Using Our Heads Before We Panic

I am proud to say that both A and I have managed to not completely panic at things.  We've stopped and thought about what brought about the change that turned our happy little prince into the upset ogre baby laying in front of us.

Both times turned out to be our fault.  Well, genetically our fault.

First issue was at about 3 weeks.

Since formula had been the menu item of choice since day one, I didn't question when the minor spit up occurred.  At about 3 weeks, though, they came with every meal.  Add in some gas issues and just plain crabbiness....  Well, daddy asked me if we should mention it to the pediatrician.  I told him it was normal for babies to be like this, and we talked some more about what was happening.

And then the light bulb went on over my head.

See, I remember my mom telling me that I had to drink goat milk as a baby because I had problems with cow milk.  Both my brother and then later my nieces all had soy formula because the regular gave them issues.

Could he have gotten this from me?

Well, 48 hours and one large can of soy formula later we realized that was probably the case.  There was no more gas.  No more spitting up.  And he was asking for more each feeding and then sleeping so soundly.

This made A realize we need to pay attention to things a little more, and me realize that if our son every complained about his head hurting and the light bothering him that migraines were passed down as well.

About 3 weeks later, we had another realization hit us.

Now, Shadow has been here since day one.  There is cat fur in every crevice of the living room, though miraculously not on the couch.  He still has issues with the baby, and since that is where the little monkey is with us, he avoids it.

I was working and had stopped for a break.  Shadow was there looking at me, so I invited him to jump up into my lap to snuggle.  This was the first time since May that he'd been invited, and we spent the better part of 20 minutes with him purring while I scratched his head and neck and tummy.  All while pressed against my chest and being held.

Daddy was holding monkey boy and I went to pick him up for a few minutes, placing his face squarely in the middle of my dander filled shirt.

Well, we didn't realize the dander was there until about 10 minutes later when someone was all red eyed and runny nosed and crabby.  And even then it took a few minutes to put two and two together on what I had done.  And again I thought of my brother, who had the same issue as a little one: cat fur is one thing, but the dander and being up close to it is another issue all together.

Both the baby and I stripped, everything we were wearing and touching was washed, and everything cleared up in moments.

Poor cat must seriously wonder if he has leprosy or something....

We reported both incidents to the pediatrician, and both times we were both told that it was good we were using our heads and not panicking.

And that helps with just going through it all one day at a time....one moment at a time....