Mommy Panic

I have been prone to anxiety throughout my life….I have serious memories of sitting with my dear friend Mariah and worrying about things as a child.  I often made up horrific situations in my head and tried to figure out what I would do if they happened (like…my parents were killed in a car accident…or my parents and Lauren…and I’d try to figure out who I would have to live with and what would happen).  I have prayed that the Lord would guard me against this with Liam, because it’s a trap I fall into easily.  It hasn’t been too much of an issue since the first few weeks when my brain was scrambled.  But this weekend, it snuck back in a bit.

We let Liam try his first gluten last week—he had some noodles for dinner.  A day or two later, his cheeks were really pink and he had the start of a diaper rash.  I immediately chalked it up to gluten intolerance or Celiac’s and started planning for a gluten free existence for our entire family…we’re talking baseball team snacks, birthday parties, school events…everything.  Because in the back of my mind, something was lingering.  When I had the PUPPS rash during pregnancy, my doctor had mentioned offhand that some research was starting to suggest that there is a slightly higher instance of autoimmune disorders in children whose mother’s had the rash.  So in my mind, I guess I have been clinging to the thought that Liam will probably have an autoimmune disorder…and a slight rash appearing two days after eating gluten triggered it.

But then I started to really think about it.  And look at my son.  And I realized something—his pink cheeks were from dry skin.  We gave him a bath and rubbed some California Baby Super Sensitive lotion (love that stuff…it’s pricey, but I’m a big fan…and I think it’s worth it) on them and he was fine.  His rash was probably from his excessive number of dirty diapers…and that is probably from teething.  He has been really fussy and acting like he’s hurting and not sleeping well this past week…so I truly hope his little teeth start coming in soon. 

So we’ll still be careful and watch him, but I’m going to try to relax a little.  In any case, he stole my bread at Panera yesterday and gnawed on a hunk of it for a long time and he seems to be fine today.  I wish we had a camera with us for that one…because watching little Liam gnaw on a little piece of baguette crust was pretty stinking cute.

And so this isn’t a total word vomit…here are two videos of Liam eating (or playing, as may be the case….he likes to suck on food and spit it out…or chew and spit it out).  Warning—Ollie gets in trouble in one or both of these…so you might hear me yell at him.