17 Months Old...

Wow... only a couple more weeks until Colin has been with us a whole year and a half!  As of the 16th he is 17 months old! I think he weighs around 30.5 lbs and I'm not sure on his height.  He has his next check up next month.  He still isn't talking much and it doesn't look like he will be talking much more than he is now by 18 months.  Hopefully the doctor will have some insight as to why.  He understands a lot though. 

Colin still loves to watch TV and he watches his favorite shows most days.  He has a few favorite episodes that we recorded because he laughs super hard at them.  I love to see him laugh.  My day is complete if I know he is happy.  He started walking on his toes when he's being silly.  He will tip-toe around the apartment and giggle.  A behavior that we have not been able to eliminate yet is his head banging.  When he is upset he will bang his forehead on a piece of furniture or on the ground.  Not hard, but enough to leave a red mark.  He doesn't do it as much as he was, so that's reassuring.  I know most babies go through this phase.  He still really likes to climb and stand on things.  I let him climb onto the chairs outside and look over the wall.  He loves it.  And of course he still loves Mr. Monkey.  :-)     Colin likes to walk up and down the stairs outside while holding my hand.  We don't have stairs inside, so he's not exposed to them all the time.  A few days ago we were outside and he took off up the stairs all on his own!  He held onto the bars and carefully stepped up the stairs!  It was the first time he did it without having to hold my hand.  I was so proud of him.

I think our nights with a 7 o'clock bedtime are over.  Colin has been going to bed around 8 now.  But the goofball still wakes up at 7!  So we lose an hour of quiet time at night, but don't get that hour to sleep in the next morning! haha  It's ok though.  He's so sweet and fun to be around, I can't complain.  Even going to bed at 8 he sits in his crib for a while playing and talking before he lays down and falls asleep.  <3

We have been going to the pool a lot, but Colin prefers to go to splash parks.  There is one in Allen that we are going to try out.  He is so independent and loves to run off and play.  He will go right up to other kids and try to play with them. 

:-)

Diaper Rash and Eczema

Diaper Rash

Colin has had a diaper rash almost his whole life.  It wasn't always bad, and sometimes it didn't even bother him.  It would clear up completely, but would be back a few days later.  I noticed that his little bum was affected by only some of his poo.  I could tell because when I would change his diaper, it would be red only in the places that the poo was touching.  While other times, I would wipe his bum and there wouldn't be any redness at all.  It had nothing to do with how often I changed his diaper.  If he pooed, I would change it immediately and some of the poo would still burn his poor bum.  I guess Colin started to associate a diaper change with pain, so every time we came close to his changing table, he would start to cry and try to wiggle out of my arms.  It's very hard to change a diaper when your child won't stop kicking and screaming.  It was to the point that he would even do this when his rash was gone.  I began using a wet washcloth instead of wipes for some of his rashes because his skin was so raw.  He is allowed to be in the buff for a little bit after his baths to let it air out.  We knew that certain foods would affect him.  He can't eat strawberries... and he LOVES strawberries. Unfortunetly they are either too acidic for him, or he has a slight allergy.  The rashes were so stubborn and even if I put cream on them every diaper change, they would still flare up most times he pooed.  My poor boy.  And the doctor just keeps telling me to put the cream on it....

Eczema

Another thing that has been flaring up is Colin's Eczema.  He had it on his arms when he was a few months old.  After putting medicated lotion on it every day, it completely cleared up.  Several months ago he began to develop some on his left ankle, which began to spread up his leg.  The doctor described it as a "dry skin rash."  I did the same thing as I did before and put lotion on it every day.  It just kept getting worse.  It became so red and inflamed I thought it was going to bleed.  Not to mention it itches, so he was creating sores by scratching it.  I started putting the lotion on the rash every diaper change and right before bed.  It helped a little by keeping it from getting any worse but it never looked like it was going to go away. 

The Cure!

