Cute Kid Wednesday (because I say it is)
I meant to do a photo dump yesterday, but the day ran away from me. As most days tend to do these days.
I knew two kids would be tricky. I did not realize it was going to be this kind of tricky. If that makes sense, and it probably doesn't unless you also have two kids (or more), in which case, I would berate you for not warning me, except (a) I might not have heard you and (b) you probably didn't have time to do it anyway.
Oh, but first - the REALLY big news is that on Saturday (I think it was Saturday), Charlie rolled over. We were doing Tummy Time, and he sort of pushed himself to his right side, and then hung out there for about ten minutes, and then eventually pushed himself onto his back. And then he did it again, because I wanted to see if it was a fluke. I mean, it might still be a fluke, considering the amount of time it took for him to accomplish it, but hey. I think it counts.
(Which reminds me, I had polls going on Andrew, for when he'd do various things - crawling and walking and all that. With the winner getting either bragging rights, or a drabble. Considering my time constraints at the moment though, it would probably have to be bragging rights if I did it again for Charlie.)
The other big change for Charlie is that we're trying to find the right formula for him. It's nothing super major - I mean, he's not spitting up or refusing to eat entirely, but last week, he started getting some serious colicky symptoms, and becoming majorly fussy when it was time to eat. I mean, he'd start eating and then he'd get all squirmy and complaining - while still eating - and wriggling around, and even if he burped, he'd act as if he still had more gas to pass. (And he was super gassy anyway.) And Charlie's been a good burper from day one - half the time, he'd burp while you rearranged him in order to burp. So that he was having trouble with it - or appearing to - was worrying.
So I called the pediatrician, and she recommended changing the bottles up. Which is super annoying, I had all of Andrew's Born Free glass bottles that I saved, but we moved Charlie to Dr Brown's and it almost instantly solved half the problem - now he's not complaining so much during feeding, and the major gas eruptions have calmed down, so that's all good. (Except that I have to buy new bottles, and that's a whole other story which is probably only complicated by the fact that I'm going about it in the most stubborn way possible.)
Except... now Charlie's constipated, or at least, he has stopped pooping newborn poop, and all weekend long, it was solid, like adult poop, but squishy. Which is just weird. And he's still got tummy issues after feeding, where he's cranky and uncomfortable and all that, and so I called the pediatrician again, and now we're changing up his formula. He was already on Sensitive, and the nurse recommended going to Similac Alimentum (which I have mistakenly been calling Adamantium.)
Bill: Because apparently we are turning Charlie into Wolverine.
Except Alimentium is (a) expensive as all heck, and (b) like, about as extreme as you can get in terms of formula, in terms of hyop-allergetic. And there's about two or three stages between Sensitive and Alimentium that the nurse wasn't recommending. And I asked why (because I do), and she admitted that yeah, we could try those - except she's betting we end up doing Adamantium in the end anyway.
Bill: If we end up with Adamantium, we are dressing Charlie as Wolverine for Halloween.
Typing it out, it seems perfectly sensible. Except when I look at all those formulas in the baby section at the store, and I read the reviews of Alimentium online, where the parents are going on about how their child couldn't tolerate anything, it feels a lot like overkill. I mean - Charlie's drinking the Sensitive, he's growing and gaining weight, he's just uncomfortable and constipated. Giving him Adamantium feels like treating a UTI with Cipro. I mean, yeah, it'll get the job done... but it's Cipro.
So, because I am me (and again, am doing this in the most difficult way possible), I'm trying some of the other versions of Similac first. We started switching to Total Comfort yesterday (which is meant "for babies with discomfort and persistent feeding issues"). (If you have never switched a baby formula - you're supposed to do it in stages, so it's 75/25 the first day, then the second day is 50/50, then the third day is 25/75, so by the fourth day you're all on the new stuff. Today is the 50/50 day with the Total Comfort. So far, it's not horrible. But it's hard to tell.)
Anyway, if the Total Comfort doesn't work, we'll try the Soy version. And then I'll relent and go with Adamantium.
Me: You know, it might be pretty cool if Charlie really was Wolverine.
Bill:
Me:
Bill: You want to equip a baby with three-foot long metal claws?
Me: I MEANT THE HEALING POWERS.
(All the same, Charlie totally has enough hair to pull off Wolverine, don't you think?)
Anyway, I know you're all here for the photos. Here you go.
Andrew is totally obsessed with Charlie's Tummy Time.
(Yes, I do Tummy Time. When I remember. I was much better about it with Andrew.)
They're really very sweet together, though.
I think Andrew enjoys Charlie's Tummy Time more than Charlie.
Which isn't all that surprising, honestly.
Mostly, though, Andrew is turning into a really fantastic older brother.
He LOVES to hold Charlie.
He especially loves cuddling with Charlie. It's adorable, he'll lean in and touch noses with him.
He calls them "The Two Boys", or "The Two Young Boys".
"Momma, what are the two young boys doing?"
"Well, the two young boys are NOT SLEEPING, Andrew, I can tell you that much."
I cannot decide if I like this picture better upright, or on its side.
