RECENT PICS

The family out at the jet for a friend's fini flight.

Keeping Alexander's ears protected from the jet noise.

Waiting for the jets to land.

Playing with his new favorite toys: a wooden spoon and a tupperware bowl.

He loves to help with the laundry

He loves his elephant.

So Happy!!!!

HIGHLIGHTS

It has been so long since I last posted so I'm going to give you the highlights of the last few weeks:

Swimming

Alexander and I have been doing Mommy and Me Swimming twice a week at one of the local indoor pools. At first he was a little timid, but now really seems to enjoy it. It gives his kicking a bit of a purpose! And except for a slight diaper incident, it's been a lot of fun. We're signed up for the month of March then we'll see if we want to do it in April. I was a little concerned that the chlorine would affect his eczema, but it doesn't appear to be having any impact.

Eczema

Since my last post, his face has gotten worse and then better again. We went to the doc two weeks ago and he put Alexander on more antibiotic (the spots were oozing again) and switched to a different ointment. Well, the ointment didn't help at all so we switched back to the cream and now it's doing a bit better. I'm trying not to get excited because I know as soon as I do it will get worse again. I have a feeling we may just have to battle this until he grows out of it. We go back to the Derm on Thursday, so we'll see what he has to say.

Mobility

He's still rolling around like crazy which keeps me on my toes. I am very thankful for my 'open floor plan' house. He has been attempting to pull himself up the last 2 days on our coffee table. No luck yet, but I'm sure he will soon succeed.

Teeth

He is working on 3 teeth at once, his bottom two and his top left. They have all broken through the gum and are coming in nicely. He looks so cute! But he is not feeling well. I thought it was tooth related, but now I'm not so sure. Since yesterday afternoon he has had a very runny nose and is sneezing all the time, very stuffed up and very whiny. His snot is no longer clear, but he hasn't been running a fever. Plus today he napped 3 times for a total of more than 4 hours! This is rare! If he naps 3 times they are usually no more than about 40 minutes each. So, I definitely do not think he is feeling well. I'm hoping tomorrow is better!

Socializing

This past weekend Chris went out of town cross country to New Orleans and then to Fort Worth, so Xan and I were on our own. We went to a friend's house on Saturday for an early St Patty's Day Feast. It was delicious! But Xan was so funny! We were all sitting outside eating (yes, it was that nice here this weekend!) and he was sitting in their daughter's high chair at the end of the table. For most of the meal all eyes were on him. He was making all sorts of funny noises and cracking everyone up! My son, the ham!!!

Diapers

We are loving the new cloth diapers! I ordered more and we're using them all of the time now. I really don't feel like they are much more work and I am so happy about not throwing out all of those disposables all the time! I would highly recommend them to anyone.

Food

We've gotten on a pretty good schedule recently. He eats three solid food meals a day and still nurses 4 times a day. Recent foods are avocados (he likes), squash (likes), applesauce (likes), lentils (didn't like at first, but I feel like he came around to them eventually), white rice with peaches (used to like them, but now I'm not so sure), chickpeas (really liked them tonight), red peppers (did NOT like them). I've been making all of his food and that has been going well. It is so easy and cheap! We have a well stocked freezer full of different pureed veggies!

ROLLING ALONG

DERMATOLOGIST

Happy baby enjoying his carrots!!!

We made it into the dermatologist this past Friday morning. Thank goodness!!! He says that the spots on Alexander's face are, in fact, eczema. He prescribed another antibiotic because the sores were infected and then he also prescribed a little bit higher % of the hydracortizone (apparently we had been using a 1% which is over the counter strength). He also switched us to Cetaphil facial wash and Cetaphil moisturizer for his face. And so far, 3 days later, his face looks much, much better. He still has some redness, but the sores and the oozing are gone!!! Which is fabulous news. This also means that he is not rubbing it nearly as much, so it must not be itching!!! He skin in those spots still look rougher than before and they probably will for a while but it looks sooo much better than before. And most important, he feels better!

We had a nice and quiet weekend. We've been watching lots of Olympic coverage. Chris has been known to catch Olympic Fever and become a bit obsessed, but he's keeping it in check so far this year. We've also starting watching The Soprano's. We're only a couple of episodes into it, but are enjoying it so far. Tonight for dinner, Chris cooked the most delicious meal! It was chicken rolled up with prosciutto, spinach, and Parmesan cheese, served with taboule and salad. It was amazing! I told him that this was my new favorite meal for him to make. I am so lucky to be married to an amazing cook!!!

Playing with Daddy before the Kentucky game.

VALENTINES

This past weekend, Chris was able to get a "good deal" through work and head to Las Vegas with some guys in the squadron. While he was there he was able to meet up with some old friends and he had a great time. Back on the home front, Alexander and I had a nice weekend. On Saturday night, several girlfriends (whose hubby's were also in Vegas) had a Valentines dinner and then came back to our house for some drinks and dessert. I've included a pic of Alexander on his first "Valentine's Day Date" with his friend Audrey. We all thought this was pretty cute!

As you can tell, his face is still not any better. We went to the doctor on Friday and he gave us a new cream. We used this Friday night and then Saturday morning it was much, much worse. I immediately discontinued using this new cream and now we are not using anything. I am just waiting for the dermatology referral to come in the mail. Our doctor put in for it and now we have to wait for it to come in the mail. This could be 7 to 10 days. I am thinking optimistically and hoping we'll get it by the end of the week.

Eating his first cracker.

I couldn't help post another picture of him in his cute diaper!! We're still doing the trial and have had a couple of successful poopy diapers. Definitely not as convenient, but not too bad.