All About Avery!

The last 6 weeks have FLOWN by and Avery has changed so much. She has grown more than Keara or Taryn had in weeks, leaving the hospital at 6 lbs 9 oz and weighing in yesterday at 9 lbs 4 oz. Here's a progression of her changing over the last few weeks. I love this baby!!

(keeping with the *now* tradition of a picture in a pot...)

If you noticed in the picture of her in the stripped pants on the couch, she had developed baby zits AND a rash with thousands of bumps all over her head and neck. When I took her for her 4 week appointment, the doctor asked about it. He said it looked like atopic dermatitis...not good words to hear because it meant allergies.

Well, a week ago I noticed blood in Avery's diaper. It continued over the weekend and I called the pediatrician on Monday. He said 90% of the time, it is caused by a milk allergy. When we looked at the other symptoms (the rash on her head, green mucousy poop, excessive gas, plus the blood) as well as Taryn having allergies, he was convinced that it is a milk allergy. So in order to verify, I need to go off ALL dairy for 2-3 weeks to see if it helps her symptoms. Its been tough this week, but she seems to be doing much better. The rash is better, though not perfect, there is no more blood in her diapers, and her "stool" is more yellow again.

Thankfully, because of Taryn's allergies, it is easy to make dairy free meals. However, I am usually not the one left out from eating what I make. So I made chicken enchiladas the other day for Braden and Keara and made dairy free (meaning no cheese, sauce, etc) one for me and T. When I put the dairy free one on the table, Keara and Taryn both looked at it suspiciously and asked "What is that?" Then I brought out the one smothered in cheese and both of them got SO excited. Here's T's reaction...

Nope, sorry T. The boring one is for you too...Anyway, so I'm off all dairy for at least 3 weeks and possibly a year if she is allergic to milk. I want to nurse her as long as possible, so I have to get used to soy, no ice cream, no cheese, no pizza...thankfully Oreos don't have milk in them...but I can't dip them either.

So, I was inspired by a friend a while ago...Avery's hair has been thinning so much and leaving dark clumps in unattractive places. So we decided to shave her head tonight. Don't get mad at me!!

Here's a before...

Here's the hair we took off...not much, but enough to do the trick...

And after. Still just as beautiful but not so splotchy. I love this girl!!

She has the greatest personality. She is so calm and so content. I love it. She loves to cuddle and loves me! She is definitely more of a mommy's girl than the other two were. She is fantastic!