So I haven’t posted in awhile, I have been pretty busy but in general everything here is going smoothly. Lex is growing (imagine that) at a steady clip. I finally feel fairly normal when speaking to other parents about how quickly children outgrow their clothes.
Hes been teething really bad. It seems worse at night so we have a very messed up schedule. We play at night and sleep during the day. Dada seems to be handling we night owls scheules graciously. When he stops teething we will go back to being night sleepersbut for now its just impossble to get him to sleep at night.
He is cruising allot better now and can pull himself to a stand on almost anything. I think he may be able to use the wall to balance himself to a stand if he were to decide he wanted to. If he keeps up with his pace of balance I give him a month to let go and walk.
He has a favorite game now, shoving his toys outside through the cat door. We had a wind storm here for a few days. Not sure how many ducks he lost to nature.
Other than that, cant think of anything new.
Published on September 28, 2008
in 13 Months.
Finally have time to report about our trip to Spokane. Lex’s eyes are doing better as far as tracking and visual acuity. And we finally know what is going on with his “lazy eye”. Turns out it is not lazy. We already knew the optic nerve was under developed, but werent sure what that would mean for him. Turns out that the nerves telling the muscle to move are not sending the messages very well. So his right eye is someone “fixed” in place. Which is what is making his other eye look like it is wandering all over. Its muscles are fine so it follows objects faster.
What this means long term…theres nothing that can be done about the eye muscle. It is what it is. No fixing it. We are going to continue to patch his left eye so his right gets more exercise so it keeps up with the left. But it should’t really cause him too much problem over all. When he looks from side to side he just has to turn his head to look with both eyes.
In a way I am glad that is all it is for his optic nerve. I was worried he would be blind or partialy blind in that eye. But now I know he will just have to turn his head to look at things more than others might.
So far they do not beleive he will need glasses. But that may change as he gets older.
Published on September 22, 2008
in 13 Months.
Lex’s therapists are not very pleased with his scooting. They want him to crawl so now we are trying to grab him when he scoots and get him to crawl. But he has been scooting for a month now and I just don’t see him changing now.
He is pulling himself to a stand on anything he can grab now. He especialy likes standing or sitting near the couch and picking up anything on the floor and puting it on the couch. His favorite activities right now are putting things in containers, emptying his diaper bag, and setting things up on the couch.
He has been hurting himself alot lately, tho you wouldn’t know it. He mostly ignores it. We find out later how much it had to have hurt by the lumps on his head. His head is still so big compared to his body. Any time he falls over its usualy his head that hits first.
He is doing well in general. We went to the pediatrician and pediatric surgeon last tuesday. Both said he is doing fine. We *probably* won’t have to worry about the hiatal hernia. But Dr.Thorn wont know for sure till he gets the x-rays.
Next week we go to see the eye doctor in Spokane. I am worried about his eyes a bit. His lazy one seems to be getting more lazy, even though we patch it.
Lex is scooting all over the place. But has mostly kept himself within a few inches of me at all times. And when I put him down somewhere he will try to follow me.
But not today! He suddenly decided he didn’t want mama today. He was butt scooting all over the place. Coming to me to nurse and eat whatever I was eating but other than that wanted nothing to do with me.
He got on to the dog beds today and thought they were just grand. He rolled on them and flopped on them and tried to scoot on them. I finaly had to put up the baby gates to keep him from taking a header down the two steps to our sunken room.
He is also teething like a piranah and biting like one too. His teeth obviously are bothering him. I give him teething tablets and they seem to help but not completely.
The party was great. And I am once again sorry for taking so long to post. I needed to watch my nephews for the last few weeks and they are quite the distraction. I flat out forgot to even check my email. Hope 3 months worth of pictures make up for it. I also am uploading some videos to Youtube.com just search for Spectraledge and you will get the videos. It takes quite some time to upload each one and my computer is being abig baby about it so sometimes I have to start over.
Also. For some inexplicable reason I cannot for the life of me figure out…I decided to video tape Alexanders bithday party witht he camera turned sideways. Which looks great if you don’t mind viewing the entire movie with your head tilted. I will upload that particular video after I figure out how to edit it to be the right direction.
I was soo tired during the party. And so was Lex. He hardly ate any of his cupcake. Just tossed it on the ground and then was ready for a nap. But we still had to do gifts. Future reference: Short party so the baby can nap. He actually should have had more energy but he didnt get his morning nap before he party. Ah well. It was still lots of fun and I thank everyone who brought gifts.
Alexanders first birthday is on the 11th. We are having a birthday party on Saturday the 9th. I am so excited but a little daunted. I can’t believe he is going to be a whole year. Some days I feel like it must have been longer and others I feel like we just got home. As a birthday present to everyone who checks the site regularly, I promise to put up enough photos to keep even the most religious surfer busy for a day or two after his birthday party. So come back to see his cuteness and duck partying!
