reminds me of the one I love: January 2013

Clement is six months old. He was supposed to have a fifth AND sixth month, but managed to compress both into what felt like about 16 days, so now here I am, already needing to update everyone on how much he's accomplished since his four month birthday.
Which includes spinning a black hole around his mother into which time gets furiously sucked-- never to be seen again.
He also made valiant efforts to ensure that I slept no more than the equivalent of 16 nights over a span of 61, thus resulting in a sparsely kept, scattered, incomprehensible blog. But the five people who read this should appreciate this facet of my writing because it enables you to feel like you are RIGHT HERE WITH HIM (awwwww, how cute he is!!) and therefore, equally confused and maddeningly disoriented.

Baby, it's cold outside!

Bonus feature: this photo comes with a cute video, too!

It's cold? Really?

So... Clement. Let's see. I have a lot to say about him. Hopefully enough to keep y'all busy reading for the NEXT two months. Better break it down into chapters, otherwise all the photo interruptions will shake already unsteady trains of concentration. (namely, mine.)

CHAPTER 1: HE SITS

At 4.5 months, he started sitting. In about a week, he went from completely incapable to making significant, gorilla-like strides in this department. You know, the tripod, propped sit-- leaning on his arms. Leaning waaaaay on his arms. And then face planting. But each day his balance improved dramatically. Probably due to his constant need to swing around his big head in order to keep an eye on his sister. I think his quick adoption of this skill was mostly a defense mechanism. He absolutely loves Josephine playing near him when he's safely secured in his jump-up, but the rest of the time, he watches her with quite the wary eye.

"Mom? Are we okay here? She's kind of ON me."

muuuch safer

Which might explain why, on a near daily basis, Josephine informs me with an analytical tone, "He kind of has a funny face." And once, "I think he looks like a monster."

Oh yes. They're sizing each other up, for sure.

By now he pretty much only topples when he wants to. He's good at reaching way out to get whatever he wants, and he can sit up nice and tall for long periods of time.

Prayer part of bedtime routine. Cute, huh?

Children in pajamas are nearly as sweet as children asleep in pajamas.

CHAPTER 2: KISSES, GIGGLES, SNUGGLES

We have officially entered the tremendously affectionate, wet kisser phase. For Clement, this trick started in front of the bedroom mirror, where I would hold him while he cooed sweetly to himself. In an attempt to show him that it was us in the mirror, I'd give him lots of kisses while he watched our reflection. I still don't know if he understands the reflection bit, but he DID quickly catch on to the idea that "when in front of the mirror, give lots of kisses!" In his fourth month, he started swinging his face around and licking my cheek when I stood us in front of it. :-) Major mommy swoon.

Now the kisses are more spontaneous and scattered throughout the day. He loves to play, laugh, be tickled, nuzzled, and raspberry smooched, and usually finds ways to grab my hair and ~~slime~~ kiss my face when I'm playing with him. I LOVE it.

I am, by the way, the funniest person to ever walk this planet. He told me so. I'm hysterical. And he is the best audience ever. He totally gets my jokes. I should rent him out to comedians who need a confidence boost.

Good thing Sean doesn't need a confidence boost.

Clement told me his funny faces are mildly terrifying.

Though apparently he doesn't mind LOOKING EXACTLY LIKE HIM.

Clement has remained very snuggly. He loves being held, and when he's laid in bed and tired, he's always eager to hold his taggie doll or the soft yellow ducky up next to his face. Frequently, putting the pacifier in his mouth results in his little warm hands grabbing your hand and cuddling it to his chest. Another major mommy swoon. (But be warned: you kind of need to escape. To imbibe the moment will lead to him growing upset when you do walk away, because you'll be disturbing the "zone" into which he has settled. So cherish each iota of three fast seconds, then slip off.) He's also seemed to enjoy the blanket my mom made him; he likes to grab it and pull it up close to his face when I put it on him. I wish I could let him sleep snuggled like that-- it's so cute. But I rest better knowing his bed is entirely safe, so I take it off him eventually.

