counting down

Charlie will be ONE in just six short days! It is so hard to believe how quickly this past year has gone and the progress he has made! It is strange feeling to reflect one where we were a year ago right now. We had no idea!

We went to the pediatrician's on Wednesday for our third Syanagis injection. From sitting in the examining room and listening to everyone around us, it seems as if the RSV season is out of control around here. Everyone was there for RSV symptoms or RSV follow up exams. The receptionists know my concerns though and ushered us right into the examining room to avoid time in the waiting area with everyone. Charlie had lost a little weight (8oz) since he was there a couple weeks ago, but no one seemed concerned about it. I am sure it is due to (a) him moving non-stop and burning calories like crazy, (b) the fact that he is just getting over being sick, and (c) he is still giving us a hard time when it comes to taking his food. I think we have the only D'Angelo boy who does not love to eat! The pediatrician gave him a head to toe once over and said he looks great though. He has a molar coming in already - that makes for 5 teeth moving in all at once! Quite possibly another reason for not wanting to eat!

Other than that there is nothing new to report from here! We are looking forward to taking Charlie to his daddy's basketball game next week. Vince coaches our parish's varsity CYO team. Tuesday is their senior night and they are playing my alma mater, so we thought it would be an appropriate first basketball game to attend. We will probably stick to the non-crowded corner of the gym, but it will be a good time! And of course our little birthday celebration on Thursday before his big party later this month! Exciting times!

Charlie is Back in Business

You would never know that he had been sick! Mommy on the other hand, still can't quite shake whatever she had! Charlie bounced back much easier!

Charlie walks like crazy now! One of his favorite activities is just walking around in circles over and over and over, while occasionally bouncing off the furniture. This is somewhat impeded by the fact that he also enjoys spreading his toys all over the floor, so he often stumbles over them when he is trying to walk (he never looks down when walking - always straight ahead!).

We are slowly working our way back up to eating normally again since he was sick. When he was sick he really wanted nothing to do with eating food, so we just focused on the bottle and keeping him hydrated. We are back to food three times a day, but only stick with the things we know he loves (cereal, applesauce, bananas, sweet potatoes). Now we have to start reintroducing all those things (particularly green things!) that he doesn't really love, but we trick/convince him to eat! He takes three 8 ounce bottles a day as a rule, but doesn't always finish them all. So, he probably gets about 20 ounces a day give or take, which is not quite as much as he used to take, but he is still holding steady with his weight/gain so we are not concerned. Finger foods are still stuck in a puff rut, but we have broadened his horizons a little with those. We started to give him Cheerios and Kix instead of the organic puffs. And he still will eat the Gerber cheese puffs and wagon wheels . We also tried the Annie's Organic whole wheat crackers (they look like little bunnies!) and he likes those too. Still not much luck with any other kind of finger foods, but he loves his crunchy puffs!! He still wants next to nothing to do with the sippy cup either, but we just keep giving it back to him! Someday he will learn how to drink out of something other than a bottle! :-)

Overall he is just so much fun right now! He laughs and plays and interacts with us so well. He tends to get fussy for an hour or two each afternoon for no apparent reason, but it is manageable. We call it his witching hour! :-) He has been really enjoying spending time with his cousin Emanuel when we babysit him. It has been very good for both of them. They were not so sure of each other initially, but they have come to love each other. Charlie tries to hug Emanuel all the time and Eman makes a big deal out of sharing his toys with Charlie.

It is hard to believe that Charlie will be a year old in just a couple of weeks!! We are planning a party, but it is going to be later in the month because we were trying to coincide the party with when Vince's brother and sister would be visiting. We are so excited that Uncle Dave and Aunt Colleen will be able to join us and are keeping our fingers crossed that Aunt Sheri and Uncle Trevor will be able to work things out too!!

I mentioned before that Vince bought me an amazing new camera for Christmas and we are slowly but surely getting used to using it. So, here are a few pics from the past couple weeks. Vince practiced some editing on some of them. Enjoy!

"Yup, these teeth things are still in my mouth!"

Poor baby sleeping through a breathing treatment when he was sick.

"Guys! I can't really move, but this is great!"

"Smile?? You want me to smile??"

Such a big boy!!

"Let's go SU basketball!!"

Feeling Better

Charlie went back to the pediatrician's this morning for a check up on his lungs and breathing. He had not had a treatment since last night before bed and his lungs sounded great! So, we have been given a clean bill of health and can stop the nebulizer treatments unless he shows any signs that he needs some more help. He seemed to be doing much better throughout the day yesterday and only showed signs of wheezing when he was playing hard. So, hopefully we are well on our way to full recovery. Thankfully, it seems as if either it was a very mild case of RSV or the Synagis really did its job and helped make for an easy recovery.

He is definitely acting more than normal again! Yesterday afternoon he used his pop-up toy as a step, climbed on top of his toy box, stood up to look out the window and promptly fell behind the toy box, pinning himself against the wall. This all happened in the brief seconds when I walked to the next room. I had seen him standing on the toy, but never thought he would be able to get into the trouble that he did! Luckily he was not hurt other than a small scratch on his ear - but he was rather scared! He did not learn his lesson though since this morning, I turned away to blow my nose and sanitize my hands and when I turned back he was on top of his activity table! I didn't expect to have to deal with this kind of trouble already! He is only 11 months old! I am a little frightened about what the future may hold!