Allot new…and nothing new at the same time.
He has said no new words. He got to the point of saying dog and decided to go mute again. He says Duck and Cat to almost everything. Or Dada duck. Everything can be a dada duck. Even Mama.
He is teething really really bad. He has 3 teeth on the top now and I think one more might be coming. He is desperate for something to chew but refuses teethers. He chews his hands, his arm and in desperation has grabbed both feet and shoved them in his mouth.
He is eating more and more soilds but still loves to nurse more than eat. I give him as much food as he will take but sometimes he just wants to nurse. He is sleeping atleast 5 hours every night now so that is a good thing. He seems to be slowly putting his nursing sessions further and further apart so I feel letting him continue his schedule at his pace he will eventually wean himself.
We went to my moms weekend before last. He had tons of fun watching us feed her chickens and Turkeys. And visiting in general. My nephew went with us and had a ton of fun as well.
Other than that…he is turning 1 year in a few weeks. I dont feel like he is 1. Or that a year has passed. Or that I have enough pictures for a whole year. But I guess it has been that long!
In honnor of his first word, we are having a duck party. Were going to have a “duck pond” and a “duck pit” the duck pit is going to be like a ball pit…full of rubber ducks! Everyone is asking me what he needs or wants. I myself have no clue. Steve and I still have no idea what we are going to get him, let along what we should tell other people.
I am sorry for not posting more pictures. I am so busy lately I feel like I never have time to do them. We have a bunch of them though and we will post them eventualy.
Sometimes it comes out sounding like dad or dat or dot. When he says it he repeats it a few times till he gets it how he likes it. Is funny to listen to him “Dat, dot, dad, dod, dog doG DOG!” the way he repeats himself till he likes how it sounds is pretty nifty to listen to. He has stopped saying mama all together and is now calling me dada. Go figure.
Lex learned Cat today. Now any time he sees our cats he yells Cat! Cat! Cat! And the t is perfect, he actually over enunciates it which is cute. Ca T! At this rate he is learning a new word about every other day.
1st Word: Mama
2nd Word: Dada
3rd Word: Duck
4th Word: Cat
We have decided to let the cat’s try their hand at the great outdoors. Our main reason for keeping them strictly indoors for a long time was because Sylvias immune system couldn’t handle the outside. But she is dead and Loki is wild so we went to Petco and bought a collar and nametags for her and Nobi. We still want to take them to the vet and make sure their vaccinations are completely up to par before letting them out much. They were both outdoor cats when we rescued them so they should adjust well. And it will keep the house just a tiny bit more sane when they can climb trees instead of the curtains. While we were there at Petco they had a ton of cats and kittens for adoptions. We tried to get Lex to say Cat to them but he wouldn’t. Nobi and Loki are the only ones he will say cat to.
Went to Spokane today to have his eyes checked. They are same as before. Left eye seems to be doing all the work so we will patch it to make the Right eye do more.
We also talked about sunglasses. Lex’s eyelashes are so long that baby sunglasses glue his eyes shut. So his Opthamologist (eye doctor) sent us dwn the street where they had some different sunglasses. But even the baby ones were too big. So we were trying them all on and the guy was soooo SOO nice and helpfull. I mean seriously I dont think I could think of a nicer guy. Prolly had something to do with him having a grandson the same age.
Anyhow. At that point Lex was hungry and very very tired. So he was fighting us a bit. I nursed him for about 10 mins while the guy helped someone else and he fell asleep. So then we got to try stuff on him really easy. We ended up getting a discontinued pair of prescription baby glasses. They are going to put in non prescription lenses and tint them. Since the lenses are not prescription, and the frames are discontinued he gave them to us at a really big discount which still ended up being more than I have ever spent on a pair of sunglasses. But with all the sun we get here I do think it is really important to get him sunglasses. With his new car seat he sits up higher and it seems the sun is always shining in his eyes in the car. And we need to do yard work and such. And with all the other eye problems, I figure it is good to protect what he has…and his doctor agrees.
Anyhow. They should be sending them to us in the next few days.
Other than that Lex is saying Mama, Dada, and DUCK! He loves loves loves his duck and says it extremely clearly when he sees us pull his out.
Just a quick update. We still don’t know about the hernia. The radiology department with his old xrays is being slow in getting them to the pediatrician and he has to review them before deciding if we need him to see the surgeon.
On the personal side we noticed a big thing today, he is now using the pincer grasp. Picking things up with thumb and forefinger. Which I am pretty sure I hadn’t seen before today. He is also sitting alone BUT will only do it in the bathtub! If we set him anywhere else he will trow himself into a lie down position so we have to be careful on the hardwood cause he smacks his head allot. So hes been getting allot of baths to make him practice sitting, since its the only place he will voluntarily do it. That and he reeely likes baths.
