The Highlander Family: Handsome Little Devil

Today was Colton's first Valentine's Day. It started out really great. We attempted to go back to church for the first time but a morning nap curtailed our plans. Mommy went alone and next time we'll attempt to get Daddy and Colton there too. After church we decided to go out to a Valentine's Day lunch, rather than fight the dinner crowds. We went out for sushi. I love sushi and hadn't had it (well at least not the raw kind) since before I was pregnant. It was delicious and everything I remembered it too be. After that we visited the Weitekamps and our buddy James. James is the son of Katie and Brad who was born on December 26th, just after Colton. They don't know it yet, but I'm sure they'll be great friends!!

While we had a great time the day took a turn for the worse later on. As I mentioned in my last post, I've been dairy free for almost two weeks now. We've seen some improvements but his dry skin and gas haven't completely disappeared. I was attempting to take soy out of my diet as well as dairy but I definitely haven't been as vigilant about that because 1) the doctor didn't tell me I had to eliminate it and 2) it's in everything!! I took it out mostly because I read online that a lot of babies with milk protein intolerance also have soy intolerance. Well...as you read above, we ate sushi today. I didn't use any soy sauce but I'm certain there was soy in the foods we were eating. If they cooked the tempura in vegetable oil...that's soy. If they added it to the ginger dressing...soy and they probably also put it in the eel sauce which is my favorite. Well, a few hours after nursing Colton post lunch his gas kicked up into high gear and he cried and screamed in obvious pain from his tummy. You can imagine how that makes a mommy feel. So, he's getting a bottle from daddy tonight and we'll just have to hope that it gets out of my system sooner rather than later. I guess now I have to be vigilant about soy as well. Yikes, what's left to eat? Fruits, plain veggies and chicken.

Some good news! Colton has discovered his hands. A few days ago he pulled a ring from one of his toys to his mouth, a few hours later he started sucking on his hands and today he put a another toy in his mouth. It was as if he discovered it and then couldn't get enough. Guess we have to start being more careful what's lying around the house and making sure his toys are cleaned well. He's also talking quite a bit. He will have conversations with us making vowel sounds and trying to imitate the sounds we make. In fact, the other night we woke up thinking it was time for a feeding but after a closer listen we realized he was talking his sleep. No joke, he made vowel sounds for about 15 minutes. No cries, no grunts, but very obvious vowel sounds. You've got to wonder who he was dreaming about talking to.

Sleep is getting better. He seems to be pretty consistent with an 8 p.m. bedtime, 1 a.m. feeding, 4-5 a.m. feeding and then back to sleep till 8 a.m. The only time it gets tough is when he gets gas around 5:30 a.m. and we're up until 7 with him. No fun! We had a few really great long stretches a few weeks ago but that didn't last long. I'm hopeful that after his 12 week growth spurt he'll stretch it out to one feeding per night. We'll see though.

Enjoy some new photos! Colton is 10 weeks old today and it's just amazing the difference in how he's grown.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!