Ah Ha!

This week Adam made a connection and we both had an "ah ha" moment. 

History:  From the week Austin came home from the hospital he was an amazing sleeper - woke once to feed and then straight back to sleep until morning.  Around 4 months old a switch flipped and his sleep habits were a literal nightmare.  Austin would wake screaming every hour from 9pm to 6am.  Each hour Adam and I would spend 30 minutes soothing him back to sleep.  Many times utilizing high decibels (vacuum cleaner) to silence his screams.  Oh the memories...  (I have honestly forgotten exactly how miserable this time of my life was - lack of sleep does things to your mind).

Recent history:  Earlier this summer Austin had an allergic reaction to watermelon.  This prompted another blood allergy panel testing for fruits.  The results revealed a banana allergy.  Initially I thought it was interesting he was allergic to bananas because he has always expressed a dislike of bananas.  I had previously thought it was a texture issue for him.  But now with these results, I realized that the bananas must make him feel badly - a good reason to refuse to eat them.  Pretty smart that boy of mine!

Now for the real "ah ha" moment.  And, I must give full credit to my wonderful husband for making this connection.  We began mixing bananas into Austin's cereal around 4 months of age.  He was underweight and his doctor recommended adding bananas to his cereal to help him pack on some extra calories.  Now remember it was 4 months old when Austin began having sleep issues.  Could his sleep problems possibly have been caused because his parents were feeding him a food he is allergic to???  I cannot imagine the digestive cramping and other internal reactions his body experienced during that time.  There is no way to prove this but I do believe the bananas could have been the culprit to our sleepless nights.

Aubrey is 2 Months Old

Our baby girl is a whopping 10 pounds, 8 ounces!  That is a 4 pound gain since birth.  She does enjoy her meals!  She is in the 38th percentile for her weight, quite different than her brother who has never been higher on the curve than the 10th percentile.

Aubrey is 22.75 inches long - 63rd percentile in height.  Maybe she will be short like her momma...

She is full of smiles, bubbles and "coos" - we love them all.  Her daily goal is to wear her entire wardrobe in one day - today she scored an 8.  

Not a Baby Anymore

I find myself calling Austin a baby on a regular basis, however the exact opposite is true.  He is no longer a "baby" but a toddler - a full of energy, strong willed, temper throwing TODDLER.  So why is it that I find myself still calling him a baby?

Before Aubrey was born, I was warned that Austin would seem to age overnight.  And indeed he did.  He looks like such a big boy when playing around his sister.  He definitely feels like a big boy when carrying him compared to Aubrey.

Soon after Austin was born, I received advice from fellow mommas.  Many telling me that I would wish back the days of him being a newborn.  I vowed to myself that I would not spend Austin's life reminiscing of his younger years and wishing them back.  But, rather embrace and cherish every moment of his life, as to not miss anything.  I like to believe I am staying true to my vow.  I love the sound of his bare feet pounding the hardwood as he races through the house.  He is learning to talk and expressing his desires and independence.  In the past week, Austin has kicked his binkie habit to the curb...with no resistance, while getting two new teeth.  He is officially growing up.  Soon we will be embarking on the next stage of toddlerhood - potty training.

But yet, Austin is still my baby.  Yesterday I took him for a hearing test.  The final component of his speech evaluation, to rule out hearing loss.  Unfortunately the audiologist had little to no experience with one year olds.  The entire experience was terrifying for Austin and momma too.  As he shook with fear, burying his head into my neck and clinching my body with arms and legs, I realized - he is still and always will be my baby.