already nine months!

My Oh My, how time sure does fly! I really think it is just speeding up for our family. Seriously, do not blink. My littlest baby is 3 months shy of a year. What the what?! He turned 9 months old yesterday. Life seriously is moving too fast. The last month has been one we will never forget and despite my lament about life moving too fast, I will be so happy to put April behind me!

 

Monthly wrap up, starting with stats:

Weight: 20lbs 5oz (75-90th%)

Height: 29inches (75-85th%)

Head circumference: 45.5 inches (50-75th%)

Finley has two bottom teeth but is working on some top ones. He is still very blonde (bald?) but the hair is starting to thicken up. People tell us he looks strawberry-blonde. I agree. His eyebrows are very light, too...and his skin is super fair. He has very blue eyes. I love his coloring, it is so different from anyone else in our little family. But when he gets mad, he pinks up like his mommy! (neither of us are pretty criers!) Despite Finn being a big boy, he is solid as a rock. He is so strong and stout! His brother was squishy and roly-poly but Finley is long and "lean" and really only has a few rolls...no extras (like the forearm rolls...). He even has a neck. Sounds weird, but Keagan never developed a neck until he was older.

Motor development: Finn is sitting like a champ, although we still occasionally hear a thud and find him on his back. Don't know what that's about because it always seems to happen when we aren't looking. He can crawl backwards, but has to be placed in the hands-and-knees position. He can go from belly to butt-sitting (this is the video! and he was quite upset that I wouldn't just hold him), although he really prefers mom or dad to just place him in sitting if he winds up on his tummy. Lazy. He scoots on his bottom everywhere, so he is technically already mobile. We really have to watch him now because of this "mobility" and his opposite nature from his brother: he is into EVERYTHING. Our doctor made the mention that our house was probably already child-proofed from Keagan, we just nervously laughed. We only blocked outlets, but Keagan never really got into anything. Finn is already opening bottom drawers and getting into stuff. So I guess we will have to get those obnoxious drawer and cabinet locks. I have never visualized him rolling back to belly, but the other night I looked at the monitor and he was on his stomach. So he can roll! That was the last night we swaddled him.

 

Dislikes: Being left alone, having a toy taken away, peas, naps (ugh), being ignored, sitting in the car seat if it isn't moving or if the car isn't moving, a shirt pulled over his head, waiting for supper (solids and milk), being put down, having his bottom wiped, switching sides during nursing sessions, not getting his way in a super-timely manner.

Likes: Bathtime (especially with his brother), his puppy, playing out of a box of toys, apricots, anything off mommy's plate, giving open mouth kisses, being held, his brother (this is a LOVE), snuggling mommy in her bed whether or not food is involved, bottles (apparently he goes nuts anytime his teacher gets a bottle ready for anyone...this is ironic now), puffs, cell phones, dancing to music.

 

Social: he is a talker, very vocal with likes and dislikes, he already has so much personality and you can already read his mood, when he sees his brother in the morning he goes nuts and the two have to hug and snuggle for a few minutes, he isn't really into TV like his brother was/is and his attention span is much shorter, he has to constantly be entertained, is very ticklish, he is very loving and very passionate about love and life already!

Sweet Keagan......

In the last month: Finley had his 6th round of antibiotics for an ear infection while we waited for him to get tubes. We went in on a Friday to get them and as it turned out he was deep in the throes of another double ear infection and the doctor couldn't do the surgery. It felt like quite the blow (mainly because I had just had my stroke and I needed something to go right!) but we rescheduled for the following Wednesday. When that day rolled around his ears were still infected but not so bad that he couldn't get his tubes. Finn was literally a different baby within hours. Unfortunately, he was quite uncomfortable and feverish with drainage for 4 days after the tubes. Things seem to be going smoother now and, although he still bats at his ears (teeth?) and squeals/screams (personality?) he is sleeping through the night now (8ish-530/6ish) and is overall a much happier baby. We are getting into a groove now and maybe will start to establish some sort of routine! Wishful thinking, probably.

This was the first try at tubes. You can tell he doesn't feel good...he let the nurse take his blood pressure!

 

Hugging on his bouncy ball...still not feeling well. 

Home from getting tubes...had them in less than two hours at this point. Happy smile!

A visit to the gun store. We think we know what Finn wants for Christmas...he's just gonna have to wait! :) Big brother first...

 

Sweet, happy babies in the bathtub!

OK, now, Father Time...you can put on your brakes anytime. Love, this mommy!

Looking Back. Part 2. Great grandparents.

