Allergies, Infections, & Asthma, Oh My!!

Zane enduring a breathing treatment at Lylah's house

Many of our friends and family know that Zane has not been the healthiest of little boys! Basically since he started day care we have had one issue after another. For several months, our basic cycle was: stuffy nose becomes cough, cough becomes wheeze, wheeze gets worse, ear infection, repeat every 2-4 weeks. After about 6 ear infections, Zane got tubes in his ears in July. We were very hopeful that this would really clear up everything. It did cut out the ear infections, but the rest of the cycle pretty much stayed the same.
He also kept getting flares of eczema that we attributed to food allergies and broke out in hives one day after eating food off my tray at Genghis Grill. Because of that, combined with the wheezing, we saw an Allergy & Asthma specialist at the end of July. Turns out, Zane's allergic to eggs (and has skin irritation with certain citrusy fruits). This doctor also added another maintenance med to Zane's wheezing treatments.
At the end of August, Zane's wheezing flared up, probably because of Orange O-zone days when it was so hot. We got it back under control in just a few days, in time for Zane's birthday. The next week, Zane's birthday week, we started him on whole milk. Within days, his asthma was the worst I have ever seen it. We had one horrible night where he woke up every 4 hours or less, short of breath, crying, and coughing until we did a breathing treatment that subsided the symptoms long enough for him to get back to sleep. At that point, we switched to soy milk immediately. Since that week, we have yet to get Zane's asthma completely under control again. Runny noses have come and gone but the wheezing and coughing stick around. Last week, we took him back to the pediatrician and they doubled one of his maintenance meds, put him on 5 days of oral steroids, and referred us to see a pediatric pulmonologist (lung specialist) the very next day. Luckily, the pulmonologist is at Cook Children's, where I work, so I feel pretty comfortable there and it is quite convenient for us.
The pulmonologist took Zane's history and a chest x-ray and said that he would call this asthma (or an asthma-like condition :-)). He believes that Zane most likely has intermittent asthma that is triggered primarily by respiratory viruses and infections and he is hopeful that eventually we will be able to cut the maintenance meds out completely and just treat flare-ups. He gave us a new plan and an after-hours number for the pulmonologist on-call (this may eliminate some ER time!) and told us to continue the 5 days of steroids unless he cleared up before then. When we completed the steroids and Zane didn't seem to be better than he was to begin with, I called the pulmonologist back. They had me take him for a sinus x-ray and, sure enough, the poor little guy had a sinus infection. I am pretty sure he had that for at least a week and a half prior because he had little yellow goop draining from his eyes but no runny nose for at least that long. They put him on antibiotics for 3 weeks! Since starting them, he had a lot of drainage for the first few days and that has slowed down now but he still has a horrible cough and his wheezing has been worse than before. I just want to get my little boy well! I am pretty sure it has been at least a month since he has really felt good.
It doesn't slow him down much though! We are still chasing our little guy all over the house, whether he is wheezing or not. He is about to eat us out of house and home too! Yesterday, I heated up 3 frozen burritos for lunch. Zane ate 1 3/4 and I only got 1 1/4. He also ate some apple slices and drank most of his milk. I'm telling you the kid can eat! I am just glad that he has been more willing to try new foods lately.
We are hopeful for better, healthier days to come. Respiratory season makes me nervous but it does look like he can probably get the flu shot so that helps! We are trusting God to take care of our little boy. Thank you to all our friends and family for the prayers, support and helpful suggestions.

With love,

Crystal

Happy Birthday Zane!!!

Today

One Year Ago

Zane,
Happy birthday Little Man! I cannot believe that it has been a whole year since you were born! It has been the most amazing year of my life. Now I can't imagine life before you were here. We love spending time with you every day. You are growing and changing so quickly. We had a blast at your birthday party last weekend. So many of our friends and family came over to celebrate your first year of life with us. Uncle Robin & Aunt Jill even drove all the way from Tulsa with Emma & Foster just to surprise us for your big day.

Lego Cakes made by Mimi

Swim Party

So many presents!

Digging in to the cake

Our little smurf

Birthday Cake Fun

Birthdays are so much fun! I am looking forward to many more with you!

With Love,

Mommy

P.S. Happy birthday to Pops too!

11 Months!!

Zane (11 mos) at a mini-photo shoot for his birthday invitations

I am so far behind!!! This irritates me and stresses me out more than you would think! I was really enjoying my little month by month history of Zane's life and then I had to go and skip 2 whole month milestones. It has just been the craziest summer and, when I barely have time to keep up with laundry and keep enough bottles clean in the house, blogging just falls to the bottom of the priority list. I have really only been on the computer to pay bills since May.

But, despite the mess that is my house, the bills that need to get paid today, the baby shower this afternoon, and everything else that I should probably be doing, I am making it a priority to post today (And by that, I mean that I started on Sunday, 8/1, and it took me 6 days to finish!). You know why? Because my baby boy is 11 months old! This is my last "month" post before his birthday. I cannot believe how quickly this year has flown!

