18 Months

8/26/15

Carter turned 18 months old yesterday.  He is turning into such a little man.  He has officially finished swim classes and now just has to take refresher courses to maintain his technique.  It is kind of fun watching life guards squirm when we let him loose in the pool.  He is doing well with his Speech Therapy and Physical Therapy.  He can now walk if he is holding onto one hand.  His balance has improved a lot and I think that within the next month he will probably be walking.  His eating has also improved.  He has started liking some regular foods like cookies, eggs, noodles and pizza.  He is doing well in his daycare and now he cries when we go to pick him up.  He really loves his Ms. Nikki and Ms. Bryna.   He has recently learned how to turn off the light in his bedroom so when we are walking out carrying him he leans over to turn off the light.  Between the closing of all doors and turning off lights I think I may have a little conservationist on our hands.  He also loves turning on the air purifier and sitting in front of it while it blows his hair.  In other big news we have been selected as the Ambassador Family for the March of Dimes this year.  We are not sure what it all entails however it will really great to have an opportunity to give back to an organization that has meant so much to us.  Here are some pics for your enjoyment.

                                           If we had started with brownies this eating thing would be mastered

                                      Lollipops at the dentist? Whhaaatttt!?!

                                                     I'm so cute I could kiss myself

                                                            No words needed

                                                                     Who's out there

                                                           Can someone wake me up for dessert?

1 year adjusted update

6/5/15

On 5/30/15 Carter was officially 1 year adjusted.  He is doing amazing and continues to grow each day.  He is crawling with great speed now and with the help of Physical Therapy he can now go from crawling to sitting.  He is pulling himself up to his knees but so far no "cruising" has occurred.  He is also seeing Speech Therapy for his feeding issues.  Carter still has trouble taking his bottle at daycare and we still sideline feed him since he will not tolerate any other way.  He is eating stage 3 and we have continued to introduce regular foods like banana, apple sauce, pudding, and he loves ice cream.  We have noticed his little personality coming out more and more.  He has started swatting at faces which makes us nervous as parents but through all the research I could find (yes, I haven't stopped researching) this is a common activity for day care kids since it is a survival of the fittest environment.  The worst part is that given his age disciplining him is difficult since he is unable to associate his actions to whatever discipline you offer.  The main goal is to make him realize that his actions cause discomfort and through empathy he will learn to not swat.  Here are some pictures for your enjoyment of this little man.  Oh yeah, he is also in swim classes.  I will update this fun adventure soon.

 I paddle boarded while granddad and daddy kayaked

 

I love water but I hate grass

 Time for school

 Just being cute

School picture 2015

1 year anniversary NICU grad

5/19/15

One year ago Carter finished his 84 day NICU journey and came home with Katie and I to finally start our family together.  As I look back over the past year he has brought so much joy and happiness to our life.  We have experienced the lack of sleep we knew to expect and we have experienced the moments that make being parents so rewarding.  Seeing him go from 2 pounds 1 ounce with apneas, bradys and desats to over 20 pounds, babbling, smiling, laughing, crawling and sharing his personality is the most amazing thing my life has brought me.  I am so proud of our little NICU graduate today seeing how far he has come in the last year.  Many people say kids do not come with instructions and that is something I have learned very quickly but I have also learned that love and faith go a long way when faced with challenges that test your understanding of why, when and how.   No matter what your challenge let your journey be guided by your heart and your faith.  Miracles will happen.

We have a crawler

4/8/15
Breaking News......Carter is crawling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Enjoy!

Happy Easter

4/5/15

Happy Easter Everyone!  Carter had fun last night dying his first Easter Eggs.  He loved the colors, especially trying to dunk his hand instead of the eggs in the color.  Carter has been doing well.  He recently was re-evaluated by the Early Steps program which is a program to catch preemies up to their peers by the age of 2.  He was found to be behind in a number of areas including adaptive development, communication, motor and to a lesser degree cognitive and personal-social.  Due to this he will be getting PT and ST in the coming weeks.  We continue to work with him on a nightly basis and we are hopeful that the therapists will be able to give us good tools to work with to help him exceed his goals.  He is doing better with attempts at crawling.  He gets up on all fours now and rocks but just doesn't seem to catapult himself into a forward motion.  He has mastered the art of rolling to his intended target and spinning.  His eating is getting there but he has difficulty with new textures.  The GI specialist who we saw on Friday encourages us to continue to offer him foods with chunkier textures every 3 to 4 days until he starts to tolerate them.  For now we are sticking with stage 2 and some stage 3 pureed foods.  He is eating more of the baby food now and less of the milk but we have to watch his calories close since his growth curve went up but his weight curve went down during this past visit.  When we think back to one year ago he was moving from the Level III to the Level II area of the NICU, the feeder and grower floor.  We were scared but knew it was the next step.  Those fears never change when you are a NICU parent as you watch development and see other kids younger than him passing him in every area.  We are thankful for the therapists and professionals who make it their life to see him succeed.  We are so happy and blessed to have this Easter to enjoy with him at home and seeing the excitement on his little face when he plays with what the Easter Bunny brought him.  Carter is an amazing little boy and he brings more joy to Katie and my life than anything we have ever experienced.  Very soon we will be walking with him for the March of Dimes.  Whether it is a micropreemie like Carter, a preemie or just a baby that is born with a defect they all need help in some way and the research that The March of Dimes conducts and puts into practice not only saves lives but makes those little lives blow through obstacles that at one time were impossible to overcome.  I have placed a link to our page to donate to Carter's Courage for the March of Dimes.  We wish you all a very Happy Easter and thank God everyday for the blessings he has given us!

