Where does the time go???

Charlie is 18 months old today! A year and a half! Only 6 more months until he is 2! Time does fly! It seems hard to believe!

We just had a checkup this morning with Charlie's surgeon, Dr Ratner, as well as a chest xray. He did great! He sat still for the xrays and didnt need any do-overs. Everything looked great! The patch and his diaphragm are holding up fine and his lungs look equal. This does not necessarily mean that they work equally, but they both sound good and he could continue developing lung tissue for up until he's is 2. He didnt cry at all for any part of the exam! He had gotten to the point of screaming as soon as we put him on the scale to be weighed, but he was calm, cool, and collected today. He did give some pretty serious glares just to assure everyone that he was still in charge, but I will take that over screaming any day! Hopefully that will continue next week when we see the pediatrician!

We had put a hold on giving Charlie his zantac for the past couple of weeks, just to see how he would do, since we knew this would be topic of conversation today. While we thought that things went well (he only puked a handful of times over the course of 2 1/2 weeks - - and those time were only on 2 different days), Dr Ratner wants him to continue the zantac for at least another 3-6 months before we try tapering off his dosage. He thinks the choking and puking we see sporadically is a sign that the reflux is still an issue and by continuing the zantac we will protect his esophagus from being damaged. We obviously understand this and will continue it as long as Charlie needs it, but we were looking forward to the possibility of being free from daily meds! All in due time though! Charlie does things when he wants to and not a minute sooner!

In nitty gritty Charlie details - - he is talking like crazy! Knows lots of people's names, knows his toys, any kind of vehicle, his food. I am trying to make a list of everything he says so that I can post it - - just for my record keeping more than anything else. And his eating has been improving still. He LOVES fruits - - pretty much any fruit we give him, he will eat now. He likes sandwiches and of course all his crunchy things. He has eaten chicken for us a couple times. Still not too interested in pasta - - which is mind boggling since we would be happy eating pasta every day! His bottles are now about 50/50 soy formula to whole milk. He usually only takes two 8-9 ounce bottles a day and he is still giving us a hard time about switching over to sippy cups from bottles. But, he will drink water from the sippy with no problem - - and, of course, apple juice (which he loves!).

There really is not too much else to report on in terms of Charlie adventures. We are in the midst of another 2 week swimming lesson session. This is a smaller class so he gets a little more attention from the life guards and they all love him. He just stares them down though - never talks! We brought him and Emanuel to a sunflower maze near where we live a couple weeks ago. It was a fun time and they enjoyed running all over. We also made a trip to the zoo and the playground recently - - always a good time! Last weekend we brought Charlie to Thornden Park - a large park in the city right near SU campus. They have an amazing rose garden there and we had had our wedding photos taken in the garden. I also have pictures of myself there as a toddler. Charlie wasnt very good at posing for pictures though. He was far too intent on running as fast as he could up and down the aisles of roses. He did stop to smell a couple though!

Other than that we are just continuing to enjoy our Syracuse summer months and trying to make plans for the coming months. Fall in upstate New York is an amazing time and while we dont wish for the summer to pass by too quickly, we do look forward to the fall! We have more summer fun ahead of us though!

SO much fun at the playground!

Pretty flowers!

It is very challenging to take a pic of two little boys together!

New porch is finally finished!

Our new favorite hang out place.

Our friends Jon and Katrina got married last Friday

Charlie was styling!

The view I saw the most of at Thornden Park last weekend.

Stopping to smell the roses...

"Hey mom! I beat you!"

Adventures in the Amphitheater.