Phew, what a month we've had! As usual, it's been filled with lots of sickness, but this time our sweet lovey ended up in the ICU. :( But that's a story for another post! THIS post is about capturing all the cute things that make Carter the wonderful boy he is. So, here we go!
He's discovered his tongue! He loves sticking it out when he babbles.
He loves to say "dadada." I've been trying to teach him "mama," but no luck so far, haha.
He's definitely having some separation anxiety. He cries whenever I leave the room! He also cries when I put him down.
When he really likes something and/or if he wants you to do something again, he bobs his head back and forth. It's his trademark!
As I mentioned last time, Carter often ends up in our bed in the early morning hours. And, as with most babies, he wakes up earlier than I do. So when he wakes up, he maneuvers himself around until he's lying perpendicular to me. Then he starts poking me with his foot until I open my eyes and look at him. Then he smiles. If I close my eyes again, he starts kicking me again. If I scooch him over so he can't reach, he scooches back. If I roll away from him, he cries. It's cute and all, but I wish I could sleep later!
I think he's a little behind developmentally as a result of his being sick all the time (and because infants with Tracheomalacia often experience developmental delay), but we're not too worried at this stage. I think a lot of it is that he's just so happy and content that he doesn't feel the need to try to crawl or assert his independence in other ways. And hey, he can hold his own bottle!
Also as a result of his being sick all the time, he's just not a very good sleeper. Before the chronic illness began, he was sleeping through the night with no problems. But he kept getting sick over and over again, and when he was sick he'd wake up often and need medicine or comfort or snot removal or to be held so that he could sleep sitting up (to ease his cough). Now, our pediatrician says, he's established a pattern of waking up and needing us in the middle of the night--even when he's not sick. It's a pattern we plan to break next week during Daniel's vacation week... unless he's sick again. *sigh*
Wait, I just realized I never provided the official diagnosis we got from the pulmonary specialist! Okay, so. He has a condition called Reactive Airway Disease. The official explanation is this: "Numerous environmental stimuli induce an allergen-antibody interaction, causing a release of mediators that create airway inflammation. Airway inflammation is the primary factor responsible for smooth muscle hyperresponsiveness, edema, and increased mucous production." Basically, it means that he wheezes, especially when he gets sick. It can be an indication of asthma, though we can't really say until he's older and can be tested. He also has Tracheomalacia, which basically means that the cartilage in his trachea is underdeveloped, making it all floppy and flappy. This picture explains it well:
Because of these illnesses, he takes Singulair every day in little granules that we mix into his food. He also does Budesonide (brand name Pulmicort) twice a day via nebulizer. Then, when he gets sick, we have to do Albuterol treatments via nebulizer every few hours to open his airways and help him breathe. We also usually have to get a course of Prednisone (an oral steroid) for him during illnesses. It's a lot. The hope is that his Tracheomalacia will right itself by his first birthday. Fingers crossed!
He has two little teeth on the bottom, and for some reason I find them adorable!
While Grandma was just here visiting, she discovered that Carter loves to go upside down! In fact, if you try to sit him back up, he straightens out his legs and tries to go backwards again.
When he sees his bottle being made, he gets a big smile on his face and starts bouncing. As you bring it towards him, he opens his mouth really wide. If you don't bring it to him right away, he cries like he's experienced the most bitter betrayal. The boy loves to eat! He's much more picky, too, than Aubrey was. He hates peas and won't eat anything that has them in it, even if I add sweet fruits to mask the taste.
He loves to take off his socks and chew on them. He always has cold feet because he can't keep his socks on (or dry!).
When he decides he's done eating something, he'll start blowing raspberries if you bring the spoon to his mouth. It's messy but cute!
He cries when Aubrey throws loud tantrums or screams. He's so sensitive!
Just like Aubrey when she was a baby, he loves the book Horns to Toes and Inbetween by Sandra Boynton.When I hold him up to him, he starts smiling really big. It's nice to see him getting more into books in general.
When he eats, he often sways and bobs his head so that it's really difficult to get the spoon in his mouth. It makes feeding him either really amusing or really frustrating (depending on my mood, haha).
He has a little fakey cry he does sometimes when he wants to be picked up. He contorts his face all funny and does this faux cry that is hysterical. And hey, because I find it so dang cute, it still works! So there you go.
Truly, this boy is pure sunshine. He is almost always happy and can be put down for long periods of time without needing too much. It's easy to forget about him sometimes because he's so easy-going. But he's also so happy and sweet that you can't really go too long without him before you start missing his sweet face and infectious laughter!
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