No more ear infections!

All last week Mateo got to spend time with his grandparents. It was a really great week. He got to meet Grandpa for the first time. I think they all bonded pretty well. It was nice having someone else occupy Mateo for awhile and to have daily adult conversation!

We seemed to be able to fit a lot of activity all in one week. We went to Leesburg to visit Mateo's great great aunt. We had visitors from Port Richey, who are long time family friends that "winter" in Florida. We spent a day touring around Sarasota and Ellenton outlet mall. I found him the CUTEST little suit for church. He looks like such a little man! We had a nice afternoon spent at Downtown Disney. Mateo LOVED the Rainforest Cafe. He got a little scared when all the animals started going crazy, but he had a lot to look at and stimulate his little mind. Grandma and I got to do a little shopping on Saturday and then spent the evening with some good friends of mine and Mel's. Unfortunately, it all came to an end much too quickly. They left yesterday, and now I'm a little sad and pouty...probably will be for the next couple days.

Mateo saw the pediatrician on Wednesday. His ear infection was gone and he passed all the "tests" for his 9 month evaluation. All looks good! However, this week he seems extremely cranky. I think he is getting more teeth in. But he is also touching his ear every now and then also...so I have no idea if he has ANOTHER ear infection, or if the teething is just affecting him. I'll give it a few more days...hopefully the teeth will pop through first....but if it doesn't get better, I guess it'll be back to the doctors to check his ears again. My mom showed me some good points to rub for his ears, but I have a problem with getting Mateo to sit long enough for me to do them. I may have to do it while we're in the car since he can't get away while in his car seat.

Anyway, it was a good week and I can't wait to be able to bring Mateo up to Wisconsin for a visit. Keep praying that all is well with his health and that we don't have another ear infection!

GI Appointment Update

Mateo saw his GI doctor last Thursday. She said everything looks GREAT. The hole that his feeding tube used to come out of has healed up completely. She was surprised that we haven't had any oozing (sorry, sounds gross) from it at all. Sometimes that can happen for a few months following the tube being removed....but its been clean and dry since the day it closed up. She also said Mateo's weight was excellent. He is almost up to 18 pounds. We are to keep doing whatever we are doing to keep him at a healthy weight. Thank goodness the boy likes to eat!

So...we don't see her again until Mateo turns a year old. She wants to help us transition him over to cow's milk. Since he is on the no-dairy diet due to his milk protein intolerance....I just want to make sure everything is good-to-go when it comes to starting him on dairy. I have already bought some baby foods that have dairy in it. I want to break him in easy. It will be nice not to have to buy the special formula on anymore. That stuff is so expensive! Its over $100 for a case of 6 cans...and he goes through 1 can in just a couple of days....we were lucky to find someone willing to give us 36 cans for free b/c her son was no longer on the formula....VERY LUCKY.

Mateo has been learning to wave bye-bye. Its so cute. And he has started putting his lips on my cheek....I think he is giving me kisses. I love watching him learn. I hate that he's growing, simply because I want him to stay my little boy forever....but its so exciting when he figures something out. I can almost see the wheels turning in his head sometimes...he is so intent on learning how to do something. Can't wait for grandma and grandpa to see how big their boy has grown!

Yucky Shots

Mateo got his 2nd to last set of RSV shots yesterday. Poor kid hates going to the doctors office now. He doesn't trust anyone wearing scrubs or a white coat. It seems that lately, every time he goes to the doctor's, he gets shots. Whether its been for vaccinations or his RSV or starting an IV for something. It seems to have gotten out of hand. He was fine while I was holding him, but as soon as they laid him down on the table, he started screaming. She hadn't even poked him yet...he just knew it was coming. And now, he even screams when they check him with the stethescope. However, he did great at the cardiologist's a couple weeks ago. He did great through the EKG and the ECHO.....Iam not looking forward to the days when he doesn't like that either. Tomorrow he sees GI...so no shots...but I have a feeling we won't make it out of there without some tears. He just hates check-ups. Next month is the last month for RSV shots, so I am happy about that, but in April he gets his 1 year old vaccinations....we just can't win. I would love a nice stretch of doctors appointments where he doesn't get any shots. I want to restore some faith in doctors for him instead of always being hurt by them. Its hard for me too....I still tear up every time!

Poor little guy

Mateo gets to see the GI doctor this week for the first time since he had the feeding tube removed. I think that the doctor will be surprised. Mateo is growing so big and eating really well. He has even started on the little puffs from Gerber.

