6 Months Old!!

Wow...the past 6 months have flown by! Owen is growing up so fast. He's now weighing in at 14 lbs 4 oz! That's right...he has officially moved into the 14 pound range! Yea!!

For a while now, Owen has been having digestive issues where he throws up every 2 days. We originally thought it was because of our strict feeding schedule and that we were just feeding him too much. But after playing around with his fluid intake, we realized that he's just not able to completely digest his formula. So, after talking with our nutritionist we have started Owen back on a small amount of breast milk. The doctors seem to think that Owen can tolerate the extra fat from the breast milk because he doesn't exhibit any of the cardiac issues associated with his disorder. They also think that the breast milk will help him digest the formula better. We made this change about 1.5 weeks ago and it seems to be helping. He's only thrown up 2 times and has started gaining weight! So hopefully this change will continue to be successful and our little man will move up to 3-6 month clothes!!

Things you're doing now...

• You are still wearing size 1-2 diapers



• You're still wearing 0-3 clothes, but hopefully not for long



• You weigh 14lbs 4 oz



• You are eating 4.5 oz bottles every 3 hours during the day and 3 oz bottles at night



• You've started eating baby food at your 7 o'clock feeding...carrots are you're favorite so far

"Green beans are gross!"

• You still don't like the texture of cereal...you will only take it if we put it in your bottle



• You typically eat at: 8am, 10:30, 1:00, 4:00, 7:00 (baby food & bottle), 10:00, and 4:00



• You are sleeping in your bed all night, but we still have to get up 1-2 times a night to give you your paci and 1 time a night to feed you



• You're really good at rolling over now



• You love playing on the floor



• You've started sit up by yourself, but mommy and daddy have to be close by because you fall over a lot



• You've started pushing up on your hands and knees...you rock back and forth & push yourself backwards...I think you'll be crawling soon!



• You smile all the time and are laughing a lot more



• Your new favorite toy is your giraffe teething toy, but you still love your cow and dinosaur



• You still love playing in your exasaucer



• You are figuring out how to move your walker, but I'm not sure you realize what your doing



• You love bath time...this is usually your's and mommy's time because it's hard for daddy to lean down in the bathtub



• You're growling and babbling all the time now....your favorite time to do this is during the prayers at church



• You like to play in your highchair beside mommy and daddy while we eat dinner



• You love to be outside



• You've officially started teething...I can't really feel anything yet, but you are chewing on everything and fussing until we give you teething tablets

• You've noticed Honey (our dog) and love to watch her when she's around. You also love to grab her hair!



• You've started drinking you're juice from a sippy cup. It's just a training sippy cup but you're starting to figure it out

Owen Sitting Up

Well, it's official...Owen's no longer our BABY boy! He can now sit up like a BIG boy! He's been trying for a couple of weeks, but has only been able to keep his balance for a few seconds. Then, on Wednesday night he decided to be a big boy. Not only did he sit up by himself, but he played with toys at the same time! We were so excited and sad at the same time. I'm not sure we're ready for him to grow up yet!

Children's Therapy TEAM Picnic

The clinic where I work had our first company picnic at Tyson Park last weekend. There was a chance of rain all day, but it held off and the weather was perfect for a picnic! The clinic has grown so much in the past few months that it was nice to have time to visit with some of the new girls that I don't get to talk to much at work and even meet their families. The picnic was a lot of fun... we had a catered lunch under the pavilion and the kids got to enjoy the playground and the bounce-around, while the adults played frisbee golf and horseshoes.

Owen was worn out before the picnic and grabbed a little cat nap on the ride to the park from the Razorback softball game, but once we arrived at the picnic he was wide awake again. He really seemed to enjoy being outside and watching all the kids play and jump on the bounce-around. I think he wanted to join them, but that will have to wait a couple of years.

The picnic was a lot of fun and hopefully the second annual company picnic will be as much fun as the first!

Enjoying the good food

The bounce-around was a big hit

Lena and Hannah

Owen and Mary Claire were a little to small to enjoy all the festivities....

Everyone loves Lenard! (our therapy dog)

Amanda, Amber, Sam, Christina,

Tonya, Kym, Owen, and Linda

Lance and John Michael

Josh and Lena getting ready to chase the parachute ball

Sam visiting with Josh and Owen

I love this picture of Sam and Amber!

Jacob, ready for some football...

Weekend Festivities

We had another busy weekend... It seems like we never slow down anymore! This weekend we started off with Razorback softball. Josh's sister Amanda is a freshman on the team this year. We met up with Josh's family at the tailgate before the double header and got to visit with Josh's grandfather (Daddy Feck), and his aunt Tracy and of course Mom, Dad, and Amanda's boyfriend Austin. From the softball games we headed straight to my company picnic... but I have a lot of pics to share, so that'll be another post.

