The Boy Who Cried Poop

Weeks Fifteen and Sixteen Milestones:

LL is now reaching for toys! He did this once, over Thanksgiving, but hadn't done it since then. But while we were in Wisconsin, he learned this one for real, by watching his cousin, LiLi, who is three months older than him. We laid them down next to each other under a play gym. While LiLi immediately started reaching for the toys, LL just stared at LiLi. Then he reached out and started stroking her shoulder. Then he played with her ear. (She's ticklish, so she kept giggling, which gave him positive feedback to play with her ear some more.) When LiLi had had enough, she grabbed his hand and started munching on it, which confused him, because he's used to his fingers being wet only when he's munching on them himself. Eventually, LiLi went back to her toys, and after watching her a while longer, it was like something clicked in LL's little mind. He suddenly understood that his hands could do the same things that her hands could do, so he reached for the toys himself. It's a whole new world for him now. His very favorite toy is this bizarre thing, which he can grab with both hands and chew on, no matter how it's oriented.

LL loves books! You can hold books above him and he'll stare at the pictures, and he loves listening to people read. His current favorite book is "Barnyard Dance" by Sandra Boynton, which has really bright pictures and great sing-songy rhymes. If I just hold the book up in front of him, he gets excited and wiggles all over the place in anticipation. "Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaur" is a close second.

He has also become a This Little Piggy junky. He mainly tolerates the first several piggies, for the wonderful payoff of the final little piggy going wee wee wee all the way home. He can't get enough of the wee wee wee. Read into that what you will.

The only real problem that we're dealing with right now is the continuation of our pooping problem. As I previously mentioned, starting in late December, LL decided that he doesn't like pooping. When he was a newborn, he pooped constantly. Several times a day. Every single diaper had some poop. Then he slowed down a bit, which is totally normal. Once a day. Then, he settled into a solid pattern of once every other day. Which was fine with us, because let's be honest: changing a wet diaper is really easy, but changing a really messy one is a bit of a pain in the butt. (Get it? Butt? Hee hee.)

Then he went 6 days without pooping, several times in a row. Breastfed babies can go a week or more without it being a problem, but by day 4 or so, LL always starts looking uncomfortable. He fusses constantly while eating, arching his back and crying while also rooting. He seems hungry, but also seems to be out of space to put it, if you know what I mean. So, on day 3, we start giving him pear juice to get things going. We met this week with the lactation consultant one more time, who verified that he's eating enough food (and he's gotten much faster, which is good news for me!) and suggested that we try gripe water to relax him a bit. We'll see how it goes.

The funny part of this whole thing is that, while he's not pooping, LL still has amazing gas. He toots all day long, and they smell, really bad. I'll come in to pick LL up after a nap, and as I lean over his crib, I'll be hit with a tremendous odor. And I'll think, "Wow, that is incredibly smelly! He must have pooped!" But then I check his diaper and no, it's just farts. Amazing. (We have joked that the gas scare at my parents' house over Chanukah was entirely LL's fault.) I fall for it every time. Surely he can't be producing that much stink without having a really messy diaper to go along with it?! But he always does.

We call him The Boy Who Cried Poop.

If you're more into history than literature, try this one out: "I have not yet begun to poop." Suggestions for additional mottos are more than welcome.