Splish Splash

Mattie got to try his first "real people" food today -- some cooked potatoes. He seemed to like them! (Of course he did -- who wouldn't like Grandma Barr's home cooking?) And then he polished off half a jar of baby food carrots and baby food pears, so it was a good dinner for him!

He had another first that didn't go quite so well. He's been trying to climb out of the baby tub recently, so Mike and Grandma Georgia decided that he could have a bath in the big boy tub (the regular bathtub) tonight. Well, almost as soon as he got in, Mike leaned against the shower curtain just the wrong way and the entire curtain, rod, and liner came crashing down (bonking Mike on the head but not touching Mattie). Of course, that scared Matthew and he screamed and wanted out! We tried to put him back in once he'd calmed down, but he was having none of it. So, hopefully better luck next time!

Jamesie was up a lot last night, but had a lot of good playtime today. He also wanted to be held quite a bit. I think he's not so much in physical pain as he is still recovering from the stress of being in the hospital. Poor baby!

Unfortunately, he also has the terrible diaper rash that they warned us is common after an intestinal reconnection. We've been putting lots of cream on but it's not doing the job. So today we let him go diaper-free for a while since fresh air is supposed to help. (We put down an old sheet, and Mike made a little loincloth out of gauze and tape so that pee didn't go everywhere.) And we started using some of the barrier powder and liquid barrier film that we used to use with his ostomy bag to try to protect his skin. It still looks pretty bad, but at least he's not wailing every time we lay him down for a diaper change, so perhaps there's some progress.

James has been drinking more formula each day, and today he was almost back to where he was before the surgery (870 ml out of a goal of 900). He's still not doing as much at one time as he did before, but we're not pushing him (and in fact, we might be being a little too cautious with him, because the last couple days he threw up if he drank more than about 3 and a half oz at a time). But it seems like rapid and consistent progress, so we're very pleased.