Solid Food

We thought we would give rice cereal a try since Simon seems to be extra hungry lately. The doctor said that it was okay but that he would prefer that we wait until 6 months - apparently Simon is of the same opinion because he seemed very offended by the spoon, the cereal, sitting in his chair. It looks like we'll be waiting until 6 months after all and I am probably going to go right to veggies and fruits once I confirm it with the pediatrician.

Tripodding

Simon is now tripod sitting. Sometimes he can go for quite a while, other times he ends up doing a face plant into the floor. He seems to enjoy the independence of being able to sit though.

Now that Simon can roll

Now that Simon can roll - he has decided that he's perfectly happy sleeping on his tummy. Now that he can lift his head and roll, I'm not as worried. He's currently napping on his belly and has been that way for the past 2 1/2 hours! I went in a few times to check on him but he seems content to sleep the day away - he must take after me because I find napping a perfectly acceptable hobby.

off topic but I just wanted to add that I'm so glad that Simon has found his thumb as it really helps to soothe him - as soon as you see him sucking you know it's either time to eat or time to sleep!

Simon's 4 month Doctor Visit

Simon had his four month appointment today with Dr. Bialik to check his progress and milestones. He weighs 17.16 lbs. and is 26 inches long - he is still in the 90th percentile for both height and weight but so was his aunt Lynsey and she's only 5'3 now! The doctor recommended holding off on solids until 6 months as there has been studies that suggest that you can prevent future chest and bladder infections by exclusively breastfeeding for 6 months. He did however so that it was up to us if we wanted to introduce rice cereal earlier since Simon is waking up 2-3 times a night. We also did some follow up on Simon's bladder infection. He will have to go for an ultrasound and a dye test to check for reflex in the valves between the kidneys and the bladder. This test should be in about a month, however until then, Simon is on a low dose of antibiotics to ensure that there is no kidney damage in the meantime. Other than that he looks to be perfectly healthy and well nourished!

Simon's First Swim Lesson

Due to his explosive poops and fever last weekend, we decided to hold off on swimming lessons until this week. Although Simon has been in the pool quite a few times, it was never part of an official swim program. Now, he and Matt are enrolled in Parents and Tots 1 with Adam and Isabella. Adam was grateful to have another Dad there as last week he was the only one! Here's some photos of the big event.

Simon @ 4 months

At four months Simon is doing so much more than just lying around and eating! Simon:

* is grabbing for toys and bringing them to his mouth so that he can not only touch but taste them as well
* has started to wake during the night again (sometimes up to three times) since he's cut down on feeding during the day because there is so much to look at
* cannot fall asleep on his own anymore - the tummy bug and subsequent infection has really effected the good sleeping habits he had developed
* has been on his first road trip to Toronto to visit Sanjeev and Heidi
* is starting to get some of his hair back albeit a much lighter shade than it was at birth
* loves to stand and look around
* still thinks that his Granddad is pretty funny - we need to get their interaction on tape. Dad always makes Simon laugh so hard he gets hiccups and Simon always makes Dad laugh so hard that he coughs!
* loves to be outside under the trees so that he can look at the leaves
* is still swaddled nightly - although I'm not sure if this is more for our benefit or his!
* is starting to notice his fur-brothers Gus and Brutus. Gus always stands nice and close so that Simon can "pet" him
* is wearing size 3 diapers
* loves reading books - as long as it's not too close to bedtime or to feeding time (this kid knows his priorities) - we need to start increasing our library since we're reading the same 4 books over and over
* is starting to forgive me over our bath incident - however, he now requires that someone be in the bath with him
* has rolls upon rolls on his legs
* is wearing mostly size 3-6 month clothes although there are a few 6 months items that fit
* still has that uncontrollable patch of hair at the back that sticks straight up although it's starting to droop a little bit
* has started to roll with much encouragement from us - he is actually enjoying tummy time now that he is doing it on his own
* has had his first and second visits to CHEO for a gastro virus and bladder infection
* is going to the doctor for his 4 month visit Monday so I'll post the latest weight then

Simon Rolled

Well he was almost rolling before he got sick and then for about a week he just wanted to be held and cuddled. Now we can finally put him down again and he picked up right where he left off. Today Simon rolled from back to front. I was just coming down the stairs where I went to grab a pair of socks and I caught the action just when I came down! I cried I was so happy and I clapped too - Simon smiled like crazy and was quite pleased with himself. We're hoping he'll do a repeat performance tonight to show off for his Daddy.

Here's some action shots of him attempting to roll (although in the last one, I think that he's checking out Anabelle) since I didn't get the real thing on film:

Simon's Second Visit to CHEO

This has been a crazy week for our little guy. Thursday Simon had a fever which resulted in trip to the Pediatrician and the ER - Friday and Saturday he seemed back to his happy baby state however, Sunday was a whole different story. Simon woke up with a fever and it was off to the ER at CHEO again. Once we got there they took his temperature, which had spiked to 39.6 degrees, and they taped a urine bag on him. Of course, with Simon's tummy bug, getting a clean sample was a bit of a challenge. In the end, Matt ended up having to put a clean urine bag on Simon - definitely not something that you expect to be doing with no training. Initial results showed that Simon tested positive for a urinary tract infection and further testing confirmed it. Simon is now on a second batch of antibiotics (after vomiting most of the first batch) and will need to be seen next week for follow-up tests and possibly an ultrasound. If this round of antibiotics doesn't kill the infection, he will need to be hospitalized to receive antibiotics through IV so hopefully it won't come to that. The poor little guy is having a rough go of it - and it's been pretty tough on us too since he's been up a lot and inconsolable through part of the nights. I could really use some more sleep but it's a tough commodity to come by with all of the construction noise in the neighbourhood and my incredibly poor sleep skills.

First Visit to CHEO

Simon has been feeling a little under the weather this past week. It started Saturday with a very cranky and sleepy baby who was a pooping machine. He went from going once every other day to about 8 times a day. Fast forward to yesterday - where in addition to being a pooping and sleeping machine, he also spiked a fever. We managed to get into our pediatrician within an hour and as a precaution he sent us off to the Children's hospital in case the fever was the result of an infection. Simon slept most of the time that we were there and woke just in time for his examination. He hardly played the part of a sick baby and was super smiley boy for the doctor. He laughed through most of the exam and only pulled the telltale bottom lip once. The doctor was confident that Simon just had a gastro intestinal virus and Simon confirmed the diagnosis with a pretty foul smelling bowel movement just before we were given the go ahead to leave. We're dealing with our typical little baby today - smiles, regular sleep patterns and no fever. Thankfully our trip was relatively uneventful.