Fun in the Crib

Here are some cute pics of Daniel's latest crib achievements...playing with his mobile and standing up in the crib. I heard clicking noises on the baby monitor the other day and poked my head in to find Daniel kneeling and playing with the buttons on his mobile. It was so cute to watch him pushing the buttons and watching the mobile go on and off and listening to the different music playing. I loved that moment of watching him when he didn't even know I was watching! So sweet. So when I heard the clicking during yet another nap attempt, I grabbed the camera to capture this adorable moment. And more often than not these days, when I go in to get Daniel after a nap, he's kneeling, sitting, or maybe even standing- it's so weird for me to see, and so cute! And he's still always SO happy after his naps- he will just be playing, talking, rolling around, doing his headstands, or now even standing and such. He's just full of smiles!

Update from last week:
We had to get Daniel's blood drawn for some bloodwork that his pediatrician ordered. That was definitely a two parent job and not so much fun for any of us...but Daniel was a good sport. He did cry the whole time of course, but as soon as the gal was done, he stopped crying. I was proud of him. And of us- that was not easy to do or watch! The doctor called yesterday with the results and the biggest thing we learned is that Daniel is most definitely allergic to milk- highly allergic, actually. We'd tried some yogurt and "yogurt melts" a while back and noticed a rash around Daniel's mouth on both occasions and the same happened with the brief cool whip taste, and we mentioned it to the doctor so we tested that at the same time as all the blood work. AND yep, we were right- unfortunately. The milk allergy is affecting the way Daniel's body absorbs calories and nutrients and therefore affects his weight gain. SO, I'm on a very strict dairy elimination diet (not even a hint of milk in anything I eat!) so that Daniel gets no more dairy when he nurses. And we're working more and more each day on "people food" which he actually really likes so far! All that combined, will hopefully mean more weight gain for Daniel. We are going to do more bloodwork (poor little guy!) in a couple weeks after I'm all cleared of dairy for a while, to check and make sure his levels are up/down as necessary without the dairy. We are also going to go back to the doctor's office for a weight check in a few weeks, too, to see how this is all translating into weight gain. This will all take time and a lot of effort (my head is spinning- do you know how much milk there is in everything!?! I just spent an exhausting hour and a half at the grocery store buying not very much and reading every label I found!) but I'm learning a lot and it will get easier- I know- it will just take some time. We are still waiting for one more test result, but the preliminary results were negative, so the doctor thinks we should be okay. That's where we're at for now. There's a good chance Daniel will grow out of this allergy, but the doctor said since it's this high, it might be a few years. One step at a time for now...

In other news, Daniel has more teeth! His next two upper teeth are already visible to us, not just yet in pictures- but they've definitely cut through his gums now. I think maybe the next two bottom ones are not too far behind either. So cute! And Daniel's latest "thing" is to make really high pitched noises- he started this past weekend- and it's all we hear these days. You'd think he's going to lose his voice!

Enjoy the fun video below- Daniel loves to make these sounds with his hand covering his mouth. He will even do it if we're doing it- almost on demand! So funny. And I love the way he's "waving" at the camera, too! So sweet.