I Heart Zantac

Can you hear the big sigh of relief from there? Tristan is 7 doses into his prescription and I'm definitely noticing a difference in him. He used to get agitated really easily, especially when he was sitting on his own and now he's pretty content a lot of the time. His fussing doesn't automatically turn into screaming after a few minutes and he settles down to sleep without needing to be nursed. Twice already he has fallen asleep in his crib with me just shushing him and patting his back. Needless to say I'm thrilled, although we are still having issues in the evenings and at nights with him really fussing about nursing and crying quite a bit. I'm thinking that he's reacting to certain foods that I eat, namely broccoli and beans, but he also still has a cold and gets really stuffed up at night which makes him cranky. At least he's not constantly screaming in pain anymore. That does a number on the nerves, particularly after suffering through a year of Roanen's hysterics.

Now for the other exciting updates:

The older boys are actually going out for Halloween this year. Josey is going to be an elephant and Roanen is going to be a pig. Josey is thrilled because I'm "forgetting" that I don't like him to have candy (and I won't remember with him constantly saying it...). We have a tentative deal in which he will keep a few items and trade the rest for a bugs & cheese lunch date with me at Boston Pizza. This is a very good deal for me since not only do I get his candy, I also get lunch out. Oh, and the leftover candy that we don't give out, since I highly doubt we'll actually have enough trick or treaters to use up the 90 chocolate bars I bought... That's when I'll sadly figure out that Tristan is sensitive to chocolate in my milk.

Last week we had our chickens killed and butchered in a gory, yet strangely fascinating and efficient manner. Josey really wanted to watch them, but I was hesitant to let him see any of it since he can be sensitive about things like that. When I told him that I didn't want him to get upset about it, he informed me "I won't get upset - I kill things all the time!" He ended up having no problem with it all, and found the chickens hanging upside down with their heads partially severed and blood dripping from their necks particularly hilarious. No joke. I was slightly less impressed with that. Roanen followed his lead and ran around laughing and yelling "Really scary!" He also decided that it would be a good idea to bend over and try to drink out of a bloody puddle on the ground. Always good when your toddler channels Ozzy Osbourne.

Behaviour is still less than would be desirable, although I haven't been driven to tears by it for over a week now so things are improving. Today at the grocery store we were informed by a woman with three teenaged boys that this is the absolute worst time for us and that it gets really good later on. I was just impressed that three teenaged boys (all of whom looked relatively "cool") actually let themselves be seen in public with their mommy. Even Josey walks several yards behind us in the mall and yells at us for looking at him.

Hard to type with one semi-asleep 6 week old and one wiggly 3 year old on lap. Signing off for now.

Happy Drugs Day One

Last night we gave Tristan his first dose of Happy Drugs. Although he spit most of it up within a few minutes we still imagined that he cried less and settled down easier when it came down to going to sleep. Today was pretty confusing when it came to figuring out if the medicine was actually doing anything. When he was awake and alert, he was pretty easygoing and less agitated than he usually is, but he had 2 major hour-long screaming fits today where he still seemed in pain, but he could also have been overtired. Adding to the confusion is the fact that he has a cold and isn't breathing very well. So we'll give it a while longer before deciding if he actually does have painful reflux, but I'm disappointed that there wasn't a miraculous change in his disposition. And panicking that he cries because of something I'm doing wrong. Shouldn't I have caught on to this mothering thing by now?

Cross Your Fingers For Me...

After our disaster of an appointment last Monday we had a good day, then a really bad day and night with Tristan crying hysterically. We took the doctor's advice and raised the head of his bed and dosed him with Tempra when he got upset, but nothing helped so on Wednesday morning I called the doctor back to ask for a prescription. Naturally he was on holidays until Monday morning so we suffered through the rest of the week with Tristan still screaming, not sleeping on his own, and eating erratically, sometimes crying WHILE nursing. He also started spitting up more and getting some really good distance with it. Finally Monday rolled around and I talked to the receptionist at the doctor's office, trying to sound as desperate as possible. Long story short, the doctor ended up prescribing him Zantac drops since neither Ovol nor gripe water did a thing for him. I'm going to start him on them tonight, although it's really tempting to give it to him now since he's been screaming for the past 45 minutes despite the fact that he napped and fed not too long ago. Wish me luck - hopefully my next post will be all about what a contented, sleepy baby he has become with ther help of the happy drugs.