 What is this thing?

 Uh oh it's getting away!

 Oh boy this is about to get fun!

 Wait a second this is kinda messy, what have I done?

 You will notice one egg is missing.  Previously pictured egg succumb to its injuries sustained at the hands of Baby Carter.  RIP little egg.  Wait, no Daddy ate it anyway!

 The Easter Bunny has arrived!!!!

 YAY!

 Time to get down to business

 There were extensions in my Easter basket

 

Happy Valentine's Day

2/14/15

Happy Valentine's Day.  I slept all night last night and gave Mommy a full night rest.  When I woke up I made mommy dark chocolate waffles for breakfast then gave her a card that I made.  I hope you all have a great Valentine's Day today.

 

Super Size Me

2/8/15

Carter had a GI appointment on Friday and did well.  The doctor would have liked to see him gain more weight since his last visit so has instructed us to begin increasing his calories in his bottles by adding more scoops to nursery water.  He is currently 17 pounds 12 ounces.  Doing great and yesterday he ate a personal best 30 ounces in addition to his baby food.  We will continue his reflux medicine for now since the doctor did see some evidence that he was still having reflux on his exam.  In addition we were told that we could start stage 3 baby food in about 3 weeks. It is a baby food that is just a bit chunkier.  He should be ready soon since he just cut his 3rd tooth.  This one is up top on the left.  Also, this weekend Carter rolled from his back to his belly for the 1st time.  Pretty exciting stuff for him and us.  The picture below is of him at the GI doctor.  He was very happy with the mess he made of the table paper.  In only 17 days Carter will be 1.  How amazing!

11 Months Old

1/25/15

Today Carter turned 11 months old.  A little recap to the month of Carter's new tricks include looking for toys after he drops them and just recently he became an "official" sitter.  He requires very little support during sitting anymore and does a great job correcting his posture when he gets off-centered.  Carter still loves saying da, da, da, da, da which we tend to hear a lot more when he gets tired.  He is also saying "th" and a little bit of ba, ba as well.  He has become a master at rolling over from his belly to back but we are still working on back to belly.  He is becoming more consistent with his eating which makes mommy and daddy very happy.  His two bottom teeth and just about fully in so beware he is not afraid to chomp down on your fingers if they get close enough.  Every night him and I play and I couldn't think of doing anything else.  He is my little buddy and I cannot wait to see what he continues to have in store for us each month.  Enjoy his 11 month old pic.

I'm a model patient

1/21/15

Today Carter went to see Dr. Gold, his ophthalmologist in Orlando.  He performed tonometry testing to make sure his intra-ocular pressure was normal then he dilated his eyes to look at the retina and other structures.  Throughout the entire exam Carter did amazing.  When we were first called back the nurse was entering in all of his information and then asked us if we had an email they could enter and Carter answered with a very emphatic nod "NO".  It was a good laugh.  Dr. Gold was very impressed with how well Carter did getting his eyes dilated then having his exam.  Dr. Gold said he wished all of his patients had Carter's demeanor.  Carter smiled during it and had fun with Dr. Gold.  The great news is that we can say good-bye to ROP (retinopathy of prematurity).  We do not need to go back again for 1 year.  It is very exciting.  Here are some pictures documenting his visit to Dr. Gold.

The pre exam excitement

Hi Dr. Gold!!

It's getting bright in here

Gotta wear my shades

 

Happy New Year

1/14/15

I am just a little behind on my New Year post but I promise it will be worth while.  Carter, Katie and I are very happy to see 2015.  The year 2014 brought us many challenges that strengthened every aspect of our life.  As many of you know I started Carter's blog to help me sort out all that was happening as well as to keep all of you connected to how Carter was doing.  As I have continued his blog I have hopes that our experiences with having a micropreemie could and would in some way help others find strength and provide optimism that no challenge is too tough with the help of family, faith and friends.  With that said my 2015 Baby Carter Blog will continue to provide the updates you all have come to know and love....along with some pictures but it will also include topics that I feel may help others face some of the same challenges that we encountered along this journey.  Now onto a Carter update.  He is doing amazing!  He is a champ and has the most amazing personality.  We have recently changed his formula and he has been doing a lot better with his intake.  He has also been eating more baby food and is finally finishing off entire servings.  There have not really been any clear cut favorites but he tends to enjoy veggies more.  He had a pulmonology appointment earlier in the week to receive his RSV shot and since he is a whopping 17 pounds now he had to have two shots.  Some tears were shed but a little mommy loving dried them up quickly.  Next week we have an eye appointment in Orlando.  Fingers crossed all will go well and it will be our last visit for a while.  We also have another GI appointment coming up next month.  Now time for pictures of this little superman.

A little couch support but hey I'm standing!

Jumping makes me tired.