Cradle Cap/Eczema

We have been battling cradle cap/eczema/flakey head with Mason since he was a baby. He started showing signs of it when he was probably 6 months old, maybe sooner. He has eczema all over and we have a working system for his eczema. I have eczema, which helped when knowing what to do for Mason. I figured he got it from me. I wanted to share what has worked and not worked for us, in case any other mama’s out there are struggling and are frustrated and running out of idea…meet me a month ago.

When Mason was a baby it was easier to manage. He could not scratch his head, I could apply anything and it would stay. First, I noticed eczema on his body and I immediately cut out anything that was scented. Scented in any way bothers my skin and makes my eczema worse. Bye Bye Johnson and Johnson EVERYTHING. This made me sad, because I love the way they smell. I should add that I had multiple friends tell me the Johnson and Johnson baby products irritated their baby’s skin too. Hello Cetaphil lotion in the tub! With this lotion, my life with eczema changed years ago and so we started using it on Mason’s body.

It helped! We apply it twice a day. He also has a tub at school and the girls will apply it to rough spots that appear. For Mason’s head, we used Gentle Naturals Cradle Cap Treatment (amazon.com) and the lovely yellow comb from the hospital. As a baby I would only have to use this one in awhile and it would help. For body wash, we switched to the Fragrance Free Burt’s Bees. Mason seemed much improved until we started real foods.

Now flash forward to about 3-4 months ago. His head started becoming a constant flakey mess. Nothing was working. His eczema on his body even seemed harder to control. I was becoming at a lost. Nothing was working. All the items we had tried in the past was not helping and to top it off, Mason figured out how to scratch his head. What does that mean? Now I know how much it is bothering him. He was starting to get scabs on his poor little head and would scratch even in his sleep.

First recommendation I took was to cut out the Burt’s Bees. It maybe Fragrance Free but it has lots of different oils in it…I read the ingredients after I noticed it had a slight smell. I went on the hunt to find a shampoo for Mason, and someone finally said forget the kid stuff go with adult stuff. DUH!!! What works for me seemed to work for him. What bothers my skin bothers his. I changed his shampoo and body wash to Dove shampoo and wash for sensitive skin. The only problem, avoiding the eyes. Oh well, I thought. I will avoid them and we have.

The second recommendation we received (from multiple people) was to use coconut oil. At least two other people I know with eczema or children with it suggested putting it on his head overnight. This was a God sent recommendation. We use Organic and Unrefined Coconut Oil that we got at our local Fresh Market. If you look at the back of the one I purchased it even has instructions for applying it to hair. Its suggestion says to leave it on for an hour and rinse. During the weekdays at home we apply after school and take a bath and rinse out of his hair before bed. On the weekends, I let him sleep with it in his hair. It has been helping!!!! The scabs are gone. His scalp is still a little flakey but it is improving daily. I deal with this daily and have not use anything smelly for years, even though I want to SO bad. My baby will get used to it and it will just be apart of his everyday life.

Getting better with oil.What do I do when putting coconut oil into Mason’s hair? Michael says I need a girl, so I will stop playing with Mason’s hair. Styling Gel=Coconut Oil!

 

 

Daddy’s little Man

Some days Mason is very attached to me and other days he is very attached to his Daddy. Most of the time it is me, but he sure does love his Daddy. This past Sunday, was definitely a Daddy Day. He went everywhere with Michael. Daddy had a shadow for the day. It made it difficult to get anything done.

Michael needed to power wash our patio furniture and Mason was not happy that Daddy was outside and he was inside. Actually, Gabby was pretty unhappy about Daddy being outside too. I pulled up a chair and Mason stand and watch his Daddy power wash the furniture. He would bang on the window and squeal! The picture on the right is proof of the shadow problem. Mason was leaning up against his Daddy to make sure did not go too far without his knowing. This is the meltdown that occurred during lunch when Michael walked out of the room. I want my Daddy. No one wants the Mommy today!! No tears ensued in this meltdown just lots of fake crying to try and get his Daddy back. DRAMA!!!! It makes me a little sad when he likes Daddy more than me, but also makes me very happy that he even gets to have this close of a relationship with Michael. My poor baby also needed a nap at this point and was refusing to take one. He took a late morning nap this day for an hour and no other nap!

