Back to Life

So...this time I was away for awhile on purpose. There was too much stress going around. After Charlie came home from the hospital (he ended up staying 8 days) I let all the stress hit me so I could work it out of my system at a "safe" time (i.e. when everyone was happy and healthy!). But life has returned to normal. Our new normal, anyway!

Charlie is doing very well. He is up to 19 lbs already! This kid does not have a problem growing. :) He thinks he is hungry ALL of the time. I think once he gets used to having enough food around he'll stop freaking out when he sees his Pediasure! Note: do NOT let Charlie see the Pedisure in the cart at the store!! Charlie really seems to be enjoying family life! He still likes his brother, although he will cry if Brennan is too close for too long (Brennan is a bit clumsy!). And Charlie learned to clap when we say "Yay" or "Good job"! It is so adorable! We were teaching him to hold his own bottle, but that went out the window because he keeps dropping it to clap for himself! His smile is amazing. And his little giggle!

Charlie has a few more specialists coming up this month: cardiology, sleep consult, and ENT, as well as a VCUG. I'm anxious for the cardiologist appt because we should be getting a plan for his heart catheterization then. We really don't know what treatments we will do for Charlie, or if/when he can have surgery, until the cath is done. In fact, they won't treat him - besides the lasix - until the cath, because they want to see what he is really like. So I really want to get that done! He already had a swallow study this month, and did fine. So that's one less thing to worry about!

Brennan is doing so well with Charlie! It's amazing. Before, he didn't like me holding other kids, or other kids playing with his toys. But he is so sweet to Charlie! Brennan will bring Charlie his toys and wants Charlie to play in the ball pit with him. He gets upset if he thinks we are leaving the house without Charlie (it's really cute!), and once when Charlie was upset, he brought Charlie's bottle over and stuck it in his mouth! Brennan will get too rough with Charlie, but he just doesn't understand how strong he is and that Charlie might have feelings too! For example, Charlie might not WANT the ball Brennan is shoving in his face! (Ok, my parents have this small dog that Brennan adores. He likes to play with the dog, which usually involves Brennan putting the toys right in/on the dog's face. Sometimes, he throws the dog's balls at her. This is how Brennan thinks he should play with Charlie, too!) It's very sweet to see the two of them together. Brennan seems to just know that Charlie is "his" and that he needs our special attention. And Charlie is delighted to have someone his size to watch! They are already best friends for life!