health department

Shoghi has had a cough since at least last November - maybe longer. I kept asking about it, first at the naturopath, then several times at our visits to the pediatrician. They checked him out, but there were no signs of asthma or pneumonia, but still the cough persisted. It's possible that we're going to have a little gap in health insurance starting in September, so I thought it was time to get to the bottom of it.

We started with three possibilities: airway irritation, reflux, or a swallowing disorder causing him to inhale some of his food/milk/saliva. As you know, we had a long battle with reflux when he was tiny - it was so bad right after I brought him home that the acid was causing him to choke. Formula or breastmilk would pour out of his nose, and he would and stop breathing - he was re-admitted to the NICU where he was diagnosed, then he came home with an apnea monitor so that I could sleep without fear that he would choke. He stayed on the zantac until this winter, and I hadn't noticed any changes after discontinuing it, so I didn't really think it was going to be reflux that was causing the cough.

Last month, we decided to rule out the airway irritation issue with a two-week trial of albuterol. Wow, that was fun. Changing squirmy Shoghi's diaper or clothes is already a sweat-inducing workout these days - getting him to allow me to hold a mask over his nose and mouth while I pumped out 2 puffs of the inhaler, and then holding it on for 10 seconds... well, that was pretty much a nightmare. I persisted, though, and his cough did not improve. Back to the drawing board.

So, last week, I brought Shoghi to the hospital to see a speech therapist to determine if he has a awallowing issue. Sure enough, for the first time, he coughed in front of one of our doctors while 1) drinking his bottle, 2) eating pureed foods, and 3) munching some cheerios. I actually haven't noticed an increase in coughing while he's eating, so I was very surprised and grateful that he "performed" for the doctor to see. The doc took it all in stride and told us it would be best to return for a barrium swallow - a radiological procedure that takes a live x-ray video of him eating, drinking, and most importantly, swallowing. We went in yesterday, and sure enough, you could see some of his milk back right down his airway while he drank!

So, of all the things that could have been causing this cough, it's (in my opinion) the best one. This little issue can be fixed by thickening up his milk for a while with, of all things, baby food bananas. He didn't have that inhalation issue with any of the foods, so it's that simple - thicken up his milk, and give him a few weeks like this, and his airway shoudl re-sensitize itself. I should start to notice less coughing overall, as he will re-learn how to swallow in a way that won't allow milk, or other liquids like saliva, to enter his trachea. When we come back from Massachusetts, we'll go back to the doctor, and by then we should be able to start decreasing the thickness of his milk. Voila!

I'm really grateful that it's this simple. After listening to the poor kid cough for so many months, it's good to know what the source of it is, and know that there's a simple fix.

waiting

I'm waiting for my new camera to arrive. It's funny how blogging (at least for me) is so dependent on having related content photos! I really hope this camera is a winner - I've bought and returned no less than four since January, and am a little sick of the search. I started with a DSLR, which I could not even remotely afford, and returned it - it was just too much camera for me to learn right now. Since then, I've tried a range of point and shoots, with various issues like shutter lag and poor picture quality, even for paying a pretty good price. My own camera's lens is failing, so I really want this one to be a good fit!

The love of books continues!

I feel rather news-less, even though a lot is happening. Here are some of the things we've been up to:

The boys are eating a lot of new foods - and many of them are truly solids now! When we went to our 9 month well baby visit, I had to fill out a questionnaire on things they are doing, and it asked about icking up cheerio's - I really hadn't thought they were ready for that, but I was excited to try. Well, they love it! It's been about 7 weeks since then, and the boys have really progressed using their fingers. Shoghi is a pro at bringing his bites to his mouth, while Max still kind of gets the food into his fist and squeezes it into his mouth. Still, they have such fun. I don't give them finger foods at every meal, but do let them use their hands to eat at least twice a day. Some of the recent foods introductions: bread with hummus, waffle bites dipped in yogurt, homemade mac and cheese with butternut squash, tomatoes (they eat off my plate so often, I just couldn't resist giving in to their please for lasagna!), cheese, and chicken bites.

Max now has SIX teeth! Four on the top that all came in a period of a couple of weeks, and the two middles on the bottom. Shoghi's got the two middles on both top and bottom, but just two days ago started some terrible teething - I think his incisors are on the move. It has been a very painful couple of days for the little guy!

He's also been biting for the past few weeks - shoulders, legs, and even your back or waist. All of the people who take care of him (me, Laurie and Emilia) have been bitten, and our firm "no"s and removing him from the scene of the bite hasn't helped. The biting is more frequent, and is now also happening immediately at the beginning (and consequently end) of every nursing session. With the exception of last night at 2am, we haven't nursed in four days. I got some new strategies to deal with the biting in the last day, so I'm hopeful it will help. He bit Max today for the first time, hard. It's not aggression - at least it doesn't seem that way. It's like he needs some kind of oral stimulation... today, giving him a frozen washcloth seemed to really satisfy him. Poor little guy - I don't want to be giving him so much scolding! As I said - I've got some new things to try, so we'll see how it goes. Any been-there-done-that stories would be well appreciated!

