13 Months

The last month seems to have gone by in a flash… just like all of the others!  We celebrated Grant’s first birthday on the 14th of January (see my Winter Onederland post for more details) and it seems that things haven’t really slowed down one bit since.

 

Overall, Grant is still our sweet, silly, happy little boy.  We occasionally catch glimpses of what the terrible twos may have in store for us.  He has mastered throwing himself down on the floor or going limp and crying when things do not go his way or he is told no.  I am happy to say (and hope I do not jinx us) that his biting has subsided for the most part.  He still bites occasionally but it is usually directed towards a toy or stuffed animal when he is frustrated and not at people (mainly me or other babies at daycare).

It still amazes me to see how much he knows and how quickly he learns.  Just this month alone he has come so far.  Here are some of the milestones…

Vocabulary:  dog (or “duh”), light (or “dight), and “dat” as he points at everything and wants you to tell him what it is.  He also signs all done and occasionally will sign eat and more. 

Some of the things he can identify:  book, ball, cow (he also knows what the cow says), his mouth, Sophie the giraffe, blanket, coat, and if you ask him where Ellen is he points to the TV.  When we have the time, we sit down and watch Ellen and he will dance with her every time and clap when she is done or when her audience claps.  It is absolutely adorable to watch and I keep saying that I need to get it on video… maybe she would fly us to LA! LOL  He knows where his sock and his hat go and he also knows which dog is Bucky and which dog is Monty.

When asked for a kiss, Grant will give you a big, wide open-mouthed wet one :) 

Favorite thing(s):  He still loves music and he is a dancing machine. Grant absolutely adores Monty.  He likes Bucky too but I think he realizes he can be a bit rougher with Monty and Monty usually just lays there and soaks up the attention.  

Stretching Monty's skin and then...

going in for a cuddle

Funniest thing(s):  Grant has learned what the camera is and what exactly I am always doing with it!  As soon as I bring it out to try to take pictures of him he makes silly faces.  He closes and squints his eyes and opens his mouth, hamming it up for the camera.  

He also has this new thing where he marches in place.  He can be standing playing, taking a drink of his cup, or just standing in kitchen watching me... he loves marching in place all of the sudden.

Teeth:  He is still at 6 and has not officially gotten a single tooth since September 4^th but his two bottom lateral incisors are just about to pop through (literally any day now).  I have the feeling that he is going to get his next round of teeth all at the same time.     

Illnesses:  On January 24th we found out he had C Diff for the 3rd time (see my C Diff post).  Then on top of that, the day after we found out it was back he came down with the croup again and ran a 103-105 fever (that would come down with Tylenol/ibprofren thank goodness!) for four days.  Just one of the many bugs going around right now...   

Mode of transportation:  No more crawling for this guy… he has chosen walking as his primary and usually only mode of transportation.  

 His balance has also come a long way...

Biggest change this month:  Grant has to this point never really suffered from separation anxiety.  He is still usually fine when I drop him off at daycare in the mornings but at home if I leave the room or walk away he is crying and following after me.  I cannot cook or get anything done without a little boy clinging to my leg. 

Firsts:  We had the opportunity to play in the snow when my mom was here for Grant's birthday.  He absolutely loved it and laughed at us while we made a snowman and even got a little taste of snow... not the yellow kind though!

We also went to a  Bears hockey game for the first time last weekend.  Grant seemed to enjoy people watching more than anything but he was pretty tired and zonked out after the 2nd period. 

The grand kids with the bear (Owen, Kylie, and Grant)

 Grant and Uncle Brian (Grant's Godfather) and Aunt Ashley

Size:  Grant weighs in the 21.6 pound range and is about 30" tall.  Overall, that hasn't changed much from his measurements at his 12 month check up.  He is in mainly 12 month clothes although some 12-18 months clothes fit and he is pretty much wearing 12-18 month for pj's.

As always, looking forward to what the next month holds and what he has in store for us.   

Our Battle with C Diff...

This is going to be a long one but I am hoping that fellow mothers and friends in general learn from our experiences and in return never have to go through it. 

