Big Happenings!

Finding the time to write is getting harder and harder...especially with so many new things Maxwell! I want to write about them ...but being more active and on the verge of dropping a nap...the time seems to slip by in an instant!

Now that my big boy is 6 months old there are lots of new activities for us to do. A story time at the library, swimming classes and a baby play time at a kids gym. Swim class starts tomorrow and I'm excited! Well, not about putting a swim suit on this post-partum body...but definitely about being in the water with M. He seems to like bath time so hopefully swimming will be fun too.

The other big thing is M has to have surgery next week...complete with general anesthesia. M was born with hypospadias which is a fancy term that means the opening of his urethra is not at the tip of his penis but is on the shaft. We are lucky that is a very basic case and not super serious. Some of the worst cases have the opening behind the scrotum. Maxwell has normal functioning boy bits other wise. The surgery will correct any issues and ensure good functionality when he is older. Believe me talking to the urologist about my son's sexual functions is not something I ever thought (or wanted to talk) about!

I have had major anxiety about the anesthesia including worst case scenario dreams (he never wakes up) and might need meds myself that day! In my head I know that problems are rare...but I've been on the short side of a statistic before and it shattered life as I knew it.

So fingers crossed all goes well with swimming and the surgery!!!

My big boy!

In less than a week Maxwell will be 6 months old! It's mind boggling how fast the time is flying by...and how much I am enjoying being home with him. I will never regret taking this time off and already dread having to go back to work in September.

Yesterday M had his 6 month check up and he is a thriving healthy boy! Like his mommy, he is at the top of the growth chart for height and weight (27.25" and 19.16lbs)!!! Not bad for a 5lb premie that arrived 6 weeks early. I hate to say it but as a boy I hope he won't have the self image issues I grew up with as the biggest girl in my class. I was proportional and a healthy weight for my height but that messes with your head when you are 5'5" in 4th grade and feel like a giant among your tiny classmates.

Sometimes it's hard to remember he was a premie and is on the later end of the developmental milestones, yet still doing things you would expect for his age, when he looks so much older. He is almost bigger than my friend's 10 month old daughter...she is on the move while M is just getting the hang of rolling over and sitting up on his own. I'm certainly in no hurry to see him grow up (the time is going too fast as it is). I just have to remember not to compare.

Maxwell is healthy, happy and thriving and I couldn't be happier! Breastfeeding is going well (with a few painful ups and downs...umm can someone tell me why M decides biting is a great idea during growth spurts and forgets how to latch!?! Ouch!) Our next adventure is venturing into the world of food. His pediatrician gave us the ok to start cereal, which I have mixed feelings about (low nutritional value, arsenic levels found in rice) but the dr said I can try any grain and the store bought cereals are iron fortified so not completely devoid of nutrition. She also said that it is really just a way to thicken up my breast milk (she recommends using breast milk to moisten the cereal) to give him a chance to get used to eating and swallowing thicker food. She also said if he hates it then try purées thinned with breast milk instead. It makes sense I guess...any words of advice from moms already having fun with food?