Getting ready for solid food

Rajiv si prepara ad affrontare il cibo solido:

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Leaps and bounds - Passi da gigante!

The pictures in this post were taken about a week ago, before we went out for a walk to enjoy a short return of summer here in Waterloo.

Le fotografie sono di circa una settimana fa, prima che uscissimo a fare una passeggiata in un pomeriggio quasi estivo, l'ultimo per un po...

Little one is now able to flip over like a pro. As soon as he is put down on his back, like a spring he rolls on his tummy and tries to move forward. Since he has mastered this, about a month ago, he has been much more easily entertained on his own. We can put him down with a toy (or a paper cup, or an empty box, for that matters) and have a few minutes of uncomplicated time to be used as needed.

He is also trying to properly crawl. He practices pushing on his hands and lifting his tummy from the floor and he succeeds, but only for a moment. He also managed to move a knee forward a bit, so I expect new exciting developments very soon. For the moment he is very good at moving backwards instead, which is a source of constant frustration for him, because the more he tries to reach a toy the farther he gets...



He is able to sit without support for very short periods of time, but he doesn't seem to be especially excited about it. He prefers by far to stand (with our help...) or to work on his crawling technique.


Da circa un mese il piccolino ha imparato a rotolare con scioltezza e se viene messo sdraiato da qualche parte e' capace di mettersi a quattro zampe in un attimo. Sta provando a gattonare, ma e' ancora un po' difficile, anche se in questi ultimi giorni ha fatto progressi notevoli. Riesce a sollevare la pancia da terra per qualche secondo ed e' bravissimo ad andare all'indietro - involontariamente... E' capace di stare seduto dritto senza supporto per qualche secondo, ma poi si piega in avanti (come un piccolo gorilla, per intenderci) oppure se non e' ben bilanciato rotola di lato. La sua posizione preferita pero' continua ad essere in piedi, come nella prima foto in alto.

Viaggi - cattive notizie, purtroppo

Siamo finalmente riusciti a programmare i nostri spostamenti di quest'inverno, ma purtroppo ci sono cattive notizie. La mia idea era di passare in Italia a inizio dicembre, ma non siamo riusciti a trovare dei biglietti ragionevoli. La soluzione piu' economica era 2.500$ a testa e non ce la siamo sentita. Abbiamo scelto invece di andare direttamente in India, rimanendo qui una settimana piu' del previsto (il che e' anche positivo per il mio lavoro, se puo' essere di qualche conforto...).

Ora scatta il piano B, che consiste nel cercare di organizzare una gita in Italia attorno a marzo. Come al solito ci sono mille variabili, ma spero di riuscire a far quadrare tutto.

BCG vaccine update

Il piccolino sta meglio e oggi e' l'ultimo giorno di antibiotici. Non siamo sicuri che l'infezione sia stata definitivamente sconfitta, ma staremo a vedere che cosa succede nei prossimi giorni. La zona attorno al sito della vaccinazione e' di nuovo rossa e un po' gonfia, ma e' dfficile capire se questo sia il normale corso delle cose oppure no. Anche il dottore purtroppo e' nella stessa situazione perche' e' il primo caso di questo tipo che incontra (questo vaccino non e' utilizzato in Canada).

The little one is feeling better and today is the last day of antibiotics. We are not sure if the infection has been defeated completely or not, because there is again some redness and swelling, but for what we know that could be normal. We will keep an eye on it and check with the doctor if the swelling seems to be increasing.

On a lighter note...

This is a video from today afternoon. The voice in the background is Rajiv's dad, making him laugh.



Questo video e' di oggi pomeriggio. Come vedete, nonostante gli antibiotici, il piccolino mantiene il buon umore!

Per ora tutto bene

Just a brief update to say that Rajiv seems to be doing fine. He has no fever and is eating well, better in fact than he was earlier, which makes me think more and more that some of the problem we were having earlier were due to this infection. The only sign that something is wrong is that he seems much more sleepy than usual during the day, but sleep is a good for him anyway. We were having problems giving the antibiotics with the syringe that they gave us at the pharmacy, but we found that a dropper works better and now we are doing fine. The antibiotics smell disgusting and are messing up his digestion a bit. Six more days... :(

Rajiv sta abbastanza bene, a parte il fatto che sembra molto stanco. Non ha febbre e mangia con (moltissimo) appetito. Sta prendendo gli antibiotici e speriamo che gli facciano bene. Abbiamo avuto qualche problema a darglieli inizialmente, ma ora abbiamo trovato il sistema giusto e riusciamo a fargli ingoiare buona parte della dose. Purtroppo si tratta di roba veramente disgustosa: l'odore ricorda la crema depilatoria e il sapore deve essere simile. Povero piccolo...

Update

Abbiamo passato la giornata facendo avanti e indietro tra casa e l'ufficio del dottore. E' confermato che c'e' un'infezione, perche' nel primo pomeriggio e' uscito un sacco di pus. Ci siamo un po' spaventati, ma Rajiv non sembra sofferente e non ha la febbre, quindi per il momento va abbastanza bene. Il dottore ha voluto fare una coltura per capire di che tipo di infezione si tratta (un'esperienza piuttosto spiacevole per il piccolino, purtroppo) e ha prescritto degli antibiotici. Credo che ci chiameranno se le analisi danno qualche risultato inatteso e altrimenti vedremo di nuovo il dottore la settimana prossima.

