Thursday August 17th

Sweet baby Griffith had a follow-up visit with the pediatrician. He is gaining weight -- 5 pounds 6.5 ounces today. That was the good news. The bad news is that he had to get vaccinated -- 3 shots in his little, bitty thighs. He was absolutely furious at the ugly turn that events took and has yet another nurse to add to his list of people who will receive their comeuppance some day. Fortunately for her there are a lot of folks on the list ahead of her. He's done pretty well with it. We dosed him with Tylenol before and after and he has slept most of the day. Gathering strength for being up all night unless I miss my guess.
They continue to pester poor Allan. And then complain because he is too worn out to eat. Honestly, it is enough to make me want to scream. So far we have had a barium swallow, vaccines (3), hearing tests (3), an IV stick, an eye exam and an MRI. I'm not entirely sure when he is supposed to be gathering his strength but it seems to me that that's all a bit much. The only silver lining that I can identify is that after all of this there really isn't any reason to continue to bother my son. So maybe he'll get a few days to rest, recuperate and reconsider bottle-feeding.

Another day older

Another big day all around. Allan is having a hearing test. Don't ask me how they test hearing in a baby (raise your hand if you hear a sound?), but that's what they are doing apparently. He is feeling better since his vaccinations and has eaten some from the bottle since then. Honestly, I think that the poor little fellow just doesn't have the strength yet to eat from the bottle every time. Some times it is just easier to let someone else do it.
Griffith continues his streak of sleeping through his walks. We went this morning since I thought he might be a little more alert then. No dice. It was loud and bright outside and we were bumping along rough sidewalk (the umbrella stroller has no shocks on it), but it didn't matter. He didn't stir for the hour that we walked. We did go out on the back deck after lunch because he was so wide awake and he seemed to think that was pretty cool. He was especially interested in the sunlight/shadows made by the light through the leaves. We go back to the pediatrician tomorrow to get his 4 month shots and to check on how he is growing. I don't know about the rest of him but his fingernails have gotten quite long and he has scratched himself twice on the face. I am hesitant to trim them but he's going to turn in to Howard Hughes if I don't. This is definitely a project to be tackled while he is asleep.

Hard-headed Allan

Allan holding his breath and refusing to eat from his bottle.

Hello, Alissa!

Allan on Sunday with Alissa. He was playing possum with Jennifer and me, but as soon as Alissa came over and started talking to him, he only had eyes for her.

Just a-swingin'

Griffith in his swing. He saw the fish mobile on it for the first time today.

Griffith - back from the big walk

Griffith in the baby blue stroller after our long walk this morning. He slept through it. Again.

Poor Allan got his 4 month vaccines yesterday and felt puny all night long. There had been some talk of using "tough love" to try to get him to start taking the bottle regularly, but no one had the heart to start that with him feeling poorly. So he had another pretty good day. He's a big boy these days -- 8 pounds 4 ounces. I took in his bouncey seat tonight. He may well decide that now is the time to take an interest in the outside world just like his brother.
Griffith seems to be adapting to life on the outside. He kept his dad up from a little before three until about 4 or so. The middle of the night continues to be his happy time. Not so much for Jay. He should sleep well tonight because we had a pretty busy day. In addition to his customary supervision of my cleaning of bottles, loading of dishwasher, doing and folding of laundry, Griffith and I took a walk in his baby blue umbrella stroller. He's as cute as a button and made even more so by the fact that I have to pile up receiving blankets in the bottom of the stroller to keep him from sliding out of it. Once again I was excited about how interesting he would fine the great out of doors. Once again he fell asleep immediately and didn't see any thing other than the inside of his eyelids. He sat in the stroller and watched as I did some gardening. Then we came in and took a bath and did our stretching exercises. Then, in order to make sure that he is well-rounded, we watched part of The Sting. This is designed to balance out The Gilmore Girls and Project Runway. We may start watching Sportscenter in the mornings just to get our fill of testosterone.

Happy birthday, boys!

Sorry for the late post. Things have been a little hectic around here. (Don't laugh! Griffith requires an amount of attention that is completely out of proportion to his size.) He had a good weekend. Since this was the end of Grandma and Grampy's trip, there was quite a lot of holding and picture-taking going on. We had our first trip in the big double stroller on Saturday afternoon. I would like to say that he was very impressed with the trip around the neighborhood, but he mostly slept. A feat he repeated when I took him for his second walk this afternoon. The down side is that he really doesn't seem to be taking advantage of the lovely expensive stroller. The up side is that we know what to do when he won't quit crying. He's working really hard to get his fingers in his mouth and I am looking forward to the day that he does because that will totally solve the middle of the night search for the lost pacifier. (Okay, maybe not, but a girl has to dream.)
Allan is still hit-or-miss on the bottle-feedings and there really doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to why he will suck it dry one time and then refuse to do it the next. They did a barium swallow on him today to see if he has reflux that may be causing him difficulty eating but it doesn't look like that is the source of the problem. If he doesn't have any physical impediment to eating, then it looks like they are going to do a little "tough love" and let him get hungry and see if that won't pique his interest in the bottles. I hate to think of it, but it may be the way to get him to step up to the plate.
Today after a nice visit with both boys (who are four months old today!), Grandma and Grampy have headed off for home. It has been really nice to have extra hands for holding babies, but it is going to take me weeks to straighten the boys out (parking lot NOT car park! Momma NOT Mum!) but I have high hopes that I am up to the task.