Big Boy!

Now that Oliver is a big boy we have transitioned to a front facing car seat....it opens up a whole new world! :)

sick.....

Oliver had to be admitted to Levine's on Friday the 7th. He was throwing up and "dumping" his food (basically it was passing right through him without be broken down and nutrients not absorbed) and Friday morning he was lethargic. We took him to the pediatricians and they sent him to the hospital. He was extremely dehydrated. It was very scary because it really happened so fast. Because his colon isn't being used, he isn't absorbing water that way as most kids would and is very susceptible to dehydration. It was just terrifying how fast it can happen for him. Fortunately we got him to the hospital and they hooked him up to IVs and gave him 4 large bolus dosings of the fluids and then kept him on it for a couple days. He also received pedialyte and then eventually was able to get his formula again. We ended up spending 3 nights there and were able to leave with him Monday morning. It was scary but he received great care as usual and we have been making sure he is extra hydrated as his system gets back to normal. As usual, Oliver is a champ and handled it all very well. He was definitely sleep deprived from being in the hospital but quickly made up for that. He is feeling much better now thank goodness!

Friday morning before going to the pediatrician's office....poor baby

Feeling a little more hydrated.....and puffy

Monday morning view from the hospital room.....SNOW!

Back home and still puffy!

Oliver's first "real" Christmas

As y'all know, Oliver was in the NICU for his first technical Christmas. And that Christmas was weird....I felt great joy to be the new mom of this amazing, precious and beautiful baby boy but I also was angry and heart-broken that he was there in the hospital instead of at home in my arms. In many ways it seems like a lifetime ago but the memories of that Christmas are very much there near the surface. While Oliver was in the hospital, it was all I could do to keep it together. I would get very frustrated if anyone showed too much sympathy because I was tired of crying....I certainly went into a little bit of hibernation mode and didn't want to be around many people. I didn't want to see the looks of sympathy and concern. Definitely didn't want too many hugs :) (For those of you that don't know - I am not a big "hugger" :)) I was tired of the questions and would get frustrated when people didn't understand what was happening and why...How many times did we have to answer the same question? Owen went into ultra research mode....I am convinced that at this point he knows more about Hirschsprung's than some doctors out there :) He researched, I slept and ate and we visited with Oliver. But when that day came that we got to drive away from Levine's with Oliver in the car, I was overjoyed. Still emotionally drained but SO happy have Oliver home where he belonged. I have said before that the NICU nurses took amazing care of Oliver....but they also took amazing care of us. They treated us kindly (of course) but without the pity and it was nice to walk in and be treated like "normal" people. I don't talk about that time much but this was a nice way to "get it out", thanks for listening! :)

So....on to Oliver's first "real" Christmas. Since 2009 totally didn't count :)

We spent Christmas Eve with my parents.....mom is an AMAZING cook and she cooked a delicious Christmas Eve dinner! Owen, Oliver and I actually decided to spend the night at my parent's house which was really fun. We woke up that morning and after Blake and Sarah got there, we started by checking out the contents of our stockings......

Then we got down to business with the presents!

After we opened presents and ate some breakfast, we put Oliver down for a nap and packed up and headed on to Christmas celebration round 2 in Brevard! The snow started on our way.....

Bryan came with his sweet girlfriend, Miriana and although Charles Robert and Michelle couldn't be there (in Beijing) we had a nice time.....despite getting stuck in the snow/ice on the way up to Brevard! :) Fortunately it didn't happen until we were on Owen's parents' street....we just hit a spot where we couldn't get traction and so Owen's dad came down in his 4 wheel drive truck, grabbed me and Oliver and took us up to the house. He and Bryan went back down to get Owen and ended up being able to tow the car up to the house, yay! :) But hey, a little adventure is good for you :)

All in all it was a MUCH better Christmas this year than last year! We are excited for all the Christmas festivities to come in the years ahead and are thankful for our family and friends.....a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

Santa's lap....

Oliver is a social kid.....while in line to see Santa he was interested in the people around him, he waved and smiled at Santa and even for the first couple of seconds after I put him in Santa's lap and backed up, he was smiling.....and then he stopped smiling and then he started crying. I was shocked! I just knew Oliver would smile and be totally into Santa.....I was wrong.....at least I got a picture of him before he started crying.....

Birthday Boy

So.....clearly December has been a really busy month when my first chance to do a post about Oliver's birthday is in JANUARY! Sorry baby boy! Anyway, Oliver turned 1 on December 12th....it is amazing to see him growing everyday and his funny personality has really turned our house upside down! :)

2009

2010

We had a little party at our house and had a great time celebrating. Thanks to Kristin for making his super cute cake! He didn't eat it (no surprise there) but he messed with the icing a little bit :)

Fortunately, he didn't have to go to the pediatrician on his actual birthday but he did a few days later and got his vaccines and measured, etc. Oliver is now 30.5 inches long, wears a size 4 shoe (although that is getting smaller...), and weighs in at around 21 lbs. He actually lost a little weight after he started crawling but we changed his feeding from 850ml of formula a day to 1000ml. So now he is chunking up! :)

A week after his vaccine, he got a little infection at one of the vaccine sites. Poor guy, there was a large, round, red, swollen spot on his leg so we have him on an antibiotic and that is helping out a lot. No idea how he got an infection there but he did and he is on the mend now!