A little under the weather

I guess it was all bound to happen sooner or later...Rowdy has suffered his first serious cold followed by an ear infection. Tis the season for the congestion! We have lovingly dubbed him "Darth Vadar" as he is a dead ringer when he breathes. We are very lucky that he has been in great spirits through the entire ordeal and Lance and I haven't lost any sleep! It was scary when we woke up last Thursday to Rowdy moaning and not opening his eyes and with a fever of 100.6. He definitely wasn't feeling good and he was showing it! We took him straight to the doc and they put him on the antibiotic medication for an ear infection. His lungs were a tad bit weezy so he is also on an inhaler to help open up his lungs and prevent the cold from entering them. He seems to be feeling great, eating wonderfully, and still sleeping through the night. He's a tough guy.

Some other doctor appts we have had in the last month have included a trip to get his eyes checked. Which he came out with perfect vision! They did note that he carries his head to a very slight tilt which is just something they will just be montering. They said that is caused by the muscles in his eyes that aren't strong enough to focus when his eyes are at a level position so they compensate with a bit of a tilt where they can focus. He just needs to be seen in one year!

We also went back to Dr. Hersjil, Rowdy's pediactric urologist to check on his kidneys, ureters, and bladder. We had an ultrasound at the hospital and then headed to the office for a visit. Unfortunately, they hasn't been much improvement in the last 3 months, pretty much seeing the same issue. His kidneys and ureters are dialated, meaning they are holding urine. Apparently fluid should just pass thru the kidneys and ureters and only be held in the bladder. So Dr. Hersjil said Rowdy will not be out of his sight anytime soon. We will be heading back for another ultrasound and appt as well as a cathedar test in March. That test is where they insert a cathedar and fill his bladder with fluid with a dye in it and watch it on an x-ray type thing to track the flow. This well rule out the possibility of reflux, which is like "backwash." We are most likely going to put him on a once a day, bladder control medication that will help his bladder expand and contract like it should. We are just praying praying praying that it will get better because the long term reprecussions if this doesn't resolve itself won't be too fun to deal with it.

Rowdy is just blossoming before our eyes! His specialist Vanessa is just floored by his development and even says she has to remind herself that he isn't even 6 months old yet because he is so skilled for his age. Things he is doing these days:

*Sleeping 8-9 hrs a night
*Eating like a champ...now is 16lbs 4 oz.
*Talking up a storm, lots of jibber jabber
*Making raspberry sounds
*Everything goes to his mouth, thumb is almost always present already
*Wearing 9-12 month clothing! He is a little linebacker!
*Rolling over both from front to back and back to front...just started this morning!
*LOVES to stand in your lap
*Flirts with everyone
*Smiles and now has the CUTEST belly laugh
*Anticipates tickling by squishing up his face and laughing before you touch him
*Loves to jump in his jumparoo contraption
*Tracks mom or dad no matter where they are in the room
*Starting to get slight stranger anxiety....just more aware of when mom is gone.
*Loves to watch Lance and I teach him sign language, watches hands intently

I am sure there are MANY more things I could add to the list even just at the end of the day, he is just developing so quickly and learns new things constantly. =)

I have returned to work part-time. I am just working Mon and Wed afternoons from 1:00p-5:00p. It has been an okay transition. I am enjoying being back at work, and the 4 hours stretches aren't too long. I am VERY lucky to have two wonderful women watching him. Mary Gene is watching him Mon afternoons and Susan, my bosses wife, is watching him on the Wed afternoons. Both are enjoying their time with Rowdy and he enjoys it too! I am very blessed to have people that I care for and trust to watch my little man. It makes me feel better knowing they enjoy him so much.