Update on Shirley!

Shirley is doing so well now. I am very happy to be done nursing. he takes a bottle now and sleeps through the night again. The first night I stopped nursing him he threw a 2 1/2 hour fit. The second night it only lasted an hour and the third he slept through the night. He loves dogs (too bad he is actually allergic to them). I bought him Bolt from the Disney store a couple of months ago and he loves it. He even sleeps with him.


I used o give him his nebulizer treatments (morning and night) while I nursed but I had to find a new way because he hated sitting still for it and he especially hated the mask. We discovered he LOVES The Wiggles, so I put that on and I hold him and he will let me put on the mask and he leaves it on while he watches.  The second picture is of me trying to give him the treatment before I figured out about The Wiggles.  It looks like he is cooperating but that is only because Gil was entertaining him (which he couldn't always do).


He is eating well now, too. We have a pretty good number of foods he can eat and we only feed him those foods. For a treat he gets marshmallows. He loves marshmallows. If he is ever grumpy all I have to do is offer him marshmallows or to put The Wiggles on and he cheers right up.


Yesterday, he discovered dirt. He really enjoys playing in it. I don't enjoy it so much. He brought a bunch of it inside today. Oh, well. I know I shouldn't worry about a little dirt. Of course, the dirtier he gets, the more I will have to bathe him. I only give him a bath once a week, unless he needs another one, because of his eczema. The water dries out his skin and when his legs and feet are uncovered he scratches them, even in the bath. I had to start putting tights on him (with the feet cut off) during the day to keep him from scratching behind his knees and causing them to bleed. I also have to keep socks on him at all times because his ankles, especially his right, have the worst eczema. Back to playing in the dirt. I gave him a bath tonight because of it. He sure does love taking baths.


He is almost 17 months old and it is such a fun age. He loves teasing Rilla and testing his limits. He communicates very well. We are working on him using words for things instead of screaming or yelling. It is working pretty well. He must be going through a growth spurt because he is eating so much lately. He is on a special formula called Neocate. It is an amino acid based food suppliment. It tastes awful and he wouldn't drink it at first. I had to start small. I started by putting half a scoop in diluted juice (half water half apple juice) and slowly increase the amount. I am up to 2 1/2 scoops (in 6 oz). I feel better that he is getting the extra nutrients that he probably is not getting on the few foods he is able to eat.


He loves his brothers and sisters and his Daddy. He especially loves it when Gil gets home from work. This is a picture of Gil trying to do push-ups during his lunch break (yes, he is wearing a backpack with weights in it- he does like a thousand of them a day).

But at the end of the day, I have to admit, he is a Mamma's Boy.  He prefers me most of the time.  I don't mind most of the time.  I know it won't always be that way and then I will miss it.