A Month

I cant believe its already been a month. I also cant believe Mal has managed to outgrow his brother, but at 12 1/2 pounds...and over 25 inches, it seems to be true.

Malachi is doing beautifully. Im afraid there might be some small food sensitivity, he has gas at times and the stinkiest diapers EVER. So far Ive eliminated milk, soy, gassy veggies (like broccoli), and nuts with no difference. Right now Im on tomatoes. Also I gave up chocolate for lent. He seems a bit better (maybe?) so we will see what happens when I reintroduce tomato later this week, and gorge on chocolate on Easter. If its not those either I dont even know what to try next and might just give up. It doesnt seem to bother him terribly but he's such a low-key baby I'm not sure how much he'd let us know even if it was bothering him.

But yes, Mal is about the happiest and quietest kid you can imagine. As long as he's in mommy's arms that is. But that is where babies belong anyways so I dont mind too much. He loves mommy and he loves brother Zeke...daddy...not so much. Zeke also went thru a short mommy-only phase, and it really really hurt Josh's feelings and injured his confidence in his fathering abilities. This time around he just shrugs his shoulders, babies will be babies after all. It probably also helps that Zeke thinks Josh is pretty much a god.

He is holding his head up now, and I'm starting to do tummy times with him. He will do it for 10 or so minutes as long as either Zeke or I lay on the ground with him. He's also doing active, awake runs of a good 3 or 4 hours which our new pediatrician is absolutely thrilled about. She was pretty thrilled about everything Mal does ;) which guaranteed her continuity as our pediatrician. I refuse to employ doctors that dont see my children's inherent genius, lol.

I was actually sad to see Dr Morgan go, Ive never had any issues with him in the last year and a half and I know I'm a sometimes obnoxious patient that argues just about every procedure. He always let me go my own way, however, and I appreciate that. But he's not on the provider list of our new insurance, which means our co-pay doubles.

This new woman is wonderful though. WONDERFUL. A. like Dr Morgan she supports that I home-birth, that I partial-immunize, that I dont circumcise, that I use antibiotics only as a last resort, and that I'm controlling Zeke's vesicoureteral reflux homeopathically, as well as refusing all the x-rays that are "regular procedure". That in itself is hard to find. But she also B. comes to your house!!! and C. Is knowledgeable about breastfeeding (which Dr Morgan was not...at all...the man said some stupid things). I don't really expect a pediatrician to come to my house or to know anything about breastfeeding (especially a male pediatrician). But honestly, the two are so soo very nice I think maybe I should.

Zeke is also doing well. I havent picked up any toys with him in a week because he only plays in the kitchen and backyard now. He will play outside all day if I let him (and if it wasnt still pretty cold I probably would) and now cooks every meal with me, plus a few pretend ones in between. He is a master at measuring, pouring, and stirring, let me tell you.

He's also been having some awful awful nightmares lately. We arent sure what to do about them. We've always been careful not to let him watch any upsetting TV or video games so we also arent sure where they are coming from. He will just be screaming and screaming in his sleep "ahhh! no! no! noooo!" and then wake up hysterical in his bed and crying out for daddy. Either that or running into our room at full speed.

We've been comforting him as well as we can, and then he spends the rest of the night in bed with us literally clinging to Josh like his life depends on it but I wish there was more that we could do. I try to talk to him about it in the morning but since he's still pretty much pre-verbal I dont know if he really gets it or not. Any advice?