6 Months

Elliot had his 6 month check up today. We were anxious for this appointment because of all of the skin issues he's had....but guess what? His skin looked amazing, better than ever! I hate when that happens, just like when my car makes a noise and I tell Jed about it, but it never makes the sound again. I guess that is okay though, because what ever we are doing it is working, and he's getting better rather than worse, and he's thriving.

Elliot is hitting all his milestone no problem, he's rolling over and all around. He can sit up, the Doctor said he has excellent balance (that comes from his daddy...not me). And they were impressed at how social he was, because he is a very very happy baby.

He is very average, he's in the 50th percentile. His stats are:
16.5 lbs
26 1/2 inches long
42.5 cm Head


The doctor didn't have much to say about the possible dairy allergy, he said it just come from trial & error and to watch him closely. My conclusion is, I am not going to go out of my way to eat dairy, but I am also not going out of my way to avoid it either. I've replace milk at home with almond or coconut but as far as cheese and other things, I'm going to eat pizza and ice cream...about as much as I did before I started the diet. But his skin is getting better so that is very good.

 He is now rolling around and he can cover an area slightly bigger than his blanket...but he hasn't ventured too far. I am not looking forward to him being mobile.

 After his appointment he had a slight fever, he had a good long nap, but then was really fussy for the rest of the night. Though, he looks happy in the pictures below, that didn't last very long.

 He was really fussing and at 7pm he started acting like he was tired, but I was trying to get dinner ready and Jed was running late for work, finally I decided to put him in his bed and give him his pacifier, let him cry himself to sleep. I put him down and he immediately stopped crying and fell fast asleep. I hope he sleeps all night. I had hoped to get more done tonight since he fell asleep so early. But I've only blogged, and tried to upload some videos.

We have been giving him foods and he is loving them! I don't know what is wrong with the video, everything from our video camera is now shaky! I thought it was how I uploaded the pictures, but now I think it is our video camera. I hope we can get it fixed, but sad that all the other footage is like that.

A year without buying something new

So Jed sent me a link about this girl who went a whole year without buying anything new, besides basic needs, and replacements of things she was actually using. I think her point was she hated consumerism, but it was inspiring. At first, I thought oh yeah, I want to do this! Imagine the money we'll save... So I can then go out and buy all the stuff I want. It seems a little contradictory though. I wish I could be better with my money but I started thinking about it and I would have a hard time defining what was basic needs, and I'm afraid that Jed and I would disagree on what is a "necessity". In my opinion necessities include an expensive hair cut, facial/makeup products, and what about clothes? Does this mean I could buy clothes at thrift stores like DI? Otherwise, I think I'd be naked at the end of the year... Just kidding I'm not that hard on clothes. Jed and I jokingly said we were going to do this, but then I doubted my ability to do so...in fact it gives me stress just thinking about it. I think I will settle for a tighter budget.  

I don't know,  could you go a year with out buying anything new?

http://www.adventure-journal.com/2012/06/britts-year-of-buying-nothing-new/

A few Firsts

Elliot is getting so big! We weighed him while we were at costco the other day with a scale, he was around 17 lbs...it is a big pain to lug him up and down our 3 flights of stairs to the top floor.  But he is getting such a fun personality. He is grabbing everything now. He freaked me out the other day because we have a tall rotating fan and I was standing near it and all of a sudden he grabbed the cage part and pulled it over! I was certain he just chopped off all of his fingers but he was happy as ever. I didn't even think his arms were long enough to reach it. We also have to watch all cups, especially those full of liquid.

He started cereals on April 27th and he now loves oatmeal. He is not a big fan of Rice. He seems to not like peas at all. The picture of him eating peas for the first time is the typical facial expression he made. However, we just fed him carrots yesterday (6/7/12) and he loved them. He got so excited about them and wanted more.

He has now mastered rolling from back to stomach with no problems. He struggles a little getting back, but he can do it. When he is happy he just rolls around on his blanket on the ground. If he is sad he will get to his stomach and just get upset and cry.

He is sitting up so good now! He almost has it all the way figured out, just occasionally he arches his back and falls backwards, but he's getting more balance each week.

His ezcema is an ongoing mystery. I cut out all dairy for a while and it made minor improvements. Then he broke out bad on his chin, so I decided to start eating dairy again. After a few days his ezcema got pretty bad again, but then we've been using some homemade lotion (courtesy of my parents) and his skin looks amazing, better than ever and that is with dairy. So now I am doubting the dairy allergy and thinking it's maybe just ezcema. Who know! We'll just keep watching it.

Elliot Loves day care. When we walk in to Ms. N's house and he hears the kids screaming upstairs he starts kicking his legs so hard and smiling/giggling. He then cries when I come to pick him up, and typically fusses until he goes to bed...that is not so fun for a working mom.

Failed Attempt

On Tuesday (6/5/12) I heard on the news that the Bore Tide was going to be the largest one of the year. So I got off early ran home and woke Jed up, we grabbed Elliot then got on the road. After only a short drive down the Seward Highway the traffic got heavy...then completely stopped around Potters Marsh. There was a line of cars as far as you could see. Apparently everyone else in Anchorage had the same idea and wanted to see the Tide. We turned around, we were already running late and there was no chance  we were going to make it.

We drove up to flat top, but realized we were ill prepared for that hike, so we took some pictures and enjoyed the sunshine. Elliot is so funny! He is the happiest baby (in public, at home he's kind of mean to us)

Day Trip to Talkeetna

 Elliot & I had the opportunity to ride the train from Talkeetna to Anchorage with Heath. I took half the day off work, Jed was working in Fairbanks so he didn't get to come.  Elliot was really good, he wasn't exactly thrilled with the train, he mostly wanted to be on the ground playing. By the time the ride was almost over it was 8pm and he was exhausted and just wanted to go to bed.

We rode the RCT (Royal Celebrity Tours) bus down. Then got on the train in Talkeetna and rode back. Heath had never been to Talkeetna so we were excited to spend some time there, but were disappointed to find out that we went straight from the bus to the train. So we headed back on Saturday. We drove down and ate at Mountian High Pizza Pie, walked down by the river and then went into a dozen gift shops. It was a fun day, and Elliot slept the on the drive. That was nice. When you get a chance to visit Alaska Talkeetna is a must see. I love it there, probably my favorite place in Alaska!

Alaska Winter

Elliot's First Valentine's Day (catching up)

I wanted to post these pictures forever ago, I am just discovering that I can create a collage on our computer...it is much faster to post than uploading several photos at one time! So I know this was forever ago, but I just wanted to share these adorable pictures.


Later that night when we were giving Elliot his bath, Jed noticed that he had yellowish stuff stuck in his toes. Jed was disgusted thinking he had poop stuck between his toes, which wouldn't be a big suprise if it was. Well, Jed hurried and put him in the tub but after scrubbing for a bit, we realized it was just paint.

Jed & I spent our Valentine's day shopping at Costco, getting Jed a new phone. Things sure change when you have a baby!