The only smile I have gotten b/c I am usually holding him and can't snap a shot. This was in the car on the way to my parents so it was a little curvy ride.
Jack is doing great and sleeping much more at night. He did 8 hours the night before last but averages 7 hours right now. Nap time is still up in the air and he has a lot of fussy periods but I think all the kids did. I can't remember it was so long ago. He is smiling now which is so fun to see. He has done a few coos for us too. We are still adjusting to the needs of a newborn and savoring it all too as he will never be this age again. The kids too make us laugh and we want to enjoy their imaginative minds and have wisdom to answer all their questions about life. I am realizing what matters at the end of the day. How did I respond to my children when they all needed something at the same time? Did I show them Christ's forgiveness and patience when they sinned or repeatedly complained? Was I consistent to point them to the cross when they fell short? Did I confess my sin to the Lord and ask for His strength to walk in the Spirit? And sometimes my greatest temptation...did I view my day as "good" if the children obeyed and I accomplished much? I am still learning by the Lord's grace that a "good" day is a a day that I wake up forgiven and choose righteousness rather than the pleasures of comfort and what gratifies me.***Oh and can anyone share what works best for eczema? All my children had it bad as infants and I know that the heat has made it worse too. I have used Aquafor and Aveeno unscented lotion so far but wondered if anyone had success with another product. Sometimes time clears is up too and it's a matter of just waiting.
4 comments:
Thank you, Elizabeth, for your insight and reminder of what our days are to be for.
Your little guy is such a cutie. His smile is great!!
Hi, Elizabeth! I'm not sure if you remember me from GTY, but I was excited to find your blog! Your kids are super cute and it looks like you and Steve are doing great!
Wanted to chime in on the eczema - Calvin had it when he was a baby too (not really bad or anything, but bad enough that we did stuff about it :) ). Our pediatrician told us to use the thick Cetaphil cream twice a day, and it worked great. She also gave us a mild corticosteroid cream, but as long as we were good with the Cetaphil, we didn't need it. The worst place for him was his diaper area - when it would break out there, it would bleed and just be awful. Once we found Gold Bond Baby Powder, that got a lot better - we also switched cloth diapers, and that seemed to help as well - maybe the chemicals were irritating him?
Anyway, Cal's pretty much cleared up on it's own also - somewhere around the 2 year mark.
Enjoy your cuties!
Morgan
About the eczema, Micah had it as a baby and I used Infinite Aloe. You can order it on infinitealoe.com It's kinda pricey, but it was the only thing I could find to use on Micah.
Hi Elizabeth! Jack is such a cutie, and I love his sweet smile! This was a great post, and a great reminder for me as we enter another year of homeschooling and I try to remember my ultimate priorities before God.
I wanted to throw in some thoughts about the eczema, as I've dealt with it with two of my children (the oldest and the youngest) and found that there was one exact cause of it: dairy. Are you nursing Jack? If so, you might want to consider dairy as the cause of the eczema and fussiness, if you have dairy in your diet. I know - it's not a fun thing to consider, but that has been the case in our family so I wanted to throw it out there.
With both of my eczema kiddos, the external treatments (aquaphor and the like) did not "cure" the eczema or the tummy troubles, fussiness, etc. Sometimes those things helped, but not for long and never completely. I didn't figure it out very quickly with my son, so we went on like that for a long time and it wasn't until I started trying to give him yogurt and cheese and watched him break out into hives that I put it all together. Once he (and I) were dairy-free, the eczema and tummy issues disappeared. :)
With my youngest, who has a very severe and scary allergy to dairy (along with eggs, and a super-scary "life threatening" allergy to peanuts), I knew what to look for and it wasn't such a long process. Her eczema and other symptoms did not disappear until I removed every last trace of dairy from my diet, including the "non-dairy" things such as coffee creamer and such. Many "non-dairy" things contain casein, a milk protein. I tried to keep the coffee creamer, because I love it, LOL, but once I ditched it, the eczema and all other symptoms disappeared completely, and rather quickly.
With Elise, my youngest, her dairy allergy is so severe that she now gets hives if her daddy kisses her after having cheese or drinking milk, even though he will make sure that he wipes his mouth carefully before he kisses her. If she actually directly ingests even the tiniest bit, her lips/tongue/throat start to swell immediately as she gags and works to breathe, and she breaks out into major hives. So we don't take a chance!
Anyway, this might have nothing to do with Jack's issues at all, but I figured that I would throw it out there as something for you to ponder. And if you aren't nursing him, then...nevermind! LOL! Just look at the overall picture - if he is fussy, if he has smelly, runny, or mucous-y stools, if he has eczema - those things all usually point to an internal allergy to some food that he is getting in breastmilk or formula. If it isn't dairy (the usual culprit), then it is something else. If it's only eczema, then it could be something external only (laundry detergent, lotions, baby soap, etc.). Either way, try changing things up and it will probably help a ton.
I'm sorry this is so, so long! LOL!
Love,
Laina
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