A Mortified Mama

I haven't blogged previously about ButterBean's digestive system because I was hoping he'd get over his "problems". But, after yesterday's events, I needed to share! I will tell you the tale of my woes
A little History:
ButterBean was a VERY barfy baby. So barfy that I marvel at the fact that he grew! I'd say 3/4ths of whatever he ate came right back up.
When he has decided he is done eating, he will gag and spit out his food. We see a lot of gagging around here.
As he has gotten older he will randomly projectile vomit, look at it, say "Uh-Oh!" and walk away and go about his business. To ButterBean, a spontaneous explosion is just no biggie. I began to worry about this at his 15 month checkup when he had not grown a smidge since his 12 month checkup. After trying to figure out why he is throwing up and trying to correlate it to a food, we've given up and have an appointment with a GI specialist on Monday.
Sooooo, about yesterday. We had friends in from out of town and decided to invite them and another couple over for dinner. We've had them over once before, but it's like a once a year thing. Gatsby and I spent ALL day cleaning the house (it was in dire need of a deep clean) and making homemade enchiladas, and Mexican rice. ButterBean had a great appetite and had wolfed down his food for breakfast and lunch. Since dinner was going to be late, I fed ButterBean a half an avocado before the guests arrived.  By the time the two couples arrived, I was tired!
Things were going great, a little chit chat, beer/chips/salsa/guac were being consumed. Then ONE OF THE MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENTS OF MY LIFE occurred. ButterBean took a chip, nibbled it, ate a little more and crawled up on the couch. Something was excited to him because he proceeded to bounce on the couch a couple times. I saw his make his gag face.
I put my hand out to catch the food he would inevitably spit out. He spit out his chip and out came a little of the prior avocado.
"Oh no! Not here, not now!!" I thought. I have caught a lot of barf in my hand over the last year, so that was nothing new. (I've tried to save our carpet by diving in front of the falling barf and catching it, but at this point it is beyond help)
"Please don't barf in front of guests!"
This was no ordinary ButterBean barf. This was the Mt. Vesuvius of barfing. This was everything that he had eaten since breakfast vomit. And it just. kept. coming.
Imagine - one guest leaping off of the couch to get out of the line fire, me trying to contain ButterBean's spewage as he does NOT stop!, people yelling, and more barf! Just what you'd like at a dinner party right? I won't even list all of the places that we had to clean or the details of what it looked like (think the Excorcist!). Just know it was bad.
I whisked him off to the bathtub and to get some incidental chunks out of my hair while Gatsby tackled the couch.
Amazingly, our guests stayed for dinner (I can't thank them enough for eating after that ordeal) and we had a fun time. However, I am not having people over for a looonng time.
Monday we will hopefully get some answers from the GI doc, or at least start getting somewhere in this process. I can't take many more days like that. I recently had a trip to Trader Joe's that was almost as embarrassing and left me walking out with a shoeful of vomit. I've had my share of this!
And since no photos were taken of this event (duh!) I will show you the latest in ButterBean dance moves

18 Months

18 months old and still the cutest boy to have roamed the earth! I'm a lucky mama!

First I must address the above picture. What time warp was he put in during the taking of this photo? It's like a glimpse of the future adult ButterBean!!

Anyway, at 18 months his favorite words make him a total boy:
"Caw" = car or outside, whichever he feels like
"Daaa" = still raving about dogs
"Baaa" = Ball

Other words just make me laugh every time he says them --
"heenghh", which is lotion, soap, anything else that can be rubbed into skin or into his "hayyh" (hair)...diaper cream in your hair? Sure! Yogurt? You bet! Nothing better than hennghh in your hayyh, right?

Many words are still very similar
"Ba-ul" (Bottle) could be easily confused with "Bah!" (glass of water) or "Baaa", which is ball.
or
"Bey-ee" = belly
"Bay-ee" = berry
"Bay" = bear

And here he is with a favorite toy: mommy's "tone"

What will he be?

I love to postulate about what ButterBean will become some day. Lately he has been showing off his athletic abilities. These are the sports he might be good at so far:

1) Hockey or golf: He likes to run around with a fly swatter and push things around the floor with it

2) Lacrosse: He also runs around his grandparents backyard waving a lacrosse stick

3) Soccer: He is an avid ball kicker

4) Dancer: He's got skills! So far he twirls with arms above his head, kicks one leg out, flaps his arms, bops up and down, and can even "get low". He'll dance to any music - TV commercials, radio, cell phones, you name it

I'd be fine with any of these options, although I'm hesitant about hockey given recent events in high school boys hockey. I guess I don't really need to be worrying about this right now.

ButterBean has received his first Band-aid worthy boo-boo this last week. He was happily helping in our garden when he fell on the concrete and scraped all the skin on his finger. He was a big boy about it and stopped crying as soon as we washed it off. This is only the first of many of my reckless son's adventures I'm sure!

the SEE exam

I've been busy - no time for blogging! I've been out in Wisconsin for my "rural" rotation, putting in spinals, epidurals, and other blocks. I didn't think I'd like it, but it is soooo rewarding to see your patient suddenly stop feeling pain. Loved it! 

This upcoming weekend I have to take the horrible SEE (self evaluation exam). It's actually a test used to help schools know how well they have prepared their little students...buuutt, we still have to get a certain score. I'm not looking forward to it. I feel like I study study study and I retain .004% of it. No worries - 258 days until graduation.

about to close the door

The little ButterBean and I got a few quality days together when I didn't go to clinical (one day due to snow and other days when there weren't surgeries scheduled). He's jabbering away and has finally added "MAMA" to his repertoire! 

Thus far we have "mama" (usually when he's on the verge of a meltdown)

"dada" (all the time 'dadadadadadadada')

"papa" (which we interpret as both pattycake and grandpa depending on the situation) 

"byebye" (always said in a high pitch as soon as coats are put on or someone goes out the door)

ByeBye

Scoot Scoot Boogie

 I love this age!!! ButterBean is able to sit up and play with toys to amuse himself, is very interactive, and not mobile enough to get into much trouble - but mobile enough to be entertaining. 

ButterBean's Modes of Transport

1. The Classic Roll

Other than being carried, this is his fastest mode. Sometimes Gatsby and I will place him in the middle of our bed and lie on either end and ButterBean will just roll back and forth between us. The roll is nice, but usually he ends on his stomach, which segues into either (a) getting frustrated and crying while smooshing his face in the carpet, or (b) the Lazy Susan

2. The Lazy Susan

This move doesn't really get him any where, but it does help him to reach more toys. After he flips to his stomach, he uses his arms and legs to turn himself around in a circle. Entertaining, but not very effective transportation.  

3. Scoot Scoot Boogie

Definitely the most entertaining to me! When ButterBean is on his back he can scoot just about anywhere. He pushes himself backwards with his legs and he's off! Scoot scoot scoot. On a wooden floor, like at my parents',  he can cover a lot of ground fast. While I'm changing his diaper he just starts scooting away! The downfall of this method is that he can't see where he is going and can easily bonk his head on things. The first time I watched him do this, he scooted himself under a living room chair, which he found quite fun and jabbered at the underside for a while before I pulled him out by his feet.

"Oh don't mind me! I'm just scooting along!"

 4. Drive

Who needs crawling when you can drive? Haha! Just kidding!

I'm sure he'll start crawling soon and I'll be chasing him all over, so I'm going to enjoy these wonderful stages of his life when he is not quite so mobile!