He is 10 months old now! Yay!
The pediatricians appointment went alright as far as checking on a fever and such. We discussed the fact that he got a really bad rash all over his body once he was home. Which makes us think he may have had Rosiola. But were continuing the antibiotic just incase it was pneumonia because the cloudiness on the xrays did go away after starting the antibiotic.
BUT…and there always seems to be a but. The radiologist who looked at the Xrays (his whole job is to interpret them for the doctors) reported that Lex has an internal hernia. Its up near his diaphragm. The ped told me what kind it was but I didn’t catch the whole name. Now we are waiting for him to gather old xrays and the new ones and take a look again, because the radiologist didn’t tell him how big the hernia was in his notes so we dont know how urgent it is. Either way we are probably going to go to Spokane to talk with a pediatric surgeon. They are going to send the information to the one who worked on Lex’s omphalocile when he was born.
We were going to my moms for the weekend instead we ended up in the hospital. Lex had a fever of 103 and he was turning a bit blue. Which I later found out is common in even normal kids in their extremities with a high fever. At first he had the fever only, no other symptoms. The Dr wasn’t sure what he had but a blood draw showed he had a high white count which is indicative of an infection. Urine culture showed no infection. So we thought perhaps it was an ear infection or minor bug of some kind. As common procedure with children under a year they did an xray. The dr’s and nurses all had fun looking at his funky anatomy and extra additions. It was a little hard to read because there was an area that was a little cloudy which meant it could be pneumonia, but because his heart was turned around and he had the pericardial effusion before they couldn’t tell if it was his odd anatomy or not. Just to be safe we stayed in the hospital over night to be monitored. Originally they wanted to do an IV but he is sooo hard to do an IV on. So instead they did intramuscular shots for the antibiotic. Which was hard on him, but not as hard as beeing tied to the IV would have been. Next morning they did another xray and it showed the coudiness went away so now they think he has pneumonia.
After the first antibiotic shot his fever started slowly reducing itself. We went in on Saturday and were released today (Monday). So we spent two nights in the hospital. It was allot harder on me this time compared to the last times because he was more aware of what was happening, and is at the stranger anxiety to boot. I couldn’t even step away from the bed without him getting upset. And with how horrible he felt he wanted to nurse constantly. He also did not sleep for more than 10 minutes at a time before waking up and needing to nurse again. So all day I held him and nursed him every 10 minutes. Sleeping at night was horrible. But the strangest part was I kept having to remind myself we were still in the Tri-Cities. My mind was convinced we were in Spokane again. And since this time I couldn’t even leave the room for a jaunt around the hospital it was hard to remember which hospital I was in.
The differences between the hospitals was subtle but interesting. We went to Kadlec and they have been building new additions to the hospital. So some of their stuff is newer. Like in Spokane to open certain doors you have to hit a panel. Which I always thought was kinda unsanitary with everyone putting their hands on that panel as they go through. In the new areas of Kadlec the panels are replaced by motion sensors. So you just wave your arm and the door pops open. Much more sanitary. The rooms are almost all single rooms, not double. In Spokane they never made us share a room but here instead of an area for two patient beds there was a patient bed and a parent bed. They had a crib for Lex but we never used it. He slept with me in the bed the whole time. Their menu was much nicer as far as selection. You could order anything at any time and have it delivered to the room. In Spokane they charged for delivering to the room and you could only have it delivered on the patient schedule. Also patients can pick what they want to eat in Kadlec where in Sacred heart they deliver whatever they want when they think you should eat it and thats that.
The little snack area they have for parents at Kadlec is also nice. In Sacred heart they had snack areas stocked by the Ronald McDonald house but all the food was almost always gone. At Kadlec it was just graham crackers and orange or grape juice but there was always food there, and if you asked the nurses would bring some to you. Also the prices at Kadlec compared to Spokane were much better in the cafeteria.
The other nice thing was our Pediatrician happened to be the one on call for the hospital this weekend. Anyhow, were giving him a different antibiotic for the rest of the week and going to see his pediatrician on Thursday I am sure everything will be fine but will post an update Thursday to let everyone know what he says.
I posted the wrong weight last week. He was 13lbs 12oz not 14 12. Today we weighed him and he is 14 even. He is starting to just barely get snug in the 3 months onesies. So were going to break out the 3-6 month onesies out now. He is still in the 0-3 month pants and shorts. Hes pretty small around the midsection but he is long. Were not putting him in sleepers anymore, none of them fit. They either practically fall off him or are too snug and give him a constant wedgie appearance.
