Happy 2nd Birthday Carter

2/28/16

Happy Birthday to our little guy!  His 2nd birthday has been filled with joy, blessing and fun.  I think Katie and I will forever remember every detail of the day and hours leading up to Carter's arrival into our world 14 weeks early.  To see how much he has overcome and grown over the past 2 years has been an indescribable feeling.  We are so proud of him!  He had his 2nd year check-up with his pediatrician on Friday and it went well.  He is 32 inches and 26.2 pounds placing him in the 10th percentile for height and 25th percentile for his weight.  We can remember when he wasn't anywhere close to the chart.  Carter had a fun birthday party on Saturday and it was so cool to see him get excited about his toys and finally smash a cake.  I cannot say enough about the work that Carter's Speech Therapist, Kathy Timlin has done with Carter for his feeding aversion and now speech.  He continues to make amazing progress and we can't thank her enough.  I have included some pictures below from his birthday on the 25th and his birthday party on the 27th.  I hope you all enjoy.  Please remember that coming up at the end of April the March of Dimes walk for Babies will be occurring.  I will post the link to our page for donations to help babies like Carter.

Almost 2

2/11/16

Carter has had a good winter and many adventures since my last post.  He is doing very well and has come a long way.  He has been walking and running all over the place.  I joke that one milestone he didn't miss are the terrible twos because he is so determined and when he gets his mind set on something you do not have a chance at distracting him.  He is reaching quite a fun age and everyday brings new laughs and memories.  He is still seeing Physical Therapy until he can jump and also still seeing Speech Therapy.  He is starting to get better with words however he still has trouble enunciating words and mainly points to what he wants.  We have seen a lot of improvement with his eating and he pretty much eats everything now.  His favorites are green beans, carrots, bananas, grapes, PB&J, grilled cheese and anything sweet.  He loves going outside and helping around the house.  He seems to always want to help with whatever Katie and I are doing whether it is vacuuming, cooking or cleaning.  Here are some recent pictures.

                                                    Volusia County Fair catching ducks

                                                        Epcot playing with real ducks

                                                                Gaylord Palms ICE!!!

                                                      Too cute to caption (but I just did)

                                                                            Yummy!

                                                                  Santa Tracking

                                                         Chhhheeeeeessseeeee

                                                       Animal Kingdom Lodge fun

                                                     Too excited to stay in one place

                                                                    He loved Pooh

                                                             And he loved Tigger too!

                                                    But was scared to death of this guy

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