Year 1, Month 3

Well, as busy as we were in the last post, we were the opposite the following week.  Runny noses turned into full blown sinus infections with lung congestion and fevers.  The boys were back on antibiotics, this time a high dose for 14 days.  Ugh!  Sometimes I'm not sure what's worse, having an infection or having diaper rash due to antibiotics.

I tried to be really proactive about the diaper rash potential.  I coated their bottoms in Lotrimin and Desitin. And when both boys STILL ended up with patches of rash, I switched them to 7th Generation diapers.  We did baking soda baths every other night and gave the boys lots of naked time in the evenings.  I pumped them both full of banana every morning, too.  Alex spent about 12hrs with a rash on his bottom.  Zach had a little rash but it was gone by the next diaper change.  I consider that a success considering the last time we spent days dealing with it.

The last week as been rough on Alex.  The first incident he tripped while walking on the hardwood floor.  He was carrying his kitty car at the time and landed face first on it.  The car is rounded but still managed to catch his lip and rip his frenulum (the skin that connects the upper lip to the gums).  At first I didn't even realize he was bleeding.  I was already comforting Zach when Alex fell, so I just scooped him up into my lap, too.  The fall was totally normal looking.

But Alex wouldn't stop crying.  I looked at him and noticed what appeared to be bruises on the side of his face.  Then I realized it was blood.  His mouth was full of it, and there was red down the front of his shirt and on my shoulder.  I tried dabbing it with a wet paper towel but ended up rinsing his mouth out over the sink so I could see what was bleeding.

Once I saw it was a torn frenulum, I grabbed my phone, called the pediatrician, and told them we would be there in about 5min.  I called Jim on the way to tell him what happened.  Luckily I had showered and put on real clothes that morning but the boys were still in their PJ's and shoeless.  I didn't bother with any strollers but grabbed them both and carried them in.

Alex was fine and the bleeding had stopped.  His lip was swollen but none of his teeth were loose.  Since he was already on antibiotics, there wasn't much to be done.  The doctor assured me that he would be totally fine in a couple of days and to just avoid salty foods until then.  Within an hour Alex was happily chomping his lunch, happy that Jim had come home to check on him.

A few days later I accidentally shut Alex's finger in the pantry door.  Luckily there's a small gap between the door and the door jam but it still squished his index finger and he cried.  Then today he was walking with a sippy cup and tripped, cutting his lip.  There was blood all over the place again, to the point I thought he had reopened his other wound.  I rinsed his mouth the best I could.  We gave him some Motrin for the pain and I soothed him until he fell asleep in my arms.  (It was nap time.)

Hours later his lip is still swollen but he wouldn't eat a popsicle or let me put an ice pack on it.  He ate dinner just fine, though, and doesn't act any different.  I'm not sure what to do.  They're both tripping a lot these days, more so than when they first learned to walk.  The issue is they just don't look down, so they trip on everything from the carpet to toys.  They also need to learn to drop what they're carrying and put their arms out.  I'm hoping these things will come with time.

There's been a lot of good stuff, too!  Zach is fascinated with other people's noses.  He'll walk up to me, pat mine, and laugh.  He calls it "Gnome" or "Gnomey".  hehe  Zach has also discovered that by bending over and looking through his legs, he can make himself upside down.  Alex saw what he was doing and started doing it, too.

We installed a gate at the top of our stairs and baby proofed most of rooms we use on a daily basis.  Having the stairs open and available to be fallen down was really freaking me out.  I was using closed doors to corral the boys but as soon as I'd open one, they'd try to shoot out and make for the stairs.

Now I can let them loose and they love running back and forth across the bridge.  They avoid their nursery like the plague since they associate it with "Ni Ni", though.  After their baths we let them run around up there and air dry.  They roll on the carpet in their nakedness, enjoying how it feels.

They also have started fake falling.  Alex did it first, doing an exaggerated slap on the floor then sliding down onto his belly with an "Oh!".  Zach loved the idea, so now I have two boys flopping down everywhere (as if the amount of real falling wasn't enough!).

I've given their buses back and so far they've been able to share.  I think they realize that there's two of just about everything, so if one gets stolen the victim will look around for a replacement.  They've also started trading toys.  One boy will get bored and offer his toy to his brother.  About 9 times out of 10 the brother will take the toy and offer the first boy his in return.  Unfortunately that 1/10th of the time usually results in slapping, scratching, and me yelling "NO BITE!!  NO BITE!!"

We cancelled our cleaning service this week.  Other bills have pretty much drained the extra money we had for it.  Jim and I spit up the chores and have been working on them.  This has given me the opportunity to try cleaning without potentially harmful chemicals.  Today I cleaned the bathrooms with vinegar and one of those magic erasers.  I was surprised at how well of a job it did, although I did use Windex on the mirrors.  We have been using a steam mop on the floors, too.

The boys have their 15 month check-up this week!  I'm interested to know how much they've grown.  I also wonder what the doctor will say about their big bellies.  hehe

I got ambitious and tagged 2 months of photos, then uploaded the good ones to the boys' website (pw: jma&z).  Enjoy!