I don’t think the kids in Boston have had a full week of school since returning from Christmas Break. We’ve had at least one major storm every week. I think the foot we got last night really pushed all of us over the edge. We are ready for spring!! There is no more room for the snow! Here are a couple shots of our winter wonderland…
Here are our icicles. They go almost to the ground. This doesn’t say good things about the amount of heat we’re losing!
This is the view from our upstairs guest room. The snow on the eaves makes for very little visibility!
This is a view of the house from the street. The tiny speck in the garage is Noah James. He got all bundled up to help me finish shoveling today.
Its hard to tell from the picture, but the snow on the side of the driveway is above my head! We don’t have a really long driveway, but it sure does feel long when you have to shovel!
We no longer have a front entrance to our house. Sure hope the garage door doesn’t break!
Noah James was a big help. Dave did a bunch this morning. Enough to get his car out. Then I did the foot of the driveway (you know…where the snow plow comes through and makes a 3 foot high pile of dense, icy snow). Noah was a good sport, but was less than pleased by this afternoon’s “playtime.”
It was so windy while I was shoveling that I had to put him in the garage to keep him out of the wind.
He watched for a bit, looking very cold and uncomfortable. Then he fell asleep!
He was such a good boy, but he did not enjoy being in the cold. I rewarded him with a little Baby Eistein while I blog. I can’t get over how much he loves these DVDs. He is entranced!
We don’t watch a lot of tv and he watches even less. But when he is given a chance to stare at the flickering lights and the people and animals on the screen, he absolutely loves it!
While on the subject of Mister Noah James. He’s been having a rough time lately. I think he is in the very beginning stages of teething. He must have something in his mouth at all times! When there’s nothing around, his hands are in his mouth. And the drool is out of control!!
He had some little red dots on his neck that I was attributing to all of the wetness from the drool. But last week, I realized that his back, belly and arms also had red bumps and rough patches. I took him to the doctor and the doctor didn’t know what it was from. She said it wasn’t a virus or an allergy, and was likely reacting to something he was in contact with. I didn’t change any soaps, lotions or detergents, so I have no idea! He isn’t itchy and seems to not notice. That’s great, but I still want to get rid of these bumps. This isn’t a great picture, but do any moms out there have any ideas???
The bumps are hard to see, but they remind me of those clear little poison ivy bumps. Yuck! Noah turned 4 months on January 22nd, so we have his 4 month well checkup at the doctor next week. If the bumps aren’t gone by then, I am going to push harder for something specific that I can do. Right now I am just putting lotion on him in case its caused by dry skin, and rubbing Aquaphor around his neck to form a barrier from all the drool!
Thank goodness the rash isn’t bothering him, because the poor little guy has other problems. A lot of babies who were good sleepers regress around 4 months, and Noah James seems to be struggling a little more lately. But to make it worse, we decided to try weaning him from his swaddle. The doctor said it was time to start easing him out of it. So we are leaving one arm out of the swaddle. You’d think we were standing the poor kid on his head! He’s all out of sorts. He hits himself in the face and wakes right up! We are very tempted to swaddle him back up, but last night went much better. Wish us luck tonight!!
The next obstacle is to move him from our room to his crib. We aren’t stupid enough to try making both changes at once, so we chose to tackle the swaddle first. Right now, Noah sleeps in the Fisher Price Rock n’ Play Sleeper. This thing is great and I highly recommend it.
Noah spits up a lot and struggles with reflux issues (I couldn’t tell you how many bibs we go through in one day!!), so sleeping in a cradle that has an incline has really helped him. Moving to his flat crib will be a definite adjustment! Any moms out there have any suggestions about weaning a baby from a swaddle or moving him to a crib? Any helpful hints would be great!
Between the spitting up, the rash, and the sleep issues, Noah has been grumpier than usual. But his “grumpy” is still pretty happy! We still get plenty of smiles, so I’ll leave you with some happy Noah pictures and keep the fussy ones to myself! Before any fussiness sets in this afternoon, I’m going to try to squeeze in a little more studying. Biochemistry is kicking my butt! Fortunately, I have a face like this to look at!
I can’t believe how much snow the East has gotten this winter. Then, again, we have gotten more than usual this year, and it’s not looking good for spring thawing (aka flooding). Sounds like you had quite the helper for shoveling! 🙂 What a cutie!
ummm i can NOT TELL YOU ENOUGH how much i love the pics of him sitting in the garage! and HOW INSANELY jealous i am of the snowstorms you have been getting! we have yet to have a big snowstorm!!!!! i know you are sick of the snow (the pics certainly justify your thinking) but just think of us poor ohioans who have only been getting 2 inches at a time :(.
i dont have much advice on the bumps or the sleep, lord knows I NEED ADVICE in the department, but keep on keeping on, i hear things will get better! 🙂
ps your house is extremely adorable!!! need a house tour via pics sometime!
