Seventh Months Old

 

It is hard to believe that seventh months ago we welcomed you into this world. Next thing I know you will be one year old little boy! Where does the time go? You are getting stronger everyday and I don't just mean physically. You are a strong willed little man! We were sitting in church on Sunday and you were in between Daddy and I. You were playing with a toy and I put my hand on it to make sure it wouldn't make any noise. You proceeded to look at me, grab my hand and put it back in my lap. It was like you were saying, MINE! We have had a good time this month with minimal trips to the doctor. So here are all the wonderful things going on in the life of baby Michael:

1. You can sit up all by yourself!

  

2. You have this new mischievous grin where you lower your chin and stick out your tongue .  

3. You fit nicely in your new high chair (Thanks G.G.!)

4. You still HATE carrots

5. You watched UT play for the national championship and you wore your cute little jersey from MamaLu and UT shoes. (Uncle Brooks bought those shoes 7 years ago!)    

5. Your favorite toy is Mommy's Blackberry

6. You have become friends with Kaya

7. You now understand how to wrap your arms around us and give us hugs. Let me tell you it just melts my heart!

8. You reach for Mommy to pick you up!

9. You sit up in your stroller like a big boy and you like to take walks in the park or on the golf course

10. Every once in a while when you are "talking" a dadadada slips out! Soon enough you will be saying Dada!

11. You love your sippy cup of juice! You just automatically picked it up and put it in your mouth. (just like everything else within reach) But you actually know how to drink your juice out of it!

12. You now have to be constantly watched because you grab EVERYTHING you can get your hands on!

13. You won't lie on your tummy so we can work on crawling with you. In fact, when Ms. Dawnyae put pillows around you so you wouldn't roll to your back, you scooted your body past the pillows and rolled over. You are so clever! I had better get my rest now because when you walk I will never sit down!

14. You have outgrown your baby tub, you are just too long! So soon we will prepare to move you to the big bath tub, I just have to figure out how that will work!

So little man, you never cease to amaze me. I cherish every minute and truly understand that you are a gift from God and we are blessed to have received it. So for the moment you are seven months old but don't worry, I am already planning your 1 year old birthday party!

Christmas 2009

I LOVE Christmas but this year was so much better with Michael.  He turned 6 months old on the 22nd so instead of our usual cake or cupcakes, he ate a gingerbread cookie for his half birthday.  It was the first time he got to join in the festivities and I must say, he truly enjoyed it!

We had just moved into our new house so on December 23rd Derin and I went to buy a tree. Well they were out of real trees everywhere so we bought a fake one with the idea that next year we could put it on the porch or something. Well, once we got the tree set up we began to realize that it is SO much easier than the real trees and it was very pretty! On Christmas Eve morning when I walked Michael into the living room, his eyes got so big! There was a tree in the house!

We went to the Methodist Church with Derin's family for Christmas Eve. It was so beautiful and Michael looked so cute! He was so good during the service and kept rubbing his eyes because he was sleepy but there was just too much going on and so much to look at! He finally gave in and fell asleep while we were singing the First Noel. When we got home we sorted through some boxes and found a lot of our tree decorations. We didn't put all of our decorations on the tree this year, just enough for Michael to play with. Next year I think the bottom of my tree will be bare ;).

Christmas morning was fabulous! We didn't get up until clo se to 8am and went in the living room to find our traditional homemade Christmas morning cinnamon rolls warm and ready to eat! Nana and PawPaw had already been up and had breakfast and coffee (thank goodness) ready! We gave Michael a taste of the icing and he just loved it! So with the video camera in hand we opened presents and relaxed. It was so sweet. Michael seemed to love the paper and ribbons more than anything else but once we put those away and showed him the toys he gave them his stamp of approval but putting it in his mouth.

Uncle Sammy and Aunt Karen invited us to their house for Christmas lunch and it was very yummy. I am so glad we live close and can visit with our family. Michael enjoyed a few bites of mashed potatoes but finally took his nap after we finished eating. Christmas night, I read Michael the book "The Spirit of Christmas", something I plan to do with him every year.

The next morning MamaLu, Cliff and GG came in for Christmas part deaux. It seemed that every  time Michael woke up it was time to open presents. It was a fabulous end to a crazy week.

I think my favorite Christmas present was Michael. He is all that Derin and I wanted beneath our tree! Afterall, Christmas did begin with a child.

Sixth Months Old

 

Well little man, you have been here for sixth months now and it has been quite the ride. In my last post for you I said I couldn't wait to see what your sixth month would bring, well it was truly and experience! I hope that we can settle down soon and just relax. So here is what you can do and all that has happened in your sixth month of life:

1. You experienced your first Christmas (more on this next post!)

2. You sit up all by yourself 

3. You are rolling side to side and front to back

4. When you are on your tummy you put your bottom up in the air and push up on your hands, it is too cute. I think you are trying to stand on your own. So much for crawling!

5. You now have some apple juice from time to time and LOVE it.

6. You constantly talk while you eat (mmm, mmmm, mmmmmm) I'm not sure what you are trying to say. Maybe it taste good or something?