Weekend Patio Project

Michael and I were given some old patio furniture from his mom last year (I think). It was sturdy and exactly what we wanted, but it had a little damage and look very loved. We kept saying all last summer that we were going to take it and get it sandblasted and paint it. That’s all it really needed. Well apparently paying someone to do that is almost as much as buying a new set. No thank you! So after having this furniture almost a year we got to it. I had Michael get a power washer and get all the loose paint off the set and then I got some Rustoleum spray paint. I love Rustoleum. I use it on EVERYTHING that needs a quick cheap revamp.

This is one of the 6 chairs. As you can see paint chipping off and not very pretty looking.The table. It actually had the least amount of paint coming off and was fairly easy to get done, but the color was faded.Grabbed some Rustoleum, 7 cans of it! The color we used is Dark Bronze. I used the hammered look. I thought it would help hide some of the flaws in the furniture and it does. Michael took this to send to his mom and show her the difference. It took me a few hours to paint the entire set, and most of the painting was done while little man was sleeping. Our garage turned into my big paint shop. I now need to use the power washer to clean the dusty residue off the floors. I placed cardboard down on the floors. The finished product. It looks like a brand new set. I am so happy with the way it turned out. Michael was saying, maybe we should buy old patio furniture and revamp it and then sell it. No way. One set was enough work for me. It cost us about $50 and 3 hours of time to complete the entire thing, not including drying time.

Daddy’s Little Helper

I recently purchased two loungers for the pool on Zulily. Since we were stuck inside on Sunday with cold, snowy, sleety weather, Michael decided he would put them together for me. Mason was so interested in what his Daddy was doing. Power tools must be in some little boys DNA. He had to investigate each piece before his Daddy could place them and he made sure he could have a hand in putting it together. These are the moments I love! Makes me realize my baby is quickly turning into a big boy!

Showing Daddy how to do it.I did not check that piece out first, Dad!I love Michael’s face. Who runs this house? Our little investigator.Making sure the table is attached right.When the drill started Mason’s mouth dropped open. Shock and Awe. Wow Dad, that is the coolest thing EVER!Biggest helper!It works! Now time for warm weather and to open the pool. COME ON SUMMER!!

Helping Others.

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” – Charles Dickens

I travel a few times a month. I spend time people watching, and I spend time in my own little world. I took note of something that happen to me a lot while I was pregnant and then noticed it was completely different not pregnant.

I bet you think I am going to say something about how more people were helpful and nice to me while I was pregnant. This is not true. Maybe it was just the people on the planes I fly. While I was pregnant no one offered to place my suitcase in the overhead bin for me. Not that I was looking for help. I travel enough that I don’t care if I do it myself or not. I bring this up because I noticed it with another pregnant woman when I was flying last week.

As I was getting on both planes that did not have gate checked bag options, I had very nice gentlemen offer to place my bag in the overhead bin. These very nice gentlemen also grabbed my bag for me when getting off the plane. When I was pregnant, lets say very pregnant, as in people could tell I was pregnant not just fat, I traveled at least half a dozen times before I was told by my doctor no more flights. I did not have a single offering to place my bag in the overhead bin. Not one time. I would watch people, men and women, watch me put that heavy carryon in the bin. Now, let me add, I only carry on for trips that were two days or less. I remember telling my husband at the time I thought it was strange, but I have always been a do it myself girl, so I did not get upset about this…until I watched it happen to a lady last week.

