Happy Half Birthday to Sebby! (Sebby's Sixth Month)

Darren and I were recently looking at pictures and commenting on how much Sebby has grown and changed since he was born. It's hard to believe he is over 6 months!

Lately we've been having so much fun watching his developing strength and personality. Unfortunately, I've been slow to post details on here but I want to get better so I don't forget. He has even developed new skills since his six month half birthday but I'll save those details for next time. Here are a few of the highlights from his sixth month:

Our Almost-Mover

Just a few days before he turned 5 months, Sebby rolled from back to belly for the first time and has been working on that skill over the past few weeks. His favourite time to do it is while he's on the change pad on the floor and I'm reaching for a new diaper. So funny seeing his little bare bum as he flips around and reaches to grab at the basket of clean diapers, the package of wipes or whatever is around!

When we put him on the floor on his tummy, he likes roll around or push himself up on his hands. He tries to get his legs or knees under himself so that he can crawl. Sometimes he pushes himself around a half turn or kicks his feet like he is swimming. When he gets tired, rolls onto his back and rest there, pulling at his blanket or a toy.

I put him down on the grass for the first time and right away, he pulled himself forward and began uprooting handfulls of grass to get a taste. Mmm, dirt & grass. Must have been pretty cool seeing those blades of grass from his perspective!

He has also learned to move around inside his sleep tent. Sometimes I find him at the very top corner but most often I find him very close to the door. He has even escaped a few times! One morning, I heard him cry and when I went in, I found him playing on the floor outside his tent.


Learning to Be a Better Sleeper

Sebby has learned to fall asleep in his carseat, a gift from God for his parents who love to get out of the house. Perhaps having a routine helps as he has gotten accustomed to going to sleep after being awake for about two hours. If we are out past the two hour mark, he begins to show signs of sleepiness and has learned to just close his eyes and go to sleep in his carseat. No tears! What a great skill!

Nighttime sleep has still been a challenge, especially because his eczema seems to bother him at night as he often scratches his face at night. Sometimes his stomach seems to bother him as he wakes up throughout the night with bad gas. We've made some progress since his six month birthday but I'll save that for next time.

Playtime

Sebby is becoming so much more interactive and playful. Darren is probably his favourite playmate, as soon as Darren is within his range of vision, you see his face light up with a huge smile. When Darren is around, it's almost impossible to get him to focus on eating or anything else because he is following Darren around with his eyes and smiling as soon as Darren looks his way. Darren always gets a great laugh out of Sebby when he bounces him on the bed or by blowing in his face. Lately, Sebby has been responding to whatever Darren does by blowing bubbles back at him. So cute!

He is now most focused while "working" in his exosaucer and can tune out everything else while playing in there. He has learned to play with all the toys on his dashboard and it's fun to watch him spin himself around to use the various toys.

Happy Father's Day Memories from Sebby!

When I hear Daddy's voice, I stop what I'm doing and look him.

 

When Daddy looks at me, I smile and sometimes squeal in excitement because when I see Daddy, I know it's time to play.

When Daddy blows in my face, I close my eyes and giggle.

When Daddy makes noises at me, I blow bubbles in response.

I LOVE my Daddy!

Happy Father's Day!

Ouch!

Much to our disappointment, leaving Alberta has not helped Sebby's eczema much. In fact, he's had two terrible flare ups since arriving back in Ontario. Thankfully we were able to figure out the environmental irritants causing his eczema to flare up. First, he reacted to the laundry detergent that Darren's parents were using and the eczema spread all over his body. Second, he reacted to a new olive oil based cream that we were applying to his face and the eczema became red hot and bumpy. Ouch! That flare up just happened on Monday evening and he's still recovering from it.

In an effort to get to the bottom of of what is causing the eczema, we saw a Naturopathic Doctor on Monday. She prescribed a probiotic for Sebby and recommended slowing down the introduction of new foods but most of the recommendations were for me. She said that I am likely allergic to a few things as well, even though my body can handle them alright. I'm now on...

1. 1 tablespoon of raw flaxseed oil daily so that I get more EFAs. I'm glad she told me I could mix it into a smoothie because it tastes pretty bad! For the record, I can still taste it in the smoothie but at least its drinkable.

2. More Omega 3 pills (3 daily) so that I get between 500 and 800 mg of EPA daily. She told me to keep them in the freezer and to take them with meals to reduce their foul taste. Great tip!

3. Better quality prenatal vitamins in capsule form. Apparently the tablets are very poorly absorbed by our bodies so they aren't doing their job. I have to take 2 capsules twice a day with food.