CHAPTER 3: SLEEP AND ITS VARIOUS INTERFERENCES

I have explained this already, and while I wish I could announce the turning of a new leaf... well, I can't. Sadly, there is just generally NOT an abundance of rest to be had around here. If you are coming to visit: BRING EAR PLUGS.
Moving his crib out of our room earlier this month helped for a few nights, but we're back to him waking frequently (on average, every 2 hours... sometimes each hour, sometimes every third). He's not hungry-- it isn't a hungry cry.
Even though I knew this, and even though I'd been aiming to make it all the way to six months before starting any food other than breastmilk, the desire for sleep had me reaching for the rice cereal at 5.5 months, just in case a heavier tummy would help him sleep harder.

Okay, technically, I felt DESPERATE, had no rice cereal, but did have some peas.
I decided to just mash them with a spoon and PUT THEM IN HIM... the way an addled insomniac might shove coin after coin into a machine that promised sleep. Only more maternal-like, I promise. Anyway, you can see how effective the peas were here. That is a link to the video of the feeding-- not the resulting diaper-- don't worry. But for both reasons, I quickly acquired rice cereal.

And now I do give him cereal each night at dinner, but it hasn't made a difference in terms of sleep. I'm not terribly surprised; he just doesn't sound hungry when he's crying over night, and he doesn't act especially hungry either. It's more of a grumpy, awake, uncomfortable, VERY PERSISTENT sort of cry. It also doesn't seem to be a sleep training issue. If it were just a bad habit, I'm certain the efforts I've made to let him cry through it and settle himself would have discouraged it by now. So I'm at a bit of a loss, but going to try to make sure he gets in lots of tummy time now that he's tolerating it a little better, and some stretching. I'll try rubbing his neck and legs and being mindful of what positions he's been in during the day. He just sounds physically uncomfortable. The minute you pick him up when he's crying overnight, he seems ready to fall right to sleep in your arms.

speaking of uncomfortable sleep. ouch.

For the longest time, the eczema seemed to be driving his fitful sleep. And that might still play a role, but while the rash isn't fully resolved, it is leagues better than it was at its worst point.

Yes, this is BETTER. Still an allergy rash, but not the big red rough patches.

By the way, check out the smiley belly button. I wish I had two googly eyes to stick above it.

I am still avoiding all dairy and egg. (Great strides were made when I realized the rice cheese I'd resorted to still had casein in it-- a common allergy-provoking milk protein-- and that I'd been sabotaging my own efforts! Had a good scream about that one!) I tried stretches of leaving out peanut products and my beloved Dr. Zevia drink-- but those efforts had zero impact. I have still been washing his laundry immediately following another load of ours with our clean-rinsing Charlie's Soap, AFTER doing an in-depth sniff test of all available machines to find one that smells only like water, not like standard detergents with fragrances-- even if it requires going to a different laundromat. (Yes, I'm that nut job.) I still avoid all my scented lotions, my aluminum deodorant (which I don't miss at all now that I've found Truly's-- works awesomely, y'all-- sooooo much better than Toms or Kiss My Face or who knows how many other "natural" brands I've tried). I've removed all his latex toys/pacifiers. He has a new jump-up with a cotton seat-- not the plastic-coated material his first one had that made his rash angrier. He's smeared on a regular basis with Alba's un-petroleum jelly, Mustela Stelatopia, and Borage Therapy-- the healthiest alternatives I could find to the paraben-loaded lotions the pediatrician up here recommended. These things have all seemed to help, but it still isn't totally resolved. You can see it in various photos-- sometimes it's more flared up than others.

It's also the culprit behind the red, easily chapped cheeks.

Here's my latest, "breaking" news: As of the last week, I am becoming extremely suspicious that a Vitamin D deficiency has been a major culprit. Our pediatrician in Austin always has pushed the Vitamin D to prevent rickets, but I'm not instinctively a big believer in putting extra stuff into babies... so I did it with Josephine, and some with Clement, but not religiously. But then the doctor up here was very "whatever" about it. He said it wasn't necessary if I was still taking a multi-vitamin. So with that mindset, and because the Vitamin D I had bought was especially tricky to get into Clement's mouth, my efforts had been inconsistent. Now that I've been making him rice cereal each evening, I just drop it in there. Knock on wood-- but this seems to be making a big difference!

cutie PIE.
I swoon daily.

