The Harvey Family: Blake

Experiments this week to try and get rid of the eczema included: more food restrictions for me, bathing nightly, and covering Blake's skin all day. So in addition to no dairy and soy in my diet, I decided to cut out almonds and wheat for the week to see if Blake's skin miraculously got better. Also, just to add as many variables as possible, we've been giving him a bath each night in the real bathtub to let him soak in the water and haven't been using soap. As soon as he gets out we pat him dry and lube him up in Aquaphor to lock in the moisture. Then during the day we've been keeping him in his footie PJs so he doesn't have access to scratch the tops of his feet. Sadly, even after trying all these things his rashes didn't go away. We did manage to keep it from getting much worse and didn't use much steroid cream at least.

Blake and I took a 4 hour shopping trip on Saturday so Daddy could replace the kitchen faucet and use bleach to get rid of all the mold that had built up under the sink. As with all home projects he ended up having to fix things other than the one main project. Now we have a nice new faucet that we don't have to worry about ripping the handle off or pushing it down just right so it doesn't drip... hooray! Blake did really well on the trip to the mall... he took a nap in the car on the way there and then in his stroller while we were there. Granted, they were quick 30 min power naps (but that's pretty typical for him).

This week, Blake:

has been giving us hugs more or less. He'll grab around my neck and can stabilize his body or pull himself back upright after leaning over.
has been obsessed with looking at the floor. If we hold him upright so he's standing on the ground, he'll have to lean forward so he can see the floor in front of him. It's almost like he wants to get down and crawl around. I've put him on the floor a couple times and he realizes that he's back in the dreaded "tummy time" position and voices his frustration.
has had a lot of congestion. He has to go into the bathroom filled up with hot steam from the shower at least once a day. He seems to get all stuffed up as soon as I lay him down in his bed and proceeds to freak out until I pick him up and we head to the bathroom.
has kinda been shifting back his bed time. He's typically in the process of or almost done nursing at 8pm most nights and then I walk him around to let his food settle before putting him in bed. Sadly, the hot steam treatment sets us back another 20-30 mins.
started screeching. He's exploring the far reaches of his vocal range and it is piercing! It's still pretty adorable though when he just babbles and throws in a few screeches. =)
started rolling over really easily from front to back. I had to tire him out to even be able to catch it on video. He would be all the way over by the time the camera would focus to start taking video. At the moment he doesn't seem interested in rolling from back to front... he'd rather spend as little time on his tummy as possible even though he longingly stares and leans toward the floor when you hold him upright.
went 3 days without a poop. He saved it all for Day 4.
got a bunch of new fun toys from his Mimi and Grandpa Joel for his 6 month birthday. They have lots of bright colors and movable parts to play with and learn!
started sitting up on his own for real! He gets better everyday and can balance for 5 seconds or so but we still have to stay close for when he falls over.