Poor girl, was struggling. If I had been remotely close to her I would have gotten up and helped her. People looked at her…people sitting just below where she was placing the bag looked concerned it was going to fall on their heads, but that person did not help her. I came home and immediately looked at my husband and said if you ever see a lady in front of you, behind you, or near you trying to place their bag in a bin, please please help her. He, of course, told me he does this and I know he probably does. But ladies and gentlemen please help each other. I was sadden that I could get help from the people around me (even though I did not need it), but this poor girl did not get help and probably could use it. I don’t know why there is a difference but I noticed it and I see it happening. I like to help other people, so everyone help someone…a neighbor…a friend…a complete stranger.

I should add that I thought the flight attendants were very nice to me while I was pregnant. I remember one guy, who I don’t remember why exactly, offered me a glass of wine. I must have been having a bad day. Now, this was early in my pregnancy and he did not know. I thanked him and told him I could not. After a few back and forth conversation about how I did not need a glass of wine, he gave me a weird look and finally said are you pregnant? I said yes, and he probably knew before most of my friends…haha. This flight attendant then brought me a YUMMY chocolate chip cookie hot and fresh out of the oven from first class. He then told me if I see him on another flight (after I had the baby) to remind him and he will get me that glass of wine! I will remember him!

Mason 14 Months

It is getting harder and harder to remember to do this. It is also getting harder to realize Mason is another month older, even though I feel like he is acting more and more like a toddler. I am thinking I will change this up a little. Some I am going take off like weight and height, which should not change as often and we don’t go to the doctor as much now, so those are going to come off unless we have a doctor’s appointment (next month).

Eats: We have been slowing down on new foods. After his allergy testing a few weeks ago, we had to take him to get a blood test. Basically the prick test showed he was allergic to everything. The doctor thought some could be false negatives, but to avoid them until the blood test comes back. Hence no new food adventures.

What he is enjoying: Playing with Gabby. He is also loving to play chase. I have a 3 minute video Michael took of me chasing Mason around the house and Mason is just laughing so hard and falling over from laughing too hard. I love to hear any kid laugh it will almost always put a smile on my face.

Teeth: 11 teeth total. One of the bottom molars came in and the other is swollen and close to coming in. I figure by next month that number will increase again.

Talking: He is a talking fool. Not that we can always understand him, but he is trying to communicate with us. “B” words are the easiest. Bubble, bath, book. He is trying to say ALL DONE which sometimes sounds like ADA. It is cute. I would say his vocabulary is a little more than 10 words.

What’s new this month? We have started shaking our head “yes” and “no.” He does not quite get the difference yet, but he sure does like to shake it when answering a question. He is starting to Roar when we talk about Tigers and Lions. He has a pop out book with a Lion and he laugh and says Roar. That is the other item increasing this month. He loves to be read to, but his patience level is low. We make it about 3 pages into a book before he is down and running to pull another book off the shelf. If he can turn the pages, then he will last a little longer.

Mason loves on Gabby a lot now. Gabby will tolerate it for a short time and then gets up and moves to a new spot. She secretly loves him.Michael was putting together this toy for Mason, because we are going to have nice weather, but Mason could not wait for his Daddy to finish putting in the screws to ride the toy. If only he knew how to push around on it.

Slowdown Life

I feel like things have been going by way too fast. Days, weeks, everything seems to be flying by at lightning speeds. Each day Mason is learning and trying to say new words. He has said words, and we look at each other like did he just say what I think he just said. I thought I was going to spend most of the month of March gone for work, but learned yesterday on my trip home that my next two trips were cancelled. Thank you world!! More time for me to spend with Mason!! Some times I just think life would be easier if I was a SAHM. I love working!

But look at this fun face…

He is such a mess and everything in life to him is new and exciting. He is learning to express his emotions when told NO! He fake cries and then opens one eye to make sure you are watching him. His little personality is developing and I don’t want to miss too much of that time. This child has NEVER seen someone put their feet up on the table. Personality!

My favorite thing in the world. Mason and Gabby (and of course, my sweet hubby). Mason and Gabby are now starting to play together. I got this video the other day of Mason and Gabby playing. I love Mason’s laugh. It will bring a smile to my face so fast. Gabby does not quite understand playing with Mason yet, but Mason gets it.