The Maver Monthly: A big couple weeks!

The last two weeks have been full of excitement and change for our little guy! One- his ears are finally healed and believe it or not, Parker has been sleeping 11-12 hours each night! Two- he's also transitioned to one nap each day now on his own accord, probably since he sleeps so soundly at night. Three- no more bottles! This was tough... I went back and forth about whether or not I wanted to do this yet because I knew Parker would have a hard time with the change. He's been using sippy/straw cups for water for a while, but has always resisted drinking milk from anything but a bottle. There is a lot of pressure now a days I think to get babies to sippy cups by 1 year old, when really they are just like bottles anyways. But at the same time, Parker has gotten really attached to his bottles lately since he's learned how to sign "milk." He does it all the time and I thought this transition might encourage him to eat more solid foods instead. So we decided it was time. We stopped cold turkey and went right to straw cups. He didn't like it and put up quite the fight, there was a lot of throwing let me just say! After a 4 day milk strike, he gave in and now seems okay with it. Four- we are now convince he has a dairy allergy, something I have suspected since birth but always tried to deny. The thought of restricting Parker's diet so drastically and keeping him on the most expensive formula in the market were the reasons. Unfortunately, I think the dairy is what ultimately ended up giving Parker ear tubes. We did our own experiment at home this week just to be sure though, and now we have decided we will keep him on the formula for a few more months and stop most dairy with the exception of yogurt if we can help it. Five- Parker took a few steps this week! Serafina has been walking for a couple weeks now, and I think seeing her has encouraged him. After all, how can he keep stealing her toys if he can't keep up with her?;) Smart boy.