Month 1-Part 2

Nate. Where do I start? The transition has been a difficult one for him. He was never good at sharing Mommy and Daddy's attention and so having this little creature around ALL the time has not been easy for him. He throws several more fits a day and will do things he knows are naughty just to get the attention. He doesn't seem very interested in Maddie most of the time, but every now and then will go over to check her out (looking at her feet or poking her ear-he thinks this is funny). He wants to sit on the lap of whoever has the baby and if we hand the baby off so he can sit on our lap then he no longer wants to.

I think he is going to be a good big brother. Recently he has looks of concern when she cries. He has gone over to her and rubbed her head or tried to put the pacifier back in her mouth. I think as they both get older it is going to be awesome to see them play together and to watch him look out for his little sister.

We went back to the allergist for a follow-up visit. Kind of a waste of time. I told him that I felt food was not the cause and he didn't really have much to say, except that it's hard to rule it out because there could be several variables. We won't be going back. Nate's skin seems to cycle, and he'll have flare ups and then it will get better, but never completely clears up. Right now it's not too bad and he's not itching quite as much but we are still going to see a dermatologist as the next step. When it does flare up it is horrible. He can't take baths because it hurts and diaper changes are torture and he'll itch until he's raw. So if we can get some advice and maybe different creams to use during flare ups that will help a lot.

He's still working on those back molars. I swear it's been several months and they're still not poking through the gums (I checked last night just to get my finger chopped on, which resulted in a lovely blood blister). So he is gnawing on everything and a drooly mess. Lots of new things with Nate in the last week or so. He can now climb out of his crib but has only done it a couple of times and doesn't climb out at bedtime (thank goodness!). Not sure why, especially on nights he does not want to go to bed, but am extremely grateful that he is still staying in there, nice and confined. He has started chewing through his pacifiers so yesterday I stopped the paci during the day and just for use at sleepy times. We are also getting ready to move him to his big boy bed, probably this weekend. He also has learned how to open the patio door. This makes for great fun when I'm breastfeeding and he decides to make a great escape to the yard. Luckily it's fenced and the pool is empty so he doesn't get into too much trouble. I can usually finish up feeding her and watch him out the window.

He is working on feeding himself with utensils, but is still a work in progress. He says uh-oh all day for pretty much everything. He also started saying "all gone" and "poo-poo" (of course not to tell me he has to or even that he's gone, but just when I'm changing Maddie's poopy diaper) and baby. And of course, he's still into and on everything. He is an exhausting little, er big bundle of energy.