Dax's Journal

Sickie poo

Our house, it is riddled with disease. The cause? Daycare.

Dax picked up a nasty bug last week that resulted in his ears becoming infected. Because of the ear infection, he had to take antibiotics. Because of the antibiotics, he had tummy trouble. Because of the tummy trouble, he got a diaper rash. Oh! And let's not forget the rash he got all over his neck and torso because of the antibiotics.

And just when I thought we were on the upswing to good health? Cat got hit with some stomach bug over the weekend. And then he shared it with me. I can only hope that this originated with Dax and we just didn't notice because of all the trouble he was already having.

Dax is going to be 7 months old tomorrow. Can you believe it? I certainly can't. We are having so much fun with him. Every day he does something new. I just can't get over how quickly time is flying by. Sometimes I just want to hold him to me and make time stop for just a little while.

It's too fast. Slow down. Slow down.

Crazy kid...

The best thing about Dax right now is watching the development of his motor and cognitive skills.

Motor skill example: Watching him judge the distance between his tiny hand and the object he’s about to grab or knock over.

Cognitive skill example: Dax feigning sleep as the dropper full of Amoxicillin (for his ear infection) gets even remotely close to his mouth.

The Unruly Hair Gene

Dax will never be a model for male hair products. Why? Because he has inherited the unruly hair gene.

There really was no hope for him. My hair is unruly. Cat's hair is unruly. Two negatives do not make a positive. I suck at math but I remember that much.

Here is the evidence.

We're going to keep him despite his inability to earn his keep by hawking hair gel sometime in the future.

Dax had his 6 month doctor's appointment last week. He weighs 16.9 pounds and is 26 and a quarter inches. That puts him in the 50th percentile for height and the 25th for weight.

Our days of being able to put him in the middle of the bed with a barricade of pillows around him are over. Pillows are no match for him. This is both exciting because it is a new milestone and sucky because he must be supervised AT ALL TIMES. I mean, you know, he's a baby of course he needs to be supervised at all times. The point is that you can not look away for even an instant or he will be taking the keys to the car and driving to Hooters before you even know it. When you people said, "They grow up so fast" you really meant it.

This Little Piggy

I made it through my first full week of work. Yay me! I think you should all buy me a present.

Dax loves daycare. He loves it. He loves the room, the toys, the teachers, the other kids. I hope he will be ok just hanging out with us this weekend. Poor thing.

I believe he may be having another growth spurt. This is based on the massive amount of food he has consumed in the past two days. Yesterday he ate 20 ounces of milk, a quarter cup of oatmeal, and a small jar of baby food just during the time that he was in daycare. He then came home and breastfed for 30 minutes and then polished off a larger jar of baby food. And today at daycare he had the same amount of milk, more oatmeal (this time with bananas), and another jar of baby food. When we got home he breastfed and ate a small jar of babyfood and he'll want to eat again before going to bed.

Tonight he thought it was a good idea to help with the feeding process. You can see the result.

Survivor

If you've been avoiding calling me because you feared that I had suffered a complete nervous breakdown due to my return work then you can stop. I'm ok.

My first two days back were fairly uneventful. I didn't cry and I didn't poke a stir straw in anyone's eye. I'm picking up fairly quickly and don't completely feel like a fish out of water.

Being away from Dax is agonizing. I ache for him during the day. But I know that I can look forward to seeing him flash a big grin when I walk in the door and to snuggling up with him at the end of the day.

On my way home tonight I stopped by the daycare to drop off diapers and sheets and wipes. I met one of Dax's teachers and she looks like Jackie from That 70's Show. She very obviously loves her job. I got to see his crib, his cubby, his dresser, his space in the 'fridge and in the cupboard. She showed me the binder in which she will keep track of what he eats, when he pees, when he poops, and what he did during the day. I met one of the other moms who told me that he daughter has been going to KinderCare for a month and that she LOVES it. In fact, all the babies looked quite happy. I have a very good feeling about this place.