Happy Cinco de Mayo

Special prayer request...Hunter is getting surgery tomorrow. He is getting a skin tag removed on his ear. The "core" of the tag is actually inner ear. They have to remove the core or else the tag will continue to regrow and get bigger and bigger. His skin tag is not attached to any nerves, ear drum, etc...so this is just cosmetic. Considering skin tags grow as the baby grows....the scar will be smaller the younger the baby is upon removal. Right now, the skin tag is about the size of a "large pen dot"...so it's pretty small. We have a GREAT pediatric-plastic surgeon! He has been around a long time. His experience and credentials are impressive. My pediatrician (whom I LOVE) used him for her sons surgery.

Hunter is 7.5 months old, and I officially feel like I no longer have a "baby!" He is growing into a "big boy" with a big personality! He is really communicating, in his own form....only Mommy understands his "language!" He has his own words/sounds that he consistently makes at certain things and situations. I know when he is excited to see someone, wants to go to sleep, wants more food, wants to be left alone, wants to play with Zoe or Bentley, wants a certain toy, wants a hug, and I can even tell if he is comfortable in the clothes he's wearing...no joke! His babbles, sounds, facial expressions, and body language is all very expressive...and all together is how is communicates, and believe me, he gets his point across!! 

His favorite toy is his pacifier! He holds it in his mouth in all different ways. I can't believe how many hours of entertainment this tiny piece of rubber has provided! He also sucks his bottom lip. He looks so cute when he does this. It always makes me laugh. This is a pretty new thing, and it doesn't look like this new habit is going anywhere anytime soon!

Sooo happy to report that we have totally eliminated the 'top-off' feeding. Scott and I used to give Hunter 2 oz. around 10:00pm. We didn't wake him, we would just slightly lean him up in his crib and 'top him off!' We felt this helped him sleep until 7am.  We slowly weaned him over the past 2 months. One week, we would go down to 1.75 oz, then 1.5, then 1.25....you get the picture.  Last week, we used .25 oz and he slept great all night. So, last Thursday we totally skipped the 'top-off'...and waa-laa...the weaning worked! Not one shed tear...he did great!

This may be T.M.I....but, sad to report that we have experienced our first bought of constipation! Wowzer, that was not fun to watch! All is fine and great now, but he was in pain...red faced, deep grunts, screeching cry, etc. It lasted about 2 days before I went to the doctor. She decided we try "all natural" remedies, which TOTALLY worked!! I switched to baby oatmeal, rather than rice cereal. I gave him 2 oz of warm prune juice (diluted with 2 oz of water)/ twice a day. Along with one can of prune baby food for dinner, along with 1 ounce of prune juice in his nighttime bottle. I did this for 2 days...and let's just say, that he feels GREAT! I am going to keep using baby oatmeal and also going to incorporate a can of prune baby food daily or every other day...just to "keep things movin!" I have also discovered that he "goes the bathroom" almost every time he is in his excersaucer for at least 10 minutes. So, that is also part of our routine....10-15 minutes of excersaucer time before morning nap...works like a charm! ;-)

On my way to a Cinco-De-Mayo play date...this one's for the moms!! Quesadillas and margaritas! Have a good day, and I hope you get to "kick back and have a cold one!" Cheers!