6 Months Old

Gus is 6 months old....well, he's actually almost 7 months old, I'm just behind.  He weighs 22 lbs, is wearing 12 month clothes, and loves to eat.  He's eating baby food once a day now.  He's very happy and smiling and the morning, and super fussy all evening long.  He still sleeps a lot, but is having more awake time.  He has been able to go to bible class and seems to enjoy that.  He is developing some head control and really seems to enjoy music and jingle bells.  Gus is definitely a mama's boy.  He is still having anywhere from 10-30 seizures a day, but he is having more good days.  We are looking forward to the spring when the weather is nice and there isn't so much sickness around so we can get out into the world more!

Dietary Changes

For the past few months, Gus has been on a diet called the ketogenic diet.  This is a diet that is high in fat and low in carbs and is closely monitored by a dietician to help with the control of his seizures.  When patients are put on this diet, it completely controls the seizures in about 30% of patients, reduces them in about 30%, and does nothing for 30%.  For Gus, it has helped to reduce his seizures from hundreds a day to around 20.  It's pretty easy while he's a baby, he just has to drink a special formula that is supplied to us by a medical supplier.  As he starts eating food, we have to mix his foods with fats such as oil, butter, or mayonnaise.  So far he has eaten pears (14 grams of pears with 13 grams of butter) and carrots (35 grams of carrots and 13 grams of butter).  I can't bring myself to mix his foods with mayo yet!  You can find out more about the ketogenic diet the website http://www.charliefoundation.org/.  Part of this diet is that all of his medicines and products, such as bath soaps, lotions, sunscreen, have to be carb free.  If the carbs soak in through the skin it could get him out of ketosis and cause an increase in seizures.  As a result, I have had a hard time baking with flour and sugar and worrying about these things getting into his system.  Gus is very fussy and prefers to suck on my finger rather than a pacifier, and over Christmas while cooking I would have to stop and wash my hands thoroughly, make sure there was no flour on me anywhere, just to pick him up and take care of him.  Not to mention the fact that I spilled flour all over his bottles more than once and had to wash everything.  As a result of this...and our family's incredibly unhealthy eating habits, Micah and I have decided that our family should go paleo.  This is a way of eating my sister-in-law Amber has been following for a while, and she has really enjoyed it.  Basically, its eat healthy grass fed, organic meats, vegetables, and fruits.  No processed stuff and no grains.  There's probably a lot more to it than that, but that's where we are starting.  So far my only complaint is all the dirty dishes!  I'm wishing we had gone for two dishwashers in our new house!  So, no more cheerios, goldfish, or chips for us.  Hopefully this will help our kids develop good eating habits and help all of us enjoy more fruits and veggies every day!  For more info on the paleo diet, go to Marks Daily Apple.