He has been wanting to stand allot. Which is somewhat funny to look at because he has this huge head then a large beefy chest then hes wobbling atop these two toothpicks. Hopefully as he uses them more they will beef up too. Hes been rolling on to his tummy and doing the army squirm allot lately especially if we get excited and he wants to get over to us. But sometimes he will get frustrated and just roll on his back and give up.
He is getting good at playing possum with the cats. He plays nice and quiet on his back till one tries to pass him then he suddenly rolls over and grabs at them. They pounce away and give him a look like “OMG it can do that!?” then avoid him for awhile till they forget and walk near him again. Its kinda funny because he will give up and not want to roll or crawl for us anymore but he sees a cat and he is totally trying to go.
I am uploading all of the zoo pictures. Most of them are just of the animals we saw. There are a few cute ones of Lex in there and everyone else that went.
This weekend we went to the Portland Zoo and Oregon Aquarium both were lots and lots of fun. I had never been to the zoo so it was specially cool. I was disappointed I didn’t get to see certain things. I would like to have seen a lion at the zoo, and I like seahorses but we were a week too early for that exhibit which opens next week. I also would like to see a dolphin but the aquarium does not have those. The underwater tunnels were exceptionally awesome. Something about sharks herding schools of little fish above your head that just screams coolness.
When we left I was worried Lex wouldn’t like being in the carrier to much, and Steve was worried he would have a melt down as soon as it got hot. But he did really well. Had a few fits about wanting to nurse which is normal. But handled the backpack carrier and the heat rather well.
Today we went to the pediatrician for his 9 month checkup he weighs 13lbs 12oz
Lex got the giggles today big time. I was cleaning the bedroom and tossing pillows on to a shelf and making noises. I was carying him in one hand and tossing pillows with the other and he started laughing super hard. So I put him in his swing and took a video of him laughing at the noise. He is really funny about what he will laugh at. You can make the noise and he will smile, and make the motion and he will smile. But put the noise and motion together and hes a giggle butt.
Here is the link to the video
I am trying to get it into the top laughing baby videos on youtube so if ya can rate his video it will increase his chances of making it to the top so everyone can see how funny he is.
He is trying soo hard to crawl now. Any time I put him down he starts doing his swimming routine trying to go somewhere he is slowly getting it. More by squirming from side to side using is arms like paddles. But he has rather suddenly decided he wants to crawl and spends all his time trying to go somewhere.
We did the March for Babies on Saturday. I am so so horribly out of shape. We ended up turning around and going back part of the way, so we did 4 miles instead of the aloted 6. The wind off the water of the columbia River was horrible it made my ears hurt which in turn gave me a headache. My feet and such didnt start to hurt till the end. And right about when we got to the car the back of my leg behind the knee started to hurt. Now it R E A L Y hurts really, really, really bad. Almost like I pulled something. It doesnt ache it burns and feels like someone is poking me in the back of the leg with a knife. Most unpleasent.
Lex did pretty ok with the walk at first. I chose mostly toys he hadn’t seen in a few weeks. But right about the point we decided to turn around he decided he was done done done. So I sat down with him for a few minutes to feed him and he passed out almost instantly. He slept all the way back to the car.
I was so slow with the walking I think I drove everyone bonkers. Steve said if it was a horror movie I would be the first to go *sniff*. Apparently monsters always eat the slowest person. I told him I would be the first to go because I would be the one doing the nude shower scene at home while they were walking.
Anyhow, Lex is doing great. He is trying sooo hard to crawl now. He still prefers to roll on to his back but a few times I have watched him roll on to his tummy and try really hard to crawl forward and get an item. Right now it looks like he is swimming out of water. But he has the idea that flailing his arms and legs all over will make him inch forward toward his toys. So now he just needs his muscles to catch up with his brain. I can tell he is frustrated because he wants to be all over the place already and his body is just not letting him do it.
A video of Lex and Steve playing with a puppet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEXybdMjX2Y
I am SO SO SO very VERY sorry it has been so long since I posted new pictures. I didn’t realize how long it has been. I keep taking them and forgetting to upload em.
A few have said the way the photos are set up are hard to navigate and it was getting unweildy for me as well. So..I deleted them all! Muahaha
Before you panic, I am uploading them all again (they are qued and uploading as I type this) but we are now over 1k images, so they will take awhile to upload, and if I am not mistaken it is doing them in order taken.
I put them insets by month. I am hoping it will make them easier to navigate. If not I guess I will try something else. Since the last time pictures were uploaded there are 120 new ones. Hope ya like em.
Ooooh yeah. One other thing. I have 10 movies I have taken at random times for random reasons. I will post them soon as well. But have to figure out how to get the gallery to use them properly.
And lastly…go to our march for babies page and check out our team!