The Baylor Family Blog

Eli really enjoys playing with the farm he got for Christmas. There are little blocks he can put inside the barn, and he has mastered putting the blocks into the square openings! Its fun watching his brain work! He has also started showing interest in his cube that shapes can fit into…he has a long way to go until he has that mastered, but its a good challenge for him right now!

On another note, I brought Eli in today for his follow up appointment with the GI doctor. Good news…his biopsy results are all normal. So the specialist has pretty much ruled out most big things that could be causing him problems through blood work, allergy testing, and now the scope. So we are going to follow up with his pediatrician for now and probably go back to the specialist around summertime to check in. Eli now weights 17 pounds, 7 ounces. The doctor is satisfied as long as his weight is increasing, regardless of the increments for now. Just after my last post, Eli started throwing up solid foods again. I don’t know if he has a bug or if it is just back to normal with feeding struggles. I mentioned it to the doctor who said it is likely Eli will be a difficult child to feed, and it could be completely normal for him to throw up frequently until he’s two. That’s not exactly encouraging, but its real life. Our next focus is switching him over to whole milk with carnation instant breakfast to increase his calorie intake and then to start introducing meats into his diet. Probably like most parents, and maybe even more since our kid has had a series of feeding struggles, Matt and I are anxious about trying to get Eli all the nutrients he needs off of formula…but of course, I don’t want Eli on formula when he’s ten

This past week has been, well, quite wonderful! Here’s a few reasons why:

–Eli continues to tolerate solid foods well! He is eating peas, carrots, squash, yams, green beans, apples, pears, and bananas (oh yeah, and cheerios).
–Eli is has been on milk-based formula for a week and a half with no problems! It feels so good to be able to go to the store and buy a gigantic tin of formula for cheap compared to the expensive Elecare we had to buy online!
–Eli has not thrown up, gagged, or even spit up in a week! It seems the scope stretching the opening between his esophagus and stomach may have really helped him!
–Eli has resumed sleeping through the night without needing to eat!
–Eli survived the nursery at church this past Sunday and he survived over two hours in the nursery while I was at a women’s Bible study this week! The nursery lady fed him cheerios for two hours…but whatever it takes!
–Eli has started taking a few steps on his own. Our latest hobby is for Matt and I to sit across from each other and have Eli attempt to walk back and forth. Some attempts are more successful than others!
–Matt suprised me with two dozen beautiful pink long stem roses on Valentine’s Day last week!
–I’ve been enjoying a night out of the house on my own the past few weeks which has been incredibly therapeutic to me!

Eli continues to be quite busy wherever he is at! He is really enjoying pushing open and closing doors, which sometimes leaves him stuck in a room! But its become a game…and he knows mommy will eventually knock on the door and come to his rescue! He will spend quite a while in his bathroom as he loves to play with his bath toys out of the tub! I did catch him flushing the toilet the other day…my oh my this boy catches onto things way too fast! His favorite toy of late is his stacking cups. He loves to put them together and take them apart and put things in the cups and bang them on any surface he can find! He also has mastered putting the blocks in the block-sized door on his farm set and will spend long periods of time doing that! He is also starting to enjoy books. He loves turning pages and will sometimes even sit through the whole story on my lap. Whenever he crawls over to his bookshelf in the living room, he always pulls off his “8 Silly Monkeys” book first…and he laughs as I can now recite the whole book by memory while he turns the pages! His only “word” right now is “dadadadadadada,” but I don’t think he is referring to his daddy. Its more or less his thinking noise. But he continues to babbles nonetheless!

Here are couple pictures of him enjoying himself!

The other day Eli was crawling around in the office and came across his bumbo chair. He tipped it over, banged his hands on it and was having a good old time with it. He hasn’t sat in his bumbo is a few months as he gotten bigger and more mobile! But I wondered what he would do if I put him in it again. He was a bit confused, but smiled for the camera, and then crawled right out and on his merry way! He’s not one to sit still for long unless he is strapped in or strapped down or sound asleep!

