Month: March 2008

Lots more new pictures added to the Flickr page, too.

Jean’s cousin Laura visited this week and met Conrad. She changed his diaper, played with him, spent several days with Jean and Conrad and bought him some nice stuff. Somehow we managed to avoid getting a single picture of her. But here’s Conrad in the onesie she bought him:

Apparently it was originally designed to be worn by monkeys, but luckily it fits the boy as well.

Laura also accompanied us on Conrad’s first trip to the beach, to visit Charlie and Marty, who are either my first cousin once removed and my first cousin once removed in-law, or perhaps my second cousin and my second cousin once removed in-law. I’ve never been sure. Jean’s family, an efficient and no-nonsense bunch, calls them my aunt and uncle.

With four daughters and three grandchildren, Charlie and Marty know their way around a baby. At one point I went to see if Conrad needed changing and Marty told me she’d already done it. I was right there the whole time and never saw it. She’s like a ninja grandma.

Also, they know all the facial expressions:

Marty and Conrad

Charlie and Conrad

In the early days of this blog we posted a photo of me at five weeks of age in 1965, along with a photo of Conrad at two weeks or so, painstakingly shot and edited to look like one another. Despite the fact that I named them “Conrad” and “Condad,” some of you didn’t get it. So I won’t be so subtle this time. We re-shot the photo this morning now that he is closer to the age I was in the picture. “Conrad” is Conrad. “Condad” is me. The idea is that we look similar. Okay?

Conrad

Condad

And now for a more serious subject: Vaccines. There’s been so much coverage in the media about vaccines and children and the potential link between autism and the MMR vaccination. I’ve been paying attention, but hadn’t known much about the vaccination schedule until our pediatrician presented it to me at our prenatal appointment.

A word about our pediatrician: I really like her. She’s doesn’t pull any punches and is very straight forward. She’s not into trends. When I asked her what books she would recommend, she told me to get the guide from the American Academy of Pediatrics for birth to 5 years. She’s very thorough and when she gives a suggestion, it feels like it comes from years of experience.

At Conrad’s one month appointment, I brought a copy of Dr. Sears’ Vaccine Book, which our doula had lent to me. The book suggests a more drawn out vaccination schedule than the one recommended by the Academy. It doesn’t promote children skipping vaccines. I told her my concerns about overloading little bodies with so many vaccinations at one time “5 at the 2 month checkup – although admittedly combined into a single injection”.

Her response was quite strong and somewhat unexpected. She looked me in the eye and said that the MMR vaccination does not cause autism and that she feels strongly that by drawing out the vaccination schedule that I would be increasing my child’s pain by increasing the number of injections. I felt a little bullied, so agreed that at Conrad’s 2 month checkup, we’d stick with the plan.

I plan on reading the Vaccine Book more thoroughly to see what I think, but right now, I’m not sure whether to take a stand with our pediatrician or to go with what’s recommended.

Conrad had his one month checkup on Monday. Dave and I both guessed that he’d weigh in at about 9 to 9 1/2 pounds. You can imagine my surprise when the nurse told us that he weighed 10 pounds and an ounce. Of course, I was sure that he was hitting the 90th percentile in growth, but our pediatrician reassured us that he’s right in the middle of the growth charts and that we should expect such large gains this early in his life.

I shouldn’t have been so surprised though as he’s already outgrown some of his baby clothes. People had told me that there would be things that he’d only wear once, but I didn’t believe it until now. I’ve started dragging out his 6 month clothes to make sure we get some wearing in before he gets too big. Note to readers – 6 month clothes are too big, but 3 months fit just great. Sadly, the newborn clothes are mostly too small.

I’m beginning to truly grasp how quickly they grow up. I know this sounds silly, but it’s another a ha moment for me. I think there’s a part of me that had the impression that he’d be a certain sized baby until suddenly he was a toddler, sort of bypassing the intermediate growth.

… with all the Super Baby stuff, but I promise you in this photo, he is standing up. Yes, I was keeping him from toppling over and yes, it only lasted a few seconds, but he was supporting his own weight.