Max's language skills are taking the normal cyclical learning route. He no longer says "mama," and even "bra-bra" for brother has regressed a little to "bra." As one would expect, though, as we see these words fade, new sounds and likely candidates for words have emerged. We're hearing the hard "e" sound more and more as he tries to say "Auntie" and today we heard a lot of "s" - it seems he's trying to say "shoghi"! He still signs "more" and has added "milk" and "eat" to his repertoire.

Shoghi continues to excel in his physical abilities. He's standing and taking steps while holding onto things, and doing a lot of climbing. Last night at Korin's he climbed two steps, and he climbs up on the laundry basket while it's tipped over, and then down the other side. He loves it and smiles all the while.

exploring the underside of a desk recently relocated into the living room.

berry boys

I've been meaning for days to post these videos for my folks, who were ga-ga over the berry photos.

words, muscles, and messes

Here's another highlights post - happenings from the past week or so:

There's been a lot of fun and laughter around these parts as the boys play with each other more and more. I remember those days of wondering when Shoghi would even begin to smile - Max smiled so much earlier. Now Shoghi is our laughing, squealing boy, full of vivacious, high energy, while Max is full of good cheer, loves to be tickled, and giggles for his "bra-bra".

the twinnies received their first First Birthday gifts - hank knit sweaters from Auntie Knittah!
They have no idea how lucky they are!

Here's Shoghi looking rather cheeky...

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Max's language skills are improving by the day.
He can say mama, no, more, brother, and done, and he signs hi and more!
Looks like Auntie might be the next word, just in time for her birthday...

Fun with Food!

I decided to let the boys have at it, and defrosted some raspberries and marionberries.
What a hit, but what a mess! Thankfully it was warm - after it was all said and done, I plopped them into the kiddie pool to get cleaned off.

Shoghi looking a little dazed...

Max definitely got more on his lap than in his mouth!

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Finally, yesterday Max surprised me by pulling up to standing! Since he's not truly crawling, hasn't figured out how to push into a sitting position from his tummy, and wasn't doing the kind of acrobatics Shoghi was when he stood, I really didn't even see it coming!

brother moment

Max has started saying "brother," which is completely adorable, especially since he kind of growls it - "bra-bra" is how it sounds.

So, tonight just as the bedtime routine was kicking in, Max was really melting down. I had to sit him on the floor so I could get all bedtime stuff: the pjs, diapers, eczema cream. He was sitting there, the poor little guy, just crying his heart out. Shoghi crawled up, then sat down right across from him. He studied Max's red, crying face, then gave Laurie a look across the room, right before dissolving into sympathetic brother tears.

It was the first time this kind of empathy has passed between them. I foresee many incidents of such brotherly love in our future....

baby fave books

Oh, remember how hard things were at 6 and 7 months old? I probably sugar-coated it here, but there was constant whining and crying, and desperate, constant attempts at making the babies happy. Friends told me that when they could sit up, things would get better, and they did. Then it was "when they can go from sitting back to their tummies, things will get better," and they did. Creeping, then crawling, was such an adventure for Shoghi, but Max just lay there on his belly, complaining what he couldn't move. His recent new mobility has brought a whole new level of fun and contentment to our home.

Other things have also changed. Their hands are more coordinated, and they understand more words. They love books, love climbing into the bouncy chair, l-o-v-e electrical cords (and are learning, if ignoring the word "No!"). When things get iffy a couple hours after eating, they love sitting on the blanket on the living room floor with a bowl of TJs O's cereal. Now they can entertain themselves for several glorious minutes at a time.

I wanted to share some of their favorite things with you, and remember them for the boys! In this post, we'll talk about:

Books!

We're a big reading family. Between my parents, my siblings and me, we all love and highly value books. I've been reading to the boys for a good while, and they seem to have gravitated to them as a favorite passtime. Just this morning, Laurie was with the boys, and said to Shoghi, "what's that you have? Is that a book?" and Max crawled right over to the bookshelf. You might remember that Shoghi's first attempt at crawling was to get a book. Be still my heart - a bibliophile in the making!

The boys seem to become interested in a couple of particular books at a time, and want them to be read several times (before we, the readers, get bored and try to hide them!). In the past couple of months, favorites have all been books that we read dramatically, making special animal sounds, or accompanying the rhythm of the story with a shaker.

Here are some of them: Tykeosaurs, which involves Max roaring on the last page; Freight Train, a classic by Donald Crews; Chicky Chicky Chook Chook, a fun read that we use a rattle or shaker to accompany the words. Shoghi's current favorite is called Haiku Baby. He even has a favorite page - when we get to the "leaf" page, his little face lights up in a huge smile, and he laughs while we read the haiku: "yoohoo, peekaboo/ wind plays tag with autumn leaf/ catch me if you can." Max has really started to get into I Love Animals - we often have to read this over and over again, complete with animal sounds for every page. I adore that they love books, and hope it becomes a lifelong joy to them as it has been for me.


I'll be talking about our other baby faves in the days to come, so be sure to come back! More importantly, please share your baby favorites with us! We (and "we" means me, my sister, and our awesome sitter) are always, always interested in new baby toys, games, books and ideas!