Max Wigglin’ & Talkin’ 12.18.2010

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Max Started Talking

Ok, so he only said the word “Guh,” but he said it several times and in direct response to inquiries from his very excited parents.  Two days ago (later the same day of his health exams) Max began to say his first “word” and we have been excited to repeat this with him since. It’s possible that he has learned to fill in the silence at the end of a question, or perhaps he has learned his first way to communicate with us other than cry or poop his pants. No video yet, but the typical Max dialogue goes something like this:

Parents: “Are you a happy boy?”

Max: “Guh!”

Parents: “Are you smiling?”

Max: “Guh!”

Parents: “Are you a good looking boy?”

Max: “Guh!”

Max Has Healthy Kidneys

Today’s story has a happy ending: Max has been cleared of any concern for his right kidney, hydronephrosis, or vesicoureteral reflux. As we detailed in some of our earlier posts, (see here and here) one of Max’s routine prenatal ultrasounds yielded a measurement that “may be” something that requires future observation. All is resolved now that we have discussed this with our Obstetrician, Pediatrician/Primary Care Doc, a Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist, and a Child Urology Specialist. The long story short is that his kidney is fine and that we have likely had him on Amoxicillin since birth for no reason other than to participate in some defensive medicine. Max didn’t seem to mind as he enjoyed his am and pm “strawberry milkshakes.”

The first of his tests Monday was another ultrasound, which was fairly noninvasive and showed two very normal and healthy kidneys. The next was a very invasive Voiding Cystourethrogram (which was painful physically for Max and emotionally for his parents.) The results of this test, in which a catheter is inserted into the penis and fed into the bladder to inject a dye read by an X ray machine, was that Max had no signs or symptoms of vesicoureteral reflux. All good results, but  it was a very difficult experience to hold a child down while he is poked and prodded on a cold radiology machine. It was amazing, however, to see the X-rays of Max and how every little part of his tiny human body worked in coordiantion with each other.

If any parents find this online by Googling some of these terms, I will be happy to answer any questions for you. You can contact us here for some info and words of encouragement.

Max Wishs Big Sister Lauren Happy 16th!!

Lauren & her two brothers on her 16th Birthday…

Diaper Change

Ok.. So perhaps the title of this post is a bit misleading. Max moved up a size in diapers yesterday from ‘n’ to ‘1.’ Charity and I realized that this probably should have happened a few weeks ago, but because we are both creatures of habit, it seems that we kept on using “the ones that worked.” The bigger diapers just looked “too big” for him. It wasn’t until several days of blowouts and noticeably strained red line on his thighs that we opted to just give it a try. I wonder if this is something that happens with all parents. Max has outgrown his first diapers and this is a significant milestone for him (though he was already born too big for most of his newborn clothes.) We are looking forward to learning whether or not this resolves the blowout issues. The red lines have gone away and Max seems happier with more “space to fill.”

Newborn size vs size '1'

Fun with Max in early December

From tubby time to nap time, we have lots of fun with Mr. Max. Here are some photos of some of our recent moments with him.

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The Text Book Max Meltdown

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Max’s First Shot

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The Adventures of Cap’n Poopy Pants

Okay, everyone loves a dirty story. Max, sweet and handsome Max, has many of them.

Throughout a [current] typical day, Max has many feeding-pooping-sleeping routines. I’m going to share two, with which I have grown quite familiar.

During the days at home, Max spends most of the day eating and taking shorter naps. But sometime between 8:00 am and 2:00 pm, Max will have an “awake” time, where he stares at the ceiling, toys, his rocking chair sides, lights, and now the Christmas tree…. licks the top of his sleep sack or his his hands….and exercises his little arms and legs. But, it’s also a time that Max keeps me nearby the changing table. Munch, munch, munch, kick, kick, reach, poop, poop, poop, stare, coo, kick, munch, munch again. No sleep for Maximus! But it’s sooooo cute how he let’s me know when we have reached a new phase in the cycle. Max uses a Bat Signal approach masked as a pterodactyl squawking sound……uh AH! Just one will motivate me, but if I wait…..uh AH! Pretty soon, it’s cries and tears. Time to take care of that diaper or feed that boy! (see The Text Book Max Meltdown post for a play by play video example of this…)

Overnight, he’s too sleepy to deal with much of anything, and these period require lots of time awake for me, Mommy. Max wakes up fussy (often with dirty drawers too). He eats a little, is changed, then eats again until he falls asleep in my arms. Then back to bed…..unless he has a build up of, well, a build up. The other night, he pooped, ate, was changed, pooped after the diaper was Velcroed, changed again, ate, fell asleep, POOPED AGAIN!! Uggh….it’s tough to be Mommy during those times. But it’s impossible not to want to wake up his father to laugh about it!! Max is truly Captain Poopy Pants!