Baby's first surgery

Little Nathan had his 1st surgery today. The surgery was quick as promised by his Dr. I went back with him to watch/comfort him when he went under anesthesia. Wow, that was hard. He was a champ as always, but I wish I could say the same for me! I tried to hold it together, but tears were flowing as his sweet eyes closed and he went "under." He was very brave, and very cute even as they put the mask on him. He pointed to his blood pressure cuff and said "owie" (what a faker!). The docs and nurses got a kick out of him for sure. I looked back at him on the bed in the OR as I walked out - yeah, shouldn't have done that! He looked so very little in that big OR with the large lights and long bed. Phew.

They came to get us in just 10 minutes or so. His Dr talked to us before he went in about potentially taking out his adenoids along with the ear tubes. We gave permission for him to check them and "make the call" if they needed to come out. That would have added about 20 minutes to the surgery, and he opted not to take them out as they were not large and seem fine for now. He had just woken up and was crying when we went back. I guess that babies get very confused and are often inconsolable when coming out of anesthesia as they don't understand the groggy feeling. He was also starving (no food/drink all morning). He drank some water and sucked down an applesauce pack. Thanks to the post-op nurse, he even had some chocolate pudding.

Dr. Dickey (ENT) came into recovery to see us. He said the surgery went great and that there was A LOT of fluid in his ears. Some that looked like it had been there for months. The ear tubes will allow us to get antibiotic drops right to the source and hopefully get him cleared up for good. The Dr hopes for lots of drainage of the nasty fluid over the next two weeks. Yuck, but we'll be happy to see that stuff get out of his little head! Although he was pretty much inconsolable throughout the time in the recovery room, he did pause for a sniffly bye-bye to the nurses. So cute.

Our brave boy took a snooze in the car, so Chuck and I drove around for awhile to give him a good nap. He woke up pretty happy and very hungry! He ate a huge banana, some cereal, and a bowl of oatmeal. He was feeling great, so I took him to lunch with Kari and Anderson - where he ate abour 1/4 of a corn dog and a bunch of cantaloupe. He is taking a good nap now, so I think we are already back to normal around here. Amazing.

18 month appointment

It is so hard to believe that our little baby has turned into this little person. He charms everyone at his pediatrician's office, especially Dr. Sunit. :) He had a great checkup and is doing all the right things. He is ahead a bit on many milestones.

His stats:
Height: 33" - 75%ile
Head: 48.7 cm - 75%ile
Weight: 29 lb 9.6 oz - > 90%ile (he's been toggling around 30, sometimes above, for the past month)

We are keeping him rear facing in the car until he is 2, per the revised AAP guidelines. We can legally flip him now, but we're sticking to the guidelines for now. The best news is that he is really done with shots for awhile outside of his flu shot this Fall (and annually) and his last Hep. Yeah!

Nate hearts DIRT

Nathan had a great time camping. He loves rocks. He LOVES dirt...

He had a wonderful time getting very, very dirty. We washed him down in the sink of the camper nightly to get the top layers off. Small sink. Big baby.

Our campsite was in Moraine Park in the Rocky Mountain National Park, with an unobstructed view of Longs Peak. Pretty awesome. Minus a microburst that nearly resulted in the awning coming off the camper (thank you to our neighbors at the campsite!), the weather was perfect. It was warm during the day and cool at night.

Nathan also went for a hike with the Spencers and me. Matt carried him about 2 miles on a hike up to Alberta Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park. Talon (their 2.5 year old boy) made the whole hike on his own (since N was in his backpack!).


Taking a rambunctious 18 month old camping without Daddy made for some exhaustion for me, but luckily I had a lot of help from Mimi, Popi, Natanee, and Matt. Chuck was off with Uncle Kirby doing fireworks in Mammoth. We missed him (and Nathan asked for him several times...even a very cute "Out. Please. Up. Dada. Dada" first thing in the morning from the Pack-n-play.

Discipline is continuing to be a challange for us. Speaking stearnly and putting Nate in the Naughty spot (time out) is not effective. In fact, Nathan smiles at the stern tone and laughs on the way to the spot. Hmmm. So, we're trying other methods. Right now I'm working to show no reaction to the negative behaviors (primarily throwing and hitting) and giving positive feedback to the desired behavior. When he hits, I go into another room and tell him I don't want to play when he hits. This has already backfired a bit as he then threw his water bottle (mom: no reaction) and then picked it up and placed it down nicely (mom: Yahoo! [clapping and smiles]). Repeat. Kind of like the hit mommy and then putting himself into the naughty spot. This kid really understands cause and affect. I keep telling myself that all of this is a phase and is totally normal. Slow, calming breaths....

Nate has his 18 month appointment tomorrow. Stats to follow.

8th time is the "charm"

Nathan currently has ear infection #8 in twelve months. His trip to the ENT left us with a surgery appointment for ear tubes in two weeks. We hope that the tubes will alleviate his ear infection issues. Poor little guy.

Talking, climbing, playing

Nathan is a busy, busy boy. He is all about climbing and figuring things out. He can identify non-Nathan-proofed things in a room in seconds. Nathan's curiosity can get him into trouble (literally and figuratively) - he recently took a chunk out of the wall when knocking over a chair that he was pushing and he likes to investigate wall plugs...

