4 months

Semmes was four months old on Friday...and he is HUGE!!  He had his four month check up (and shots) today.  He is 16 pounds, 12 ounces and almost 25 inches long (24.8).  He rolls over occasionally in both directions.  He is in a size three diapers and 6 month clothes.  He has found his feet and wants to be touching them all the time.  He thinks it is hilarious when you stick your tongue out at him or when you scare him.  He is standing in an exersaucer, but gets really mad that the toys on it are stuck.  So I give him other toys to play with.  He smiles EVERY time he sees us.  And is getting better at smiling at strangers.  He is not a fan of crowds, unless he can see me or Brad.  He eats five times a day for ~11 minutes.  During his last meal of the day, he eats himself to sleep.  Then sleeps for 10-12 hours.  Basically, he is awesome.  Not to brag or anything...

At four months, Cooper was 10 and a half pounds and 22 inches long.  Quite the difference.  Also, Cooper was four months old on Christmas Day.  Hence, the Santa bib and red PJ's...

No, Cooper doesn't have cancer...it just feels like he does

We are currently 2/3 of the way through "appointment palooza."  Cooper had 2 appointments Friday, 2 today, and Semmes has 2 tomorrow.  Ugh.

Friday was Audiology and ENT.  They basically said the same thing they've been saying:  Cooper can hear; he just has a bunch of crud in his ears that is preventing him from doing it well.  So a third set of tubes is probably in his future.  Poor guy.

Today, we had GI and our first appointment with an eating specialist.  Now that Cooper is almost three, we're going to start reintroducing dairy.  I would really love to just be able to give him milk.  So, fingers crossed that our slow move back toward that goes well.

We also met with Dr. Watson, who is a child psychologist and eating specialist.  This has been a long time coming and I'm glad we got to see her.  When Cooper is on oxygen due to respiratory issues, he can't eat.  So he has regressed so much that he now refuses to eat.  It's miserable.  Apparently, the amount of stress the parent of a child with eating issues feels is the same as the parent of a child with cancer.  And I believe that.  I get it.  I'm in the middle of it.  I mean, it's eating.  Everyone does it.  You have to do it to live.  And Cooper just doesn't.  He can't.  It's SUPER stressful and not something anyone else can really understand.  

So we've got a plan.  At least for the next month.  We're going to be giving him an empty spoon.  We present it to him, tell him to "open your mouth" and if he opens it even a little, we praise and reward him.  We meet with her again in a month to discuss progress (hopefully there will be some).  He immediate goal is for him to be eating a "measurable amount" by Christmas, even if that is only an ounce.  We'll start here and see how it goes.  Pray for my sanity.

Neurology appointment

Last week Cooper had a neurology appointment. It went great. We have started slowly taking him off the Sabril, the seizure medicine he has been on for most of his life.  It controls the infantile spasms, but those usually only last until age two.  His neurologist wanted him to be seizure free for two years before he went off that medicine.  It is going to take five weeks before he is totally off the medicine.  I am super excited. One less medicine to give! Plus, he can stop, going to the eye doctor all the time. That medicine was why he was constantly having to go.  All-in-all, great news!

4th of July (in pictures)

I made a cake!

Brothers:

My favorite:

Holding hands?

Love this All American Baby!!

Yes, that's all I took.

Vacation: Part 3 (Throncrown and Fayetteville)

After the cave adventure, we headed to downtown Eureka Springs.  We ate lunch and then wandered around.  They have some crazy stores there.  One sells nothing but novelty socks; how do you make money selling novelty socks?  Anyway, after lunch and a much needed nap for all four of us, we took the kids to Thorncrown Chapel.  It is a beautiful space.  The information they give you is very Christian-oriented.  Not that that is a bad thing, but I wanted to know some about Fay Jones, the architect, and about the design.  So I looked it up on Wikipedia.

Isn't it gorgeous?  It's not open.  All of that is glass.  Of course, Brad wondered aloud who had to clean it all.

Love this picture...wish Cooper had been awake though!

This is the church office.  Fay Jones is so weird.

That evening we went to a German restaurant for dinner.  It was AMAZING!  If you're ever in Eureka Springs, I highly recommend eating here.  I got the roast duck with dumplings and stewed cabbage.  Cooper actually ate some of my gravy.  Brad got the German plate with bratwurst, potato cakes, and saurkraut.  Cooper had a really good time at dinner.  He sat on the bench next to me and smiled the whole time.

Notice that Cooper is in a different shirt here.  Parents, I'm sure you can guess why.  Oh Cooper...

Sunday, we drove through Fayetteville on our way home.  We saw the stadium.  I'm surprised I didn't break out into hives being that close to the enemy.  Ha!  Seriously though, I did like that the stadium was open on one side so you could see it.

Old Main.  Arkansas's version of the Lyceum.

This is the Architecture school.  Conveniently, it is right behind Old Main.  They are doing renovations, so we couldn't see where McConnell spent the vast majority of his time for five years, but Fay Jones designed this cool fountain that is right out front.

McConnell did this razorback on the side of the Hog Haus, the restaurant where we ate brunch in Fayetteville.  Sadly, this outline is all that is left.

This was some of the views on the drive home.  We took the "scenic route" home.

All in all, it was a really good weekend!!