The Adventures Continue

I have to say that little Christopher is about the cutest thing in the world! After a recent beach trip we learned that he loves sand. He is a real crab! He crawls around, much like a little sand crab. He leaves a trail just like a little baby sea turtle! LOVE him!

Another wonderful milestone hit - he's talking. Not your typical 10 month babble, either! He has WORDS. He picks up a new word every day. Today he is working on baby. Yesterday - bird. Saturday was "boo!" So we have mama, dada, baba, boo, bird, baby, bye-bye, all done, and maybe one or two others I can't remember now. Awesome, huh?! I am teaching sign language, too. We are working on: more, up, all done,   and a few others. I kinda think he will pick up the word before the sign. This is all very shocking to me, having had one non-verbal child!

Birthday Boy!!!

Happy Birthday, My Sweet One!

I cannot believe that Christopher is actually turning one on Monday. Just yesterday, we were looking at all 3 pounds of him in the NICU. Today he is crawling at lightning speed and cruising around the furniture like a pro. He has words - mama, dada, byebye, ba-ba, and he makes the greatest car sounds ever. He pitches fits just like a big boy and idolizes his brother. He still cuddles up next to me when he wants his ba-ba, so I have moments of baby time with my little cutie. We are looking forward to his celebration tomorrow. It will be lovely, just family, friends and my sweet boy.

Mac N Cheese and Brownies

Christopher has found new joy in food. He recently discovered the excitement of peas and carrots. He savors each bite of Annie's Organic Rice Flour Mac 'n Cheese. He squishes each morsel of green bean in his chubby little fingers. He didn't know what to think about Betty Crocker's GF Browines. But this makes mommy happy, because she loves them and she doesn't mind sharing them with him. :)

Planning for his party

I cannot believe that my baby is turning ONE in a week and a half! I have a lot of planning to do. I need to come up with a menu and start trying gluten-free cake mixes for his smash cake. Anyone have a favorite mix? I am willing to take suggestions!

Bell Center, here we come

We are turning in Christopher's application for the Bell Center. He needs help with his feeding issues. He gags on almost everything. He might not even be choking at all - the food just gets on a place on his tongue that makes him uncomfortable. It's getting out of hand and he needs oral motor help. I am hoping that they can give him the help he needs to overcome his eating issues. Poor baby gagged on baby food today because it had chunks in it... Silly boy.

Happy Mother's Day to ME!

Paul and I took the boys to eat at Golden Rule tonight for dinner. Before I left the house, I grabbed a jar of Beech Nut Corn Pudding and a baby spoon. I tossed it in the diaper bag, never dreaming that my child would even open his mouth and take a bite. He has an issue with spoons - he won't let me feed him. I don't know if it's a power issue or if he has associated food with pain and throwing up. Anyway... We sat down at the table and I opened that jar of food and you wouldn't know how surprised I was when the child opened up his mouth and took a bite! And he didn't gag! And HE ATE THE ENTIRE 4 OUNCE JAR! THENHEDIDNOTTHROWITUP!!!!!!! I am not sure if you can tell or not, but this was so major for me. It was major for him, too. When we got home he played a few minutes and I made him a 4 ounce bottle for bedtime, fully expecting him to refuse it. BY GOLLY HE DID NOT - HE DRANK IT!

Happy Mother's Day to ME!!!!

Cook Books

Thanks to Aunt Libby, we now have some fabulous ideas for our menu at home - straight from the pages of a few cookbooks that she has let us borrow. Christopher's cousin, Laura, has Lyme Disease. She also follows a GF diet! Woohoo!!!

Grocery Shopping

Gluten Free (GF) foods have become my new obsession. I love Whole Foods because they are so into the special needs eater. I kinda figured that they were our best bet for all things GF. With a little help from our friends, we have also found a great selection at Organic Harvest. It's such a great place and guess what - the owner is a fellow Celiac! That makes me smile! We are in good company!

14 pounds, 11 months old

We're preparing for Christopher's birthday and having appointments as usual. Dr. K is very concerned at why Christopher is not gaining when I am packing calories into his bottles. By my calculations, he is getting close to, if not more than, 200 calories in each 5 oz bottle. This baby should be a Sumo wrestler. He should have fat rolls all over his body. However, in 3 weeks time, he hasn't gained one ounce! He still measures at about 26 inches. WAY off the chart for a near one year old.

 Dr. K orders a repeat ultrasound and something new - a EGD. He wants to do a scope. With biopsy.

The appointment is made for each. We are relieved when the ultrasound shows nothing. Nothing is good, but we need answers.

On scope day I am worried that we will find nothing here, as well. Nervously I pass off my itty bitty baby and wait the 15 minutes for the doctor to come in and share his findings.

Dr K is back in the room in no time with pictures to share. The esophagus showed classic signs of reflux - which we knew about. His stomach looked normal - good news there. However, his intestines showed classic signs of celiac disease. The tiny villi that are supposed to line the intestine and carry nutrients to his body are not there. The intestine is flat and white. We must wait 2 weeks for the biopsy results, but Dr K urges us to go ahead and start a gluten free diet. I am SO relieved to know - some clue into his vomiting, stinky and loose diapers and very slow weight gain and growth. And this begins our story with our CELIAC BABY.

Still tiny....

As the weeks and months went by, we cheered any weight gain in our little boy. Getting to 12 pounds made me want to throw a party! However, at each weight check, the pediatrician scratched her head and looked a little more concerned as time passed. Why was he having such a hard time with weight gain? We increased the scoops in each bottle. We saw Dr K who gave us a can of DuoCal to add fat and calories. Increase? Yes. Enough? No.

I need answers! Why is he throwing up? Why is he refusing the spoon? Why won't he grow when he is able to do such awesome physical things - like walking - he's starting to cruise! Let me back up... the vomiting. I don't think I made that clear enough. I never dreamed that I would ever become used to being puked on. All over my clothes, his clothes, our furniture, our floors... this baby had become a champ at gagging and throwing up. For weeks - months, really - he had been throwing up once or twice a day. WHY???