Hyrum Happenings

Hyrum is the joy of our lives, and we cannot get enough of this sweet little boy. He is affable and caring, precocious and a little stubborn, and cute as can be. The other two boys started walking at 9 1/2 months, so we weren't used to a baby who just didn't want to walk. He had the strength and physical development, but he always seemed a little scared to let go. Plus, he was a super fast crawler, so walking seemed like a downgrade :) At 13 months, he finally decided to take off on his own. As soon as he decided to walk, he really didn't crawl much after that. Since he was older, he learned really quickly, and is now practically running. He loves his new found freedom and gets in so much trouble. He is up and down the stairs all day, in the bathrooms, opening all the cupboards, on top of the tables  and always trying to sneak outside. I chase him around the house all day trying to keep him safe, but I honestly love this stage so much. He is developing his personality, and he is so fun.

His first week of walking!

Troublemaker... This kid is such a climber!

*He has also achieved several other milestones besides walking. He said his first word ("dada") around 12 months, and he has a couple more now. He says "mama", "uh oh", "ball", and my favorite "Hello". Whenever someone comes in the room or he sees someone new at the store, he says, "hellooooo!" He says it in a deep guttural voice and a very drawn out ending syllable, which is so stinkin' adorable. It is such a great way to be greeted when I get home or when I go in to get him out of his crib. I think his greeting and his smile endears him to everyone he meets.

*Over the last few weeks, he has also started giving people hugs when they are sad and folding his arms when we say "prayer".

*Last month I finally relented and cut his hair. I knew that he was looking scraggly, but I couldn't cut his little curls. When you cut their hair for the first time, it seems like they are never a baby again. I didn't want to lose my baby too soon. It was hard to snip off those red curls, but it had to be done.

Before 

(baby mullets are still cute, right?)

 After

*Hyrum still goes to almost anyone. Sometimes, he even prefers other people over mom or dad. He gives them a smile and then reaches for them. Nobody can resist him.

*He has gotten quite good at nonverbal communication. He has two signs (more and drink) and points and grunts for other things. Most of the pointing is toward the door because he wants to go outside so often.

*Everytime we get in the car, he takes off one of his socks within the first 2 minutes. When I cleaned out the car last time, I found a whole pile of unmatched socks.

*He loves to play wii with the kids. We give him the MarioKart steering wheel, and he will stand and shake it at the T.V. and laugh.

*He gets so excited over everything right now. If we get him a favorite food he claps and squeals. If we open the door to go outside, he laughs and runs to it.

*When he is frustrated, he scrunches up his face and puckers his lips to show his dismay. It is so funny that it is hard to take his anger seriously.

*He is still off of dairy because of his eczema. It flairs up on occasion, but most of the time is fairly controlled with lotion. I find it so hard to think of snacks to feed him. He can't have milk and he won't eat meat, so it limits the options. He eats a lot of grains and fruit and vegetables. His favorite foods are bananas, oatmeal, cooked carrots, bread, and noodles.

*I tried giving him peanut butter a few weeks ago. I have been avoiding it because the doctor told me that often kids with eczema have other allergies as well.  We don't have any allergies in the family, so I was hopeful that everything would be fine. His first exposure came from a piece of a peanut butter cookie, and everything was fine. I knew that the second exposure was the important one, so I picked a time that I could watch him carefully. Sure enough, about 10 minutes after his PB&J sandwich, his face started to get red and puffy. His cheeks grew splotchy, and his face was so swollen that his eyes looked sunken in. I immediately grabbed him and took him to the urgent care at our doctor's office. They got him in quickly and checked him over. His oxygen sats were still good, but he was starting to drool and his throat was quite swollen. The doctor didn't want to take any chances, so they sent us to the E.R. About 10 minutes after we were checked in at the E.R., I noticed a significant improvement in the swelling. They monitored him carefully and gave him some Benadryl and after another half hour, his face had returned to normal. They told me that the first reaction is usually the mildest and can escalate from there. I got a prescription for an EpiPen and learned how to use it so that we could avoid any serious problems. When I got home, we got rid of all of the peanut butter. It was such a sad day for the boys. They pretty much live on PB sandwiches (especially Andrew), so it was a hard but necessary change. We also got an appointment to see an allergist in a few weeks to see if we need to avoid anything else.

Overall, Hyrum is a happy, active and lovely little boy. We love him to the moon and back!