he's sensitive

We are certainly getting our money's worth out of our HMO...today was yet another trip to the Pediatrician's office. Davis's sensitive skin has become increasingly worse over the past few weeks. It hit a low-point over the weekend when his dry/red/flaking scalp started to weep (clear drainage) and then this week, bleeding. Oh yes, it was as lovely as it sounds.

Long story short, he has some serious Eczema. We have a new plan of action to heal his angry skin & keep it calm: 1) daily baths with either NO soap or Aquaphor baby bath only
(no substitutions). 2) pat skin dry. 3) prescription, super-strength steroid cream to affected areas, then 4) Aquaphor or Eucerin cream all over (which we were already doing). If we cannot get the boy dry with diaper on and steroid and other creams applied within two minutes then we are to put him back in the bath & start all over. I'm up for the challenge! I posted some pics from tonight's bath. Obviously, he's not suffering too badly.

We have 2-3 weeks to see if this works, otherwise Dr. B is sending us to a pediatric dermatologist. Wish us luck!

Bath time is supervised by Carter...

So happy!

Grandma Pat & Grandpa Dan

Sean's parents were in town this past week and we were able to do lots of fun things while they were here. We all went to the Botanic Gardens on Friday. It was a perfect Spring day and not too crowded.

the Beilman bunch

Sean & Carter in the "Rainforest"

Trying to get Carter to smile


Taking in the new sculpture exhibit


Grandma Pat & I took the boys to the mall and lunch on Thursday. We had fun watching Carter run around & play on the breakfast food at Cherry Creek. I'm so glad she decided to fly in early so we could have some girl time! It gave us a chance to catch up...in between chasing after Carter. That afternoon, Grandma watched Davis while I took Carter back to the Pediatrician. It is SO much nicer to just manage one boy at a time! Thanks, Mom B! We were happy to hear that Carter's latest ear infection is almost completely gone. One ear is still not 100%, but they were hopeful that his body would be able to clear the rest of the infection on it's own. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Grandpa Dan with Davis

Grandma & Grandpa with the boys

Saturday evening, we all went out to dinner before I had to leave for work. Other than a mini-meltdown from Carter, it was great!

On Sunday, Sean and his parents took the boys to the Denver Auto Show while I slept. Sounds like they had a good time & Carter came home with his new favorite thing...a miniature VW Beetle! I don't think he's taken his eyes off of it since he got it!

Thanks for everything, Mom & Dad! We had a great visit and are looking forward to seeing ALL of the Beilmans at the family reunion in June.

Easter 2010

Carter checking out what the Easter Bunny left on Sunday morning!

Not sure what was going on here...

This was the best I could get of both boys in their Easter outfits.

Davis enjoyed the exersaucer while Carter plowed through all the candy.

Easter Bunny & Egg Hunt

Sean and the boys had a busy Saturday. They drove out to Golden to visit the Easter Bunny at the train museum. Carter wasn't too sure about him, but they all enjoyed riding the steam train.

The other highlight of the day was the annual Egg Hunt in a nearby neighborhood. Sean says he will never go again! After waiting for almost an hour for it to start, the 8,000 eggs (yes, I said eight THOUSAND) were gone in about one minute. Carter got three eggs, and two of those were from kids who had a heaping basket of eggs & felt sorry for him. Sean said that even though the areas were supposedly separated by age, the little kids didn't have a chance against all the older, faster kids. Luckily, Carter is still a little too young to feel slighted, but I think for next year we will stick to the back yard egg-hunt with much less "hunting" competition!

So that's what 8,000 eggs looks like!

Clearly, Carter had a good time!

Easter eggs!

Carter & I dyed two dozen Easter Eggs on Thursday. I think it took longer to set the whole thing up than it did to actually color all those eggs. He wanted to dye them all simultaneously and let me tell you, it was chaos. Thankfully, we had half a roll of paper towels (much to the dismay of my eco-friendly husband) set down to help catch the flying dye. The end result was a large supply of beautiful Easter Eggs. Davis can't wait to help next year!

Patiently waiting for the fun to start!

Good Friday!

Sean had the day off on Friday, so we took the boys to Little Monkey Bizness where Carter got to climb & play while Davis hung out in the infant zone with the other little guys . Afterwards, we went out to lunch before coming home for nap time. They boys both had fun & so did we!

mmmm...rice cereal

Davis is finally starting to get the hang of this rice cereal thing. It is much different feeding a four-month-old solids versus a six-month-old. We have figured out that if you keep the spoon in his mouth, he kind of thinks it's a bottle and actually eats the cereal instead of just spitting it out. Trickery works! So far, we are pretty happy...he has already started sleeping 7-8 hours at night (again). Yippee!

Four month update

Yesterday was Davis's WCC and everything looks great! The big news is that he has gained 3 lbs in two months! Because of his big appetite/growth spurt, he is now waking up for 1-2 feedings during the night (he had been consistently sleeping 7-10 hours at a time). The pediatrician wants us to start him on rice cereal now in an effort to get him full enough that he will sleep better. This should not cause any problems with his multiple allergies, per the MD. We are going to try it before bedtime for now & see how it goes. We will still wait until six months to start other solids.