Mostly, though, I just like the serious expression on Andrew's face.
I knew two kids would be tricky. I did not realize it was going to be this kind of tricky. If that makes sense, and it probably doesn't unless you also have two kids (or more), in which case, I would berate you for not warning me, except (a) I might not have heard you and (b) you probably didn't have time to do it anyway.
Oh, but first - the REALLY big news is that on Saturday (I think it was Saturday), Charlie rolled over. We were doing Tummy Time, and he sort of pushed himself to his right side, and then hung out there for about ten minutes, and then eventually pushed himself onto his back. And then he did it again, because I wanted to see if it was a fluke. I mean, it might still be a fluke, considering the amount of time it took for him to accomplish it, but hey. I think it counts.
(Which reminds me, I had polls going on Andrew, for when he'd do various things - crawling and walking and all that. With the winner getting either bragging rights, or a drabble. Considering my time constraints at the moment though, it would probably have to be bragging rights if I did it again for Charlie.)
The other big change for Charlie is that we're trying to find the right formula for him. It's nothing super major - I mean, he's not spitting up or refusing to eat entirely, but last week, he started getting some serious colicky symptoms, and becoming majorly fussy when it was time to eat. I mean, he'd start eating and then he'd get all squirmy and complaining - while still eating - and wriggling around, and even if he burped, he'd act as if he still had more gas to pass. (And he was super gassy anyway.) And Charlie's been a good burper from day one - half the time, he'd burp while you rearranged him in order to burp. So that he was having trouble with it - or appearing to - was worrying.
So I called the pediatrician, and she recommended changing the bottles up. Which is super annoying, I had all of Andrew's Born Free glass bottles that I saved, but we moved Charlie to Dr Brown's and it almost instantly solved half the problem - now he's not complaining so much during feeding, and the major gas eruptions have calmed down, so that's all good. (Except that I have to buy new bottles, and that's a whole other story which is probably only complicated by the fact that I'm going about it in the most stubborn way possible.)
Except... now Charlie's constipated, or at least, he has stopped pooping newborn poop, and all weekend long, it was solid, like adult poop, but squishy. Which is just weird. And he's still got tummy issues after feeding, where he's cranky and uncomfortable and all that, and so I called the pediatrician again, and now we're changing up his formula. He was already on Sensitive, and the nurse recommended going to Similac Alimentum (which I have mistakenly been calling Adamantium.)
Bill: Because apparently we are turning Charlie into Wolverine.
Except Alimentium is (a) expensive as all heck, and (b) like, about as extreme as you can get in terms of formula, in terms of hyop-allergetic. And there's about two or three stages between Sensitive and Alimentium that the nurse wasn't recommending. And I asked why (because I do), and she admitted that yeah, we could try those - except she's betting we end up doing Adamantium in the end anyway.
Bill: If we end up with Adamantium, we are dressing Charlie as Wolverine for Halloween.
Typing it out, it seems perfectly sensible. Except when I look at all those formulas in the baby section at the store, and I read the reviews of Alimentium online, where the parents are going on about how their child couldn't tolerate anything, it feels a lot like overkill. I mean - Charlie's drinking the Sensitive, he's growing and gaining weight, he's just uncomfortable and constipated. Giving him Adamantium feels like treating a UTI with Cipro. I mean, yeah, it'll get the job done... but it's Cipro.
So, because I am me (and again, am doing this in the most difficult way possible), I'm trying some of the other versions of Similac first. We started switching to Total Comfort yesterday (which is meant "for babies with discomfort and persistent feeding issues"). (If you have never switched a baby formula - you're supposed to do it in stages, so it's 75/25 the first day, then the second day is 50/50, then the third day is 25/75, so by the fourth day you're all on the new stuff. Today is the 50/50 day with the Total Comfort. So far, it's not horrible. But it's hard to tell.)
Anyway, if the Total Comfort doesn't work, we'll try the Soy version. And then I'll relent and go with Adamantium.
Me: You know, it might be pretty cool if Charlie really was Wolverine.
Bill:
Me:
Bill: You want to equip a baby with three-foot long metal claws?
Me: I MEANT THE HEALING POWERS.
(All the same, Charlie totally has enough hair to pull off Wolverine, don't you think?)
Anyway, I know you're all here for the photos. Here you go.
Andrew is totally obsessed with Charlie's Tummy Time.
(Yes, I do Tummy Time. When I remember. I was much better about it with Andrew.)
They're really very sweet together, though.
I think Andrew enjoys Charlie's Tummy Time more than Charlie.
Which isn't all that surprising, honestly.
Mostly, though, Andrew is turning into a really fantastic older brother.
He LOVES to hold Charlie.
He especially loves cuddling with Charlie. It's adorable, he'll lean in and touch noses with him.
He calls them "The Two Boys", or "The Two Young Boys".
"Momma, what are the two young boys doing?"
"Well, the two young boys are NOT SLEEPING, Andrew, I can tell you that much."
I cannot decide if I like this picture better upright, or on its side.
Mostly, though, I just like the serious expression on Andrew's face.
