jac, being the Colorado boy, also seems to be fine. It's us California-raised parents that seem to have the most trouble!

More sounds - The Squeak

Jac learned how to make a new sound yesterday - a sort of squeak. He makes it when he is upset or excited. It is very cute. He made it this evening while he was playing with his Freddy the Firefly in his Baby Einstein.

Mommy plays soccer!

Today, I played soccer for the first time since shortly before I got pregnant with Jac. It is co-ed indoor soccer at Boulder Indoor Soccer. So much fun. The field is an actual indoor soccer field! With proper walls and nets etc! I am used to playing in a modified gym with brick walls. I still have a scar on my forehead from where I was sent into the wall by another player at the gym!

Jac and Daddy came along to cheer me on. It was great to have them there! It is 6 on 6 on a much bigger field than we played 5-on-5 on in LA. Fortunately there were four women and only two on the field at a time. The halves are 22 minutes long and we sub in and out every 5 or 6 minutes. It is a god thing I only had to play 5 minutes at a time since I was sucking wind big time. I am used to being able to run for 25 minutes without stopping - but 13 months, a baby, and 5300 feet of elevation and I was in a world of hurt. Hopefully I can get on at least one more team that plays during the week so I will get in shape a little more quickly. The season lasts 10 weeks and there are 6 co-ed teams in the league.

I am very excited to be playing again. My soccer skills themselves seemed to be intact but my quickness and willingness to run anything down is somewhat diminished for now! Thanks Daddy for supporting me!

Started Nutramigen fortification

We started Nutramigen fortification this evening. He took it without complaint which is a good sign. I think it smells and tastes like stale cardboard. We are adding 1/2 teaspoon to 3 ounces of milk. Nutramigen has modified milk proteins that are not supposed to cause problems for babies with cow's milk allergies. He has been doing so well with his reflux since I went off of dairy we shall see how he does with the Nutramigen.

Pumping at 70 mph

Since we were out all day with Jac I needed to pump while we were on the go. So - I did - at 70 mph. Joseph had purchased me a DC adapter cable for my rented Medela Symphony pump. We plugged the pump in, hooked me up, and I pumped hands-free at 70 mph while Joseph drove us to Denver. We were then able to feed that milk to Jac for his dinner! Pretty cool!

Big Day on the town

Jac eating at Costco (it is not quite a Costco dog but he is getting there)!



Jac eating at a Korean restaurant

We took Jac out today for a day (and evening) on the town! We started at Costco - always a favorite. We did some shopping and had a Costco dog and a Churro (okay that was the adults - Jac had milk!). That took 2 hours! Amazing how much slower things go with a baby! Then we headed to Target - another Chiu family favorite! That seemed to go a bit more smoothly and I think we were in and out of there in an hour! Then on to Sports Authority for some soccer stuff for Momma (soccer starts in 5 hours from now!) We had some more milk and a diaper and then on to REI. They were about to close when we got there so we wandered around for a few minutes. Jac slept through this one! Then on to the Apple Store. We were disappointed that they don't have the MacBook Air on display yet! The Apple Store is in the Cherry Creek mall which is quite high end! Lots of nice shops! Momma bought some new Maui Jim sunglasses to replace the ones she left on the airplane on the way back from California. Jac slept through the mall! We even took him into a very fancy Nordstrom! And then on to the Korean restaurant for dinner! So good! We were determined to find some good Korean BBQ (a major goal for the day) and we did. The food was very good and Korean TV was on in the background so we felt right at home! And then back home - we left the house at 12:45 pm and got home at 10:45 pm! Jac was very good in his car seat. He slept in it, went in and out of stores in it, was carried in his sling on Momma. He cried for the final trip home when he was getting very tired but other than that he was pretty quiet and content.

Thrush not teething

Dr. B told me that she does not think Jac has started teething. He has thrush in his mouth and she thinks this may be what has been making his mouth uncomfortable. We shall see what happens after the thrush is cured.

Mom - I would like you to know that you were right when you thought he was sick and not teething. Power to the Moms - even when they are Grandmas!

6 month checkup and vaccinations

Jac had his 6 month checkup and vaccinations today.

