Picture Appointment

Today, my mom, Drew, and I went to get Drew's picture made. I signed him up with a studio when he was a couple of months old for their "baby panel." You pay one sitting fee and have your baby's picture made at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months old. Then they take a 4x5 from each session and put them all in one frame for you, which I thought was neat! The studio is about an hour from our house so Drew has spent a lot of time in the car this week! When I made this appointment, I didn't realize his StL appointment would be the day before...

After his pictures, we went and ate at Ryan's. I am not a big fan of Ryan's and don't think I have eaten there since 2001 (after my college graduation), but since it is a buffet, I thought it would be a good (and quick) place to take Drew. Drew had egg, cheese, mashed potatoes, green beans, and corn. He also had a jar of sweet pototoes and turkey and don't forget about the banana pudding!

Tonight was the second (and final) night of my CPR class. I learned first aid. They talked about choking again, which I am so scared about with Drew! He just doesn't do very good with solids. It seems like he just "holds" the stuff in his mouth forever instead of chewing it up. I guess he'll learn though!

Our network was being worked on at work today so instead of going in after I got back, I stayed home and took a nap! Tomorrow we are getting our laptops replaced so I may be off tomorrow too as there isn't much I can do at work without a computer!!

Drew went home with my mom to stay the night since she is keeping him tomorrow, so I don't have any pics from today. I hate doing a post without a picture, so here is one from a year ago (August 5, 2007)...

Pictures from Yesterday!

Here are the pics from yesterday that I was unable to upload...

After a messy lunch, doing his "all gone" gesture!

Me and Whit modeling some sunglasses at Bebe. I really liked them until I saw the price tag...

Palate Follow-Up Appt

Today we headed to St. Louis at about 7am. I woke Drew up at 6:30am, which is about an hour and a half earlier than he is use to getting up. I thought (and hoped!) he would fall asleep after we got going, BUT leave it to Drew to wait to fall asleep until 20 minutes before we got there!! He was so tired, but would just not give in and fall asleep.

His appointment was at 10am. It was probably around 11 before we actually got to see his doctor. He asked how he was doing and then attempted to look in his mouth. He basically had to pry his mouth open while Drew was screaming -- not fun! He said that everything looked good (no holes!), but that there were still a lot of stitches so it wasn't impossible for a hole to develop, but it was unlikely. He said the stitches should finish dissolving during the next two weeks and that Drew was free to eat whatever he wanted. So, I guess it's time to say goodbye to baby food for good.

After Drew's examination, the doctor said that he had just finished talking with a family that were expecting a baby with a cleft lip (they weren't sure about the palate yet) and he asked if I would speak with them and let them see Drew. Of course I said yes! I talked with them for a while, gave them my email address, and also this blog site, so maybe they will be joining us soon on here!!

We went to the mall after we were finished at the hospital. Whitney got a lot of cute shirts for school and Grandma bought Drew a few more pieces from the football line from Gymboree (so cute!!). And I got a new Cardinal's shirt to wear to the game that we are going to in September!

It was a very busy day. We didn't get home until around 7:30pm. Needless to say, Drew had no problems falling sleeping tonight!!

OK, so I had some pics from today, but when I try to upload them, it keeps telling me it can't because of an internal error...guess I'll have to try again tomorrow...

Yard Sale Success!

Well, our yard sale was a huge hit! Out of all of Drew's clothes, I only had about 15 things left and I am going to take those items to the resale shop. Now I am ready to buy Drew a new winter wardrobe!!

Tomorrow is Drew's follow appointment with his plastic surgeon. I thought his appointment was at 1:00pm, but when I looked today, I found out that it is at 10:00am! We live about 2.5 hours away, so we will have to leave the house around 7am, which means I will have to get up extra early so me and Drew will both be ready to go...blah...I hate getting up early! My mom is going to go with us (and maybe my sister). We'll probably head to one of the malls after his appointment. The St. Louis malls have a lot more to offer than any of the malls near us!!

This morning, Drew got to color for the first time. I bought him some little Crayon Beginnings crayons, which are for 12 month olds, so they are easy to hold. Here he is watching Daddy:

I didn't get any 'action' shots, but he did make most of the scribbles you see on the right of the paper. That's going on the fridge!!

Then, this afternoon, Drew rode his four-wheeler for a bit in the backyard and swung on his swing. He's not really a big fan of that swing though!

BUSY Week!

Monday night, we went to Whitney's softball game. It was the first game of their tournament and they won! They are suppose to be playing tonight for either first or second place, but it is storming really bad here so I'd say it got canceled.

