So here is what's been going on since he turned one! I can't believe our little guy is already over a year old! Time has flown by so quickly. It's been an amazing, challenging, tiring, wonderful year- that's for sure!
So Robby... he's been doing... mostly great! We are officially moved back home to the Chicago 'burbs. However, since we moved back, Robby's been pretty consistently sick, unfortunately. He's had ear infections, a cold, a throat virus, a gastro virus, more ear infections, another throat virus, croup, more ear infections, and most recently... Hand, Foot, and Mouth. It's been exhausting. Our pediatrician explained that it is likely due to the fact that moving to a different area, he is now being exposed to different germs and allergens than he was previously. However, with this last bout of sickness... I've officially decided to go ahead and have ear tubes put in Robby. This will hopefully let the fluids drain like they're supposed to, decrease the amount of ear infections, and help keep him healthier overall. Fingers crossed! Poor guy... he's just been constantly feeling miserable. We've also gotten quite a few teeth recently... he's up to 10 teeth now and has officially gotten his first molar! Ouch.
At 14 months, Robby currently weighs over 27.5 pounds and is almost 32 inches long. He is in 24 month clothes, but also has some 2T clothing he fits into! Yep, he continues to be a big boy! Though he's definitely become slightly more picky, he still loves his food. He's now pickier with his veggies, which he used to LOVE. So now I have to hide them more in food than I ever did. He's extremely interested in everything everyone else is eating, and we try to give him tastes of as much as we can. However, he definitely is still sensitive to dairy and we have to be careful of what and how much he gets. His favorite foods continue to be bananas and avocado, along with blueberries, eggs, and crackers. He also loves greek yogurt.
Just before 11 months, Robby started cruising on furniture, and right after his first birthday, he took his first steps. He was very proud of himself once he started being able to really walk! Now he tries to run... which is so adorable because it's not actually much faster than his walking... just more wobbly :)
Robby also is now saying quite a few words. He's now consistently saying 'dada' for Daddy, 'ba' for ball, 'uh' or 'uh uh' for Uh Oh, papa, and 'buh' for book. He'll say 'mama' and 'nana'... though only on his own terms. He'll tell you what a lion, dog, owl, bear, and cow say. He can identify his head/hair, tongue, belly, eyes, teeth/mouth, and nose and feet (on his own terms)! He points at everything he wants, he's really quite opinionated! He tries to imitate everything you do- whether it's movements or words. He has a 'made-up' sign that he uses for 'more'... but has really been using it whenever he wants ANYTHING! He'll also consistently sign 'eat' when he's hungry. He has also gotten really good at following simple directions. I can ask him to bring/get me things and he will do it (sometimes he gets side-tracked of course!). For example, when it's time to change his diaper, I can tell him to get me the diaper or wipes, etc. and he'll bring it to me. It's been great because it actually helps me out and he gets very proud of himself!
Robby just loves, LOVES, his Kona and our gentle giant is so wonderful with him. He is constantly all over her, sitting between her front legs, 'petting' her, banging his toys on her back, trying to get her to lick his hands (and LAUGHING when she does!). He just absolutely adores her. Kona... hasn't quite reciprocated the amount of love... but she's really so good with him! :)
Robby also loves (the word 'loves' doesn't even do it justice) his books. This kid will seriously read book after book to himself, and will ask us to read him a book 5 times in a row. You can tell him to go get you a specific book, and he'll go to another room, find the book, and bring it back to you (then throw it at your face as his way of telling you he wants it- we're working on that...). It's adorable and makes his book-worm of a mother extremely happy and proud!!! :)
We've recently moved into our new home (though we have quite a bit more work to do here!) and it's been awesome. Both Robby and Kona love all the space to run around and scatter toys... and they love the yard to play in! With Robby being so sick we haven't gotten outside as much as we'd all like... but we will!
Medically- Robby had an ultrasound on his kidneys done when we first moved back, which looked good. He's still exhibiting reflux in his left kidney and dilation of the right. But compared to his last u/s, it's to the same degree if not less. In the beginning of December we'll go back to have the full VCUG and another u/s done and that will give us much more information on what's going on, how severe, and if anything has gotten worse or better. We also had an allergist appointment to look at how he reacts to dairy and to environmental allergens. And actually... everything we tested for was negative (dog, mold, dust mites, dairy, and one more that I can't think of...). So while we were thrilled he's NOT allergic to dogs.... (!) I was almost hoping he had seasonal allergies that were contributing to his constant state of being sick. But that's not the case! Which is, of course, good news. However, the dairy issue... he showed a negative result, which just means that he doesn't have a true dairy allergy- so if he gets dairy, we don't have to worry about him having a serious allergic reaction. But this does NOT mean he isn't sensitive to dairy in another system of the body- for example, the gi system. Just because the allergic system doesn't react to dairy, doesn't mean his gi system isn't reacting to dairy. But at least we KNOW that right now we don't have to worry about a serious reaction to dairy. I just have to continue being cautious with it and introducing it slowly until I can determine how much dairy he can handle without getting sick.
Never a dull moment around here!
That's all I can think of for now! Updates will definitely be less often as we have so much going on now... but I will try to keep up with it as best I can!
And of course.... pictures!
Love,
Carrie
