Cutest Baby in the World?

Well we think so but I am know we am incredibly biased

Surgery #2

We came home from the beach Monday evening and after Tuesday’s visit to see the doctor about his skin/formula, we went to our scheduled ortho checkup on Wednesday.  Unfortunately, we did not get good news.  Dr. Hydorn informed us that Parker was still tight.  In clubfoot, this meant he still didn’t have the motion to flex his foot up which the surgery he had at the beginning of April was supposed to accomplish.  Also, his heel hadn’t quite developed in the way the doctor had hoped so he said we needed to have surgery to lengthen the tendon again and also to release his posterior capsule to correct his heel.  He also decided to insert a pin this time through the bottom of his foot to hold everything together to make sure his cast was holding him in the right position.  So, the next morning we were at the children’s hospital again at 6am for surgery.  Parker did excellent with the general anesthesia and recovery and the doctor was very happy with the results he was able to get.  Park is casted again in a full leg cast for about 5 weeks.  After this, he will go back into his brace/boots/bar for another 3-4 months.  Well….baths were fun while they lasted

Photo Shoot

While at the beach, I snapped these few cute pictures of Parker.  What a little cutie I have!

3 Months Old

Parker turned 3 months old over Memorial Day weekend.  We celebrated by taking him to the beach for the weekend   Just kidding about “celebrating 3 months” but nonetheless, we had a great time at the beach.  Parker is such a little beach bum.  He loves to lay on a towel and just feel the breeze.  At night and nap times, we turn on a sound machine always to the ocean noises so maybe we are brainwashing him to love the beach. 

Here are our “grow with me” pictures for 3 months…

Sorry, I couldn’t pick just one this month.  As Parker is growing, so are his many facial expressions.  I love watching him interact with us and others and especially when his little smile spreads all over his face.

At 3 months old, Parker weighs right at 15 pounds and is about 25ish inches long.  He is growing like a weed!  After a brief 2 week stint on Nutramigen, he is back on Enfamil AR and taking 4 ounces every 3-4 hours.  I had taken him back to doc after the 2 week trial on Nutramigen and since his skin hadn’t improved & reflux had worsened, doc decided it must not be an allergy to cow’s milk (praise the Lord!) and that it is probably a reaction to something else or a skin thing so he referred us to a dermatologist.   His reflux has improved drastically since switching back to this formula.  He has been working towards sleeping through the night and has made it a few days!  His bedtime is still about 11 and he is sleeping in the pack-n-play in our family room so we can hear him during the night.  If he does wake up, he takes a bottle around 4 or 5 and then sleeps again until about 8.  During the day, he naps about 4 times.  My boy loves to sleep.  He also loves to be talked to.  One of his favorite things is to stretch out on the floor and have us play toys with him or just talk to him.  He is making lots of fun noises and is quite expressive.  Parker still isn’t fond of the car seat but I just ordered a DVD player so hopefully his Baby Genius will keep him entertained in the car like it does at home.  He is wearing 3-6 months clothes and of course is little orthopedic shoes.  His hair has grown pretty long but is showing signs of falling out….I hope it will hang in there because it is so soft but I have heard he still may loose his sweet baby hair before the other grows in. 

I can’t believe it has been 3 months already!  Parker, your mom and dad love you to the moon and back.  We pray you continue to grow into a sweet, healthy boy and that you never lose the sweet spirit you have now.

Go Gamecocks!

The Gamecocks hosted LSU for their last home series this past weekend and of course, Parker had to go and cheer on his Gamecocks.  Unfortunately, it didn’t do a whole lot of good because they ended up losing the game we went to but that’s ok because Parker got to sport his cute USC apparel and hang out at the ball field!

Allergic? Really Doc?

