POP

Oops, the lightbulb in the lamp above my desk at home just popped.  Weird.

I want to give a shout out to awesome Maja for being a wonderful doggie big sister.  Maja can't wait for Basti to be big enough to play with her.  In the meantime, she likes to cuddle up to him in the mornings and give him kisses.  She has been so patient with us parental units when Basti requires most of our attention.  And Maja has been great about not taking Basti's toys, amazing!

During the "winter" (is what we have in CA really a winter?), Maja is growing out her fluffy fur and looking oh so cuddly and cute.  Love this photo Philipp took of her the other night with her new squeaky ball.  Makes me want to curl up in bed with her.

It's funny yesterday I wrote about no poop and no rocking to sleep.  So of course, Basti did poop (and again today!  Who thought I'd be so excited about his bowel movements?) and last night required Poppy to rock him to almost unconciousness.  Tsk tsk.  That's how it goes when I write about a hot topic.

Unfortunately, Basti's eczema doesn't seem to be getting much better.  Well, some days it seems better than others.  I really can't tell what makes it flare up or clear out.  Grumble grumble.  But since Friday, it has made a turn for the worse.  Darn.  He has blotches all over his shoulders and going down his back, behind his knees, ankles, neck, even his chubby cheeks now.  Fortunately, he doesn't seem uncomfortable or itchy.  Still it really is quite frustrating as I am not sure what to do, and all my online research has been inconclusive.  It could be any number of things: soap, clothes, layers, detergent, weather, heating, food.  With that many variables, hard to decide where to start.  The toughest one on the list is food (even though the doctor thought this would be the least likely one but it seems to be the most popular online)...  because I would have to keep track of everything I eat (and I eat a lot) and eliminate food groups (starting with dairy and soy).  And what about the month supply of milk I have frozen in the fridge and is only good for 3 months, I can't just let it go to waste!  And then it is supposed to take a couple of weeks of not consuming a food for the body (and breastmilk) to be truly be free of it.  All this to mean...  it's going to take a long time and lots of dedication.  By the time we really figure it out (if it is indeed a food allergy) we may not even be breastfeeding anymore.  SO I'll start by adding an extra rinse to the wash, and using the baby eczema cream I got.