Congratulations...

to our friends Kate and Jeff who just found out they will be adopting a baby boy from Ethiopia! They have been waiting 14 months to hear this great news and we are so happy for them. Peter can't wait to have another boy to hang out with!

Hangin' Out

Cool Shades

Noni bought Peter some cool, new shades for the summer! He's ready to hit the beach...or the pool as soon as Gramps can figure out how to get rid of the green water! Yikes!

Poker Face

Dad's teaching Peter how to play Skip-Bo so he can beat Gramps and Great Gram!

New Toy

Pete put the exersaucer together last night and Peter seems
to really like it! His lil' toes barely touch, but as you can see,
he was concentrating really hard to spin the toys!

4 months!

Peter had his 4 month doctor's appointment this morning. He had his shots and took them like a trooper. No real screaming like last time! I didn't cry either! He is sleeping peacefully in his swing for now and hopefully he is not too uncomfortable this afternoon. He is now 15 lbs. 5 oz. and 24" long.

He continues to have tummy issues and after we found more blood in his poops last week despite my efforts to eliminate all of the most common potential allergens in my own diet including dairy, soy, wheat, and nuts. The doctor recommended switching to a hypo-allergenic formula which we started on Saturday. I was not happy to stop breastfeeding, but the diet restrictions are just not worth it if he is still having issues. I am second guessing my decision every day and hope that it was the right one. Unfortunatly, even on this special formula his symptoms remain (blood, excema, and bad diaper rash) and this is frustrating me. The doctor suggests giving it another week or so and then if there is blood in his stool, we will have to look into a prescription strength formula and a referral to a pediatric GI doctor. So for now, we continue to inspect each diaper hoping for improvements.

First Mother's Day

On Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day with friends Jen and Matt and their daughter Caitlyn. She and Peter are just about 3 weeks apart and it was nice to spend the weekend with them! Peter and Caitlyn got to spend some more quality time together (I lost my camera so I will post them when Jen sends them) and moms and dads got to hang out also. We spent Mother's Day on the Odessey Cruise around Boston Harbor. It was a beautiful day and the food was great! The babies were good, too which was a relief. It was a perfect first Mother's Day!

3 months-Time Flies

I can't believe Peter has been here for 3 months and is fast approaching month 4! He is getting bigger everyday. To look at him you would never think he had any feeding issues! He is definitly thriving! I am still elimintaing foods from my diet in order to continue to breastfeed and although it has not been easy, I am okay with it for now. I originally had intended to breastfeed at least until I go back to work in September, but I am rethinking that idea having such a restricted diet. For now I have eliminated dairy, soy, wheat, and nuts. The wheat is the worst one! We had seen little improvements in the first 3 weeks. No more red blood in the diapers but orange which was still not normal according to the dr. Now we have shifted back to a more normal color however the consistency is a bit off, but a specimen sample came back negative for blood last week so something is working! We go to the dr. in 2 weeks and we will discuss what to do next. I think he may suggest reintroducing nuts or wheat and watch for changes but I think dairy and soy are out for good at least for now.

So, at 3 months Peter has discoverd that he can roll over and has started laughing but he doesn't do it as much as we would like him to! He is also much more aware of me and has a great pouty bottom lip which he shows off quite a bit to visitors! Poor Alison offered to watch him last week and all he did was pout until she was putting on her coat! Then he was all smiles!

Peter still likes his swing and takes most naps in there although we have started to try at least one nap a day in his crib. Those are not as easy because he still needs to be swaddled otherwise he flails like a maniac and keeps himself awake! He may be swaddled until he is 3! At night he is still in his bassinet but he is about to outgrow it so we need to transition him to his crib soon. He sleeps ok however not enough in my opinion. His first stretch is pretty good usually about 5, maybe 6 hours, but any wake-ups after that are much more frequent. I am told by some that this is normal for a breastfed baby, but i read about others who sleep 12 hours. That would be amazing! I am not holding my breath!

So, that's the scoop at 3+months. We will keep the pictures coming!