Zane at 8 months

Zane,

We have so much fun with you! At less than a year of age, you have such expression and personality. You love to make us smile and laugh with you. Everyone that spends time with you loves you! You are pretty laid back most of the time but you do have something to say if another kid gets into your personal space bubble. You are sometimes a little unsure of strangers, but once you warm up to someone, you do great.

We have had so many milestones over the last few months! You started crawling Memorial Day Weekend, just before you turned 9 months old. You execute a perfect army crawl, fit for military duty, getting you across a room in no time. You use your elbows and your big toes to push yourself around, and you mop mommy's floor in the process. At this point, you know how to crawl on your hands and knees but you generally revert to army crawling, especially if you are in a hurry.

Zane Crawling

You started really talking in June! To be honest, I think you have been saying "da-da" since about April but I was in denial until you started saying "ma-ma" at the end of May. By now, you consistently call us by name, Gigi, Pops or Papa, ball, more "mo-mo", dog "dah", Max "Ma", Smallz "Ba", duck, truck, cup, bottle, juice "ju", and about 25 other words that you can repeat if we say them. You jabber all the time, whether we understand you or not.

In the beginning of July, you started pulling up. This happened the same day that you got tubes in your ears. I think it helped your balance to get that fluid off your little ears. Now you are pulling yourself up on everything and cruising around the furniture. I am pretty sure you will be walking by your birthday!

Some of your favorite things right now are food, snapping your fingers, banging toys on the floor or each other, clapping, & watching Baby Einstein. You have so much personality!

Zane at 10 months

We have been really busy this summer. Daddy started his new job in May. He is doing Public Relations for the North Tarrant Express highway project and he loves it. He has missed his time at home with you but he is glad to be back to work. So, we have adapted to both working again and you have gone back to school. You are back at the same daycare but in a different classroom. You have lots of fun there playing with your friends and learning so many things.

At the beginning of May, we had a good visit with the Curry cousins. Uncle Robin, Aunt Jill, Emma & Foster came down from Tulsa for your baby dedication. Uncle Craig, Aunt Fallon, & Lylah weren't able to stay, but they came for part of the weekend to see everyone. It was a blast to watch you all play together! Here are some of our favorite memories from May:

Zane (8 mos) with London & Hadley at London's birthday party
(Mommy & Daddy went to college with both London & Hadley's parents)

I couldn't resist!

Zane got a haircut (NOT his first!) at Gigi's house

"Save me!"

All the Curry grandkids with Gigi & Pops
Lylah (4 mos), Zane (8 mos), Foster (5 1/2 mos), & Emma (3)

Zane with 2 of our favorite girls- Emma & Isabella (9)

"Chick" shirts
(Zane's says "Chicks Are All Over Me")

For Memorial Day weekend, we took a trip to Lubbock and visited your Great-grandmom & Great- granddad (Gigi's parents), and you met Mawmaw & Pawpaw Wes (Pops' mom & Step-dad) for the first time. Your great-grandparents were all very excited to see you and you were a perfect little guest. Even visiting Pawpaw Wes at the hospital, you brightened up the whole room. Wes passed away in July and I am so glad that I have that memory of you playing with him and making him smile.

Zane with Great-Grandmom

Zane with Great-Granddad

On Memorial Day, we drove back home and you went swimming for the first time with Lylah at Pops' house. You had a blast! You love swimming and splashing.

Zane (9 mos) & Lylah (4 1/2 mos) with Pops

June was another busy month. We squeezed in some time with friends between trips and work. You went back to Lubbock with Mommy, Pops, & Gigi in the middle of June when PawPaw Wes got really sick. Mommy left from there to go on a trip to Austria for work that made me leave you for a whole week!! Your time with Gigi & Pops in Lubbock was your first overnight without either of us. I think it was much harder on us than it was on you. You had a blast with 4 grandparents to spoil you rotten! You returned home to Daddy and he survived 5 days by himself with you but he made sure I knew that I was very missed. Being away from you was really hard, but I had a great time on my trip. Since I took the camera with me, we don't have as many June pictures:

Zane (9 mos) playing with good friend Micah (6 1/2 mos)

Pops using his super-human ability to put babies to sleep

July brought more craziness but you always roll with the punches. We spent some great time with friends on several weekends. You got to see your first fireworks on Independence Day. You thought they were pretty neat but you were a little more interested in playing with your toys. Mommy hurt her back at the beginning of the month and spent most of the rest of the month trying not to pick you up! That was very hard!! I probably shouldn't be picking you up now as much as I do, but a boy needs his Mommy sometimes. :-)

You got to spend a lot of time with cousins in July which was really fun. Noah stayed with Mimi & Papa Bear for a week so you got to play with him several times while he was there. He came to our house and followed you around while you showed him all your favorite things to get into- the cat door on the closet, the dogs' water bowl, and an empty 2 liter. :-)

Zane & Noah

Here are some fun pictures from July:

Zane ate almost an entire biscuit by himself at McDonald's

Zane decided that it can be more fun to crawl through a toy than to play in it!