He has had a strange white spot on his lip for the last week and a half and a round looking spot on his belly. They appeared around the same time but I did not connect them together. It turns out they are a yeast infection - commonly known as thrush. Dr. B started him on Fluconazole orally for 10 days and Lotrimin topically. We have an appointment in 10 days to check that the medications have gotten rid of the thrush. We think that I may also have a yeast infection - perhaps on my nipples. Who got it first and who gave it to whom is unclear. I went by my OBs office (which is on the same floor - down the hall from Jac's pediatrician's office) and they gave me a prescription for an all purpose nipple cream which has an anti-fungal component. Hopefully we will both be fungus free (relatively speaking) in 10 days!

He had 3 vaccination shots today and an oral vaccination (last time for that one!). He screamed for all of them but as soon as I got the bottle in his mouth and he strted drinking he calmed right down and was just fine!

We had to go by two pharmacies to get all of the medications and he was very calm. One of the pharmacies was in King Soopers (a very large, very loud grocery store) and he did very well. I left him in his car seat for the trip into the hospital and into the store. I don't generally leave him in the car seat, I prefer to carry him, but it was below freezing today and I didn't want him to get cold - or his seat to get cold if I left it in the car. Carrying that car seat is good exercise! We made it to the two pharmacies and all the way home without him crying. He slept for part of it and was awake for part of it. This is a step in the right direction!

His measurements were as follows:
Height: 20 3/4 inches (up 3/4 inch from 5 weeks ago)
Weight: 7 pounds 15 ounces (up 10 ounces from 5 weeks ago)
Head: 39 cm (up 2 cm from 5 weeks ago)

The height really surprised me - it seems to me like he has gotten much longer - maybe it is in his arms - many of his clothes don't fit anymore (I spent part of the evening packing away a bunch of clothes that don't fit anymore).

The weight did not surprise me. Dr. B wants us to go back to fortifying his milk with Nutramigen Lipil. We will get some tomorrow and try it and see if he tolerates it. Over Christmas when Daddy had to give him a full bottle of formula he did not like it very much. It also makes him smell like the formula - not nice like a breast fed baby!

Go Jac for head growth! We have all oticed that his head has gotten bigger - and so it has! Yeah!

All in all a good checkup - we just need him to grow more! I have updated his weight chart to reflect the updates from today.

Milestone: Putting things in his mouth

Debbie, Jac's Occupational Therapist, came to visit today. She showed me how to help Jac get things to his mouth. She said that it is very important that babies learn to do this as this helps de-sensitize their mouths and their gag reflex so that they can learn how to eat solids. Jac is only adjusted age 4 months so he is still a couple of months from eating solids but it was good to see him learning how to bring things to his mouth.

Too cute - Jac with Grandma

This was taken Jan. 4th when Jac was being burped by Grandma. It is so cute I just had to post it.

Doing better in the car seat

Jac and I spent the early part of the afternoon traveling to Denver to return his POC. It is quite a long drive - 38 miles - almost all on the freeway.

Jac was awake when we left - but after about 5 minutes in the car he fell asleep. He woke up just before we arrived at the office. I talked to him for a few minutes and he cried a bit - but fell asleep within a few minutes and slept all of the way home!

It was very nice to have a peaceful ride in the car - without anyone sitting in the back with him. I am sure this was greatly aided by the fact that he was tired from yesterday's events but I will take what I can get!

Jac sleeping in the bed

Jac spent the morning sleeping in our bed with us. And he really slept! After Daddy left, Jac and I slept until 11 am at which point Daddy woke me up to remind me that I needed to take Jac's POC back to Denver. Jac then slept until noon!

Back in Boulder

We left LA yesterday afternoon and flew home. Jac was very good! He slept in the car all the way to the airport which was really nice - and even slept all the way through security and onto the plane!

Daddy held him most of the time on the plane. We gave him a bottle and a pacifier for take-off and landing and that seemed to help him equalize the pressure in his ears.

Daddy held Jac up several times during the flight so Jac could look around the plane and see all of the people.

We got home around 10 pm and the dogs were very happy to see us! Jac and I have been gone for more than 3 weeks and Daddy has been gone most of that time also.

