Diagnosis

Clay hasn't been pooping on schedule. He pooped last Friday, this Wednesday, and hasn't pooped since. Who cares, you ask? Me. He is at least a twice a day pooper. He is strictly breastfed and other than the rice cereal attempt (failed attempt at best), he hasn't really had anything else in his belly. My point is, he shouldn't be constipated. Rarely are breastfed babies constipated. I'm not sure if I'm in agreement with the diagnosis of constipation or not. I know that breast milk composition changes throughout the duration of breastfeeding based on the babies needs and I think I am more on board with chalking it up to that. The cure for constipation in a 5 month old? Pear juice. 2-3 ounces once a day. The whole reason for me wanting to make my own baby food is to avoid giving him overly processed, sugary, fat-filled-with-no-nutrient foods. So you can see my dilemma.

I took him to the doctor today, not for constipation, but for what Casey and I thought was an ear infection. Turns out his ears look great, but his gums look terrible! The doctor said it looks like he is trying to get 4 or 5 teeth at once and the probable reason for all of his symptoms is referred pain from his jaw to his ear. Phew. Thank goodness. He doesn't like to be laid flat right now for some reason, he pulls constantly at his right ear, and he is running a low grade temp intermittently. I wasn't overly concerned, just wanted to make sure his ear really was not infected. I am so thankful his ears look great!

On a great note - He now weighs 17 pounds and 4 ounces! He weighed 16 pounds and 1 ounce on October 4th! Whoo-hoo! He is getting so big! All the eating at night is clearly paying off!

P.S. His favorite toy is a plastic Fudpucker's cup from one of our trips to Florida. He thinks it is the best thing ever!