Our 2nd Month Doctor's Check-Up

Yesterday we had Caleb's 2 month check-up at the doctors office. The good news,... he's now 11lbs exactly and he's 23 inches long. The bad news, he has Thrush (oropharyngeal candidiasis, or OPC) in his mouth and needs to take this medication 4 times a day for 1-2 weeks until it's gone. Apparently this is something that he would have gotten during the birth process and is easily curable and common in newborns.

Caleb also had something in his belly button burned off by the doctor since it looked like he still had a part of the umbilical stump still attached and it was looking a little red. The result? Now the belly button area is darker than his other skin and the doctor has assured us that this will fade in time.

He also had 3 shots. The first was a combo Polio, Hepatitis B & Deptheria Tetanus & Pertussis Vaccine. The 2nd was the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine and the 3rd was the Haemophilus Influenzae Type b (Hib) Vaccine. The poor little guy had 3 needles stuck in his legs before he could get over the shock and start wailing like a mad man.

Overall, he's growing well and he's now in the 50th percentile in height and weight and he's developing normally. He's cooing and he's smiling (the doctor says that it's because he has gas and not because he's happy but I disagree) and he's following us with his eyes (slowly) when we move from one side to another.

Being a "Worry-Mom"

I now have a little more than one month left before I have to go back to work and I am getting very worried and sad about having to leave Caleb with a caregiver. Currently, we spent all our time together and I get to learn about him every day and I'm going to miss him terribly. My mom reassures me that every baby (except those with stay-at-home moms of course) goes through the same thing and that I myself was given to a caregiver shortly after I was born so that my mother could go back to work.

I'm worried that he'll feel lonely and that he won't be conforted when he's unhappy. We currently have one of Jay's co-worker's wives (who's due to give birth in March) scheduled to take care of Caleb since she'll also have a new born to take care of. I'm worried that I'll miss big milestones and seeing him develop, grow and learn every day and that I won't be there to guide him and teach him.

If I won the lottery, I would stay at home and take care of him until he's older and can go into daycare without me worrying that he won't be able to tell me that there's something wrong. Right now, I think that he will benefit most from a home environment. No matter how good the caregiver is, I'll be worrying since I'll be at work at least half the day.

I wish my mom was here so that I know that Caleb would be getting the best care possible (second to myself of course! :) ), but alas, she's in Vancouver and we can't afford to bring Caleb up in such an expensive city. Again, if I won the lottery, we could move back and have his grandparents take care of him while I'm away at work. Even then, I would worry, but it would be the best thing for Caleb. Plus, then, he could grow up to learn how to speak Cantonese fluently.

I've been trying to convince my parents to come down here more often, but that's not fair to them either since all their friends and ties are in Vancouver.

Thinking about this has kept me up at nights and has rendered me unable to put him down since I keep thinking that in a short while, I won't be able to be at home and spend all my time with the one person that means the most to us in the world.

I guess that I'm just being a "Worry-Mom".

Just More Lazy Days At Home

We've just been hanging out at home with nothing much to report.

Caleb's gotten into a habit of fussing at night right before he goes to sleep. Although, because he IS still sleeping through the night, we'll put up with whatever we need to do to keep that going.

He's smiling more now, especially in the morning but we've been unsuccessful in capturing them on film. We're only managing a faintly amused look at what we're doing with the camera.