Mommy and Daddy's baby

If there was ever any doubt that Jac was our baby it was dispelled last night! On the way to the Chiu parent's house we stopped at Fry's to pick up some things for their network. Jac had been crying from teething pain for almost the entire ride from my parent's house to Fry's. The traffic was terrible and it took a long time. We stopped and got ice for Jac's pacis but that was not helping much.

As soon as we stepped inside of Fry's Jac stopped crying. He started swiveling his head around, looking at all of the lights and all of the people. It was very cute.

As soon as we left Fry's and got back in the car he started crying again!

Happy 6 month birthday

Jac is 6 months old today! I can hardly believe it. He has been home for 3.5 months of that time. I have been pumping for 6 months - that may be harder to believe. I am not going to calculate how many times I must have hooked myself up to that pump in the last 6 months - I might go nutty!

Milestone: Head control

Oh man - Jac is getting some really good head control. When I was walking up the stairs holding him this morning I realized how strong he has gotten. I was holding him under his bottom and was really not providing much support above his hips - and he was sitting up straight and leaning around and coming right back to center! Lovely! I will try to get a video of it! Yeah!

Pulling away from the bottle

Since Jac started teething he has been pulling away from the bottle - especially at night when he is very fussy. We have been giving him frozen pacifiers for his tooth pain plus Tylenol. It is not clear how much the Tylenol is helping. From around 8 pm until midnight when he finally falls asleep Jac is REALLY fussy - for him. He cries some - but mostly "talks" and "complains" and is just unsettled.

The puling away from the bottle is making it very challenging to feed him - and his feed volume has gone down quite a bit in the last 2 days. Hopefully the teething pain is going to let up a bit so he can start eating more again.

Snack Attack

So - as many of you who know me know, I love to make up nicknames. I have done this all of my life as my family who have funny nicknames can attest to.

My son is not immune to this naming "problem" that I have!

I called him "Shrak" for a while and now I am calling him "Snack" which then becomes "Snack Attack".

Oh man! What will I come up with next and how scarred is Jac going to be by all of my funny names ;)

Jac "talking"

Jac is making all sorts of sounds these days. When he is happy or upset or just really awake he will "talk" - making all sorts of sounds. I ask him if he is going to be speaking English any time soon. I will let you know when I get an answer ;)

Post to IUGR Yahoo group

(I belong to a Yahoo group for parents of IUGR babies and I posted this message this morning)

Hi All,
My son was born at 30 wks and 6 days and he was 1.5 pounds. He will be 6 months old in a few days and he was 7 pounds 12 ounces about a week ago.

Can you all guide me about how he is doing in terms of his growth for a little IUGR baby? He is still below the 3rd percentile of course but how is he doing for an IUGR baby in your all's experience?

His head seems to be growing quite a bit (at his 5 month checkup it was the only thing on the chart - at the 5th percentile) and he seems to be getting much longer but staying fairly skinny.

I am long and skinny but my husband is short and stocky so I don't know how my son's genes lean with regards to build.

His eating seems to be fine. He is on expressed breast milk (he has not learned how to latch). He eats between 15 and 23 ounces a day - it varies a lot though. He has reflux (which is treated with Prevacid) and is under much better control since I went off dairy 2 weeks before Christmas).

Any input is appreciated.

Thanks,
Taj

Look at that smile

Jac was hanging out with Grandma a few days ago so I had a chance to take a picture! So many smiles!

Updated feeding chart

Jac has been eating more lately - and I have been pumping less. Not a good trend for me. I am hoping my supply will come back with time but I am very glad Jac is eating more. Fortunately I am still ahead of him but it is getting a little close for comfort.

I have updated the Feeding/Pumping chart with the most recent data.

Funny smile

Jac smiles all of the time now. He has all different sorts of smiles and they are so fun to watch. This one is the "Mom made happy noises" smile! So cute!

I apologize for the low quality of the picture, I took it on my iPhone to send to Daddy in Las Vegas.

More tummy time

With Jac's new penchant for rolling (or attempted rolling) we are having more opportunities for tummy time.

Yesterday we spent some time doing attempted rolling time and some tummy time. Grandma Silvia was here and she played with him also which allowed me to take a picture.

Milestone: Teething

Oh man - it has started!

Last night Jac was lying on the floor - in his Baby Einstein play gym - and smacking his lips. At the time I did not know why but I took a video because it was the first time he had made that sound.



