Nine Months

I took Owen to the pediatrician today for his nine month well baby check-up, and he is one healthy little boy. He weighs 18 pounds 8 ounces (20%) and is 27 3/4 inches (35%) and his head is on the large side at 18 1/4 (80%). We were a little surprised because he looks so much fuller than we remember Micah being, but actually weighs less. The doctor seemed a little concerned that his numbers had dropped so much since last time, but after looking at Micah's chart, we realized he had done the same thing. Babies become more active during this time, and I guess we just make skinny boys! The doctor did confirm what we had guessed: that Owen has an allergy to the protein in milk (different from lactose intolerance). The good news is this type of allergy is usually outgrown by 18 months, the bad news is that Mama can't have anything that is made with cow's milk. I talked to him about weening Owen and he said that continuing to breastfeed would actually be best for him in this situation. I have had mixed feelings over this since I came to the conclusion last week that I needed to cut out my favorite foods: chocolate, cheese (especially the cheese dip at our favorite Mexican restaurant, ice cream, mayo, yogurt, and the list goes on.) First I thought no way, I can't do this, not this late in the game, we can just try to find a formula that he will take. Then I realized that I am not quite finished nursing him. I enjoy the time I get to spend with him and I am just not ready yet. THEN I realized these are both extremely selfish, so I started thinking about what would be best for my baby. It is hard because as you mom's know, we give up everything for our children and to think of sacrificing something else made me a little angry. So I prayed, Lord help me do what is best for Owen, whether that be weening or cutting milk from my diet. Help me not consider myself first this time. I have been cow's milk free for five days now, and Owen is sleeping 10 hours straight at night with no screaming and balling up. He has detoxed with several (I mean like 20!) poopy diapers that he had been unable to have and I feel great! I have been forced to cook healthy meals (lots of fruits and veggies) and it has spurned me (and Matt) on to exercise (which I hadn't gotten back into after Owen was born). Thank you Lord for answering our prayers. And it seems as though Owen is safe to eat soy, so I have tried vanilla soy milk, and it actually tastes great with some Reese's puffs cereal for dessert. Also, he will be able to ween to soy milk in a few months and escape the foul tasting/smelling soy formula. Aside from his allergy, Owen is doing great. His verbal skills are great (he is saying Mama, Dada, no no, ya ya for Ellie and mmmm for Micah). He can clap his hands, wave, play peek a boo, scoot on his bottom, crawl backward a few feet, and can almost pull up. He is a little delayed in crawling, but that is not such a bad thing for me! Micah didn't crawl until 10 months and we weren't sure he ever would. My boys just don't love being on their tummies. As far as table foods go, we were encouraged to switch to all table foods. He recommended pancakes (made with soy milk), pasta (we tried that for lunch and Owen loved it!), all fruits and veggies chopped small, but big enough so he could pick them up, and even some soy cheese. This is good news to us because baby food is expensive and Owen prefers table food anyway. He did give one good tip that I thought I would pass along: using a pizza cutter for chopping: much faster than a knife and fork. Speaking of food, I better run and make dinner!