Anlon at 9 months

Well, it's been an eventful few weeks, so this post is much later than it should be given that Anlon will be 10 months old next week! But I couldn't let this one go by. But before I begin, I have to share how God answered our prayers for Anlon's health. Our biggest struggle, after getting him to sleep better, has been getting him to eat better. I continue to breastfeed him and he generally nurses well. But since we introduced solids at 6 months, we've experienced a worsening problem in which he has had little to no interest in eating. At 7 months, our pediatrician became concerned about his weight and the fact that his growth curve was pulling away from the growth chart. After many tests yielded negative results, she referred us to a pediatric gastroenterologist for another opinion. The specialist felt that there was nothing medically wrong with him, but recommended that we offer pumped breastmilk and add powdered formula to it to provide increased calories, while continuing to maximize the calories in the little bit of solids he would eat. However, after a VERY stressful 4 days in which he refused every bottle and sippy cup we offered, using every trick in the book, our pediatrician recommended that I continue to nurse and just keep pushing as much solids as possible.Vipul and I felt so discouraged and confused - and every day we cried out to the Lord for answers.

We knew there had to be a reason for his lack of interest in eating and seemingly poor appetite, and at this point even nursing was becoming more challenging. The Friday before last I was by myself, trying to think of what could possibly be the problem. And the words silent reflux came to my mind. I honestly had not heard of this before and didn't even know what it was. I was familiar with reflux, but what was silent reflux? After researching it, I discovered that it is similar to classic reflux, but without the spitting up, so it's more difficult to diagnose. I called the gastroenterologist's office and asked the nurse practitioner if it was possible that Anlon had this since many of the symptoms lined up. She was doubtful, but said that she'd prescribe zantac, which wouldn't hurt him even if he didn't have it. Then last Wednesday Anlon had a scheduled Upper GI and Small Bowel Follow Through to make sure his stomach was emptying properly (not to rule out reflux - in fact, they told us that this test rarely detects reflux) and I prayed that if he really did have silent reflux, it would be detected. We received a call Thursday that the test was normal except that it did reveal reflux!!!!!!! We know without a doubt that the Holy Spirit laid those words on my heart the week before - God is faithful!!!

Anlon is an absolute joy. He is a very affectionate, happy, playful little boy who loves everyone he meets. (Although these days it's his mama he wants above all, which I can't say I mind!) I joke with Vipul that we're like peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs, milk and cookies - we're pretty tight. But he adores his daddy and lights up the moment he sees him. Every morning I take him into our room and he and Vipul play in bed while I make coffee and I love to hear them laughing upstairs.

Anlon is now on the move! He's army crawling everywhere and loving his new ability to explore the world around him. He loves to pick up a colored ring from his Rock-a-Stack toy, toss it up and then crawl after it. His favorite toy at the moment is this plastic block with a shiny, multi-colored wheel on it that he can spin (gift from Vipul's parents). He's had it for a long time and has always enjoyed it, but he is especially entertained by it these days. One thing I love about Anlon is that he has a long attention span and really focuses on each toy, one at a time, before moving on to the next. I've tried to encourage this by not putting another toy in front of him if he's enjoying the one he's playing with. Of course, now he can get a new toy himself if he wants it! Last week he was able to transition from sitting to lying on his belly, which was a fun accomplishment to witness. He's been able to transition from sitting to standing quite a few times on the couch in order to look out the window, and now we're working on doing this from the floor. He's getting more and more steady while standing and is able to stand unassisted for a couple of minutes while holding on to our storage ottoman.

 

Anlon loves to talk (although gets very quiet when he's tired) and continues to enjoy hearing what his voice can do. He's been saying maaa-ma a lot and sometimes I hear him saying this when he's in his crib (which I'm sure isn't purposeful but is pretty funny!) He's been saying da-da for while now, much to Vipul's delight. He still loves books more than any other toy and has been turning the pages (usually at just the right time I must say) for about 2 months now (I think I forgot to include this in my 8 month post) and it's the cutest thing! We have several nicknames for Anlon - Buggy, Boogey, Spuddling, Potato, Rascal Frascal.... and we grow more in love with him every day.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

Romans 8:28