Here are some recent photos of Alex, the Mr. and me.




Aaaaand, check this out:  His first full-length nap SANS swaddle!  At the time of this writing, he had been napping over 30 minutes.  For it to be the first swaddle-less nap, I'll call that success.  What a big boy.

You know, I don’t much enjoy reading about poop, and even though one of my favorite blog authors in the whole world regularly includes all sorts of poop references in her entries, it’s a subject I planned never to broach on my own site.

Heh. Did you see that word up there? That one that says “never?” Yeah, so here’s my first Poop Entry.

What I’m about to tell you may sound alarming, but if you’ll read the information in the links below, or if you’re already a veteran mom, you’ll know that more than likely, there is nothing to worry about. But still, it made for a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

It all began night before last. After his bath and some boob, Al got fussy. I knew he had just pooped his diaper (because if you’ve been around the boy, you know that he lets the world know when he poops), so I went to change him. He had started to develop a nasty diaper rash that covered a large portion of his bottom and boy parts. Of course, the cleaning and wiping only exacerbated his discomfort and he quickly exploded into full-on wailing, complete with quivering vocal chords and huge tears. The Mr. came to see what the commotion was all about, and as I smoothed diaper cream on the little hiney, I told him about the rash.

“What did you eat?” He asked.

You know, it’s moments like that when I wish that I had just decided to formula-feed the kid. That way, all his rashes and ailments wouldn’t be automatically blamed on me.

“Usual stuff,” I told him, and Al continued to howl and wail until I nursed him to tranquility (Hello, I am a human pacifier).

The Mr. consulted Dr. Google for possible causes and treatments and concluded that I hadn’t been changing Al often enough. Well, actually, that’s not what he said. He said that we needed to change his diaper more frequently. I interpreted that to mean that everything was All My Fault (Ahem, hormonal much?).

Yesterday morning, Al seemed to be feeling better and the lil’ hiney looked slightly less red. I just kept checking and changing his diaper every hour.

Mid-morning, while he ate, the boy let a whopper of a toot followed by the unmistakable sounds of pooping. Then my leg felt warm and damp (Oh, yeah, baby). He had blown out left leg-hole of his diaper and had generously smeared looser-than-usual poo on both his favorite “Sweet Pea” blanket and my favorite warm-up pants. I changed the both of us, and we resumed our morning.

Around lunchtime, I heard yet another poop sonata, and promptly gathered Al up to change his diaper again. This time, though, the poo (which at this point was loose enough to be called “diarrhea”) was streaked with bright red blood. How’s that for making a first-time-mom’s heart stop?

I called our pediatrician, Dr. Grandpa (I love him so!), spoke with his nurse, and within the hour I was headed to the clinic with Al and the questionable diaper (safely sealed in a plastic baggy) in tow.

After a hefty question-and-answer session (“Has he been vomiting?” “How many bowel movements has he had in the last 24 hours?” “Have they all been loose and specked with blood?” “Has anyone else at home been sick?” and so on and so forth…), and a lot of poking and prodding on the baby, we talked about Al’s problems with my dairy intake. I admit that I had, in fact, ingested a little more dairy than usual during the last few days, partly in an attempt to test and see if he could tolerate more (Shut up). Dr. Grandpa said that yes, that could definitely have caused diarrhea and the diaper rash. He wouldn’t commit to attributing the blood to that, though, and ordered a stool culture. In the meantime, he told me to watch carefully for signs of dehydration, and to call if there was any vomiting, fever, or lethargy.

At that point, the doctor was called away to the phone, and I got to scrape the poop out of the diaper into a specimen cup to send to the lab (Mommyhood is the BEST, y’all!) before dressing and feeding Al (because by now he was one pissed-off little dude) and getting the hell out of there.

