The Fam

Ah. Just one more reason for me to love Crocs - Greg at DaddyTypes hates ‘em.

We all know that Crocs are the best shoes. They’re even good for you!

It looks like the trouble is about to start! The boy’s not quite walking unassisted yet - he only uses one foot so he mostly goes in circles. Give him some assistance, however, and watch the little guy go! (If you can’t see the video clip below, try this link.)

The little car he’s pushing doesn’t seem to have enough resistance. If he had gone a few more feet, he probably would gone face down. I’m thinking about ordering the Classic Walker Wagon, since it’s earned rave reviews from others, including Odin.

We’ve been expecting it for quite some time now, since the boy’s favorite place seems to be on his hands and knees, rocking back and forth as if pure willpower can make him move. Yesterday everything seemed to finally click, and he made his shaky way across the living room floor - crawling!

This feat was quickly followed by another first, as we found out he was on his way to the cat food dish where he got to try his first bite of dry cat food before anybody could get to him. Crawling for less than a minute and he’s already up to mischief!

Don’t worry - we didn’t let him finish the cat food. We don’t want the cats to be any more jealous of him than they alreay are.

The boy made his first sign today. He indicated that he wanted some “milk”, which is the sign we use for his formula bottle. Hopefully the trend will continue!

Zayne, being a Pampers wearer, suffers from VML (Visible Muppet Lines). (For those that don’t know, Pampers diapers are printed with Muppet and Sesame Street characters.)

The diaper I put on him tonight after he got out of the bath had Ernie on it. I was a bit hesitant to expose Zayne to Ernie at this early stage, because I think we all know Ernie’s a bit heterosexually-challenged*. Then I thought this is the perfect time to start teaching tolerance to the boy. I mean, Ernie’s big and orange and gay, but he’s just like you and me, right?

[Thanks to DaddyTypes, for coining VML]
*Apparently, using the word “G-A-Y” in a publicly searchable arena is not the brightest of ideas. See “Searches” for more info.

You would be three years old today. It’s hard to believe that so much time has already passed. Some days it seems like a hundred years ago, and other days it catches me so much by surprise that I have to stop whatever I’m doing. The hardest and best thing I ever did was hold you after you were born. I’m not a very religious person, but I truly think that you’re somewhere watching over us all. Mommy and Daddy love you and miss you very much!

——
Man. It doesn’t feel like it’s been three years. For those that don’t know the story, our daughter Ashlynn Marie was stillborn on December 2, 2002 at 37 weeks gestation. She was technically full term. After several batteries of tests, we still don’t know what the cause was.

There are some theories related to medical problems that Dawn has since been diagnosed with:
Celiac (aka gluten intolerance) - Dawn was diagnosed with this in April of the following year, but she had been having symptoms during the pregnancy.
Factor V Leiden - This is a blood clotting issue. Dawn was diagnosed with this in December of 2003 after being admitted to the hospital with multiple(!) clots in her lungs and leg.

Who know what caused our loss - the end result is still the same.

Our OB was just as crushed as we are. She was the one that allowed us to induce Zayne at 36 weeks just to make sure everything would be OK.

One of the great helps during our initial recovery was the local branch of the Share - Pregnancy & Infant Loss Support group. Somehow it really helped to sit and talk and cry with other families who’ve experienced loss.

Many people told us that they didn’t know what to say to us. It’s not exactly the kind of situation that everybody’s been through and can relate to. (No, having an abortion does not mean you have any kind of idea how I feel.) The problem was that some people said nothing at all for quite a while. It would have been fine to just get a hug.

In other news, Zayne is the proud owner of his very first tooth today!

We managed to get finally get our hands on an Amby Baby Hammock. One of our neighbors on the street had just finished using theirs and were happy to let it go for a reduced price.

I’m not sure what the little guy thinks of it yet. We put him in it and gave him some time to thrash around. It didn’t seem to bother him, but he didn’t seem too eager to get to sleep, either.

One thing that did seem to work well was to swaddle him before putting him in the hammock. So far, it hasn’t been too bad. He’s slept in it for a while now. His reflux hasn’t been too bad lately, so I don’t know how well it will work. Time will tell!

Well, it’s been a couple of weeks now with the new formula, and I must say that I am very impressed with the stuff. Zayne hardly spits up at all now, and overall just seems to be feeling good all of the time. Now when he gets overly fussy, we know it’s usually because he’s really tired. (His “hungry” fussiness is pretty distinct, so we usually don’t get them mixed up.)

It looks like the little guy is suffering from Gastrosophageal Reflux Disease (GERD). We always thought he was just an extra spitty baby, but it looks like the poor kid’s got reflux. I know how much fun that can be as an adult - I don’t even want to imagine how Zayne feels.

There’s an organization called PAGER, which stands for the Pediatric / Adolescent Gastroesophageal Reflux Association. They seem to have some really good information about reflux in kids, along with tips about how to minimize symptoms.

One of the products that PAGER reccommends is the Amby Baby Hammock. This thing looks basically like a baby swing specially designed for sleeping in. It may a bit out of our range at US$230, but if it works it may be well worth it.

As far as food, the pediatrician suggested switching to the Enfamil AR formula. It’s got rice starch in it that thickens in the stomach, supposedly keeping it from coming back up. We’ll see how it goes.