You can have as much of our snow as you’d like!
Noah slept much better the last couple of nights. Hopefully we’re over the jump. For naps, iced let him fuss and cry the last 2 mornings for 10 minutes… And by the time the ten minutes were up, he was asleep both times! I’m not ready to let him scream for an hour and cry it out that long. But 10 minutes of crying for a 90 minute nap…. I can do that! Hopefully I’m on to something!
He is so cute in the snow. I cannot wait until mine can do the Bumbo Chair. We are so close!!
For the bumps…Are you breast feeding? My little one was getting a rash from something I was eating. I started to eliminate until her rash and other things were normal. I don’t eat gluten, soy, or dairy now.
We use swaddling and the RNP sleeper. It is a godsend and she sleeps so well. I am not sure how the transition will go. I bought an incline sleep cushion for the crib and have had her nap in there a few times. For the swaddle….I have no idea.
Thanks for the advice Sarah. The doctor said that the bumps didn’t look to her like an allergic reaction to something I’m eating. I guess I’m glad about that because I would hate to go gluten free again. Dairy I can live without, gluten is tough! O will ask the doctor about the sleep positives. As long as it’s safe, I suppose it would be a food way to ease the transition.
Awwww so cute! The bumps: Amber got a similar rash & it was from her bath oil. She was fine w/ it at first but I guess w/ the winter dryness and clothes it started to give her a reaction. We solved it by only using a little fragrance free wash gel at bath time, on a cloth & nothing in the bath. Also, you could try rinsing w/ plain water, so you’re sure nothing’s left. Finall, to prevent/heal dry skin I found a baby oil that only has one ingredient: olus oil (=vegetable oil). I use that after her bath you can actually use olive oil for the same purpose.
RE: the crib. We’re longterm co-sleeping, but I know the tip I got was to elevate the mattress in the crib w/ a pillow under it.
Thanks for the tips ruby! I wonder if he’s suddenly become allergic to the lotion and shampoo I’ve been using all along. Maybe I’ll try something else to see if it makes a difference.
Poor little guy! I know you said it didn’t bother him but it looks uncomfy! My boys both went through periods of really sensitive skin. I thought it was the lotion and baby wash but it just went away after awhile. I think I may have coated them in diaper rash cream or Aquaphor to help the redness go away.
No advice for you on the crib thing. We bedshared with both boys until they were 2. I know, pretty old but I was cool with it. But I also let them sleep on the tummies too and that was supposed to be a no-no. Oops. In NICU they had both boys sleep on their bellies b/c the formula they insisted on giving them until my milk came in (ARGH!) made them puke.
I have Noah James sleep on his back. Buy we all were put to sleep on our bellies and were okay, so I think is a personal choice.
I’m hoping the rash will mysteriously disappear as mysteriously as it appeared, like you said.
I’m not positive this is the same thing, but I posted pictures of Chloe’s skin and it looked very similar. Hers was/is all cradle-cap related and it IS possible for it to spread throughout the body (seborrheic dermatitis). I took her to a pediatric dermatologist and he’s given her a steroid cream that is 2x stronger than OTC hydrocortisone. It doesn’t bother her in the slightest – she can get it in her eyes, mouth, whatever, and it’s completely harmless, but it has made the ‘rash’ throughout her body disappear!
Just something to think about. Noah is such a cutie!! 🙂
Thank you Hayley! I will mention it to the doctor on Tuesday.
Why does your Dr. want you to wean from the swaddle? We swaddled Ava until she was almost a year. She sort of self weaned then because it was just to warm to want a blanket. If it helps him sleep and keeps him warm, I’d say keep it. There’s bigger fish to fry…
Oh, I’m so confused!! She just said it was tome to start weaning him. He seems to be okay with one arm out now, but with both arms, I’m afraid he’s going to be constantly hitting hawlf in the face! I see the nurse practicioner on Tuesday… I’ll get her take on it too.
One last thing about the teething! I thought exactly the same thing with Chloe – she was (still is) constantly putting things in her mouth and drooling all over the place. I initially thought he might be an early teether, but she’s not. Starting around 3-4 months babies begin putting everything in their mouths. It’s how they discover textures, etc and has nothing to do with teething (yet!) Chloe still puts every single thing in her mouth and drools everywhere but still no teeth! Yet.. 🙂
Other than your adorable baby boy and I love all the pictures, I am most amazed by that pic with the icicles. Holy moly those are crazy.
Aww, poor Noah! I hope his bumpies clear up soon. Isn’t that Fisher Price cradle the best? I bought one for my nephew and he could sleep for hours and hours in that thing! Sorry about all your snow — I don’t miss it one bit!
Awww, Noah is too cute!! I don’t have any advice, since I’m not a mommy, but I do hope things are going better for you this week! You are awesome for studying while taking care of that cute boy! 🙂