No More Tears

Last Wednesday Chad & I took Carter to his 2 week doctor appointment. He weighed in at 8 lbs 4.5 oz, so he is back to birth weight and then some which is what they like to see. Dr Crawford told us that his blocked tear duct may recur and that if it does we should just treat it the same way we did this time. I was also cleared by my doctor to drive on Wednesday, although I didn’t drive myself until Friday. Instead, on Wednesday, after Carter’s appointment, Chad & I drove to Dallas so Chad could make some measurements at the opera house. I used the opportunity to call up our friend Hillary to have lunch and also so I could see her new office in downtown Dallas. Riley was also able to go back to school on Wednesday, which we were thankful for so he would have a more structured environment for his energy.

On Friday I went and picked up my friend Tracy for lunch and we had a great time catching up. Carter joined us and thankfully slept through our outing. It was then time for him to eat so we went up to surprise Grammy so I could feed him before we went to the grocery store to pick up a few things. Grammy was surprised to see us, but she helped feed Carter before she had to head back to therapy. She looked so great and while we were there I found out that she is going to be discharged on the 17th! She is not on oxygen anymore and I saw her use her walker to walk to the bathroom and sink and she also wheeled herself all the way down the hall to the elevators and then therapy. While there we gave her a copy of the nursery picture that we purchased, which reminds me that I haven’t posted them on here yet:

(We ordered one copy of this one in B&W and it is hanging framed in our bedroom under a picture Chad took of me pregnant with Riley.)

(This is the main image that we ordered and it is now framed on our mantle.)

On Saturday Chad went in to get some work done at his office and so Carter, Riley & I went to Nana & Papa’s to hang out for the day. Riley made us laugh early on when he came running in the house calling for my mom and instead of yelling “Nana!” he came in yelling “Carolyn!” I don’t think any of us realized that he knew she had a name other than Nana. For lunch we went to McDonald’s where my parents got to experience Riley’s defiant attitude that we cannot figure out is because so much has changed at home or because of his new class at daycare (or both). After lunch Riley went down for a nap and Carter was asleep also so I read a book while my parents worked in the yard. When Carter started to stir I told my mom that she could get him up if she wanted and when she did he had the scariest breathing episode. His nose immediately became stuffed and he could not breathe. My dad came in to help and sporadically Carter would cry and blow some of the gunk out of his nose, but then he would arch his back and stop breathing again. My mom ran to CVS to buy a nasal aspirator and my Dad and I just worked to keep Carter crying. Suddenly, I had a thought that it might be an allergy attack and I told my dad to change his shirt that he had been working in the yard in and wash his hands and then I had him close the back door and garage doors, which had been open, and almost immediately his breathing started to improve. When my mom got back we took Carter into the bathroom, where my mom was running the shower on hot and used the steam to clear out the rest of his nasal passages. It was the scariest 15-20 minutes though and it really freaked me out. Of course, now I am worried that he might have allergies and I plan on talking to his doctor about it at his one month visit.

Other than this episode, Carter is doing really good. He is still a voracious eater and we are still just feeding him on his schedule. Big news is that after co-sleeping with Carter for about a week and a half straight I decided he needed to move to his room and sleep in his crib after he peed on me in the bed one night and I was so tired I didn’t even realize it until I got out of bed hours later! He has been doing pretty good sleeping in his crib and I think that it helps Riley sleep better too because we are no longer bringing Carter into the living room in the middle of the night, which is right next to Riley’s room. Last night was tough as Carter was upset for a couple of hours off and on, but overall he is doing pretty good being in his own room.

(This shows how much Carter loves his bottle...look at him guarding it with his hand even when he is asleep!)

(I figured most of the pictures I post of Carter he is asleep, so here is an eyes open one for you!)

(We are still trying to figure out what kind of paci Carter prefers. Here is his favorite this week..)

On Sunday we got up and I made pancakes for breakfast before we took Riley to Cool Cut 4 Kids for a haircut. When we got there he sat in the fire truck chair and Cars was already playing on the TV. He started to cry and I expected it to be a horrible experience, like it usually is. There were some small Tonka trucks for sale across the room and Riley asked for one and when I handed it to him everything changed. He played with the toy, watched the movie, looked at himself in the mirror while Kym cut his hair and was a completely different child! It is amazing what a better haircut he got too, since he behaved himself! Well, we bought him the truck that he played with and laughed when it cost more than the haircut itself! But as Chad said “It was worth every penny!”

(Being a bog boy in the fire truck chair.)

(He didn't like the clippers over his ears, but still no tears!)

(It made me laugh how seriously he watched himself in the mirror while Kym cut his hair!)

(What a big boy!!)

After the haircut we picked up tacos for lunch and went to Chad’s parents house to hang out. Riley was going to spend the night and they also wanted some time to see Carter. I had a really nice time visiting with Chad’s mom and his Aunt Michele and then Chad & I left to relax at home. Unfortunately, late in the evening Chad started having a sore throat and when I was up with Carter about 1:30am, Chad got up and realized that his throat hurt a lot worse. So I spent the entire night with Carter in the living room since he was in such a foul mood early on. Thankfully we all did get some sleep and this morning Chad made an appointment to go the doctor. He does not have strep, but they put him on some antibiotics and he cannot touch Carter until he has been on them for 24 hours, so it looks like I get the all-night shift again tonight. Thankfully, my mom came over today to help with Carter so I get some things done around the house and she is going to come back over tomorrow and make me take a nap! I look forward to that!