One of the biggest challenges for me as a new mom is to know when something that Lemon does is "normal" or whether some CF-related process is going on. Every poop, every cough, every sneeze, I look at Lemon and wonder if this is what all babies do. I suppose every new mom wonders these things, but with Lemon we really do have something pretty serious running in the background at all times. Everyone has advised us to intervene really aggressively with everything at this age, to give Lemon the best possible start. But, knowing when to intervene aggressively and when to just roll along can be challenging.
On Friday I took Lemon for his last Synagis shot, and when he was weighed it turned out that he'd actually lost about 4 ounces since his pediatrician's appointment 10 days prior. I am nearly certain this is due to the fact that for a week after the pediatrician visit, he wasn't feeling well from all the shots and didn't eat much. So, oddly, I'm much less upset about the fact that he lost weight than I was before when he merely failed to gain weight, when I was sure that CF was the culprit. This time, I have convinced myself that this little dip is due to "normal" stuff, so somehow it's much less scary. I have also seen Lemon bounce back from these little setbacks before, so I'm more confident in his ability to catch back up now that he's eating normally again.
Lemon has continued to make great progress on his milestones. He can sit unsupported for a really long time now, and is quite stable. He hardly ever tips over accidentally anymore, and has grown more confident about lunging for things that are just out of his reach. He is also extremely close to being able to roll over, something he and I practice together every day. He actually did do it once by himself today, but despite many efforts, I could not get him to do it again with the camera rolling, so this attempt is the best I have to show for it. Maybe next week you'll get to see the full 180.
Today is Papa Bear's birthday, so Lemon and I (OK, mostly I) baked him a cake and decorated it with a picture of one of the molecules that he's working with in the lab. For those of you who care about these things, red is oxygen, yellow is nitrogen and blue is chlorine. We brought the cake into work to share with our new coworkers who were duly impressed with the decoration.
Then after work we came home to celebrate as a family, by which I mean put Lemon to bed and then wonder why we felt like it was midnight when it was actually 6:39pm. It's hard to believe the rest of the week is still ahead of us. On the plus side, on Friday it is supposed to get above freezing for the third time since we moved to Wisconsin!
Today is Papa Bear's birthday, so Lemon and I (OK, mostly I) baked him a cake and decorated it with a picture of one of the molecules that he's working with in the lab. For those of you who care about these things, red is oxygen, yellow is nitrogen and blue is chlorine. We brought the cake into work to share with our new coworkers who were duly impressed with the decoration.
