Mommy's Diary

Month 7 - First tooth - Grandpa comes - Sleeping better - Constipation and Eczema worse - Sitting up - Crawling!

September 3, 1999

Tiger has got back to his good self. In fact something happened these two days makes me real happy.

Before when he started to sleep thru night I didn't know if he never wake up if not hungry or if he wakes up but goes back to sleep by himself. Wednesday he fussed around 11:00, daddy and grandpa and I all rushed to the bedroom. At the door I told them that I would go in. After the talking and mine dropping what's in my hand, I took one step in and that's when he stopped fussing and I stood there for two or three minutes unbeliving, waiting for his cry explodes in any minute. It never did. The next night I was sleeping in the bed beside his crib when he fussed again and I deliberately waited for a few moments more that I would and sure enough he went back to sleep by himself again.

August 31, 1999

Tiger didn't sleep well last night at all. He kept fussing every 30 minutes to one hour. I found out this morning that he must be having a cold. He tried hard to breath through his nose and he was frequently opening and closing his mouth and it bothered him big that he would utter a cry once every ten minutes while he tried to stay asleep. Poor little one. He cried so many times last night and I thought he was hungry!

Grandpa just called me and told me that Tiger had pooped! So it is only one and half day. He is getting better. We started to give him 2-3cc of milk of magnesia last Wedesday. He has pooped three times since then. And we are giving him lots of pears and prunes and 2-3 oz of prune juice. Hopefully he will improve gradually then I can stop the milk of magnesia. We are planning to start barley cereal today. He is growing so fast I want to make sure that he gets all the nutricients that he needs.

August 30, 1999

It's probably because that the taste of milk of magnesia is very bad. Tiger just didn't want to drink from his bottles. He didn't even eat his solids as good as before. So he is so hungry that I have to nurse him more times than before. He woke up almost every hour last night.

August 28, 1999

Du's son turned one month today and we were invited to her house for celebration. Before we left our house, I put Tiger on the carpet and went inside to pick up the gift for Kevin. I came back out just in time to see that Tiger has pulled himself up and he flip his hands up and fell hard on his back with his head hitting ground. He is just going to get himself into countless of troubles by trying all the things. I feel sorry that he was hurt but am real happy that he is developing so well. Well, we just have to be extra careful to watch him.

Tiger had a good time at Du's house. But once when he was drinking from a bottle of juice happily he suddenly choked on the juice and he vomitted the entire meal out. It was pretty scary. But after that he forgot all about it and was happy again as if nothing ever happened. He learned how to use the sip cup as well. And he loves it. But sometimes he drinks too fast that he would choke on it. He also chokes on the water when he takes his bath at the big bath tub. I'm a little worried about how easy he becomes choked.

Every morning when he wakes up and every night before he went to bed, we let him play in our bed for a while and he'll roll over and crawl fast and happily. Once I noticed that he was patting the sheet. Then I realize that he was trying to pick up the flowers printed in the sheet. Guess he doesn't have the concept of two dimentional matter yet. So hillarious.

August 26, 1999

If it's not this, it's another. This morning Fan called and said that Tiger might have an ear infection. We went to the doctor this afternoon. Fortunetaly, it isn't ear infection. It's just his eczema got very bad in one of his ears.

Tiger also fell from the carseat. Fan and my dad went to a car dealer today and they put Tiger in the carseat. He was sleeping beautifully when my dad step out to say something to Fan and when they both turned back in a minute they couldn't find Tiger! He is not in the carseat. My dad said that he thought that Tiger was kidnapped! Then they found him laying on the floor carpet. He cried when he saw them. Oh sweet poor little Tiger.

He went to sleep at 6:30 today because he missed his afternoon nap due to the doctor visit.

August 25, 1999

I can't believe that it is almost 3 months since Tiger had his constipation problems and we still can't find a way to help him. I actually thought that he was improving because he moved from pooping every 5 days to every 3 days. But last week when he pooped the stools were really hard and there was blood in his stools from tear and he started to hold since because it is painful to go. Last night we used glycerin supporsitory to induce his bowel movement and he pooped but he cried so hard as if somebody is killing him. I am feeling real bad about this. I almost want to cry to see him hurt so much. And I had a fight with Fan just because we are both so upset. Last night he woke up in the middle of the night and cry again. It was not his normal cry, he cried so hard that his voice became hoarse, just like when he pooped yesterday evening. I thought he wanted to poop some more, but he wasn't able to. We are going to start to use the milk of magnesia today. I pray to God that this can help him.

