Flag Day in the USA!

(Caroline helping me with the laundry :)

Hi everyone, I am finally ready to catch you up on the last few months.  We are finally settled into our new house in Arlington, and Caroline is doing 110% better. 

Let me explain.....no, there is too much, let me sum up.  (Princess Bride :)  Pretty much, Caroline had pretty bad colic the first few months of her life.  Colic is defined as screaming 3+ hours a day (not right in a row) 3+ days a week.  There were a few weeks when Caroline could scream 10+ hours a day.  The pediatrician's office tried to reassure us at first, "All babies cry" etc etc, but after we came in and told them that in the last 24 hours she had only slept 4, they took us seriously.

We tried everything under the sun, including a really strict elimination diet for me.  After cutting dairy, then soy, then all legumes like peas and peanuts, something out there was still bothering her, but it is really hard to diagnose allergies at this age, and an elimination diet is tricky because of the lag time between when you eat and when the baby is affected.  This week, we made the switch to hypoallergenic formula, adding some rice cereal to help settle her stomach, and it has made a world of difference.  It was a little scary for awhile a few weeks back -- her stomach was bothering her so much that she was eating less and less each time, until she was hardly eating anything at all, just screaming.  She may have lost about a pound in weight, which is a lot when you only weigh 12 pounds.  We will see if she has allergy issues in the future, but we're hoping she is able to grow out of them after her stomach heals.  I definitely felt a lot of societal pressure to continue breastfeeding, but as soon as I mentioned that I wanted to switch Caroline to formula, all the doctors were very supportive.  I get the feeling that no matter how beneficial breastfeeding might be, it's not going to help as much as a happy, healthy mother, and a non-screaming baby.

Meanwhile, we've been trying to work our way back to reality.  I made pancakes this morning, and I kid you not - I felt as proud as if I had won an Olympic medal.  Bursting with pride.  Mike has been working non-stop on setting up everything in.....our new house!  We bought a townhouse in the Shirlington area, and we love it.  Parks and trails and restaurants all nearby. 

I had a bunch more I was going to blog about, but I can't remember what it was.  More later!  Here is our Flag Day picture with our brand new flag!