February 2008

November 2007

August 2007

May 2007

Eli’s scope did happen this time! We arrived at the hospital around 8:30 this morning and he had his procedure at around 9:45 am. We were able to go into the room and be with him until he fell asleep. Thankfully they were able to wait until he was asleep to put his IV line in. The anesthisiologist put a breathing tube in because the anesthesia gases tend to cause a baby’s vocal cords to spasm. The procedure went quickly, about 25 minutes. The doctor said his esophagus, tummy, and small intestines all looked great–no lesions that he could identify. He did take a handful of tissue biopsies that will show if there is damage or other conditions that cannot be seen. We won’t know those results until our follow-up appointment in a couple of weeks. The doctor also mentioned that he thinks the scope stretched the opening between the esophagus and the stomach, which may indicate that Eli had some narrowing. The stretching in that case would be a good thing. So we are to keep an eye and see if Eli’s vomitting decreases. Eli didn’t want to wake up at the procedure (possibly because it was during his naptime!). But he begrudgingly took a bottle and cooperated with the nurses, nonetheless! He was quite interested in the IV line in his right hand…it was hard keeping his attention away from it. I was glad when they finally took it out! He fell asleep on the way home and now is sound asleep in his crib. All in all, he did great! And he ended up with a stuffed bunny from the hospital…what more could a babe want? Thanks to those of you who lifted Eli up in prayer!

Last weekend, we had Matt’s brother and his family come for a visit! Eli as pretty entertained watching the boys wrestle…but his mama wouldn’t let him participate, at least not this year! Eli absolutely loves watching his cousin, Nathan, and I think Nathan gets a kick out of entertaining Eli! We played lots of games of boggle and had fun times together! Michelle is into her last month of pregnancy…and we are looking forward to meeting our niece very soon!

Call it ironic, call it an answer to prayer, call it lots of things, but Eli has been eating solid food for three weeks now without crying for days afterwards. We have even introduced some new foods to him, including his first tastes of fruit. Here is a common expression we see on his face, especially with fruit. He really has experienced foods with much taste thus far, so I think he is slowly adjusting to flavorful foods! He is least interested in apples, but seems to like pears. He will eat some squash, but we are noticing a trend that the squash tends to come back up after he eats it. We are going to introduce a few more foods this week and probably try some formula with dairy to see how he does.

So Matt and I had our first day together in a very long time yesterday! Than and Michelle graciously watched Eli for us as we took the Ski Train into the mountains for a day of skiing! Just about every other route into the mountains was closed due to wind and snow, so we were quite excited to still make it into the mountains! The route the train took was beautiful, and the train ride was luxurious, especially being able to sit next to my husband and enjoying tasty food and snacks! The slopes were incredibly windy, at times making me very anxious on the ski lifts! I don’t think I’ve ever skiied in such cold, windy weather! However there was 14 inches of fresh powder to ski on which was so great! We had a great time and enjoyed a handful of breaks in the ski lodge and warming huts! It was a refeshing day! And we were relieved to hear that Eli did not cry all day long, but in fact did pretty well (despite a few break downs realizing his daddy and mommy weren’t there!).

Eli is mostly recovered from his cold and ear infection. He still has another day of antibiotic, but overall seems to be feeling much, much better! We are trying to keep him healthy as he still has his scope scheduled for Wednesday morning. He still is as busy as ever climbing stairs, exploring cabinets, and just recently figuring out how to climb up onto the ledge in front of the fireplace! He just started taking a few steps occasionally without holding on…but still is working on confidence to do that!! Its amazing to us that he will turn 11 months next week…wow!!

Problem: This chair is in my way!

Step 1: Inch under first bar.

Step 2: Climb over next bar.

Step 3: I made it! Smile at mama and the camera!

Step 4: Look for next thing to conquer!

Notice he did this feat all while holding onto a tube of chapstick. What a kid!

I’m trying to teach Eli to update his blog, but he gets too excited surfing the internet and checking out everyone else’s blogs

So while I was out with some friends last night, Eli came down with a fever, became more lethargic, and lost interest in eating. Since the fever remained this morning, I brought him into the pediatrician to discover he has his first ear infection. So with his first infection, he is on his first antibiotic…which he thinks is quite tasty! After drugging him up and giving him some ear drops for pain, he was playing quite happily by the end of the morning. So hopefully his cold will pass by quickly and his ear will stop hurting! And hopefully we can get him and keep him healthy for his next scope!! Matt and I both are thankful for wise doctors for delaying his procedure. Though we wanted to get it over with, we don’t want things any harder on Eli!