August 23, 1999

On the way to work this morning I have been thinking about Tiger. He is growing so fast. Last Saturday Fan and I watched the video we took since his birth. He was so little then! I almost couldn't remember that he was that little. How I want to hold the little Tiger again! I want to go back and relive the 6mo since Tiger was born. That was the best thing that ever happened to me.

Tiger is all of my happyness and worryness. He is getting mobil all the time. Now he can sit by himself longer. But he doesn't like to sit. He wants to stand. He doesn't know how to walk yet. When you hold him by his armpits he would stand and jump up and down and try to take some steps but he doesn't know to alternate his legs. But he is so happy to be jumping!

His constipation problem, however, was getting worse. Last Saturday when he pooped it had blood in it. He screamed and my heart ached for him. Poor little guy. I talked to his nurse. We must do something in addition to diet control.

August 20, 1999

I thought that baby tooth comes in at one night. The next morning it is there glaring and white. But Tiger's teeth seem to need some time to grow. They are still not 100% out yet. I didn't notice he had any discomfort before the teeth broke through the gum. However, ever since the tip of his teeth broke through he has started chewing like crazy. One of his board book has had a missing corner which I suspect that it was in his stomach. I guess he must have needed some fibre for his constipation problem. And it's getting better, believe it or not. He used to poop every 5 days, now it's every 3 or 4 days. Anyway, we started to watch what he grabs real carefully and try to catch it before he put it into his mouth. Although it is not easy I have to say. Since he can crawl now (not the real one yet, he alternates the feet but not the arms) he is constantly on the move and once he finds something he scoots forward so quick that before you have any time to move the item he has already got it in his mouth.

August 20, 1999

I started to give Tiger a sip cup last week. It's very funny that he would put the cup to his mouth and then take it out just like what we'll do when we are drinking from a cup. And he repeatedly does that. However, I don't think he actually sucks so he just acts like he's drinking but actually he is not!

Now that he crawls better, Tiger is always on the move! And he doesn't know of limits! When I put him on our bed, he'll roll to his tummy immediately and starts crawling. And he likes to crawl toward the edge of the bed as if he wants to see what's out there. We have to really watch him because he would just crawl out of the bed! They say that babies have a sense of depth but it doesn't seem to me that Tiger has. :)

August 18, 1999

Tiger now knows to move his legs alternatively but he still throw both of his hands forward at once when he scoots.

August 17, 1999

Tiger's on the move! He usually just lifts his body on his knees and hands and rocks back and forth, but if you put his bath book a foot away in front of him, he scoots forward so quick that he'll have the entire book on his mouth before you can move the book one more foot back to set a new target for him. (It takes him four scoots to go 1 foot forward.)

August 15, 1999

Today when I put Tiger in his stroller carrier to feed him solids, he started to put his left big toe to his mouth. It is so funny. Fan and I have been talking about it for sometime. We heard babies do that but we never saw Tiger did it. He only plays with his toes. I thought his legs are not flexible enough or something. So it was really an excitement for us when we saw him doing it.

He has been also standing by the sofa or endtable or chairs for about a week now.

August 11, 1999

We went for Tiger's 6 month check up today. He is 17lbs11oz, 27 in, and 45cm. Both his weight and height are at 50 percentile. I worried a little bit about the drop of his weight in percentile but his dr said that she's not concerned at all. She said that at this age they are preoccupied with so many things that they don't eat much. His ears are good. She said to continue the diet control for his constipation and eczema and to challenge him with barley cereals after two weeks.

Another thing Tiger likes to do: to look into boxes. He wants to check out everything inside a box or a bag. He'll try to open the box and drag whatever is inside out. Many times I have to pull him away from our trash bag. LOL.

August 9, 1999

Could it be that he was going through a growth spurt last Saturday? I read Cathie's post on the asintinytots website and she asked if Tiger had gone through a growth spurt. It's funny I never thought of that. Some people say that babies can get fussy when they have a growth spurt because their body changes so much sometimes they can't handle it. Think back I remenber Tiger did wants to eat more because my milk was not enough for him so we thawed some of my frozen milk.