Last night, at church, he was jumping around and playing and he banged his mouth on the pew that was in front of him. He started screaming and I rushed him to the back to avoid being too distracting. When I got back there I looked at his mouth, and sure enough, he was bleeding. I was afraid it was his gums or teeth that were bleeding, but it turns out he just split his lip a little. He was fine a few minutes later and when I got him home I gave him a frozen teething ring to kind of "put some ice" on his little fat lip. Poor kid. He is always falling or doing something to hurt himself. Its almost impossible to keep him from getting hurt during the day...especially now that he's learning to walk and we have tile flooring. Mel said that I need to get used to it because Mateo is a boy...and boys are always getting bumped and bruised. Blah.

We look forward to Mateo's grandparents coming for a visit. Grandpa hasn't even met Mateo yet. Grandma has seen him only a handful of times. That's what happens when you lives states apart. :(

Mateo seems to have recovered from his double ear infection. He is still on the antibiotics, but as of Saturday night, he has been sleeping through the night. No more waking every couple of hours. So I am very happy about that. I kind of had been in fear of never making it to that point! The only bad thing, is that it means my little boy is growing up. That makes me so sad!

Just another day

We saw the pediatrician on Monday and came to find out Mateo has a double ear infection. I guess that would explain his mood and problems he has had lately. I'm glad I know and that its finally getting taken care of. I hate going to the doctors though because I'm always worried that he's going to pick up something (an illness) while he's there. The ped thought that Mateo probably picked up a cold bug or something while at the cardiologists office and then it turned into an ear infection. Grrrr....I hate that. But, he's doing better and finally sleeping better too. So, yay!
The last couple of days, he has developed a sort of "stranger anxiety" I think. I'm not sure. We were at the post office and when Mateo saw a man in line behind us looking at him, he burst into tears and was just sobbing. It was odd because he is the most personable baby I've ever known. Then at church last night, he was in bible class with us and noticed some of the people in class looking at him and he started crying again, really hard. And he did it again 3 times that night whenever a certain man was near him. Mateo just did not like him....which is weird because this man has held him many times before at church. So, I don't know what's going on with that. I'm sure he'll get over it, I just feel bad whenever he bursts into tears like that.

He saw the physical therapist again yesterday and she is just So impressed with Mateo's development ever since he got his feeding tube removed. He has learned so quickly and she expects him to be walking very soon.

Next week, we have the first GI appointment since having the feeding tube removed, so we'll see what happens there. I need to find out if I can start introducing dairy into his diet....we found out he had a milk protein intolerance, so he's been off of milk since July and that special formula is getting expensive. Hopefully, he can handle it by now!

Mateo's sleepless days and nights

Mateo is still teething....at least, that's the only conclusion I can come up with for all the crankiness. Either that, or he is going through a really rough phase right now. He will not sleep on his own. I'm so exhausted! He will NOT take his naps like he is supposed to. He absolutely refuses and fights sleep. I don't know if something is bothering him or if he just doesn't want to miss out on anything. He used to take two naps a day...each about an hour long. Now, I'm lucky if he takes even ONE nap. And if he manages to fall asleep, its only 20-30 min long. So he is extremely cranky all day long. Yesterday was the worst. He fell asleep in the car after lunch and I was able to get him into his crib...where he woke up 20 min later. He wouldn't go down for a nap after that. He was exhausted...red, swollen eyes and as cranky as can be, but he wouldn't sleep. He cried for about an hour and I just didn't know what to do. Lately, the only way we can get him to sleep is by riding around in the car with him.
Then, he wakes up a lot at night. Now, I know he is getting his top teeth in....but does that really cause this much sleeplessness? I don't know. Last night was rough. We got home late (at a Superbowl party) and I got him from the car to his crib asleep, but as soon as he touched the mattress, he woke up and started screaming. As long as I was holding him, he was fine and drifing to sleep...but as soon as I put him down, he started screaming like it was hurting him. It scares me. I never know what is normal. I never know if its heart related or not and I worry all the time that something is wrong.

So either his teeth are really bothering him, or he just wants to be held all the time. I don't know. Finally, after an hour of fighting with him to get him to sleep, I gave him some Motrin (in case he was in pain) and he slept the entire night through. Didn't even wake up once. Of course, I didn't sleep. Its so out-of-the-ordinary for him to sleep through the night, that it keeps me awake because I'm worrying that something is wrong and I have to keep getting up to check on him. So its a lose-lose situation for me. Oh well...I know "this too shall pass"......its just really hard to know when something serious is happening and when its just run-of-the-mill baby stuff. I will be very happy when those teeth pop out!