Just call us the Nielsons.

As of yesterday we are now a Homescan Consumer Panel member home, which is a fancy way of saying that we are now an A.C. Nielson family.  We aren't reporting our TV preferences, though, we are reporting our household purchase information.  The job came with its own fancy gadget - a scanner, which we use to scan and record all of our purchases when we bring them home, and then to connect to Homescan division of A.C. Nielson and upload our purchase information.  It doesn't take very long to do, and each time we share information with them we get points, which we can eventually redeem for gifts.  So, our opinions matter.  Or if they don't, we are going to make them. 

And, since this blog really isn't about us anymore,  we'll now move on to news about Calvin.  First and foremost, he is feeling much better.  Although he is still waking once a night, a habit he developed during the reflux issues of the past few weeks, in general he is sleeping well and is having no trouble eating.  He has also discovered his tongue.  He can roll it and twist it, chew on it and use it to spit raspberries.  It's very cute, but very messy.  He has also learned how to pull himself up to a standing position when sitting in front of something (which means that we have to be careful where we put him).  He has not really crawled since the couple of times a week or so ago when he traveled about four or five feet, face planted firmly on the ground.  Evidently he has wizened up and will wait until he can get his face off the ground before trying that again!  And we stopped trying to feed him cereal after we switched him back to the liquid Zantac, but will likely pick it up again some time in the next week or so.  And that, is the Calvin news.

Thank you Mr. Esophagus

It's been a rough couple of weeks in the Ophoff home.  Calvin's pediatrician decided to change the dose on his Zantac - cutting it nearly in half.  By the end of the first week following the poor kid was pretty cranky, but by the end of the second week he was downright miserable, so we complained and the doctor gave a script for Prevacid capsules, the insides of which were to be dissolved, as the nurse told us, in his breastmilk.  Ha ha ha.  Over the weekend we tried everything - the little pellets just would not disappear into any amount breastmilk and getting them down his throat was not nearly as easy as getting them stuck to the side of the medicine dropper, the spoon, his face, his bib, our hands.  He was getting maybe half of the medicine, which is why he was still a bear when Cortney called back yesterday morning and a different nurse told her to try water instead (never mind that breastmilk is 90% water).  After a polite but frustrated conversation we finally scored an appointment with the doctor in the afternoon.  The look on his face when Cortney told him the pellets didn't seem to dissolve was near priceless.  No, he said, they aren't meant to dissolve, you put them on his food.  Ahhh...and therein lies the problem.  We  had diligently been waiting for 6 months, as recommended by the AAP, and countless other organizations, and the nurse who had told us to dissolve the pellets was apparently visiting from another planet.  In cases like these, the doctor told us, it is going to be better for the patient to start a little early on solids so as to get him the medicine and give him a little more in his tummy to weigh down his milk (they make dissolvable Prevacid, by the way, but it has Aspartame, aka Nutrasweet, in it, and babies just don't need that). 

And that is how we came to this morning, with mom preparing whole grain brown rice cereal and dad giving the wee one a pep talk that went something like this: "it's a one way hatch!  Food goes in and it doesn't come out!  Mr. Esophagus is our friend!"  But let us tell you, the esophagus isn't the problem it's the tongue.  All in all the first feeding went very well!  Calvin even seemed to enjoy it.  More than a couple of times he reached for the spoon and pulled Cortney's hand to his mouth, but every other spoonful or so would be pushed back out by the tongue.  We realize that it is a learning process - for all of us.  We think it is also a bib destroying process.  The good news is, we all had fun, and he got probably 95% of the medicine, which was the whole reason we had to start this now anyway.  First feeding?  We'll count it as a success.

Slow down this horse!

Calvin continues to learn and try new things.  Tonight he was reclining in the bath and surprised us with a whole  new trick - first he pulled himself up to a sitting position (not a new trick), then he pulled himself further into a squatting position (that's a new trick), and then he pushed himself into a wobbly standing position (definitely a brand new trick)!  We don't have a picture of the standing, only the squatting, because who has hands for a camera when they are trying to keep a 5 1/2 month old from toppling over because they shouldn't be standing on their own yet?!?  And yesterday afternoon he traveled over 4 feet in fits and starts of crawling, too.  In fact, he's been so active lately that at an impromptu doctor appointment today they logged him as actually having lost 1/4 of a pound, taking him back down to 16 3/4 lbs and a hair shy of 27 inches.  Of course, that weight loss may better be blamed on the trouble he has been having with his reflux, which was the reason for today's pediatrician appointment.  But we will go into that further when we post tomorrow about our success or lack thereof with Calvin's first try with solid foods.  Yup, you read right.  Much to our chagrin we will, based on the doctor's orders, be starting solids prior to our six month goal.  Look out kitchen, here we come.  More on this tomorrow.

To Calvin, who is five months old today

Wow!  Five months old!  To us it seems as though you only arrived just yesterday, and yet it is amazing how very different you are now than you were back in June.  Thankfully your physical growth has slowed way down.  You were growing so fast before it was amazing you had any energy left to do other things!  In the past month you have gained slightly more than a pound and slightly more than a half inch, which makes you 17.25 lbs and 26.75 inches.  What a big boy!  And while your growth curve has slowed, your learning curve has picked up the pace.  A month ago you had started to sit froggy style (leaning forward on your arms for balance) for short periods of time, but as of today you sit up straight like a big boy and can stay that way indefinitely (or at least until your next nap).  And next to sitting your new favorite way to play is standing!  Yes, you love to stand, using a table for support, to play with your toys.  That is why your new favorite toys are your doorway jumper and your exersaucer.  You have started turning the pages when we read to you, although never at the appropriate time!  You are vocalizing more and more, through cooing, laughing, gurgling, and lots and lots of raspberries, spit included.  And, most wonderfully, you have become a "settled" baby, showing confidence and comfort in your world.  This month marked your first real season change, and the cold weather brought your first colored leaves and your first snow, a little early this year!  Halloween was fun, mostly for you parents.  We took you to the pumpkin patch, where you loved the pumpkins, and to the old fashioned cider mill, where you loved the gourds, and for Halloween you were the cutest giraffe there ever was!  Calvin, you are our greatest joy!

Who is entertaining whom here?

We've been asked this question several times, especially after we posted the video of Calvin and Jon playing peek-a-boo.  Here is some more evidence in the matter.  Let's take a vote.