one year!!

One year old!!!

Cruz...

Caleb..

...and Zoey at one year old!  Check out all the great pics Cruz took at his one year picture appt!  I don't think he's ever smiled so much!! 

At Cruz's one year dr appt he weighed 18lbs 4 oz and was 29 3/4 inches long.  That's the 3rd percentile for weight and 50th for height.  He has consistently gone down in percentile for his weight-at 6 months he was 50th, at 9 months he was 10th and now he is 3rd.  A couple of weeks before his birthday, I tried to wean him from breastfeeding to cow's milk.  He had a severe allergic reaction, to say the least.  I brought him in to see the dr to have him weighed and to get advice as to what other weaning options I had.  We discovered Cruz had only gained 3 oz in 3 months.  Not good.  He has been limiting the kinds of baby foods he eats more and more and has been using his sippy cup less and less.  He breastfeeds like a champ though.  Unfortunately, I cannot provide him all the fats and nutrients he needs at this point.  The Dr suggested we see a pediatric GI Dr who, in turn, recommended going in for a feeding evaluation (something I had never heard of!) and said if he can't gain enough weight there is the possibility of a feeding tube in the future. Ok..trying not to panic. At our appt with the speech pathologist for the feeding evaluation, she observed Cruz eating and refusing a variety of foods.  She gave me some tips to help me at mealtime.  I guess I thought that would be the end of it.  I was wrong.  His technical diagnosis is feeding aversion and dysphagia (a swallowing disorder).  He is supposed to go to feeding therapy twice a week for at least the next 6 months.  Wow.  It took a couple of days for it sink in how severe it is.  I called to get him in for the feeding therapy and they tell me the wait is 1-4 months to get in.  I have tried every imaginable way to get him to wean from me and on to the prescription formula (even starving into submission didn't work).  At this point I am continuing to breast feed as much as possible and trying to get him to eat as much baby food as he will take until we can get into therapy.  He wakes up at least every 2 hours at night to eat so you can imagine how tiring that is.  He is scheduled for an endoscopy at the end of this month to see if there is anything "mechanically" wrong that could be the cause of the swallowing issues.  It can be very time consuming to feed him-it takes just the right amount of patience and persistence to be successful in getting to eat baby food.  We have good eating days and bad ones.  It will be interesting to see what route this journey takes us.  I feel very fortunate that my parents can help me with the other 2 while I go to all these appointments.  Cruz has earned the new nickname of Slim.  :)  Luckily, he continues to be one happy baby.  

Cruz had lots of fun at his birthday party.  Nana, Papa, Kiki (my sister Kimberly), Austin & Jessica, Uncle David, Mama Dee and Bill, Uncle Vurne and my dear friend Tammy all helped us celebrate.  

Since Cruz is allergic to dairy and doesn't eat table food anyway, he didn't do much with his smash cake.  

Not walking yet but continues to cruise around.  He is talking more and more-loves to copy sounds.  

Papa is teaching Cruz how to walk.

How sweet is this boy?!!!!

Caleb and Zoey continue to be best buds.  They even sit in the same chair to eat.  Too sweet.