At the end of March we decided to go visit Josh's grandparents and let them visit with the boys. Josh mentioned that his mom's parents hadn't met Finn yet. I had a hard time believing it, afterall he is 8 months old. But I honestly couldn't conjure up any memory of having him with us in their home, so I supposed (and am ashamed to admit) he was right. We had a "free" weekend of no one working, and didn't want to stay in the house, and didn't want to go shopping or do housework...so it was the perfect weekend to take the boys to visit Josh's grandparents. We started at Granny and Pop's house (these are Josh's mom's parents...) and ate lunch with them. I think both boys had a big time and Granny got her fill of Finley! Poor Pop is not in the greatest of health and I offered to have him hold Finn (he was trying to talk to him) but he was afraid he would drop him. Keagan doesn't sit still for pictures anymore so they are all of the back of his head!

After lunch we headed over to visit with Bama, Josh's dad's mom, who is in a nursing facility. Bless her! She has no idea who we are, I don't even think she knew what she had to eat that day. She is so darn sweet, though, and is just tickled to have visitors. Especially little ones! To see her smile and kiss on our boys brings tears of joy to my eyes. She was in fantastic spirits, despite us waking her up from her afternoon nap, and couldn't get enough of Finley. She kept saying that he was a "stout little thing" and that Keagan was "so busy."

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Update: I had a neurologist appointment Monday and we talked a lot about the stroke, what caused it, and what to expect in the months to come. I learned that the "pulled muscle" in my neck was actually the pain from the vertebral artery tearing. I also learned that I had a little more residual deficits than I thought, but nothing severe. I have saccadic movement in my eyes (you can look this up, but it is basically a beating of my eyes during tracking versus the normal fluid movement) and the vertigo I have is also left over. Both of these things will heal with time and are not hindering me much at all. I did think I had something going on with my eyes I just couldn't figure it out, but the doctor caught it without my mentioning it and gave it a name. I asked lots of questions and he spent a lot of time answering me. Basically, it all boiled down to how lucky I was because of the location of the stroke. I wanted to ask "how big" it was (mainly for my own curiosity) but didn't because he said the size didn't matter but where it occurred. And I apparently had mine in the best place to have a stroke. I also learned that while this kind of stroke is rare in the whole scheme, it is the most common type in my age group. As for prognosis: it is great. Once the artery is healed (he is hoping 3 months time) I can go back to living like normal and come off the blood thinners. I have a CT-angiogram in 3 months to check on the artery and then hopefully will be off the medicine. As for trying to get my blood thin, it isn't going well. I don't know why, and everyone seems kinda baffled by this. While I was in the hospital the plan was to only to be on Lovenox injections 5-7 days until the Coumadin kicked in. I have had lots of blood draws and every time they test it I am still thick. It's strange and frustrating. I am still having to have shots in my belly 2x/day. And I am bruised and sore. And, yes, I am whining about it (even though I know this is "nothing" compared to what I could be doing).  I have another blood test Tuesday and am praying that I am therapeutic and can stop the injections and just do the pills. Also, the neurologist is testing me for a genetic disorder called Marfan's syndrome. Mainly because I am tall and thin and if I have the disorder it could be why my vertebral artery dissected. Also, if it comes back positive they know how to treat me with future issues and will check me for other health issues that go along with this syndrome. I don't really have the typical presentation or characteristics so I don't think I have this (and neither does the doctor) but cautious is the name of this game. I am starting to feel much better. Less headaches, less fatigue (though it is still there!). I have a bit of anxiety and am emotional still, and my neck still hurts a little on the right...especially if I over-do it...and this is anxiety inducing in and of itself. But overall I am getting back to life, and will be returning to work on Monday! :) 

Looking Back. Part 1. The Circus.

A couple of weeks ago, Josh and I took Keagan to the Ringling Brothers circus. We didn't tell him until a couple of days before because we knew he would be talking about it non-stop if we told. And he proved us right because the day before the circus he started crying in his car seat because we were going home instead of to the circus. How do you explain time to a toddler? But the morning of the circus we laid out everything that would happen: go to school, come home and get ready, go to dinner, then go to the circus. He was ready! We had no idea if he would be entertained by it or if he would be bored and whiny. Let's just say that this kid has an amazing attention span and loved every second of the 2 hour show! He was entranced. It was fun to watch him watch it. I really wish I had the awe that children have. But the next best thing is watching your own child. I was trying to take pictures in the beginning then put my phone and camera down, and at one point he said, "Momma! Take pictures!" To which I asked him what he'd like me to take pictures of. Well he knew: The puppies. The elephants. And those were his favorite parts of the circus, too...he told us in the car ride home. Finn stayed at home with Carissa because we thought he was too little to enjoy it (or mostly his bedtime was the start time of the circus and you do NOT mess with this child's bedtime). Keagan was upset at first that Finn wasn't going, but he quickly forgot! We had a nice time with our first born boy but we are looking forward to taking both back next year!

Finn was apparently just perfect for Carissa!

Waiting for dinner at Culvers...

Aren't these the coolest snowcones ever? If they weren't $20 I would've insisted we get one!!

 Of all the twirly light-up toys, cotton candy, and clown snow cones, Keagan just wanted some popcorn! Of course, we obliged.