My mom, dad, sister, and grandparents were here as well for McKay's baby blessing. It was very special to have everyone there. Peter gave a great blessing. McKay was blessed in the same clothing as his cousins, which was neat.
McKay wearing a little Brazil pin in honor of his namesake, Taylor :)
Halloween was a little bit lame unfortunately. We forgot about the ward party, didn't get costumes, and not a single trick-or-treater stopped by! It was very sad, I love seeing little kids in costume and I have the most rotten luck with it! Our first year of marriage in the student apartments I missed the memo to put up a pumpkin on the door if you were home for trick-or-treaters. The second year we were gone for some reason, the third year no one came to our apartment in Spring, the fourth year we didn't know about the Texas rule of sitting on your driveway to distribute candy, the fifth year - okay the fifth year worked out, and now this on the sixth year. :( I even decorated our door and put pumpkins on our patio. Next year McKay will for sure want to be in costume and go to the ward trunk or treat so I think we'll be safe. I should work on costumes now while I remember. Any suggestions? McKay did have a little skeleton jumper and some other halloween outfits so here are some pictures. The Halloween PJ's are from Nana and Pa, aren't they cute?
We went and visited my family in the beginning of November for my Dad's birthday and the election. Our flight over was great - they moved us right behind first class so we had plenty of room, and the seat next to us was empty! McKay was a champ as always, lots of passengers commented on what a good baby he was. We had such a good time with Grandma Nan, Grandpa and the rest of the family. We went shopping for cute boots and colored jeans, had a birthday party for Dad (complete with apple pie and homemade ice cream!), I went to the election party while Grandma Great babysat Mckay (GO DAD!), and we also visited Jessica and baby Luna. I hadn't realized how HUGE McKay has become until I saw a newborn again! Wow. McKay's hair started to come in a lot that week, and I think it's brown. The flight back was pretty tough after getting to the gate. It was snowing really hard in Utah so the plane had to be de-iced, plus we had mechanical delays. My seat was reassigned because I was in an exit row with a baby, so we ended up on the very last row (no recline, no window). Add that to the fact that the person in front of us reclined and we were sitting next to a very large person, and we were quite claustrophobic! So then we got to Denver and had to circle around it for an hour because of the weather. Wow what an adventure! McKay was an angel yet again, love that boy!
McKay has acid reflux, if I haven't mentioned that before, and that means that he doesn't feel well a lot of the time. He has to eat quite frequently because his little tummy starts refluxing if he eats too much at a time, so naps are often short and he needs to wake up at night. Recently though we've had quite an improvement! I convinced his pediatrician to start him on some new medication, and I've also started an elimination diet. I was allergic to dairy as a baby, so it follows that McKay could be as well. And then I figured as long as I was giving up dairy for two weeks, I might as well take out all the common allergens like soy, eggs, and nuts. I think it's been a success! McKay has slept five hours straight twice this week!! It may not sound like much but it's a big deal for us. He has been eating more at a time too, and will take a bottle now to boot. So much joy and happiness all around. It's so hard to see your baby suffer.
On the funny side, this meant my Thanksgiving dinner consisted of turkey alone. I have excellent timing, right?? But it's okay, I went home and made myself a consolation dinner complete with dairy-free apple crisp. So don't feel too bad for me. I went to Whole Foods and got myself a bunch of replacement foods. Hemp milk is pretty good, as is rice ice cream. Back away from the rice cheese though, bluck! Trust me, that stuff is nasty. If anyone has any good dairy, soy, and egg free recipes, please shoot me an email! I'm hoping to add soy and eggs back in soon, but for now any good ideas would be appreciated. I'm eating an awful lot of oatmeal and tuna fish lol.
So what is McKay up to right now?? His favorite thing is talking to the calendar with pictures of Jesus while we change him. He LOVES that thing. He just crows and smiles at it the whole time we change him. He's also getting very interested in his hands. He sucks them when he can make it to his mouth, and he also likes touching faces. He loves watching the fish screen saver on my computer, and enjoys laying on his back and kicking really fast and ferociously. He still likes baths and massages, just like when he was first born.
McKay does not like: being on his tummy for a long time, being held when he can't see the world, his car seat, and being changed in position too abruptly. He stays awake for about an hour at a time now and naps in his swing during the day because of the reflux.
My favorite thing that McKay does right now is look up at me and do a special coo and smile that I'm just positive means "I love you." That coo just fills you up! Here are some more pictures of our cute little prince.