We realized that he has a ton of two word sentences and be both heard him say "I do the book" ("I do" is a common one for him) this morning on the changing table. He brought the book up with him and was looking through it. It is amazing how fast he learns!! He is also learning to drink out of a big boy cup. He also likes to put his food AND his hands in his cup...so we are still working on this skill!

His cooperative play skills continue to grow. He loves watching older kids play and will often follow their lead. This weekend he and his cousin Sofia were playing in a pool at Mimi and Popi's. He followed Sofia up the slide (over and over and over) and would splash when she did. Sofia liked this most of the time, until he commandeered her toys. Ha! Sofia is growing so fast - she is almost three, which seems crazy!! She is a great big sister to her little brother, Nicholas.

This weekend Nathan and I will be going camping in Rocky Mountain National Park with Mimi, Popi, and the Spencer family. Chuck will be out with Uncle Kirby doing fireworks in Mammoth. Mimi and Popi have a camper trailer, so we won't be roughing it. I am guessing that Nate and Talon (Natanee and Matt's son) will have a blast playing together. Nathan loves rocks and dirt, and there is plenty of that camping! :) Next week, Nate gets to go to Boulder to hang out with the Luttrells on Tuesday and has his 18 month appointment on Thursday. Cheers!

Have a safe and happy 4th!

Two word sentence!

Our little boy said his first two word sentence (I'm not counting phrases like "thank you" or "up/more, please") today. I asked, "who is this" while pointing to Nathan and he said,
I Nay-Nay." :)

Much belated...

Ok, so I am not a very good blogger. :) I am, however, a great Facebooker (even a worse addiction now that I have an iPhone) though, so "Friend" me to keep up with Nathan in real time! I'm a bit hard to find if we don't have a shared friend (on purpose given my teaching job), so let me know if you can't find me. I also haven't taken photos on the "real camera" in ages, so the photo albums on FB are by far the most current. Anyway, enough about my iPhone addiction and more about our boy!!

Our baby has grown into a full blown toddler over the past few months! He is pretty much fearless. Nathan can now get up on the couch and toy box on his own, which allows him to get into a lot of mischief. He likes to dive bomb (throw himself from a standing position on the couch to his belly, or onto one of his parents). Reminders and consequences for staying on his bottom haven't worked so far. His newest trick is getting up to the arm of the couch and STANDING UP!! No photos of this trick as we run to get him down before he falls off. Lots of climbing ability, not always so much with the balance.

He is a master of the stairs (up and down on his belly), but he desperately wants to go up and down like a big boy. He takes stairs one at a time (big steps!) when holding hands. He also likes to push toys over to the coffee table (or climb on us) to get up on the table.

Nathan is working on using a regular cup (mostly at daycare), and he is starting to use his fork/spoon more often. He also uses a plate or bowl (plastic, of course!) for most meals and his messes are (generally) limited to what he throws on the floor (see discipline discussion below! Ha!)

Disciplining a 17 month old is pretty much impossible. We're working on gentle touches - he is great with animals (not that Zack gets close enough to learn that Nathan will be gentle), but not so much with people. We've started the "naughty spot" (so that we can have a spot wherever we go), which at home is next to the gate at the stairs. This last week, he walked up to me, smack my leg, and went over to the naughty spot and sat down. Then he did the whole thing again. Yes, he's learning cause and effect, but not so much the discipline part!! Loading the dishwasher when he is playing downstairs is an exercise in patience. He definitely tests his boundaries on a regular basis. It is exhausting at times.

Nathan learns new words every day! He is a bit of a parrot and will repeat (or try to repeat) just about anything you ask him to. Some of his new words/phrases that he uses often (and mostly knows the meaning of: Stuck, thank you, sorry, no-no, hot, yuck, truck, bath, water, Nathan (nay-nay), toes, eyes, sock, shoe, nose. He can identify his nose, ears, eyes, mouth, and feet/toes and many animal noises when asked. He has also started to memorize parts of some of his books - he says words with us as we get to them. If you ask him who Nathan is, he points to himself and says Nay-nay.

He continues to be a big boy. Every time I think he is thinning out, he chubs up again. He isn't as chubby as he was at say 6-9 months old, but he is very stocky and solid. He is 30 lbs (weighs more than Sofia!) and is in 2T shirts and 24 month shorts (some 18 month shorts still fit if they are stretchy). His hats are 2-4T and are sometimes a bit snug depending on the brand. His new shoes are 7XW (extra-wide). I have his hair cut in a "buzz cut" since that is as fancy as I can get with our hair trimmer!

We've had a great summer so far and I love being off with him! Our social calendar has been very full! He started swimming lessons last week. Not that we expect him to learn how to swim, but we hope to learn what to help him with in the pool and that he feels safe in the water. Our little fish LOVES the pool. It's like a bath only way, way better. :) Here is a video from his lesson - this is a blog exclusive (nope, not on Facebook!).

We have a lot of adventures coming up this summer, including camping with Mimi and Popi, trips to the zoo, and a family trip to Crested Butte. I'll do my best to get the camera charged up to get caught up...until I go back to school in early August...!!