11 Months and Counting!!

Drew is 11 months old today!! It feels like it's been so long since I have written in his blog. Not much is new, not much has changed with this growing baby boy. But, there are always stories to tell.

First, there's still no weight or height update to write about. We go to the doctor's on March 4th for his 1 year well check, so we'll have to wait until then to hear about how big this guy is.

We are, however, going to the doctor's tomorrow for a different reason. I haven't been very good about blogging about the growing hemangioma on Drew's face. It was something that popped up back in November, just before his 9 month well check. At his appointment, the doctor explained that it is in fact a hemangioma and that it seemed odd that it appeared so late after birth. Typically they tend to show up within weeks of birth and can last from 2 years to 10 years, but eventually they will go away on their own. The only time the doctors get involved with hemangiomas is if the start to effect important development...such as eye sight, feeding, breathing, etc. Because Drew's was on the side of his face, close to his temple, my job was to watch it and if it start to get larger at a rapid pace to call the doctor. By the end of December it was larger. It had gone from about the size of a pencil point to the size of a pencil eraser. And by mid-January it had gotten even larger still and had become raised, almost detached, except at small place at the top of the hemangioma. So....after thinking about it long enough, I called and talked to the doctor about the growth over the past month and she seemed to think it was very normal. All hemangiomas go through a rapid growth phase and then stop for a couple months then they tend to involute. She seemed to think we were in that growth phase and it would be ending soon. So, we decided the best idea would be to follow up with it at the 1 year well check. The very next morning, I walked in to Drew's room and there was spots of blood all over his sheets and clothes. At some point throughout the night he had rubbed his hemangioma against the mattress and because it was so raised and only attached slightly, it caused it to "tear" and bleed. I was good and didn't freak out. By the time I had walked in there, it had stopped bleeding and seemed to have scabbed over. So, I put a band-aid on it and left it alone. That weekend, I removed the band-aid to let the hemangioma air dry for a little bit and then it was time for Drew to nap. So, I put him down like always and about 45 minutes later he was upstairs fussing for his pacifier. Bo went in to give it to him and called me in immediately. I walked in to his room and he was covered from head to toe in blood. The sheets were soaked through. His clothes were covered and you couldn't see the color of his skin because it was all red. Bo put him in the tub and we got him cleaned off. We put a new band-aid on his face and called it an afternoon...there was no way he was napping without his little bunny and there was no point in fighting it. (Not to mention, 30 minutes after all this happened, Ally came barrelling out of her room throwing up all over the place. But, that's a different story, entirely.) So, the next morning I called the doctor again and explained that I was sorry for sounding overly concerned about this hemangioma but that things had changed over the past couple of days since we had last talked. I explained the new happenings and she agreed that we needed to go and see a dermatologist about it now. Ulcerated hemangiomas can be painful and give way to infection. And now that we fall in to that category, it's time to do something about it. This all took place the first week of January and we are now in the first week of February. The hemangioma has been covered since the day it really ulcerated and we are anxious to see what the dermatologist will say. It seems obvious to us that it needs to come off...certainly we can't keep a band-aid on his face for the next several years until it decides to go away on it's own. Plus, the bleeding and infection are even bigger issues. The hemangioma has outgrown band-aids at this point. It has gotten so big that the pad on the band-aid is too small and it gets stuck on the sticky stuff. Every time I change the band-aid now, I put a piece of gauze between the band-aid and the hemangioma to keep it from sticking and ripping when the band-aid comes off. For now, this is working. The hemangioma seems pretty stable right now. It is still barely attached. I can lift it up completely and see plain skin underneath it. Hopefully by Wednesday at this time, I'll have new news to report about it being gone or at least a plan to get rid of it.

Otherwise, it has been a pretty uneventful month. Drew has become quite the crawler. And he has started pulling up to his knees and now his feet. It probably won't be long before he starts taking those first few steps. He's continued to eat us out of house and home. He eats anything and everything put in front him. He has become quite picky with the baby food though...we're pretty much done with that. He's not a huge fan of applesauce right now because he thinks it's baby food. But, he eats everything we eat...which is a far cry from the girls when they were this age. He loves pizza and tacos, meatballs and noodles, chicken and rice, all the veggies and all the fruits. In fact, I can't think of one thing he hasn't tried and liked. We will go poor trying to keep this kid fed.

Here are a few pictures from the past month...enjoy!!


Sweet, sleepy baby boy.
This is how you sleep when you crash and burn after playing in the crib WAY TOO LONG!!
Mmmmmm...I love meatballs.
Nooooo....don't take my picture again. I'm a mess!!!
Ally and Kelsey love to share their popsicles with Drew.
Blowing kisses to you...

Buddy is 10 Months Old!!

Drew turned 10 months old today!!! The time is just flying by and we hope that it slows down very soon. Drew is crawling...normally, not commando style...and gets in to everything now. He has figured out where the playroom and the bathroom are and he loves to go in those rooms because he knows he's not supposed to. So, for now, the doors stay closed all the time. Eventually, we'll have to make the playroom home for his things as well, but for now, there's just too much in there he can get a hold of. We have no idea how much this little chunker weighs this month and we probably won't have an official weight or height check again until he goes for his 1 year appointment. But, we are positive he continues to put on the pounds. He eats everything we put in front of him...veggies, bread, crackers, pizza, meatballs, pancakes, noodles, tomatoes, whatever he can get in his mouth. He is the human vacuum cleaner and that comes from his daddy. Other than continuing to grow and move around, there isn't much new that he does yet. But, he loves to go through all of his tricks when someone new walks in the room. He always raises his hands above his head for "So Big", he claps, and then he waves hi. Sooner or later, we'll have to add blowing kisses to our routine. Enjoy the pictures from the past month.
10 Months Old

Drew and Ally riding the car.

