23 Months

Isaiah turned 23 months on Saturday...aka he is one month away from being TWO years old!  (aka way past the time that I should be counting the months.  It's a sickness, ok?)

Also, it's fun to have all the photos documented this way.  I was able to get every month since his first birthday in this high chair, against the blue wall, and that's just fun. I need to get out more.

Isaiah has grown quite a bit this month!  He's back to gaining weight and seriously sizing out of 6 month clothes (to the point that people are noticing and commenting "hey, it looks like this will be the last time he wears that outfit, huh?").  He now has twelve teeth, one of which made us all crazy and the other seemed to sneak into Isaiah's mouth one day.  

He's made huge strides in sitting up.  If only I'd get the guts to let him sit up on his own on the floor...

I wouldn't say he's mastered it but he's hardly wobbling and lasting at least 10 minutes.

Because of his newfound strength, we've upgraded his highchair and taken away the baby attachment:

We were able to keep the back on for now, but even that can go soon.

He went on his first airplane, vacation, trip to Disney World!

Isaiah's vocabulary continues to grow.  He can name most characters from Sesame Street (Grover, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Ernie, Bert, Abby Cadabby, Oscar), and says trashcan, fish, "blue car", yogurt, egg, carrot, cheese, and "oh cool".  He's also learning to say his version of a few color words: brown, purple, pink, yellow, and red.

Oh, and (no big deal....yeah right!) he got his first wheelchair. ;-)  He is free to move outside of a house and he is thrilled.

Check out the new umbrella for Isaiah's wheelchair!  He's a stink about the sun
and this blocks it wonderfully!  It's by Radio Flyer and meant for their wagons. :)

Honestly, this has been his most amazing month since the holiday season and Dave and I just keep saying how great things are going and how proud we are of Isaiah's progress.  Let's keep this momentum going, shall we?

The Night Before Disney

Twas the night before Disney
and all through the house,
we were all stirring like crazy,
getting ready for The Mouse!

Are you catching my ode to The Night Before Christmas here?  I'm such a nerd.  

"Mom, you are so embarrassing!"

The suitcases were sitting by the front door with care,
In hopes that we'd remembered every Disney onesie for Isaiah to wear!

You'd think we'd be all nestled snug in our beds,
With visions of the Castle and stylish mice in our heads!
But alas, instead we worried, gripped with fear and dread,
A flying (empty) shampoo bottle almost put the ax in our plans, by possibly landing on Isaiah's sweet head!

________

Ok, enough of my butchering a classic...

So yes, a shampoo bottle seriously almost killed our vacation, less than 12 hours before our departure time for the airport.

Everything was going extremely well.  I had cleaned the shower just before giving Isaiah his bath.  I debated throwing this bottle out but I was trying to use every ounce of shampoo (you know how it goes...) so I quickly popped it back on the shelf...that is about 3-4 feet above Isaiah's head when he is in the bathtub...  As I was bathing Isaiah, we were having a great time playing, and as I turned my head for literally a second to grab the washcloth from the sink counter, the darn bottle apparently decided to take a bath with Isaiah, and all I heard was a huge bang and Isaiah crying.

And there was the shampoo bottle, sitting right next to Isaiah's head.

I never thought I'd be afraid of an empty shampoo bottle.

But that bottle (a huge BJs Wholesale Club-sized shampoo bottle), put the fear in Dave and I that night.  If that bottle hit Isaiah's head directly, it very much could have caused a skull fracture, a brain bleed, and who knows what else.

The bang was so loud.  I frantically calmly (as possible) got Isaiah out of the tub and onto our bed.  He was hysterically crying.  I grabbed the ipad and pulled up one of his favorite games and he calmed down immediately and started playing.

I messaged some fellow OI moms for advice.  There was no mark, no bump, on Isaiah's head.  It could have hit the plastic seat he was sitting on and not him.  That would explain the insanely loud bang.  The rest of the night was tough, though.  Isaiah hardly took any milk.  He kept crying on and off.  He'd wake crying from his sleep.  We spent the night tossing and turning asking each other if we should take him to the ER...but we weren't 100% sure the bottle hit him.  Given the noise of the crash, we decided that if it hit him, it would have had to of left some kind of mark, right?

Oy vey.  Thankfully, Isaiah woke up happy and normal.

This picture was taken at 5am on departure day.
(Am I the only one who thinks the lighting makes his veins look non-existent?)

It was like nothing happened.

We didn't know what to think, but we took Isaiah's cues (meanwhile, I had emailed Dr B what probably looked like crazy-mom emails), took many deep breaths, and drove down to BWI airport.

The flight went extremely well for the most part....except it was good that we had the oxygen.  Turns out his oxygen did dip when we were at the highest altitudes.  His color never changed.  He never acted lethargic.  We turned on the oxygen on anyway because, what would it hurt?...it's better to be safe than sorry.  (For those in the know of oxygen sats, he normally sits 98-100%, but dipped to 88-93% when flying high)

Oh, ps, I also threw out that shampoo bottle and will never ever ever use that shelf again. ;-)

Ever.