4. A hypoallergenic detox diet. By far the most difficult diet I've ever followed, I have to avoid the most common allergenic goods including dairy, soy, eggs, bell peppers, potatoes, red meat, tomatoes, corn, melons, strawberries, sugar, peanuts, sulfites, etc, etc...the list goes on!

It is certainly a challenge, however, I am thankful for such a great learning experience that I think will have an impact on the way our family eats in the future. In my spare time, I have been researching some of the foods that I have to avoid and the results are shocking! I read this article written by a nutritionist about how gluten is toxic to our bodies and brains and has been linked to MS and other diseases. A little food for thought!

Sure hope this change will be possible without breaking the bank and me becoming overly thin due to all these food restrictions. But most of all, I hope it will help Sebby's system recover so that his eczema will go away.

Sebby's Adventures in Food

After his first taste of chicken puree, we gave Sebby avocado because we read it is really healthy for and had heard from friends that their babies liked it.  Although he enjoyed the process of eating and messing with the avocado in his mouth, we could tell by his hilarious expressions that he wasn't crazy about the taste. Maybe the buttery, richness was a bit strange for him?

Today he tried carrots for the first time and loved them! I'll bet they have been his favourite so far. He finished his little bowl and was still looking for more. Sad we're not in Alberta anymore because he won't get to taste the best carrots around (Beck's carrots are super sweet and delicious!).

Wonder what we should give him next? We're trying to stay away from any allergenic foods (eggs, dairy or soy products, beef, potatoes are a few I have read to watch out for) until we figure out what is aggravating his eczema other than dairy & soy. Suggestions welcome.

Sebby's Peterborough Adventures

Today is our second full day in Peterborough and already Sebby is having so many adventures! The great thing about Peterborough is that it's small and easy to get places in between naps.

Yesterday evening we went for a walk at Jackson Park and Sebby met a turtle.

After Sebby's morning nap, we went swimming. He LOVED the water and was kicking like a little frog. What fun! We'll definitely go again soon.

This afternoon, we went to the zoo.

Peterborough has an awesome zoo that's free so it's a great afternoon activity. Sebby wasn't too in the animals but enjoyed hanging out with his parentals, checking out the fences, gates and water inside the exhibits.

 Hanging out with Daddy.

 Not too interested in the camel. The camel was interested in him, though!

Sebby's Carseat Miracle!

Last week an amazing thing happened...Sebby learned to sleep in his carseat!

Sebby & I were hanging out with our Mommies & Monsters group on Thursday and were getting a ride home with a friend. I was a little nervous that Sebby might cry the whole way home if he got too tired. When it was time to go he was quite tired and had just finished eating. I put him in the carseat and he went to sleep and stayed asleep for a half hour!

To give you a little context as to why I would be so excited about Sebby sleeping a half hour in the carseat, I should tell you that he has not been a fan of his carseat.  He almost always cries when we go for drives over 10 minutes and as a result, car rides are stressful affairs for the whole family. When we manage to go somewhere without Sebby having a meltdown, I breathe a huge sigh of relief. 

Last Friday, I had a lot of running around to do in preparation for our move and I wasn't sure how Sebby was going to do with it. We had been in the car about 10 minutes, when I back to see his eyes fluttering closed. Whew! No crying AND a 30 minute catnap. I was thrilled. Later in the day we were back in the car and again, I looked back to see his eyelids drooping closed. He slept for another 30 minutes!!! Who was this child and what had he done with Sebastian?

Saturday, we had a repeat performance of the 30 minute carseat catnap and I was astounded. Could things be turning around? Then, Sunday he napped for a record 90 minutes! Sebby was on a roll and we were over the moon! Stress free car rides and the possibility of getting out a bit more while Sebby sleeps.

Darren & I kept talking about how amazed and excited we were about Sebby's new skill until Monday, when we had some crying and an overtired baby who couldn't fall asleep in the car. We lamented that our good fortune may have been a fluke but hoped that Sebby was just having an "off day."

Much to our relief, Sebby turned things around on Tuesday as we woke him and loaded him into the carseat to drive to the airport. He went back to sleep and stayed asleep till they made us take him out to go through security. When we arrived in Toronto and began the drive back to Peterborough, he cried for a few minutes but settled down and went to sleep for most of the hour and a half drive. Phew!

Maybe this is a sign that our little guy is growing up but whatever it is, we're thrilled that Sebby seems to be enjoying car rides quite a bit more.