Over the course of the night and today, he has continued to improve and he’s still as smiley and playful as usual. Also, I’m not quite as worried after reading a few articles like these:

From KellyMom.com

From Pediatrics.About.com

From AskDrSears.com

Dr. Grandpa’s nurse called earlier with some preliminary test results. At this point we know that there was blood in the stool (um, duh) and that’s about it. I’ll update when I know more. After reading, though, it sounds like a reaction to the increased amount of dairy in my diet. And yes, I feel like shit about that.

This entry contains no photos. You’re welcome.

The official 1st day of Spring is still 23 days away, but we enjoyed an early taste of it this afternoon:

OK, kids, let's not beat around any bushes. The only reason you visit this site anymore is to see photos of Alex, right? It's OK, you won't hurt my feelings. Because honestly, the only reason I come here anymore is to share photos. I only include words because I think you think that's what I want to do, but hello? I have a 7-week old baby. Who has time to write words? Especially coherent words? Pshaw.

So let's just admit it, we're all just here for the pictures. I'll post pictures, you'll look at them. I'll include a few captions if I think it's necessary, and you'll feel free to comment (see that little "comment" link down there? That's what it's for. So you can leave comments like "Oh my God he's so cute I think I'll puke" and such).

Also, especially for the fam--if you see a photo that you'd like to have a copy or enlargement of, just let me know. The ones I post here are smallish files, so if you try to print them, they will probably come out grainy and icky. I have the big files and can order big, clear bee-yoo-tiful copies.

So, without further verbal ado, the pics:



I wanna be rollin', rollin', rollin' rollin'....                                Rock on, duuuuude!
(apologies to Limp Bizkit)

Must. Catch. Fuzzy. Crocodile.                            Hopelessly infatuated with the Einstein gym.


Ooh, I've got an idea.                                                   Let's DANCE!!!

I think The Boy has sucked my brain smooth out of my head, by way of the boobs. Either that, or I've been watching way too much "What Not to Wear" and "10 Years Younger." And if you've been tempted recently to turn me in to Clinton and Stacy, what the hell are you waiting on?

Anyway.

Tomorrow, my students will take the state writing test for fourth graders. Now understand, I do believe in accountability, and I’ll be one of the first to defend standardized testing (yes, it does have its place), but my God, the pressure that is put upon 9- and 10-year-olds (and their teachers! But hey, I’m an adult. I can handle it.) to perform on this thing is ridiculous. So ridiculous, in fact, that I sacrificed 16 hours of my maternity leave to review writing strategies with my students because MY NAME will be on their scores, too. (Many, many thanks to Alex's Grandmama, Aunt Teen and Uncle Joe for taking care of him while Mommy played Dedicated Educator.)

Tomorrow morning, while I snuggle up with my precious little bundle of grunts and coos, I will say a prayer for each of my students and for each of my coworkers. I will pray that my students feel calm and confident and that they are able to concentrate and do their best writing, revising, and editing, regardless of distractions or obstacles. I will pray that my dear coworkers and friends who are monitoring the test face the day with serenity, patience and grace. It will be a long day for all of them.

From today, there are exactly 3.85 weeks left in my maternity leave, and I plan to milk them for all they are worth. For the next 3+ weeks, I plan to work on a few important goals: Stock up on Alex-snuggles and shed a few more pounds of lard from the ass. By the way, I think the butt is lower than it used to be. We’re about to put that treadmill to the test.

I will continue to take lots and lots of photos, because clearly, 349 images on my computer are not enough. And I suppose I should think about setting up some studio portraits for Alex. I’d really like some professional shots of him with the Mr. and me, but if you know the Mr., you know that convincing him to play along will be no easy task.

Alex is already posing for his Kmart portrait.



And, apropo of absolutely nothing, here is the view from our home office window. Early this morning it was a crisp 26°F. Winter in Texas has no redeeming qualities--no pretty snow, no fun winter sports, just cold, damp, icy grayness. Downright uplifting, I tell you. (The upshot? Temperatures will be in the 70s next week.)