The Jingle Germ Saga Continues

Yesterday Charlie's snotty congestion changed to a raspy wheezy congestion so we made a trip back over to the pediatrician's to have it looked into. They all concluded that he was wheezing and that his lungs sounded crackly. They decided to try a nebulizer treatment with Xopenex and it worked wonders. Within 20 minutes of finishing his first treatment his lungs sounded clear.

So, we were sent home with a nebulizer and are giving him treatments every 6 hours. They had us bring him in this morning for another listen to his lungs and they are sounding good with the medication, so this is what we will continue for the time being. He goes back on Wednesday morning for another check.

The unofficial diagnosis is that he has bronchiolitis brought on by RSV. The RSV test came back negative, but they feel the result was false since he is presenting as a typical case of RSV. Luckily it seems as if his Synagis injections are helping to fight it since he is not nearly as sick as he potentially could be. The nighttime is the hardest on him, so pray for sound sleep for all of our sakes!

The Jingle Germs Strike Again

I brought Charlie to the pediatrician today because he runny nose from yesterday turned it a runny nose with a rattling, gunky cough. The cough and gunkiness seem particularly bad when he is trying to sleep and for the hour or so after he wakes up. That hour tends to be a feeding time, so we have been struggling there too.

We saw the nurse practitioner at our pediatrician's office and he was great. He made a point of really thoroughly listening to his chest and then explaining everything to me. His verdict was that right now it is just a cold and his lungs sound clear. He said it could be RSV, but it was not worth testing him right now. Unfortunately, if it is RSV it will get worse before it gets better, but the Synagis he has been getting should keep it from getting too serious.

So, please say a prayer for a speedy recovery! Charlie's CDH buddy, Carter, has been battling RSV too, so please say a little prayer for him as well!

Holidays and Jingle Germs

We had a fantastic holiday! It was nice and low key and our little family had a wonderful time together all day long. We spent Christmas Eve having Scannell family Christmas at my dad's house with everyone. Charlie was up way past his bedtime, so that made for a cranky baby as the evening progressed, but it was still a fun time. Christmas day we set aside for ourselves and making it an enjoyable day for Charlie, Mommy, and Daddy. This was the year for starting new traditions and we had such a happy day. Other than a quick trip to wish our NICU family a Merry Christmas and drop off some cookies and a brief stop next door to wish the Kilians a Merry Christmas, we stayed home, enjoyed opening presents, had a yummy lasagna for dinner, watched a movie, and relaxed. It was perfect. New Years Eve we also broke tradition and had a nice quiet gathering with our very best friends at our house. We had plans to make a delicious elaborate meal, but ended up settling for Chinese take out, which was just as enjoyable. We have learned that the hustle and bustle of the holidays is not necessary to have a good time. We enjoyed what really matters and gave thanks for all we have been blessed with this past year!

As for the Jingle Germs, that is what I am blaming for the nasty cold that I came down with the day after Christmas that I am still feeling the effects from. Luckily for me, Vince had taken vacation last week, so he was here to take care of Charlie and I kept my distance in hopes of keeping him germ free. We had an appointment at the pediatrician's last Wednesday for a follow up on his ear infection and his second Synagis shot. His ears looked great and other than lots of tears, the shot went well. He has two teeth pushing through right now and we are hoping that that is the cause of his runny nose and gunkiness in his throat. He has not been sleeping very soundly lately and had a particularly rough night last night, so we are praying it is just those teeth and not the Jingle Germs! Any additional prayers would be greatly appreciated!

Charlie is now 20 pounds 12 ounces. He walks wonderfully - although he does not watch where he is going, so he often gets knocked off balance because he steps on things and bumps into things. He has had his fair share of bumps and bruises! He tried walking in his crib after waking up from a nap right before Christmas and still has the bruise on his cheek as proof that the crib mattress does not offer quite the same support to unsteady feet as the floor does! He says "ball" though it sounds more like "ba". He has started referring to his bottle as "baba" and is great about asking for puffs using his sign for "more". We gave him real Cheerios and Kix this past weekend and he ate them without a problem. He loves the little Fisher Price light up bongo drums that Santa brought him and has taken an increasing interest in the books that are in his play area. He is just so smart and amazes us more and more everyday!

Charlie turned 11 months old yesterday! Its hard to believe that its been almost a year! We are planning a birthday party to celebrate even though it is a little nerve wracking considering we have been so careful about germs and people. But we figure we have to introduce him to the real world sometime and it is going to be nerve wracking whenever. We do really want to have a chance to celebrate and not let our fears get in the way of that. We trust that being careful about things will keep him safe. It can be a Purell themed party! :-)

Vince bought me an amazing new camera for Christmas, but I am still learning how to use it and have not even tried to upload any pictures yet. So, the pictures we have are the last of what we took with our old camera. Hopefully I will figure out the other one soon so that there are no lapses in Charlie photo updates! :-)

Charlie is so excited to see a present from Baby K under the tree!

Far more interested in keeping the animals

closed up in their homes than letting them pop!

Charlie in his Christmas outfit and sitting on the

blanket that Mommy and Daddy made for him.

"Thanks Uncle Dave and Aunt Alex! I knew exactly

what to do with it as soon as we opened it up!"

"Man it was cold out there!!"

This was right after we came in from outside

(hence the wild hat hair!)