Kevin was concerned about the diaper rash and started brainstorming about what might be causing it.  Yes, diaper rashes are normal, but not when they are consistent.  Since it seems to always be present, it had to be caused by something he ate every day.  We wanted to remove something from his diet for a few days and see if the diaper rash would start to clear up.  If it didn't, we would know it was something else causing it.  He has a cup of juice at meal times, so we decided to  start with that and switch him to water all day and take juice completely out of his diet.  Within 24 hours I noticed his poos were not burning his bum at all and his current rash was starting to get better.  It was amazing!  Now, about a week later, his bum is almost completely clear!  And to top it off, he no longer cries at diaper changes!!  It gets better, his Eczema is also clearing up!  I'm only putting lotion on it twice a day now and its about 80% better already.  There is something in the mixed berry and tropic punch juices that Colin's poor little body can't handle.   It makes sense, we know that the strawberries affected him, so there must be other berries that he can't have as well. We didn't even put two and two together that the diaper rash and Eczema could be cause by the same thing.  By figuring out what was causing the diaper rash, we figured out the cause of his Eczema also!  I should have known the Eczema was caused by some kind of food allergy because I remember my friend Kelsey telling me back in November that her son's Eczema would get worse depending on the things he ate. 

So we are very grateful that our sweet little man is on the mend!  It's awful when your child is in discomfort and you can't figure out why and how to help him.  I'm sad that he can't have juice, because it is one of the things he loves.  But I think he would rather drink water and have clear skin and bum, then drink juice and be miserable!  Once everything is completely cleared up we are going to try giving him a little apple juice with dinner.  But if his bum burns from it, we will have to stop.  Hopefully it is just the berries that are causing it and the apple juice won't affect him.  :-)

Summer Time

We are enjoying our summer!  Colin is so hot natured (duh, like his daddy) that he gets all hot and sweaty shortly after we go outside.  Doesn't stop him though.  He LOVES to be outside and usually throws a fit when it's time to go in.  He starting saying "ut oh."  Except I don't think it's quite in the right context all the time.  He points all the time now and when he dances, he spins in a circle.  He also spins in a circle just for the heck of it and gets dizzy and falls over.  He runs all over the apartmen and likes to walk backwards and run into everything!  He has really mastered climbing now too.  He climbs outside onto the chairs and looks out over the wall.  He will stand there for a while watching all the cars go by.  He said "mommy" instead of just "mama" the other day!  Made me smile!

Colin stills hates getting his diaper changed and if I tell him that's what I'm going to do he will run from me and throw himself on the ground.  He went through a phase a few weeks ago where he didn't want to eat or take a bath.  Two of his favorite things!  He is starting to get over that now.  Thank goodness!  He's very independent.  We went to the pool with April Rice and her kids last Thursday.  The pool has a splash area and Colin LOVED it.  He played in the water and ran around looking at everything.  It was really cute.  He didn't even care if I was there.  He's gotten to where he really likes other kids.  Mainly older girls.  He goes up to them and puts his face in theirs and "talks" to them.  It's really cute and the girls are usually pretty nice to him when he does that. 

Colin is getting so tall.  He has grown out of most of his 12 month clothes.  Some of his 18 month clothes are getting a small.  It's crazy that I can't see him grow until he grows out of something.  That's when I realize he's taller.  His legs are still a little bowed, but are getting straighter.  I think his right leg is slightly straighter than his left.  I've noticed when he walks that his right foot hits flat on the floor while his weight is still being put on the outside of his left foot.  I'm not concerned about it yet because he walks and runs just fine.  Apparently no one else can really notice it, but I will bring it up at his 18 month appointment if I have to. 

A few weeks ago I cut Colin's hair. It looked really cute.  I left it shaggy on top, and trimmed up the sides and back.  The next day I saw a little spot that needed to be slightly shorter.  I grabbed the trimmer and apparently I forgot to check the guard because I buzzed off all his hair in that one spot!  I had to shave his whole head!  It wasn't all the way down to his scalp, but still WAY shorter than I wanted it! It's finally growing back out.  He looked really grown up though, but I don't ever want it that short again.

Well, it looks like thats it for now.  Hopefully I won't go so long between now and our next update!