Zane with his friend Caleb

Emma & Foster also came to stay with Gigi & Pops for a week while Uncle Robin & Aunt Jill celebrated their anniversary. Gigi got sick while they were there and we spent some time helping out. Corralling a 3 year old, 10 month old, & 8 month old was exhausting for Mommy & Daddy, but you had a blast playing with your cousins!

Fun with cousins!

Zane & Foster getting to know each other

Zane (10 mos) & Foster (8 mos) eating & playing

"Ready to swim Mom!"

Zane playing with Emma

We are hoping for some normal weeks now that summer is winding down. I realized this week that I don't think we have had 1 week where we all worked and went to school all 5 days all day, slept in our own beds every night, with everyone feeling well since at least May! We have dealt with illnesses, injuries, travels, death, fleas, teething, and broken A/C's all summer.
You are growing up so fast! We have been planning your first birthday party and I have been both excited and sad about how big you are getting!

We are so proud of what a big boy you are becoming, Little Man!

With Love,

Mommy (Crystal)

Zane's Baby Dedication

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Deuteronomy 4:4-6


Last Sunday, we had a very important milestone in our family. We dedicated Zane to the Lord at our church. We stood in front of our family and friends and committed as his parents to raise him in the knowledge and love of our Savior.

Us on stage with Pops. So glad he is our pastor!

Our friend Joe praying over our family as our deacon.

There are 4 things specifically that we have committed to Zane as his parents:

1. We commit to love you and care for you in a way that will show you a picture of how God loves you.

2. We commit to be the primary spiritual teachers in your life, to teach you about the Lord at home.

3. We commit to pray with you and for you on a regular basis.

4. We commit to make your spiritual development a priority in our family lives.

Zane with his first Bible

The gifts we received from the church.

Zane is our precious blessing from the Lord. I cannot imagine a greater gift.



Crystal

8 Months Old!

You are getting so big!! So, technically you have been 8 months for 13 days already, but let's pretend it's April 30. Mommy has been a little busy! You amaze us every day as you learn and grow so much! You are getting more and more mobile every day. We set you on the floor and you quickly pull yourself onto your stomach and scoot yourself around in circles grabbing everything you can reach. You are not crawling yet as you still have trouble pulling yourself forward but you don't stay in the spot that we put you, that's for sure.

Your personality comes out more and more each day. We have had lots of fun with you this month! You belly laugh at silly things all the time. Your dramatic side has come out a little more. You are definitely laid back and happy, but you make some dramatic faces and you are very vocal!

You love to eat! We could feed you baby food for hours and you would probably still keep opening your mouth for us to put food in and get upset when we finished. You cry every time we tell you "all done" with your food, even after we increased the amount we give you. There are very few things that you haven't liked. You do, however, have quite an opinion about formula. We began supplementing with formula this month. You did fine the first few times when we were using pre-mixed liquid formula samples. Later that week, however, we tried the regular powdered formula and you absolutely refused it, even when it was just 1 oz of formula mixed with 5 or more ounces of breastmilk. For whatever reason, you could tell the difference and you went on a hunger strike with Dad! We got some more pre-mixed liquid formula and you have taken that just fine. I think you share my sensitivity to different textures in food. :-(

You finally started consistently sleeping all the way through the night this month. You occasionally wake up once during a night for a very brief period of time, but for the most part you are usually out for the whole night although you still sometimes wake up earlier than we would like. You don't seem to understand why Mommy & Daddy don't want to play and talk at 6am.

You played with Noah (6 mos in this picture) at our cousin Isabella's 9th birthday party.

Isabella and Zane

Doesn't it look like he is taking the picture of himself? Remind you of anyone else we know?

All dressed up for church

We are getting a bit old for the swing. You get frustrated that you cannot put the toys from the mobile in your mouth!

We took a quick trip to Waco this month and visited with our friends, Keith & Rachel, and their kids Naomi (2 1/2) and Caleb (2 1/2 weeks!). Landon, Nikki, & London came too! It was great to catch up with old friends. We couldn't believe that we were all old enough to have kids! It seems like just yesterday we all lived in the dorms!

You love seeing Pops & Gigi at church every Sunday!

Fallon & Lylah came for a brief visit this month and you had a great time with Aunt Fallon. You stayed up a little too late that night and got into a really silly mood. You loved having your cousin Lylah around and kept looking at her and saying "bah-bah-bah" as though you were trying to say "baby" but couldn't figure it out. Fallon decided to help you figure it out and you thought it was HILARIOUS! This is one of my favorite moments with you so far!

You are so much fun to be around! 8 months is a great age!! We love you Zane!

With love,

Mommy (Crystal)