17. Lunker Baby

Caysen, you are seventeen months old. You've been home with us for five wonderful months and we are just as thrilled to have you in our lives today as the day we held you for the first time! We love you so much!!!

As the picture above demonstrates (please ignore the drool-face, we've got a teething baby on our hands), you are getting close to crawling. You still do your modified crawl, the caterpillar, but you are starting to get up on hands and knees too!

You babble more and more, all baby language, but it is sounds like you are trying to tell us something...we're just not sure what ;)

You are a 15 lb. lunker!!! We are so excited that you have gained a whole pound in the past month! It was slow going there for a while, but we're hoping this new weight-gain pattern continues so you can grow into a big strong boy!

You still don't like veggies, but I've been sneaking them into your yogurt or pureed fruit and it seems to be working ;)

You drink pedia-sure, vanilla or strawberry only. Aunt Trena- we're one step away from putting coka in his baba ;)

You are really into standing now (with help of course), and you are busy, busy busy! You like to do the back and forth between mom and dad and whoever else is around.

You are having a teensy bit of stranger anxiety, but you're still ok as long as mom or dad are in sight.

You sleep through the night and are still in between 1 and 2 naps a day.

You have 3 teeth, a few more chompers and you'll be able to eat steak ;)

You still don't always keep your food down, but it's getting better. We just started some new medicine so hopefully that makes you all better.

You are so very loved by so many. We are more convinced than ever that God has big plans for you, sweet boy :)

Wild Hair

Someone's got a wild hair...or two ;)

We better schedule a hair-cut appointment soon cause it's getting pretty crazy!

Test Results

Caysen had his MRI, shunt series x-ray, and upper GI study over the past few weeks so I thought I'd post a quick update on the results.

The MRI and shunt series showed that his shunt appears to be working properly, PTL! I'm glad we had it done because it gives us a base-line just in case anything happens in the future. It also gave us a better idea of what area(s) of the brain were most affected by his brain bleed and what we should expect moving forward.

The upper GI study showed reflux, so that's our diagnosis. We already had him on one reflux medicine previously and it didn't seem to help, so we are going to try a different (and much

more expensive) kind to see if it does the trick.

We also have an appointment with a neurologist in a couple of weeks so we can go over everything in detail.

I'm still suspicious of one thing and I plan to mention it to the neurologist as well as his pediatrician. Every time we come home after being out of town, Caysen has a major set-back as far as the vomiting goes. At first, I thought it was just coincidence, but it has happened four times since our trip to Baltimore in November. We just got back from another trip to Ft. Collins yesterday, and he's back to being Mr. Pukester once again :(

So, we got some answers; but we're still working on getting Caysen to keep his food down and gain some weight. Maybe just maybe, we're getting closer.

Starting Fresh

I'm not really into setting resolutions, it just doesn't work well for me. I'm more of a one small goal at a time kinda gal. So, my current goal/task is to do a little organizing around the house. Tomorrow will be day 1 of a 5 day plan to get my home organized. I found the plan online and it sounds perfect for me and my borderline obsessive personality:

Day 1: De clutter
Day 2: Donate/Recycle
Day 3: Organize
Day 4: Store/File
Day 5: Clean (This may turn into days 5,6,7, & 8 if I want to tackle the things I often overlook like windows and base boards)

So, that's goal number 1 of 2011. Wish me luck!

2011

Dear God,

A year ago today, I asked if 2010 could be the year we would meet our baby; oh how you delivered!! I can't express how thankful I am in words, but I have no doubt that you can see it in my overflowing heart...