Monday, January 19, 2009

Axl is 4 months old today!

1 month old 10/19/2008
2 months old 11/19/2008
3 months old 12/19/2008
4 months old 1/19/2009
I can't believe it's time to post bear pictures again! This month has definitely flown by. Axl experienced his first Christmas season and attended his first New Years party! :)

I think anyone who has held Axl has noticed his affinity for arching his back. I was somewhat concerned about this and brought it up to the doctor. At this point, his 2 month appointment, they found an issue of his head lagging when pulled up to sitting position. I assumed that meant the issues were connected. So the next appointment was scheduled for 4 months, but they told me that if the issues hadn't resolved in a month to come back. We worked on it a lot, but the lagging issue was still just as bad in a month, so I called and made an appointment. Of course about 2 days later, before the appointment, he was lifting his head like a champ! The arching issue was still just as bad, though, so I kept the appointment determined to make the doctor understand what I was talking about. We went in and they told me how much better his muscle tone was and that everything looked great. I asked her to pick up Axl like a normal person and not an inspecting doctor and immediately she said, "oh...now I see what you mean". She told me she would do some research but that she wasn't very concerned because everything else in his development looked perfect. The next day she called me and said she had been speaking with some of her friends and that with my permission they wanted to prescribe Zantac in order to rule out reflux. Babies with this problem will arch like Axl, but usually episodically and not all the time. I was game considering I took Zantac just about every day of my pregnancy. :) She said that she didn't expect that it would make a change but they wanted to rule it out before sending him to the neurologist (This made me very nervous). So we picked up the Zantac and the day he started it, it was like he was in a different body! The arching problem had previously prevented anyone from holding him chest to chest and would completely prevent him from sitting in the Bumbo seat because he wouldn't bend at the waist without really crying--he will now do both of these things very comfortably, smiling and laughing all the while! He is supposed to go in to see Dr. Bright/Wiglesworth on Wednesday to determine if he still needs to see the neurologist on Thursday. I suspect he will definitely not need to go! But now we have a new problem...it seems the Zantac is giving Axl some diarrhea...I'm hoping they can address this without taking him off of it--we'll find out on Wednesday, I guess.

Last Wednesday I went back to school and Axl stayed for the first time with the babysitter, Leighann. I posted about this previously, so you all know how traumatic it was, but I suspect it will get better with time. We were out of school today for Martin Luther King Day so he won't go to her house until tomorrow.

I really can't believe it's already been 4 months, but every day gets even better. Until it got bitter cold, we went on several runs with the new jogging stroller. I figured out how to strap the carseat facing me so the wind doesn't blow into his face. He seems to really love it, but I can never time it right because he ALWAYS falls asleep in there and usually it's not his naptime--but we have a good time anyway. As of right now he eats about 6 times a day and sleeps for about 8 hours straight and then continuously needs his pacifier put back in, sleeping for about an hour in between each time, for about 3 more hours. He is in the best mood right after he wakes up in the morning and loves to play then. He continues to show more interest in the book we read each night--you can really tell he's actually looking at the pages. He loves to hold little rattles and we think his favorite is a little miniature maraca that he got for Christmas--although it is temporarily misplaced and Tyler is not very happy about it--he loves to watch Axl shake it. He takes fairly consistent naps but they are still usually no longer than 30-45 minutes long.

The pictures today were especially cute, so here are a few more!







4 comments:

Neal Family said...

Axl is soooo stinkin cute! I love the picture where is he literally right next to the teddy bear smiling and hunched over, sooo cute! I am glad to hear that you guys figured out the problem with is reflux, its so hard and scary with kids sometimes. You have no idea what is causing anything so its either a guessing game or a process of elimination!! Good luck and I hope all goes well with that cutie

Sierra said...

He is so cute! I love his eyelashes. I'm glad that everything got worked out and Axl is healthy and happy.

Marissa said...

Axl sure does have a cute smile!! You know, Landen has been arching his back too... I know for SURE he's in pain because he cries almost ALL day. When we give him gripe water or Mylecon, it helps during the night but not much during the day... sigh. I guess I will bring that up to the pediatrician!

Brian and Camilla Freeman said...

I LOVE these pictures. Axl is so cute! And I love your family picture.