Little did I know a few hours later he would be crying with teething pain. After that started it made sense that his smacking was him working on the pain in his mouth which is all new. He is not much of a paci baby and he we hardly ever use one but last night - oh man - he was going to town on the paci like I have rarely seen him do.

We have a teething ring given to Jac by his Akon and Ama (Grandma and Grandpa Chiu) but it is too large for his mouth (he inherited my small mouth I think!). Grandma went down and bought him some children's Tylenol which we gave him and it seemed to help.

He seemed to want to eat but not want to eat at the same time. He would take the bottle greedily but then suck a few times and then turn away from the bottle. When I would offer it again he would take it again and repeat the few sucks and turn away.

I think it is his upper teeth (tooth) that are coming in. I can see the lower ones are pushing up but the upper ones feel sharper although I don't normally see them.

Hmmmm.... This is going to be interesting. Where is Daddy!

Jac's First Caltech T-shirt

For Christmas Granpda bought Jac his first Caltech t-shirt.

The Bottle Dance

Jac has taken to playing with his bottle when he is eating. He is trying to hold the bottle with both of his hands while he is eating. He also pushes the bottle with his tongue and moves it all around. This has increased a lot in the last 2 days. At 5 am this dance makes it challenging for a bleary eyed Mommy to feed him!

Late Christmas Celebration

We had a very nice, very late Christmas celebration today. My Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Lee, Joseph's parents, Joseph's sister and boyfriend and my parents and Jac and I celebrated together.

I cooked late Christmas lunch this morning while my Mom took care of Jac. It was a lot of fun to cook - which I haven't done in quite a while. I am used to cooking these big meals with Joseph but I am proud to report that I did just fine on my own. The sweet potato and onion dish was a particular hit.

We had our traditional gift exchange which was a lot of fun. Jac was not allowed to participate due to the fact that he cannot unwrap a present yet but next year he is going to be in to it!

Joseph's parents got to spend some nice quality time with Jac who is becoming more interactive by the day. He loves to see people. He is very social and looks at everyone. He is happy to be held by anyone and will smile with his whole body if encouraged.



He is sleeping on Grandma right now. The day's activities have worn him out.

(The picture is Auntie Charmy and Ama (Grandma Chiu) with Jac)

Happy Birthday Daddy

Happy Birthday to Daddy!

Joseph is still in Boulder (leaving for Las Vegas tomorrow morning) so he celebrated his birthday with the dogs! He gave them a bath and reveled in all of the fur that they generated!

We missed Daddy here in LA but we talked to him on the phone several times!

Milestone: Learning how to roll over

Yesterday Jac started learning how to roll over. He did then when was playing on the couch with Grandma. This evening when I put him on the couch he did the same thing. He couldn't figure out what to do with the arm that was ending up underneath him. I helped him move it above his head - Grandma was helping him tuck it underneath himself. I ended up helping him roll all of the way over.

He is not yet fond of being on his stomach. Now that his reflux is so much better I am trying to get more tummy time in. He will raise his head when he is on his stomach and I have been putting my hands under his chest so he is not all the way down on his face.

Jac hanging out with Grandma

Jac hung out with Grandma this morning in his car seat on the counter. He was having a very nice time - smiling and moving his arms and legs around.

Jac grabs his own hands and clearly enjoys doing it - he does it all of the time - on his changing table, when he is eating, all of the time!

Who's that on the phone?

Last night I called Joseph on the phone and put it on speaker so Jac could hear. He was fussing when I called. As soon as he heard Daddy's voice he stopped crying, swiveled his head toward the phone and watched the phone the rest of the conversation.

It was really obvious be knew Daddy's voice and that he was really interested in where the voice was coming from. We called again today and he did the same thing - looking at the phone with a great deal of interest.

Milk production

My milk production is not back to it's pre-illness level but I am not having any trouble staying ahead of Jac now. I am hoping to freeze some today to keep in the parents' freezer just in case! My left breast took the biggest hit with the plugged ducts and mastitis taking their toll. It is nowhere near its normal production. I would say it is off by 2/3. My right breast is taking up the slack though and making more than usual. Weird.

Once my MacBook arrives (it is taking the slow boat from CO) I will update the feeding, pumping, and weight charts.