Our troubles go all the way back to the month of November.  It all began when Grant came down with the croup on 11/12.  We went to the doctor and he was given a steroid shot and we saw an improvement in his breathing and cough nearly immediately.  However, the croup continued for another 2-3 days which is very typical and then his cough started to loosen up.  The cough was very junky and his breathing was raspy.  He woke up on 11/16 and his fever was back so we headed back to the doctor.  We learned the croup had turned to bronchitis and he was put on an antibiotic (specifically Azithromycin) which was the first antibiotic he had ever been on. 

Just a side note: the doctor that prescribed the med was not Grant’s regular pediatrician.  She was out of the office the day we had to go in and we had to see another doctor.  I like to think that our pediatrician would have told us to take necessary precautions when putting a child on an antibiotic such as supplementing with probiotics. 

Grant’s cough seemed to be on the mend but two days after starting the antibiotic he began vomiting.  Looking back I really do think that on top of what was starting (the early stages of C Diff) he also had a flu bug and all symptoms seemed to point in that direction since Grant had also developed diarrhea.

The doctors were still convinced it was a virus but after 5 days of VERY bad diarrhea we were back at the doctor (4^th time in two weeks) and I was insisting on a stool culture.  I suspected it could possibly be giardia because we have the dogs and thought maybe they could have tracked something in and Grant got a hold of it.  Another side note: During this time Grant lost 1 ½ pounds and his weight dropped from the 75^th to the 25^th percentile.  Well, with in three hours of dropping off the stool sample we received a call saying that Grant had C Diff or clostrium difficile.  We were extremely relieved to finally have an answer although we were rather miffed as to how this could have happened. 

What is C Diff?

C Diff is sometimes called antibiotic induced diarrhea.  Antibiotics naturally kill off the good bacteria or flora in the intestines which allow the bad bacteria that normally live in our bodies but are kept at bay by the good flora to take over and wreak havoc.  Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, bloating, and fever which is why C Diff can often go undiagnosed for long periods of time… the symptoms are common viral or flu type symptoms.  C Diff IS contagious and cannot be killed by antibacterial, alcohol based hand gels.  It is very common in the nursing home community or after a hospital stay and can be fatal if left untreated.  The best combat is good hand washing and a bleach solution.  My biggest suggestions… anytime you take or give an antibiotic to a child always supplement with probiotics whether it is a store bought supplement or with yogurt or other products containing probiotics.  The physician who prescribed the original antibiotic NEVER told us this and I truly think it could have all been prevented in our case.

Now back to our journey…

Grant was immediately put on Flagyl (one of two meds that can treat C Diff) for 10 days.  After just 2 days on his meds, we saw a drastic improvement and his BM’s were back to normal.  When he finished his course of meds, we re-cultured his stool and it was negative!  We were so relieved but wary because in 30% of C Diff cases it reoccurs with in two months.

I’d like to say this is where our C Diff journey ended but unfortunately it is not.  Not too many days after Christmas we noticed the symptoms of C Diff reappearing (mainly looser stools).  On 12/29 Grant tested positive for C Diff again and had lost another ½ pound.  We started another round of Flagyl for 10 days and after the round was complete he tested negative... again.  Just like last time we were relieved but wary because individuals who have two or more relapses have a 50-65% chance of yet another reoccurrence. 

So with that little statistic you have probably guessed that Grant’s C Diff did indeed reoccur for a third time.  He had one day where he had only 2 looser stools and then the following days they seemed to be back to normal.  At this point, we are paranoid and hyper vigilant so I called the doc and requested that he be cultured again and sure enough on 1/24 he tested positive again.  Our pediatrician chose another medication this time for treatment call Vancomycin which is much stronger.  We have completed a 10 day course and Grant tested negative. 

We are keeping our fingers crossed and saying prayers that our journey with C Diff has ended.  If it reoccurs again, our next step will be to see an infectious disease doctor at Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee since there are many long term negative side effects some of which include inability to properly absorb nutrients, lactose intolerance or many other food sensitivities, IBS, and/or bowel perforation among others.

As I had mentioned, it is my hope that someone reading this will learn from our experiences and it may help to prevent C Diff in their lives or help to catch the early warning signs if it does ever happen.