I can crawl...

Making a mess of mommy's magazines.

Ooooh...it's Santa!!

Baby's First Christmas

Drew's first Christmas was tons of fun. Of course, he had to be up a little earlier than usual because of his overly excited sisters, but he adjusted well. We spent the morning opening gifts and just let Drew work at his own pace. Many of his gifts were so much bigger than the ones for the girls because of what they were...a ride-on Fire Truck, the Little People Airport, a Jungle Treehouse with animals, and mommy's favorite...the Busy Ball Popper. Drew was very happy to finally be allowed to rip open paper and not get pulled away from it...a daily activity we do here with Mommy's magazines. After we ripped through presents here, we went to spend some time with Uncle Stefan, Aunt Jackie, Ava and Ian. We opened more presents there and got a super cool train that makes noises and it carries blocks. By nap time he was ready to sleep and get away from all the noise of Christmas morning. We spent the afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa's house where we got to see Great Grandpa John. Great Grandpa John got Drew a wobbly, blow-up Penguin with balls in side and it makes noise when you push it over. Drew wasn't so keen on it at first because he didn't like that it popped back up at him after he knocked it over, but by the end of the day it was one of his favorites. Our little guy was ready for bed by the time 7:00 rolled around and he went right to sleep while visions of sugar plums danced in his head...or at least visions of that silly penguin.

Santa Baby

When we headed to do the family pictures for Christmas this year, I had them take Drew's 9 month picture. And...I couldn't resist posting it. He's my little Santa Baby!!!

Doctor Business

On Thursday the 3rd, Drew had his 9 month appointment. And, as we had expected, it went very well. He's hitting all of his milestones...babbling, crawling, sitting up, pulling up...and growing to be quite the busy boy.
He weighed in at a full 22 lbs. and 6 oz. He was 27.5 inches tall. The doctor checked his ears first since they seemed to be the hot topic for the month of November and she said they both looked clear. So, that was fabulous news. The antibiotic is still working a number on his system, but that should be through within the week, we hope. She checked out the little red bump on his face and confirmed that it is in deed a hemangioma. She was surprised at how late in his first year it has surfaced. Typically, they appear very shortly after birth. But, she thinks it may have been there under the skin and was so small it couldn't pop up until now. She doesn't expect that it will get much bigger and that it will go away on it's own with in the next few months or so. Until it goes away, we keep an eye on it for growth. Should it continue to get larger, there are options to have it surgically removed, but she's thinking we won't need that option.
And, that's all from the MD...a clean bill of health...which is worth it's weight in gold to us!!! So blessed to have a happy healthy baby boy!!
I'm 9 months old!!!

I'm Nine Months Old!!

Drew turned 9 months old today. So, he has officially been on this earth longer than he cooked in my belly. For some reason, that always feels like an eternity and his being here has flown by. We have our 9 month well check on Thursday, so I will be sure to post his new height and weight as soon as I get them.

For now though, Drew continues to grow big and strong. He has lots of new tricks this month and seems to have put it all together quickly. For starters, our newest, endearing trick is to clap...especially when we are eating food. And, while that seems fun, it often ends up in him wearing more than he has eaten. He has begun crawling, but it's mostly the commando style crawl that all babies start with. For now, it gets him where he needs to go...which is typically mommy's magazine basket so that he can tear up all the pages. And, once he figured out how to sit up from a crawling position, that opened a whole new world. Because now we can get where we want to go and get to sitting and reach things that are higher up. We are especially fond of mommy's vinyl rolls and scrapbooking supplies right now. All of this to say that he is well on his way to getting in to things and it is time to baby proof this house. I'm sure in just a few weeks he'll kick it in to high gear with real crawling and the pulling up won't be far along.

Drew has finally taken to saying one word...mama. And that's only because it's easy when he's humming during feeding times. it just comes naturally. But, we work on dada too. He loves to babble and finds that people will laugh at him when he screams. So, it's hard to get him quiet once he starts his little squeals because he thinks he's entertaining.

Below are some pictures of our last month. Enjoy!!


My sisters like to dress me up...

Drew can clap...

I should be sleeping. But now that I can get up and sit on my own, I like to skip nap and play with my aquarium.

Forget baby food...these mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving are WAY BETTER!!!

8 Months Old

Happy 8 Months Buddy!!! It has gone by so fast and it has been tons of fun!!!
No news to report on Drew's height or weight for another month yet. But, he continues to grow big and strong. Drew's first 2 teeth popped through (finally!!) this month. It's funny to watch him rub his tongue over top of them as if to say, "Hey...this feels weird. What are these things??" The constant drooling and drippy nose, however, has led to another ear infection. It's his 2nd one since birth, but nothing to be concerned about. I forgot from the first ear infection when he was just 5 weeks old how badly the antibiotics tear up his little belly. The poor boy gets a full teaspoon of Amoxil, twice a day. They base it on weight and we all know he has tons of that. So, he's been quite cranky these few days. I'm hoping it's the antibiotics making him feel yucky and not because they aren't working. We'll see how he is after the 10 days are up, I suppose. Otherwise, there isn't much new to report. Drew continues to get better at sitting and he's even started rocking on all fours if you put him up on all fours. He hasn't figure out how to get up on all fours on his own. So, it won't be long until this blog has a post about him crawling all over the place and wreaking havoc on everything here.

Enjoy some pics from the last month...
I'm 8 months old!!

Me and my puppy, Peanut.
My first tooth...
Sweet, sleepy, baby!!