Kanaan's Kronicles...9 Months!

Kanaan you are 9 months old! As of June 10th you are 16lbs 15oz and 27.5 inches. You wear 6-9 months clothes and 3-6 month shoes. You can still wear some 3-6 month clothes but I've packed most of them away. You wear size 3 in disposable diapers and are on the medium setting in our one-size cloth diapers. 

You go to bed at 7pm and will wake up anywhere between 7-9am. You take two 2 hour naps. 

You eat 3 meals and 4 bottles each day. You refuse to chew anything and gag and cough if I give you anything with too much texture. 

You started sitting up by yourself on May 25th and your second tooth came through on May 26th. You have your two bottom middle teeth now. 

Firsts this month: We moved! First memorial day

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Kanaan's Kidney Update!

On May 13th Kanaan had an appointment with his nephrologist. His labs looked great and his doctor was very pleased with his progress. He said that based on when he was born he expected him to be on dialysis by now. He had a growth spurt since his last appointment and Dr. Seifert was pleased with his growth. Also since we haven't changed his medicine dosages since he was born and his labs are improving, he is weaning himself off of them. We were able to stop adding salt to his bottles and when we run out of his other medicine we'll do labs 2 weeks after the last dose and see how he tolerates it. We don't have to go back to see Dr. Seifert until September!!

Kanaan's Kronicles...8 Months!

Kanaan you are 16lbs 14oz and 27 inches long. You wear 3-6 months clothes and size 2 shoes. You wear size 3 diapers now.

You go to bed at 7pm and will sleep until 7am. You take a 2 hour morning and afternoon nap and 30-45 minute cat nap in the evening. 

You are starting to eat more food and have liked everything we've given you so far. 

You got your first tooth on 4/27/14 it's the bottom middle left (on the right if you're looking at you)! You are such a good teether, you didn't fuss or show any other symptoms other than drooling a ton. The drooling has been going on for awhile now. 

Firsts this month: First Easter, First Tooth.

Easter

This year for Easter Kayla came back and stayed with us. We met my dad and had breakfast at Village Inn, then went to church. After church Andy, Kanaan and I had lunch at Andy's parents, then we went to supper at Dad's. We were exhausted by the end of the day. Here are some cute pictures of Kanaan.

We had Kanaan's picture taken with a live rabbit. It turned out so cute! Kanaan just laid his head on his arm like this himself.

Meeting the Easter Bunny at the mall

His Easter Outfit!

Kanaan's Kronicles...7 Months!

This month started out a bit rough for Kanaan. He had small cough that ended up being RSV. Kanaan spent some time in the St. John's Children's hospital, but did really well with it. He seemed to have a milder case and was just admitted to keep an eye on him with his kidneys.

He is 15lbs 9oz and 27 inches long. He still wears 3-6 clothes and some 0-3. He is now in size 2 shoes.

 He is in size 2 diapers, we are using disposables while we are in the process of selling the house.

He loves to bounce in his Jumparoo. He is still too short to reach the floor on level one, but too tall to use a pillow under it on level 1, so he is on level 2 with the pillow.

He started eating baby food this month. I make most of his food, because he is on a low potassium diet and most store brands add potassium as a preservative. He can eat jarred applesauce, so I don't usually make that one. He is eating 1 "solid" meal/day and the rest is formula.

Kanaan's firsts this month: First ER visit, First ambulance ride, first hospitalization since we came home initially, first food (carrots).

Kanaan's Kronicles...6 Months!

He is 14lbs 10oz and 25 inches long. He wears 3-6 month clothes and some 0-3 month. He is in size 2 diapers.

 He started to have a lot of trouble settling down to bed if we put him down around 9 or 10 like we were, but does great if we catch the window of tired, but not too tired. We started putting him to bed at 7 and that did the trick. He goes right to sleep and will sleep until about 7 the next morning. He takes 2 longer naps during the day and 1 cat nap in the evening.

He has learned to jump in his jumparoo and jumps like a crazy man. He is still too short to reach the bottom so we still have to use a pillow under it.

My New Favorite Meatloaf Recipe

I posted a meatloaf recipe a while back on here. I really liked it and then came across a recipe that had some "hidden" veggies in it that looked really good. I decided to combine the two recipes to make my own. I took different bits of each recipe to make my own version and Andy and I really like it. I've made it twice now and it's very good. I keep forgetting to take a picture of it, but here is the recipe.

Brittany's Meatloaf

3lbs ground beef or turkey (I usually use a mix)

2 eggs

2 c. plain bread crumbs

1 c. each of finely chopped carrots, celery, onion, bell pepper (I use red or yellow)

3/4c. grated parmesan cheese

1/2c ketchup

2 tsp garlic salt

2 tsp dried parsley

2 tbsp brown sugar

Mix all ingredients together and form into two loaves. Top with ketchup.  Place in 2 baking dishes and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

This makes 2 meat loaves, you can freeze one for later if you like. I have made it with only 2lbs of meat and kept the remaining ingredients the same to make 1 loaf also. 

I use my food processor to chop the veggies. The carrots are still a little firm in the meatloaf even when chopped extra fine, I think next time I may lightly steam the carrots to see if that works better. 

Kanaan's Kronicles....5 Months!

 

Kanaan you are 5 Months old! This month was hard to get good pictures because you just wanted to chew on your fingers! 

 

As of 2/6/14 you are 13lbs 11oz and 25in long. You just moved into 3-6 month clothes, many of them are still big on you and you can still fit in several 0-3 month stuff, but we've mostly packed that size away.