Other than that, my only other concerns were his super-dry, super-sensitive skin. Unfortunately, he probably gets that from my side of the family. Not much we can do that we are not already doing. I switched out the laundry detergent & already use fragrance-free baby wash and lotion on him. He is drooling a ton now, which doesn't help his skin. Poor guy! I will be interested to see if he cuts teeth soon, like Carter did at four months.

Developmentally, he is right on-target...he is able to roll over, bring toys to his mouth (but prefers his fist), track objects & people, smiles and laughs all the time and "talks" to us. He loves spending time in his jumperoo and exersaucer & Bumbo seat, so he can see what's going on. He is also starting to show signs of wanting to sit up. According to the pediatrician, it may take him longer to accomplish this due to his head size, but he'll get there!

His official stats are:

Weight-14lbs 11 oz (50%)
Length-25 inches (50%)
Head circumference-17 1/4 cm (90%)

We go back at six-months...hopefully we are sleeping again by then!

Four months!

Davis is four months old today! He is such a happy baby and almost never cries. We both agree that he is a more mellow baby than Carter was. Thursday is our well-child check with the pediatrician & I cannot wait to see how big Davis is now!

Grandad & "Antsy"

Dad & Nancy drove into town on Friday morning to spend the weekend with us. The boys loved all the extra attention and we enjoyed a nice visit. I was lucky enough to get cost-contained on Friday night, so we went out to dinner & then to Bass Pro to look at all the animals on display (dead & alive). Afterwards, we put the boys to bed then watched a hilarious movie at home...it was low-key, but great.

Grandad & Grandma Nancy watched the boys on Saturday so Sean could go snowboarding. I was able to get a few things done & then get some rest before work. Thank you so much!

Carter said "Thank you so much for my Grandad!" Too bad he wouldn't smile for the picture.

Carter was calling Grandma Nancy "Antsy" & "Sweetie". Pretty funny!

Dad & I showing our support for K-State! I am a temporary KSU fan since Mizzou is out of the tournament.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hope you got your Irish on today...we certainly did with yet another afternoon spent at the zoo. It was very festive, they had Irish folk music playing outside & we all wore green. It was a beautiful day with near 70-degree weather here. Bring on Spring!

Our chunky monkey!

Carter & his Leprechaun hat. He didn't like the fact that it kept leaving green sparkles all over his hands.

Enjoying some green ice cream after dinner. He decided that the ice cream was too cold on his teeth, so ate his cone backwards. It was very creative and very messy.

jammin' in the saucer

We are getting a lot of mileage out of our baby toys. (This is a HUGE understatement when you consider that we purchased many of our big baby gear items from Craig's List when Carter was a baby. Have I mentioned how much I love CL?) Anyway, not only is Davis getting to enjoy them now, but Carter is re-enjoying them. He loves playing the piano on the exersaucer & was jamming out while I was trying to get a picture of him with Davis, hence the "action shots".

Holding still for a brief moment.


Davis likes to bang on the piano...when he gets a turn.

Happy baby!

being "helpful"

Carter spends his days going between: 1) ignoring his brother, 2) hurting his brother,
3) "helping" me with his brother

He took this rare moment to hold the teether for Davis so he could chomp on it. I wouldn't be surprised if he cuts some teeth soon...he shoves his fist in his mouth whenever given the chance.

For me?

still jumping

Here is our happy, big boy posing in his jumper. He's got to find a way to burn all of the calories he's taking in now. This child eats 7oz. every three hours during the day. Did I mention the hypoallergenic formula is EXPENSIVE!? I have already started thinking of ways to break the news to Davis that his college fund was sacrificed so that we could afford to feed him for his first year of life (assuming that he outgrows this allergy by 12 months).

Sorry about the video quality. I took it using my phone & the sound and picture both seem distorted.

funny guy

Carter has been saying so many funny things lately, I have been trying to write them all down. Who needs entertainment with a two-year-old around? Here are a few recent ones:

~When I wiped down his hands and face after dinner he said: "Thanks, baby!" Then the rest of the night, anytime I would help him: "Thanks, Honey Mom!".

~Davis broke into a sudden "mad" cry, and knowing it probably had something to do with Carter, I asked him what was wrong with his brother. Carter said: "Brother's head hit my book." Poor Davis.

~Sean was up in the attic working on something & Carter kept asking "Where did Sean go?" me: "You mean Daddy?" C: "Where did Sean My Daddy go?" me: "Daddy's up in the attic." (I was pointing to the ceiling) C: "You mean he's gone?"

~He loves to tell us when he's sad, which usually means that he's mad or frustrated because we have told him "No" about something. This morning I wouldn't let him get down from the table until he finished his breakfast. He said "Mommy, I'm sad. And I'm not happy, either."

Zzzzzz...

When I woke up for work on Saturday night, I found all three of my boys snoozing on the couch. It was too cute for words. I am so glad they stayed asleep long enough to get a picture!