27 Weeks and 18 months

I'm 27 weeks preggers now. Next week I'll start my third trimester. Where has the time gone? Little Anna Corbin should be weighing about 2lbs now. She is moving around, but not nearly as much a Chesson did. Thankfully, I am still feeling pretty good. Chesson just hit 1 and 1/2. Again....Where has the time gone? We went for his check up, and he's still in the 90+ percentile for weight and height. How we love our chunky monkey! He is so much fun these days. It seems like he is learning something new every day, and he is always so proud of himself. His newest trick is this: If I ask Chesson where 'sister' is, he points to my belly. Of course, he has no idea what 'sister' means. ~ Hmmmm - Maybe I should get him a book on being a big brother.

Farm Life

Why are animal sounds so cute coming from a toddler?

Beatboxer?

Corbin's dream is for Chesson to be a professional athlete. He certainly has the size and the athletic ability (you know, if you can predict these things at a year and a half). But, it seems Chesson has other plans, possibly in the music industry.

A Better Snow Day

Last night it snowed a couple of inches. We didn't take Chesson out until almost noon, and by then most of it had melted.

He didn't seem to mind sledding on a combination of snow and mud!

Puppy Love

We think he's cute....even when he's stinky:o)

Challenges and Victories

I realized that it's been a while since I've given an actual update on Chesson. At 17 months, he's still a big boy, nearly 30 lbs. I don't have all his stats since we're between doctor's visits. I can tell you, he's wearing 2Ts, and he's often mistaken for a 2 year old. My guess is my back will never be the same from carrying him around. The biggest news with our sweet boy is that he has some serious eating issues. I confess that I haven't written about them because they have tested my patience and my sanity. They just aren't fun. But, thankfully we are finally conquering these challenges...and I can write about them with a smile on my face. Here is the abridged version (although, that doesn't mean it's short)..

• In August we found out that Chesson was still suffering from severe acid reflux. Because of this he, unfortunately, began to associate eating with pain.
• He didn't learn to chew or swallow properly (who even knew those were learned skills?). Poor Chesson, can you imagine hating to eat? (He would cry when we put him in his high chair.)
• Every meal was a battle, and at its worst he was throwing his bottle on the floor and spitting out almost all of his food. (I know, I know, how can a chunky boy have an eating problem? Well, he would only eat crunchy things....a box of Cheerios for example.)
• Thankfully, we have a wonderful doctor who sent us to a specialist, and she knew just what to do.
• Chesson did a Barium Swallow study at Wake Med, and we were able to see that he was aspirating his liquids (letting them roll down his airway towards his lungs), and he was swallowing food whole......um, not good. We were instructed to thicken all his liquids. They also took him off all solid foods, and we had to feed Chesson only purees ---- oh, how we all dreaded meal time around here.
• Feeding therapy started the following week, and has been happening every Tuesday for the past 5 months. He is on some medicine that is truly making him feel so much better.
• These days he is happy in his high chair, drinking from a sippie cup (finally) - and we are happy to report he is allowed to eat some solid foods (as long as someone is monitoring his chewing).
• This has truly tested my patience in every way (4 times a day). There is no good way to reason with a one and a half year old. So, I make chewing motions, make funny noises, sing songs....and most importantly pray.

Today marks a HUGE day for us - we don't have to thicken his liquids any more. I know, that must not sound like a big deal. But, it is! Trust me!

We still have a bit of ground to cover, but progress is being made. Thank you Lord!

Oh the Snow...

Normally, I am a big fan of a winter wonderland. I'm happy to bundle up and play, watch movies, and drink hot chocolate. Before it started snowing we picked up a couple of sleds from my parents house, stocked up on necessities (bread, milk, chocolate), and waited for the snow. Living in Raleigh, I always doubt the weatherman when he says it's going to snow. But, this time, he was right. The snow started to fall on Friday night, and it was beautiful.

On Sat, I had a change of attitude towards our winter storm. Saturday morning Chesson woke up with a fever that just kept getting higher. We are, of course, snowed in at our house. By Saturday evening his fever was nearly 104...yikes. Not to mention he was completely inconsolable...tears, tears, and more tears. (Corbin was able to entertain him for a little while, doing some shelf assembly...look at those red cheeks.)

Did I mention we were stuck in our house? I talked with the nurse, we alternated between Motrin and Tylenol through the night. None of us got much sleep. Sunday didn't prove to be any better. By 2pm his fever had spiked to nearly 105. I needed to take some action. Clearly, he was not okay. -- Ah, but the wonderful snow had shut Raleigh down. --- We couldn't find an open urgent care (all closed due to inclement weather). I must have called 10 or more. Finally, my wonderful mother found one in Cary. Deciding it's worth getting on the roads, we headed out. We knew there was an hour and a half wait, but it turns out, if you have an infant with a fever of 105, you get to skip everyone. They saw us right away. Sweet boy has a nasty cold, and his first ear infection. Bless his little heart. Thankfully, he is on the mend.

Corbin even came home for lunch today and took us on a field trip to the store and chick-fil-a:o) We (well, really just me) needed to get out of the house!!