Christian: 8 Months

Some Christian updates, now that he is 8 months old:

*Sits really well,  has a teeny little tooth coming in (at the exact same age that Daphne got her first tooth), and can do a pretty mean army crawl.











*Is finally starting to outgrow 3 month clothing!  It's so exciting to get new sizes out.  My kids appear to be the same in this regard: they stay in one size of clothing so long that I get tired of the same outfits and get very happy when they get to wear new things.

*The happiest of all: he's only waking once, sometimes twice at night!  And sometimes he will take a daytime nap!  Glorious.

*C and I have been seeing a naturopathic doctor for the past couple of months.  Her philosophy of practicing medicine fits our family better than going to a medical doctor so we'll probably stick with her from here on out instead of visiting our old pediatrician.  It costs more money in the short term (especially since our ped. is free), but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, right?  Since March I've been eating basically rabbit food to see if Christian has some food sensitivities.  Combining my elimination diet, some homeopathic remedies for him and I, and lots of probiotics and fish oil for the both of us, Christian has gained 2 pounds in the last 5 weeks (after not gaining any weight for almost 4 months) and his eczema has cleared from his body with only a little bit left on his face.  Amazing!  We're so thankful for the healing going on in our house. 

I like how our new doctor explained it:  our bodies are like a cup with a small hole at the bottom where toxins are eliminated.  If the cup has too many toxins trying to get out at once, the hole gets plugged and the cup overflows, giving us symptoms.  In Christian's case it was low weight gain and eczema, as well as over all unhappiness and poor sleep.  For some it's headaches, heartburn, high blood pressure, allergies, acne...you name it.  What I like about seeing a naturopathic doctor over a medical doctor is that the ND typically tries to find what's causing the symptoms and fix that problem so that the cup (body) can eliminate toxins properly and the symptoms can subside.  In my experience, most MDs treat only the symptoms, meaning the reason the symptoms are there isn't fixed and the symptoms can become lifelong, recurring problems.  Allergies, high blood pressure, headaches, etc., aren't usually the problem.  They are caused by something, and that's what needs to be fixed.  Amazingly enough, sometimes (often) those things can be fixed without drugs. Thankfully Christian is one of those cases.

*Months 6 and 7 were just hard for our dear Christian, so it is amazing to see some of the spark come back into his face.  He's back to smiling more, laughing, and will sometimes even hang out on the floor without me.  It's such a gift to get 5 or 10 minutes here and there to wash a dish or two.  I love seeing Christian's energy back up, and of course love that he is finally sleeping better at night. 

*He's taken to solid food like I have never seen before.  He seems to love that we skipped purees and went straight to finger foods   and loves hanging out in his Bumbo with a tray full of food.  I can barely even do any food preparation while he is in my arms because he will grunt and reach for everything food related.  Be especially aware if you're eating a banana around him as he will do his best to swipe it from you.  He also likes gnawing on hunks of meat.

guarding his precious banana

*When you give him high 5s he cracks up, because apparently high 5s are hysterical.

*He makes me laugh every day.

 

 

month 6 - an angry month

month 7 - also pretty angry

I tried to get a smile - but at least he's not crying this month!