 You started rolling over both ways really consecutively on January 6th. You love to sit in your jumparoo and play with the toys, you are so short that we have to put a pillow under your feet so you reach the bottom. You haven't learned to jump in it yet, though.

 You still love to watch tv, especially football. And talk all the time now.

 Some of your favorite games are peek-a-boo, pony boy, sticking out your tongue and this little piggie.

 You like to stand up and if we hold your hands, you will pull yourself up to stand and just stand and sit and stand and sit. You think it is great fun.

 You've started really noticing Pogo, and like to kick your feet at him. He thinks it's grand and will turn so you kick his belly.

 You almost always have your hands folded together and your feet crossed at the ankles. All the nurses at your doctor's office say you are always praying.

 You are in size 2 diapers now. We use cloth at home and during the day, and disposable overnight and on the go.  You are still in size 1 shoes, although I've noticed your socks are getting smaller, so I may try a size 2 on you soon.

The blanket Great Grandma Brown made me is so soft and cozy.

 We've switched to using Dr. Brown's bottles and it has really helped your spitting up. You sleep from 9-10ish to about 7am. You take 2 or 3 2-3 hour naps during the day. Some days you may only get 1 longer nap if we're really busy, but you don't seem to mind. You just go to bed earlier on those nights.

Kanaan's Kidney and Dietician Update!

Thursday, January 23 Kanaan had an apointment with Dr. Cox his dietician. Our regular pediatrician was concerned that Kanaan's weight gain was really slowing down and wanted us to see the dietician. He should be gaining about 1oz/day and Kanaan was only gaining 3oz/2weeks. Dr. Cox recommended that we change to the Dr. Brown's bottles. They are designed to prevent, colic, spit up, and gas. Kanaan doesn't have problems with gas anymore. Most babies grow out of that around 3 months anyway as there intestines mature. He does spit up a lot and it's getting worse. She also wants us to start adding MCT oil to his bottles to give him extra calories. We started the bottles right away, but had to wait until Monday before we could get the oil. We did notice that he spit up a lot less with the bottle change. We have tried so many different bottles, it's crazy. In fact, we didn't get the oil until late Monday night, so when we went to see Dr. Seifert for his kidney on Tuesday he had only had a few doses. However at his weigh in he had gained 5oz since Thursday! That's 1oz/day! He has never done that, but he was a lot closer to that goal when he was smaller. The bottles are really helping him gain weight because he isn't spitting as much up. Kanaan had a renal ultrasound on Thursday and his kidneys are continuing to grow. They are far from normal, but they look better than they did when he was born. His labs are continuing to improve and/or remain stable, even with a formula change from newborn to infant this last month. Dr. Seifert was very impressed overall with how he's doing.

On The Menu This Month...

Andy and I are working to get into shape for a wedding we're in this summer, so this month's menu is full of healthy food options! I'm excited to try the new foods on the list and looking forward to some of our favorites. I thought I'd share our menu with you all, plus the links (colored words) to the recipes. Let me know if you try any of them yourself. I'll also try and let you know how the new recipes turn out.

Breakfasts
*Baked Peanut Butter Oatmeal
*Breakfast Ham Cups

Dinners
Skinny Chicken Cordon Bleu and veggies
Loaded Baked Sweet Potatoes
Baked Chicken Parmesan and veggies
*Meatball and Spaghetti Soup
*Cheesy Baked Spaghetti Squash Boats with Grilled Chicken
Chicken Cacciatore and Baked Potatoes
*Skinny Baked Broccoli Mac and Cheese
Meatloaf Cupcakes with Mashed Potato "Frosting"
*Salisbury Steak with *Skinny Garlic Mashed Potatoes
*Pinto Bean Soup

Desserts
*Skinny Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies
*"Made Over" Banana Pudding Poke Cake

Snacks
*No Bake Peanut Butter Protein Bars

* Recipe we haven't tried.

The ones that aren't links are recipes that are actually a combination of 2 recipes, if they turn out well I'll post the combo/recipe I used.

Our Little Santa Baby!

We found this Santa suit at a local thrift store for a great price. Kanaan's head was too big for the hat, but the suit fit him fine.

 

Kanaan's Kronicles...4 Months!

Kanaan turned 4 months old on the 4th! As of today he weighs 12lbs 13.5oz, he will get measured on Friday at his 4 month check up. He is in size 1 diapers, but I will move him to size 2 when we run out of this pack. He wears 0-3m clothes. I've pulled out his 3-6m but they are still too big for him. He goes to bed between 9 and 10pm and sleeps until about 8-8:30am. Then takes a morning nap from 10am-1:30 or 2pm. He then usually stays up with either 1 evening nap that is a few hours long or 2 cat naps. We're still trying to figure out the evening nap solution that works best. He drinks 4-5 5-8oz bottles/day. We're still using mainly cloth diapers, with disposable overnight and on the go. He transitioned from the Newborn formula to the Infant formula this month. We will get labs next week to see how his kidneys are tolerating the switch. He is now in size 1 shoes. His loves to play patty cake, peek a boo, bear hugs and pony boy, as well as sticking out his tongue. We used some of his Christmas money to get him a jumperoo, we have to put a pillow under it because he's too short to reach the floor, but he really likes to jump and play with the toys on it. He also got a play gym for Christmas and likes to reach the toys for on it and make it play music. He got a cd player for Christmas and is enjoying listening to his cds at night and nap times. We used to have to leave the door open and the tv tuned to a music channel on the tv all night or he would wake up from it being quiet. Firsts this month: Meeting Santa, Christmas (we had 7 Christmas celebrations), New Years, laughing and drooling.

This month's pictures were the best yet now that he smiles on command.