Looking at Daddy's phone!

Playing with Gamma!

Loves playing in the pool.

Hanging out with Uncle Josh.

Playing in the sandbox with Auggie at Jenna and Fredy's baby shower.

He's gotten so good at using his fork!

15 Month Check Up

Friday (5/18) was a good day! We had Colin's 15 month check up in the morning.  He weighs 30 lbs 1 oz, he's 32.5 in tall and his head is 19.3 in!  He's a big boy still and in the 90-97 percentile for everything!  He had 3 shots, but was fine once I gave him some Gold Fish.  :-)  Then we headed over to Uncle Josh's apartment to meet up with him, his girlfriend Courtney, and Gamma for lunch.  We had a lot of fun.  I really enjoy seeing Colin with family.    While at Josh's apartment, Colin played with Josh's pet rats.  They both loved Colin.  Even one that never comes out to see people came out on her own to check him out.  Colin loved it!  He's been in such a great mood the past few weeks and sleeping really well.  I think 15 months is a good age for him.  I just hope this good attitude lasts for a while!! 

Opening the blinds

Knock knock!!

Spinning the Dr. stool!

After his shots..

Gold Fish make everything better!

Dr wore him out!

Colin LOVED Uncle Josh's rats!

15 Months Old!

15 Months Old
It has been 15 months since our little baby boy was born!!  And 2 YEARS since we became pregnant!  It's so crazy to think how fast time is flying by.  It's amazing how he's only been in our lives for a short time, but it's like every moment before he was born was just a dream.  It's hard to imagine our lives without him now. 

Allergies
I think Colin may have some seasonal allergies.  His nose has been a bit runny lately, but not sick-runny.  He may have a slight allergy to strawberries as well.  I'm not sure though because his skin doesn't break out around his mouth, he just gets a diaper rash.  Hopefully it is just that they are a little acidic.  He can have one and he's fine, but if I give him several, they burn his little bum.  His nose has also been a little runny at night time because he has 3 molars cutting right now.  He's been pretty calm with it until the last few nights.  Nothing a little Tylenol doesn't help though!  :-) 

Current Events
One of his favorite things to do right now is put the caps on his cups.  He will set the cup down, and put the cap on when he's done.  He likes to be helpful!  I was cleaning the patio doors the other day and he grabbed the paper towel from me and started wiping the window like I was!  He also likes to help me feed Diesel.  Even if he does it one nugget at a time! 

Yesterday my mom came over and when I put Colin's car seat in the car, I decided to let him sit forward since we weren't going far.  I know a lot of people face their children forward at 12 months or 20 pounds, but all the recommendations now say they should stay rear facing until they are 24 months or 35 pounds.  Anyway, I put him in it forward and he LOVED it!  He was smiling and happy and kept trying to get our attention.  I think I may go ahead and switch him to front facing in our car now.  He's about 30 pounds and tall.  So I really think he will be OK.

Finally, about a month ago we weaned Colin completely off formula.  We slowly weaned him because he was so picky at first.  We were down to 1 oz formula in 7 oz of whole milk when we tried a cup of just milk and he drank it all.  It's SO much cheaper!  He's still picky about it needing to be warm though. He will NOT drink it cold! lol

Once we run out of the size 4 diapers we have now we are going to buy size 5 diapers.  Size 5 diapers are for children who weigh 27 lbs and up, so they should fit him very well!  :-)  I need to start buying new jammy's for him as well.  He has grown out of all his 12 month pj's, and fits perfectly in his 18 month jammy's, so I guess I need to buy some 24 month ones.  His legs are short though, so in regular clothes, he can still wear some 12 month pants, but he needs 18-24 month tops! 

Well, I think that's everything!  Colin has his 15 month appointment on Friday morning, so I'm sure I'll update again then!

Mom and Josh on Mother's Day

Trying to open the door with his keys!

Bumbo was out so I could take it down to he garage and guess who found it??

Mothers Day!

Sitting forward in his car seat and eating emergency fries!