Everyone gathered at the tailgate

Playing with Daddy Feck

Owen and Aunt Amanda before the game

After church on Sunday we went to visit the latest addition to our extended family. Josh's Cousin, Cecily recently gave birth to a beautiful, unexpected, baby boy, Judd! Before you jump to conclusions she knew she was having a baby, but, she knew that it was a girl, or so we all thought! Months ago Cecily was told during a sonogram that it was a girl, and as most parents do, she ran with it. On the day of his arrival everything was just perfect, down to the pink shirt that the dad was wearing in anticipation! What a shock when the nurse held up a baby boy! Josh's mom described the scene at the hospital as the father and grandfather busted into the waiting room like a scene from the three stooges. She said they were literally running into each other trying to get through the door. When they got to the waiting room all they could say was "you are never going to believe this" and it took them forever to finally announce that it was a boy, before making a hasty return to the delivery room. Anyway, that's the short version of a long story involving late nights for the grandparents, aunts, and uncles converting a room fit for a princess to one fit for a prince!

Before we went to visit Judd we put Owen in this outfit and I decided he looked so cute we had to snap some pictures.

Owen really liked his shoes!

What a handsome little man!

After a few quick pics of Owen we made the trip to see Judd!

Ruari Judd Mulligan
Owen was very curious about Judd

Owen wasn't so sure at first, but he warmed up after a while

Hanging out, watching football with Judd

Owen (5 months) Judd (2 weeks)

Apparently Owen liked Judd enough to see what he tasted like... Judd didn't seem to mind, he just slept!

After getting some real food Owen was winding down

5 Months Old!

Owen turned 5 months old about 2 weeks ago. Our baby is turning into a little man! He's doing so many new things each week and is getting such a personality. We have been blessed with a very easy going and laid back child. He's usually smiling, sucking on his paci, or eating his hands. He's still not on a good nap or bed time schedule, but I'm sure we'll get this figured out sooner or later.

At his last doctors appointment he weighed in at 13lbs 1 oz and was 25 1/4 inches long. This put him in the 10th percentile for weight and 60th percentile for height. So basically...we need to gain some weight. We also had an appointment with our geneticist and metabolic nutritionist at ACH on August 10th. It was just a routine appointment for them to do lab work, look him over, and let us know about the next step in feeding. Overall, they thought Owen looked great. We received the result from Owen's skin biopsy that was taken back in April...it showed that the enzyme that they thought was not working at all is in fact working, just not at it's full potential. So what does this mean for us...not much for now, we're still following the same protocol. They also informed us that they believe Owen will not have any of the cardiac issues associated with his disorder..Yea!! As for nutrition, we were able to start cereal and will be able to start baby food at 6 months. The only fall back is that Owen can only have .5 grams of fat for now. However, this number should increase as he gets older. Overall it was a very informative appointment. We are scheduled to go back November 9th and Josh and I will have our DNA testing done at this time. For now, the plan is to meet with the geneticist and metabolic nutritionist every three months for lab work to make sure that Owen's levels are staying within the appropriate range. As for us, Josh and I are feeling more confident about caring for Owen's disorder and have joined an online FOD support group where we can communicate with other FOD families around the world.


Things you're doing now...

• You're still wearing size 1-2 diapers. You wear pampers during the day and target up and ups at night because they don't leak
  


• You're still wearing 0-3 month clothes...We're trying to fatten you up, it's just been a slow process
  


• You're eating every 3 hours during the day and every 5 hours at night. Your current feeding schedule is 8am, 10:30, 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 10:00, 3:00
  


• You're a pretty good sleeper. Most nights you sleep until we wake you up for your 3am feed and then go right back to sleep until about 7:30
  


• You are very particular about the temperature of you bottles...you will not drink your bottle if it's not warm enough
  


• You're taking Prevacid for your reflux, which seems to be helping....but you still throw up every other day. We're still trying to figure this one out
  


• You started sleeping in your bedroom the day that you turned 5 months old
  


• You started eating cereal in your bottle about a week before you turned 5 months old. We've tried spoon feeding you cereal, but your not a fan. You can throw a pretty big fit!!

• You are very curious about mommy and daddy's food...you are constantly reaching for whatever we have.
  


• You love playing in your exersaucer and on your tummy
  


• You are very curious about your surroundings
  


• You smile all the time...it just brightens our day!
  


• You're getting really good at putting your paci back in your mouth...but you sometime don't get it in just right
  


• You love reaching out and touching our faces
  


• You love to be held but also like your own space.
  


• You can roll tummy to back and back to tummy
  


• You pull on everything you can get your hands on...you especially love to pull mommy's hair and ear rings
  


• You have become quite a daddy's boy lately...you light up any time you see him
  


• You laugh a lot more...especially when daddy blows raspberries on your belly and your back
  


• You are babbling all the time
  


• You are constantly eating you hands...we're pretty sure you're teething, but we have yet to see or feel anything


• You love playing with chip bags...you get really mad when we take them away

• You love to touch everything...you scratch everything, especially the wall while you're getting your diaper changed


• You have also started hitting things...you're favorite thing to do is bang your paci on everything


• You also went through a phase where you were constantly sucking on you're bottom lip...luckily it only lasted about 2 weeks