Now, obviously I'll tread lightly in assuming the other things I've been avoiding aren't relevant triggers... but GOSH there are some serious pizza places and Italian restaurants and La Guli cannolis I'd like to enjoy before we leave here... I sure would like to be able to cheat on the diet once in a while!

I look a lot like this in restaurants now, too...

"You mean I can't have that? Or that? Or that?? Maaaan!"

Of course, in case the itching wasn't torment enough, he's battled his fair share of teething already, too. He's gone through several spurts of MAJOR drooling and chewing and pained nursing-- which for him, comes in the form of clawing at my arm and moaning deep and low while nursing (better than Josephine, who was a tugger and biter with lots of stops and starts). He only has one chomper to show for it so far; the bottom, front right tooth came in a few days ago. This morning I could feel the one next to it ready to push through, also. [EDIT: It is now the evening of his 6 month birthday, and that second bottom tooth has officially broken through. If you're reading between the lines, you'll realize this made for a less than pleasant 6 month birthday!] I'm sure teething can probably account for a good number of poorly slept nights, but not 100% of this madness.

So keep his little body in your prayers-- I want him to rest better, more comfortably, LONGER. I'd like whatever it is that's keeping him from sleeping deeply to be resolved.

see? sleeeeeeeeep! so nice!

CHAPTER 4: MISCELLANEOUS SNIPPETS

snippet uno

Clement's first snowfall was up here in Astoria on November 24, technically, though it was light. We had a good bit the next couple days though.

His first Christmas (back in Texas) was also snowy, just like Josephine's first Christmas!

snippet dos

He's progressed from being a bubble-blowing baby into a new realm of fascination with raspberries and lip sucking and sticking out his tongue. The other night he woke up and proceeded to blow raspberries for about 20 minutes before grumping a bit and falling back to sleep. Josephine was never quite so into the raspberries. I find it pretty cute.
Nooot so much in the middle of the night.
But other times.

snippet tres

He's a feet eater. We try to limit him to his own.

"Grandma likes my feet, too!! She's a winner."

snippet cuatro

Home measurements this morning: 17 pounds, 10 ounces (about 55th percentile). 27 inches (about 70th percentile). I'm not surprised that his weight percentile has dropped a bit. If I jumped as much as this boy does each day, I'd burn off everything I ate, too!

snippet cinco

OH, I NEARLY FORGOT. Now this a good snippet... can't believe I almost neglected one MAJOR development!

Clement has a new cry.
If you can even call it that. It is reserved for only the most urgent of communications-- befitting of the following scenarios:

"You set me down at precisely the wrong time." Or other similar claims of brazen abandonment.

"A large insect just bit off my finger. And now it's hiding in my left ear."

"That's IT. It's OVER. My soul is CRUSHED. If this is life, I'll have NONE of it."

"A hyena is in my room and about to eat me."

"Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay/ To mould me Man? Did I solicit thee/ From darkness to promote me?"

"Large flaming asteroid approaching nursery window. T minus seven. Six. Now five. FOUR. Is anyone listening to me?"

It is this forsaken, SHRILL, hoarse, tremolo in a pitch higher than I could achieve if I even WANTED to. And there is more emotion and desperation in two seconds of this cry than the average person experiences in a lifetime. Right now it's pretty cute/funny. When he's two and we're in a grocery store, this is going to ruin my day. So at some point in between I'll need to stop rewarding it, but for now it's a guaranteed way for him to get attention-- even if it's in the form of his parents doubled over in laughter.

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION

How two months worth of growth happened all in 16 days blows my already shattered-to-smithereens mind. Any explanations welcome.
A phenomenal feat, indeed, for a small child to warp time as he has.
(Advice on how to combat this time warping also welcome.)