On the mend!

Our pediatrician & I are quickly becoming BFFs. We have been to the doctor's office 5 times over the past 15 days. Little J has gone through wheezing ("potentially asthma??"), rashes ("allergy-related eczema"), more wheezing ("definitely allergy-related"), double ear-infections & more wheezing ("let's start on him nebulizer meds twice a day"). By the fifth visit, we were finally referred to an allergist, who was coerced into seeing us the same week. Based on the symptoms & the opinions of our pedi, J's teachers at nursery school & various co-worker of mine, we just knew he was going to be allergic to everything from nuts to dogs to wheat.

Then yesterday -- Oh what sweet relief for everyone to be so wrong! After giving the allergist the rundown on J's situation, he tested him for the top 5 food allergies, all of which he would be exposed to through nursing -- nuts, dairy, soy, wheat & eggs-- plus dog (since the dogs lick him daily). All of the allergy tests came back negative! And environmental allergies are not a factor since he has not been exposed to much yet. So the diagnosis on the eczema was that he just has very sensitive skin & still requires lots of moisturizing. As for the wheezing, he thinks it sounds like tracheomalacia, which just means that the walls of his windpipe are floppy & the cartilage very partially blocks his airway, hence the wheezing. This is common in infants & our course of action is for him to outgrow it. We are so thankful for this better-than-expected diagnosis and can finally rest assured that our little man is on the up and up!

Despite the seemingly perpetual sickness, we continued our Christmas tradition of going to a tree farm in Brevard to pick & cut our tree. It was a family affair -- the few & far between "rides" the dogs to get go on. Although this year, they had to ride in the back of the truck as opposed to the toasty warm cab. And they didn't make the family picture, either.

I've also been busy whipping up organic, homemade baby food. Yesterday, Jackson had his first bite of veggies -- carrots! He thought they were delicious & cleaned his plate...though it appears most of it ended up on his face.

Other tidbit -- Newly aquired skills this week: Jackson has learned how to scratch his itches, habitually kick off his right sock, scream out loud to get our attention and can almost sit up unassisted. He has become really interested in his little stuffed Wolfie & is constantly grabbing for my hair, necklace, anything he can reach. He is such a joy and each & every day, we learn something new about our little blessing.