Happier updates next week- full of DISNEY pictures galore! <3

22 Months!

I swear after his second birthday that I will stop counting months (out loud and on the internet...ok Sanne? ha) but our baby turned 22 months yesterday!  

He's an inch taller but weighs less than a month ago, closer to 15 pounds now; we're getting that figured out and believe it's partially due to his being a picky pants, teething torture, and the fact that his shunt is doing its job in relieving the extra spinal fluid in his head and his head shrinking a centimeter! (woot woot!)

Even with the weight loss, he is getting bigger as he's sizing out of his 6 month clothes!  He's basically moved on to 9, and even some 12, month onesies.  

His vocabulary has taken off.  It's mostly mimicked but oh my goodness, so many new words and sounds!  Giggle, oink, turkey, rabbit, donkey, llama, owl, pirate, ARRR (like a pirate), ROAR (like a dinosaur), eyes, ears, mouth, head, diaper, nuts (not included in conversations about diapers LOL), Ayla, Trista/Tricia, Uncle Matt, castle, Hakuna (ha, we were watching the Lion King), "Hi dad", Epcot (all these Disney words, can you tell what we talk about around here?).

It's AMAZING.  Plus, SO MUCH BABBLING!

He's starting to really learn to point and count, and blow kisses (I am dying to get this on video)!  His communication has really improved recently. :)

His favorite toys are a helicopter that he places shapes into, his cash register, everything Elmo (Disney blasphemy), and cookie cutters. 

He's up to eleven teeth now, too! And survived experienced his first dentist appointment.

Happy 22 months (and one day), Isaiah!  We love you to infinity and beyond. <3

Welcome to my Brain

This weekend, it took all I had to not email Dr B or call in to Isaiah's pediatrician for an appointment.

Most times I'd convince myself that Isaiah's moments of hysterics were because he was teething.

But then he'd flip out when I was trying to sit him in his travel high chair and I'd wonder if he had a fracture somewhere. (and then I'd think "but he sits up in my lap and in his at home high chair just fine.")

I am pretty sure at some point over the last few days that I convinced myself that Isaiah had a fracture in his right leg, then it was his foot, then it was his hip, then it was his spine, maybe his tailbone.

I could/can not figure it out.

I'd have moments of: 

"Could his shunt be malfunctioning? His soft spot is still indented.  I think it'd be puffed with fluid if it were malfunctioning.  I don't think he has a fever."  This darn thermometer better be right. 

"When did he poop last? Oh right, this morning."  You're welcome.

We went to a lot of stores because they offered Isaiah enough of a distraction that made him happy without overwhelming him with whatever he was going through.

And then we'd hit bedtime and things really got tough.  Friday night we were up for hours.  Hours of moaning, whimpering, crying and gagging himself....it was awful.  Dave and I felt completely helpless and also tired.

Tylenol did nothing.  Motrin was the only thing that got him back to sleep...this worried us that it was something more than teething.

Saturday morning was awful but in the afternoon he was back to normal....then he was up at 2:30am and we stayed up a few hours until I decided to try a bottle of milk...A middle of the night bottle?  I don't want to go backwards. But he hasn't been eating much at all...

I messaged multiple OI mom friends spewing my crazy.

I cried in the shower.  What if he's in so much pain and I am not doing what I should be to control it???? Maybe we should go to the ER...

But then he would fall asleep and he'd wake up happy and babbling and wanting to play.

and also wanting to bite the daylights out of everything.  

I checked his gums and there is a new tooth breaking through, a bottom canine tooth.  Could that really be the cause of all of this misery?  Really?

So, moms and dads, could one tiny canine really be causing Isaiah to: 

-be up all hours of the night

-not want to eat anything but crackers

-drink half as much as normal

-act like jekyll and hyde? Completely normal one second and then hysterical the next?

-make it so he doesn't want to sit up?  

Regardless, we're trying not to push him, trying to get him to eat, and offering meds if he seems to be in pain...

and I am trying to stifle the crazy. <3

The Fracture Dance

It's been a quiet few days around here....

Although...last night Isaiah may have fractured in his spine or tailbone.  He wasn't a fan of sitting up at all so we gave him some meds and dinner in the bean bag.  I'm not sure what happened, but something may have occurred when I was picking him up...I'm hopeful that by the time this post goes live (I decided to write and schedule this time!), that I will be feeling crazy for thinking he had a fracture and that he'll be acting normal.

Oh, that fracture dance...I look forward to him being able to tell me about fractures.....well I'm not looking forward to fractures....but you know what I mean!

For now, we take precautions and give this guy lots of pudding...

Because his pudding smile is my favorite. <3

______________

Update: Isaiah has been doing fine! No meds and sitting up just fine.  Just file this under #crazymomalert