Cambiando argomento, Rajiv pesa adesso 7,24 Kg (con pannolino). E' stato pesato oggi dal dottore e tutto sembra nella norma.

Today morning we went to see our usual doctor about the problem with the BCG vaccine. He said that there was an abscess and it should be drained, but that he would rather not do it himself and he would refer us to a specialist instead. When we reached home however we saw that it had burst and a lot of pus had come out. We got a bit alarmed (not bad as an understatement...) and called the doctor again - S. also had rush and cancel a talk that he was schedule to give at the institute at the same time, the usual luck... The doctor didn't seem too concerned at first, but then he called us back and asked to go there for a couple of tests. It wasn't very pleasant for Rajiv, but at least we felt better seeing that something concrete was being done. We got a prescription for antibiotics and will go back to see the doctor next week.

By the way, as a side result of these visits we could check Rajiv's weight and he seems to be growing fine, in spite of a few feeding strikes of his recently. He is now 7.24 Kg, diaper included.

Not a good birthday... :(

Riassunto per i lettori italiani: Purtroppo il piccolino e' dovuto andare dal dottore oggi, perche' il sito della vaccinazione anti-tubercolosi sembra essersi infettato. Sapevamo che un po' di reazione e' normale, ma oggi abbiamo visto che c'era del pus. Il dottore non era molto contento, ma ci ha detto di tornare tra qualche giorno per decidere se dare degli antibiotici. Vi terro' informati sugli sviluppi.

Today little Rajiv is five months! Unfortunately, we celebrated his birthday with a trip to the doctor. His BCG vaccination spot has been looking red and swollen for some time, but we got reassurance from various sources that it was to be considered normal.

Netdoctor.co.uk says:

The BCG vaccine usually causes a hardened lesion that may ulcerate and occasionally discharge. It heals over several weeks or months leaving a small flat scar. You should keep the area dry to allow it to heal, but it is not necessary to protect it from water during washing or bathing. Avoid covering it with waterproof (airtight) dressings or tight clothing, unless for short periods such as during swimming. If the ulcer starts to ooze you can cover it with a dry dressing until a scab forms, but you should still allow the air to get to it. Airtight dressings may delay the healing of the ulcer and cause a larger scar. If you get a more severe reaction or the ulcer persists seek medical advice from your doctor.

So we were not too worried, but today S. noticed that the lesion had turned green! There is clearly an infection going on there and it could be the explanation for some of the recent crankiness - maybe instead of the phantom teeth that never show up, who knows...

We went to see the doctor and he didn't seem too happy about the situation. This could also be because the BCG vaccine is not usually given here in Canada though, so maybe he hasn't seen so many cases. Still, the visit didn't make us feel better at all. The doctor suggested to apply warm compresses on the spot and to check little one's temperature to make sure he doesn't get a fever, but no matter how things evolve we plan to go back on Friday for a check up. We also could not see the usual doctor today and we would feel better if we could talk to him as well. Maybe little one will have to take some antibiotics, but hopefully he will not have to be too uncomfortable. I'll keep you updated.

What's happening around here

I haven't posted for some time, so I feel I owe a few updates to my faithful readers...

• The nanny problem seems to be close to a (temporary) solution. We are meeting on Tuesday with a candidate baby-sitter, which we have already decided to hire no matter what (well, unless she looks really unreliable, as in more unreliable than us...) because we are desperate. So we will have two different baby-sitters, covering four hours a week each. It is not ideal, but it's a start. We sort hope that next semester the first baby-sitter, Kelly, whom we love more than words can say, will ditch her current employers and give all her availability to us. Otherwise the hunt will go on...
  
  
• Little one is beginning to get acquainted with the Canadian weather. The temperature has suddenly dropped and he has a cold. Probably our trip to the Italian Consulate Toronto on Friday with too long walks at too early hours didn't help. We are going back tomorrow - Indian Consulate this time, for even more fun... - but this time there will be more clothing and less walking in the freezing wind, at least in our plans.
  
  
• Cold aside, Rajiv is really cranky. I am having more and more problems feeding him, even when he is obviously very hungry. He also cries more than he used to, even at night. This is new because although we were used to frequent awakenings through the whole night, he was always very easy to handle. Now even that seems to be gone. Maybe he is teething. I know we have bee suspecting this for a couple of months now, but the doctor said it could be a very slow process and maybe it is culminating now. I really hope to see some teeth soon, although S. and I feel sad at the idea of losing his charming toothless smile...
  

Wrapping pictures

This is from a couple of weeks ago. Not too good, but it was my first attempt at a hip carry. He seemed fine, anyway. We went for a walk in the park and he enjoyed the view from this new position.







These ones instead are from today, with my new "Maya Sling". Again, the technique still needs improvement (the ring is not supposed to be there in the middle), but I think that we were comfortable enough. We inaugurated the new sling at the wine and cheese Friday event at the institute and I think it was a success. We were certainly the brightest!

Social life

This picture is from last Saturday. We went for dinner at a colleague's house and little one was charming as usual, as you can see, before going to sleep for a few hours allowing us to eat. Of course this "sleeping for a few hours" performance never happens when I could also sleep... :(

Questa e' una foto di sabato scorso. Siamo andati a cena da due colleghi e il piccolino si e' comportato molto bene. Di solito dorme per qualche ora proprio attorno all'ora di cena, quindi abbiamo potuto farlo partecipare un po' alla conversazione all'inizio e poi metterlo a letto. Nonna Laura forse riconosce la maglietta?