Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Stage 1 Foods for a Monkey Baby

We introduced Leo to his first solid foods about 2 weeks ago. The spoon took some getting used to, but I finally figured out that if I left the spoon in his mouth he would chew on it and then actually swallow some food instead of spitting it out the moment I put it in. We started with sweet potatoes, here a couple of pictures from one of the first feedings:




Of course our silly little monkey baby loves bananas!! About a week or so after introducing sweet potatoes we started bananas. This was even a bigger success, especially when we mixed it with rice cereal. Leo then started sliding the food off the spoon and eating it off of his fingers. As of this morning, he was slurping it off the spoon!!!



I tried feeding Leo avocado a few days ago and that didn't go over well at all! A few hours after breakfast he threw up all over Grandma! (Sorry Tami!!) Needless to say, we will be holding off on avocados for a while!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Merry Christmas from the Schreiners!!!

We took our Christmas pictures this week. Leo wasn't feeling too well because of his croup, but we still managed to get a few good ones. We originally wanted Cooper in the picture, but with all the excitement of us sitting on the floor next to him and grandma & grandpa visiting he was completely freaking out! Hopefully he will be able to pull himself together a bit more for next year's family photo!

Here are our favorite silly shots:




4 Month Old Monkey Baby

Where does the time go? Leo is now 4 months old! He can now jump in his jumperoo which delights him to no end. We call him a little Monkey these days because he absolutely loves to be bounced and swung around - the higher the better. There is no need to be gentle with this little boy! Leo can bear weight on his legs now and loves to be walked around the house. He can also scoot some when he is laying on his belly. An early crawler maybe? Who knows, but it seems that he is never where I left him when I come back into the room!
Here are a few in his jumperoo.








At 4 months Leo is 14 pounds and 25 3/4 inches long. Like his Daddy, he is long and skinny. As I mentioned before there was a little bit of concern regarding his weight, but the Dr. is no longer worried at all. Leo gained 6 ounces and grew 1/4 of an inch in 2 weeks with the addition of rice cereal! We have now been approved to start Stage 1 foods too!


As for Leo's health issues, the reflux reared it's ugly head again. Leo was on Zantac & Previcid and doing wonderfully. The Dr. took him off of the Zantac after 2 weeks of both meds. Typically, after 2 weeks the Previcid has kicked in and the Zantac is no longer needed. About a week after taking Leo off of the Zantac we saw major problems. (Crying during feedings, refusing food all together, crying for hours, etc) The Dr. agrees that Leo needs two medications to keep the reflux at bay. We got the impression that he has never had a patient who needed both the Zantac and the Previcid. Leave it to Leo!

Leo is continuing to do much better on the new formula. At his 4 month appointment they took another round of blood to test for food allergies. Again, the blood test can give a false negative, but if something comes back positive at least we will be ahead of the game. Leo gave that lab tech a run for her money! We warned the lab tech before she inserted the needle that he was very strong but I don't think she believed us. When she was done she said that he was the strongest little one she has ever had!

Leo managed to catch his first virus....He has croup, poor little guy barks when he coughs. Dr. said he should feel better by the end of this week.

Many people continue to ask how Cooper has adjusted to life with Leo. Let me just say that Charlie and I have NO doubt that those two will be thick as thieves when Leo gets bigger. Leo stares and stares at Cooper and will reach out to pet him on the nose whenever he can. Cooper loves this and takes any opportunity that he can to get in Leo's face and give him a big sloppy kiss.

And, in case any one cares about the rest of the family :)....Charlie finished up his fall semester of graduate school. It was a tough class and he is very happy to have it over and done with. Word of advice, don't try graduate school, full time work and an infant all at once...it's makes for a hard semester! I am very happy to report that I have lost my baby weight! I still have more I want to lose and I certainly need to "tone" up more, but the pounds are slowly melting away.
Here's a couple more of Leo from his 4th month.







Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Leo's First Picture with Santa!

Leo had his first picture with Santa today and did wonderful!

Friday, December 4, 2009

It's Snowing!!!!
















Leo in his first snow!!