If He Can't Have Drugs, Can I?

This morning before Tristan's scheduled 1 month checkup I was skimming through my Baby Whisperer book, hoping to figure something out to solve his sleep issues. I happened to find a part that spoke about babies who "never sleep" that referred to another section about reflux. Turns out that Tristan has a pile of reflux symptoms including not wanting to lie flat, frequent hiccups, inability to burp well, unexplained crying, restless sleeping, prolonged feedings and back arching. Oh, and the fact that almost everyone on my side of the family had or has it. I was so happy that I had him (possibly) figured out and I was really hoping that the doctor would just prescribe some kind of medication that could make him feel better so that I could put him down while he sleeps. Unfortunately all he's willing to do right now is have me elevate the crib mattress and keep him upright most of the time, which is the most unsatisfying answer. To add to my misery, Josey wouldn't shut up the entire time we were in the office and yelled "I WANT A TREAT I WANT A TREAT I WANT A TREAT I WANT A TREAT" repeatedly while the doctor was trying to explain everything to me. Fat chance, kid. Roanen grabbed a big pan filled with water and disinfecting solution and pulled it down all over himself, Josey's back, and my leg, which freaked him right out and he screamed for a good 15 minutes while I cursed silently about not having brought any extra clothes other than 1 pair of pants and underwear. And finally, both boys attached themselves to my leg on the way in the office. This is Josey's new game - he holds on to my ankle and makes me drag him across the floor while Roanen just holds on due to shyness. And naturally Tristan was nursing at the time so I just stumbled in, mortified at their behaviour. Josey also grabbed on on the way out and parked himself in the doorway of the office while Roanen screamed hysterically at him for blocking the doorway and not letting him close the door. The doctor told me he wasn't jealous of my situation. And laughed. And I cried aaaaaaaaall the way home. And them some more.

Ha! Fooled Ya!

I was just reading my last post and had to laugh because Tristan is so not laid back and independent anymore. Apparently he was hiding his true nature to lull me into a false sense of security. He will definitely not lie quietly in his cradle until he falls asleep on his own anymore - not even close. In fact, even when he falls asleep in our arms (which is a long, screamy, sometimes impossible achievement) he'll generally wake up as soon as he's put down, or at least within 5 minutes. He has such a hard time getting decent sleep that he's constantly overtired, which severely limits his happy, alert time and makes him into a fussy grouch. The solution? Nursing waaaay to frequently, of course! Nothing like shoving a boob in his mouth to shut him up. He also sleeps in our bed most of the night, usually cradled in my arms. I'm actually not as bothered by all this as I thought, considering that I was totally obsessed with having a baby that fell asleep on his own, slept all night from an early age, and sat contentedly watching the action around him while I cooked and cleaned to my heart's content. I guess after having two extremely high-need babies I realize that he'll only be like this for a year or so then things will get better. I'll probably change my mind about it in a week or so though.

Alright, now for the big boys - in point form!

Roanen:

-will not identify himself in pictures or in the mirror. That guy is Josey.
-he is mostly cooperative when asked to do something, like put something in the garbage. He'll usually say "Otay!", but this also alternates with his other new favourite "Don't want to!"
-he's saying almost everything. For some reason he's been repeating "Josey pooped pants really bad" to make everyone laugh.
-still waking up at night and not wanting Russ to leave the room for hours, but seems to be maturing a little in that he'll occasionally accept excuses like "Daddy doesn't feel good sleeping in your bed"
-very impatient, especially when food is involved and will scream if he doesn't get instant gratification.
-is a little rough with Tristan, but also very affectionate. When he wants to hold him he'll say "Snuggle Baby Bobby?"

Josey:

-has been pretty good for staying dry lately. He has only had a couple of accidents since Tristan was born
-his behaviour seems to get worse when Grammie or Russ are around, but if I'm alone with him and we stick to a routine and keep him busy he's been really good
-the Montessori preschool thing was a bust, but the Early Years Centre in Renfrew has a preschool program that is a couple of hours every week for 6 weeks. Of course it started last week before I found out about it and I don't know when there will be another session of it. As an alternative I thought that I might take on a kid around his age to babysit to keep him busy. This might backfire if I get some crazy kid that teaches him all new ways to be bad.

And a final note, TV is a happy, happy thing as it will keep at least one of my children occupied for a very long time.