Surgery, Ear Infection, Teething. What's next?

It's been a while since I've posted, but i have a good excuse. Many good excuses actually:
January - lots of family issues
February - eye surgery for Carter
March - teething and ear infection for Carter

Life events have been keeping us pretty busy. Carter's eye surgery was on Feb 14 (Happy Valentiness day to us). It was to correct his crossing eyes. It was a fairly easy outpatient surgery. He was pretty uncomfortable for a few days, but he recovered quickly and is doing great now. So far it looks like the surgery was successful but we won't know the final outcome for another month or so. If it wasn't completely successful, we may have to wear the glasses again. So I'm really praying that it worked and we can discontinue those dreaded things. There's also a chance that he may need additional surgeries, but that could be years down the line.

Once he started feeling better after surgery, his body decided it was time for some more molars. Fun, fun. Then a couple days later, the teething and a minor cold turned into an ear infection. He was completely miserable for a couple days so we took him in to the doctor. We were at first worried it was an issue with the shunt. But it was just an infection. So we're on a antibiotic regimen which seems to be doing the trick.

Other than dealing with Carter's surgeries and sickness, Brad and I are both busy with work, trying to refinance the house and thinking about moving once the refinance is complete. So the business is likely to continue for the new few months.

Dear Dad

I love you so much. I wanted to write you this note to share just how much I love you, how much you mean to me and how thankful I am for everything you’ve been for me and our family. I am so blessed to have you as a father, Brad is so grateful to have you as a father-in-law, and Carter is one lucky kid to have such a great papa.

As I sit here writing this, I’m reflecting on so many memories from the past 30 years. Some simple, some humorous, some life changing, but all so special. I remember sitting on your lap “driving” the tractor around the hay alley, taking off your hat after a long day of work to comb and do your hair with bows and clips, and staying up late doing puzzles. I loved going to the bowling alley with you when we were off school on your league days or riding in your truck when you did your “Whoa big fella” trick with the gas pedal. I have so many amazing memories from family vacations and so many stories I will tell and laugh about for years to come. Every event whether big or small was special because we always had so much fun as a family – and most of that was due to you and your good attitude, great sense of humor and cool nature.

I cannot even begin to express all the ways you have impacted me and everyone around you. You are honest, trustworthy, generous, loving, wise, hardworking, and kind. You’ve modeled those traits for me every day. Your quiet commitment to your faith is maybe one of the most impactful ways you raised me. The way you showed it through your dedicated church participation, the daily prayer and devotions you led around the table, and your commitment to Christian education for all of us girls spoke volumes. I watched as you made the right decisions even if they weren’t the most profitable or popular. I learned from the way you treated people with kindness and respect. I never questioned the fact that all these actions were an extension of your love for God and your desire to live your life in service to Him. Thank you for giving me that structure to build my own faith upon.

Dad, you gave us everything you had. You spent your entire life working as hard as anyone could to make sure we had a beautiful home, a great education, and anything else we needed or wanted. But with as hard as you worked, that never stopped you from spending time with us. You never missed a game, recital, play, performance, graduation or event. You spent hours in the back yard teaching me to throw a change up or shoot a free throw. You cheered me on through endless baton routines or choir concerts. Your presence and support made me feel so loved and encouraged.

I am one grateful and lucky daughter. And I know my sisters feel the same way. We are loved and we have felt that way every single day of our lives. Thank you for making us feel safe, secure, and valued. I hope you know that we love you just as much. I am so grateful for every year I got to spend with you. I wish there were more and I really wish that there was time for Carter to get to know his papa. But he will hear stories for years to come. And we will spend our lives trying to pass on the lessons you have taught us – how to work hard, how to live out your beliefs and values, how to have patience and perseverance even through trying times, how to be a strong and stable presence to all those around you.

Thank you, dad. For everything.

