December 10, 2009: 10 Months!

Cohen is 10 months old!! My oh my, how time flies! He is transitioning into an older baby and is pretty confident in his crawling abilities. He pulls himself up on everything…even walls. However, he is a little over confident in his abilities for this as he falls straight back when he loses his balance. It makes for a lot of tears, but we can’t keep this kid from pulling up…he loves it too much!! There is still no sign of teeth, but he loves to feed himself. We have officially started getting rid of our baby items, as Cohen is proving to move towards toddlerhood. His crib is lowered completely now, which doesn’t prevent him from being mischievous: We have a video monitor, and one night I woke up at 4am because Cohen had not woken up yet. I looked into my screen and I saw Cohen’s two huge eyeballs staring right back at me (up close too!). His sleeping habits are still horrible as he is still not sleeping through the night. In fact, I think he has his nights and days mixed up! He will hardly drink any milk during the day, but at night he will drink 2 to 3, 8oz bottles! This means he is waking up at least 2-3 times a night, but it is probably closer to 4. Despite this, I am happy to report that John and I have stuck to our senses this time and Cohen is in his crib! (I won’t mention Carter’s sleeping habits). I spoke to his doctor about this and she said things should start to get better when his ear tubes get placed in January, and also that it is okay if he cries at night and I don’t go and pick him up….ugh, I seriously dislike having my babies cry themselves to sleep, but to prevent a recurrence of Carter, I guess I have to give in.

As I mentioned, Cohen is getting tubes! After a whole lot of ear infections this year, it is about time! His first appointment is with the Ear Nose Throat Doc is in January.

December 1, 2009: Brothers

Carter and Cohen are starting to play together these days. It melts my heart to see Carter talking to Cohen as a friend and a big brother. He tells him "good job baby doe", "lets play baby doe," "have this toy baby doe"

Here are some pictures of them in action:

November 26, 2009: Happy Thanksgiving!!

We have so much to be thankful for this year. First and quite obviously so, we are so very thankful for the safe delivery and trouble free NICU stay Cohen had, resulting in our beautiful and healthy baby boy. It is hard to imagine life without the little man, well actually, both our little men and we are so very thankful for how much joy and happiness they bring to our lives. We are also thankful for the support our family provided us this year, especially around the time of Cohen’s birth. Our friends keep us sane, and we are thankful for them too.

For Thanksgiving this year, we went to John’s mom house in Ellensburg, Washington. John and I had the entire week off of classes, but in true grad school fashion we spent most of it studying. For me especially, Thanksgiving break is all about the books. The Law School doesn’t have a “dead week”, as we still have a full week of classes before starting finals in 2 weeks. Needless to say, this break gives me uninterrupted studying without having classes and with the luxury of childcare :)

The boys had a great time at Grandma Cindy and Papa Rick’s house. Carter especially loves their house. They have everything a little boy could dream of….and Carter’s favorite is the tractor! We left Carter with them for a couple days because he loves having one on one time with them. In fact, this trip was Cohen’s first trip to their house, and Carter’s first time having to share grandma and papa. It was very clear who ruled the roost there…”No, baby doe, that’s my tato head”, “No want baby to play with that”, “That’s mine high chair.”, etc.

After a huge feast and some Wii, it was a successful Thanksgiving. We will forever remember Cohen’s first Thanksgiving as the day he started crawling! So, yes, it is official…Cohen is mobile!!

November 10, 2009: 9 Months!!

Woah, Cohen…you are 9 months old!! He is weighing in at 17.5lbs and is 27 inches long. He is still wearing some 3-6 month clothes, but I would say he is predominantly in 6 month clothes. He is doing so well developmentally that the early intervention program he is in is transition him away from their main person, and are quickly going to move him to a twice a year assessment schedule. Cohen is so close to crawling it is not even funny! He will get up on his knees, but then he won’t actually move on them, he falls to his belly and rolls to where he wants to be. Carter is in for a world of hurt when Cohen is actually mobile. Things are about to get very interesting around here! An interesting thing to note, while Cohen can’t crawl yet, he can pull himself up…and he does it on everything! He has the red marks on his face to prove it. For an adjusted age of a little over 6 months old, I’d say he’s doing mighty well!

Here are his 9 month pictures. Notice a familiar looking Moose???!!

November 4, 2009: GI Appointment

Finally, finally, finally!! After months of waiting, Cohen’s appointment with the Pediatric Gastroenterologist was today. However, during the 4 months that our local hospital had to send the films from Cohen’s July BE exam, the messenger pigeon they use apparently got lost because the GI doc did not have the films for his appointment!! This, in all reality, made our trip a complete waste of time because he couldn’t give us a definitive answer. Talk about annoyed!! After examining Cohen and reading the report from the radiologist regarding the BE test, the GI doctor thinks a couple of things are going on. **Side note: These are just his guesses based on Cohen’s presenting symptoms and medical history, and not actually a diagnosis **

