Scarlett Pannebaker

long time no blog

Lots to catch up on since I last posted. Let's see if I can write a whole post in my one day off!

1. Truman had his 4 month doctor's appointment on Monday evening and Nate got to come with us this time, too. The Pediatrician and his nurses could not get over how much Truman has changed in the past two months and as Nate held Truman on his lap, the all commented on Nate's 'Mini-Me'. Still no signs of mommy in this boy apparently!

So he had his 4 month shots and although the doctor said the two month round is usually the hardest, I completely disagree. This time around was much harder. Truman screamed bloody murder when they stuck him and was totally ticked off that night afterward, too. We gave him Tylenol and that seemed to help a bit because the night was fairly uneventful. But during the day on Tuesday, Tony said Truman was all out of sorts and was pretty hot and needed extra cuddling to stay calm (and was basically half naked all day in just a diaper to stay cool--I love that visual, don't you?). My poor happy baby wasn't happy that day! Tony was great with Truman though and I'm so glad it was a 'grandpa day' instead of a daycare day when T needed extra loving. I took his temperature when I got home and it was 99.7, so just a low-grade fever like they say will happen, and he ate just fine all day and slept and had dirty/wet diapers. But I just HATED to see my baby in pain. He was a total crankster that night, even 24 hours after the shots, so we did another round of Tylenol and it seemed to help Truman a bit and even allowed a few smiles out of him. Of course, that second night after the shots lead to MANY wake up times, the first one only 3 hours after he went down to sleep. Luckily today is my day off so we could sleep in a bit since the night was so broken up and so far I think he's a lot more comfortable today and the fever is completely gone. I must say that I hate shots, I hate that they make my babe upset, and I know it's all apart of motherhood but watching your child be in pain is the worst. I totally get it now when my mom says she'd do anything to protect her kids from pain. I know vaccinations are a necessary evil and I'd much rather have him be cranky for a day than get a serious disease but I'm so not looking forward to the 6 month go round. I'm thinking the Tylenol will be administered BEFORE the shots next time.

See the two little puncture wounds on my baby's fatty thigh? Makes me sad. :(



2. But the fun news from the doctor's appointment is always his stats. :)

His head is still in the 75th percentile for his age. Big brains, that one.

His weight is up to 17 pounds, 3 ounces which is 83rd percentile for his age. Big baby boy!

And his height? Ah, there's a story with this one. Earlier in the day on Monday we had Truman measured by a detail-oriented researcher (more on that in a bit) and she swears her measuring table is much more accurate than the doctor's office version. I totally believe her since she is a scientific researcher, and she measured him at 26 and 7/8ths inches (see, I told you she was specific!). That would put Truman in the 93rd percentile for his age.

HOWEVER, at the doctor's office, where we have a different nurse every time who measures Truman in their own ways, they claimed he was only 24.75 inches. Say what? Um, they said he was 24.5 inches at two months and I'm pretty sure he didn't only grow 0.25 inches in two months. I mean, he was wearing 3 month Carter's footed pajamas at 2 months and now he's in their 9 month size because the legs were too short. Nevermind the fact that Nate and I are both giants and out of any of their measurements, I'd expect his length to be the largest. So whatever. Their 24.75 inch measurement dropped him into the 35th percentile and even the doctor said they don't believe the nurse's stat on that one. So basically, I'm going to say he's almost 27 inches because that is what the accurate researcher says and I'll just ignore the questionable doctor's version. Don't they know that a Type A first time mom is all about numbers and records them all into the baby book? 27 inches it is...

(and although we are not in the middle of football season, I have a feeling T will outgrow his Packers outfit long before then. So today I had to bust it out just to get one wearing in before it's retired.)








I present to you the newest Green Bay Packer, Truman Anthony! He's a linebacker for sure.


3. Then there is the great solids debate. At 4 months, a lot of doctors, including ours, recommend starting the baby on rice cereal. I've researched the hell out of it (of course!) and I really feel like Truman isn't ready for solids and he's still totally satisfied with his breastmilk-only diet. I mean, partially it's because I'm being lazy and don't feel like dealing with one more thing by mixing rice cereal and cleaning it up afterwards but also there are some good research studies out there showing that breastfed babies should wait until 6 months to start solids. Breastmilk has everything he needs right now, and even though the doc claimed that by 4 months breastmilk is lacking iron, I found a lot of articles that say otherwise. I could go on about this but basically, I'm going to wait until T is 5 months (just 3 more weeks) and then reassess his readiness for cereal. I'm such a rebel, I know.

But Truman IS starting to get more interested in our big-people food and hates to be on the ground during our mealtime now. So we decided to bust out the booster seat to see if he likes sitting at the table like a big boy. Sure enough...he was enthralled and so stinking cute! Doesn't he look like a mature old man here? The polo shirt makes him seem older too, I think.




So for now he'll sit at his seat and watch us eat food while he chews on his hands some more. We'll see if that changes in a few more weeks.

4. The researcher mentioned above is one of Nate's PT school professors. She is conducting an official study to be published focusing on infant stepping patterns. For us PT nerd parents, it's pretty freaking interesting, actually. Truman is one of her subjects and we'll go in at 4, 6, 8, and 10 months then one year and once more when he is walking independently. She puts a bunch of reflective markers on his chunky thighs and then holds him over the top of a teeny treadmill where they video tape and analyze his stepping reflex. Even though Truman is far from walking he does have the instincts to take steps and it's super cute to watch his little feet stomp along the treadmill.

The researcher warned us that at the 4 month mark the babies usually get pretty mad because they don't want to exercise and don't like the feeling of the ground moving underneath them. We sort of laughed when she said that and assumed T would be all about it since his parents are sort of psychos about running and he was in such a great mood when we got there. Well, as soon as the treadmill started to move he began to tweak out . Apparently he does NOT appreciate a good exercise session just yet! He'd stop crying when she took him off the treadmill and was totally fine afterward but I think he just didn't feel like working out that day. He promptly passed out asleep on the way home from his 3 full minutes of walking and then we pumped protein shakes into him for recovery (I kid, I kid....not yet at least) :) I brought my camera and the video camera but didn't have the heart to record his freak out session. Maybe next time because it's really too cute and either way, they do give us a DVD at the very end of the sessions to see how much he's changed with his stepping. Baby boy had such a busy day on Monday with this appointment and the doctors, but we were so proud of him at both!

(sticking with the sports theme in his attired, here's 'Mommy's All Star'. Love)


Note the 'shoes'.








If he isn't playing the air guitar here then I must be crazy. Jamming out!






5. And then a little bit about Truman's mommy: I officially signed up for a half marathon this fall! Nate will do it with me and Truman will watch from the sidelines with grandma and grandpa. I am totally freaking out over finding the time to train but I'm really excited too. Maybe just a bit crazy for doing this but whatever. I start training next month so we shall see! I hope my milk supply doesn't drop and I don't have to resort to running before work or we're looking at a 4 am wake time. Not cool. But I'm committed and pumped about it.

Nate and I ran 6 miles on Sunday to test the distance waters and I felt surprisingly awesome. I've only done 4.5 miles as my max since Truman so this was a jump and I'm proud that my body was able to run for an hour. Nate pushed Truman in the BOB which slowed him down to my pace, since T is such a hefty package to push. :) But here's to some longer distances in my future as a mommy runner. Whoo hoo!





I think that's it for now. And this post only took me 6 hours to write. Not bad!