7. You now like to spit things out of your mouth or just play with whatever is in your mouth

8. You blow bubbles with your tongue and think it is too funny to blow bubbles with a mouth full of cereal and fruit!

9. You experienced your first (and hopefully only) hospital stay

10. You now have lived in two houses and you are only sixth months old!

11. You now try to pet Kaya and last night you grabbed a clump of her hair. Not a happy Persian let me tell you! :) But she was sweet and just looked at you like you were nuts.

12. You have moved from kissing Mommy and Daddy to sucking on our faces. It is the most precious thing in the world even if it is a bit  messy!

13. You love to snuggle in bed with Daddy in the morning. You just can't get settled until you snuggle your face in his neck. It is so sweet plus it gives us almost 30 extra minutes of sleep!

14. You get so excited to see us in the morning that you are almost breathless with excitement! (So are we ;)

So mister, as you continue to heal and grow just know that this has been the best sixth months of our lives. Mommy and Daddy love you so much that the best part of our day is coming home to spend time with you. Things were great before but you have made us a family. The only thing left for me to say is NO MORE EAR INFECTIONS! :)

RSV – Three Scary Letters

Well there was and are many things that I don't know about little babies. RSV however is the worst "surprise" of them all, that is if you can call it a surprise. The picture here is terribly sad but Michael is still incredibly cute and the blog is very long but it's the story of his first hospital stays . As hard as it was to see him like this, he did look adorable in his hospital gown. He continually tried to pick the the rocket ships off of his outfit. Too precious! So here we go: Michael had just finished his last dose of antibiotics for his latest ear infection when he started coughing. I thought it might be drainage or all the cedar in the air since it is the time for cedar fever in our neck of the woods. He didn't act any different and didn't have a fever so I felt secure in knowing it had to be no big deal. Well, I was wrong. Here is the timeline of what happened.

12/16: Daycare calls and says that Michael is more fussy than usual and seems to be coughing a lot. Worried about RSV since it is going around, wants me to have him tested.

Picked Michael up from daycare and off to the doctor to find out it is RSV and Michael's pulse oxygen stats are low and very concerning. The doctor contemplated admitting Michael to the hospital but after another breathing treatment (4 total) he was given the okay to go home with the warning that we might end up in the ER anyway.

12/17: 1 am on the way to the hospital, Michael had spiked a fever of 103 and was having difficulty breathing. Michael received a Rocephen shot for his ears, because yes they were infected again and then was attached to the pulse oxygen machine yet again. Tylenol for the fever and then off to the house around 5:15 am. Derin had to leave immediately to go to police academy. Michael was not himself that day and I tried to pack some more but he just needed constant attention. Yes, we were moving the next day. Diane and Craig come in to help move.

12/18: MOVING DAY. Derin heads off to close on the house, Cyndi comes up to help with packing and Michael. Bad news is the treatments aren't working so off we go to Methodist Children's hospital. I was impressed when the doctor was in the room waiting for us. More treatments and this time some lovely suction to clear out Michael's nose. We were discharged but told that Michael would need to see a doctor every day for the next few days. By the time we were ready to leave the hospital, I didn't know where to go because we were in between houses. This whole stressful time, Derin is moving us and I was with Michael. Luckily by the GRACE of God, Derin's family lives moments from our new home and they finished packing our old house and moved us into our new house. They even started unpacking boxes in the kitchen and setting up furniture! What a blessing they were and still are. We are so lucky to live so close now!

12/19: I had been feeling awful for a few days now, but it all got worse when I started throwing up around 3 am. Here is Michael super sick, I'm now super weak and poor Derin still has to finish moving us from our old home! Regardless, we were off to the doctor so she could check Michael's vitals. Much to our dismay he wasn't any better so she admitted us to the hospital. I hated to hear those words "we have to admit him". I immediately started crying but felt that at least he would be with doctors now. The nurses were amazing and so patient with my little guy. He kept taking his monitor off of his foot. I think the worst part was the I.V. we all cried but managed to get it done and give him the fluids he needed. So as we are in the hospital I still feel sick and then I start having nose bleeds. At this point, I was waiting for frogs to fall from the sky or the rivers to turn to blood. Seriously, what else could happen here?!

12/20: We made it through the night and Michael's stats were way up! We finally went home Sunday evening and I have to say it was a fabulous place to come home to. Granted things were a bit crazy but we managed. Nana came up the next day to help organize the house in time for Christmas. Michael was breathing better, eating again and smiling. I was so glad to be home!

Apparently RSV is just a cold but in babies it can lead to worse things like pneumonia. Babies lungs are not as strong and developed so the air ways get constricted much faster causing the RSV. Sadly it is a virus so not much can be done except fluids and breathing treatments. I am just so thankful to Michael's doctors and nurses for watching over him and doing everything they could to get him better. I know in my heart that it could have been a lot worse but thanks to the power of prayer we made it through this hectic time in our lives. I don’t know how people can go through things like this without Christ, where do they turn?

As an update, he is fighting off another ear infection and still has nasty cough. We return to the doctor Wednesday and then Friday for two more shots of Rocephen. If all goes well, his ears should clear. If not, it looks like we will put in tubes so that he doesn't have anymore ear infections. Babies with RSV now have compromised lungs and it takes a good 8 months to fully heal. So we are on the road to recovery. We just need to make it through flu season.

So as you can see it has been crazy around here that is why I haven't "blogged" in a while. But not to worry, Christmas and Six Month posts are coming soon!