August 8, 1999

Well, it doesn't look like that Tiger has an ear infection. He is ferfectly happy today. We took him to Sears Studio again today for his 6 month pictures. This is the most perfect set of pictures we have done so far. Tiger liked the young photographer Tara and he smiled and laughed. And we were able to get a picture of him sitting. When I let him sit, he tipped forward first, then he fell backward (glad I caught him). But the third time he sat for about 1 minute with his left hand holding his left toes and he felt that it was so funny so he looked up and smiled and the photographer was able to catch that moment. How I feel I have made a great achievement! The only difficulty we had was that Tiger kept moving and wiggling. Once we were trying to get a good pose for him and another photographer who looks older and more experienced came in. She put Tiger in a perfect position. But Tiger opened his mouth and cried just after one look at her. I started to think if he has something about old woman. But it might be the pencil in her mouth that scared him. He must have been thinking: "Strange woman! I've never seen somebody like that in my entire life!" It's real funny. The other day when Qin came in with his sun glasses, Tiger cried at one look at him too.

August 7, 1999

Today I almost took Tiger to the emergency room. He had been crying for about 30 minutes. We tried to feed him, change his diaper, give him a pacifier, nothing seemed to help. He has been a little crapy these two days too. He is alert, plays actively. But he cried unexpectedly for a few times when he was sleeping. I was afraid that it was related to his falling off bed last time. I called the dr on call and she said it couldn't be the fall because the condition would deteriate in 24 hours of the fall if anything bad happened. Now it's 7 days away. She said it could be an ear infection though. We decided to observe him for one night and see if we need to take him to the clinic tomorrow.

August 6, 1999

Tiger is progressing so fast that I couldn't keep up recording them. One fun thing he has been doing for at least a week now is that when he is in his walker, he will go to you and pull on your clothes to draw your attention. He also tries to draw your attention by short laughs or some other vocal sounds and looking at you at the same time. Yesterday when I came home from work he was in his walker and he stretched out both of his hands and rushed (although it's all about the effort not much the effect) toward me.

Grandpa said that Tiger was standing with the help of the end table yesterday. I just couldn't believe it! He is growing SOOO fast!

August 5, 1999

So many things happened this week! My sister's family and my dad came last Saturday. Grandpa was a instant hit. I was afraid that Tiger would cry if Grandpa or Aunt Yi tries to hold him. But he was actually very happy and thrilled. He was laughing out loudly the entire day. He loves his nephews: 10-year-old Jason and 2-year-old Julia. The mere appearance of Jason would be enough to provoke a happy squeal. Fan and I looked at each other and couldn't help to be amused. Think about that we would have to work to get him laughing. He was all wild. Fan joked, "could it be because of the fall the other day?"

Julia loves Tiger. Whenever Tiger sleeps or naps, she would go around the house and looking for him. She tells everybody "baby." When my sister hold Tiger, she would run to her and cry "Mommy, mommy, hold me." She wants to play whatever the baby is playing. She wants to be wherever the baby is at.

We went to the Gateway Arch at St. Louis. The weather was so nice. We all felt great. Especially after 2 weeks of hot and humid days. Tiger was so excited that I almost couldn't hold him in my arms. He would push away from me using both his hands and legs. It's like he has four legs and standing on me. It's so hillarious! We also went to the Hahahonka state park. We invited Ryan and John's family for dinner. This entire week was a success. I wish they could stay forever. Dad is staying for now. But Sister's family left this morning.

Tiger is progressing quickly. He is now rolling all over the floor. He has developed a new sleeping habit too. He would roll over to his tummy in his sleep, then lift his tummy and raise his head and look around for one second, then collaps face down and goes right back to sleep. It is really amusing to see him doing that. The dr says its ok as long as he is able to breathe. He can sit for at least 30 seconds. He can lift his tummy entirely off the ground on his hands and feet. He scoots forward. I have a feeling that he is going to crawl real soon. Sometimes he tries to reach a toy in front of him but all he does is moving backward so the harder he tries the farther away he is from it. Oh, also, his bottom front teeth is cutting through. I can already see the tip of two pearly white teeth. I am so proud of him.

One more thing, he doesn't cry when he wakes up any more. He would just lie there quietly. I have to go in to check if he is awake in the morning. And he'll blow a big smile to me if he is awake.