I forgot to mention that over Mother’s Day weekend, Parker broke out in an AWFUL rash/eczema/raised bumps all over his body.  I mean legs, arms, chest, back, neck, face….everywhere except where his diaper and socks were.  And it got back quick so Tuesday the 15th we went to see Dr. Wheeler again (when does the frequent patient discount thing kick in?).  His first words were “Whoa…that is a bad case of something Lauren.  I mean extreme.”  Yep, thanks Doc.  I love Dr. Wheeler but sometimes I feel like if it can happen, we are going to experience it.  I thought he was going to diagnose eczema (we had already started Aveeno everything) and give me a prescription cream so when he announced he thought it was an allergy to cow’s milk and soy, I was a little taken aback.  We are now on Nutramigen (geez that junk is SO expensive….we are already spending close to $80/week just for formula and that is for 4 oz bottles….I can only imagine the bill in a few months, YIKES!) and a week and a half later, it is MUCH better so that must be it.  His face is a little discolored where some of the bumps had gotten so irritated and red, the patches have turned lighter but I am sure once all the irritation is gone, the color will come back.  Bless his heart.  Bless our hearts….Nutramigen stinks!  It is nasty smelling going in and coming out.  It has torn his tummy up so we pack lots of extra outfits now for those fun occasions.  His reflux has actually worsened too since being on Nutramigen.  We were on Enfamil AR which was GREAT for the reflux.  We have tried a little rice cereal in the bottle but he downright refuses.  After a couple of days of that and enduring close to 2 hour feedings, I quit and just went to Nutramigen mixed with a little Thick-it from Riley’s Drugstore so for now, I will deal with a little reflux and LOTS of spit up….no matter how nasty it smells.  Did I mention I have a new best friend?  Her name is Washing Machine

Lots of smiles!

Parker has been smiling for a while now but his smiles are so big and he smiles all the time which melts my heart.  He is also getting to the point where he recognizes familiar faces and voices and gets excited when he sees people he knows.  Slow down Parker…you are getting so big so quick!   These were taken this past Friday while we were relaxing after work.

My first Mother’s Day

What a great day!  This day was MUCH better than Mother’s Day last year.  I can honestly say Mother’s Day 2011 was one of the hardest days ever but praise God that He saw it fit to bless me with sweet precious Parker in time for Mother’s Day 2012.  Scott and Parker were both so sweet to me and gave me some beautiful flowers, a massage from Urban Nirvana and some beautiful new jewelry from Handpicked.  Love my sweet boys!

We had lunch with my Mammy and some of my aunts and cousins.  Unfortunately, my mother was in Florida on vacation with some of my siblings and we missed them very much.  After lunch, we spent the afternoon at Mammy’s playing games and then enjoyed a yummy steak dinner.  While we played games, Parker napped on Mammy for 6 hours straight!  I love lazy Sunday afternoons like that!

Mammy with some of her great grands

Parker loves his Mammy!

 

I can’t complete this post without mentioning how thankful I am for Parker’s birthmother.  I think of her daily but I thought of her lots on Mother’s Day.  She is such a beautiful, loving girl and I pray that God held her especially tight on Mother’s Day.  I love her so much and thank her for the most precious gift in all the world.

To Bumbo or not to Bumbo?

A couple of weeks ago we tried Parker in the Bumbo because he has always been so strong and has amazing neck/head control.   This is how the bumbo experience unfolded…

The first 10 seconds

Within the first 30 seconds, he had it with the paci and started warning us he was over it

Literally, this was less than 1 minute in the seat…HA!  He is even cute when he cries

So the verdict is…..no Bumbo yet.  We will try again soon.

 

By the way…he is 2 days shy of 11 weeks in these pictures….told you we have a big boy!

Meeting Grandma Wilbert, Uncle Seth, Aunt Eileen and Cousin Casey

Parker is such a lucky little boy.  The weekend after he met his grandmother, grandfather, aunt and uncle, he got another visit by more of Scott’s family who were anxious to meet him.  Scott’s grandmother, uncle, aunt and cousin (we missed you Kendall, Kayla, Ben & Adaline!) got to come for a great day visit and a great time was had by all.  They had driven down from New York to Tennessee to assist Casey with a move to Texas and decided to make a short detour to see little Park.  Again, he was spoiled with lots of love & attention.  We had a great lunch out, a nice neighborhood walk, a little corn hole and some relaxing on the back porch before they had to head back.  Parker loves meeting everyone and loves snuggling with them even more!

Meeting Grandma Sally, Grandpa Jerry, Uncle Dave & Aunt Jackie

I know, I know….I am behind on the blog but again, I am determined to keep this somewhat current so I will remember and one day, Parker can read about his first year.  So let me take you back a few weeks to the first weekend of May when Parker got to meet Scott’s mom, stepfather, brother and sister-in-law for the first time.  They all came into town to spend the weekend with us and Parker was spoiled with lots of love and attention.  We spent a day in Charleston and Parker did great.  We ate outside at Fleet Landing, had a great carriage ride and a nice walk.  During the weekend, we grilled out a lot and spent lots of family time together.  Parker really enjoyed getting to meet his grandma, grandpa, aunt and uncle and look forward to seeing them all again very soon!