1. He either has a twist and a stricture, or just a stricture. A stricture is scar tissue in the intestine which builds up over time and will eventually cause a complete obstruction in the bowel. Because Cohen is eliminating, his intestine is not completely blocked…yet. Now, how in the world did he get scar tissue in his intestine you ask? Good question! Well, generally it is a complication from surgery to repair Necrotizing Entercolitis, or NEC. A NICU parent’s worst nightmare. NEC is death of intestinal tissue in one spot and if not caught soon enough can spread and eventually kill the baby. The worst part of NEC is that the symptoms occur when it is already underway. If miraculously caught early, a surgeon goes in and removes that section of the intestine which stops the NEC. A rare side effect of this surgery is this build up of scar tissue where the healthy intestines were sewn together. Now were does Cohen come into play here you ask? Cohen did not have NEC in the NICU…but he almost had NEC. (Which was new complete news to us, but it was in his medical records from the NICU) Apparently a spot was “almost” affected, meaning the lining in a section of his intestine (okay, pause, I guess ones large intestine is called the colon, so if go back and forth between the two terms, I’m really talking about the same organ) did slough off, but it did not become infected nor lead to full blown NEC. Talk about dodging a bullet. However, the slough left the wall of the intestine in that area weak and his body produced scar tissue to protect it. So this is how he might have developed a stricture without really having had the prerequisite surgery. The treatment for this is the same as for a twist, removing the effected section of bowel. So, that’s the bulk of it. We won’t know anything for sure until the films are reviewed and the lab tests completed. We will be sure to keep everyone posted of both.

The highlight of our trip to Sacred Heart was meeting up with Cohen’s favorite nurse, Kathy. If you remember, she was the one who pushed him to try new things and pretty much was the one who got Cohen moving towards home. We love her so much and are forever grateful for the care she gave Cohen. It was so much fun seeing her, and Cohen knew exactly who she was. He gave her a huge smile and went to her right away! Though we don’t miss our reason for being in the NICU, we do miss the people who became a very important part of our family….especially Kathy.

November 1, 2009: Oh, to be 2...

Carter has had a dramatic attitude shift in the last 12 days. I swear the moment he turned 2, everything changed. Maybe it’s the age, maybe it’s the fact he is cutting teeth, whatever it is it is different. Here is a picture to prove it:

We are hoping this phase ends quickly :)

October 31, 2009: Happy Halloween

Carter and Cohen celebrated Halloween with their Uncle Doug, Papa Doug and Mema Lodi. They made the trip down for Idaho’s homecoming game against La Tech. Carter spent the day as a Fire fighter and Cohen was a dinosaur.

The morning started with a Pancake Feed benefiting the local volunteer fire station. Carter was in heaven when we got downtown. The entire street in front of the fire station was blocked off and all of the trucks were parked outside. Needless to say there were a lot of photo ops, and Carter had the best costume there!

Also of interesting note, I was able to see one of the paramedics that took me from the local hospital to the airport for my flight to Spokane. I thought she looked really familiar, so I asked her if she was working last super bowl Sunday…she said yes…I asked if she remembered taking a pregnant lady to the airport to be flown to Spokane…and she said yes…..and I said well that was me, and this is the baby! She was excited that everything turned out well. It was neat to be able to thank her and to tell her the outcome of our story.

The Vandals went on to win a nail biter, 35-34 over La Tech..and Carter and Cohen did a great job throughout the entire football game. The boys were on their best behavior all day, and though we didn’t go trick or treating, we all had a great day!

October 28, 2009: Developmental Assessment

Cohen had his 6 month adjusted developmental assessment today (a little early). He impressed the therapist with his new skills! He is sitting and moving all over the floor by rolling or scooting on his tummy. He is saying “da da da da” and “thhhhhsss thhhhhsss” The therapist determined that Cohen’s development is at a 7 to 7.5 month level, and because he is almost 9 months old, that means he is only about 1.5-2 months behind! Cohen is such a happy baby and full of personality. It has been so much fun watching him grow and progress in such a positive way. Our appointment with the GI doctor is on November 4, and we can’t wait to find out what is going on with Cohen’s belly. It has been a long time coming…..

October 24- 25, 2009: Birthday Party Weekend

Party #1: Carter had a party with his friends at McDonalds. It was a construction theme and all the kids had a great time. Thank you every one for celebrating with us!!

Blowing Out Candles, round 2!

Party #2: Carter shares a birthday with a friend and classmate of mine, Luke. Last year we did an Octoberfest themed party for the two boys…this year we continued with the construction theme. It was a fun party. One of our friends, Ruth, gave Carter the “gift of music”…and with a whistle, harmonica, and a drum, he was one happy boy…his parents, on the other hand, are already brainstorming about what Ruth’s first born will be receiving as gifts. So far we’ve narrowed it to bells and cymbals :)

Birthday Dinner

For Carter’s birthday dinner we took him to La Casa Lopez, a staple for celebrating birthdays. Complete with sombrero and a birthday treat, Carter had a great dinner. Oh, and he ate the entire ice cream ball himself!

Look at the look on his face...this is when the singing began, priceless!

The birthday boy and his daddy!

The whole family at dinner

A big bite for a BIG boy

Carter did not know what to think of having "Happy Birthday" sung to him :)

Though it's a little blurry, it clears up when the moment is just right...blowing out the candles!

October 20, 2009: Happy Birthday Carter!

Carter turned 2 at 5:35 this morning! It is so hard to believe our first born is 2 already. He is 30lbs, and 37.5 inches tall. Carter was born at 35 weeks, and he is more than caught up at this 2 year milestone. For premature babies, the experts say the baby should be caught up at age 2, and Carter has exceeded this goal. His vocabulary impresses us daily, and he is a sharp little boy. Afraid of spiders and bugs, loving cars and trucks, he is all boy. His favorite thing to do these days is singing the alphabet and counting. Oh and he loves to read. He is to the point where he memorizes the books and then “reads” them to himself. He has been the greatest thing that has ever happened to us…Happy Birthday Baby, We Love you!

Newborn Carter with his proud daddy

1 year old Carter

2 year old Carter!