Last night, I took a CPR class through work. I learned how to do adult, child, and infant CPR and also how to use an AED. Then we learned how to help infants, children, and adults that are choking, which is what I was most interested in since Drew seems to choke really easy on food! (I actually took the infant CPR and choking class at the hospital after I had Drew.) Next week is the first aid section and then I will officially be a "heart saver!" It's something good to know, but I really hope I never have to use my new skills.

Today I had training for work about an hour and half from where I live. I learned about Fidiciary income tax returns. Really intersting stuff :) After class, my co-worker Dana and I did a little shopping. I am excited because I got a new dress for a wedding we are going to in September and I got Drew a shirt, pair of pants, and socks from Gymboree. It is part of the football collection and is SO CUTE! I definitley want to get him more of that collection when it goes on sale...

The other thing that has kept me busy this week is me, my mom, and grandma are having a yard sale on Friday evening and Saturday morning. I am getting rid of most of Drew's clothes from last winter. I'm keeping some of the stuff for sentimental reasons and for if we end up having another baby...

Well, just thought I would give an update of what we have been up to. Oh, and here is a glipse of part of Drew's clothes that are for sale. He was in two different sizes last winter (started out in 3-6 months then went into 6-12 months), so I think that is why he had so much stuff!!!

Fun Outside

Drew really likes being outside. Today we played outside with the walking toy that our friends Chris, Daysha, and Ava got him for his birthday. Then he took a little swim in one of his birthday presents from his Uncle Chester, Aunt Penny, and cousins Carly, Dena, and Aiden!

2 Weeks Post-Palate Surgery / 13 Months Old!

Yesterday marked the two-week date since Drew's palate surgery. Just to give everyone an update, he has been sleeping all night since Saturday night and he is eating really well, although I'm mainly still feeding him stage 2 and 3 baby food, and of course that baby oatmeal that he loves! He had his last dose of Tylenol on Tuesday (he was down to just one or two doses a day) and has been in good spirits! As for the arm restrainsts, he only wore them during his nap and at night, but only for about a week. It was like he just knew not to put anything in his mouth! I got a pretty good look at his palate the other night and there are still a lot of stitches. I don't know how long it takes for them to dissolve. Overall, Drew has done much better with this surgery than I ever, ever thought possible!

Also, today Drew is 13 months old! He is not walking yet, but getting a little braver about letting go of stuff and kind of "falling" into our arms. He walks all around the furniture and pushes those little walking toys around, so hopefully not much longer. I am anxious for him to start walking!!!

Below is the only picture I got of him today. Jon and I went to pick him up at my mom and stepdad's after work and then we went to visits some friends. We went ahead and put him in his jammies before we left their house and he was pretty much out of it by the time we got home as you can see from this picture...

Drew's First Trip to the Fair!

Last night, Jon, Drew, and I went to the county fair -- it was Drew's first time going to a fair! There wasn't a lot for him to do, but we did get to ride the carousel. Then, we watched part of the four wheeler races, which Drew really liked!!

Her really liked Ely's portable fan!

Pictures from Sears

Drew slept through the night again last night, so I think we are back on track! And just in time for me to go back to work (today was my first day back).

My mom and I took Drew to Sear's on his birthday (6-25-08) to get his picture taken. I forgot that I had the images on a CD, so here are some of them...

My fav!

This was the best shot they could get of him with the "number 1" as he didn't want to sit beside it or stand up holding on to it.

Speech Therapy

First of all, I have to mention that Drew slept through the night last night and didn't wake up once! I am hoping this means he is getting back on track with his sleep schedule!

This morning, Drew's speech therapist came by for a visit. She worked with him a few times before his palate surgery, but now that his palate has been repaired, she will probably be coming to work with him more often.

Right before his palate surgery I noticed that he was trying to say "ball," which are his favorite toys. But because his palate wasn't repaired, it sounded like "mall."

I'm no speech therapist, but what I have learned about speech during this process is that those of us without a cleft palate have a flap in the back of our throats that keeps air from coming out of our noses when it isn't suppose to. I think the only sounds that are suppose to come out of our noses are "m" and "n." Drew had no flap so every noise he made came out of his nose and basically sounded like an "m." So even if he was trying to say "da da" it would sound like "ma ma."

Part of the palate surgery was to reconstruct that flap. In some cases, the initial repair isn't enough to keep air from coming out of the nose and a second repair is necessary, but you typically won't know this until the child is old enough to speak really well (maybe around 3). I guess I wasn't sure what to expect after the palate surgery. A part of me thought (and hoped) that he would now be able to pronounce everything correctly. However, I think he has to learn how to use his new flap because "ball" still sounds like "mall." I also think he tries to say "bear" and "book," but again they all kind of have the same "m" sound.

If any parents whose child has already had their palate repaired can let me know how their child did/is doing with speech, I would appreciate it!!!

And now a few pics...

Watching Baby E at his new table!

Baby McDonald is funny!!