With all my love and respect,

Valerie Joy

Glasses

Well, the first week with glasses has been a journey. I'm going to go ahead and label it a success because I didn't throw the glasses or myself into oncoming traffic. But when it came to getting Carter to wear the glasses, we were far from successful. He absolutely hates them. The longest we've been able to keep them on is 5 minutes. If we keep them really distracted, he'll forget he has them on and play for a few minutes. But as soon as he touches them or remembers they're there, he rips them off immediately. And then when we try to put them back on, he starts crying and pouting (he has recently perfected the pouty bottom lip and it is sooo cute). At this rate, it will be a LONG time before we can get him to wear them full-time.

But how cute is he...

we had to go back and get them adjusted because they were slipping. but still cute

the lip pout

18 Months

Carter is 18 months old today. Despite the rough first year or so, he's currently happy, healthy and thriving. It's been almost 5 months since his last surgery and we are praising the Lord since that is the longest surgery-free stretch of his life. Since there's not many developmental milestones to share (he's still pretty far behind on his gross motor skills), I'll just share the intricacies of this little man and his big personality:

• He loves to shake hands and high five with everyone. 
• His low laugh/chuckle is completely infectious.
• He squeals anytime he's in a shopping cart. It's really loud, but also so darn cute. He loves to  entertain all the ladies in Target, Costco and Sprouts.
• He now smells like"boy" no matter how much we bathe or change him
• The only thing he wants to play with are balls. He will play fetch with himself - throw them and then chase them across the room. 
• He constantly has bruises on his forehead. Mostly from running into doors and furniture - pretty sure he gets that from him mom. 
• His favorite place to play is the hallway. Not sure why, but since he's happy in there, I let him be.
• He wears 18-24 month shirts and can still fit into a couple of his 6month shorts. Super skinny little waist. Definitely didn't get that from his mom. 

Happy Halloween

The happy scream. Check out the long torso on this kid.

And since a blog about Carter wouldn't be complete without a medical update, our latest issue is his constant eye crossing. We saw a pediatric ophthalmologist and they informed us he's far sighted and he's crossing his eyes because he's having difficulty seeing. So he's getting glasses. The cutest little Nike glasses. We'll get them this week and it should correct his eye crossing and make sure he doesn't develop a lazy eye. Will post pictures real pictures soon, but for now, here's his play glasses.

Ring Bearing

Carter did great in his ring bearer gig at Rachel and Jason's wedding. He rode in a wagon with the "rings" and was pulled/pushed by his cousins. He was the star of the show. Well maybe 2nd behind the bride.

After the wedding, Gramma Lynn picked him up so mom and dad could go on their first vacation in years - Maui for a week! Carter did great with grammas and papas (they each took him for 4 days) and we had an amazingly fun and relaxing week.

Goodbye to the helmet

It's been six months. Carter has been wearing the stinky, sweaty helmet every day for six months. 23 hours a day. And now we are finally done!!!! PTL!!!

We met with the Orthotist last month and she suggested Carter keep the helmet on until he was 18 months old (end of October). However, she also said that the head shape had corrected enough that if we felt like we wanted to stop treatment earlier, she was fine with that. After talking to his his neurosurgeon and physical therapist in the past weeks, we decided that we would stop the cranial remolding process at his next appointment - which was today.

While it's not completely in the normal range, we're happy with his head shape. And the Orthotist confirmed that due to his shunt, age and other factors, it wouldn't enter "normal" measurements even if we kept it on for the recommended three more months. There would be some change, but not much. And with the helmet off, we can focus even harder on his physical therapy and getting him caught up on his gross motor skills.

Another benefit, I am writing this post at the end of Carter's first helmet-free nap in 6 months. Going on three hours!

Saying goodbye to the helmet

Happy helmet-free boy!

Not much happening here

There's not much going on here, and that's a really good thing. No surgeries, no ER trips and less therapy makes me a happy momma. Just a little teething pain here and there, but heck, that's nothing. Carter's been his normal, happy self. I've been my getting back into my SAHM routine and Brad's been working like crazy. Not the most eventful summer, but we needed some normal around here.

So in lieu of any news or events, here's a couple pics from the last few weeks.

Loving his new Matt Barkley jersey. Less than 50 days til football season.

Bath time is the best!