Plugging Away

Happy Baby

It's hard to believe it's already May. As a teacher, I'm usually very cognizant of this month because I start to feel the push of winding down the end of the year. Maybe it's the four days of ISTEP testing, maybe it's the strange weather, or maybe it's the trying to keep up with a two-and-a-half year old and an eight-month old who has an entourage of doctors and appointments. However it's happened, it's almost the end of the school year and I haven't even begun processing it!
In general, it's been a pretty good last month at our house. Callum is as busy as ever, and in the last few days we've noticed his two-year molars popping through. He's done really well with it and we've hardly noticed. He was a bit under the weather yesterday and today, which meant me spending a night curled up on the chair sleeping with him. While it wasn't the most comfortable position, he's so rarely a cuddler that I didn't mind, except for his need to wake me every so often to tell me a story (which included everything from recounting everyone who went to church on Sunday to the fact that he got to see a monorail train on PawPaw's computer last week). Silly boy!
He did also hit his half birthday milestone. Since I haven't done a Hey Hey picture in a while, I didn't realize how difficult it would be to get one. Sitting still just wasn't in his vocabulary.

Speaking of milestones, Declan also hit eight months! He's up to 14 lbs, 1/2 ounce, and the doctor was really pleased with his weight gain. While he's still below the curve, he has moved up just a tiny bit. She said she would like to see better height gain, but Declan was screaming his head off while the nurse attempted to record his height, so I'm unsure of the accuracy.

So sweet--holding Squeaks's hand

Sitting by himself!

Otherwise, he's doing well overall. He's still in therapy (and will continue to be probably until he ages out at the age of three), but we're seeing some good progress! However small they are, I'm just excited to see milestones in the right direction. He's been eating some baby food--he's up to cereal, bananas, sweet potato, applesauce, and prunes and seems to like them all. I've been able to add corn back into my diet--yipee (if you think corn isn't a big deal, check out the labels next time you eat and see what all has corn starch or corn syrup in it)! I tried eating eggs, and that didn't go so well, so they're still out.

On Sunday we had Declan's baptism finally. Well, it was actually a recognition ceremony, but we'll consider it his baptism. He was officially baptized on Scott's birthday, right before his heart surgery. We didn't tell most people because 1) we didn't want to scare people in thinking the worst of the outcome of his surgery, and 2) we wanted people to treat his recognition like a baptism so he could have a normal moment in his babyhood. We actually tried doing this ceremony in November, but since most of the family was really ill, that didn't work out. It turned out beautifully this time!

Callum is working on his photography skills. He set this photo up all by himself and then pushed the button to take the picture:

Posing with Squeaks

 Callum's also a whiz with musical instruments. We'll be setting up his tour dates soon:

Random Easter pictures (we didn't get any good family ones--Declan was exhausted and hungry after church, and then we got too busy to go back and take ones).

 

Everyone always asks how Callum is doing with being a big brother. I think these pictures say it all:

 

Lucky Number Seven

Seven months!

Big brother had to join the fun!

 Declan has made it to the lucky seven month mark. Instead of focusing on the medical stuff (like another UTI causing him to be under the weather or the not-so-exciting urology visit yesterday), we'll focus on the milestones and funny things instead!
*He can roll from his tummy to his back, and even did so for the doctor at his six-month visit.
*He likes tummy time, and is doing a great job holding his head up and starting to push onto his elbows a bit.
*He thinks getting clothes changed is hilarious, which is such a bonus for us.
*He likes to smile at strange sounds, and usually starts smiling or laughing when Callum is crying.
*He's starting to bat at toys and does a good job at grabbing them.
*So far he has had rice cereal, applesauce, and yesterday he tried bananas. He wasn't too sure about the bananas, but he didn't spit them out. He has done a fabulous job with quickly grasping the concept of eating off a spoon.

*Although we have been working on him putting toys in his mouth, his favorite things to eat are his hands. 

*He can't quite mimic blowing raspberries yet, but when he's in the right mood, he'll stick his tongue back at us when we do them to him.
*We always know when he's about ready to fall asleep in his bouncy seat or car seat--he always sticks his right arm up and stares at it to help him fall asleep.

The hand is up--almost asleep

*He got to feel his feet in the grass for the first time the other day and loved it. He also loves being naked, too, so he's going to love summer weather!

Six months (well, almost seven!)

Six months! I promise these are different photos than last month--he just happened to be wearing the same outfit both times.

Life is plugging along pretty well here at the Green house. We've had a few ups and downs the last couple of months, but overall mostly ups, so we're pretty pleased. Declan started to have more feeding issues that we had to deal with--it started with him hunching over a few times like he had stomach pain, but it was just a bit so we thought it was a temporary thing. Then it progressed into full on gagging, heaving, screaming, discomfort, and a general all-around irritated kiddo. It got to the point in just a couple of days to where he wasn't really eating and we feared he was becoming dehydrated (a replay of what we saw in November, but this time adding in the gagging). We debated for a while, but then finally broke down and took him to the ER because he was in so much pain and we worried about him not having enough liquids in him. With his past history, we also wanted to be certain it wasn't something major we were overlooking. After a stomach x-ray and some labs, we were sent home with a diagnosis of a stomach bug--they didn't seem too concerned by his symptoms. We followed up with the pediatrician and then were sent on to a GI doctor. She diagnosed a probable milk protein allergy, but to determine for sure, they recommended I either cut out the top 8 allergenic foods (plus corn) or have Declan go on a prescription formula. Given all of our feeding issues, we hated to switch things up even more, so the choice was a new diet for me. Plus, from the research we've done, the formula could easily cost several hundred dollars a month. So we've gotten creative with eating since right now I cannot have dairy, soy, wheat, seafood, peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, or corn, and those are pretty much in any processed food. 

On a more positive note, the new diet seems to help. Given the problems we've had, I'll gladly do it if it means Declan's eating well and gaining weight. Although I'm hoping to reintroduce foods back into my diet slowly to observe reactions to narrow down the problem, and I definitely look forward to doing that soon! Weight wise, he's doing well. He was 12 lbs., 12 oz. at his developmental appointment last week, so this is a huge gain--he's still not on the charts but is following his own curve quite nicely.

Look at those fat rolls! He's definitely getting quite chubby.

And speaking of food, Declan is now eating some baby food! We had tried rice cereal a few weeks ago, but suspended it following the diagnosis, and just reintroduced it a couple of weeks ago. He's now had that and also applesauce. We've struggled with food for so long with him, I was afraid this would be a new hurdle, but he's taken to it like a champ and seems to enjoy eating so far. Such a huge relief!

Pardon the Halloween bib. Declan was feeling festive.

I don't want to leave Callum out, since he is probably the most vocal person in the house--he's doing well, also. He's loving all of the warm weather and begs to be outside as much as he can. He still talks up a storm, and his language usage is astounding--well, most of time. Expect a future post on his random comments. Oh, and he absolutely adores his little brother.

Five months (and one day)

As of yesterday, Declan is now officially five months old! He's still a tiny peanut, but we love him dearly.  I wanted to get some happy pictures of him since he generally is quite pleasant, but by the time we got the big kiddo to bed, this one was pooped. Plus, he seems to often be camera shy and gets super serious whenever the camera comes out. Oh well. He's still a cutie patootie, and he's finally looking bigger than Squeaks!

 

November, December, and some January, too!

Life around here has been extremely busy, and we've been in survival mode the last few months to get through it, so needless to say the updates have been sadly neglected. I'm way behind on posting monthly updates of Declan, and I told myself I wouldn't forget since Scott and I both know what it's like to be the second child. Unfortunately, though, he has so many little extra needs that there just isn't enough time in the day. So here's a quick rundown of the last few months.
November:
-I went back to work the week before Thanksgiving, which was both good and bad. I was ready to be back among adult life that wasn't revolved around medical issues, but I wasn't ready to give up taking care of Declan full-time. I was so fortunate to have that much time off, though, and it also was a big deal because in all honesty I wasn't sure if Declan would make it through everything to be around and well-enough for my return to work.
-Declan had a four day hospital stay, which of course had to coincide with my return to work, making for a really crazy and emotional week. We were having major feeding issues, which we've determined were a combination of severe acid reflux, an intolerance of formula (we were fortifying his milk with Nutramigen--that stuff is super-disgusting), and some lactose intolerance. Since then feedings have been going much better.

Three months old!

-Callum had his first real sickness ever. We all somehow, except Declan, thankfully, got some terrible stomach type bug and were wiped out the weekend before Thanksgiving. We're very thankful to have made it two years without anything more than one fever.
-Big boy bed! We switched Callum out of the crib and into a twin bed, and he loves it. He's finally started slowing down having to play in it non-stop and show everyone that comes, although it's still a favorite hang-out. He likes to take people in there and pat it, saying "Look. Isn't it beautiful?"

Uncle Andy got to babysit one day!

December:

Four months old!

-We made the rounds at Christmas and Callum had a blast. Declan was generous and let Callum open most of his presents. We spent a bit of time with both sets of grandparents and great-grandparents, plus the rest of the family.

Family Photo

 

A Christmas banana--best stocking gift from Mamaw and Papaw!

 

January so far:

- We're hoping to decrease Declan's feedings. He's been gaining weight slowly but steadily and eating really well overall. Right now, though, he eats every three hours at 2:30, 5:30, 8:30, and 11:30, both a.m. and p.m. And no, we can't rotate feedings right now to get more sleep because I pump while Scott feeds. Getting rid of one feeding overnight will be like heaven to us!

-Unfortunately we were sick again at the end of December into the beginning of January. I ended up with a sinus infection, Scott a sinus infection and double-ear infection, and Callum an ear infection. Fortunately Declan avoided it again. Hooray! We're now much better, but the frequent feedings are taking a toll since we're normally hardly ever sick.

Some random pictures, some of which are really old:

 

Sleeping Beauty

Bath Time Fun

Hangin' with Carrie